The Pony Parable- About Photojournalism

Once upon a time, there were two twin brothers. One was an absolute pessimist and one was an absolute optimist.

One day, some psychologists performed an experiment with the boys. In the experiment, the young pessimist was placed in a room filled with all the newest toys. The young optimist was placed in a room filled with horse dung.They were each left alone in these rooms for two hours.

Then, the psychologists interviewed the boys.When the psychologists opened the door to the room filled with new toys, they found the young pessimist sitting in the middle of the floor crying. They asked him what was wrong.He spent the next four hours detailing how he could be hurt or killed by each and every item in the room.

When the psychologists opened the door to the room filled with horse dung, they found the young optimist laughing and throwing manure around the room.

The shocked psychologists said to the young optimist, "We placed you in a room filled with horse dung. What could you possibly be so happy about?"

The young optimist turned to them, pointed at the manure and said with glee, "With all this horse poop, there's got to be a pony somewhere.

"This is photojournalism. If you look for the ponies, you'll find them. Good luck with your search.

Excerpt From: Mark M. Hancock, 22 April 2007, The Pony Parable,http://markhancock.blogspot.com/2007/04/pony-parable.html

New Magazine around Kota Kinabalu-Breeze Magazine

This is the first issue of Breeze Magazine published by AS Trinity Sdn. Bhd. They are giving out this issue for free (for the first issue)... how you can get it? mind to contact me and maybe i can send it to you by post(wah!) (postal charges apply...)...

so whats in it? well, i pick a quote from the editer himself, Mr Jonathan Bong who told us in his editors note that "i have no background in writing ..." (ok, so?) "Breeze magazine aims to create a win-win situation for both readers as well as advertisers..." (ok.. go on...) " Readers will be better informed of the discounts and sales happening in the cit thus saving them money..." (now thats benificial...), "readers will find a wealth of information within the magazine which includes lifestyle, health, fitness, gadgets, travel, cars, foods and entertainment..."

so thats about the content... locations? well, he said that this mag will be distributed at strategic locations such as 'airports, hotels, cafee, restaurant, supermarkets and malls"... hurm...

(Front Cover)
Content
Content

info concerning the magazine:

Publisher: AS TRINITY Sdn Bhd.

Printed By: Syarikat Perniagaan Suria

Editor: Jonathan Bong

Email: breezemag@gmail.com

Christmas Versus Chinese New Year?

I Shot this during my assignment to take pictures of the 5 shooping complex around Kota Kinabalu-Sabah. Its Chinese New Year and you can find lots of Chinese Objects/ symbols hanging around... Picture shows the beautifully arranged Chinese New Year Lucky Lantern hanging all over the ceilings of Karamunsing Shopping Centre. Unfortunately the tree standing tall bellow doesnt seem to resemble any chinese symbolic?! is it happy Christmas Chinese Newyear?
Ok, this looks ordinary and fine... chinese lanterns ofcourse hanging from above... hey... but look down to the bottom>..

Erm, isnt that familiar? i mean a christmas tree figure, i wonder if chinese has any of those figure in their chinese celebration, so far as i am concern... they don't... phew~!.. something missplaced somewhere....

Probably the management of Karamunsing Shopping complex should be aware of it, probably adding some sense of creativity in their decorrrrs... purposedly? maybe their theme for this CNY season is "Happy Christnese New Year"... phew! sorry.... but the pictures clearly says it...

Portraiture of Children

Three kids on the shore... i know you might say its not nice to take such photo, as its a violation of rights, but what im thinking is that they aren't identifiable. so it should be ok. anyway what im portraying here is not the "semi nudeness" of this photo, its about the life of the children in Sabah. Innocent as they seem, they need proper education and concern from people who care. in their hands lies the future... who are supposed to shape them?

