one night at masjid jamek

For those who like to roam the streets for photo opportunities, after rain is the best time to hit the streets as reflections from the wet streets via the night's natural and street lightings are aplenty.

This was taken along the pavement between Masjid Jamek and HSBC building. It rained earlier and as the streets are drying up, ahh...nice!

be creative. any time of the day...

Early this morning, I decided to start the day with some creative stuff.

Had no idea what to expect but it turned out pretty fun.

Pictures taken with my Sony Xperia S with minor editing on Instagram.

Thought it was Furby staring at you?

Look closer...

It was my car instrumentation panel...LOL!

vacation photos: it's pretty easy, I promise...

Ok, this is not about camera bags as I promised in the previous post but I suddenly had the urge to share something on vacation photos so here goes...

I love travelling and no trip is a good trip without packing my gear and making arrangements for an “absolute my own personal time” photography session. And I have quite a few interesting stories to share on this. But that’s for another day.

Today I want to talk about the joy of family and/or friends vacation pictures.

(A) 
These are the ingredients for a nice series of vacation shots:

• A few people: in a family and/or a group of buddies of course.

• A holiday destination: holiday means you are not on a working trip or something similar. You cannot be working on your vacation.The thing is your mind won’t rest if you bring your work along and if your mind can’t relax, you won’t have the urge to shoot nice pictures. Also if you are in a group guided trip, ditch the tour guide. He is only interested in making commissions from your purchases, your vacation and memories mean nothing to him. For this obvious reason, I always prefer to plan my own itinerary. That frees me with the time and flexibility to go anywhere and stay as long as I wish there.

• A camera: it may be your Canon 1DX or just a simple point and shoot or even your mobile phone camera sans the Internet connection that pushes emails through them…and of course, keeping the camera in your beach bag doesn't help. So always have it handy and ready for the shots.

(B)
Having checked the ingredients above, let’s look at the rules for some decent vacation pictures. As far as I’m concerned, there are only 2 rules:

• Shoot wide: use wide angle, prime lens where possible. Leave those bazooka-sized zooms at home unless you are training to be paparazzi. Photography is about learning something new in every new shot. To learn, you need to get close to your subjects. Simple logic.

• An eye for details: don’t just glance, always take a second look. It will make you focus twice or even stare into it for sometime…and I’m not talking about the braless chick in a white wet tee. I’m talking about things that are happening around you.

• Ok…maybe I’m forcing this 3^rd rule in: travel light, but travel for your photo-shoot even lighter since you’ll be doing a lot of walking.

Put (A) and (B) together and you’ll have some great memories captured to be shared (or maybe even bragged) with your family or buddies, depending who you left behind for the trip.

You can't run too far away from the beach in any vacation can't you?

Ok not when you're is a safari trip.

Reflections and shadows.

Over and under (exposure I mean...)

Fun in the sun.

Lonely.

My buddy shot this.

He is my son.

He is 10.

Samsara. 

These flags are massive.

I always wonder how people carry, let alone balance them.

Green mamba.

Innocence kills.

I mainly use this EF 50mm F/1.8 II lens for my street works, well for most of my work in fact. It is no doubt my ‘prime’ lens.

Not the smoothest and discreet lens but at RM290 (<USD90) a pop, dare I complain? Some toys are way more expensive that this ‘gem’ of a very affordable lens. I hasten to call it a ‘cheap’ lens as I think it will be an injustice to refer to it as such.

This lens is incredibly sharp and focuses very fast, for the price that is. I’ve seen some people comparing this with the L lens and I think those who do that sort of comparison are crap simply because they are going “out of focus” by choosing to compare this with a lens that costs 18 times more than the other. It’s worse when those doing such comparisons are professional photographers (or those who claim to be pros).

One fella commented in a popular forum saying, “it’s a good lens, but crappy construction, mine is full of dust inside…”

I think he should correct his comment to say, “it’s a good lens, but I’m a crappy photographer as mine is full of dust inside…”

Bro, your lens will be full of dust INSIDE if you do not have a clue how to use and take care of it. It has got nothing to do with the construction of the lens, regardless how crappy it may be.

Most of the pictures you see in this blog are shot using this ‘beggar’s gem’ of a lens.

Cheap good lens or good cheap lens? You decide :)

Verdict: this is a must in your camera bag!

And speaking of camera bag, look out for the next entry on camera bags!

(Product photos are property of Canon)

creative use of "props"

Today's quickie post is on creative use of "props"...in inverted commas because it can be difficult to tell between the actual props and the imaginary ones ;)

 Those are real almonds on the 'plate'.

The 'setting' was a page from Ikea's catalogue.

Almost surreal huh? ;p

 This is what I call a fluke shot.

