My First Photography Workshop

Last month somebody sent me a message inviting me to join a photography workshop.  Naturally, I looked at what they had to offer.  Much to my surprise, the workshop was in Bekasi.  So close to where I live and work.  That got me interested.  Then I saw how much it cost and it was only Rp.250.000.-.  Well after reading that I just signed up.  It didn't matter much what the workshop was about, what mattered was that it was close by and cheap!  Plus it started at 10 am on a Sunday...I didn't even have to get up early!!!  Lunch included too.

As it turned out, the workshop was all about lighting.  High key and low key lighting and an introduction to all the studio lighting equipment.  It was fun all in all.  There were about 20 of us and we spent the morning listening to the tutorial and then had lunch.

The photo session started after lunch.  There were two models, Tara and Dhani.  Both were young.  Tara was the looker but her braces sort of ruined her looks.  Dhani was cute too but too skinny for my taste...plus it turned out her eyes were not symmetrical.  Well I had a great time nevertheless.  The photo session started with shooting Tara in available light.  I did poorly here because all my shots were blurred like hell.  My hands just were not steady enough.  Then came the high key takes with Dhani.  The photo here is the only good shot I took of her.  Finally we did a low key take of Tara.  Below is my best take of her.

After the shoot we had a group picture of all attendees and the certificate of attendance was distributed.

I went home satisfied and uploaded my shots to the workshop website for the photo contest of the best shot in the workshop.  I came in 9th but what the hell...I just enjoyed myself.

Ragunan Zoo

Another weekend with no ideas what to do or where to go.  Well I decided to go someplace within the city where I haven't been to for ages...the zoo!

I did have this idea to shoot the Komodo dragon and the Orangutan there.  These animals being specially of Indonesian origins, I thought I should have a keepsake of them.  Well, there were the usual fishes, deers, giraffes and elephants in the zoo.  Nothing special about them.

Fortunately for me, when I got around to the Komodo dragon den, the dragon was in a good position facing me.  The light was perfect and the background was also good.  So I just started shooting away.  This pic here is the best shot I got of the Komodo dragon.  The pose, lighting and background were all perfect.

After the Komodo dragon, I went around to the Orangutan area.  Unfortunately for me, it started to rain and I had to stop shooting.  Anyway, the Orangutan area wasn't that good to shoot also because the background was a high paved wall.  It didn't look natural at all to shoot.  So I just waited for the rain to stop and then went home.

Orchids in Bloom

Last Saturday, 1 May 2010, was Labor Day.  As usual, there were the usual rallies and demonstrations held by various labor unions in the city.  The usual places were the Presidential Palace and the National Monument.

Trying to avoid the demonstration areas, I went to the Orchid Park.  It was an old park established by the late Mrs. Tien Suharto, wife of the late Pres. Suharto.  I have been wanting to shoot colorful flowers for the past month but always got too lazy to do it.  Well, I finally did.  And I was so pleased by what I shot there.

As it turned out, the park was no longer a park at all.  It had turned into an Orchid Market.  I think the government had run out of funds to maintain the place so they leased the space to orchid vendors.  Fortunately, the vendors were all very kind enough to allow me to take photographs of their orchids.

It was a very colorful experience.  As I found out, orchids had pretty much the same shape.  But they had so many variant colors.  As you can see from the two photos here, they can be dramatically different in color combinations.

I must have spent a good two hours shooting around the place.  There were just so many flowers to shoot.  I just feel bad that I can't post all of them here.  At any rate, I guess you can see what I mean.

Now I'm thinking it would be nice to go to this flower park in Puncak area and shoot a model there.  But then again that's still wishful thinking.  I never imagined myself as the flower type of guy.  Well at least I can now photograph them if I can't grow them.