The Outing - Part One

The last entry was an effort - due to hectic schedule - and I have been running around with my usual stuff in the bag but not with the luxury of time to put something up on this site. So, actually what I am trying to say is, this entry is another big effort for me lah! (This has got to stop...somehow! I need more time for my family & my future!)

Well anyway, today I had to work offsite - a departmental meeting outside the Zoo - trying to give "smart" input and ideas The days before, had to cover some shoots (not really my KPI but VITAL for my future development heheheh!) and co-facilitate for a gathering of the zooleaders. The rest of the days before that was spent trying to get things done....or convincing people to get things done...or just look like doing something to get things done! Eheheh!

The fun side of life was after the official zoo hours were done.....especially before bedtime when it is time to wrestle the babies to sleep...and the wee hours in the morning where the babies would wake up each other and create a minor mess in their room...the little one is really too cute and cheeky sometimes I just wish I do not have to work and just spend the whole day with the kids instead of being in the Zoo.

OK..the reality is, I still have to work and deal with the Zoo-poo, so, be it and while doing that I can still be happy......so, no big deal, life goes on!

The weekend is another story. I have been actively involved with the shutterbugs activities recently and actually today I was amazed to be informed by ted that he's "cooking' something up for me and I had to submit some of my works to be evaluated to the client he's meeting tomorrow...if everything goes well the "masyuk" will be substantial.....we'll talk about it when it happens lah but for now, since last week I have done 2 outings - one individually and another one with the CS dudes....and a TT session with the CS.

The CS dudes were the ones who were privileged enough to get the first preso on my shots (during TT gua punya works dah kena taji & koyak daaaa!) For the benefit of those who did not manage to join the TT, here are the result of the first outing...TT and the other outing will be staged later lah ok gua letih laa nak tulis & post byk2 at one go!

Note: For the sake of argument, I use D70S with kit lense for all of the shots done...imges hav ben reduced from JPEG fine L format to adobe jpg files, 72DPi.

Date: 19th. January 2007 - It is one of those days where I had to send my lovely wifey to work although I am on leave and the kids are schooling. So, I decided to shoot some street stuff and other interesting subjects I can find within the day....



Started at the Twin Towers...this dude was happily tapping away on his PPC Phone, did not even notice my presence, had the luxury to compose & recompose and adjust my settings...the result posted is the best I managed to get.

Then I took the subway to CM. Took some shots before I got out of the station.

(An Old Hotel near Klang Bus Stop)
The color of this building attracted me to compose this one. Nothing special about this building - well at least nothing that I knew about actually!

(Graffiti)
If I have a proper zoom lense it could have been a better shot.
Makes me wonder how some people are capable to really mis-used their cool talents!

(TNB Powerhouse)
The blue & red of this building will stand out with proper exposure and lighting. Trying to get the best angle/ composition using the tool I have. Maybe next time if I should use speedlights for more dramatic lights?

(Photog in a Temple)
I actualy "tiru" this one from freak's portfolio (wassup dude!) but not totally 100% tiru lah! with some cropping done and minor curves adjustments, I am quite happy with this composition...that dude is holding a P&S.

From the Petaing Street & Klang Bus Stop area, I moved towards CM area....

(At a junction)
Heheh....probably would be an interesting story to be told if the lady is walking towards the "Reggae Bar" instead. Notice the signboard....so many places to go to!

(Stylo-mylo)
This used to be one of the usual barbershop that I go to when I was a student. Infact, this is where I got my ponytail that I kept for about a year or so (brutal siut masa tu side rambut skinhead, tapi belakang ada ponytail tuuu...time tu gue team manager/ assistant instructor for the Malaysian Varsity taekwondo Team). Approached the machaa and talked a bit with him, asked him to pose for a shot (end up with a couple of shots!) which I took across the street.

(Cari Rezeki)
This worker was friendly enough to response to me calling him to look at the lense...not much time to re-compose so I had to make the best with the spilt second I had him to look at the camera.