I held a book up on my face and shot this with my mobile phone camera.

One attempt. 

That's all. 

Pure luck.
And for once, damn I'm good looking ;p

One of my favourites.

Scene was a painted billboard.

Models requested to have their pictures taken on these imaginary seats.

Creative little fellas :)

seng nam: end of an Icon

Restoran Sin Seng Nam has been the indisputable icon of "good food at good prices" that cooks up a variety of delicacies for breakfast and lunch for folks in KL for the past 85 years.

It recently serves it last customers on 28 February 2013 much to the disappointment of many of its regulars.

Seng Nam has been my daily breakfast joint for the last 2 years not just because it is just a stone's throw away from my office but the pull factor was, it serves the best 'roti bakar' (toast in margarine and kaya) in town, perfectly done half-boiled eggs, fried meehoon in small plates that get snapped up as soon as it hit the table and Hainanese-styled western breakfast sets. The chee-cheong-fun stall also has its stream of followers, selling around 800-1000 pieces daily at RM0.80 a piece.

For lunch, its Hainanese chicken rice, chicken chop and fried noodles are to die for, evidenced by the fact that an average wait for the latter two dishes is usually in the region of 20 minutes. Besides Seng Nam's own delicacies, there is a stall that dishes out delicious mee rebus and rojak in various options, plus of course, chee-cheong-fun. 

If you are wandering why there are no photos of the delicacies mentioned above...hmm...this is a street photography blog, not a food blog :p

Those who are not regulars usually have not a so pleasant review of the restaurant with the usual grouse being its unfriendly staff. I've read about this 'unfriendly staff' complaints in almost every food blog that writes about Seng Nam.

Well if you are a regular here, you really can't complain about anything in Seng Nam. The staff are not rude or unfriendly. They are a bunch of aged people who have worked there all their lives. They may not be the types who'd flash their smiles and welcome you like some fine dining spots but they know their regulars by name, they know what their usual customers have for their meals, how much sugar and milk their customers prefer in their coffee and they always have time for a quick chat by your table.

One the last day it was opened for business, scores of people stormed the place for breakfast and lunch. By 8am, they were out of food for breakfast and by 11.30am the queue for their famous chicken rice went up to UOB Bank which is 5 shop lots away. Seng Nam do not want to disappoint their customers on this day. Around 12 noon that day, they informed customers that the next batch of chicken rice will only be ready in 2 hours time...many stood waited still.

Many of their regular customers were seen with their cameras, taking away some of the last memories they could preserve.

These are some shots of the famous Sin Seng Nam on its last day of business.

I'm really going to miss this place :(

Some of the usual faces you'll stumble upon in Seng Nam, every morning.

This Malay couple are a daily regular and never fail to show up around quarter past 7.

 Ah Loong.
Always jovial and treats each of his customers with amazing rate of respect.

 Ah Loong with one of his regular customers.

Multi-tasking...two cups in one hand while collecting cash from his customers is common.
On some rare moments where he gets a quick break, he will sit down at us table and join us for breakfast while having a quick chat.

 Ah Loong going about his usual chores as streams of customers whisk in and out while some enjoying their meals.

 Reflection. Reminiscent.

 She normally packs her coffee and toasts. 
Her child will miss out on one of the finest makan (eateries) place in town.

You'll never find another Chinese restaurant where all the races, even the Muslims congregate for their meals without a hint of worry and concern.

 View from outside Seng Nam. Huge picture of The Beatles hung on one of its walls.

 Side entrance. As one of Seng Nam's earliest daily customers, this is where I usually walk in from.

My favourite shot of the day. 
As this father and daughter duo walked past me while I was framing the shot, I overheard the little girl asking her father, "Why so many people today?"

Her dad retorted, "Honey, it's the last day today. They are closing down already."
There was silence thereafter.

I doubt the girl understands the significance of it...but a part of my life is gone.

photography workshop for children

I'd like to share something exciting...

I choose to focus on street photography because I believe there is a story waiting to be told behind each photograph. But stories can't be told unless we put at least an interesting caption or better yet, a synopsis to it. 

Then for a more compelling tale, we would need to describe the scene, why the photo was being taken, the surrounding circumstances that people don't see beyond the frame and more.

The photo is just one scene, the description tells the story.

The objective of this workshop is to encourage children to be able to tell a story through the combination of photography and writing.

With this in mind, I would like to share this self-improvised workshop in the art of street shooting coupled with the skills of story writing.

