New places always excite me.
I could spend hours just wandering and observing my surroundings for something to learn from or just something to look at. Sharing 5 of my favourite portraits that whenever I look at them… I feel like packing my bag and starting wandering on the street again.
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On how would our earth look like from 10,000ft high up on air from a paramotor ride? Just you and your bared machine up high above the cloud looking down upon the earth with both of your feet dangling in the air at 10,000ft … wohooo!
I said yes when my PPG friends (powered paraglider) invited me to their latest flying event, a Malaysian Book Of Record (MBOR) challenge to fly as high as 10,000 – 15,000 feet up on air this coming December as their professional photographer.
I tagged along as part of the team and as the flying partner to En. Tazza. Flying with him is always a good vibe. It seemed that both of us adore flying so much that whatever people said about us, we would still be a good partner. Last weekend on October 1st and 2nd were their second MBOR training. They planned to test their physical endurance and engine capability while attempting to reach at least 6000ft to 8000ft.
We were swaying from left to right, up and down dangling on the airspace. I nearly vomited out my early morning ‘nasi lemak’ (breakfast) 😛 … oh boy! after hours and hours of flying with them I still experienced air sickness, It showed how gusty the wind was that morning.
The gutsy wind finally settled calmly as we ascended exceeding 3000ft and we started to feel the chill and oh my God! the view was priceless. Look at how huge the airspace was. Oh, the word ‘priceless’ felt underrated … the view was awesome A+++.
Guess that professionalism is still unknown to some of my conservative audiences. It may seem like I am the only woman in the team but as a frequent traveller and a professional photographer, this is a normal on-the-job environment for me. I didn’t feel awkward at all as I am not doing anything wrong … religiously or morally. The view up there is worth all the bad mouth rumours on the ground.
People do talk but having a mutual understanding between me and my subjects makes my work comfortable and easy … truly blessed!
“To live is the rarest thing in the world, most people just exist. That is all.” ~ Oscar Wilde
Yeay … been there, done that! and I am slowly moving on to my next project.
Preparing myself to get lost in Jogjakarta, Indonesia in mid-November. This is going to be my 3rd time wandering in Jogjakarta … this time around I will be joining my local photographer friend hunting for lights around the beaches, jungles, hills, paddy fields and some bushes outside Jogjakarta. Wish me well …
Bye for now
Cheers,
MM
ps – I am leaving it all to Allah, he is the best of planners. Ameen …
And [remember, O Muhammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners. [Al-Anfal verse 30]
Yes … I am still digging into my collections of external HD, hunting for hidden treasure. A continuous quest for me or for every photographer out there … a never ending chore to filter thousands of photograph for just one or two killing images.
While digging … I found a few interesting photos that related to ‘reflection’ that I wanted to share here. Sharing some photos of the landscape surrounding Shangri-La Resort in Skardu, Northern Pakistan (please excuse my watermark).
Capturing reflection either on a puddle of water, on a lake or on some mirrors have a satisfyingly calming effect. The sense of calmness came from my need to be super quiet and totally immersed in the moment, to be able me to notice details in my surrounding such as reflection.
The camera setting to capture reflection is the same setting as capturing photos of any landscape. But our eyes need to be more cautious though, aiming at various angles and at the same time maintaining the best composition. And don’t forget to wait for the right light and the moment when the wind decided to stop meddling with the water surface.
Looking back at these photos brought back sweet memories of us in Skardu, Northern Pakistan, we were hanging out at the edge of the lake while waiting for the wind to stay idle for us to capture a perfect reflection of this place.
I think I am more of a traveler than a photographer. Photography is just another reason for me to pack my bag and travel.
So it is kind of annoying when some ‘real’ photographer judging my photography skill based on whatever that I posted on FB after each trip. They’ll ask to see my winning photos of each place that I went … and questioned on why were I still travel to such places when I knew for sure that I can’t even shoot people on the street.
Hmmm. Speechless …
I need to remind myself that I am a traveler first before a photographer.
Having a good photography skill helped me to sharpen my eyes towards details around my surrounding. So … when I traveled … I can see more. The more I see the more I learn. And, if traveling with my camera could turn me into a ‘real’ professional photographer … then I am truly blessed.
The world of photography has no boundary … you can be as unique and as creative as wish you could be.
Bye for now
Cheers,
MM
I visited Mt Bromo at Probolinggo in East Java, Indonesia for the third time last July 2016. I heard from my friends that Mt Bromo was actively coughing off smokes out of its opened crater for the last few months … and I couldn’t resist the temptation for a quick weekend gateway.
