WHO IS WHO? Unsolved Mysteries?

as a photographer, sometimes I just can't stop wondering why are some pictures taken. Or how would the subjects tell, once the pictures are printed, who is who in the picture. here are just two pictures that i came across and i am till "wondering".

are you able to tell who is who?

who is who?

Penang Trip 2006 - Shooting A Concert

people asked me why i always like to take pics with female celebs. i was like...huh? I also have a lot of pics with male celebs and my pic with Hong Kong superstar Eric Tsang is very much treasured. anyway, during one of last years concert shoot in penang, i decided that i will only have pics taken with male artistes.

with danny wan

with ah niu

with gary chow

celebration party with malaysian idol daniel lee and danny wan

the esplanade in penang...great seafront view...strong breeze

great for some fishing activities

after all the show and stuffs, my penang friends came over and picked me up from my hotel and we went eating and eating!

my escort for the evening...they came for the concert too

gurney drive...not exactly great food but the atmosphere was fun

especially when you have great companies

check out the penang char kuey teow

that's the char kuey teow stall behind us

fresh sugar cane drink

so, if you have not been to gurney drive and try the food there, its worth at least one go. frankly, the food is not exactly great but like i said...its the atmospehere and the nite sea breeze.

all guys' pics taken with Nikon D100 while all girls' pics taken with Nikon D70s.

My Photo Exhibition?

i was browsing my pictures folder on my laptop and came across this particular one. i tot its interesting and rather cool. i had my photo exhibition! it was an appreciation dinner for the "michael wong concert" last year and all sponsors and media people were invited to the dinner.

CMG, the concert organiser decided to display all their concert pics (all of which were taken by me) and made a photo exhibition out of it. naturally, i was requested to station myself there at the photo display tables to "entertain" questions and inquiries. it was fun and very satisfying to see so many people going through your albums and making good comments.

here are some pics of my "exhibition".

part of the collection...over 5,000 pics were displayed

restaurant workers checking out their idols

sponsors and medias

myfm radio dj phoebe yap (the one one the phone)

myfm radio dj mei yan checking pics of herself

Awe man!

see, i know this day would slowly come creeping in from behind. i don't know how to blog! I am not consistent in writing something everyday or at least on a consistent basis. and i really wonder who's out there reading me blog. hmmm...

anyway, my new official website is now under construction and should be up and ready end of next week. it will be a simple but cool site. I have just registered "Babyboss Pictures" and the URL...www.babybosspictures.com. its not a blog. its the company's official website. Babyboss Pictures will also have a new logo and some really cool promotional materials like cool polo t-shirts, baseball caps, stickers and stuffs like that. write to me if you want to "wear" and parade around town in our "Babyboss" apparels!

meanwhile........................erm...............................bye!

WiFi Enabled

whoa...now my tiny condo unit is fully WiFi enabled! bought a Linksys wireless router and tried to fix it up to my comps yesterday. didn't exacty work cause i memang don't know how to make the configurations! my bro-in-law dropped by my condo just now and got the whole works setup up!

which means, now instead of bringing with me the daily newspapers into the toilet, i can take my laptop and surf WiFi. what an awesome idea!!! just gotto always remind myself to ensure that my webcam ain't ON.

Japan GT Championship...very much looking forward to shooting it. lets hope i do get the job.

ok, super tired and sleepy after a whole day in church. good nite.

Japan GT Championship

time flies really fast...one more year passed...and its now time for another round of Japan GT Championship. the malaysian round to be held at our very own sepang international circuit (SIC) on june 22-24, 2007.

just like last december's taiwan's pop queen jolin tsai's live concert here at the kelana jaya stadium...60% of the photogs were there to check out her infamous "g-cup" tale (of course, they were also there on their media assignments lar). check out her concert pics at my website.

hong kong show @ http://www.pbase.com/babybosspictures/jolin_hk
malaysia show @ http://www.pbase.com/babybosspictures/jolintsai

with this coming JPGT next month, would the focus of photographers be on the cars or the race or the japanese babes (aka umbrella girls, aka race queens). every year, photographers, both professionals and the hobby shooters, would flock the tracks hunting for either a great car to shoot, or a great babe to feast on. it is a lot of fun especially when the umbrella girls are more than willing to strike various cute poses for your hungry fingers.

