Jason Beyond

Happy Birthday Brother

beyond — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:51:49 +0000

Wow..37 years have passed by. My brother is officially 37 years old today. Mom has been taking care of him since he was born till now. I think mom deserve tremendous credits and praises. God Bless you Ma! My brother ‘Yang’, is born with cerebral palsy. A condition that left him physically challenged. Born with an ability to play any song by ear, his magical ‘one’ finger keyboard/piano capability was his forte. Although he is 37 years old physically, sometimes, I think having spent years at home and not much socializing with others has left him with somewhat a teenager mentality? Hahahah. He is very very attached to mom. He will throw all sorts of tantrums when he is in a ‘foul’ mood. Also loves to repeat questions to visitors. Honestly, he loves it when there are visitors. He will get real excited. There is a long list of funny character or behavior. Nevertheless, he is my brother. I have not treated him well over the years. I guess I outgrew him when I was a teenager. I remember we used to be closed when I was around 4-8 years old. Cant recall much. I also remember I used to beat and scold him when I was younger. I stopped doing that, realizing that by doing so I can t change him. He is who he is. He was born that way. He is that way partly due to our fault. So much regrets. I used to see him as a burden honestly. I still do somehow. But I ask for God’s grace to keep mom and dad healthy. God please keep Dad’s fiery temper doused. My brother has been lucky as he is healthy throughout the years. Though, I remember one year he had some boils on his elbow. God..He almost created a havoc at the HKL emergency department. Dr wanted to admit him, but we told the Dr, unless you want to risk the wrath of the other patients, we advise against to do so. Anyway..He healed up with some antibiotics and physical extraction of the pus from the infected elbow. The elbow was swollen badly. So..This year, I ll be getting him Kentucky Fried Chicken, one of his fav. Or..Both him and my sis love KFC la. Cant get him something fancy..No point. Hehehehe. God Bless ya brother. Here are some pics I have taken over the years.

Hasselblad 500 CM and CZ 80 mm F2.8 CF

Nikon FM2n and 50 mm F1.8 E Series

Leica IIIF and 50 mm Summitar F2

Eric Kim visits KL Leica Store

beyond — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:50:25 +0000

Recently, the LeicaNuts got to meet up with Eric Kim, from the fame Eric Kim International Street Photographer. Eric was down in Kuala Lumpur to run a two day street photography workshop ‘Conquering Your Fear of Shooting on The Streets- Introduction to Street Photography Workshop in Kuala Lumpur on the 3rd and 4th of Mac 2012. Shannel, the Brand Manager of Leica Store invited the Nuts over for a post workshop cocktail session at the Leica Store Avenue K. I think I reached Leica Store around 8.30 pm. I was running late coz I spent some family time with my wife and daughter at the Curve first. It was a Sunday hence Leica has to come second LOL. I have always like to attend Leica’s event, they serve some really fine food. It s not like usual camera events where you have packed jam people. Here we have enthusiast and a good bunch of friends. Most of the guests knew each other. See Meng, Nick, Johan, Scott and I were there to represent LeicaNuts.

It was actually my first time meeting Eric (duhhh). LOL. Eric is a young Korean chap born is the United States. Yes, he speaks Korean if you must know. His first comment to me was “You from Australia?”. I was wearing this “I Lup Melbourne” T shirt courtesy from Mr Wayne Lee. I said ” No la..its a freebie from my cousin”. And the group sorta hit off just like that. Interesting fact about Eric, he is the tallest in his family. We decided the credit should go to American food. I was suggesting that Nathania take some American food to boost her height. So far instead of going up, she is growing sideway. Hehehehe. Eric uses a Black Leica M6 Classic with a 35 mm Summicron ASPH lens. A flash is attached to the camera as well. Its a third party flash. Cant recall the brand at the moment. Will update again once I get the brand correct later. We adjourned to The Library for some drinks. Eric and Luke Ding also joined us for a short minum session as well. I think Eric really likes Nick Yoon s work. Nick is a pretty accomplished photog as well.

