Unexpected Session..

Photo session with Alvin, William, Ritchie and Friends..

Nopay as the model..

the theme was emo rocker, if I'm not mistaken..

they said the theme was baby doll.. but for me it's just Baloons!

I’m just grateful that I can use studio lamps again.. it’s been ages since I last used it.

Yuk Foto Ngaben!

Bayangin berlari-lari di terik panas matahari, mengambil momen-momen yang tidak dapat diputar kembali..

Memotret upacara ngaben adalah latihan yang sangat tepat untuk kalian yang ingin mengasah kemampuan fotografi dokumentasi maupun jurnalistik. Berada di tengah-tengah crowd dengan sebuah kamera adalah hal yang sangat menyenangkan buat gw. Thrill dan excitementnya bisa membuat gw menjadi orang yang berbeda, dengan memegang kamera kita bisa memiliki hampir full access dalam acara-acara seperti ini. Orang-orang ga akan ngelarang kita buat kesana-kemari karena biasanya mereka emang pengen di foto.

pemain gamelan

lembu

Sedikit tips-tips dalam memotret acara ngaben:

1. Bawa SLR yang kecil (entry level aja cukup), dengan lensa all-ranger kira-kira 18-200 uda cukup. (foto2 gw di bawah sih cuma pake nikon d40x pake lensa kit 18-55)
2. Siapin fisik yang kuat, karena matahari Bali sangat terik! apalagi kita harus mengikuti iringan di jalan.
3. Sun Screen + topi kalo ga mau kebakar matahari.
4. Baju adat bali, biar ngehormatin yang uda meninggal.
5. Karena padatnya acara, kalo ga memungkinkan pake M, buat gw pake A/Av uda cukup koq.
6. Jangan lupa menangkap emosi-emosi orang yang terlibat. Some of those moments are priceless.
7. Bawa dua batere dan dua memory card, penting banget ini! apalagi kalo pake RAW. (RAW is important, apalagi takutnya banyak foto kita yang kurang tepat exposurenya. RAW can fix that.)
8. Paling enak sih standby di arak-arakan yang bentuknya Lembu, karena biasanya yang angkat itu lebih semangat! Dan objek lembunya menarik.

Gw sih uda dua kali motret ngaben, yang kemarin ini sih uda agak sepi dari yang pertama kali gw motret. Oh ya! Sekarang juga uda mulai pake RAW, ternyata penting banget lho.. dulu nyesel ga pake RAW. Sekarang gw bisa lebi flexibel ngedit warna dan exposure dari semua foto gw. Yang kedua kali ini gw juga  lebih berani memotret orang-orang dari deket. Kalo berdasarkan pengalaman gw. Lebi dapet emosi orang-orang yang terlibat kalo kita nekat foto mereka dari deket, daripada diem-diem pake lensa tele(ini juga karena emg keterbatasan lensa gw cm pny yg KIT 18-55 haha..). Tapi kalo mau denger kisah-kisah fotografer jurnalis yang terkenal, kebanyakan pake lensa fix 28mm, 35mm sama 50mm.. but that’s another story.

Hmm, timeline dari acara ngaben adalah, persiapan memasukan jenazah kedalam tower(lupa istilahnya apa). Disini kita bisa memotret orang-orang bermain gamelan, ibu-ibu bali yang berbaris membawa offerings, dan juga ekspresi sedih dari keluarga-keluarga jenazah. Oh ya harus diingat, yang lembu itu biasanya keluarga yang paling kaya tapi yang ngikut buat diabenin juga ada orang-orang biasa. Disini menarik juga, karena tiap arakan desainnya unik-unik juga. Lumayan enak buat difoto juga.