in most cases, after every JPGT, the photo forums and many many websites will be flooded with pictures of japanese babes, each image being discussed from all angles. so, where are the cars pics? haha...dumped to the magazine editor!

no doubt, the JPGT is a very exciting sporting event in the malaysian diary. car enthusiasts can drool on all that skylines and supras and fairladies and gtos and many more. unlike the F1 races where the cars run around sounding like giant mosquitos, JPGT cars roar with a different tone. u get to hear loud explosions when a car backfires, the instant acceleration after a tight jamming of the brakes at one corner gives a thundering sound that can only be found in JPGTs.

i heard from the management of SIC, that they will only release 30 photo passes at a killing price of RM700 each! only 30 passes. of course, these 30 passes are for the non-official shooters who wants to have a hand in motor sports (and the babes, of course). the media people and other official team and sponsor shooters will have their own shooting passes.

and now i realise that the "high speed crop" feature on my D2X is super useful in event like this. selecting the HSC feature would give me a firing speed of 8 frames per second and also a magnification factor of 2x instead of the usual 1.5x! that's awesome. my 200mm is now 400mm!!! weeee......

exciting exciting. the only question now is...am i shooting at this coming JPGT? will keep you guys updated. if i do get to shoot, then you'd better bookmark my website.

muahahahaha....

I Can't Sleep!

its 4:35am now and i can't sleep! somehow my medication must have kept me awake? oh, i forgot to say...i was having high fever since Wednesday late afternoon. the agony of waiting and waiting at the SSM office must have triggered something in me. LOL

by thurday early morning (like 3am), my temperature measured at 38.8C and i was literally boiling inside. my face was like hot enough to make one mata kerbau! went to see my doctor at 10:30am yesterday and was measuring a whopping temperature of 39.5C or 105F! anything after 40C gotto get ready for hospital.

just took another dose of medicine just now at around 11:45pm and that kept me awake till like now. so, i guess i'll just have to make myself a hot bowl of maggie mee over a hot cup of milo and maybe catch a dvd movie or something.

well...good morning everyone!

SSM Lied To Me Again!!!

i think God doesn't want me to talk so much about the Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM). i wrote about my experience yesterday when i went back to SSM to get my "Babyboss Pictures" registered, somehow for some unexplainable reasons, my house powe supply tripped TWICE while I was writting! everything i wrote lost liao!

anyway, SSM lied to me again. they gave me the 1hr promise again but at the end...it was some 2hrs-odd. I reached SSM at around 11:45am and left that place at 3pm. i had a lot of "waiting" time, so i was smart enough to bring along my new D2x for some trial shots. then had coffee at Starbucks and witnessed a motor accident right infront of me.

here are some pics.

the SSM main front desk which is now everybody's writing desk

the long queue and busy traffic at SSM

the counters

the big 1hr lie...shamefully displayed at the entrance

The Mall...for those who have never been there

the motor accident...poor van

Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia Lied To Me!!!

the dreadful day arrived where i have to dreadfully go to The Putra Place (The Mall, next to The Legend Hotel) to get my "Babyboss Pictures" company registered at this dreadful Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (Companies Commission Of Malaysia). the moment i arrived, i was, as expected, warmly greeted by these freelance company administators whos job is to help "lost victims" like me get their companies registered without any hassle. i stopped at this one fella and asked how much it would cost if he were to help me get my registration done. he answered, "RM250". I said ok but let me go renew the registration fee of my another "Paradigm Events" company first, then I'll come out and see him for the new registration.

while waiting at the queue for my registration renewal, my eyes wisely caught the attention of several notice boards displayed by the Suruhanjaya office saying that new company registration is super easy and can be done in a jiff and does not require any expert assistance and thus, can save money. i thought...cool...cause company annual registration fee is only rm60, which means i am paying something like rm190 to that "kind volunteer" for his help!

instantly, i decided to make that registration myself. and that's the beginning of trouble!

i inquired at the help desk and this "abang opiser" gave me a form and assured me that its really easy...senang aje...dalam 1 hour boleh siap! i affirmed with him that 1 hour is SATU JAM and he said "ya boleh". so, i happily and confidently walked into another much bigger hall, filled my 1st form and had it dropped into the tray...apparently, they have to do a "company search" to ensure my chosen company name is available and usable. that stupid search took exactly 1hr 5mins. and i am already late for my next appointment.

