Good Morning!~

Woot!~ Morning peeps. My new website is almost ready. Have a visit and leave some comments k? Cheers. www.jasonbeyond.com

New Website Soon

WOot! Morning guys. Today is the time again to update the blog. Am free at the moment, still reeling from the Budget 2010 effect. No bonus for gomen staffs. Sad..But I m still thankful for the RM500. They can go to savings. Now, sometime ago, some frens commented “Hey Jason, why dont you get yourself a proper website?” I gave it a real serious thought. But website dont come cheap eg Hosting fees and Design. Thanks to a very good friend , Fuzz, he offered to host my blog and all I need to pay is the Domain fees. I jumped at the opportunity and agreed almost instantly *laughs* My new blog is also WordPress based. Most photographers will want their blog to be single column based. Yes, you sacrificed some stuffs that you normally display on a 3 column web. I wanted a single column so that I can post bigger pics. Andy from AndyChinStudio is working on my new layout now. Hopefully it will be ready soon Cheers!~

Sekinchang Kampung Girl

Liew, Fuzz , Dr Teh and me went for a short shooting trip yesterday. We left in the early morning to Kuala Selangor and then further up to Sekinchang to look for subjects. I ll talk about Kuala Selangor later. We were up in the paddy fields area in Sekinchang to look for shooting subject. We wanted to shoot the Kampung folks working the fields. However, I was late to the meeting point, we left late. Hence..By the time we got there, the folks were already done. So, we stopped by one of the house, we saw some children playing by the stream. Aha! There is out subject. We made a brief introduction and ice breaking session with the people there. The kids were playing in the stream and we took the opportunity to shoot them. It pays to have an umbrella with you at all time *grins at Dr Teh* as it is seriously a useful prop. Here is a pic to share.

A beautiful girl with an umbrella

Here is a small discussion and thoughts of the pic:

1. Composition. I think I should have shot from a lover angle and increase more of the green in the background. I shouldnt ter crop the umbrella as well hahaha.

2. Use of polarizer. I have heard we shouldnt use polarizer when shooting portrait. Donno how true is that. But if we follow landscape theory here, use of polarizer can minimize the reflection on the water surface.

Gears: Fujifilm Instax Mini 7s

Few days ago, I got myself  a new toy. Just joking. It s actually for a personal project of mine. I want to shoot something with is Instant eg Polaroid. But FYI, Polaroid has been discontinued. Thus leaving me with Fujifilm as the only option. I did a brief research on Fujifilm Instax. Apparently there are various sizes to choose from. I remembered when I attended one of the Hennessy Artistry last year, they shot every guest on the photoboard with an Instax 200. Was really happy with the quality. Sharp and colourful. Plus, you get it on the spot!~

I knew getting an Instax was pretty hard in Msia. Trust me, try looking for one. Most camera shops do not stock them. To order from Fujifilm Malaysia, you got to make a special order. So I had to look for one ‘online’. There are some entrepreneur that brings in Instax and sells them online. So I came across this blog called Shooting Star. I wanted a normal Instax Mini which retails for RM195, unfortunately, being a much sought after item, it ran out of stock. The only Instax Mini they have was the special edition White/Choco colour which retails for RM275. I couldnt wait for them to restock ( sometime in January 2010) so I took it.  Film is not cheap as well. RM23/box of 10 exposure. Hahahaha. Expensive stuffs. Its a fun camera. Here are some pics and instructions. The manual is in Jap. LOL.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 7s

What s in the box?

The camera itself

Battery Compartment

It uses 4 AA batteries

Film Bay

The camera only accepts this Film. Instax Mini.

This the film cartridge

To load, just insert the cartridge on the film bay. Aligned according to the yellow line.

Close it and you are ready to go

I was looking for the power button. Hahah. To ‘on’ the camera, pull the lens out.

The film will exit from here

For every new cartridge, this is the first thing that comes out of the camera. It s not a film.

First shot..Mom. Hahhaa

It becomes clearer and …

Clearer!

Event: Joey Yung in Brem Mall Kepong

Woot!~ I was fortunate to be invited to another event last week. Brem Mall Kepong hosted Hong Kong Artist Joey Yung to a meet the fans session yesterday. I got there around 630 pm. Had a quick tour around Home, a new furniture shop in Brem Mall Kepong. Cousin called me and asked me to enter the VIP area. We got down to ground floor and from what I see, Joey Yung does has a lot of fans from Malaysia. We had difficulty entering the VIP area, it s almost like I had to barge my way in Anyway, we got some really good premium seats. A guy from 8TV was next to me, and I see some familiar faces reporters in front of me.  Unfortunately, Joey who was initially slated to arrive at 7 pm was late. I think she arrived around 8 something yesterday. 988 deejay Ah San was quick to solve the problem. He initiated some games session with the fans to keep them happy. Posters were given out to the fans. Eager fans surged forward against the barrier to grab the precious posters

