More Entangled Shoots

A man, with an unknown past.

A young lady, with a dream for greatness.

A family, with untold hurts.

A wrong, that can never be made right.


When your past threatens to bind you from your future,
Forgiveness is the only way.

A story of love, of dreams, of fear, of forgiveness.

Untold inside the hearts of many people.


Entangled - the Musical

26th March 2008
7.30 p.m.
Kompleks Perdana Siswa (KPS) Auditorium
University of Malaya

(Free Admission)

* * * * *

Just this Sunday we did the shoot for the main cast, writers and musicians.

It was followed on Monday by the ensemble shoot.

I did it with Tim...

... and Yen. It was probably her first time handling an SLR camera for an extended period.


(I think I'm beginning to understand why Anton Corbijn developed--no pun intended--an overexposed black-and-white technique for his subjects, e.g. U2 in the early '80s and in the album booklet of All That You Can't Leave Behind. )

Siew Yong is Anita.

Denis is Bernardo and Shoba is Desiree.

Ai Wei is Cassandra.

Titus is Edmond.

Presenting an original musical by Lee Suit Lin and Jonathan Chu.

The ensemble in formation at the end of the song 'Sweet Melody'.

The ensemble again.

The Ikan Bandaraya Adventure

Jesus said to Simon, "There is nothing to fear. From now on you'll be fishing for men and women." They pulled their boats up on the beach, left them, nets and all, and followed him.

--Luke 5:10-11 (The Message)


It was the afternoon of Jia Hui's birthday. Who knew it would end up this way?

Rachel wrote quite a complete story on her blog. You can read it here.

before we started this getting lost journey, i prayed that we would walk into a violent street protest, meet prostitutes, gangsters, see a fire engine, watch a street poet graffiti at work and more........

but God had better things in store :)

God had better things in store indeed!


p.s. I threw the fish away today. They weren't gutted to begin with, so the salt wouldn't have been really effective in preserving them. Also I think this type of preservation requires heat (read: sunlight) and I don't dare attempt it in college; the monkeys might get ideas!

600: Entangled and Enthused

I think it’s fitting to mark the 600th entry on this blog with a reflection on my recent sabbatical from, and subsequent return to, photography.

* * * * *

During my break, I found myself immersed in several books on lighting and photography, borrowed from the library.

From Lee Frost’s The A-Z of Creative Photography I learnt to manipulate colour using coloured flash and long exposure times. And Gerald Millerson’s Lighting for Television and Film taught me a great deal about atmospheric lighting on set/location. Michael Langford’s Advanced Photography, however, proved a little too technical for my purposes!

* * * * *

Cast
Ai Wei
Amos
Evans
Rachel
Yen

Crew
Adrian
Ann Gie
Chian Ming
Jane
Zach

Props etc.
Ropes
Newspaper
Ketchup
Michael Jackson Live in Bucharest DVD
Black turtleneck
Black jacket
Giant torchlight
Car reflectors
IKEA Lamp (Global)
Rubber bands
Curtain lace
Ladies’ stockings
Face mirror
Large white bedsheet
Foil
Masking tape
Sony Ericsson K700i
Sony Ericsson K750i

(Some things weren’t used in the end, like the newspaper, ketchup, turtleneck, car reflectors, rubber bands and foil.)

Cost
Ropes (assorted thicknesses; total length 105 ft) RM 35.50
Giant torchlight (Eveready Dolphin) RM 40.00
Masking tape RM 4.90

* * * * *

In C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape writes these words to his nephew, a junior tempter called Wormwood:

Fun is closely related to Joy—a sort of emotional froth arising from the play instinct. It is very little use to us. It can sometimes be used, of course, to divert humans from something else which the Enemy [God] would like them to be feeling or doing: but in itself it has wholly undesirable tendencies; it promotes charity, courage, contentment, and many other evils.

Looking back over the last year-and-a-half, it was precisely the fun in photography that I had lost.


One of the things I learnt most from the Entangled Photo Shoot (and the Pesta Tiong Hua photo shoot three hours later) was that a photo shoot is not just a two-way cameraman-cast affair, but a three-way interaction between cameraman, cast/subject and crew.

