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Chendering Fisheries Garden, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia (_DSC1532), originally uploaded by hackspot.
Taken with a Nikon D50 and AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

All portraits are staged, so I contend that they are just being themselves in an artificial environment. Whether they are "relaxed" or "comfortable" is a different question and the answer to that is dependent on both the sitter's psychology and the directorial skills of the photographer.

"Natural" vs. "artificial" light is a false dichotomy. It is false as in the distinction lies two implications:

• that the photographer has given up some degree of control over a very fundamental formal aspect of their photography.
• that natural light is somehow more "trustworthy."

Some photographers may be more comfortable just taking things as they find them (I sometimes am), but that doesn't relieve you of the decision of when and where and how to make the photograph.

"If they wear a ton of make up who am I to say they can't." Of course they can! It's their choice. But if you think it looks bad, why, don't you think you have an obligation (as the person making the photograph) to point that out?

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Philosophy of Photography, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 1:59 AM | Permalink

_IGP9147, Perhentian Island, Terengganu, Malaysia, originally uploaded by hackspot.
Taken with a Pentax K100D and Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro lens

"...to show the true being of the subject."

Which is something I think is impossible with a photograph. A photographer can show what they as a person perceive to be a truth about a "subject" (see how even the commonly used language that we use make a captive of the person being photographed?), and if as photographers we express that well, I think a viewer is more likely to respond with some sort of engagement.

And the more we know about the person photographed -- the more information we have to work with in judging the "honesty" of the photograph.

Labels: Pentax K100D, People, Philosophy of Photography, Photography, Portrait, Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 1:52 AM | Permalink

Chendering Fisheries Garden, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia (_DSC1535), originally uploaded by hackspot.
Taken with a Nikon D50 and AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens
Location: Chendering Fisheries Garden, Kuala Terengganu, 21080 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

Honesty is a loaded word when describing photographs, which are "fictions" the photographer and the person photographed have conspired to create -- but where the photographer clearly has loaded the deck and holds the upper hand. But still, as in all fiction there can be honest emotions and ideas expressed. So I don't mean honest in any sense that a philosopher or jurist would accept. I mean honest in terms of creating a response in me, the viewer. It's something you know when you are experiencing it.

To be clear, the only truth a photograph holds for me is that is a photograph, something a photographer created. I think it is intellectually dishonest to hold one art form, photography, to a standard that we do not hold other arts to. Experiencing art involves a certain suspension of disbelief. After all, when we listen to music that evokes the sea, do we demand that it is only worthwhile if actual sea made sounds are used and that someone is throwing buckets of seawater on us while we listen? But I do want to "connect" in some way with what I'm looking at, tasting, listening too, or touching.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Chendering Fisheries Complex, Nikon D50, People, Philosophy of Photography, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 1:46 AM | Permalink

Syuhada, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.
My daughter, Nurul Syuhada.
Taken with a Nikon D50 and Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

Yes, even the hues and shades of a photograph can make it either complex or simple. Try to make sure that your compositions don't have too many colours. Very often, a photograph can be sufficiently varied, yet simple, by simply having various shades of the same colour.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 10:27 PM | Permalink

Emi, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

Good times.

People, especially children, get bored very quickly. If you start fiddling with your camera telling them to hold on a minute you will never get good pictures. The most important part of the picture is the expression on the face. When you see that expression you must be ready to instantly capture it, everything else, the lighting, the background, the composition must be ready. Facial expressions, at least the good ones, are very fleeting things. If you ask someone to smile and you leave them holding that smile for even a second it will look very, very false.

Labels: Canon IXUS SD10, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 1:44 PM | Permalink

DSC1594, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

Marine Fishery Resources Development and Management Department
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
Taman Perikanan Chendering
21080 Kuala Terengganu, MALAYSIA

Taken with a Nikon D50 and Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Philosophy of Photography, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 1:43 PM | Permalink

Ayu & Bebi, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

The two sisters had a good time at the Sekayu Waterfalls, Terengganu.

Labels: Canon IXUS SD10, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 1:40 PM | Permalink

_DSC4680, originally uploaded by shutterhack.

Taken with a Nikon D50 and AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

By 'exposure' we mean the amount of light that falls onto the film, or CCD if you are using a digital camera. In modern cameras the exposure is usually set to automatic by default and, most of the time, it can be left there and will produce beautiful pictures. There are times though, when the lighting conditions are difficult or we want to produce a particular effect and it would be nice to understand what is going on 'under the hood'.

