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Monday 15 December 2008

A Day as a Photojournalist

Yesterday, I attended the "Shooting Powerful Images" workshop instructed by a renown photojournalist, Jimin Lai. We started with the theory part in the classroom for about 2 hours before we went out to conquer the street.

We had the chance to witness how a professional photojournalist works and tried to emulate from there.




We started our shooting from Electra House and went across to the taxi station. The van drivers were very camera-shy and we had to work very fast before the turned away from our cameras.




The street cleaner nearby left his dustbin there and we anticipated that he was going to come back for it. So, we waited for that defining moment to include the who, what and where elements into the picture.




We saw some people killing time under the canopy and they are good subjects for telling the story of city folks' life on a weekend.














After that, we proceeded further north to the Kuching Waterfront to look for interesting subjects again. I found these two native ladies waiting at the jetty attractive, but just as my photography subjects, of course!




The boatmen are interesting subjects too, so we were told to shoot them, with our cameras, and show their working environment too.








We went passed the shop houses along Main Bazaar and the vendors with their merchandises are good subjects to tell stories too.












Along the way, we passed by the Masjid Bandaraya, a mosque in the heart of Kuching city which is more than 80 years old. It is now one of the major tourist attractions in Kuching.










After we came out from the small lane from Masjid Bandaraya, we saw a lady Muslim beggar sitting on the five-foot way. This is something that tells the life story of the people in the city as well.






From this point onwards, the sky wasn't that accommodating towards our outing. It started to rain but not too heavily. Our instructor Jimin didn't care about the rain. In fact, he used that as an added advantage. So, we had to follow!






When we were reaching the other end of Kuching Waterfront, the rain had finally stopped.






That was our last checkpoint of the outing and we turned back from there. Along the way back, the painters responsible for the restoration of the oldest temple in Kuching were still working. So, we grabbed the opportunity to capture some images of the people working in the environment.






From there, we headed back to the classroom for a debriefing and went through some of the pictures that Jimin has taken. All in all, it was a very fruitful outing for me as I witnessed how a professional photojournalist works and I definitely gained some tips to improve on my street shooting.

18 comments:

Ketam said...

CK, any tips for street shooting?

Anonymous said...

You pay him RM350 then he'll teach you.
:P

Gecko

CK Ng said...

Hi Ketam, you really have to follow a pro on location to learn. The only thing that I can say here is that, don't be afraid of pointing your camera to the street people. They are more scared of you. Haha! :D

Hi Gecko, I'm not at that level that I can charge people yet. I wish I can! LOL! :D

Yun said...

"don't be afraid of pointing your camera to the street people. They are more scared of you."

CK, last time I went out with my friends 3 of us went shooting at Taman Sahabat.. We got warned by d street ppl.. haha... maybe our camera not big enough to make them scare of us... wahaha.. lol

nice captures.. especially the shop house along main bazaar..

Ruey said...

sounds like my kinda outing, lao shi! ;)

CK Ng said...

Yun:> Ya, the bigger the camera, the better! Haha! :D

Ruey:> Let's have an outing! We haven't met up for outing like this for quite a while. When are you all free?

lina said...

hahaha... I second the theory of the bigger the camera the better. LOL

awesome shots!

Anonymous said...

Hi CK, you got good shots. Congrats!

Anonymous said...

ck, nice series.

from pathfinder

Anonymous said...

wow! CK! I have viewed a lot of your photos, from photoborneo, all those travel photos. This series are great! I am glad that you have gained from this workshop, keep up the good work! :-) Alvin

CK Ng said...

Jimin Sifu:> Thanks for your unselfish sharing during the workshop. I have more to learn from you. :)

Pathfinder:> Thanks. :) You've got a nice series as well.

Alvin Sifu:> Thanks very much for your kind comments and encouragement. I have a lot more to learn from you. :)

Gretchen said...

Those are beautiful images!

Ruey said...

CK: i know...i also itchy to go on an outing with you but lately the work schedule....sighs. the upcoming hols make it extra difficult also. fingers crossed sometime in jan! :P

Anonymous said...

wow... nice nice ...

wat's ur favourite lens for street shots?

:D

WoMbOk™♂ said...

No wonder I saw a bunch of photographers fully armed at the cats statue on Sunday! Lol! Nice Shots sifu.

CK Ng said...

Gretchen:> Thanks for your kind compliments. :)

Ruey:> That would be fine. No worries. :)

Pazuzu:> If you really want me to make my choice, I would say that it is the Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D.

Wombok:> Heay man, didn't you notice me in the group? :D Thanks.

Shannon said...

These pictures make me long to be back in South East Asia! I don't know which is my favorite, they are all so striking! I love all the vibrant colors!

The the shot of the western women bugs me, I don't know if shorts are appropriate attire in Kuching, but white women would wear shorts, or sleeveless tops then complain about being stared in in Jakarta.

CK Ng said...

Hi Shannon, thanks for your kind compliments. Shorts and sleeveless tops are absolutely fine in Kuching. There are many local people with this kind of attire on the streets. :)

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