In the past, I’d always controlled the scene on my own. But I have come to realise that it is extremely beneficial to everyone on set (and it shows in the final product, too) to have several assistants on hand.

It was Adrian who transported everyone (except those from 12th College, who opted to walk back together) back home, especially those living further away like Zach and Rachel. He also took many photos during the shoot itself and operated the lights at many key moments in the creative process. It was also he who took the ‘asylum in blue’ photo.

Ann Gie swapped her shorts for Rachel’s mini-skirt; it had a profound impact on the final product besides giving us lots of food for talk! Also, it was her Sony Ericsson K750i which provided all the lighting for the final few shots, which also happened to be the best pictures of the night.

As the night progressed, Zach got better and better as the lighting man. We nailed the final shot when he used my black UM Planner to shield Ann Gie’s phone camera flash to prevent unwanted stray lighting. Also, he directed the shot of the models tying up the cameraman and provided lighting for the asylum shot.

Chian Ming pulled out in order to rest ahead of some three tournaments ahead of her the next day (basketball finals, tennis prelims), but nonetheless transported virtually everyone and all the equipment to KPS where we did the shoot despite having just returned from a gruelling basketball match.

And although Jane could only stay awhile to see us get started (she had a discussion of some sort to attend), she helped pick up food from Sahur for Evans and set up the bedsheet as our budget backdrop.

The shoot wouldn’t have been what it was if the crew members did not contribute what they did. With much satisfaction and gladness in my heart, I present to you...

The Entangled Photo Shoot!

* * * * *


8.48 p.m. An attempt at 'cloning' Amos. I was experimenting with composite exposures. I think what I should've done was use a little flash to freeze him in place.


9.08 p.m. Adrian and his shadow. Just for fun.


9.47 p.m. Rachel's top is black but appears reddish under blue light, which was produced by placing a sheet of blue cellophane paper over the flash head.


10.17 p.m. Setting up the model and camera positions for the shoot.


10.31 p.m. Reviewing the positions before beginning the shoot proper at about 11.56 p.m.


12.22 p.m. The final and best shot of the first session. There was much room for improvement, and unfortunately I didn't notice that the door behind Evans was slightly ajar.


1.34 a.m. Set-up for the second session.


2.15 a.m. An exhausted cast and crew.


2.22 a.m. The crew in green light. Clockwise from top-left; Ann Gie, Adrian and Zach.


2.25 a.m. Potential album cover? Yen, Evans, Adrian and Rachel looking really 'hot' under red light.


2.44 a.m. The cast and crew decided to exact their revenge on the cameraman for making them endure a somewhat severe shoot. I had Zach fire a blue flash from the side; the picture turned out to be more asylum-ish than I expected.


2.52 a.m. More album cover potential?


Some feedback from after the shoot...

Ann Gie: My throbbing headache was healed last night.
Jane: Please don’t do that next time ya. Kesian them.
Yen: However exhausting the Entangled photo shoot was, it has failed to dissuade me from taking part in any more shoots.

* * * * *

I had barely two hours of sleep between five and seven-something, before I was awakened by How who came to give me my Pesta Tiong Hua III (PTH III) t-shirt and call me down for the shoot.


The glare from the morning sun provided the perfect opportunity to put the car reflectors to good use, for they had not been utilised thus far. This second shoot reinforced the lessons I learnt from the first, i.e. that a photo crew can be an invaluable element and that simple props used creatively can produce--if not surpass--the effects brought about by expensive professional equipment.


In the spirit of light manipulation, I decided to have all the exco portraits done with reflected light. One reflector was held to Say Siong's right slightly above his head level (to block the sun), while the other was positioned to his left near ground level to bounce the light and give a more dynamic, three-dimensional feel to what might have otherwise been a rather flat and dull photo.

* * * * *

After editing the best of the photos, I came up with this:


The Creative Director gave it a seven out of ten.

Others have commented that it looks very theatrical; one said it looks like a movie advertisement.