(McD..not!)
The color of this section of the building is McD enough but McD operates just next to it.

(Missing glasses)
Some imperfection can be an interesting art too...who needs perfections all the time anyway?!

(BURRDS!)
Well..some bird watching can also be done without white lenses but one day I would want to do the real bird watching thing too lah!

(Typical Malaysians)

The more positive part of being a typical Malaysian

(Yellow windows!)
I spent quite a chunk of my time to compose these images of this building...trying hard not to end up with typical "tourists shot". I think I did quite well here...

(At a junction again)
OH my...where do I want to go next?!

The best option was to move towards Masjid Negara, simply because the Friday prayer time is near....

(Framed Dayabumi)
My first working place framed as part of my life journey

(SAS building)
Perhaps not many shots were composed from this angle of this building...

(BPR)
You people familiar with this one?

(Homeless dude)
This dude was resting and it took me a while before I decided to disturb his rest. Tried to communicate using voice but apparently he can't speak, so I used sign language instead and asked him if he's already eaten. He nodded. Good, because I forgot to pack some grubs with me anyways! So, I gave him some small amount of cash (already pre-planned the night before the outing, together with the route & subjects to shoot!) He was happy to accept it. After a while I "asked" him if I can take some photos of him..he nodded and I took the least time possible to compose and get the best shots of this dude....the dude was lepaking at quite a difficult for me to compose decently good shots but I did what I could to minimize time I am wasting off the dude's resting time...break all the rules except my one and only "Titanium Rule of PhoTorqueGraphy" - it is all about capturing moments!

To braggards and rich boys & girls and their parents (if you happen to read this ugly blog of mine) for once, you should just go out there and learn to be humble......

When I arrived at Masjid Negara, that usual weekly havoc is still there. The "pasarmalam" like environment is still there ever since I moved from Dayabumi. Cool.

(Maths Whizz)
I was mistakenly identified as a reporter/ photographer by this dude but I managed to convince him to continue with his "job" while I took some shots...this one's my favorite.

Then it was time for Friday prayer.....while I was entering the mosque, a brother taxi driver approached me and asked from which press I am from (Hahahah! The Nikon pro-photog vest really works!) Apparently he has been noticing me taking my shots from the CM/ Klang Bus Stop area and he was amazed how far I have walked and covered...then he talked about taxi permit & the politics behind it and wish some press would do some coverage about it...I told him I can't promise much but I will see what I can do lah...after we shook hands (ohhh his name is Aziz by the way) we went into the mosque for the ablution & preparation for the khutbah hearing. After the prayer, there was a small demonstration on ISA issue - nothing interesting to stage here.... so I went to take some shot of the resting place of Allahyarham Tun Dr Ismail, as requested by Kimster.

(Maqam Pahlawan)
I found the perspective of the entry into Maqam Pahlawan is an interesting composition.

(Orang tidur)
This is an interesting perspective too...don't you think?

By this time, my big tummy is already grumbling....time to fill it up...but I stopped at the gate for a final shot....a daughter of a foreign beggar....perhaps a year younger than my twins...

...what if this is YOUR daughter?
Well...you should be thankful of what you have now peeps! There are people out there who have much less than we do...

After this shot, I went for lunch - BURRPP!! - at the gerai I used to go to on Fridays while my office was in Dayabumi...the makcik asked me if I am going to shoot he business place or just eat..."Lapar ni makcik, nak makan laaa tak larat dah nak amik gambau!"

Just as I finished the delicious meal, it started to drizzle...

Well....there goes my plan to do more shots.....off to my wifey's office then....

The Sunday belongs to Aliya

....almost similar to Saturday, last Sunday was another hectic day - for the family - we celebrated Aliya's first birthday and no extra hand was available to help us for the preparation & after the event.

From A to Z, we had to do it on our own. Everything was home made - including the birthday cake. Mama was a true champion, as always! Tiring weekend but what more important is the kids had a great time, nothing is more rewarding than that.

