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Most people who shoot on the street do so for certain reasons, and we will somehow discover that the motivations and reasons to shoot are very different from one person to another. Similarly, when the photographers attack the street subjects, the way they approach the subjects, choose and how they work with the given photography opportunity would vary. I am very sure many would have this in mind when they saw something they wanted to shoot: "How would HCB approach this subject? What can I do to make this shot look something close to a good street photograph?" Thank goodness that did not really happen to me because I was never a fan of HCB. Nothing against him, I recognize his great talent and accomplishments as an artist, but his photographs just never spoke to me.
Now this is where I believe I am different from many street photographers. I am not even sure if I should call myself a street photographer, but whenever I am on the street looking for subjects, I just looked for subjects that speak directly to me. I don't have pre-planning or that template of what street photographs should look like in my mind when I am out there doing what I do. As I take my slow walk on whatever streets of choice in Kuala Lumpur, I just let myself open to any opportunities, as long as the subject attracted my attention, that subject is worth my effort and time working my camera with. I do not have specific theme or "projects" planned out beforehand, or have anything particular I wanted to achieve. I call my street hunting sessions "shutter therapy", which means, the main purpose of me being out there shooting was purely a form of entertainment for myself, a way to enjoy myself, and have fun while doing photography. Hence, anything goes, really, and who freaking cares if anything I photograph would not qualify as street photographs anyway?
All images in this entry were taken with
Olympus DSLR E-5 and Zuiko Digital 50mm F2 macro lens. Location of shoot: Chow Kit
Toys in Hands
Something Missing
Covered
Duality
At the corner
Boy with Flower
Facing the road
Open
Being busy
Not enough hands
Shave
Head Rest
Smile
The problem with the newcomers to photography these days is the "copying" culture. You buy that local photography magazine, and there is this amazing photograph shown in glorious two page spread, and then the next page there was a long description on how to achieve that shot, with details down to using what lens and camera, what settings employed and with bonus extra, finishing off with the Photoshop tricks and tutorials on the final touch. It was as if a good photograph can be mass-produced, manufactured and delivered to every single tom, dick and harry as long as you can read and follow instructions of easy steps 1,2,3. Everyone is made to believe that photography is easily copied and everyone can do the exact same thing. Now if that particular photograph has been done a thousand times by everyone else, what is the fun of contributing to a multiple clone production? It takes a lot of effort and time to understand what works and what does not, there never is any shortcut or 1,2,3 step by step instructions. You have to get your hands dirty and you have to do the hard work, again and again, going through the process repetitively until you break through and found your answer. Sometimes it takes a few attempts to get it right, sometimes it takes a thousand trials before you finally grasp the whole concept. There is no easy way out.
Another issue I find with many new-photographers, especially those who involve themselves in street photography generally, is being buried too deep into their philosophical world, surrounded by books written by prominent and established street photographers. Then they would go on and rave about certain "style" and "techniques" which made the photographs work wonders, much like what they have learned from the books. Even if those techniques and styles can be rather extreme and go against the norm of photography, it does not matter, because breaking the rules is the next big thing in photography. It gets worse and worse, accepting poor standards of photographs, such as "blur is ok, because blur can be artistic", or "why must photographs be in focus, out of focus can be interesting" or "don't look at your photographs for one year and you will start to think differently". As much as these extreme rules can improve your photography growth, being obsessed with them, not knowing to apply which ones that work and separate the ones that wont suit your own individual style, becareful, they could work AGAINST your photography. Not everything you read on books are necessarily practical or relevant to yourself. You have to do your own experimentation to find out what works. Reading and knowing (you think you know) are not enough. Photography is not about concepts or arguing about the definitions that define good photography. To me, photography is about shooting and producing good images. It takes time to mature, and grow. You will grow, when you spend more time shooting.
One last issue I would like to discuss is how many new-comers to photography are dying in seeking approval from their peers. Art, after all is a communicative medium that demands an audience, even if it is a small one. Being an interactive medium, photography will be viewed and discussed by the said audience. Therefore, this can be a dangerous thing. Some photographers have become obsessed with collecting "likes" and "praise-worthy" comments, when they post their photographs on all sorts of online platform (well it is a digital world now) such as Flickr, 500px and even Facebook. If their photographs received overwhelmingly positive response it would make their day, otherwise, depression and misery would follow if no one cared, or even a single negative criticism was received to slam the photograph shown. I am not too sure if this desease is a new thing in the digital photography world where social media and Internet have become the center of attention of everything, but surely, shooting to please others won't get you that much further. I do not have a Flickr, I had a 500px account which I am no longer active in (after I figured that social networking is the main thing, not photography) and I only share photographs of delicious lunch that I eat on Facebook. The only place I show my photographs freely is this blog, and this blog has become sort of a visual diary for myself, documenting my life and important events that happened around me. In this blog, you cannot click "like". In this blog, you cannot comment individually on the photographs. This was the perfect place for me, because my readers do not have to say anything if they don't want to, yet at the same time, I know, there are people reading and viewing my photographs (thus fulfilling the need for an audience in photography). And if someone decided to give criticism and comment, they usually have something important to say, most of the time it is something very useful, sometimes things that I never realized or saw in the first place.