My art is not Deviantart. It’s probably nowhere near those strong, sparse graphics that often work so well as pieces of art. If you ask me, I can’t for the life of me tell you why I go through so much trouble to produce something that has lesser emotional impact than a lot of the stuff my peers (and many creative media photographers) are producing.

In essence, I realise my pictures have been increasingly complex experiments and games with light. And I truly believe it was this incident that set it off:


If you ask me what it is I hope to achieve with my pictures, I cannot tell you for I do not know myself. Perhaps once again I must turn to a comparison with the band that has time and again inspired me, encouraged me and challenged me over the last few years.

The early days of U2 were marked with many experiments, few breakthroughs, lots of fun and raw, imperfect glimpses of mountains yet to be scaled. We need only to recall the unusual percussion sounds on ‘I Will Follow’ produced by breaking bottles and running forks through bicycle wheel spokes. But it was the whole joy of working together and having fun in the recording studio that made U2 what they were, and I believe, what they still are today.

* * * * *

It seems I have been less prolific of late. When I wrote the 500th entry here, I was averaging 250 posts a year. This post arrives over a year after the 500th, so in terms of quantity I'm not half the blogger I used to be!

But what a year it has been! Growing as a writer, a photographer, a person...

Photography used to be about taking snapshots and selecting the best of the lot, editing a little and printing/blogging them. Now I am far slower; often I spend ages thinking of a shot, and more ages setting it up. The end results aren't always breathtaking, but I have noticed that each shot means something special to the people involved in it.

If I may indulge a little philosophy, perhaps the question that begs an answer at this point is, "What is photography?" Lai Voon Loong of The Star, Kelvin Chan of DDB and David Doubilet of National Geographic would probably give different answers. What about Benjamin Ong?

Maybe my answer reflects my status as a budget photographer with neither high-end gear nor the means by which to acquire them; I realise I have developed in this way because of the restrictions imposed upon me by my equipment.

And my answer at this point is this: I paint with light. I am less interested in a subject for what it is than for how it interacts with light. Not all my photographs are art, and not all my art is photography; but such are the photos produced when these two worlds collide. Perhaps in some ways I'm a minimalist; but if that is so, I am only a minimalist with objects and equipment, not with time.

I have also discovered that I have no compunctions when it comes to certain types of 'vandalism', like removing man-made objects from natural scenes or getting rid of items that get in the way.


There is no real way to end this post, for it is merely a transition from one 'epoch' to another. The Ipoh trip taught me a lot about photography and has inspired me in many ways. I will blog on it soon, once I get my photos and thoughts in order.

I have learnt a little here and there from great photographers, and glimpses of Ira Block and Lisl Dennis will be readily apparent. But Ipoh was more than a photographic holiday; at some points I felt as if I was walking in a past I never knew, but only heard of in stories. And at other points I felt a connection to the rest of the world.

I've been inspired to take my photography in certain directions, some of them eccentric and all requiring lots of hard work. I don't know when I'll be able to see those dreams and visions come true, but for now I suppose I can at least share them.

And in writing I have been challenged to embark on a project similar to Alice Munro's in her collection of short stories, The View from Castle Rock. There were occasions when I really could see myself as a National Geographic writer/photographer... ah, such dreams.

But the most interesting stories probably have little to do with my photos or writings. The most stirring, electrifying and perhaps ultimately encouraging tales are always about the people in a place: encounters with the pretty girls of Ipoh, theories about the agents of the criminal underworld, voices of another era and perhaps even another planet, a car that became one of the best models on the trip, and of course... the crazy things a bunch of young adults can do given the right space and the right company!


Coming soon.

Last year's last words

I wrote early last December that I would be without my photographs for awhile. However the cause of that was not to be.

The night of Christmas Eve, my parents surprised me with this:


Managing my photographs and jotting down thoughts when there's no paper (or on the rare occasions when I would rather type than write) has never been easier.

Thanks Mum and Dad!

* * * * *

At the Overcomers' Christmas dinner, I had my first feel of Nikon's D40. Marie had acquired a second-hand unit and was busy snapping the night away.