You think this shoot (above) is good? nah, i overdone it in photoshop that the skin colors went bad, more biased to yellow and blue. although contrast was good, but it seems slightly overdone. The two pictures above were taken just beside the roundabout near Sabah Trade Centre. the one near to Likas Square, theres a bridge you know near the roundabout... yups, you got it... there... thats what i mean...
This Boy? didn't remember his name, he was quite sillent when i approach him. found him standing wathcing his mum working moping the floor of Warisan Plaza. I did asked for permission and promised not to post this shot for negative purpose... the same goes to this kid... i see a better future in his eyes... but who's willing to shape it?

Fare Well Dinner with En Khairuddin Saisi

The dates has been posponed a few times, i was actually sick of waiting for the exact date, and now it has arrived. The occasion was held at Hotel Emas, one of the well known hotels around Tawau area.
Everyone were well dressed except for me! i was in town the whole day, getting the most of the day when i missed the afternoon bus to college. Luckily there was the evening bus, but guess what, its scheduled to arrive at 5pm and without my concern, the bus to Hotel Emas will be leaving college at 5.30pm. Hey, its just 30minutes ride, but do know that town to college is 36km which means, about 50minutes ride... AURGH! i'll be late....!!!

i was assigned as the official photographer of the event (without payment since its my class event, i did it for FREE!). And my camera is in my hostel... what should i do? Heaven surely had heard my prayers... in momment of distress... i remembered... whats the use of friends! hehehe... i picked my phone and gave an emergency call... not 999 for sure... its my roomate...

Danny was actually sick, but as my roomate... thank goodness... he was there to help me... all my photography kit, including my attire was prepared.... and he saved me... ahaks!!!

Anyway,stop talking about whats before, now the event. The food was nice, the hospitality and other service was professional. the attendence was helpful, the setup was minor but still, well prepared. everything was fine. with the foods delicious and the tables well set up. i really had my time capturing the momments. here are some frozen records of the whole event... enjoy...

The person celebrated-Encik khairuddin Saisi, our headmaster of Physical and Health Education in College. Nice, Charming, Kind, Fatherly caring.... he'll surely be missed by his studentsFrom the left for the above picture: Tan Yen Ping, Siti Mariam, Hasmah, Evelyne, Asmawati, Mhd Faizul, Amita, Hafidah, Fadzilah... (phew, hope that was right... sorry if im not)

Ok, the one beside Mhd Faizul is Sibah... others? they are the same as the previous one...I think im interested in taking her as my portrait model... she's mix Indian-Malay...

Interior... WOW! the lights impress me... (thanks to the camera man (WINK^^,)

Limits on battery packs onboard

i got this information from Jollence regarding how many battery cells are allowed onboard airplanes. i was really surprised to know that it has reduced the numbers. so how are we photographers going to bring our extra batteries during assignments? to check out more about this... you can go directly to this site/ blog post that contain the exact information. "Chase jarvis: New Limits On batteries 2008"

Portraits and Close Ups

For newcommers in the amateur photography world, its not that hard to produce good photo's, if you're not sure of what subject to start with, let me guide you... try doing portrait and close ups of simple subjects such as people and flowers.

This time im posting on portraiture and closeup. This cute lil girl and her father was captured during the potluck session in Tawau Church. when trying to capture portraits, the vital consideration is the expression of the face.

another close up...

and another... try focus on their expression. Waiting for the right momment is the key for best facial expression. dont care what people say about you while you pause and wait. its the product that counts, not the pre-comments that puts you down....
This is another scene taken from a different layout. still with the same technique-photoshop layers.
yellow versus green...

How I Took My Shoots~

Like i say before, photography is full of fun and exciting experience, discover how i took this wonderfull shot as you go through every pictures.

What do you guys think about this? i edited it in photoshop with layers. Top layer was BnW, base layer was colored. i used erasers and a bit of burning here and there for the photo. pluss i tweaked the colors a bit to let it stand out. if you wish to know more.... i can teach you=)

This one of the first shots i took during the first few days right after i got my Pentax k10d. the colors are a bit underexposed yet it was purposedly meant to be so. i'm trying to portray some dramatic effect to the whole scene.

