Foong Wai | Photography

Places so far.

2011-03-31T08:43:00.014+08:00

This year has been a really eventful one so far. Work and projects bring about constant travelling. Here are some photos to share:

Tanjung Aru Village, Kota Kinabalu

Pentax K5 + DA17-70mm/4

Guangzhou, China

Pentax K5 + Sigma 10-20mm/3.5-5.6

Pentax K5 + DA 17-70mm/4

Hong Kong, China

Pentax K5 + Sigma 10-20mm/3.5-5.6

That's been more or less my travels since the start of the year. Travelling in Hong Kong = shopping. Funny that I restrained from fashion, but instead shopped for books on impulse. It's crystal clear definite now. I've a weak spot for books for their strong cosmetic value. What's sexier than carrying a book in your arm while you prowl the mall? The super cool book I've bought, amongst others, is on street photography, from Page One. Like our usual shopping ventures, I shared the book with my HK relatives, and apparently, the genre is pretty hard to appreciate. Lol. (The fact that it costed quite a bit didn't help the cause. Why do design books got to be that pricey anyway?) I'll be posting some Hong Kong street photography up next just to throw some discussion around.

By the way, the bottom photo from Hong Kong, reads something like City Old Folks' Home. Such signages are rampant, especially in the extremely dense Hong Kong Island commercial district. I've got a few questions about it but I guess the research got to be temporarily chucked aside. Need to tidy up some lecture slides for my design classes now. T.T

Well, notwithstanding the recent trips to Penang and Singapore with thinklab©, still got tonnes of photos to sort through, aiyayayaya!

Things Found in My Backyard

2011-01-15T18:17:00.002+08:00

Pentax K5 + FA 50mm 1.4 Video

I've just compiled a few video clips from a walkabout due to my curiosity to explore the greens around the neighbourhood, seeing things we usually drive by, walk past, and never take a second glance at. They're just there, doing their own thing, oblivious to the human beings tumbling about. It was shot over a few days, so you will notice a slight change in lighting conditions, not to mention, weather. I thought these little things found around the house are really beautiful and wonderful to look at. Makes me smile. :) If you do watch it, I only hope you have the same patience for the utterly mundane. And I like the song, so don't kill yourself over it.

The video was shot handheld and manually focused. It was extremely helpful having Pentax's in body shake reduction here to minimize my hand movements. Kinda stabilized the video so you won't have to vomit out of nausea halfway through it. The 1080p video just eaaaaats up memory space. I was only able to eek out about 10 minutes of video from a 4gb card. Time for a new and fast card to keep up with the Joneses. Sometimes, recording the movie continuously causes the LCD screen to heat up, and you'd get a little red thermometer on it as a warning. Gave me a minor scare while out on the field. What? It's a strange bright red thing on the screen that resembles a warning to events that causes explosion in nuclear reactors. Also the same thing that brands a cow's hide, or for the monsters amongst us, a maid's back. Gotta be painful. A quick thumb through the manual says that the monitor might go black at high temperatures, but promptly reassures us that it will return to the usual at normal temperatures. For now I really don't want to find out if LCDs are as dynamic as supposed.

Stills from the days

Pentax K5 + FA 50mm 1.4

Day 7 of 365

2011-01-08T00:10:00.001+08:00

Tiger Lily Jujumeow
Pentax K5 + FA 50mm/1.4 @ F1.8 - ISO 8000 - 1/125s

Pet photography has always been tricky business since my dad's fishy days about 3 years ago. I was using the Pentax K10D which had a maximum ISO of 1600. I wouldn't dared to go beyond 800 back then, and it was an accepted limitation in industry standards. My fastest lens was the versatile Pentax FA 50mm/1.4. Coupling these two together, the shutter speed achieved still wasn't quite fast enough to freeze these erratic and hyperactive aquatic creatures in indoor lighting without using flash. You know how some fishes are, bonding with their predators isn't exactly built into their genes.

Well, 3 years on, most of the old batch of fish have probably died from lousy genes. See, my dad, not wanting to spend much on things that won't outlive a toilet break, decided to put in minimum capital for the aquatic corner in the house. Minimum capital = buying tiny fish that other tiny fish eats. Like people who buy caught doves to be released, dad says that he actually saved the fishes from brutal death. Anyway, I repopulated the tank with a little less cheap fishies which have now grown fat and big and sparkling golden. One of them can even function normally without an eyeball. I haven't gone around to shooting them yet, but after today's results with Lily along a dark corridor, I might do so.

Tiger Lily Jujumeow
Pentax K5 + FA 50mm/1.4 @ F1.8 - ISO 8000 - 1/125s

Shot in Raw and minimum noise reduction applied, ISO 8000 on K-5 looks much better than ISO 800 on K10D. I think the technological progress for digital photography has been truly amazing, and photography has a truly -literally- bright future.

Project 365

2011-01-05T03:41:00.004+08:00

Pentax K-5 + DA 17-70mm/4

I have just started Project 365 where the rule is to post one picture every day of the year. (All the more reason to happily bring my uber compact k-5 around wherever I go.) It could all be about seeing the mundane and documenting the banal since it's an everyday journalistic take on your immediate surroundings. Like what they say about being a soldier in a war, long periods of boredom and stillness, punctuated by brief moments of terror and violence. Perhaps project 365 might be reminiscent of that. Excuse the rather morbid comparison, I was nose deep in war photography and photojournalism just yesterday. Larry Burrows, Steve McCurry, James Natchwey, and Eugene Smith all providing photographs on war which are both forceful and intimate.

