[ah.b|ack] APAW 2017 ~ In Search of Deeper Connection

[ahblack]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2017!!! WOOOHOOOO!!! YEAHHHH!!! Ok I'm done...

When I was "ending" my APAW 2016, it kinda make me think about how have I been doing and where am I now in terms of photography. I've been interested in photography since I was little, but it was only until recent years (when I got my own camera, Fujifilm X-T1) I started my journey on photography. It was 2014 and then nearing the end of 2015, I made the move from Fujifilm to Sony (A7ii) for 1 sole reason. Full frame, which enables me to fully utilize all the legacy lenses I own. I must say, the change made a great impact on the way I shoot. Everything became "closer" due to no more crop factor and the connection between me and my subjects are much "visible" than before. However, we don't connect every time. So for the coming weeks, while trying to maintain my pace as I did last year, I'll be looking for the connection between me and my subjects. Be it just an exchange of eyesight or being at the same scene, I do hope I can slowly find the connections instead of just capturing what's on the surface. I doubt I will hit it every single time, so... Wish me luck!


Week 1



Bye bye Santa by Lee Wooi Chun, on Flickr


Sony A7ii + Minolta M-Rokkor 28mm f2.8

​

 

[ahblack]

Sorry for the wait! It was crazy weekend one after another since the start of 2017, starting with a very joyful photo walk with LUGS, then wedding of my best friend, and last weekend CNY shopping with wife... So let's start with the belated Week 2, and I will update my Week 3 in these few days.

My life has come to a stage, where there are a lot of wedding dinners to attend LOL I was considered as the earlier batch among my friends, got married at 25 years old while some of my closer friends just started to plan one. on 8th Jan, I had the honor to play a small part of my friend's big day, as his photographer. Technically, I was not hired as the official photographer (more like side-kick for the videographer who he actually hired) but I was the only one to take care of the photography part on that day LOL This was not my first time, but still nervous as hell. It was his big day, and I dare not to screw it up even the slightest. I was able to be more engaging compared to the first time I helped another friend of mine to shoot his wedding day, like getting people to pose for photos, being closer to the actions, bride and bridegroom's candids, etc... A lot of instances took me back to the memory of my own wedding day, like getting tortured by the bridesmaids and those heart-warming moments with family members. I think I'm getting used to this wedding photography thingy

The newly-wed couple and I had known each other since primary school, which is around 20 years ago. We shared A LOT of mutual friends, and I met some long-lost friends during the wedding dinner. After some catch-up talk, we are all indeed connected despite living at different parts of the world. Learning from the long-lost friends, I found out some lived a rather dramatic life while some barely changed. There was a particular close friend of me and my wife who we lost contact almost 10 years ago, and I finally found some leads. Although the whole story was rather dramatically sad, but it is something which I can follow up. My wife was very happy to know about this, and hopefully we can finally get together (with the other 3 who I'm still in touch with, so all 6 in total) after so many years being apart.

I guess we are connected all along...


Week 2



Raise our glass and cheer! by Lee Wooi Chun, on Flickr


Sony A7ii + Samyang 12mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS Fish-eye

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[wonglp]

Cheers to 2017 :cheers::cheers:

 

[ahblack]

Cheers to 2017 :cheers::cheers:

Hahaha cheers bro!!!

 

[ahblack]

Going out and shoot with intention is definitely way harder than the usual photo walk (wondering), especially when taking photo is the least of your concern and carrying shopping bag is :sweat: I spent most of the weekend shopping with my wife, and you can probably figured that I got no hand to hold camera. But luckily she get tired easily :bsmilie: During pit stop time, I managed to take a few snap.

Due to the "theme" I've set for myself since the beginning of the year, I've gotten very little shots. Not because of the technical issue like blurred photo or wrongly exposed, but I've became selective on taking shots. Unlike the usual photo walk which I will just press the shutter whenever something/someone that interests me, I started to look harder into the scene in search of "connection". Although I still took some unrelated shots that I think it's hard to come by, and yet being selective helps making me much alert to my surrounding. It's not like I'm saying wondering around shooting without any planning is bad, as we all know you can't really predict moment and it usually slips before we even notice it. These 2 method of shooting yield different kind of rewards, and so I would say a good balance of applying these 2 methods during your photo walk will definitely helps. On 1 hand, you might get to build up a series of photo with stronger story/message. And on the other hand, you might get some unexpected moment while you are out there looking.