Aliya's guests - family & friends

Thanx to all who came and thankx so much for the lovely gifts! Aliya loves you all!

Weekend Photogs

SPAWN!! Using CLS technique (yet to attend the class actually!)

Last Saturday, I had a taste of studio shoot - attended the basic flash class by Ted Adnan. Started with the introduction of the flash, basic flash settings, then we moved on to more challenging topics like capturing the background shooting against a direct light source, controlling light around our subject, using multiple flash settings, creating effects and modes using multiple flash etc. etc. We get to compare our result with each other and commented by the sifu himself. The participants were cool. We have Nikon users, Canon fans, and an Olympus dude too. Half of the day went by without the whole students noticing it! Later in the afternoon, followed Ted to do a job - launch of a movie @ KLCC TGV. Supposedly wanted to shoot Telekom Museum before that but the weather was not favorable....came back at around 10pm that night....

The basics of controlling light source from flash guns & natural background lighting...

Remote flash technique

The "students"..and Sifu Ted (sitting behind the strobe)

Dah la the night b4 lepak dgn PhotoMalaysia Taikos sampai pukul 2am! Adehhh.....but it was really worth it, learnt a lot from the pro taikos and also from the class...tiring but worth it!

The Pro-Photogs: Ted, Joe, Maxby & Chris checking some Nikon FA SLR stuff I am trying to sell for a buddy

The dude in black is the editor of a famos photography magazine

DPNikon trying to capture some moments

VMY2007 Launch

The Eye On Malaysia was officially launched last weekend.....I was able to shoot some images but was not in the "VIP" area (VIP = Very Important Photographer), had to rush from Marina's reception, SMS Ted and the bunch for their whereabouts and evaluated the traffic situation during that particular moment, realized there was no way I can get into the VIP area in time. However, I was lucky to get to a space quite near to the launch....in Kg Baru area (ok laa near la jugak tu!) Parked the car, set the tripod on the car, mount the gun and just shoot!

Later had a TT session with the bunch and learnt a few new techniques of capturing fireworks from Ted & R47Z....(and on Sunday Bubba walked through quite a similar method as well - via Adium chat) well, never too late to learn, I expect to see some improvement for the next firework shot I do lah!

Came back home at about 3:10am.....am really enjoying being in the photographer community.

HappIER New Year? Perhaps.....

This cake is special...why is it so? Well, simply because it is Aliya's first birthday cake and it's baked by Mama...who looks to be very determined with her current passision - baking cakes...and the main ingredient mama use especially for baking cakes for the family, is LOVE.

(Maybe I will usaha harder for resources to sponsor her for the complete course....)

The cake was the main menu for Aliya's small celebartion back in kampung recently. Not all of her cousins were there but it was cool (and rainy!) break for the family.

"Let me do it now laaa Mama!"

Will 2007 be a special year? We sure hope so......2006 been a good year - in general. Yeah there are things that really pissed me off but hey, what I can't control is beyond me!
They wanna take more from me for tax, it is beyond my control.
They wanna make me pay more for using the highways, it is beyond my control.
You don't have to listen to braggards - you can just ignore them.
You don't have to be mad for the ever increasing toll and everything - you just have to pay it and continue with life....just don't vote the similar bastards ever again!
Well...I guess it is not so bad but you definitely can't stop wondering when others around you - especially those who earns 4x you are getting - is making a bigger fuss out of it.....tsk! tsk! tsk! I guess what makes me different from them is I can manage to channel my frustration properly.....and who knows, insya-Allah if everything goes well make a couple of (thousand?) bucks from this channel!

What's more important is for me to take care of those things within my control and continue my doa for whatever I wish to doa.....don't mess with the power of doa, ok people?
SMILE!!

Happy Birthday Aliya Irdina!

