The Dying Photographer

If a person knows that he will very soon leave this world

sooner than he would hope

What will he do in his end days?

If he is a photographer

the answer need not be said

its taken.

But

what will he see?

Will he see the world in lines, shapes and colours

Will he see the world in perfect symmetry or biased portions

Will he see the world in black and white or colours in harmony

Will he see the world in thirds and points that cross

Will he see the world that is huge and explored by little

Will he see the world that is small and forgotten by most

Will he see the world that is inhabited by creatures among humans

Will he see the world that is inhabited by creatures so called humans

Will he see faces that smiles yet frowns in the eyes

Will he see faces that smiles because its reflected by glass and ink

Will he see faces that are true to thought and emotion

Will he see faces that are indifferent by style and not emotion

Will he see faces that are perfectly lit and arranged in a manner

Will he see faces that are in groups of young and old

Will he see faces that he will never meet in their daily commute

Will he see faces that he always have loved but never dared to say

Will he capture a moment that needs to be remembered

Will he capture a moment that happens so quick that others have missed

Will he capture a moment that tells a great story

Will he capture a moment that makes history

What will he find in that viewfinder?

Will he find that the view he wishes to find is a view of ideals, not image

before glass, mirror and film

Will he find that the view he wishes to find was in front of him all along but was too blind to see

because time and space are to be lived not cropped and seen

Will he find nothing at all and live and not view.

Steven Wong

The day that was too WTF to not blog about

Yo guys... haven't hear from me for quite awhile right? Well not really, I've been leaving comments here and there and all over, just to show that I'm not dead. Yeah... I haven't been blogging a whole lot these days. Just lost the mood. I don't feel the need to tell what I've been doing any more. Perhaps its because its just too boring to write about. LOL. Yeah, that might be it. If something really messed up happens to me, I'll tell you. That's what I'm doing right now dogg.

Yesterday. July 5th, 2009. Went out to Pekeliling Heights too shoot some documentary/street shots with Chai (a photographer friend I met in Monash). The damned place (its due for demolitions soon) is at the end of the Monorail station, so I decided to drive over to Time Square, park the car there and take a Monorail to Titiwangsa. When I parked, I placed a steering lock on. Just in case. Then I had a sudden urge to reposition the steering lock, stick the key in and twist.... wouldn't open... "Wha"? Realizing than I am in a hurry, I just left it and went to the station.





Pekeliling Heights is rather spooky. There is a constant banging reverberating in that area, most probably from scrap metal thieves. There is also several people with with questionable intents appearing silently here and there like ghosts. Mosquitoes there were as thick as fog and the funk from rotting insulation was kinda worrying, i don't want fungus growing in my lungs. Me and Chai choose a block that wasn't "inhabited" and entered.




These are the shots that I was there to take... moody moddy documentary/street stuff. I am not really into that genre, but its good to try new stuff. I had a good time, got a few wonderful shots.

The roof is a must go if you are in an abandoned building with no elevators. Where else would you wanna go? So after exploring and trekking 14 floors we reached the top.


Me: "What a view! Wooo-aoa-aoa-oh *legs going flimsy*"
Chai: "I don't know how to explain to your parents if you fall over."



Well, the first thing that we saw on the roof wasn't the view... it was this



Major WTF right? Yeah... we conclude that its a skull of a dog... that might have got lost on the way up, didn't know how to go down, and died. I still think it may be some squatter's dinner, lol, who knows?


The dude, picks up everything! (Awesome view huh?)

So after a few rolls of film (for him) and a memory card filled to the brim with RAW images, we decided to call it a day and got down. I stopped to do a few macros in a "flower patch" near the entrance where we came from.




Even in an outing to do street(-ish) shots, I still have the urge to do macro. LOL! I have to get it out of my system!

*dumbass monologues start here

On the way back I suddenly remembered about the stupid steering lock. "Oh shit, that better be unjammed when I get back". I got Chai (a 3rd year engineering student in Monash) to help me out. We went to my car, stick the key in, twist and turned it in all sort of manner, but it still wouldn't fucking open. Spent 1/2 and hour trying to budge it open. "Alright this lock is seriously fucked up." So, I went to the help desk for help. Help desk told me to go to the parking office, parking office told me to go to maintenance, maintenance was closed so I went to the security office. Filed a report, and got a maintenance guy who was supposed to be on his Sunday day off to help me. I told him my ordeal and he gave me the WTF look. Apparently nothing like this ever happened. Caught some security guards was giggling at the back when I gave them a sit rep of the situation.

The maintenance guy wasn't expecting something like that... he asked me how I'd like him to help me. I requested for a bolt cutter after having Generation Kill replay in my head several times. "Sure... a bolt cutter would cut through that RM30 piece of trash with a little muscle" Boy was I wrong. Motorbiked with the Mat Maintenance back to my car, opened the door and gave the freakin steering lock the pinch of its life... just a nick. "Shit, how am I gonna drive outta here". Mat Maintenance suggested that we get a grinder and luckily there was a power point nearby and so after a call to dad and 20 minutes later...

"YEAH! GET SOME! Shit ass lock!!"