We were invited to another dinner session organized by Luke the next day. We were supposed to meet at Pavillion around 7.30 pm. It was 50 50 for me as I finish working around 5 pm and by the time I settle Nathania down it should be around 8 pm. Scott and Nick were the only Nuts that joined the dinner. See Meng missed the ride and he got back home. Johan was busy. I gave Scott a call and they have just reached La Bodega around 8 tish. I took a quick bath and headed down to Pavillion. Soon, the guys arrived and we ordered some food and drinks. My tomato spag was ‘ma ma dei’ that night. Too saltish if I may add. Dinner was quick as the guys wanna head out for a shoot session. Dang..I came unprepared. All I had was the Canon 220H. Hahahaha. Scott brought his Ricoh GRD IV along. A fine fine fine camera I must say. I used it for a couple of shots that night. I must say..its pretty good and decent.

We walked along Jalan Bukit Bintang till Jalan Alor. I was taking random shots. Utilizing a slow shutter speed and rear sync flash, I was able to capture some night ’street photos’. Eric was kind to provide some pointers to other street kakis as well. One by one he gave a short stint and quickie lessons. I had some friendly advise from him as well. I approach the subject and execute the shots too slow. Hehehe. I admire him for willing to share the craft and knowledge of street photography. A young chap he may be. A lot of critics he may have on the web. But he is truly a nice chap. I believe Eric is a very fortunate young man. He is globetrotting and giving lessons around the world. Kudos. Been visiting his blog lately. I see a lot of negative comments from trolls/haters. I ll say..Ignore them. They are probably jealous. We adjourned the night around 12.30 am I think. I got home pretty late. Eric has a 2 pm flight to London. I wish him all the best for the coming workshops. Here is one of the shot I took that night. Will post more once I get the photos from Scott

Shot from the hip level, I caught a few subjects up close I cropped the pic and titled it ‘3Some’

Physical Activities

beyond — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:06:41 +0000

I recall Siew Chee Hoong once asked me “Chyuan, you know any basketball courts that operate the flood lights past 10 pm?”, I said no as most of the courts in Kepong Baru dont. If there is one, you will be required to pay ‘rental’. I never did give much thought about the topic after that. I did ask why they play so late. Most of the guys finish work late. So they decided that the best time to play is on Friday nights. So one nice Friday nite around 11.30 pm, I was driving around the neighborhood and I passed by an old basketball court at Bukit Sri Bintang ( A place where I used to play everyday before I got injured), I saw those guys playing. I parked the car and got down. I sat down and chatted with them. All these years (3 years), I stayed off sports due the knee/shoulder injuries I had. But after watching them play for 5 minutes, I was called in to join in. Hesitant initially, I succumbed to the game. I moved slowly and carefully. The knee felt good. But the shoulder wasn’t. I feel pain each time whenever I did a big movement. The game ended around 1.30 am. I was happy coz I sweat a lot. I love physical activities. Yes. I honestly do. Went back home and slept well.

So the following week, I had to find a proper pair of shoes. Dad took over my Nike trainers and its was in a pretty sad state. My proper basketball shoes was peeling all over due to the storage. The only pair of shoes I have left was the New Balance shoes. Even that, the bottom soles were coming off. But at any rate, it suffice for the moment. The second game went well too. My confidence grew. No pain in the knee ma.. So two nights ago, I decided to give it a real test. I took the And1 shoes for repair and got ready for the game. Armed with a knee guard, I had it tight to minimize the joint movement. I moved a lot faster that night. But the shoulder pain was something I cant manage. So I had to limit above head shoulder movement. Nevertheless, I felt much better. I think I ll continue playing every week. Been lying dormant for quite sometime. Dont like it one bit. But jeez, I woke up with really sore legs on Sat. Hahahah. Lack of physical activities over the years. So there were a lot of muscle groups that got tuned that night. Even my arm muscles were aching the other day even thought the only thing I did was shoot and pass. The knee felt really good. I have to bear in mind though, it s not fully healed. The hole is still there in the bone. Its closing..But slow.. Looking forward to healthier life. Signing off. Cheers folks.

Gear Lust

beyond — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:36:57 +0000

A Happy New Year 2012 to all! Hope it has been a good new year for all. Sometime before Christmas, I was surfing eBay on my iPad and I kept searching for a good Rolleiflex deal. FYI Rolleiflex prices has gone sky high as it s a highly sought after camera nowadays. Read in the forums that wealthy buyers from China are buying up and driving up the prices on eBay. Be it Leica, Hasselblad and Rolleiflex, the prices has been driven up over the couple of years. If you are a true classic camera geek, the Rolleiflex is one of the ‘must have’ gear. The first Rolleiflex was introduced back in 1929. Up till now, the main film format used is the 120 mm format. Its also popularly known as the 6 x 6 or Medium Format.