i asked the opiser what's next and he said...now take this registration form, fill it up, take a number and when called, you may submit your registration...then wait a while (perhaps another hour) for the official registration certificate to be issued. i was like...aw mah gawd! the SATU JAM was only for the company search thingy. now with the borang, my registration begins!

the opiser told me that it would normally take like half a day to get everything done. like if you were to be at that dreadful place at 9am, you'd probably get your registration done around lunch time!!! what rubbish!!! thanks for that "ya boleh, satu jam" assurance!!!

i left after getting my search result and have to arrange for another dreadful day to pay another dreadful visit to this dreadful place to get this dreadful registration done! nevertheless, Babyboss Pictures will come into full operation within weeks and a new website for it too! watch out for new updates here.

lei sik mm sik yeh gah?

i have come to a conclusion that the best thing for any customer to buy is that already decided thing he wanted to buy even before seeing me. most buyers have a pre-concluded decision hidden subconciously in his mind of what he wants to do. that pre-decided decision would only probably change if he was willing to consider a change and due to reasons that does not relate to the product at sale. so the principal selling rule applies...sell what the customer wants to buy. just give him what he wants and be happy with the profit margin.

sound system equipment and peripherals is one industry i sell. and after some 10yrs in this business, i have met so many "sound engineers" (especially the church ones) that tell me what is best in the industry. they begin to advice me and affirming to me that such and such brands are more superior that others. well, some may be right while some are just plain rubbish.

everything boils down to budget. with bigger budgets, more options can be discussed while with smaller budgets...naturally, we would only be looking at that few models lor. for me, i would spend a lot of money for one particular setup while i would do the complete opposite for another setup. what is good for here may not be good for there. so, there is really no such thing as "best systems"!

i get irritated when some church "sound engineers" trying to act smart telling me how wrong i am. i am willing to change if your comments carry substance and technical logic...otherwise, please go check your facts.

latest incident was this small auditorium in KL that needed a sound system make-over. the ceiling height is around 9 feet. the stage is about 1.5feet high. and there was this church "sound engineer" who suggested a center speaker to cover sound for the center cluster of seats since the auditorium is wide (around 65 feet) in design with only about 35 feet of length. means he will have to hang that center sepaker somewhere just above the standing position of the worship leader or pastor during church service. with a celing height of only 9 feet and the staged raised at 1.5 feet, there is only some 7.5 feet left. with a speaker hanging right in the center of the stage dangling down at another minimum of 1.5 feet...i leave that to your imagination to visualise the eyesore!

many people say Behringer is a lousy brand. i ask them what in their opinion are good brand then? various names were given, typically brands such as JBL and Yamaha (as far as speakers are concerned). i asked them what do they know about JBL and Yamaha as compared to Behringer. all sorts of funny comparisons were made.

here is what i have to say about the average "know-some-but-not-know-enough" type of "technical people". brand names like JBL and Yamaha are everyday brand names since JBL also do home hi-fi systems and also car audio systems while Yamaha is obvioulsy the name to call for when home theater 5.1 DTS surround sound systems are concerned. Yamaha is also very popular name when comes to music education. but names like Behringer are only related to the pro sound reinforcement industry.

there was one time where i tested this sound guy by giving him two options of speakers to choose from. with the prices witheld from him, i gave him a normal class JBL make (RM4,500 each) and the concert series EAW (RM28,000 each). straight away, without hesitation, he chose the JBL. obviously the decision has nothing to do with the price but everything to do with the fact that he hears a lot about the JBL name. the same goes for audio mixers, EQs microphones and other sound peripherals. every church soundman wants to own a yamaha or at least a mackie and would immediately disregard that poor Behringer again. between a mackie and midas, they'd go for the mackie series. but somehow, the world-class sound technicians that i had the privilege of working with (in various international live concerts), always insist on a midas...anytime!

i can go on and on about this funny buying attitude of many people. the same goes for buying cameras. whenever i affirm that the camera that they are about to purchase is a good choice, they instantly fall in love with me. but the moment i give them technical explainations that their initial choice is unwise, their defence wall gets errected up almost immediately. and they will fight for the rights of "their" camera. LOL i just keep quiet and ;et it be lor. afterall, i have my trusty D2X and D100 to live with.

haaar...now i feel a lil better after releasing out some steam! cool...life goes on.

anyway, here is me on a 40-channel crest audio X8 professional mixing console...another "non-preferred" name of the typical church "sound engineers".

