Sometimes, life may be monotonous, but if you look at it differently, you’ll see something different.
In short, it’s called – STAYING POSITIVE.
The road long ahead, is filled with wonders and curiosities…
Would the one who could adapt to changes and challenges would stay ahead?
Or maybe the person who looks at life with simplicity would enjoy the most?
Watching this 127 Hours was very much like watching a horror movie. Rather than scaring you because of ghosts and something gory, this movie scares you because of reality. Anything can happen to you just like that.
Here are some take away lessons:
1. Never, never EVER go somewhere adventurous alone. Always have a companion, or at least inform them where you’re going.
2. Always bring sufficient water with you. Drink your own urine when you’ve finished your fresh water. Bring some biscuits along too.
3. Stay as calm as possible when you are in a crisis.
4. Don’t ever buy any cheap Made-in-China multi tools, when your life depends on it, get the best you can afford. Get a REAL SWISS-made knife…
5. Always pack for emergency when you go out for trips. Always assume that you may be in danger and in need of the emergency pack.
And what did Aron learn?
1. Your family comes first. Know how to prioritize.
2. Even he believes in Karmic Laws. He believed that it was he himself who brought this accident to himself.
3. He is now thankful and grateful that he survived.
Aron Ralston (on the left) and James Franco
See this video as he described how he amputated his arm.
今天想要談《尊重與信任》這個話題。我沒有權利為大家決定誰對誰錯，也沒有權利指導他人，但是希望大家在這分享當中可以領悟到《尊重》和《信任》的重要。
感恩、尊重、愛
就像靜思語說的：“要感恩、尊重、愛”。往往一時的疏忽，一時的自我，傷害了他人對我們的尊重。每當這個尊重被輕視了，自然的，別人對您的信任就減少了。
擧個平時常見的例子，就如父母離婚后要爭孩子的事件一樣。父親想要擁有孩子，不想把孩子交在母親的手中保管，更不願意共同輪流照顧那孩子。母親也是一樣。因爲如此，父母親打官司，最大的受害者是誰？那孩子的意見有沒有被尊重、背靠量？
再一個例子，有兩個不同的Project，最後還是前往同一個目標。因爲雙方人手不足，Project協調就拼命搶人手。而站在中間的員工，想參與Project B，因爲他認爲Project B有更多讓他發揮潛能的空間。可是Project A的協調就是不放手，也不管這位員工的意見。
各位，如果您是那一位員工，您覺得您的意見被尊重嗎？
好，再多給其他的例子。黨有一位長久不見的好友見到您，但仍然記得您的名字，您覺得他尊重您嗎？您是否有那種感覺：“不可思議！他盡然還可以記得我的名字！”相反的那儅有人寫錯您的名字的時候呢？
所以這裡要借機會懺悔，有時候因爲自己不用心，一時的疏忽，缺乏了對他人的的尊重。因爲説話的不用心，所以讓自己傷害了他人。因爲一時的小動作，傷害了友情和親情。
信己無私，信人又愛
可能有一些人有曾看過一封有關《信任》的Chain E-mail。電信裏描述著一位年輕人因爲找到了法律的漏洞，而常常在搭公車的時候沒有購買車票。這位以輝煌成績畢業后的年輕人，到好幾閒大公司去面試，可是都沒有被錄取。最後詢問公司后才知道，原來因爲過去沒買車票被警告，所以公司認爲這位年輕人不尊重國家給人民的信任。
一時的疏忽，讓自己失去了別人對您的信任，多可惜啊！
再看回先今的生活，平時有沒有把信任交給他人，讓他發揮最大的良能呢？還是分了一份工作給他，又一直要在旁邊指指點點的？
要先分清楚，在旁邊指指點點，跟全程的陪伴是有所不同的。如果在旁邊指指點點的，他會是希望他人照著他的指示去做，而最後的成果，會是有如他自己做的。相反地，如果在身邊陪伴的，他會給與意見，不會為他做決定，而是鼓勵新人自己探討自己，發現自己的能力，而最後的成果，會是新人自己的作品。
就像靜思語所說的：“要信己無私，信人又愛”。簡單來説，要相信自己的能力，因爲人有無限的可能。同樣的要相信他人，要對他有愛的信任，鼓勵他，相信他會盡心盡力去把事做好。當然，也不能隨便完全相信他人，而是要用智慧思考、探討，才用心去相信他人。
就如我在中學時期，最要好的朋友多數會是較差班的同學。因爲我們互相尊重，互相信任，所以友情會是最難得的。我不曾看低他們，因爲我知道他們都是大贏家，都是社會最能幹的人，都是最有生命力的人。這些友情，對我來説是很特別的。
在社會中做事也是一樣，要尊重對方，要信任他可以把最好的呈現出來。因爲尊重，我們才能得到大家的祝福，互相成就共同的目標。因爲有了信任，我們才能安心把事情做好。在這裡，祝福大家。
Sometimes when you get old, you need a boost of technology update.