So there was I ( in the middle of a workshop), I was actually concentrating on eBay I came across a couple of interesting auctions and Buy It Now Rolleiflexes. I tried bidding on a couple of auctions. But usually, the prices are not stable and I got to wake up in the middle of the night to monitor the bids. Buy It Now offer a hassle free method for buyers who can t be bothered with waiting 5 to 6 days for an auction to end. They simply BUY it now Buy It Now items usually command a higher price. So..Here am I ..Looking at a couple of Buy It Now items. A particular Rolleiflex 3.5 F ad caught my eye. The item was described as MINT. Priced at USD1199.99 (excluding shipping). Unfortunately it says Will Not Ship to Russia, Malaysia and Indonesia. But I was keen to try my luck. I contacted the seller, Randy Smith of www.holgamods.com asking him if he can reconsider shipping the item to Malaysia. After a couple of emails the deal was sealed! I asked Randy to insured the package. I was not worried about Randy. I was worried about our local postal services. Once upon a time, some idiot decided to threw the parcel over the gates. Thank God it was not lenses.

Dealing with Randy was very pleasant. He kept me updated with tracking and mails. On my side, I updated Randy when the parcel touched down and cleared the customs. I was lucky that my office was near to Batu Caves PosLaju. I picked up the parcel the moment it arrived as the Batu Caves PosLaju. Hahahaha. Couldnt wait. I opened the package at the Mizi Shabu Shabu while having lunch with my dear wife. Randy gave me a modded Holga as well. Thank you Randy!~ The Rolleiflex was packed neatly with lotsa layers of bubble wrap. True to Randy’s eBay description. The Rolleiflex was in great condition. Despite a speck or two of paint loss, I didnt mind at all. Its a great looking TLR. I love it! Its a beautiful beautiful beautiful camera, I kept telling my wife. Hahahaha. As of this morning, I ran 3 rolls of film through the camera. The speed knob is abit tight, but will do. The screen is bright and snappy. Will update again once I dev the film. Do pay Randy’s site a visit. Lovely mods he done to the Holgas.

A TLR within a TLR

Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day!

beyond — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 05:08:45 +0000

Merry Christmas to all!~ Been busy busy busy. Was shooting on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I am working as well today. Yeah. What a bummer. Its Boxing Day…yet I am at work. Well..I got mouths to feed and buying spree to be fulfilled. I hope everyone had a good holidays. Its Nathania 2nd Christmas. This year its more meaningful as she went to the church for the party. Best start them young. Hahaha.

Recently, took a trip to Australia with my wife. Yeah. We left the baby home. I swear I wont do that ever again. Period. We missed the little one so much when we were abroad. Thank God for the iPad, iPhone and Optus Australia. I was never cut off from home and internet. For AUS30 I think we got ourselves a pretty good deal. AUS300 call credits/Unlimited FB and Twitter/500 mb Data lasted through 3 weeks trip. Best! I think I called home 2-3 times a day. Hahaha. One thing about Down Under. There is no such thing as free Wifi (unlike Malaysia where its free at most popular spots) except in the Airports or maybe some places that I didn’t know. Would be great to able to FaceTime with love ones back home. So the Data plan was keeping me very happy as I traveled. If one follows my FB updates you will know.

I tried to do some Street Photography when I was in Melbourne. I love the place. Its pretty ‘multiracial’. You got all sort of mixture of people there. The city is mix of modern and old architecture. Perfect. We walked to the bus stop to catch the bus to the train station. From Murumbeena train station we took the train to the city. I dont know why. But Melbourne has lotsa lotsa lotsa graffiti. I guess it makes the city colorful. It was towards the end of November and Christmas decorations were up during the last week of our stay in Melbourne. Didnt manage to take much pictures. I admit..I sucks at travel photography. Did a couple of street shots. Havent process the other pics yet. Here are some samples.

Uncle David Jones

Quickie

Should I get a Haircut?