ibu-ibu ber bb

Setelah itu, mereka mulai mengangkut arak-arakannya ke jalan raya. Disinilah tantangan sebenarnya! Kita harus bisa siap-siap lari kedepan duluan dan mencari spot untuk mendapat angle maksimal dalam memotret. Gw sih biasanya suka low angle, biar ada kesan dramatisnya. Waktu ngaben kemarin ini, yang menarik adalah di setiap perempatan jalan, dua lembu yang dibawa arak-arakan seakan-akan diadu dengan sesama. Sungguh menarik melihat itu dan semangat anak-anak muda bali yang membawa lembunya. Jadi di tiap perempatan siapin spot yang asik, disini sih lebih disaranin pake all-ranger soalnya biar bisa ngezoom ke lembu tersebut.

penunggang lembu

dua lembu beradu di perempatan

Diakhir perjalanan arak-arakan kita tiba di tempat pemakaman, disini adalah surga bagi pencinta human interest. Banyak orang-orang yang menarik buat di foto. Dari anak kecil hingga kakek-kakek tua, mereka semua sibuk sehingga kesibukan itulah yang bisa memberi nyawa di foto-foto kita. Banyak juga bule yang menonton biasanya. Kalo pengen moto bule pake baju bali, sekarang deh saatnya..

bule-bule

Kebetulan sih kemaren ini gw ga liat sampe dibakar, uda tepar banget. Mataharinya bener2 keras dan gw lupa pake topi, gw agak nyesel sih.. But, I got some good pictures from the ngaben. So it’s kinda worth it. Ntar kalo kalian sempet ke Bali, coba deh foto ngaben. Asik kok tantangannya. Ngaben gw yang pertama, gw motret penuh selama 10 jam, dan anehnya gw ga capek!

arak-arakan berisi jenazah kasta brahmana

sesajen dan offerings di lokasi pemakaman

Try and feel the excitement!

all photographs by me

http://govo.deviantart.com

HDR

I may be a bit late, but I’m starting to use RAW.

So, let me share a few things that I know

Raw is a special feature in every digital SLR which creates a picture that has no color information and creates a very high quality image. This can be very helpful in creating a High Dynamic Range (HDR) photograph.

High Dynamic Range is when all the shadow, highlight and midtone are combine, this is when 3 or 5 different exposures of the same object are combined. These 3 exposures can be achieved by photographing the object multiple times making one photo under, one photo normal and the last one under.  The other alternative is by using RAW. Mastering RAW is very important, because you can achieve these 3 exposures by using just one RAW photograph. It may sound a wee bit more simple but it’s actually not. You need to use more softwares and work twice more than the first one.

HDR using five different exposures

The software for creating HDR is called photomatix.

For RAW editing, you use Adobe Camera Raw, it’s a plugin for photoshop.

You can download the softwares here:

http://www.indowebster.com/photomatix_pro_301.html

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Adobe-Camera-Raw-Download-55331.html

A few HDR that I made these last two days:

don't forget to edit the levels and tone in photoshop, since a pure HDR sometimes doesn't go our way

A HDR using just a single RAW file, useful if there are people in the frame

making both the sky and the object in normal exposure is one of HDR's strong points

all photographs by me

http://govo.deviantart.com

Bali

“Bali, the island of gods”

So they say, but for me it’s an island godly enough to take photographs. From beaches to mountains, sacred ceremonies to just simple village life, nothing is not interesting in Bali. It may sound a bit unreal, but it’s quite true. When in Bali, you could always feel that you can make a world quality photograph.

These are some photograph’s that I took last summer, it’s also hunting spots I would definitely recommend :

Sanur Beach

Sanur is best during early morning, it’s the perfect spot to capture the best of Bali’s famous sunrise.  Sunrise in Bali comes out around 5.30 AM, and the sun will still be great until around 10 AM. Besides the sunrise, the activity of people there is also interesting such as early ritual, yoga and also kids playing in the beach.

early morning

kids playing

bali beach hotel

sunrise

Kedongan Fish Market

Located in the village of Kedongan(near Jimbaran), it’s actually a place where Madurese fisherman’s reside and now it is also famous for it’s Fish Market. It’s the market where Jimbaran restaurants buy raw seafood from.  I personally love this place, because it provides me with lots of human interest.

peeking fisherman

fishes for sale

set for sail

the market

Ubud

One of my favorite place in Bali. It’s a place that still has a strong tradition. The ceremonies over there are very lively and you can also see traditional balinese dances here daily. The architecture are also great with the traditional market very busy in the morning, making it a great place for human interest as well.

a closer look on the rice paddies in ubud

ceremonial offerings..

towering beast

balinese traditional dancer

cremation

Kintamani

A village located at the foot of Mt. Batur, many of the villagers here work in a mine. This a great place for landscape photography. Best time of the day to visit Batur is in the morning. They also have a special delicacy, which is fried gurame(type of fresh water fish) with sambel matah(chilli with onion).

