Sunday, June 7, 2009

Oriental Beauty

It was a fine Sunday when I got invited by a fellow photographer friend of mine to join him for a photo shoot for a friend of his. She got a cheong sam for herself, and wish to take some portrait shoots of her wearing her new dress.

I am not a portrait shooter. The number of times of me doing this kind of beauty shoot is less so low. Probably in the region of 10 times, I think. And I couldn't remember when was my last time doing this kind of beuaty portrait shoots already. LOL.

I guess my skill is getting rusty, and I need to do some polishing. Hey, my lens need to be exposed to UV light to kill all the fungus, true? LOL. Hence, getting my "visa on arrival" from HRH the Queen of House, I headed to the place where the shooting took place. Where is it ? Well, somewhere in KL lah.

The hazy day worried us. Hazy day mean bad lighting, bad lighting mean need high ISO. Well, the high ISO for the camera with a brand name start with "S" is known to be noisy and bad one. But I was wrong; the hazy day actually help a lot in diffusing the harsh sun light.

Her name is Ya Li, a mother of one. Her son is 1 year old now, can't believe my eyes, she is a HOT mama. LOL. She claimed herself to be a first timer, but I don't think so. She doesn't look like a first timer to me, and she could do what ever pose I suggested to her.

I like the cheong sam she wore, and the place we went really fit well with the oriental theme we set.

No flash was use for these shots. Despite the day was kinda cloudy, but the clouds had done its work by diffusing the harsh sun light.

Sunlight was coming from camera left, and it diffused nicely by the cloudy hazy day. I would prefer another light on her hair as a separator. This can be done by putting a flash on her hair.

See how the diffused sun light cast a very even lighting on her face. So, not ALL hazy days are bad for photoshooting, right ?

We were happily doing our photoshooting, not until one fella came out from no where claiming himself as a member of the "management" of that place and demand us to pay a fee of RM 200 for photographing people in that place.

We explained to him that we are friends and we like the place and our friend here got a new cloth want to make some nice photo of it and we like the environment of this place etc etc but he insisted us as commercial photographer.

Very well then, we just leave. Delete our photos in front of him ? Well, he doesn't have power to do that; only police can do that in fact.

Where is this place ? A place I would never wish to step my foot on it for sure anymore. Pity to my son that this heritage building will one day been transformed into a commercially driven building.

5 comments:

Lewis Lau said...

Hi Tan, I'm a wedding photographer in Hong Kong and come across your blog by chance. I like the photos on your blog and the attitude you shoot pictures. Keep up the good works man!

I'll go to KL for a wedding day shooting in late July and my client want to take some engagement pictures in KL as well. Is there any nice place you can suggest? Your advice is much appreciated! Thank you!

Templar Tan said...

Hi Lewis Lau !

First of all, welcome to my blog. :D Secondly, I am thrill that you find my works are nice. :D

And thirdly, welcome to Malaysia ! :D

It depends on what you wish to shoot in KL. KL is a place where modern urban buildings collide fiercely with historical monuments and buildings. We have places like this heritage Chinese building (where I shot Yar Li) in the middle of harsh KL, and China Town is not far away from this building. We have an old Indian temple which was build during the 19th century. We have old churches left by the British. We have old railway station that portray the Indian Muslim architectural design. And we have modern buildings like Twin Tower and the KL Tower etc etc.

However, not all places in KL is camera-friendly. For example, the heritage building we went for Yar Li shooting requested us to pay for RM 200 (About HKD 500) for a shooting. KL street shouldn't have much problem as long as the shooting does not create disturbance to the public. :D

Indeed there are other places around KL that I could recommend : Putrajaya, a 1 hour drive from KL where modern architectural buildings could provide a nice backdrop. Melacca (马六甲)(2 1/2 hours drive), our historical state where Admiral Zheng He came during the Emperor Yongle time. And not to forget my hometown, Penang (槟城) (4 hours drive from KL), island state with nice beach, hotels, historical buildings etc etc.

Lot of interesting places can be found in KL and its surrounding area. There is a place on the hill side not far away from KL that could view the whole KL night scene. And if nature is your choice, there is a waterfall natural park just somewhere around KL as well.

However, we are facing a terrible hazy condition now in our country. Not sure if the hazy sky will be cleared out when your arrival in KL in late July. Let's hope the condition will get better, but not worse.

Hope my long writing would provide you some clues. You can contact me at my email too : tan_wc@hotmail.com.

:D

Lewis said...

Thank you so much! I've sent you an email, with more questions hehe...

azuan said...

"Hot Mama" - Be careful with your choice of words bro.

Anyway how are you? Havent been to this blog for quite some time. Hope everything is well. And your 7-month old is sooo cute!

Templar Tan said...

@azuan,
She is a hot mama, no doubt about it. :p

I'm fine. My little rascal had been playing us around. Worse still he starts to crawl and our apartment literally turn to his huge playground ! LOL