The problem with all types of film and recording media is that they cannot record the entire range of contrast (black to white) that the eye can see. Especially when you take into account that the eye is constantly adjusting to cope with high contrast. On a sunny day if you look into the shadows of a scene then into the bright areas, the iris in your eye will quickly adjust so you can see detail in both.

Faced with the task of recording as much information as possible, the camera will try to average out all the light levels and expose the film accordingly. As burnt out highlights are normally considered uglier than black shadows, the camera, left to it's own devices will normally err on the dark side. Which is no good if you are shooting someone's face against a bright sky. It's the person's face you want to see, and you don't really care if the sky is white.

Labels: AF-S Zoom-Nikkor ED 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX, Nikon D50, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 10:26 PM | Permalink

_DSC4419, originally uploaded by shutterhack.

Taken with a Nikon D50 and Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor ED 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX (kit-lens)

My opinion:

The choice of lens does not signify anything except for the fact that it is only an instrument to capture the moment, if using a tele lens has better chance of capturing the moment isolated from the background and if it improves the chance of being unnoticed then so be it... I use a 70-300 and a 18-55 and shoot from a distance or from close range... but it is true that a street photographer cannot afford to be shy or be afraid to confront or pacify his subject in situations.

I like to capture fleeting moments, candid portraits and this does not give me an option to introduce myself to my subjects with my visiting card before I take the shot... I believe that empathy for the subject - if important to the photographer - should show in his/her work... morality is a subjective issue, not an absolute one... I am not the one who can figure out whats on a person's mind if and as he knows that he is being photographed... did he like being photographed? Did he dislike but was too polite or shy to tell me that he didn't want to be photographed? Well... as long as I do not know, I assume implicit permission from my subject. If I wanted to find out explicitly I would be talking and not capturing the moments that I wanted to capture.

I wonder what would one do if he was required to obtain permission before he took the wonderful pictures showing the moods and moments of dogs. [this is not no imply that dogs are same or different from human beings as photographic subjects ;-) ].

As Elli Wallach said in the movie 'The Good Bad and the Ugly' - "When you shoot, you shoot, don't talk"...it was shooting of a different kind though but its principle applies to street photography as well.

But it is also true that the photographer can introduce himself to his subjects and win their trust and take pictures over weeks and months...this improves the chances of better framing, lighting and yet capturing the candid mood and the moment since the photographer is not viewed as an alien any more and can work at close range without worried about being spotted.Often I visit a place where I am familiar face now, at least to quite a few, and returning with gift prints helps to build a friendship. I can take pictures with the candid mood working at close range...sometimes point blank with a wide lens But that is fundamentally different from the pictures you take as you walk down the street while trying to keep yourself inconspicous.

Many beginner photographers think that people don't like to be photographed and this may be true in many places but from my experience in taking people shots in streets of Tokyo, New York and Calcutta, I can say that it is not generally true...many do like to be photographed, many dont even know if they are being photographed and most apparently dont care even if they know. There are a few who are paranoid about being photographed and certainly I am not going to let the moment pass by making such an assumption. If someone finds out - as sometime someone always does since not everybody can blend in like a fly on the wall - and expresses dissent, I shall respect that. Although, in some situations I have also asked permission before shooting.

The street is a public place and the photographer has as much right as the artist with a sketch book making sketches of people. The problem is that the barrel of the lens pointing at someone could have a different psychological effect than the brief glances of the sketch artist.

Street photography is not about photographing poverty, squalor or misery, it is not about photographing homeless people on the streets, it can show humorous, funny, sad, joyful etc moments. A true street photographer's natural instinct is to shoot first and to worry later.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 10:11 PM | Permalink

Noreen and Arif, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

Taken with a Sony DSC-T5

Location: Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Labels: Canon IXUS SD10, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 6:24 PM | Permalink

Noreen and Arif, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

Taken with a Pentax K100D and Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (kit-lens)

Location: KLCC, Kuala Lumpur

So what makes a good portrait of someone is that it should say something about that person that we feel is true. A good portrait sums up the character of the person or at least an aspect of their character. You don't know the lady with the baby, looking at her photo, you have made some judgements about her and you have made some decisions about her character.