I’m not asking anyone to buy anything here, but at least update yourself about the latest technologies available on the market.
I went to PIKOM fair today, didn’t see much new stuffs, but would like to share some info with everyone.
**If you find this article a bit bias towards certain brands, my apologies; cause I didn’t have enough time to explore all the things. Hey, knowledge is everywhere! You’ve got to keep learning.
1. Super LED by LG
Saw this high energy savings Super LED from LG. Save some extra 25% energy compared to LED, and some 45% compared to conventional LCD. (Not sure about how true it is, but worth to know.)
2. Flicker-Free 3D display by LG
Coming out soon, perhaps next month. So much better than the active shutter 3D glasses you have to wear. This flicker-free 3D display has larger viewing angles and better light penetration. Best of all, no batteries on the glasses = less weight on the glasses.
Take a look at LG Cinema 3D USA for more info.
3. HD+ and High Gamut Range Professional LCD Display by Asus
This stunning LCD Display by Asus produces some beautiful colours on the screen. HD+ because it displays image beyond HD (conventional HD : 1920 x 1080) and the High Gamut Range ensures that the colour representation is as accurate as possible. In short, more natural photographs with HD+ quality. Visit site: PA246Q
4. Docking Tablets.
Instead of just getting a tablet, get one with docks enabled. Like the one from Asus Eee Pad.
Unlike other tablets in the market (including iPad), this one yields a higher resolution screen, with support of HD video. Best of all, the extra docking is included with the whole package, and you can get up to 16 hours* of battery with the dock.
Take a look at the video. Loved it very much!
And according to many posts on Facebook, everyone can’t wait to get their hands on this Transformer. A charmer indeed! Visit site: Eee Pad Transformer TF101
5. Sandy Bridge: 2nd Generation Intel i3/i5/i7 processors.
I know this news has been here for quite some time, several months ago, still worth a share for those out there looking for a new laptop or computer soon. The Sandy Bridge processors has got a higher memory bandwidth and they come with built in graphics on (processor) die. Better graphics performance? Definitely. However, discrete graphics is always better than built in. =D
6. P1 WiMAX upgrading to LTE-TDD
Very new news update, where WiMAX would be launching LTE-TDD (long-term evolution-time division duplex) network by the end of 2010, (hopefully no delays). This technology would enhance wireless access speeds, with top speed reaching 120Mbps (equivalent to 30MB/s or approx. 3000 KB/s). The best thing is, you can simply upgrade your existing P1 WiMAX network by a software update. Read the news on The Star Tech Central.
The following article was written based on personal experience, with the purpose of motivating other photographers around. May readers like you find this sharing useful in improving your photography skills.
“To be a good photographer, you have to be a good human being. Have humility, feel their lives.” The humble Khaled Hasan from Bangladesh shared his experience as a photographer in his home place.
As Nikon Malaysia celebrated their 10th Anniversary Celebration, photographers and enthusiasts were given the rare opportunity of attending photography talks by the professionals. This was the place where the pros shared their photography passion with those present. Ten talks, spread out in 4 consecutive days, saw some over two thousand people attending the talks, where the audiences were given the chance to be up-close and personal with the pros.