That's my baby girl.....pix taken during the dinner on the 27th Dec around 8:30pm with the family (Tok Mak & Tok Abah came - finally banjir dah settle, can escape from Segamat already!!)

She's a cheeky girl, my baby. Smart & fast learner. She's got really pretty eyes & her eye lashes, well that is something that would melt hearts of many in years to come.

Can't believe she's already 1 yr old! 27th. DEC 2005, 3:59am was a year ago already! Time is flying even faster than before!!!!

(Late entry - due to the earthquake that disabled the fiberoptics)

Through The Lense.....

My concentration for past few weeks has been more on my next journey – photography. Lepak

with the SFCS dudes and Ted. Interesting bunch of creative people. Some are really seasoned photographers - excellent photographers, while some are just starting their journey. What actually matters most to this bunch is – we love photography and we want to learn & improve in this art. This is my new circle of friends now! Photographers & creative people. Most of my free time is spent on research & forums on photography. It seems to me that I am dead serious to become a photographer when I retire, hoping to earn something from this new passion I acquire.

The only free time I have is actually after coming back from work – that means around 9pm. It is really a sad ting not being able to spend the evening with the babies. I really miss that. I guess that is why I am a bit reluctant when Ted and Amal asked me to go follow them for some shooting over the weekend. Maybe I am not really ready to sacrifice my time with the babies although I am dead serious about being in the loop of professional & upcoming photographers of this nation.

Have also been given the opportunity to try out my capability in shooting big event – Kimster & Sly asked me to co-facilitate with some leaders for the month’s Leadership Forum and at the same time I was also asked to help shoot the “moments” for the grand finale montage. Good thing Sly let me use his D70, SB800 and two cool lenses to do the job….my old faithful Panasonic Leica would not be able to make the cut.

It was quite a demanding one but I managed to pull it off very decently I think. I might be getting a wedding job coming for my team too! Wooohoo!! Alhamdulillah…

I though it is time to “reward” myself after what…more than a year or so of hard work (I did not reward myself anything from my Bonus…farking kedekut punya employer & bloody tax hungry punya nation) so I decided to spend rather lavishly for my self this year end…regardless of what amount of cash I was given this month, aku tak HALALkan satu sen pun the gomen took from my account for tax purposes or whatever - yeah I got much less than I expected this year....whatever reason the employer wanna say, whatever reason the gomen wanna say, I say - Haram is Haram so go f*** your own duck.

So...got myself a brand new D70S for my journey into the future…..heheh!

The package includes the D70S kit pack (18-70mm), SB-600 Speedlight, 50mm f1.8, extra original battery, CF card, Hoya filters for the lenses, Nikon promo bag, Nikon Pro-Photog Vest....basically, I am ready to rock lah! Images will be up later in this address.....

Today went to Pencerita's kenduri aqiqah and met Saiful Nang and some of the otais for the first time.....no turning back from here, it IS going to be interesting!

On the other hand, work has been hectic & relaxing – two conflicts lingering in the air with total harmony. There are senses of urgency but I manage it properly (read: After years of working you should know when to put real action, when to just simply react and when to just purely act!). Anyway, the zoo is empty, very empty. The only constant noise you will hear would be from my area – just a handful of us are yet to take leave, soon. The only annoyance I have been struggling to live with is coming from two colleagues – one is new in the zoo but a seasoned employee and another one has been just too long in this zoo. But one thing unite them both – the ability to annoy other effortlessly, which they actually put full effort everyday, so just imagine the horror.

