Photo event: Tamron Lifestyle and Snapshot Workshop

It seems like everywhere you turn nowadays, you're bound to spot some fellow with a dslr hanging around their neck. Clearly, big cameras are in in a huge way. So, really there is no shortage of aspiring photographers here in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Yet, for some reason, there is an absolute lack of photography-centric events being organised here, be they seminars, workshops, or fairs (such as the KLPF).

So, whenever one is organised for the photographer community here - well, let's just say that the response is more than warm! One such rare event was organised here just today. Sponsored by Futuromic, distributors of photographic gear, the Tamron Snapshot and Lifestlye Workshop was held at Upperstar Cafe in Kota Kinabalu. The speaker was Mr Foo Kok Kin, photographer extraordinaire and co-founder of the Photographers Society of Malaysia.

The whole event started with a brief hello from the the organisers, and right after it was the speaker, Mr Foo, sharing shots he took during his stay here while giving his comments. Then it was the practical session: go anywhere, take anything, and submit your best shot within an hour. The grand prize: a RM100 voucher courtesy of Futuromic.

I didn't stray very far from the venue, taking shots of anything that caught my fancy. Shooting was the easy part; selecting the best was the hardest. I liked all of the shots and deciding on just one to submit took quite a bit of time. These were the final selections. All are straight out of the camera, with only resizing done on them:

One of the statuettes in Upperstar

Shutters of a shop next door

Spotted both these fellows waiting for someone/something

Regular patterns of apartment units (I think)


Another statuette in Upperstar

In the end, I submitted the Egyptian-esque shot as I liked the colour and the angle best...and that bagged me a consolation prize. Well, it's the first time my photo ever won anything so that was a rather good start! We were also 'poisoned' with some seriously mouth-watering photographic gear (of the lens variety), but I suppose what makes a photographer isn't the kit, but the one behind the lens. So, I'll stay satisfied with what I have now and expand my horizons just that bit longer.

All in all, I thought the workshop was fairly well organised. I only wished that there was a bit more deeper talk on the finer aspects of photography like developing the photographic eye, composition, lighting - but I guess, that's for a more serious (and more expensive) workshop.

Crop! The speaker, Mr Foo, critiquing a photo

Photo Essay: Sutera Harbour 7K Charity Run 2009

This is only my second time joining this annual charity event with first in 2001 which was the inaugural run. But, unlike then I didn't manage to finish the whole circuit within the 77 minute time limit, probably due to me being distracted by always keeping a look-out for some interesting photo opportunities.

So, because of that I've learned that in order to get acceptable pictures, you either stick to just photographing the event, or if you intend to run, stick to running only. Do both, and you'll end up getting not much of anything...which was what I got.

The event was fun. Nothing like running-walking with a whole bunch of people together. It all adds to the very upbeat atmosphere. These are some pictures that I did manage to get in my half-run, half-taking-photo mode.

We were treated to a glorious, if a bit hazy, sunset during the run.

Check-point people: All playing their part to make the event a success.

Emergency services ever ready to offer free rides to the finish line. :)

Refill station: The most popular spot during the whole circuit.

International flavour at the run.

Work those legs, but mine didn't!

A fun family event.

Another low-light opportunity

These are some shots I took during the pre-Chinese New Year event organised by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall this evening. I brought along my small tripod just in case there were some shots which required it but it turned out I had no need for it. Well, at least it wasn't heavy.

All the performances were done on stage and most were by school children. The lights were the usual colourful stage lights, and though there were moments of dim lighting, in general I'd say the lights were bright enough for general shooting. But even then, I still had to occasionally push my ISO to 800 even when shooting at f/2.8. Having become more comfortable with my 135mm and more confident with the focusing, I decided to use it throughout. All were shot using available light, and while there were quite a number of less than well executed shots, I'm quite pleased with the shots I did manage to get.

Here are the picks of the bunch. Let me know which do you think is the shot of the night. See if I agree with you! :)

Photo Essay: The Cross-country Race

The school in which I teach at had their cross-country race today, and I was the designated photographer. Ain't that great? I decided to use this opportunity to get lots of practice with my 135mm prime lens. I'm really starting to grow on this lens. I like it because for the focal length, I get f/2.8, which I really like. And the bokeh is quite nice, too! The only downside is that it takes a bit more time to focus as it's a manual focus lens, but I still enjoy using it. So, most of the shots below were shot with this lens. The only other lens I used was the kit 18-55mm lens for it's wider angle.

There'll be 18 shots in all. It's gonna take a while to load!

Rounding up the students

Get ready here, not there!

Amusement

Over-seeing the final preparations

Briefing

All ears

The starting line

Running fashion

The warm-up

Waiting for the word

Release!

The way to do it

Going for it

All heated up

Light speed

Winners' table

Tired but done

Keeping score

Festival of Hope

The Christmas concert organised by my church last night was a blast! Here are a few of the pics I took during the concert. The more arty ones were taken during the full-dress rehearsal the night before as I could move around more freely. As expected, light levels were very low and I had to push my camera's ISO much higher than I'm comfortable with (started with ISO 800 but normally worked with ISO 1100). I was probably being over-ambitious but I decided not to use flash and just tried to get my shots sharp.

Of course, all pics went through quite a bit of photoshopping to remove colour-cast, noise, and increase contrast and brightness. A number of the pics are not as sharp as I'd like them to be (due to noise reduction in photoshop, and I suspect, jittery hands due to the slow shutter speed), but I guess I have to live with that. I don't own a 70-200 f/2.8!

Unless of course, someone would generously buy me one...