Mt. Batur

playing with dirt

kintamani puppies (the original balinese dogs)

village kids

a hill surrounded by cold(dry) lava

all photographs by me

Understanding Criticism

A few months has passed since I met a person who despises to be criticized.

I don’t know if this is something that I should be talking about. I really couldn’t care less actually , the story happened like this:

A one day moments before Christmas eve, I saw a photo that was actually quite nice and has a nice tone of colors.  You must think why am I criticizing a photo like this? Well, one thing bothered me alright. It’s the name of the photographer which locates inside the photo.

A conversation of comments happened between me and this photographer.

Me: “nice picture, but I think the name on the side is a bit too much”

Him: “then don’t look and don’t comment, that’s the Asian style!”

Me: “what’s the Asian style?”

Him: “what kind of a college student are you if you don’t know that, ASK GOOGLE!”

Confused??? Well, so am I! I have no idea what he’s talking about, he not only doesn’t want to be criticized but he’s also hard to understand. I think that’s very human of him. Everyone of us has a different understanding on things and with that I appreciate him for his existence. He makes the world an interesting place to live in.

If it’s me personally, I love criticism. It’s just one of those things that will help me improve more as a person. Of course once in a while we might not agree in one’s opinion, but it’s normal! We have our own ego, we just have to accept it. People might think differently of me, I’ll just have to live with it with no hard feelings and stop resenting life(making excuses, asking for sympathy, feeling of disappointment, etc.).

Gotta stay optimist!

understanding criticism leads you to a better and improved human being

For the love of India

I don’t know why, but I am completely crazy about India.

This occurs to me when I’m in my early teens. I watched a movie called Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Never in my life before that I’d even expect for me to even like Indian Movies.

After that, my journey in liking India continues. From Indian Food to the accent. Nothing excites me better. I wonder why most Indonesian’s can’t enjoy Indian food. I think it’s one of the most delicious delicacy in the world. I can never resist garlic naan and rogan josh with a sip of masala tea. I can eat that almost every day if I wanted to.

Who can ignore Indian accent? I think they have a unique way in speaking English, as if every word they say is important.  To be honest, learning their accent has become an addiction to me.

Watching Slumdog Millionaire was quite a joy to behold, it really reminds me of the real India I saw during October 2008. The beggars, the lesser people. That is why I ironically enjoy the trip there. For me as an apprentice photographer, human interest was actually an interest for me. As you can see, the picture above is one of the hundreds I took during my time there. The emotion is so pure and real, this is rather an escape from fashion photography that I meet all so often here in Jakarta.

Back to the movie, I think it’s one of the best Indian based movies ever. You’ll be stunned top to finish, a complete set of quality movie. Acting, directing, story is all fresh. Different from what you’ve seen before.

A must watch!

In the end, India is an overwhelming experience and I’m proud wearing my shirt that has the nation’s flag while writing this. It’s just.. India’s different, and I’m proud to be different.

My thoughts need a resting place..

Have you ever felt that “something” is bothering your very own soul? That “something” in me is purely writing.

My mind lately is becoming more active than ever, thoughts come and go, and philosophy of politicians, religions, famous people has become my best interest. My passion for serious and interesting movies has resurfaced.

Those things made me think, and my thoughts needs to be documented that’s for sure. It can be a very helpful thing when one day if I ran out of ideas. Ideas are very pricey nowadays, so gotta keep it neat.

All this just comes to one thing.

Start writing!