Labels: Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, Pentax K100D, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 6:09 PM | Permalink

DSC_0186, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

Taken with a Nikon D50 and AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens
Location: Ladang Kuala Terengganu

Continuous shooting Mode isn’t just something that DSLRs have - most point and shoot cameras have it as an option also.

It’s a particularly useful mode for taking shots of any situation where there is movement. Obviously photographing children is one such situation but there are many others including the photography of sport, animals, and even in portrait photography.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 3:37 PM | Permalink

Bebi, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

Taken with a Nikon D50 and AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

Photography is all about light, the direction of the light falling on your subject is most important, you need to look at your subject carefully and watch how the shadows fall.

If you are able to choose the time of day to shoot your pictures, try to pick a time when the sun is low in the sky, either shoot in the early morning or late afternoon. Shooting pictures of people with the sun too high in the sky, tends to mean the subject's eyes will be in shadow and/or they will be squinting in the strong light, both of which tend to look horrible. A nice side effect of shooting in the early morning or late afternoon is that the colour of the light is 'warmer', reds and yellows are stronger which generally gives a more pleasing effect.

If you are photographing in sunlight, try to position yourself so that the sun hits your subject from the side, this will give you nice 'modelling' and help create a 3D effect in the picture.

Sunlight behind the subject can give a very pleasing 'backlight' effect but be careful that you are not getting 'flare' in the lens, which degrades the contrast of the image.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 3:37 PM | Permalink

DSC_0516, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

Taken with a Nikon D50 and AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

Location: Teluk Ketepang beach, Kuala Terengganu, East Coast of Malaysia.

Photography is all about light, the direction of the light falling on your subject is most important, you need to look at your subject carefully and watch how the shadows fall.

If you are able to choose the time of day to shoot your pictures, try to pick a time when the sun is low in the sky, either shoot in the early morning or late afternoon. Shooting pictures of people with the sun too high in the sky, tends to mean the subject's eyes will be in shadow and/or they will be squinting in the strong light, both of which tend to look horrible. A nice side effect of shooting in the early morning or late afternoon is that the colour of the light is 'warmer', reds and yellows are stronger which generally gives a more pleasing effect.

If you are photographing in sunlight, try to position yourself so that the sun hits your subject from the side, this will give you nice 'modelling' and help create a 3D effect in the picture.

Sunlight behind the subject can give a very pleasing 'backlight' effect but be careful that you are not getting 'flare' in the lens, which degrades the contrast of the image.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 3:36 PM | Permalink

Pasar Kedai Payang, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

Taken with a Nikon D50 and Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

If depth of field is important to either make sure everything is in focus or to throw some things out of focus, select the 'Aperture Priority' mode on your camera. In this mode you select the aperture and the camera selects the shutter speed according to the available light.

My notes:

People, especially children, get bored very quickly. If you start fiddling with your camera telling them to hold on a minute you will never get good pictures. The most important part of the picture is the expression on the face. When you see that expression you must be ready to instantly capture it, everything else, the lighting, the background, the composition must be ready. Facial expressions, at least the good ones, are very fleeting things. If you ask someone to smile and you leave them holding that smile for even a second it will look very, very false.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 3:10 PM | Permalink

Coconut Juice, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.
Taken with a Nikon D50 and Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

The simple answer is yes. From there things get murky. Photography captures and presents images of the surfaces of things. Of course the photographer can use all manner of visual imagery and symbolism to suggest that there is (or at least ought to be) some deeper meaning a mind tuned to understand it might find. - Something beneath the surface as it were.

Artists never seem to be willing to tell the public what to make of their works. I'm sure you have seen many interviews with artists and authors intended to draw out of them the significance and meaning of their art. The result is never very satisfying because the artist rightfully knows only himself, and not to any more profound extent than the rest of us do. Although all of us can be honest about ourselves to a greater or lesser degree, none of us truly knows, once and for all, what our work might mean to someone else. Artists do resonate to things in the world around them, but I think that the ways of turning experience into art are individual and mysterious. WYSIWYG is such a simplifying point of view that it's no wonder it is the stock answer for such questions.

And this is probably just the kind of issue you want to expore with your question. For example, "How can great portrait photographers make pictures that reveal the character as well as the appearance of their subjects?" The overwhelming fact is that they do. Some devices used to create this effect might be objects placed near the subject that symbolize his/her life's ambition or work, a suggestive manner of dress or costume, facial expression, or perhaps overall set design.

