ISO 800 and above

Some of my biggest challenge is taking photos when the light is just plain dull. I really don’t like using flash because kids will want to look at it, sometimes you do get great expressions as they look in awe at the flashing unit but most of the time, its just…’mommy whats that?’ moments and since i try to avoid camera mounted flash units, its usually a distance a way and kids ~ well, they walk/run/hop off ! LOL

So usually my solution is to pump up the ISO. the problem with that is the grain and the colour loss. Quite often, its ok, it adds to the whole story. And I know there are actions I can get in photoshop to smooth out the grains but as yet, I’m still using it as part of the whole delivery.

february = high key photography

Apart from taking up family and children’s photo shoots, every month I thought, I’ll have a learning theme to help me focus on a photography technique and understand it better.

February’s learning theme is High Key photography!

Day #40 ::: ways to make a difference

I clearly remember putting up my Christmas tree in Dec ‘09 and then putting it down in January ‘10. And everything else went by pretty fast. I received my mobile continuous lighting system in the post and a few more books from Amazon on …photography…what else?

Hang on, I do order and read other books. In fact I bought one ”Ways to Live Longer”, its about an 11 year old boy and he has cancer. What was interesting about this book was the first sentence…”my name is Sam, I have cancer and by the time you read this book, I will probably be dead”. Hows that for a start? He writes about who he is, his dreams and questions no body dares to answer, like ‘How do I know if I’m dead?’ and finally, the last page is a questionnaire for his parents to fill in…”Sam died on the _____ at _____, cause of death was ____, ….the people with him were (a) all his family, (b) nobody (c) random medical people (d) the Queen…..

No, I don’t have cancer and I am not dying but still, I feel a certain urgency in life. Maybe it comes with getting old (?). And with it is just a need to make a difference. But what does it really mean? Making a difference? To whom?

an apple a day…Mac or PC??

An apple a day….keeps the stresses away! Looks like I’ve resorted to a Mac after months of battles with my trusty old pc. I’ve never really considered Macs till about….2 weeks ago. My pc was failing miserably, not that PC’s don’t work, just that its old. So the opportunity is here to think about what I should be on and stream line our equipments, mine and hubbie’s that is.

Why not PC?

There is no real technical reason in my opinion. As a photographer, my PC worked just as well and I was happy. Still photos doesn’t need as much graphics card power as gaming or video editing so I could technically afford the lower chip power Mac is offering vs the uber power stations PC has to offer.

If i was willing to compromise, what am I gaining you ask? …..Inspiration.

“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.” ~jesse Jackson

a trim for the new year

a fine trim

I cannot believe that 7 days has already passed in this year. Certainly, my 2009 came and went pretty fast as well but not without a lot of leaning and the occasional laughter. Occasional laughter you say? Yes, its been a trying year. And I believe 2010 will be another one but I am going to add a little more ‘laughs’ to the recipe of life in 2010. How? Well to start with, just cut the clutter in my life! It certainly needs a trim!

I’m obsessed with observation. LOL what else have I coined now?? I love just sitting and watching and capturing those unguarded moments when the space before me just opens a worm hole into the life… before me. I could just sit there and watch a door open and secretly think that the next time it opens, I’ll see something unusually usual…and that’s weird, I think, even border line madness. You see why I need to add a little ‘Laughter’ to my current recipe??!

A couple of days ago, I stumbled onto a website with a 101 things to do in 2010 and i thought, hey that’s a mightily good idea! So I now start to embark on an adventure of the 101 things except that I’m trimming it to 99! I simply like double digits, thats all! And I’d be amazed if I can even figure out what 99 things I’d like to do in the next 3 years (yeah….1095 days to do the 99 things is a lot more realistic then 365 days and I lost 7 days already! so this means its an avg of 1 task per 11 days). There are so many things I want to do, yet I can’t name them, it just feels like there are many!

A trim is always good, it helps focus on what matters and make special, things that has been left undusted but you know its there.

The picture, that was taken on the sunday before school starts. It brings me back to the days that I was at school, a new year, a fresh and exciting start, a new school bag and a new hair cut! Coming into school smelling and looking ‘new’ somehow erases all the growing up pains of the previous year. Well, i haven’t had my new year hair cut yet, nor a new bag…but I have a new lens and a set of mobile studio lights…that makes up for it

Happy New Year to all my friends!