Hahahhaahahah! I still have the pieces now. Mat Maintenance left before dad came (he said he'd be back in 30 mins), kinda regret not leaving a piece as a souvenir for him and his effort, he did came to work on a Sunday. LOL.

*Big Thank You to Mat Maintenance, Dad and the security cheif .

Chrismas on April!

I actually wanted to blog abit about my experience in Monash University.... but then i lost the mood, because there are somethings that i rather not say, and by not saying it, would make the post dry. So... i'd be just writing to show off some of my new stuff, cheh..... XD


AF-S Nikkor 50mm f1.4G

Finally! I brought my AF-S 50mm f1.4! I've been waiting for this lens since before they announced it's existence. Last year I wondered if they'd come up with an AF-S 50 prime... and bout 2-3 months later... they announced it! Then, Nikon released it to the market round Chrismas week last year... i had to wait for another 4 months to collect enough money to buy it.

Then, on the very next day...

HP dv3500

My very own laptop! I wanted one since i got out of school... finally got it. This one cant run any of the games i really like, but i still like it. Though i have some issues with its keys.... its hard to see the letters on them.... its black on brown, glossy and not back lit. Everything else is fine though.



and i got a Razer DeathAdder to go with also! Wooooo! Thats 3 things off my wanted list! Got all of it on the same weekend! Haha!

Gosh... i'm so materialistic.... my life is about owning stuff.

???

Took this with my 2.0 megapixel, no focus cameraphone around the shops near my house longtime ago. Mind the bad quality.

Cool bike eh. Real creative. Tell me what do you think of it?




Check out the brakes. And the seat! And the 'custom' paintjob!

25 random things about me

Tagged by Rita

1. I love photography.
2. I enjoy playing Call of Duty 4.
3. I would like to go to Mount Roraima in Guyana before I die.
4. I made a COD4 Guide blog. Check it out > http://atkr.blogspot.com/
5. I have a Flickr Pro account. But that doesn't mean I'm a pro in photography, just access to more features.
6. I enjoy fishing.... when i catch something. Big.
7. I made a list of everything I wish to own. It sums up to RM300 000. Everybody is materialistic. Right?
8. I honour modesty and honesty. I do not respect arrogant bastards who lie about their success. What a loser.
9. I have a weird obssesion with guns and firearms. Not the killing... just the weapon. How it looks. The sounds it makes. The power it gives you. The smell of gunpowder...
10. I **********, but you do not need to know that.
11. Ooh... I love reptiles... snakes, lizards, tortoises I want to be a herpentologist one day.
12. I'm afraid of getting lost.
13. I'm a fan of Coldplay and Moby.
14. I enjoy listening to classical music like the ones in my music box.
15. I don't like using Facebook, Friendster, Twitter and other 'social networking' sites.
16. I can't play any instrument. I can't read music.
17. I HATE anything mainstream (hip-hop culture, the Facebook phenomenon, la-la stuff)
18. I HATE chainmails. Don't send any to me. I'll delete them straight.
19. I wrote a post which is almost like this stupid tag. http://strykerspix.blogspot.com/2008/04/facts-that-you-would-or-would-not-know.html
20. I procastinate a LOT.
21. I dream about not finishing homework and getting scolded alot during the holidays.
22. Good nude art is not erotic.
23. People say I'm creative, but I really am not.
24. I'm **********, but you don't really need to know that as well.
25. Random dosen't mean revealing. No secrets here. Muahhahahhaahhahhh!

I tag.......... nobody. Feel free to do this tag if you feel like it.

My Labour.

After many many many sessions of COD4 and plenty plenty plenty of restless nights thinking of strategies and perks packages, I have finished my labours.

Sneaking behind people and popping their heads is not easy. You have to stealthy, quick and accurate. Numerous failed attempts have made me patient and cunning. In the end, after much small victories and humiliations, I have prevailed. Behold....





My Gold Uzi.

I have unlocked gold weapons for every weapon category and complete every challenge, except Carpet Bomb, which have eluded me for long. I am tired, but satisfied, to know that i have unlocked everything that can be unlocked in COD4. It isn't easy you know.

Guns that are not, but sould, be in COD4

Here we go, another utterly useless blog post about guns. For obvious reasons, pictures here are not mine and grabbed from various websites.

First off...

SA-80

The SA-80 is the standard issue rifle for the British Royal Army. Attached with the SUSAT sight seen above its allegedly the most accurate infantry rifle today. So why wouldn't the S.A.S be using this but the American M4? No idea...

Ooh... this gun also appears in '28 weeks later'... Brit army... remember?

LSW (Light Support Weapon)

This is just an accurized version of the SA-80. Made for medium-far range sniper support. Soap should be using this instead of the M21 in that mission where he rescues Nikolai.

M24

This weapon, which has appeared in Battefiled 2 as you can see here, is just as accurate as the M40 but is magazine loaded. They should have included this instead of the R700 (which is just a civilian version of the M40) in Multiplayer. Reload times would be faster.

M2 .50 cal

This big brute is mounted on almost all HUMVEEs in service today. And since HUMVEEs are a primary mode of transport for the USMC, Activision should have made a level in which the player mans a M2 on a HUMVEE fagging Ultranationalist Al Asad scum.