This is not the first time I shot an artist from Hong Kong, I did Bosco sometime back last year. Not a very good job back then, but I believe my skills has improved When news of Joey has arrived at Brem Mall, fans started to go hysterical and screams can be heard all the way back to Kepong Baru LOL..Sorry . Exaggerated a bit on that part But can you imagine the fans club people are just behind me with placards and whistles? Yes..I think you can imagine that. Joey was quick to the stage and the event began. My wife and I thinks Joey is really pretty in person. And jeez, she can sing lar! This is “Ching Cheung Wooi”, means she sang just using the mic and music from tape. I dunno bout the PA system they used, but she sounds really good. After the first song, games session with fans began. Very interactive from her part as well from the fans.  She performed the second song which really reminds me an English song, cant remember which though. After the 2nd song, the autograph session took place. You can meet her up close and personal by purchasing a copy of her album. She will autograph it personally. Only thing I didnt like was her overzealous manageress/assistant. A fan wanted to take pics of her, I also understand the PA/Manager was just doin her job. But being rude to the fan and pushing her camera away is not the way to go.  The fan actually scolded the PA/Manager. I hope Joey will have a word with the PA/Manager. As an artist, fans are the artist most valuable asset. Anyway, enuff of my rantings, here are the pics.

You got to have one these to get around

988 Ah San and Joey Yung

Am so happy to see so many fans!~

First Song

Fan wishes Joey all the best in Health

Career

and Love!~

Are you ready for second song?

988 Ah San

Ok, I m ready to meet the fans!~

First fan, a young man who is blind. Joey was very sporting. She stood up and reached out to him. Chatted and had pics taken.

Sign sign sign

Special copies for game session

If you have wondered how Artist never get tired of signing, this is an art actually. Finesse touch with minimal energy exerted.

Photos with the fans!~

Last but not least, a direct eye contact with me

E71: Dead LCD

My Nokia E71 LCD gave way yesterday. Damn!~ *pulls my hair* I bought the phone few months ago from a fellow Low Yat Net kaki. It was barely few months old when I got it. And the warranty was covered by Avaxx. I have sent the phone to Nokia Care 1 Utama some months ago for firmware upgrading. And when I saw the faulty LCD, I was worried that the warranty has expired. A typical LCD replacement would have set me back around RM 200 plus? I brought the phone to my friend’s place in Desa Parkcity to have the LCD checked out. Can you imagine my relief when I saw there is still ONE more month of warranty. Almost immediately I move on to Nokia Care Centre in 1 Utama. When I got there, another relief as they did a check on the system and presto! My name is there. Yes! Was to collect my phone in two hours. But I left, coz I had to rush back to Brem Mall to shoot Hong Kong singer/artist Joey Yung. Dont worry. Pics will be posted later

The E71 looks fine here but……

The freaking LCD is DEAD!!~ Distortion…

Film: It s pretty much ALIVE in Malaysia

Woot! A good day and Happy Thanksgiving to all ( not sure if it s today). I m suffering from film withdrawal syndrome this week. LOL. I tried to bid for a Leica IIIf on ebay. But the prices are really freaking crazy. I wanted one to slow down my shooting process. But alas, the wait continues. Meanwhile, I am eyeing another interesting camera, Fujifilm Instax Mini 7s. The output is similar to polaroid as it is an instant camera. But the picture quality is better compared to Polaroid. Colours are somehow richer and more vivid. It s pretty hard to source one in the retails. So I had to resort to online purchase. Luckily I found one. Will be collecting it tomolo.

Am not gonna talk about the Instax today. But I m goin to talk about a healthy and living film community in Msia. Whilst searching for the instax, I came across a blog selling films and cameras, Cameracery. Now, personally I dont know this guy. But as I went through his blog, I found that this guy Kok Wei is a pretty passionate film shooter as well. You can see his kid (I think is his son ler) shots posted as sample on his blog.  His circle of frens from the blogroll are also mostly film/Polaroid shooters.  Do check them out. I am happy that I am not the only one of the few that appreciate film. Thank God!

http://cameracery.blogspot.com/

Event: Leica Premier Event

Expensive but freaking good glass

Woot! Schmidt Marketing organized a Leica Premier Event at Carcosa Seri Negara a few days ago to launch the much awaited for Leica M9, Leica S2 and Leica X1. Thanks to them, Maxby called and said I was invited to the afternoon session. Hahaha. Historic launch it was because the digital FULL frame was much anticipated. I wouldn’t say M8 users are not happy with it, but most voiced out about the crop factor. M users will tell you that they are not really used to the crop factor. So most of us are really happy with the news of M9.First impression, the M9 retains the old M form. Lovely to hold. Lacking a film advance lever as the M8. I wished they have included that lever, that would have retain the 100% film feel. However, I find myself do not really fancy the M9. Why? The LCD is bad. It gives me Nikon D70 feel. Perhaps I love film. That is why I still fancy my M6. Am looking for a Leica IIIf by the way.

M9

Leica also came out with a Medium Format camera , S2. This is a good news and I hope the S2 will give Hasselblad a run for their money. I managed to take a test pic with the S2, and I must say..It s pretty huge. Imagine a Fat Nikon F5 Took a pic and found out it take a long time to process the pic. Of course it does. The pic I took was a whopping 32 MB. The green illuminator screen was pretty cool. First impression of the user interface, it seems easy but the one I held If I am not mistaken, I think is not a final product. Hope Leica will iron out the flaws by then. I didnt get to try out the Leica X1. But I heard it is not cheap, RM7000? Here are some pics.

My test shot. Fiona with Mr Surnil

Leica S2

Huge thing!

Can you spot my signature?