Photograph with Emotions
Khaled Hasan, who was awarded the All Roads Photography Award by the National Geographic, shared his powerful images with the crowd on Saturday evening, where he featured his black and white photographs of his people in a stone factory. Being a documentary photographer, he spent time with the subjects and tried to understand them. “My mentor once told me that I must be a good human being before I start photographing. This is because when I know the history and emotions of my subjects, the photographs I take would reflect how I feel.” With strong emotions in his photographs, the photographs he shared gave everyone a sense of hopelessness in the stone factory workers.
Currently equipped with a Nikon D200 and a 28mm prime lens, he believes that one should know their gears thoroughly before shoots. He gave some tricks away as well, “look out for emotions, contrasts, and tones. Always photograph what you feel.” As Khaled started off with film photography, he liked his time spent in the dark room developing his black and white photographs. As for now, he still spends some amount of time on the computer burning and dodging some of his shots before prints. On his last note, he advised everyone to “outdo yourself, push yourself and challenge yourself with the other professionals.”
Deanna Ng from Singapore started off with her own project on photographing Pasat (Market) in Singapore. “It was a something more personal, as I know some of those sellers myself.” Her photographs from a project called Life Before Death campaign by Lien Foundation moved those present to tears, where the photographs showed much emotion in the hospice and terminally ill patients and their families in their last days. “Those are not patients. They are my friends. They are dear to me.” Deanna shared with us while flipping through her album. There were times she found it hard to press the shutter, as those very sad moments for her. “Believe it or not, the hardest people to photograph are those closest to you. Try photographing your family and you will realize how hard it is.” She also took the opportunity to encourage everyone to not just focus on taking nice photographs, but take photographs that mean something.
Emotions, strong and powerful, they put the viewers into deep thoughts. Many photographers sharing during the event do agree that emotions play important roles in portraying the subject of the picture. Indonesian photojournalist Ahmad Zamroni, or just Roni, shared his experiences and photographs he has taken during many natural disasters, especially those involving his homeland. He found that those emotions came rushing through and he can’t let go of his camera, he kept on clicking away, wanting to get the best shot he could to show the world how he felt about the natural disaster. On a lighter side, he has experienced joys of photographing as well. “There was once my assignment was to photograph a football league. When one of the teams struck a goal, I was hopping with joy, totally forgotten about my photograph.” He laughed reliving the moments. “Only a few seconds later I realized that I have a responsibility to fulfill.”
Compact to Pro
From a psychology teacher to a professional photographer, Manny Librodo from the Philippines started off his photography with a Nikon Coolpix compact camera.
“I got this camera to photograph myself. That time, I did not know about the settings, compositions, or how to make the shots nice. But I know one thing for certain: I love colours”.
Manny Librodo took hold of the power of the internet and shared his photographs online, where he learnt from the others and got feedbacks from many viewers. The positive feedbacks helped too. That was where he started to photograph better pictures.
“The turning point of my photography was when I borrowed my brother’s Nikon D100 to a Bangkok school trip.” That time, he was oblivious about the technical aspects of the camera, but he still managed to get some wonderful shots with Aperture Priority and Program Mode. “I was totally blown away by the images. So, I went to a photo store the next day after my trip and got myself a new DSLR.” His skills grew from that day onwards.
From using his students as models to spending time doing post processing his shots, he learned so much and he shared much of his passion and experiences with the other photographers through workshops he conducts. He also gave away some hints and tips during the presentation for the Nikon Photography Talk. “Always look out for catch-lights when you photograph portraitures, observe the natural lightings, use props and tools to diffuse your light, and capture those patterns and textures with your photographs.” He too believes in sharing and he hoped that everyone could share what they have learnt. “When others are better than you, it creates a friendly competition where it drives you to try harder.”
High Speed Sports to the Game of Patience
High speed sports are pretty much unpredictable, and you can never have your subject redo what they have just done. To capture those memorable shots, Khalid Redza, who has been covering sports events for the past 34 years, shared that practice makes perfect. “When I first started off, I was told by my editor to head towards sports field to photograph. That was the place where I practiced and learn. It was a challenging process, and with film that time, you can only know how well you shoot after you develop them.”
As he recalls his days of film photography, he advised many present to “not be shy to ask.” He said, “Get yourself a mentor and do not hesitate to ask the pro photographers how to shoot. Most of the time, they are willing to share their experiences with you.”