As for me... "Connection" isn't that easy to find, and I think I might have set a challenge too big for myself LOL Here's a much "on the outside" kind of interpretation of "Connection". The connection between men and women, couples.


Week 3



Couples by Lee Wooi Chun, on Flickr


Sony A7ii + Voigtlander Prominent Ultron 50mm f2

​

 

[ahblack]

(reserved for Week 4, waiting for my film to be scanned)

 

[Nikonzen]

Awesome to see some more film! Can't wait bro!

 

[ahblack]

Awesome to see some more film! Can't wait bro!

Hahaha I'm quite bad with film, so don't put your hope too high! In the meantime, I will do some catchup with the weeks I missed. 7 weeks OMG...

 

[Nikonzen]

You are a fantastic digital guy so I imagine you are a fantastic film guy too. Only difference between them is you can't change ISO as readily and you're stuck with one WB setting.

 

[ahblack]

Where had I been all these time?! 2 months!! Well first off, I didn't expect I'll be so busy at the beginning of the year! A lot had happened, be it work or personal life. There was a trip back to hometown for Chinese New Year, then a work trip to Korea on February, then celebration of my wife and I stepping into our 30s! We bought our first condo at Penang, the experience was hell of a roller coaster ride LOL Lots of paperworks and frustration followed after joy and excitement for making the decision. But still, it was a big step for both of us and hopefully things will go well! Done with explanation and excuses, let's backtrack to 2 months ago, the week before Chinese New Year.

Sometimes, the frame will come to you without any prior notice, or some labelled it as "the moment". I was still struggling to hit my weekly target for APAW, and to have no lone time for going around taking photo just make thing way harder. How I dealt with that? I carried my camera with me ALL THE TIME, and I sneaked out whenever I can LOL Be it just a 5 mins walk at back alley of my in-laws' home. The place has definitely became one of my favourite sunset spot.



Beautiful isn't it? I was talking about the scenery not the shot, but I will take the compliment if you think the shot is beautiful ;p But this isn't the moment that I was talking about. That would be the next shot below all my mumbling! So maybe we can take this as a compensation photo for being MIA for such long time haha...

When I was about to pack my tripod and stuffs and head back to the house, and there it was... 2 boys chit chatting at the playground. I swapped my lens from 28mm to 50mm, lifted my camera, pointing at them and snapped. It was as if I captured a world solely belong to them. I love this kind of shot, where you can connect yourself to it, filling it with stories of your own imagination. We might never get to know the real story of the 2 kids. It was never intended as documentary but more as a toy for you mind to play with. So let your imagination runs free! That way, the moment shall belongs to you.


Week 5

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Two of us by Lee Wooi Chun, on Flickr


Sony A7ii + Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1,5/50mm ZM

​

 

[ahblack]

You are a fantastic digital guy so I imagine you are a fantastic film guy too. Only difference between them is you can't change ISO as readily and you're stuck with one WB setting.

I didn't have a light meter or live preview too hahahaha... Something that I rely too much on when I shoot with digital

 

[Nikonzen]

I didn't have a light meter or live preview too hahahaha... Something that I rely too much on when I shoot with digital

No auto bracket feature either darn it. hahaha.

 

[ahblack]

Every year, I'll be spending a few days of time at Kampar, a small town in Ipoh and the hometown of my dad. It's kinda like a traditional for the whole family. Most of the family members will gather at my grandparents' house and spending time for some catch up with each other. The house will get super crowded and super noisy and... super lively. Most of us usually stay for 2-3 days and that's probably the only time in a year when everyone get to meet up with each other. So you could have guessed it, everyone was super busy with one another. So this year, I tried to take photos of my family using film, hoping to get some memorable shots.