Yesterday was Day 4 of the project. I was at HELP doing their ADP summer program for Psychology. My first class and I have a great feeling about it already. I took these pics at Wisma Help, 9th floor lift lobby, overlooking a construction site and some buildings. Once again, the smallness and fragility of individuals versus the mass of architecture is evident, and I find the tension depicted here weirdly appealing. For better or for worse, the machine of development won't be tiring any time soon.

I have posted the first picture above onto my personal Facebook album along with Days 1, 2, and 3. I'll be setting up my FB page soon, but for now I need to catch up on some really interesting mix of work on lecturing, freelancing, personal projects, and studying.

Enjoy! :-)

Pentax K-5 + DA 17-70mm/4

Truthfully,

2010-12-30T00:25:00.007+08:00

Car window after a drizzle - Pentax K5 + FA 50mm 1.4

I love photography for reasons I can't find words to describe. The patterns and relationships between objects, people, light, and shadow are revealed through a still capture. I'm plainly awed by the power of these fleeting, silent, and simple moments as I strive to record them.

Interview Excerpt: Ned Bunnell with The Online Photographer

2010-12-26T17:28:00.009+08:00

As a Pentax user, I've often come across instances where Pentax gears or accessories are plain elusive in Klang Valley. You would have to make special orders and wait for certain items and there aren't ready stocks available in the shops. It's not a make or break deal. I'm still able to get third party accessories or simply purchase Pentax stuff online. However, in addition to not being able to test your items over the counter for an authentic feel, most of the time it means that the local currency goes to a foreign retailer. It consequently gives a misleading assumption that the local Pentax scene isn't fluorishing. Therefore, stores do not stock Pentax equipments, therefore we buy off virtual shelves. A vicious cycle.

I'm glad that DSC World, our local Pentax Distributor in Malaysia is stepping up efforts to heighten the brand awareness of Pentax. The Facebook page is particularly active. There'll be more to come I'm sure. :)

Here's an excerpt of an interview with Ned Bunnell, the President of Pentax USA, conducted by The Online Photographer. Although the context is the USA, I find it equally illuminates the current dilemma faced by regular or potential Pentaxians in Malaysia.

TOP: ... I've noticed an undercurrent of complaint on various 'n' sundry fora about the fact that Pentax cameras aren't easily found any more in many camera stores. What's the story about that?

NB: Sure. I’ll try to give you a clear picture or explanation to what is a pretty complicated business matter. And because I sense the frustration is really focused on our lack of widespread brick-and-mortar presence, I’ll speak to that rather than online marketing, where we’re enjoying strong sales and growth.

First, our decline in channel presence actually started years ago when we were late to transition from film to digital cameras. We lost quite a bit of shelf space at that point, and it's taking a long time to gain back the level of presence we had in the film days.

Secondly, up until the last two years, quite frankly we did have not had a complete product line (good, better, best compacts and at least two SLR models) which is the type of assortment that many accounts like to merchandize. It’s not financially feasible, especially in today's economy, for a retailer to stock a brand with only one or two sku’s. Up until recently we didn’t really have a compelling line-up that gave accounts a reason to want to carry Pentax.

However, starting last year with the K-7, K-x colors, and our new compacts, many accounts recognized that we in fact were starting to transition the company into a brand that has a good line-up, at the right price points, with some very unique features.

This increased confidence in our brand, products, and positioning has allowed us to start expanding in several key areas. For example, we are now in Fry’s and Ultimate Electronics who are well known regional CE retailers. Hopefully those of you in greater L.A. have seen that we’re renewing our relationship with Samy’s Camera and that all their stores now carry Pentax product. Just this fall, we were really pleased to be invited back to W.B. Hunt, which is a very important photo specialty dealer in the greater Boston area. In fact, we’re launching our first workshops with W.B. Hunt in early November.

In addition to these new accounts, we’ve also worked hard to re-establish our brand and presence with all major retailers in the greater New York City area—which is the single most important region for our business and I suspect many other manufacturers as well. And while I don’t want to risk alienating any of our dealers by not mentioning them by name, it’s important to highlight a shining star when you see one. For anyone living in the greater St. Louis area, you’re probably aware that Creve Coeur Camera, which now has nine stores, does an incredible job representing Pentax. And while I can’t reveal numbers, it’s fair to say that our market share in this region, thanks to Creve Coeur, exceeds our national average by more than just a few millimeters (sorry for the lens pun).

Regarding big-box retailers, I think it’s realistic to say that we still have a ways to go before we’re on the shelves of these brick and mortar stores. As most readers know, the big-box stores are only interested in brands that drive traffic to their stores, and its very difficult and expensive to displace any of the major incumbent brands. Having said this, we do sell our cameras on all the big-box retailers' dot-com shops and we are seeing consistent growth there. This is important, as these retailers naturally measure a brand's performance online, and it's certainly a factor in deciding whether to bring a brand or product into their stores.

In closing on this topic, it's likely this explanation won't stop the posts asking, "where can I buy Pentax?" However, I did want your TOP readers to know that we have a channel strategy that is working and allowing us to expand our distribution in a manner that works for both our partners and Pentax. And having developed and executed on several distribution plans over my career, it's important to remember that these things take time and in the end it's all about developing long-term relationships with your resellers.

Read full interview at The Online Photographer.

Flickr

2010-12-22T23:22:00.001+08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Happy Winter Solstice!

2010-12-22T20:20:00.004+08:00

New website coming soon, be sure to bookmark and check back. :)

Hello, My Name Is

2010-12-19T21:37:00.012+08:00

Coming soon in 2011

I'm currently building up a new visual diary plus a photography and design showcase here.
The foundations are set in place, the walls are up, and the furniture is moving in.
No dogs marking their territories yet. Yes!