Here are some preliminary details:

Workshop Duration:	4 weekends
What:	Classroom lecture
	Street shooting
	Story writing (based on photographs taken)
	Assessment
Where:	Kuala Lumpur (actual venue to be confirmed)
Class size:	Maximum 6
When:	Workshop starts when the first 6 sign up
Who:	Children between 15 to 18
What you need:	A camera (digital or film)

Charges will be minimal as I am sourcing for sponsors / donation for this workshop. I also plan to fund this via crowd-funding where necessary. 

If sponsorship is encouraging, we will provide all the essential tools to the children to make their learning experience a truly memorable and productive one.

I do not aim to make money out of this as my main objective is sharing but I need to cover certain aspect of the cost involved. So kindly drop me a line if you or someone you know wishes to sponsor this programme.

Medium of instruction will be in English or Bahasa Malaysia depending on group preference.

Contact me at 0126652323 or quartzimodo@gmail.com

Or leave me a word on this page.

Thank you!

missed photo opportunities…or not exactly

How many times have you come across a scene that you feel will make a good picture but missed taking the picture possibly because you do not have your camera with you at that moment or you missed the timing completely?

Some photographers’ advice is to take note of the missed photo opportunity and revisit the place hoping that the scene or a better one might be recreated. I do not take notes but I do make it a point to remember the scene. Here’s how…

I have this aptitude for “taking a picture” with a blink of my eyes. I’ve done it for years and I can recall and playback these “pictures” vividly anytime.

It may sound weird but it is, for me, a way to capture the perfect images that put a smile on my face every time I play them back…pretty freaky huh? Haha…I’m grinning even as I’m writing this because a few interesting images flashed across my mind…

I actually do carry my camera with me most of the time. However carrying your camera does not always mean you have to click the shutter. Many a times, I’ve have the shot framed but I stopped short of click the shutter and ended up giving the shot a miss altogether. I’m pretty sure some of you have this experience. For me this is perfectly fine. If the shot is worth taking, it would have been “shot” with my eyes anyway ;)

my first SLR...and the drama of how I came to own one

The previous 2 posts were a bit of a diversion from the originally promised upcoming post...so let's get back on track here...

Known as the Canon EOS 500N or New EOS Kiss in Japan and Rebel G in US, this was the very first SLR camera I owned. How I came into investing in this camera? Thanks for asking ;p

As a student back then, I used to commute in my trusty motorcycle (the folks here referred to one as ‘kapchai’) it’s a rather small Suzuki Best 110cc bike that made me looked like a performing circus bear when riding it as I’m rather huge.

What does this bike had to do with my eventual foray into owning my first SLR?

One evening, while resting at home, one of my students (I used to conduct private tuition to secondary school students to earn some extra income) came over to my place and asked to borrow my bike. He said his dad was involved in a traffic accident and he needs transport to get to the scene. I gave my keys to him without thinking twice.

Until very late that night, there was still no sight of this guy and my bike. Then I walked to his house which was just about 200m away from mine. To my surprise I saw his dad, and his car at home. So I asked his dad if he had been involved in any accidents and where the boy was. He replied in the negative and told me that they have had an argument earlier in the day and he ran off from house.

Reality set in. My bike has been stolen! Although technically I actually gave the keys to him…so in essence I was duped into parting with my bike.

I made a police report the next day and went shopping for a new bike a few days later because I was not confident that the police would eventually find it but within a month, the police had found the boy and my bike. By then I had already gotten myself a new (and bigger) bike, a Yamaha TZM 150.

When the bike was found, it was already heavily modified, probably to make it difficult for the police to identify it. Kid’s got great talent in modding bikes I must say. If not for the chassis number stamped on the engine, I would not have recognised my bike at all.

I brought it to the very shop I purchased it from…the same shop I had purchased my new bike to replace this one and I asked the owner of the shop to give me a good price for it. The owner said he’ll take it for RM1,400 (USD450 at current exchange rate). I took the offer and he paid me cash for it.

It was also during that time that I started surveying for a new camera, one that would be my official first SLR. There were not much of information on cameras on the Internet back then and couple that with my online search skills that was mostly limited to searching a certain types of pictures ;)

I had to resort to the shop owner’s recommendations, and the fact that he has a pretty assistant in the shop helps (for his business of course)…naïve young man meets pretty sales assistant with a cute smile = higher rate of securing sale! Simple equation.

He took out a Canon EOS 500N and a Minolta (can’t remember the exact model). I was immediately attracted to the Canon design. Now looks actually counts when it comes to product selection, at least to a novice who does not know what he’s buying.

He gave me some discounts and freebies in the form of a Canon camera bag, some 6 rolls of films, accessories such as cleaning kit, etc in a ‘starter kit’ bundle, all for RM1,400!

Coincidence? Perhaps.