Many images show something that needs no interpretation to be recognizable while at the same time appealing to the mind to suggest that it is possible for one to understand things in a different way. The "sight gag" is a simple example of this kind of thing.

Truth is a mental thing. It mind supplies it to things around it, often in the form of some explanation or other we know as understanding. The photographer has at his disposal a whole arsenal of conventional visual imagery to convey more than appearance alone. I'm not talking about using PS to make dull photos into eye-popping wonders, I'm talking about making the picture interesting in the first place - interesting the way you saw it. I think it is possible to use ideas other artists such as Norman Rockwell explored to show situations and reactions in their subjects the viewer responds to. I don't want to be NR myself, but I would like to learn how to present subjects that are lively and interesting. (How would you show that your subject actually stinks if you could smell it?)

The rock: This brings up the matter of photographic point-of-view. There are infinitely many specific camera positions for photographing any subject. Simply turning the camera using the same mount to improve composition is yet another position. Some people seem to have a knack for finding interesting ways of looking at what would at first seem to be the most ordinary objects. When it comes to something like this it seems best to let truth take care of itself and you the photographer accept the challenge of finding the points of view you like best. The interesting ones that say that there is more to a rock than meets the eye.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Philosophy of Photography, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 3:10 PM | Permalink

Pasar Kedai Payang, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.
Taken with a Nikon D50 and Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

I don't think most photographers are aware of the rules of composition as developed during the Florentine Renaissance or the Beaux Art era (architects may be more familiar with them). The issues of horizon line, "thirds -- the grid, is the kindergarten version.

Unless the photographer is working in studio conditions where he or she has control over every aspect of and in the subject-frame like an art director, the photographer is limited to what presents itself to the camera and how.

In both instances the tendency will be to adhere to the rules, even if they are consciously unknown, due to cultural "osmosis".

Breaking the rules is so common that they have become rules themselves. This is most often seen, professionally, in advertising, book and magazine cover photography for example because it draws attention, tending to stand out. If the goal is to draw attention to itself, the rule is to break a (cultural and unconsciously expected) rule.

In varieties of candid photography, photography of the moment, there is little opportunity to compose according to the rules (that may be done later by cropping if possible). In such photography, the frame and subject 'emit' their own rule, which is what captured the photographer's attention and caused her to raise the camera and release the shutter in the first place. Since my photography is mostly of that sort, I tend to let the frame/subject compose itself.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Philosophy of Photography, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 3:10 PM | Permalink

Pasar Kedai Payang, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.

Taken with a Nikon D50 and Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens

This is at Pasar Kedai Payang. Arcording to the history, the town Kuala Terengganu had once had two big famous market; One is the “Pasar Tanjung” (Foreland Market), which is also known by the local as “Pasar Kedai Hilir” (Down River Market Shop) and the other one is called “Pasar Payang” (Payang is a traditional large fishing net which is suit and pull by the Perahu Payang). The marketplace was call Pasar Payang because of one of the Terengganu trademark; the famous traditional “Perahu Payang” which can only be found in Terengganu and was once the most popular boat use by the traditional fisherman.

Labels: AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, Nikon D50, People, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 3:09 PM | Permalink

Syuhada imitating The Predator's hairlook, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.
Taken with the Canon IXUS SD10

Labels: Canon IXUS SD10, Landscape, People, Philosophy of Photography, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 2:29 PM | Permalink

The wait, originally uploaded by Fadzly Mubin.
Taken with a Pentax K100D and Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro lens

To me a true portrait is a portrait of character - not so much of looks. If the photo tells something correctly about the person, his/hers character then it is a successful portrait. Then of course there are sub-genres.

Fashion portrait is a fashion photo of a face with the what ever commercial message. In a true portrait, yes, I too find it important that it is honest, direct. It is not about amking someone look, sexy or handsome as good as possible but rather tell about the life of the person.

Sometimes one can find nude or glamor photos in the portrait category. To me it's rather tasteless regardless how good the nude or glamorous photo is. Only in the case where the person is a real cougar in real life the photo is a good portrait. A female acting something else she really is - can be a good glamor photo but not a good portrait.

Labels: People, Philosophy of Photography, Photography, Portrait

Posted by Mohd Fadzly Abdul Mubin at 2:27 PM | Permalink