Precious Moments

beyond — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 10:02:59 +0000

Been spending a lot of time with the little one lately. On a long leave (almost 20 days),waiting for my university placement from University Malaya. As of today, status quo. Have to head back to work on Monday. Else I ll be wasting my leave away while waiting for an answer from UM. So what do I do these days? My body internal alarm still goes off every morning. I wake up around 630 am everyday without fail although yes..Sometimes I go back to sleep. But since I am at home and wifey leave for work early in the morning, my parents decided to pick the baby up later than the usual routine. Normally, they pick her up around 630 am in the morning. Since I am at home, they come over around 930-1030 am. I am left with the task of caring for the baby till they arrive. Its not easy as baby is more attached to my wife and parents. But as they always say..Time can build relationships. I have to admit. These precious time spent with my daughter has actually bonded us better. Actually..Its because she has no one to turn to..That s why she has to turn to me la! *evil laugh* Waking up to her “Pa!” calls are such a joy. I cant describe the feeling. It s a truly warm feeling in the heart. Little girls tend to be super cute. Its not an easy task caring for the baby. But I think I learnt a couple of new stuffs (yes…I know I should have known these stuffs earlier) these few days. I learnt to prepare the milk properly. I actually can gauge her better on when she wants her milk. I now know that when she sucks on her thumb, it means I am hungry. I now know she needs to fiddle with something using both her hands while drinking milk else she will loose her concentration. I also found out the easiest way to make her sleep. Not by singing to her. Not by rocking her. Its just simply standing under the fan and tap her buttocks gently. Or..I have to lie down on the chair or bed and place her over my round tummy *Grin* Yes..The extra fats serve as a cushioned bed. I love to photograph her when she is sleeping. Feels that she is very angelic when she is sleeping. Hehehe. iPhone works best. No need to use the huge a** DSLR for these moments. Also sometimes, I ll bring her down to the playground for a quick round of horse riding or swing before proceeding to the local newspaper stall for my daily dose of news. Best of all, two days ago..I managed to bath her and changed her clothing..Give her milk and cradled her to sleep. Job well done if you ask me. Cheers. Here are some photos taken during my ‘holiday’.

Waking up in the morning

Milk milk time

zzzzzzzzz

Wakes up again

Sleeps again

Bad Habit?

Details

More details

Happy Birthday Phyllis

beyond — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 03:30:15 +0000

Was asked by a friend to help cover her birthday gathering sometime ago. Had to pushed my Singapore trip to accept this assignment. It was a simple job. Shoot and Burn. I like it. I got to know Phyllis about 3 years ago when I was working for Alpha Pharmacy. She was a customer. From being my customer, she became my customer when I shot the opening of her boutique “Miel” @ Desa Parkcity. From there we became friends. So when Phyllis turned 30, she asked me to help shoot her party. It was a private party held at NEWAY One Utama. For those who dont know Phyllis, she is a celebrity. She used to act in Singapore’s Mediacorp series. Currently, I think she is a host in some tv game show. Cant recall. I reached the location around 1030 pm and got the job done by 1.30 am. Had to rush home and rest I had another shoot the next day. Overall, the party was fun. Happy Birthday Phyllis!

Good friends

Happy Birthday!~

988 Cheryl and Phyllis

Drink!~

Alvin Wong in the House!~

Another local celebrity

Its never boring when Alvin is around. This guy never fails to crack me up!

If you know what I mean..Hehehe

The cake tastes good!

Howie having a go at ‘15 20′

Good friends having a good time

This guy can sing too!~

Cant remember is its Frank Sinatra or some Hakka song

Best friends

Sweet ladies

It was his Birthday too!~ Happy Birthday!

Nathania: Turning One

beyond — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:17:37 +0000

Woot! Happy Birthday to my little Nathania Ng En Qi. You are officially ONE year old now. Papa and Mama love you very much girl. Time really flies, the memories from one year ago are still fresh in our minds. Mama went through some serious labour pain to deliver you girl..Papa also lost some sleeping hours that day hehehe. But it s all good when you arrived. You have brought joy to the whole family. Mend broken relationships. Bring smiles to our faces every morning *except when you poo poo though*. I hope that you will grow up healthy and wise. We have noted that you have quite a bad temper. Easily agitated. Wanting everything your own way despite you were only 3 weeks old then, we have noted your determination is getting things your way. Both Pa and Ma hope it will go away eventually. We will try our best to bring you up with the best values. But somehow, you reminds us very much of Papa’s temper and Mama’s stubbornness. But hey, you are our little combination of X and X genes. I pray that God will shower you with lotsa love and blessings as well. May He sends out Angels from Heaven to look over you *silent prayers to Him*. Oh yeah, we hope you will grow some more hair too la. Haiyah..you look like a boy at the moment. Pa and Ma also hope you will drink more milk. Dont be so choosy. You know girl..Milk powder is sibeh expensive. Pa have to work very hard to buy those milk powder k? Every ounce you waste away is almost equivalent to every 30 mins of extra OT Pa have to put in. Monies aside, you are quite skinny and just hovering above the graph for ‘underweight’. Look at cousin Adriel..He is so chubby-luscious lo. Pa and Ma dont mind sharing our food with you but kindly make it a point to drink more milk k? Lotsa Loves and Hugs. Looking forward to a simple dinner with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Yang, Aunt Huey , Pa and Ma later tonite.