I was now a proud owner of this EOS 500N. I was indeed a beauty of a camera, at least that’s how I thought of this camera. It comes with an 18-55mm EF kit lens to get a novice like me started in photography. I recently took this out from my store and tested in out and it still works! My habit of taking care and storing my stuff well contributed to this.

Click here for the complete specification of the 500N

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/eos/eoscamera/EOS500nRebelGKiss2/eos500NrebelGspec.htm

I would later add a battery grip, a Canon Speedlite 380EX, a Canon EF 75-300mm f4/5.6 III USM lens and some pretty neat camera support to the kit :)

More on the upcoming posts ;)

Note: Product pictures shown here are from Google Images

photography journey so far...

how it all started...

I started taking pictures using my dad’s old trusty (and still working) Ricoh KR-5 when I was 13. 

This is a sturdy model, through-the-lens (TTL) viewfinder (which means no parallax error) 35mm camera with excellent built quality and a very nice weight ratio piece.

Basic specs of the KR-5:

Type:	35mm film SLR camera
Lens mount:	K bayonet mount
Lens:	Riconar 55mm f/2.2 prime, 4 elements in 4 groups
Shutter:	mechanically-controlled, vertical travel, focal plane shutter with metal curtains
Shutter speed:	1 to 1/500th of a second, B (bulb)
Flash X sync:	1/8th to 1/60th of a second
Viewfinder:	eye-level pentaprism viewfinder with exposure meter needle
Focusing screen:	diagonal split-image spot in microprism image band surrounded by Fresnel field
Exposure meter:	TTL full open metering for centre-weighted average light reading coupled to shutter speeds, film speeds and f-stops
Battery:	2 1.5V G13 silver oxide batteries
Weight:	approx. 680gms with lens and batteries

I had this camera stored in an air-tight container for many years when I switched to a different camera, my very first own SLR. 

Lately I took the KR-5 out and found that it is still very well kept. The condition inside is still almost as new and on the exterior, it only showed a little sign of wear and tear.

I decided to have it serviced and after spending a couple of weeks in the camera service centre, it is now back with me. I grabbed some Ilford 400 B&W films and I'm going to take it for a test drive soon…after more than 10 years not seeing action.

Back then, film cameras ruled and the biggest difference shooting films compared to the present digital media is, cost!

With films, I was always careful with my shots so as not to waste money on expensive films (yes, films price in Malaysia are expensive by our standards) and we pay separately for processing / development fees and, printing cost. 

Anyone shooting films can vouch for the fact that shots are more carefully planned as each frame of your film's exposures means a lot. With memory cards in the digital era, we can somehow afford to be a little shutter-happy.

My dad bought this amazing camera in Singapore as a family camera although it did nothing to spur my interest into the world of photography.

The camera feels heavy, built quality was like a tank, even the plastic parts felt like they’ll last 3 millenniums. It has been my trusted camera for many years and hopefully for many years to come.

I’m still puzzled why he bought the camera back then as he has no interest in photography whatsoever and what we needed actually was a simple point and shoot for our family events. But I owed it to him for introducing me to a world beyond what my usual eyes are able to see (and still seeing)…hmm…sounds a little philosophical (and freaky) huh?

A few years later, I actually began getting more interested in photography but yet I did not own a SLR until the late 1990s. 

The story of how I eventually owned my first SLR was a rather interesting one.

Next: my first SLR...

foto. quartzimodo.

quartzimodo, street photography

Hi guys!

I am Kenneth Ang. I was born and bred and currently based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and, I roam the streets on my free (sometimes odd) time for photo opportunities that tells a story. 

Photography is not my bills-paying job. I have a full-time good (ok, almost-enough) paying job that sort of settles that.

I'm just a dude who loves photography, both learning and sharing the art.

I am currently working on a couple of photo-projects and I'll share them here in forth-coming posts.

not my train...

foto. quartzimodo.

"quartzimodo" was a name I came up with 10 years ago. My other interest, besides photography is watches and the name quartzimodo was intended as an online business website for the supply of watch parts with my friend, Zami "Stratman"...yes, he plays the Strat and he is also a keen photographer :)

We never really used "quartzimodo" for our business but both of us loved the name so much that we had a tacit agreement on the usage of the name. Stratman was, at that time in the process of starting a blog on watches, he was allowed to use the name for his blog while I retain all "rights" to the name. 

I decided name this blog foto. quartzimodo. mainly because this name IS afterall, my alter-ego and it kinda rhymes :)

So you guessed it...this is a space where we talk about:

• Photography (in general);
• Street photography (the genre I love most); 
• Photography-related DIY stuff (yup, I hate paying a lot for my gear...hahaha)

Thanks for popping by and please do come back for more posts...

Next: photography journey so far: how it all started...