The ultimate tank-top was when I was trying very hard to up skill this new “older” guy who seems to be in total lost even after a couple of month in the zoo (we’ll call this guy Mr. Zero) and the guy who has been too long in the zoo (we’ll call him Mr. Kepoh). My intention was to up skill Mr. Zero in order for him to take up one task specifically assigned by the leadership of the zoo – which Mr. Zero kept on insisting it was me & the rest who put up his name on the list. The session was only supposed to be attended by a bunch of other colleague but somehow or rather Mr. Kepoh crashes into the meeting and started to make some smart-arse remarks and statements. One round, ok I can stand it, let us not make him look like an idiot even though what came out from his mouth was totally ridiculous and unprofessional – stating the obvious, finishing or repeating other people’s sentence, rephrasing it is you may in some words that sounds more intellectual (NOT!)…..Second round, there we go again, same crap…third round, that is it – Could you please not interrupt my discussion? Frankly I do not remember inviting you for this meeting, is it really necessary for you to be here?

Mr. Kepoh tried to joke about it but I kept my face and asked him to move on and please have respect on other people’s time.

Ok. That part was done. The days after that Mr. Kepoh tried to look important and hang around my place – I totally ignore the guy and every single word he utter. Damage was done. Wait for the next financial year for reconciliation. The whole year of annoying behavior have finally taken the toll. This kind of a person does not deserve any respect. Don’t know about you but definitely not from me. Well at least he has the intelligence to not enter another discussion I called for the Mr. Zero and the rest a week after the first one. Good. He’s learning something at last.

Mr. Zero on the other hand, is really a big question mark. At the position he’s in – a position higher than mine, I do not expect to have his kind of leadership (or shall I say UNleadership). Ok that may sound to much but hell, we tried to help him put with this simple high profile assignment assigned by the leadership of the zoo and all he kept lamenting was he’s in the wrong zoo and he should have not accepted the position. At one point I actually asked him to stop making such annoying childish remark and act as what he was supposed to be – a position higher than me and bunch of others trying to help him out. Blaming, lamenting, unfocused, unable to think or at least try to think in strategic manner, always reflecting the negative without any hint of how to handle the issue in hand, always ANNOYING.

And he drives a luxury car….and the other dude car’s is worth 3 times the car I am driving everyday!

DAMMIT!

Lensa Persona...huh?

P1160295
Originally uploaded by torqxic.

The days have been very hectic since I last posted any update on this blog....apart from the office works, been learning to cope up with the limitations of my prosumer class Leica lense and the new zoom/bounce external flash I bought couple of weeks back.

The image I post here is one of the recent well "masterpiece" I managed to compose with the camera. Funny thing, with those limitation I can say I still managed to deliver acceptable results for some events - tehn again, I maybe just syok sendiri!

Anyway, after the outing with some other photographers for Street Buskers Party last weekend, I realized (apart from I need to catch-up on my sleeping & resting time!) I cannot rely too much anymore on my trusted prosumer class camera, not for night, low light & fast shoots...just to name a few situation at least.....

After talking to some real professionals in this field and showing them some of my works I have done on this Panasonic-Leica prosumer, I can conclude it is time for me to move on to the the next level.......time to get really serious after all these years of "searching".......and somehow or rather, I realized my answer to the question I have been asking myself all these years is starting to materialize, I am starting to be able to visualize the answer, maybe not a complete one but it is much clearer then before!

Time for another new journey Torque!

27NOV@0359

That's the most recent photo of our youngest child - Aliya Irdina.
She's the rightful owner of that FisherPrice Trike now!

Today at 3:59am Aliya will be 11 months old.

Which means....the family have been blessed with her presence for 11 months...
That's almost a year....and I am still amazed with the experience - the years of hardships, the researchs & preparation, then finally - out of the sudden - knowing we are going to have a baby, the most exciting 9 months in Mama's life, the delivery time...and...well EVERYTHING! (The "followers" of my little blog (thanx!) would know what I mean)

Yeah....I AM still amazed!

Life has never been boring, never been more meaningful for me, being blessed with 3 greatest kids and the loveliest wife in the whole universe.....

Ayah loves you all so much my dear!

She is just undeniably very pretty...just like her mum & sis

My Most Expensive Hotwheels

I am quite familiar with the brand Hotwheels ever since I was a kid. I am sure most of the people my age would be familiar with this brand too. It is one of the famous toy car producer which production we can buy (affordable - some range of the production) off the shelves of any toy store or supermarket - back in the days when I was still a kid lah.