Steyr AUG

Activison should have included this guy in Multiplayer just because of its popularity. I mean... who can't remember this guy if you've played CS. Plus... the Malaysian Army and many other notable military units uses this, but thats besides the point.

Glock

One of the most iconic handguns after the Beretta is of course the Glock. I am not sure about the others, but i think COD4 Multiplayer needs a bit more handguns for the sake of variability. Perhaps they could have included this Glock bestseller or the Glock 18 which can fire 3 round burst. (seen in CS)

Browning High Power

This 50 year old (ok, i'm not sure if its 50 years old, but it should be around there), 13 round 9mm handgun is trusted by personnel all around the world because of its reliability and simplicity in design. Rivaling the Colt 1911 in history, this weapon should be there.

Sub-Machine Guns

No pictures here, because i have just too many to suggest and only 1 should make it. Instead of the Skropion (which i don't think any military unit in the world uses), Activision should have included an SMG that fires the .45 ACP so that it could match ammo with the USP .45 and the M1911. The first .45 SMG that comes to my mind is the Ingram Mac-10, but that boxy thing, like the Skropion, is not used by many military units... its more fitting to be in a gangster game like GTA4 (which it is in). Another SMG that comes to my mind is the Heckler & Koch UMP .45, at this point you might say i get all my ideas form Counter-Strike, which i guess is partially true because its just such an iconic game! Its like an FPS staple. So... if Activision minds copying the hugely successful Counter-Strike and would like something different, they should either get the super mordern not-even-out yet KRISS SMG or... hehehehe bring back da Thompson!!!

And since its a little too late to put these guns in COD4, i would like to see the old cast in COD4 plus my suggestions in COD6!!!

Gold Plumbing

After much help from iKill ( Weii Joon) i am finally able to unlock.... the Gold M1014 *aaaaaaaaaaaaah* [chants]



Wha... so reflective... the flare from it hampers my accuracy...




Looks like some gold plated piping glue together.

Taiwan

I made this post because i feel that these shots deserve more. I have posted these shots and more on Flickr and put its story in the caption. Here are my 'best pics' from Taiwan.

Vista


I don't know the name of that hill, but its taken on the road to Chewfen which is a market (imagine pasar pagi) for tourist. Thrinkets, clothes and snacks).


Green Frog


This shot it not that good, lighting is terrible and composition is out. However, what happen after i took this i worth talking about. My camera broke. The pictures I take is all underexposed. So i had to up the exposure compensation by 3 stops, which means slower shutter speeds. I did bring my tripod, so landscapes and night shots was not a problem but i can't shoot anything thats moving. After the trip, I sent my D40x to Nikon, good thing its still under warranty. Hah, but the shots i missed while its being fixed..... argh!!

Injured Pidgeon


'Birding' would be almost impossible with my camera's condidtion, but this guy was pretty still, it dropped out of the sky literaly!!! I was walking to the canteen for breakfast when all of the sudden this bird fell from the roof and landed on the floor with a thud! Poor guy must be sick or sumthing.


Grass


I love how this grass looks when the sun hits it! Its almost golden! This grass (called 'Mang Chow' there) is everywhere! It covered the hill on the first picture. Its this grass that giving it the goldeny look.


To the heavens


Of all the shots I took in Fuo Guag Shan Monastery, i like this the most. The buddha idols look as if they are going to blast off to space! I also like how the gold contrasts with the blue winter skies. Though this shot only got two views on Flickr.


Stork


This picture speaks for itself. I really like it. 8 views only though.


Lights


I like all the nightshot i took there, near the Dragon Tiger Pagoda. But this one is special, cause it follows this blog's colour scheme!


City Pulse


Light painting! I didn't shake my SLR around though for this shot, the van did! I planted the tripod on the van's floor and let the camera do its thing.


Liuho Night Market


My camera's disability turned into a plus in this shot! With a long shutter speed I can get all the people to become nothing but blurs leaving behind the essence of this street. This is also the most enjoyable of the 6 night markets i have been to in Taiwan. The street is wide, there are lots of things to see and buy, and the shooting games were so easy and fun! (the video below was taken there)


Taiwanese Honour Guard


Ok, anyone can take this, but the thing i wanna point out from this shot is the bayonet attached to the M1 Springfield. Look closely, its attached with NYLON STRINGS! LOL!!


101 at night


What would a trip to Taiwan mean if I didn't visit or take a shot of the 101! I like this shot because of the light trails left by a bus that went by.


Mystery


I purposely included the trees in this shot to block out the street and the other buildings. I like how the 101 look like a sentinel's tower from a sci-fi movie!

24 Carat Killa

At last... me Gold AK-47!!




Side view. (Note the silencer)




Amber-ish look indoors.




Elite challenges: Complete




Carpet Bomb, the only challenge left.



Now that I have three gold weapons (the SVD, M60 and now, the AK-47) and that I have completed 98% of the challenges... I am begining to get lazy. I haven't been playing for 3 days now... lost the motivation! LOL!




I heard that CoD6, or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is going to be out soon... i wonder what guns will be in it... hmm...