So it happened that sometime after dinner, the children nested themselves in the attic, watching Rush Hour 3. I found Eunice and Marie somewhere at the back of the room, and spotted their tripod. In the spirit of my recent experiments I thought of doing a long exposure, just to show Eunice what the camera-and-tripod combination is capable of doing.

This was the result, here corrected for white balance:


That was probably the highlight of the night, besides getting feedback for the 2nd College photo competition, settling a dispute with Eunice over Christine's camera model, and playing 'Christmas Isn't Christmas' with Uncle Lawrence.


(Note that in my long exposures, both here and in general, I usually allow for just enough light to bring out the features in all the subjects. You may have to adjust the brightness of your monitor screen to view the pictures clearly.)

Two Trips, Twenty Photographs

I generally dislike putting up entries with more than five pictures, but there are some reasons I'm doing this:

1. To share a little of my trips last December.
2. To keep an online backup copy of the photos, just in case.
3. To showcase the artwork of some of my friends.

The photos are more or less in chronological order; I didn't bother checking too much. :-P

* * * * *

Malacca


An alley somewhere in the vicinity of Jonker Walk.


We passed by a shop selling mirrors.


Not much of a photograph, but I was quite fascinated by the horse.


Oh, the copious amounts of background distractions we had to relocate in the making of this shot!


As if anyone would surf the internet here.


At the Geographer Cafe, Jonker Walk.


I was struck by the irony of a Malaysian flag on a Portuguese fort.


Valerie took this picture and christened it 'The Tired Traveller'. And no, I wasn't posing; I was only sitting there.


Entangled roots at the foot of St Paul's Hill, behind the Stadhuys.

* * * * *

Cameron Highlands


Early shafts of light greet the sleepyheads in the dorm.


Our little friend turned out to be quite a companion in our adventures.


Shern Ren strikes... and he scores!


Not the usual group photo.


The hands that give us BOH Tea. A personal favourite (picture) of mine and Li-Shia's.


The product of Joan's 'blunt, naive idea'.


Alaga, one of the plantation workers, at the barbecue pit.


Another of Shern Ren's triumphs. I like the backlighting.


I attempted this shot from an angle similar to that used in a dramatic black-and-white hanging in the hall at the MNS-BOH Centre.


While waiting for Mr Moorthy to send us down.


Probably the most artistic portrait of RELA officers I have yet seen.

The First Photo Win

Winner of the I-Snap Photography Competition, Minggu Minda Kreatif VII, 2nd Residential College, University of Malaya. (Picture cropped to 8R and slightly brightened.)

The competition was open to all UM students and ran for several months. The submission dates were 2 and 3 January and judging was on the 12th.


I'd like to thank, in general order of comments given, Li-Shia, Valerie, Dad, Zhen Quan, Eunice, How, Shannon, Adrian, Chee Seong, SooT and Yen. My shortlist was compiled based on your feedback.

(For the record, the winning picture was voted for by Dad, Zhen Quan, How and Christine. Though of course this doesn't necessarily mean it was the best of the lot, only that the judges saw it as the best of the pieces submitted, and I did not submit all the ones I shortlisted due to the limit of three entries per participant.)


I'd also like to thank;

Christine for helping me decide on the final three that would be sent, especially on such short notice.

Chian Ming for accompanying me to 2nd College (before TITAS class last Tuesday) to look at the entries on display (hence being the first to know when I received the phone call then), and for coming again with Adrian on Thursday to witness the prize-giving ceremony.

* * * * *

I told myself I'd say it if/when I won my first competition. Since there was neither time nor space for an acceptance speech, I'll say it here:

"This win is for you, Dad!"


In the greater scheme of things, I'd like to thank in particular:

My parents for supporting this 100% non-profit hobby of mine over the last year and a half.

Christine for introducing me to the world of SLRs and turning me into a Nikonian.

My friends who have over the years filled the frame of my camera. Every photo taken, every blunder made, every glimpse of glory was a step towards the photographer I am today.


All glory goes to God, because there are two equally miraculous stories behind this picture.

