Nikon Club - Video Workshop

This workshop was the first I had been to in KL, and I have to say the experience was much better over in Sabah for workshops! The teacher was awesome but the classroom was way too small for everyone and it didn't feel as friendly. I learnt heaps though, and for me the highlight was seeing a video of time lapse made for yahoo and maybank that took 5 months to make! We were shown various tools we can use for taking videos, remote control skateboards for example. We got to try out a few things at the centre, and left with a lot of notes on how to make videos and some basics about editing. I haven't yet done much with video, but now have a lot of ideas......

Exhibition: Nikon Centre, Kuala Lumpur

While I was in KL, I went to the Nikon Centre for the video workshop, and also saw their exhibition which had various themes. Most photos were street photography involving locals, and were taken for nikon competitions. There were some interesting scenes and it was a good introduction to towns I have not yet visited in Malaysia. There was a real mix of colour, black and white and HDR. The HDR images were still a little surreal though, I still am not sure what my thoughts are on that!

Nikon: Photo 3 workshop, Kota KInabalu

After a wait, we finally saw a Photo 3 workshop coming up, and so got Anna to come too as she was looking for a more creative workshop than the practicality of Photo 1 and Photo 2. This workshop has a more practical element and involves going out on a shoot where you have to focus on texture, mood, colour among other things. I chose to focus on texture. Of course the photo shoot happened in the middle of the day, not the optimum time for a shoot, but nevertheless, the 4 of us who went out together had some fun and felt challenged by it. We then had to submit 3 images, which were then critiqued by others, although due to the sheer amount of participants, by the time they got to mine it didn't really happen! I had lots of fun taking shots of things being carried in the back of 4 wheel drives, which of course attracted a lot of attention :)

I chose these 3 as they were varied but each one does fit my chosen theme of texture. The jeans were hanging in the area of KK town where the graffiti is, and I liked the texture of them and also the colours. I was again using the 50 mm lens, and had my aperture set at 1.8, a challenge in such bright sunshine! The leaf was a colour contrast as well as a texture one, and I thought the number plate was a fun picture of the theme.

Nikon Club: Get Together 3, Kota Kinabalu

On the 26th Feb, Nikon had another get together in KK, which was a great chance to catch up with old friends and practice shooting models again. This was also a competition to win a nikon 1 camera, and so there was a lot of motivation to try and get good shots :) There was a lot of excitement from the male quarters as one model in particular did not appear to be wearing much! We followed the crowds, and watched as others set the models up and then shot. I was limited to my 50mm f1.8 lens as lending Anna the d3100 meant we had to give her my kit lens, but actually this proved a useful exercise in using one focal length and I enjoyed it. I had lots of flash issues, I kept getting everything overexposed despite using it under power. It was also tricky as lots of people were using flash and sometimes I got a few flashes in my photo which didn't help with the overexposure issues!

Overall, I was pleased with some of my shots, despite this definitely not being my first choice of shoot (documentary is soooo much more my thing, I hate set up shoots).

Nikon club Photo Search and Exhibition - Oct

I went to KK for the Photo Search run by Nikon. This was lots of fun - groups of 3 were given 35 cryptic clues to solve and each member had to take a photo of the answer. The weather sucked, it rained which was nice from a temperature point of view, but not good from a having to put your camera away all the time point of view! We had 3 hours.....it was pretty exhausting! We decided to do the clues backwards to keep away from the crowds. We arrived back at base pretty exhausted but were given lunch which was a nice touch. We then downloaded all the images....and waited a few days for the results.

The opening of the Nikon Sabah exhibition was later that day, which was great to see. Club members around Sabah had images depicting various places and the wildlife that lives there. It was a rare opportunity to actually look at images in this way, normally I only have the internet to look at! I also got to talk to a few of the photographers with work on display.

Speedlight Workshop

At the beginning of September, I went to a Nikon Club workshop about using a speedlight. I have had mine for years, and have used it very occassionally for events, but have never really realised the full potential and decided a workshop was the best way to learn. I also enjoy the time spent with other local photographers anyway.

We learnt about all the settings I have been too scared to try, and about how to use the flash remotely triggered by the on-camera flash. We were able to use 5 flashguns to light photos as we each had one, which was tricky but lots of fun. It was so hard as we didn't have anything except our hands to hold the flashguns, and trying to hold them evenly when different people were in control was almost impossible! We had the chance to be models and pose, then direct shots and show everyone else where to hold their flashes!

Nikon Club Walkabout - Tanjung Aru Beach

I joined the Nikon Club walkabout in Kota Kinabalu on the 1st September, where club members get together and have models available to shoot. It is a great way to get to know people, especially as you usually meet people going to the workshop the next day if there is one. The models they had were a bit more experienced than the ones in Tawau, and a few portrait photographers were asking them to pose in certain ways. The main challenge is to get your shot whilst in amongst a large group of people all trying to do the same thing! The session was cut short as the storm clouds rolled in, although as we soon found out the beach didn't get rain but the town certainly did!

 This shot is ok but I needed the speedlight to add a little more light to her face as the scene was backlit.

 Here I did use the speedlight, but it needs less power. :)

 This father and son walked along as I was trying to inch my way in among the other photographers......

 It was hard to get the front spot, but I liked the unevenness of this image.

 This would be better if the horizon was straight, and the sea lower than the head line.

 This is what a typical shoot looks like!

 Just as we thought it was going to rain, this lady was persuaded to pose for us!

The storm!

So I have finally taken the plunge and decided to recommence my photoraphy studies. I heard that OCA had completely revamped the PWDP course and so decided to give it another go. My interest in photography has been renewed since joining the Nikon Club in Malaysia www.nikonclub.com.my and going to their workshops in Sabah. Although the workshops I have been to were quite basic, it has sparked my interest, and I am looking forward to the upcoming Speedlight workshop in Kota Kinabulu. I have had a speedlight for years and use it occassionally, but have never really sat down to learn about how to use it more effectively. In the last school holidays, myself and a friend who also comes to the workshops visited the Nikon Centre in KL, which is where I got to play with a D7000, and I managed to get some good advice about why I should upgrade my D90 - is it really that much better? Well, they managed to persuade me, and I am soooo glad I got it. It's lovely. I am currently using it to take photos in classes I observe and it really does seem to cope well in challenging light situations. I look forward to using it for assignments in the upcoming course!

Hopefully my pack will get sent to me today, I am not sure how long it will take to make it to the Borneo shores! I already have some idea of what the first assingment is though from the sneak preview on the website and other people's blogs, and I am already inspired. But I will not plan anything concrete until I have read the official guide :) and make sure I really know what I need to do.

I have been continuing to listen to photo podcasts to keep myself up to date, and I still read Amateur Photograper on my ipad, as well as some Malaysian photography magazines (luckily they print a few in English, my Malay is not quite that good yet!).