Although there are more toys that remains in my wish list than the toys that I had during my childhood, I have no grudges at all. In fact I am happy being blessed with parents that cares so much about their children's future and gave the best they could afford for them.

Back to the Hotwheels...if I am not mistaken I actually prefer MatchBox toys, because somehow they have this kind of "suspension" to the wheels...and ohh, some of the models have doors and hoods that really works!

Well anyway, last few weeks I did something quite crazy.....I bought the replica of Renault R26 of Fernando Alonso by Hotwheels!

It took me about 20 minutes tinkering at that toy department......and finally after concluding that it is the last race for Renault by Alonso, the first champion of the V8 series and the 2006 season whole deal of issues the RF1 had to deal with due to FIA regulation (and de-regulation...and re-regulatiion!)...and the the fact that I could not afford the last season's V10 serie replica...I guess it was fair for me to buy that R26 as a memorabilia.

The last F1 car I used to have when I was a child was the black JPS...my favorite but badly damaged - orang lain punya kerja! (I seriously do not know who!) The remnants of that JPS is still there at my kampung.

Ehhh...hey wait a minute! The JPS was not the last, I do have the McLaren RC of David Coulthard!!

Some kids just never grew old eh?

Caught The Lightning

As a photographer wannabe I have always been amazed by the patience and skills (and of course the expensive equipmentes!) of professionals who managed to get amazing images of nature....lightning is one of the titles.

Today, I was almost bored to the bone after I managed to "zhng" things (thant have been ding-donging at the leaders level) with the Zookeeper (the top leader on this floor lah)...I don't wanna talk about work, it seems endless covering things for people who are supposed to be able to think and look at the strategic part of everything....they should be ashamed of me....heheh!

Back to the story I intend to tell here....I almost became Dr Freeze when Sha'arin called me to chek out the scenery....and somehow, I managed to capture a lightning - my first ever - after so many attempts all these years.....

......(posted while listening to Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al")

After Raya

The Family;
The Housewrecking Crew with Tok Mak & Tok Abah & Pak Ngah; Aliya Clowning around

We had a great Raya celebration - went back to kampung for the last few days of Ramadhan (hope to see you again next year Ramadhan!) and first few days of Eid. The kids enjoyed being with the cousins and relatives - the played all day long and had to be forced to sleep! We put up pelita around the compound and played mercun in the night - for the first time in my life I actually bought mercun!

On the third Raya we went back to Kuching - equal excitement! Meet all of our the families over there and as always, everytime we come back to Kuching it is like a holiday.....

....went for river cruise, small family picnic at Pasir Panjang, cool dip at Sungai Cina in Kubah...evening walks at the Waterfront....eat out at the new places and the usual favorite places....arrghhhhhh....can we rewind the time please!!!

...Naufal discovering stuff @ Pasar Satok where there's always something new to discover everytime

Back from Kuching, we spent a night in JB before going back to SateVille.....the first Saturday we organized our yearly OpenHut event at our little homey - the kid had another boost of celebration. This year while some usuals could not make it many new faces turned up - the headcount is probably one of the highest we ever had. Am just glad the guests still love the usual items we serve - by polular demand...could not change the menu due to that!

On Sunday we went to Uncle Bawal's OpenBungalow event - yet another round of celebration for the kids...frankly I am just glad they did not jump into the fish pond!


Wish I can write more but sleep have been an issue ever since I got back from holiday...overall I can say the raya break was really great, a deserved one, and it was really nice....and very frankly I just can't wait to retire from this corporate zoo and live life happily-er than ever over there!

....why can't I just get paid for vacationing instead of doing stuff for stewpeedidiots who get paid more then me?!! For now, I am the only one running the show (although the "leaders" see it as just merely assisting them - DUH!) since CL is on maternity leave...