Progression or Reversion?

This was taken near the walkway between Kampung Sungai Kedayan and the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. The scenery in my opinion, evoked a feeling that there is too much sacrifice made for the sake of progress. I say this because the picture shows what is left of a village as it was demolished for the modenisation of Bandar Seri Begawan.

The villagers who used to live here have are now living in new houses or with other members of their family who lived elsewhere. They were compensated with allowances from the  government and numerous incentives by the Brunei Government in order to help them with relocation so there is not much to be concerned about.

The existing houses in the village were then slowly demolished and the picture shows the end result. The river bed showed traces of items that once belonged to the villagers. I guess that even with time to relocate, some items were left behind in their houses.

I used to visit the village before it was demolished and it was quite lively but now it is replaced with a desolate, lonely landscape. I hope that the villagers have moved on with their lives and keep moving forward.

- Camera used: Nikon D800

- Focal length: 24mm

- Aperture: f/8

- Exposure time: 1/60

- ISO: 100

- Lens: AF NIKKOR 24mm f/2.8D

Going Experimental

Here is a photo from an experimental photo shoot that I have done with some of my friends. We decided to try and recreate pictures from car advertisements as our main focus and as well as trying some strobe techniques. Our first attempts by just using a slow shutter resulted in a flat photo where the colours were too warm due to the streetlights by the side of the road. Moreover, the streetlights intentionally became our only source of light resulting in an uneven lighting on the car.

We then decided to correct this by using a flashgun to provide additional lighting. The flashgun was fired from a distance of 1 metre repeatedly from multiple directions including the other side of the car. The camera flash was also fired but set at a lower level so it would not overexpose the photo. The final result can be seen in the photo above. Below are the settings used to achieve this photo:

- Camera used: Samsung NX20

- Focal length: 50mm
- Aperture: f/7.1

- Exposure time: 20 seconds

- ISO: 100

- Yong Nuo YN560-III Speedlite set to manual mode at 1/4 power

Hari Raya Aidilfitri prayer in Bandar Seri Begawan

The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien was full of festivities during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Crowds of Muslims flocked to the mosque to perform the Aidilfitri prayer to celebrate the completion of fasting in the Holy Month of Ramadan. Posted below are photos taken before and after the Aidilfitri prayer.

The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque basked in warm spotlights contrasting the cool dawn sky

A group of foreign workers take a commemorative photo taking advantage of an empty pathway to the mosque

A short walk from the mosque leads to the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah

Crowds of people start to sit near the entrance of the mosque as the interior was already packed

Mosque officials wait by the entrance to personally greet people attending the prayer

Prayer mats are placed in the courtyards of the mosque to accommodate the large number of people attending the prayer

People getting ready to pray as the Imam starts to recites the start of the Aidilfitri prayer 

A massive crowd exits the mosque as the prayer is completed 

Back from the brink

Hello,

It seems that I have neglected this blog for a while now but due to several arising circumstances, I am pleased to announce that this blog will be revived again. The revival can be mostly attributed to a recent solo photowalk that I had in Bandar on the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri. During the photowalk, I guess what I can accurately explain is that I felt a sense of purpose and I remembered one of my ambitions, which was to become a photographer for Magnum. With that in mind, I hope this blog would become one of the platforms on which I could get closer to that goal.