In Love With My D2X

i m sorry...everything i have just written was accidentally deleted AGAIN!!! i am not writting for the 3rd time. so, here are some pics to show.

in short, D2X was awesome. a superb camera. performed with 95% accuracy (as compared to my previous D100 at only 75%). great color, great skin tones, superb flash exposure accuracy and lighting speed camera respond.

pics taken from the evening (more will be uploaded at my website).

two bond girls at the aston martin backdrop

bond girls with our local celebrity artiste Noryn Aziz

super model kristee with the aston martin db8

james bond with the bond girls? muahaha...

the photographer with local celebrity artiste Noryn Aziz

look...richard gere was in town too!

What is a D2X?

erm...over the last 48hrs, some people asked me what a D2X is. One even asked if its Windows Vista compatible! LOL a D2X is a camera...you know camera? those that take pictures wan leh. yaya...keh-mer-rer. mine is a Nikon, by the way.

since a picture speaks a thousand words, here is my keh-mer-rer.

My D2X's First Official Assigment

as the evening draws in and as the sun rolls down, i begin to wonder if I have everything properly configured on my new D2X camera body. tomorrow will be my 1st photo assigment using my new D2X coupled with my new Nikon AF-S 17-55 f2.8 lens. since the lens does not require any configurations (dur!), my worries now lie on the camera body.

tomorrow i will be shooting a charity dinner organised by Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur at The Shangri-La Hotel, KL. my mind now starts to imagine all sorts of possible technical issues that may creep up as i shoot tomorrow evening. will the white balance be good? will the exposure be accurate? is one battery unit sufficient for a one-nite dinner event (since I have 3 batteries for my previous D100 body)? and the D2X punya battery is nothing near cheap at all...that stupid thing costs RM450 each (my previous D100 batts only cost like 100 bucks each).

so, we will pray tonite at my home care group. haha... wish me luck tomolo!

What A Friend I Have

IN CHEMISTRY, HE TURNED WATER TO WINE.

IN BIOLOGY, HE WAS BORN WITHOUT THE NORMAL CONCEPTION.

IN PHYSICS, HE DISAPPROVED THE LAW OF GRAVITY WHEN HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN.

IN ECONOMICS, HE FEEDING 5000 MEN WITH TWO FISHES & 5 LOAVES OF BREAD.

IN MEDICINE, HE CURED THE SICK AND THE BLIND, WITHOUT ADMINISTERING A SINGLE DOSE OF DRUGS.

IN HISTORY, HE IS THE BEGINNING AND THE END.

IN GOVERNMENT, HE SAID THAT HE SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, PRINCE OF PEACE.

IN RELIGION, HE SAID NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH HIM.

HE HAD NO SERVANTS, YET THEY CALLED HIM MASTER.

HE HAD NO DEGREE, YET THEY CALLED HIM TEACHER.

HE HAD NO MEDICINES, YET THEY CALLED HIM HEALER.

HE HAD NO ARMIES, YET THE RULERS FEARED HIM.

HE WON NO MILITARY BATTLES, YET HE CONQUERED THE WORLD.

HE COMMITTED NO CRIME, YET THEY CRUCIFIED HIM.

HE DIED AND WAS BURIED IN A TOMB, YET HE LIVES TODAY.

I feel honored and privileged to serve such a great leader...

"Who is this person?", you may ask. His name is no other than Jesus Christ.

My First Blog

Someone once told me that should start a blog. And then another someone said the same again. And recently, a more prominent someone suggested that I should actually start a blog. So, here I am...my very own blog...finally! But what am I gonna write about?

Someone said that I should write about photography. And another someone affirmed that idea. And recently, another more prominent someone suggested that I should write "photo journal". I said, "What photo journal?". I don't even know what a "photo journal" is. I don't know how a "photo journal" should be.

So, I invested some time looking through some of my youths' blogs and hopefully pick up some ideas from them. After spending an evening reading through a few blogs, I have decided to just "be myself". My beloved Su Ann once said in her blog "...if you don't like reading what I write, then don't read...". Of course, her actual words were a little..."spicier".