On the second day in Mersing, I decided in the morning's quiet time that I would structure my photos around Psalm 104; the fruit of that labour appeared on my blog in the 31 July entry last year.

What I did not mention on the blog (but which was referred to in an issue of the Triple-M, Mensa Malaysia's official magazine) was the story behind the bird picture. The 12th verse kept eluding me:

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
They lift up their voices among the branches.

The few birds I spotted in Mersing weren't on branches, and those that were were comfortably out of sight, hidden amidst the leaves. It was in Kluang that the breakthrough came. As we were leaving Michelle's house for church, this little bird perched itself on the bare tree.

Immediately I saw the photo I was waiting for, fumbled for my 55-200mm lens, quickly attached it to the D50 (I think I actually had to remove the other lens, either the 18-55mm or the 50mm, first!), pointed the camera out of the car window and pressed the shutter.

There was no time to adjust anything and I was too excited and desperate not to let the moment pass. And then the bird flew away, as suddenly as it appeared. I had no time to make a second exposure. If I could sum up the entire blessedness of the whole trip--for indeed it was blessed in many many ways--in one moment, that was it.

The second miraculous story is somewhat more general where it concerns photography: it is the miracle behind every photograph.

Because if you go back nearly 170 years to 1839, you would have heard the words exclaimed by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre when he produced the world's first photograph: "I have captured the light!"

And if you go further, much, much further back than that, you would have heard the first words echoing across a dark universe:

"Let there be light!"

The Ticking Rat

Tee Ming will be an MC for the Chinese New Year celebrations at her campus, USM Kubang Kerian. She wanted to include a poem in her speech and so turned to the last poet in the world I'd approach for help. *wink*

In conversation a little punlike idea came to me. I was thinking of the Chinese term for rat, laushu and somewhere along the way a word linked to a common rat-prompted emotion suggested itself: "Shoo!"

(Of course there is that other emotion: "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!" but I think it might be a little too unorthodox. :-P)

So it started with this line, "Shoo laushu!" and Tee Ming was in stitches. I think we both half expected me to come up with something a little deeper and more serious, and half expected this crazy idea to be more fully explored.

Within the same conversation, the "tick tick tick" part came about, and basically I knew from that point on that this would not be a serious poem, nor was meant to be. And for the first time in my life I wrote something based entirely on a sense of loose fun, wild language devices and multilingual references.

(I will not elaborate upon it here, but the more musically inclined may attach some minor significance to the arrangement of the lines within each stanza.)

* * * * *

The Ticking Rat

There's a rat-tat-tat at the door;
The old year's not here anymore.
Caught between an end and a start
Be still, be still, my restless heart.

There is comes again; shoo! shoo, laushu, shoo!
I rest upon the rhythmic clock, as it
Ticks. Tick, tick, tick... tikus!
A yell echoes through the hall
Racing the yeli back to whence it came.

Run! Run! Run! The New Year has begun.

Selah

Cameron Highlands was a great experience.

And it was a great photographic experiment. Changing hands and drive-by landscape photography were some of the highlights.

And I probably had the greatest success-to-shots taken ratio of all my trips so far.


I am now in the midst of a three-week photo sabbatical.

I need to rest and, to borrow a U2 phrase but quoted on a much smaller scale, 'dream it up all over again'.

Into 2008 with mamak and junk food

So the new year has begun, and I haven't taken any photos yet. My first shoot is on the 12th this month for the Executive Council of my college's Chinese Festival.

So the new year has come, and I haven't written any essays/stories yet. My first assignment is for the April-May issue of Asian Beacon. Peer pressure? BGR? The perfect holiday? Youth temptations?

* * * * *


Spent the night of New Year's eve with these two. We spent three hours at Sahur's Cafe over e-mee sup, (a very spicy) mee ladna, rice with daging kunyit, SooT's bandung panas and several glasses of juice. We then counted down in one of the deadest places: Dataran Sastera in UM.

And believe me, last night it was DEAD.

Yen would remember the smiling Mat Salleh.


Introducing...

Shutterbug the Third (of the three of us).