Sweet baby I

I’ve never had brothers. Wish I did! Life would have been quite different if i grew up with brothers….probably got scars to show off from climbing trees, fences and chasing dogs across my grandmothers grassy land in the kampung. Oh wait, I didn’t need borthers for that! I just needed lots of imagination!! LOL and I do have scars to show for it! Baby I is very lucky to have brothers though…I’m sure, she’ll be a princess with her very own bodyguards! Oh sweet baby I.

My brothers and I

Courage, determination, pride...that's what little girls are made of. -- Author Unknown

"A wee bit of Heaven drifted down from above, a handful of happiness, a heartful of love." Author: Unknown ...these little hands will always be busy...and I thank god for that!

Copyright: who does the photos belong to???

(I’m writing this so I understand a little bit more about the mysterious © …cos I’m still baffled by it)

A few days ago, I received an invitation to judge for a ‘cutest’ baby contest, it received over 100 entries from all over malaysia. some are a regular mummy and daddy snap shot, others are commendable and looking to be more professional i.e. the set-up, the pose, the lighting, the selection of photos and that it was submitted in smaller jpegs then the rest is another big clue (a thumbnail for client proofing). The competition guidelines didn’t mention any conditions that entrants must hold full copyright. Maybe it doesn’t matter but I’ve submitted a few of my nature/landscape shots for comps and I need to check a button that full copyrights belong to me.

Were they allowed to enter the photos to these competitions (assuming that they didn’t take those shots)? I normally wouldn’t care but I have a hubby who loves ’subject sparring’ and this was one of the subjects we spar on quite often. ….WHO HOLDS THE COPYRIGHT???

I’m a mummy, a sci-fi addict, a vampire fan (and yes, i do believe that the vatican is harbouring vampires…thats why we don’t see them out here…they are being held safe in the vatican), an engineer and every now and then … a photographer … and copyrights is just something that i still need to get my head around. Back in the days of yonder (which wasn’t too far along really), copyrights are just a thing that I see on papers, manuals, drawings, never really need to think about what I can or cannot do with it. Afterall, I assumed that since I was being paid by a company to use some of the copyrighted products, I’ll use them to the limit of the job. Never had it ever occurred to me once that I need to be producing my own copyright terms and conditions and actually …read it!!!

Well, its not much of a problem in Malaysia, I think. Or perhaps I’m just being naive. My husband reminds me of this all the time, that I must not take things for granted. Malaysia is a very tolerant nation, in this case, copyright issues are often conveniently neglected and often assumed ‘none’, i.e. its just a cool symbol to put next to your name and it doesn’t matter what it really means. But while I still struggle to get my head around this, I’m also beginning to appreciate that little symbol with a © a little bit more.

Here’s what I gather so far:

1. If you took a photo of me, does the image belong to me or you?

Amazement

Amazement awaits us at every corner - James Broughton

Its me, I’m the one who is amazed. I often forget that there are little things in life that really is a ‘wow’, a cricket jumping, the birds singing even the little light in the picture. She looks at it as if it was living, she blew gently pretending it was little magical fire ball and willing it to blow out. In my head it did! In my head it turned into a fairy with a magical glow and flew home to tell tales of the adventures she had when she was in our world.

Being a mother to a fantastic little girl and getting invited into so many homes with beautiful children, its not just the pretty faces, its their soul that make children all over the world beautiful. And I am in awe and amazement at the things they see and at the things they are teaching me to see…

Super sisters

Suzi, Sophie

Originally uploaded by Rajah Brooke

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can’t get rid of. You know whatever you do, they’ll still be there. ~Amy Li

Friends of ours came to visit us last weekend! They are sisters…can’t you guess! LOL

Sleeping beauty

Love must be as much a light, as it is a flame. ~Henry David Thoreau

This was one of my earliest photo of Bindy. She was just 2 weeks old when I took this photo. It was on the bed. And this was also the time when I started to really enjoy taking her photos and photo journaling my experience with her. I guess before this, I was still getting used to the cries and burps and wee and poos and the general tiredness from lack of sleep! But oh, how wonderful it is to have experienced all that and how satisfying it is to be a mom!

Today, she’s a happy, bubbly 15 month old and all she needs is to give you one smile to melt any ‘no’s!