We traveled in a very small group this time around. Just the three of us … leaving behind the rest of our “Sailangers” travel mate. I began to love traveling in a small group. Less drama and less need to socialize among us … which mean more time for observing and mingling around with the locals.
Tengger people of Probolinggo was celebrating their Yadnya Kasada festival that week and we intended to observe the ceremony. The ceremony was for the Tengger Hindus to express their gratitude to their believing Gods for good harvests and fortunes bestowed upon them.
It rained during the 4 days of our stay at Cemoro Lawang, Probolinggo. The last 2 days were a bit forgiving as we managed to catch morning sunrise before the fog and the rain started to concur the area.
The drizzling rain brought along thick and unpredictable fog that comfortably snuggled Mt Bromo alley into a deep dreamy sleep. At first, I thought that I was cursed … but rain, fogs, clouds and smoky landscape are always been my favorite moment. The reason why I still love flying with my paramotor/ PPG buddy is because of this dreamy imagination that one day I might stumble into a beautiful thick clouds formation during our flying stint.
Well … a sure challenge for a landscape or ‘chasing the light’ photographer when the sky is dark and the rain is dancing in the air. This is what I called … a lesson of letting go. Nature is teaching us to learn to let go … nature is beyond our human control and I need to learn to let go, this is not my moment yet. Full stop!
Once I decided to accept my fate … wallah! the sun start peeking out from the thick fogs … and presented us with a dramatic landscape view of Mt Bromo. Ahhhh … blessing in disguise alhamdulilah … couldn’t ask for more. And … clicking the camera shutter once again … is an exciting thing to do 😛
My DSLR is getting heavy and heavier lately … I blamed it on my ‘aging’ 😉 process . My heart still feels young and energetic but my shoulder started to crank up, my knee started to lose its vigor too … damn!
So … I bought a new tool for this trip … a Ricoh GR2 camera, a boxy old fashion looking dude with hmmm an acceptable image making ability. Pictures shared in this post were all taken from my boxy little Ricoh GR2 camera. Not bad for a small point and shoot camera …
Life is full of wonder … and having a curious mind could always work wonder. Ahhh … I want more and more of this.
Bye for now
Cheers
MM
ps -“Creativity is intelligent having fun.” ~ Albert Einstein
Morning start late at most places that we stopped in Northern Pakistan. Business venues and markets started around 10am. The time where morning lights were at the most unforgivably harsh.
Not the best moment for a street photographer who love to chase morning ‘dramatic’ lights. But the opportunity to be here … and to witness the uniqueness and authenticity of this place overcame all my “chasing the light” needs.
Everything looked brown, old and rustic here. It felt as if I was in an old movie set.
It was 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon when we decided to stroll along the street and watch life around this small town. The sky turned brown and dusty as a sand stormed has just passed through the town leaving behind a trail of thick lingering dusty air on the street … a normal occurrence around here I guess.
Fine dusty sands laid everywhere here. My face was dusty and same goes with the rest of the people on the street. I bet I looked rustic too like my environment … I blend well lol.
But … we still looked ‘obviously’ foreign here. This town seldom sees tourist or foreign traveller walking on the street. In fact we were the second group of foreign visitors that stayed in the hotel (that we stayed in) for this year.
I like to walk like an invisible soul when I am on the street. I always imagine that I am invisible … when I am in public 😉 . But the four (4) of us caught too much attention while we were here … maybe because everybody knows everybody in this small little town.
Honestly, I am used to being stared at while I am on a strange or foreign land. Most of the time people would be curious seeing me maybe because of my head cover or my shawl … but I could overcome their curiosity with a sincere smile and a brief greeting.
But here in Pakistan is different.
In a male dominated society, women does not walk on the street without their men. We don’t see women wandering around restaurant or markets too. I saw one or two short glimpse of women on the street but most were fully covered by their long shawls.
It does felt weird in the beginning of the trip to experience an intensive stares came from the male crowd but as always I learnt a few tricks to get around as I went along.
Maybe next time I should wear a cotton Kurta when I am on the street.
The morning before we catch our flight out of Skardu to Islamabad… we climbed up on our hotel’s rooftop to catch the full view of this town. Mesmerising view we got up there … this place is surrounded by gigantic mountains.
The thing that I like about travelling is … when I have zero expectation about a place and decided to take a risk … and I ended up falling in love with it. It taught me to be open … to stay receptive regardless of whatever condition that I am in … as the end matters the most.
“The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart.”~ Rumi
I am signing off right now … 🙂 . Bye …
Cheers
MM