Epson V700

beyond — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:46:09 +0000

Once upon a time, I bought an entry level film scanner from Low Yat Plaza. The Canon 4400F was priced around RM450. The price was just nice for me. Just started working then. I needed a film scanner as I shoot film most of the time as a hobbyist. The scanner served me well over the years. Of course, over the years I realized that the scan quality from the scanner was just so so. I knew back then eventually I have to upgrade my scanner. The thoughts of getting a Nikon Coolscan or other dedicated film scanners passed through my mind a couple of time over the years. Almost bought the Nikon Coolscan from Fuzz. But thats another story. So finally, I sold off my Canon 4400F sometime ago in anticipation of a new scanner. Sold it off at RM 300 or RM 350 if I am not mistaken. I placed an order with a local supplier. I finally got the Epson V700 @RM 1850. A very decent buy if you asked me. I went on a scanning spree immediately after I unboxed the scanner *laughs* From RM 450 to RM 1850, I noticed the difference in scan quality immediately. Pictures are sharper and the details *wow* are way way better. No regrets in getting the scanner. In fact..I regretted not purchasing the V700 earlier. I threw away a lot of film last time..Thinking that my pics were not of quality shots. Some of the scans are too soft and blur. Ended, I thought it was my error and threw them away. So guys…Dont hesitate. Get one!

Dad and Nathania. The infamous ’stare’ from my Dad

Nathania crying for ‘Help’

Steady Girl

She loves see saw, horse and swings

Grandpa gives a helping hand

Sister, Dad and Nathania

FILM: RMAF Museum

beyond — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 09:27:13 +0000

Went for a shoot sometime on a Sunday after work. The guys wanted to shoot at the Royal Malaysian Air Force Museum (RMAF). I was kinda interested as I have not been there before. Heard of it alot plenty. Passed by there whenever I use the Seremban Highway. But visiting the place? Never before. It was a Sunday and I dont want to miss quality family time, I decided to bring my wife and baby along. Hehehehe. Armed with a Leica M6, I paired it with a Voighlander 15 mm f4.5 Heliar LTM and Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100. There are no entrance fee. Just need to pass through the army’s checkpoint. Met up with Johan, See Meng, Francis, Edwin, Nick and even Madji at the airfield. First impression is that the airplanes are kinda old. Yes. They are decommissioned aircrafts. Some are already leaking. But nonetheless, they are still an awe to look at. This is the first time I am up close to a helicopter. Amazing stuffs. Little Nathania was kinda cranky and pulled a long face all day long. Mummy dear was having a hard time to pacify her. Mom took some shots with the Sony NEX 3 while I shot here and there. First time using the 15 mm. Not easy to use an Ultrawide angle lens. The perspectives are a little different from conventional composition. I tried to be as creative as possible. But hey…This is my first time with the lens. The excellent Visual Finder (external) was bright and made composing a lot easier. Finally finished one roll and headed home with the family. The guys went ahead for drinks. I had to head home as I need to prepare the little one for her first swimming experience. Will blog about that later. Anyhow..Fast forward. Decided to develop the film via semi stand development technique. I used R09 developer at 1: 100 dilution. The film was pre washed for about 5 minutes. Temperature used was room temperature (note: Will try to use 20 degree Celsius in future). I only gave 15 inversion before leaving it to stand for one hour (note: Will use one minute of inversion and leave to stand. Will also introduce light swirl at 30 mins interval). Stopped with water and fixed via the normal method. Left to dry. Scanning was done with Canon 4400F scanner ( Sold this scanner yesterday. Not too happy with the scans). Had to fix it a little via Lightroom. Added some black and recovery. Here are the pictures for sharing.

Shadows

The Giant

I Am No 4