Engage: Hafizul & Ika

In photography, there are a few types of field are waiting for you to explore - from nature to product shoot and portrait. It is just the matter of which one are you interested in. Currently, I am more to people shoot - be it candid, portrait or event - I enjoy shoot them all but no doubt, new comers to photography world will love to shoot nature especially landscape - and I was one of them too.

Practice your shot everyday will help you to understand yourself better - in which photography field attracts you the most. As for me, I found one as I stated above after about a year in photography. Trust me, you will fall in love with photography when you understand it - but be prepare with deep pocket to enjoy the game. Haha. :P.

Back to the title, I was having fun on last weekend shooting engagement day of a friend of mine, Hafizul in Klang, Selangor with his partner, Ika. I am very happy with the outputs I got from the event:









As usual, please visit my flickr gallery for full collection at www.afhamaziz.com/flickr and I can be reached at admin@afhamaziz.com for any reason.


- Afham Aziz.



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Tips: Getting My First DSLR

In January 2010, I got a few friends of mine were asking me what model of camera should they get as their first ever DSLR - it is including my team lead, Lal. They still have money to spend from year end bonus perhaps. :D. By the way, I am not pro nor expect in this field but here I am sharing my point of view in getting DSLR especially for newbie.

In this post, I am not going to give review on each entry level camera available in the current market but I am sharing my points of view about getting first DSLR. Most of us will be in dilemma in choosing the brand and model to invest in. :). Here are a few tips and points from me - they might be help you in making your final decision:


THE BRAND

1. Which brand should I get:
- Buy same brand as your friends - you can learn from them, testing their gear before you get yours.
- Don’t 100% believe on those crap articles saying that Canon is the best, Nikon is for pro, sony is for newbie. A good photo comes from a good photographer, not the lens nor the brand. You will learn how to overcome the limitation of your camera.
- All entry level cameras – be it Nikon, Canon, or Sony – it performs fairly same.

2. My Point of View: Canon
- Good after sale service.
- They offered 3 years warranty last time when I bought mine but I am not so sure now.
- Pro is using Canon. LOL!
- Large user based - you can find second hand items almost everywhere.
- Organizing events with small amount of fee (or sometime free) for Canon users.

3. My Point of View: Nikon:
- After sale service suck! Clearing dust is taking weeks even it can be done in 10-15 minutes. I don’t have personal experience but I know this from my reading in photography forum. Not single user faces same problem but many!
- Nikon camera is most solid body if compared to Sony and Canon.
- Large user based - you can find second hand items almost everywhere.
- They have Nikon Academy – provide studio rental, workshop, etc and of course with a fee.

4. My Point of View: Sony
- Not bad in after sale service. I have no personal experience because my Sony A700 is still strong to serve me.
- New in DSLR market, thus smaller user based if compared to above brands.
- Organizing workshops for FREE for all sony users


THE PRICE

1. Know the market price.
- U can use photography forums or ebay.com to get the rough idea about the cost.
- What are the items come with the price tag.
- Make sure you are well aware of the price and model. A single letter would cost you thousands of money. E.g: Canon 70-200L f2.8 IS lens is sold at +-RM8k (Malaysian Ringgit) while Canon 70-200L f4 IS is around RM4.8k.

2. Do not buy with accessories.
- If you not sure about price of accessories, do not buy it together with camera body. The shop will charge you 100-300% higher than normal price - to compensate with low margin of camera body.
- The shop normally will throw a few cheap accessories like tripod, memory card, screen protector, bag and filter. You actually pay 'hidden fee' for it. Try ask them to reduce the price and take those cheap freebie.
- Entry level cameras normally come with at least free memory card - 4GB. Check (on box or in manual to make sure) for the accessories come in the package if the seller say no.

3. "Playsafe".
- Do not buy the item if you do not know the market price.
- Do not buy from TARITA - Lowyat Plaza, Sungei Wang, etc. They are famous by overcharging newbie buying first DSLR. I also was conned by them when I was buying my very first DSLR. RM300-RM400 item but they charged me RM850. It's all because I didn't do enough homework.
- Do not get blind with high price tag. Shops normally put high price tag and reduce it significantly. E.g: a filter worth rm50 with price tag of RM350 but the seller offers you at RM150. Sound a good deal, isn't?

NOTE: All points are from my personal preference after a year in photography.

If you like my post, please share with your friends. ;).

As usual, you can contact me for any reasons at admin@afhamaziz.com. I will try to reply you soonest possible and I am willing to share my knowledge, skill, etc if needed.

Thank you for reading.