Anyway, here is my first article in my first blog. I will try to write more about photography and maybe about my life as a professional photographer. And maybe occassionally...a word or two on my church ministries...the children, the youth and music. But this blog will focus primarily on photography and my work as photographer (hmmm...at least that's what I think I will do, at this time of writing).

So, here it is...my website. Please visit www.pbase.com/michaelsin and check out some of my work. Alamak...I am running out of stuffs to write liao! Go check out the website and I think you can throw me "comments" over here at this blog.

Oh yes...I know what to write now. This last 2 weeks, I have spent some RM18,000 on new camera gears!!! Whoaaa!!!! God blessed me with a big fat commission check that gave me permission to write to an 18 grand invoice! End of April, I bought this gorgeous Nikon AF-S 17-55 f2.8 lens...a true beauty to behold. Smooth operation and super fast auto focusing response. Simply gorgeous! And guys, if you have never tried this baby, you don't know what you are missing. The lens hood...ow mah gawd...a beauty. The lens with the hood fixed onto it...ooo, mama-mia...just so sexy!

Ok, back to Nikon. The last week, I finally bought my much awaited, long prayed for, Nikon D2X professional camera body. Awesome piece of metal...dust proof, moisture proof and some even say...bullet proof (anyone care to hold the camera body while I point a .44 Magnum at it?) Anyway, the D2X...a powerful professional specs digital SLR performer. The AF speed is so much faster when I lock in my AF-D 80-200 f2.8 zoom lens. Having used this lens on my 5 year old Nikon D100 body, the 80-200 focused from end to end at lighting speed and almost "breaking the bones" of my aged lens (erm...that grandma is 10 years old liao...ok)! The D2X's CAM2000 motor is a real piece of machine (my old D100 body was using Nikon's CAM900).

So yeah...it was great and exciting. The last weekend, having some time to my self at home, I repack my Lowepro Street & Field Reporter 400 camera bag to make space for my new lens and that huge D2X body. And guess what? Kenot muat lar!!! No matter how I twist and turn my stuffs, the bag just can't fit in all my gears now! Ow mah gawd! What to do leh?

So how? Have to buy new bag lor! Needed something that can hold all my gears and also my 15.4" laptop. Finally found the Lowepro Computrekker AW Plus that can hold up to a 17" laptop and definitely more than enough space for all my gears and even more. Its a backpack thingy. Can't use the typical "swing-over-your-right-shoulder" type of bags...cause the weight will definitely make me walk sideways! LOL Anyway, the Computrekker Plus...a great bag. Super heavy with all my stuffs thrown in! Like it or not...thata's another RM500 gone into the bag.

Ppl : Any regrets?
Mic : Nope.
Ppl : Excited and ready for my next shoot?
Mic : Erm...no major shoots in the next few months.
Everybody : WOOOT?!!!
Mic : Yalor...no big shoots till September! May just start my major shoot on my new D2X covering Justin Timberlake's Malaysian concert.
Everybody : OW MAH GAWD!!!

And suddenly the worry of having to carry a backpack weighing some 10kgs over my shoulder just disappeared. Now I got a waiting of "bag volunteers" all volunteering to do my backpack. Man I tell you...I am touched and overwhelmed by all your kind offers...so willing to sacrifice for me. Guys, you are the best. Ma friends for life! Ow man, I tear as I write...thinking of what thoughtful friends I have. Hey...I've also got some boring seminars to shoot...wanna come carry ma 10kg backpack? Any takers? Well? Helloooo...? Nvm...

Wow wow, pat king pat kok I have written quite a lot. My fingers are still ok but my eyeballs are gonna drop off from their sockets if I don't take some rest now. I guess this is it for now. Please do what you'd normally do it blogs...comment or feedback or respond (I think). So, that I know someone is reading. LOL

Next article...erm...not sure when, not sure what. Stay tuned lor. But maybe will write something on local artistes and celebrities especially those that I know personally. Of course, when I do write about them (as in my fellowships with them during and off shows), I will have to ask them to also read my blog and hey, guess what...I can ask them to put in comments too! Not a bad idea.

Well, we'll see how. Till next time, take care and God bless.