This shot was taken using my Canon Powershot A540 (who says a digital compact can't get great effect like this!!!). all i did was increase the shutter speed, waited for the right momment and snap. Timing is important here...

This is also quite simple, slow down your shutter speed. check for the brightness in your lcd screen, dont just hand held it, make sure your camera is solidly stable to avoid movemment. for this, i placed my Canon Powershot A540 on a stable ground, set the shutter release to 2seconds and crossed fingers"!~ (again, who say a humble digital compact can't take great shot!!!)

This scene is the same as the one taken above. this was taken from another side of the walkway, which is on the right side. i couldn't rest the camera on any solid structure, so what i did was rest my hands while holding the camera on one of the raillings and held my breath. it was quite challanging since the Thai Sky Train caused the ground to shake. however, waiting for the right time pays you well... like this shot...

Free Wallpaper

You want wallpaper for free? i can give this for free for you. hehehe, no kidding... although the quality wont be as good as... those found on the net, but still... this is a good chance for you to collect good quality Sabah Photographs as your wallpaper... all you need to do is send me an email- tico_tic@yahoo.com or tricky_tic@hotmail.com and send me the pixel dimension a.k.a pixel ratio of your monitor screen, and i'll adjust for you the best resolution for your screen.

(pinky green)

(View of Institut Perguruan Tawau, Sabah- where im currently studying now to earn a Bach Degree in Teaching, majoring in Physical & Health)

(Black n White Conversion of IPTS)

A Freelance Photographer Hectic Lifestyle

It’s been a while since I decided freelancing as a photographer, my daily life besides studying also includes practicing my photo editing skills, it’s a hobby that fascinates and boost enthusiasm. This week,4th week of the year 2008, I’m really laid with loads of responsibilities, from meetings to daily assignments, it just keep coming in. Well that’s unavoidable since its… common…

(Malaysia Airlines Tickets.... for sale)
This week’s Wednesday, I went to the MAS office to deal with some ticketing issue for my friends. (WOW Frisco, so kind of you)… that’s also part of my “service” for society. There are about 5 tickets which I have to reconfirm their flights schedule. I arrived at the office at 2 but waited for almost 30 minutes to get to the counter. My number is 79 and the current number is 77 yet I waited for quite a time.

(My Working bag, where i use to put in my laptop, digital camera... and... other stuff..)
It’s not the MAS attendance problem; apparently it’s the costumer who has been chatting with the female attendance… luckily I didn’t take their photo because I was like “hey dude, don’t you know at your back waiting is a photographer, I can let you get published in the headlines you know…!” kinda thing. Harsh, but I can’t avoid thinking about it…

(my BAG.... )
While waiting, I manage to get some creative shots to loosen my boredom. This is my bag that I bought for half the price of 2000bath over in Thailand that day. In it, I store my laptop, digital compact camera, mp4 and other stuff. Very nice bag, it’s a 4 in one bag… there’s a strip for carrying on your shoulder, two backpack stripe, a carrying handle to carry it like a suite case, and then you can backhand carry it too. Nice huh?

(tense.... evryone argue for something... worth argueing...)
Sometimes on certain photography assignment, I prefer to bring this bag with me, I store my laptop, memory cards, D SLR, lens, cables and other equipments in this single bag. Not as safe as the well known photographer bag- Lowepro for sure, but for now, this is somehow good enough for me. Oh, I can hang my tripod too on it… good huh?

(during the meeting which turn out to be... quite disapointing)
In the evening, right after coming back, I didn’t have the time to rest; I’m required to go for a meeting for the Student Representative Department that same evening. Luckily the shower did refresh me, it’s best to have the shock of mix cold fusion to your skin, blood flows really well, causing you to feel… revived…

(My Friend, Carl with his pretty stress face)
Hectic? Not really, I didn’t share it all. If you are in my place… you will be… hell….