Shutter Therapy in Wonderful Kuching

I have been away from Kuala Lumpur and my beloved blog here for more than a week. I was in my beautiful hometown, Kuching, and spent most of my holidays with dearest mum (went shopping and eating and visiting relatives together) as well as catching up with friends, and at the same time, making some new ones. Of course, whenever I could find some spare time, I would squeeze in some shutter therapy !! I really love my hometown Kuching, and unsurprisingly, I love shooting at my hometown. I attacked the streets with a few friends, and I shall just let the photographs speak more for now, as I catch my own breath. I have just returned to Kuala Lumpur a few hours ago. 

All images were taken within the past one week in Kuching, with Olympus DSLR E-5 and Zuiko Digital lenses: 11-22mm F2.8-3.5 and 50mm F2 macro

Cleaning

Strong heart

Gentle Greetings

Colourful girl

Lottery

Traditional Carpentry

Graceful

Beggars street

Iron Man (title stolen from Allen Ang)

Walk and Drink together

Morning life

Bakery

Old Court House

Vegetables

Boy and Transaction

Morning warmth

Strangers gaze

Hot morning

Textile shop

Cool hat

Joyful children

On the floor

By the window

Shopkeeper

Shutter therapy buddies: Asfan, Madden, Ariffin and Rahiman

Kuching Sunset at the Waterfront

Through my viewfinder !! Photo taken with HTC One V phone camera

Astana, Parliament, and Dewan Undangan Negeri

Kuching CBD

Kuching is vibrant, full of life, and the people, the food, the culture, the life, the streets, everything here is just different from what I used to find and live in Kuala Lumpur. Being a smaller City, Kuching folks on the streets are very friendly and approachable. I did not even have to ask permission, I just smiled, pointed my camera at most of my subjects, and they willingly had their photographs taken. A grateful "thank you" after taking their photograph follows immediately, with laughter or warm smiles. I feel like I belonged to the streets, I could easily blend in here without worrying about anything at all, because after all, I grew up here in Kuching, I have spent most of my life here before moving to Kuala Lumpur and worked there, and I know Kuching streets inside out. The sense of familiarity is something that I have used to add into my photographs this time. I feel connected to my subjects, and I sure hope that is shown in my photos in this entry. 

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Slow Down Your Shutter Speed

Often modern day photographers obsess over fast aperture lenses, going for crazy F1.4, F1.2, or even the F0.95 lenses, for the sake of accomplishing as shallow depth of field as possible, or in the aid of shooting with available light only. I too, admit to the allure of having bright lenses, and have been crazy about the Sony prime lenses that I have, the 35mm F1.8 and 50mm F1.8. However, using the widest aperture is not the solution to all photography problems. I have always preferred to shoot almost wide open for every shot, for simplicity sake, but there are exceptions where aperture is not the main priority in bringing out the best in an image. 

All images were taken with Olympus DSLR E-5 and Zuiko Digital 50mm F2 macro lens.

ISO100, F/4, 1/5sec

Take the above image for an example. When I came across this man doing his metal cutting stunt, I immediately framed him in my viewfinder and made the shutter click happen. You know, quick reaction just in case the shot is just there for that quick moment. When I reviewed the image on the camera LCD Screen (yes I chimp, so what? I believe it is IMPORTANT to chimp, and chimp necessarily) I found that the image looked too ordinary and lacked something interesting. Then I looked at the man again and he was not going anywhere, as he whipped out another metal strip to be cut. Then I suddenly remembered my rare occasions of shooting fireworks: if I used fast shutter speed, I would freeze the bursts but, if I slow down the shutter speed, I can capture the trail of the fireworks. Similarly can be applied in this scene, hence instead of shooting wide open aperture and higher ISO setting (initially this setting was to freeze motion), I narrowed down the aperture to F4 and toned down the ISO to the minimum 100. Yes shutter speed was slow at 1/5th second, which was adequate to induce the motion trail of the sparks, but I also worried about the man being blurred due to hand-shake or his own movement. Thankfully, the Olympus E-5 has amazing Image Stabilization that mitigated the blur (I was using a 100mm focal length equivalent lens, at 1/5 sec shutter speed), and the man was still as a wood. 

The following image was the original image I shot which lacked "something".

ISO800, F/2, 1/250sec

I guess I am writing this as a reminder to myself as well, because shutter speed is one of the very basics of photography, and knowing how to fully control and utilize its advantage would surely added much flexibility on what I can do and accomplish with my photography work. Most of the time all I cared was how much shutter speed was sufficient to freeze motion, but motion is an important component in photographs as well. Who says photographs have to be still? Photographs can be dynamic, and if you intend to show motion, you can. There is a lot we can play around, even with just a push of a button and a twist of a dial. 

I love cats

Using slow shutter speed takes a lot of discipline to master. How are you going to set the corresponding aperture and ISO settings? Surely the basic understanding of photography exposure must not be skipped here, and if you have not done so, it is crucial to do your own homework. At such slow shutter speed, your hand-holding technique of the camera must be steady enough to avoid inducing blur from your own hand-shaking. Of course it is not going to be easy but practice, and plenty and plenty of practice will get you there. 

So there you go, an important technique that can improve photography without having the need to buy a better equipment !! If you have some tips to share on slow shutter speed, please do so, I would love to hear from you. 

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Shutter Therapy Resumes

It was in the midst of a busy weekend, rushing out my blog reviews for the Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens, as well as having a full day photo-assignment to shoot a Wedding out of city. Nonetheless I still managed to squeeze a bit of time for some shutter therapy in between. 

All images were taken with Olympus DSLR E-520 and 14-42mm kit lens. 

Stepping into the box

The Hat

early shoppers

Over her head

Pregnant flowers

Piercing eyes

I always come home from shutter therapy sessions with a smile, and a sense of satisfaction. Smile, because I know I enjoyed myself thoroughly while shooting out there, being myself, in a stress-free environment, and doing what I love to do: shooting. Sense of satisfaction, because I know I have done something useful, which may not seem like much for now, but each time I shoot, I see things differently, and with every tiny step, I learn and improve to be a better photographer. 

Shutter therapy for life !!

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