Needless to say, I suck at shooting film :sweat: It has been too long and I've only started with film again (this is my 3rd roll LOL) in recent year. Some may ask, why film? Well... It's probably one of my regret in life as I once dropped the hobby (photography) due to numerous failures and got frustrated due to lack of knowledge and guidance. Now that I have friends and the internet to guide me, and I happened to score a Voigtlander Prominent that comes with the Ultron 50mm so everything seems to be "just in time". For the 3 rows of film I've gone through, I'm on the path to find back my connection to photography that I've lost many years ago.

So how did my roll do? Well nothing stellar, just some salvageable frames and many screwed ones haha... At least I got one that fits my APAW, "connection" between families LOL Aiyaa don't say gambling is not good la... It's way better for maintaining connection with each other than playing with handphone hor!


Week 6



What was the last move? by Lee Wooi Chun, on Flickr


Voigtlander Prominent + Ultron 50mm f2
Fujifilm Superia X-TRA 400

​

 

[Nikonzen]

Great snap bro. You are very modest about your talent. That's a good thing.

 

[ahblack]

Great snap bro. You are very modest about your talent. That's a good thing.

Thank you bro!

 

[ahblack]

After Chinese New Year, it's another trip to Korea again (my 4th visit in 5 years :sweat. 1st and 3rd trip were staff trip, 2nd trip was honeymoon trip and this one is a business trip, well sort of... Maybe I should explain a little bit on that. My company is a MLM company, and they reward distributors oversea trip once a year for their performance during a period of time. My job is to follow them and take photos of them enjoying the trip haha... So I'm kinda photographer cum tour assistant through out the trip... The good part is I get to travel around (I never thought I got to visit USA in my life). The bad part is it's not as enjoyable as you might thought hahaha...

Despite the fact that I've visited Korea 4 times, I still don't think I know the place. I mean the people there, their culture, way of thinking, etc... Everything is too shiny on the outside, and I barely scratch the surface. Maybe that's why I have yet to get tired of visiting Korea. I do hope I can form a deeper connection with the place, to know and understand more about it. So far, the only connection that I've had made with Korea, is the FOOD! Man... those are the killers... So when will be my 5th visit? Maybe I should visit Japan first... Haven't visit the country despite it being on top of my travel list...


Week 7



Crossing by Lee Wooi Chun, on Flickr


Sony A7ii + Contax Zeiss Planar T* 2/45 AF G

​

 

[dennisc]

Sorry for the wait! It was crazy weekend one after another since the start of 2017, starting with a very joyful photo walk with LUGS, then wedding of my best friend, and last weekend CNY shopping with wife... So let's start with the belated Week 2, and I will update my Week 3 in these few days.

My life has come to a stage, where there are a lot of wedding dinners to attend LOL I was considered as the earlier batch among my friends, got married at 25 years old while some of my closer friends just started to plan one. on 8th Jan, I had the honor to play a small part of my friend's big day, as his photographer. Technically, I was not hired as the official photographer (more like side-kick for the videographer who he actually hired) but I was the only one to take care of the photography part on that day LOL This was not my first time, but still nervous as hell. It was his big day, and I dare not to screw it up even the slightest. I was able to be more engaging compared to the first time I helped another friend of mine to shoot his wedding day, like getting people to pose for photos, being closer to the actions, bride and bridegroom's candids, etc... A lot of instances took me back to the memory of my own wedding day, like getting tortured by the bridesmaids and those heart-warming moments with family members. I think I'm getting used to this wedding photography thingy

The newly-wed couple and I had known each other since primary school, which is around 20 years ago. We shared A LOT of mutual friends, and I met some long-lost friends during the wedding dinner. After some catch-up talk, we are all indeed connected despite living at different parts of the world. Learning from the long-lost friends, I found out some lived a rather dramatic life while some barely changed. There was a particular close friend of me and my wife who we lost contact almost 10 years ago, and I finally found some leads. Although the whole story was rather dramatically sad, but it is something which I can follow up. My wife was very happy to know about this, and hopefully we can finally get together (with the other 3 who I'm still in touch with, so all 6 in total) after so many years being apart.

I guess we are connected all along...


Week 2



Raise our glass and cheer! by Lee Wooi Chun, on Flickr


Sony A7ii + Samyang 12mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS Fish-eye

​

Yamseng! nice nice but if flash shoot up sky it won't be yellow