Besides these, he encouraged everyone to learn and practice the photography skills, and also be knowledgeable about the sports. “When you are on the field, remember the winners, as well as the team who had just lost the battle. Look at the crowds, their reactions.” To him, it is the attitude of the photographer which will determine the end result. “You must be willing to take risks, know all your gears, and be prepared. Good captions for your photographs help a lot too.”
Wildlife photographers may not experience much adrenaline rush like the high speed sports photographers, but they too share some similar points. Just like sports photography, wildlife photographers would gain the most if they do their homework. “You need to know the behavior of the animals and plants. Only with such knowledge, you know when and where the animals would appear in the forest, and when the wild plants would grow and blossom.” Cede Prudente, who is Sabahan, has worked with many scientists and researchers in preserving wildlife in photographs. “The photographs I take would be a reference for researchers around the globe. It becomes a proof of existence.”
During his talk, he emphasized again and again that patience in wildlife photography is a must. He shared a few photographs which he finds it hard to ever come by again. “Photographing flying creatures of the Borneo is time consuming but worthwhile. You don’t see much of these creatures in the forest, and therefore you really need to spend time knowing these animals and their behaviors.
Besides taking photographs, he videotaped some of the scenes where he encounters the wildlife. “Photographing is just not enough sometimes. A video is more powerful in conveying the message.” He recorded some rare clips on the behaviors of the orang utans and some of these clips were used as educational materials for the BBC. “Most importantly, I realize that what I have taken would show the whole world the wonders of nature, and this message can be a reminder for everyone to preserve our natural habitat.”
Quick Tips to Share
The time it took for Stefen Chow to become professional was 4 years. This self-taught photographer from Singapore shared some of the truths behind the photography world during his talk. “It is a competitive world out there. Do what it takes to survive out there, but remember, do what you love. You need to know all kinds of things, learn them, relearn them, and remember to apply them.”
Most of the time, he finds himself working on personal projects, where he pushed himself harder each time, to make his work stood out among the crowd. “Do something people wouldn’t commission you to do. Pay for your own projects and put yourself in a unique position.” Not only that, he advised everyone to learn to work with everything, evolve and generalize oneself. “Most importantly, make your photography useful. Share them.”
Occasionally, a photographer may find it hard to stick to the original assignment. Deanna Ng was happy to advice a solution to the issue. “Write down your thoughts and ideas you want to photograph before a shoot, as specifically as possible. At times you’ll find yourself overwhelmed with unexpected incidents and you started to lose focus on your main objectives. At the end of the day you may find that you did not accomplish much of your goals. The thoughts you have written down, they help. They help to bring you back to your main story.”
One thing for certain, the photographers who shared their work during the event showed much enthusiasm and passion towards photography. They love what they do, and they believe that sharing would make them stronger. Before I end this article, allow me to do a quick summary of all the 8 talks I have attended.
1. Get yourself a mentor. Be it someone across the internet, or someone professional you know of.
2. Believe in yourself, be willing to take risks.
3. Evolve and generalize yourself.
4. Challenge yourself to do better each time.
5. A picture is worth a thousand words. Don’t just take nice photographs, make them meaningful.
6. Study your subject, do your homework and understand them.
7. Make use of the gears you have. Learn your gears.
So here, I wish everyone the best!
This weekend has been one of a kind, to get to know great photographers from different field of work sharing their passion and career in photography.
As usual, exhibits were up, and the most attractive item would be the cut D3 with Nikkor 14-24mm lens.
You can see the intricate design of the camera and how it was being constructed.
It even got the toy giraffe curious, wanting for a closer look.
It was a learning opportunity for everyone…
Like father like daughter.
Just like the family tree, the Nikon history goes a long way…
Even the Canons can’t resist the temptation of a Nikon event. I’m sure they learn a lot during the exhibition… only given that they open their mouths to ask.
Got some competition going on out there.
It seemed like the daddy and the kid was grumpy by the end of the tour…
Anyhow, the talks were great so far, definitely loved their sharing… How I wish I could attend tomorrow’s talk the entire day.