- Afham Aziz



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Product Shoot: Nike Total 90 Shoot III

Hi guys. It is great that I manage find a free time again to write something in this blog. In photography, there are a few type of it - event, portrait, product shoot, landscape, etc. Oh, did I mention what is my interest in photography? No? I think so. Haha. I love to shoot people - no matter either it is candid or portrait. Another field of photography that I interested to learn more is product shoot. One of the reason why I like product shoot is because it is giving me freedom/flexibility/full control of everything.

Here is a bit story how I got my shoe. :D. I was going out with my girl a few days ago and having windows shopping at The Curve. I was looking for a pair of futsal shoe for ages but could not find one - oh, there are a lot of options but none of them catches my attention until I saw Nike T90 Shoot III in a Nike Store at The Curve.

"... I haven't buy something for you for our anniversary", told my girl to me. without waiting long, I was calling one of sale rep then and ask for my size. :D. Actually, I couldn't think anything when she asked me what I want for our anniversary back in December. So, I asked her to keep the money until I find something I really need and that day, I found it. Thanks dear for the shoe. :).

Back to the topic, here are the outputs:





I like the combination color of shoe with dark background. It makes the picture look lively and colorful. :). I was using two wireless flashes on right and left to get these pictures - but flash effect seems to be over on the first one. Oh, thanks for Azim for his F42AM flash. If not, I will not have a chance to try 2 wireless flash effect. :D

I am not too sure how the pros doing product shoot but for me, I was using ISO 100, mid aperture setting - around 8-11, and shutter speed was around 1/60 sec. Make sure you use as low as possible (ISO) if you have enough light. It is important in product shoot to keep your picture cleanest as possible.

This will be my last post before I will be flying back to hometown later today. I hope I will have more time to shoot landscape in my hometown. :D. As usual, please visit my flickr gallery at http://www.afhamaziz.com/flickr for full collection of mine and you also can contact me for any reason at admin@afhamaziz.com.

- Afham Aziz


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White Room Attempt

Nik Ahmad Farid as known as Jono is one of my house. He was willing to pose for me for my white room attempt but he untagged all of his photos in Facebook. I don't know why. haha. :p

Here are the results:









To get above pictures, I was using 2 wireless flashes, Sony F58 and Sony F42. Oh, credit to Azim for his Sony F42. I wish to have a home studio setup early this year but the economy is not so good now. So, I have to postpone it to recover from a small damage - the purchase of Dell Mini 10v.

I don't know what else should I write. Pretty blur in a morning at my office cubicle. If you have any question related to topic, you can post it here or contact me at admin@afhamaziz.com. I will try my best to answer all question.

As usual, visit my gallery at http://www.afhamaziz.com/flickr for full collection and I also can be contacted at admin@afhamaziz.com for any reason. Thank you.

- Afham Aziz

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A Weekend Trip to Broga Hill

Broga Hill - one of must-visit spot for photographers. I was there once, about couple of months ago with housemates but the trip was not enough preparation - we didn't even bring a drink, food, and less stamina - and it was on weekday, no uncle auntie selling food or drink. :p. So, to make it better, I posted in my Facebook status - about organizing another trip to Broga Hill a few days before the trip.

I got a few messages from friends asking about the Broga Hill outing - and 10 were joining the trip - all are my close friends with their girlfriend and wife, and housemates. "Not so good luck" (meaning unlucky. Only my friends know the meaning of it. Haha) for me, I didn't have a chance to bring my girl together - trip was planned as earlier as 5am and for sure her mom wouldn't allows her to leave home as early as 4am.

The trip was not going as planned. We were late again - waiting friends and subuh prayer too - but it was a fun trip with full of gossip. Haha.

Instead of shooting sun rise, I was going for portraiture again:













Even I couldn't get a single nice shoot of nature at Broga Hill, but I satisfied with the output. Thanks to God for good weather and blue sky - it makes my pictures lively and colorful.

Since our newly wed joined the trip, I took the opportunity for post-wedding shooting:







Look at "how good" they were posing especially the guy. Like zombie like chimpanzee but they are cool. Haha. :P.

A few of my friends are not happy with the color of my pictures - they claimed I post-process (edit) a lot, etc but the fact is Sony produces colorful picture. Yes, I admit that I post-process them but not too much. For me, no matter how much post-process I have done, as long as I get a good output then I will be happy. I want to write more about the post process but the time does not permits me.

As usual, if you like my pictures, visit my flickr at http://www.afhamaziz.com/flickr . It would be great if you can leave a comment or two. I also can be contacted at admin@afhamaziz.com for any reasons.

Thank you for your time reading this blog and hope I will have more time to spend on photography.

- Afham Aziz
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