I think it is very important to be yourself when you shoot. Show yourself through your photographs. It does not matter if the photographs you took does not resemble anything else out there or look like whatever they are supposed to look like. Being yourself means putting a part of you into your photograph, and that shows your identity as a human being, something that people will be able to recognize you as they look at yourself through the photography work that you show them.
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CheeZsteak; The subway of cheese steaks. Because of the different ways you can create your cheese steak, this has become my favorite place to grab a cheese steak.
Today I went with the 12 inch sub (actual length was 14 inches) with 3 additional toppings. So in addition to the grilled meat and grilled onions I had cream cheese, grilled mushrooms, grilled green peppers, and banana peppers. The cream cheese was grilled right into the meat and vegetables which I love (I suppose they could put it on the side if you wanted). The meat was a good size. Not too chopped up as to be minced but not so big you could choke on it. It was tender, and over all seemed to be a high quality beef. I would have preferred more black pepper, but I will know for next time.
Location: 
I will be honest, my expectations for the wings were pretty low. I haven't had wings from a franchise pizza joint that I have really liked. To my surprise the wings were actually pretty good. The sauce was thick and in abundance. The wings were nether too sweet, or too hot, but were balanced very well. There was just enough heat to get my nose running after a few wings, but not enough to cause my mouth to be on fire. The ranch dressing dipping sauce had a nice zip to it that complimented the wings very nicely.
The Reuben was what I would consider a true Reuben sandwich. Corned hash piled high with sauerkaout and a Russian dressing all between two pieces of grilled spiral rye bread. One word for you Yummy! OK so the sandwich hit the spot and it didn't disappoint my craving, which sometimes puts more pressure on the food because now I have talked it up so much in my head that even the smallest imperfections can ruin it. As a word to the wise, when eating this sandwich make sure you eat it first (I usually eat my fries first before they go cold) but in this case I waited too long to finish the 2nd half of my sandwich and the bread became soggy from the sauerkraut.
I didn't go with the beer battered fries this time like I did last time, and just went with the standard order of fries, which were pretty good. By this time I was getting pretty full and I hadn't even gotten to my wings. I ordered their spicy wings, which were your traditional Louisiana style wings (my favorite, gold star to them) and they were described as being hot. Usually most places definition of hot is not my definition, but in this case I felt they really were actually hot. They had some kick to them, sure they didn't make my eyes water or my make my mouth run for a drink, but they were just hot enough as to not distract from the flavor. Over all I was pretty impressed with the chicken wings. The sauce was think, the dipping sauces were free, the chicken was well cooked, but not overdone. They are not the best wings I have had, but they are certainly worth ordering again.
Location:
Charley's Grilled Subs has a Steak & Fry deal for $5 bucks. Not a bad deal at all. I upgraded my sandwich from the standard sandwich of steak, grilled onions, and provolone to the deluxe which came with steak, grilled onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and provolone. So basically upgrading added mushrooms and green peppers, for only $0.20 cents (That's a good deal in my opinion). Once again I had to pay for fry sauce ($0.25.) I could rant about having to pay for fry sauce but I honestly think this is becoming the standard now, so instead I will praise those who still offer it for free.
My food came out in a timely manner. The first thing I noticed was that the meat was not overflowing the bun, but rather nicely fitting within its bread home. I thought the sandwich was dry and needed more moisture, usually in the form of grease (I have a hard time with dry sandwiches.) I think there is something to be said about a sloppy sandwich, they just seem to be more appealing to me. If I have to pull out my fork to finish off the sandwich that is a great sign. Overall I wasn't that impressed with the sandwich, the dryness killed me. I guess I could say it was right on par with what I would expect from a mall food court or fast food Just remember you don't go to the mall to get food, you go to buy overpriced merchandise and when I was younger to pick up on girls. Would I ever go back to Charley's Grilled Subs to eat, maybe if I was in the mall already and needed to eat, but I doubt I will head there just for the food.
I am going to have to say I don't agree with him at all. Although it had a lot of taste I just don't think thin sliced roast beef works that well for me in a philly cheese steak. When I eat a cheesesteak I need chunks of meat dripping with greese and smothered in hot melted cheese. What I got at Arbys was thin sliced meat with swiss cheese. Don't get me wrong, the sandwich was actually pretty good. The meat was flavored well with seasons and pepper (I love me the pepper) mixed with grilled onion and peppers. Perhaps they went a little over board with the name. I wouldn't call this a true Philly, but I would call it more of a cheesesteak. Overall for five bucks I won't complain (much). If I wanted a good sandwhich while on the go, this is the one I will pick. 
Jason trying that much raved about D600. Though it is a full frame camera but the body does not have that solid reassuring feel, and the handling is not as good as expected. Placement of buttons and shortcuts are odd, a little all around the places, but as the salesperson highlighted actually once we are used to the camera it should not be a problem, which is true. 
Pentax K5 and Pentax K5 mk2. They both look so identical !! The K5 mk2 was absent when I visited Pentax booth yesterday because some one took it away for test drive. 
I have very high respect for Pentax K-series, especially their K-5, and now the K-5 Mk2. Great camera, with very good handling, weather sealing, as well as great image quality. If I were to shy away from Olympus for whatever reasons, Pentax is in my strong consideration. However that ever increasing price of their lenses (the last I heard there was a jump up to 50% price.... WTF !!!) was not an encouraging news, if I were to start a new system. Having tried the Pentax K-5 Mk2 briefly.... the shutter sound was.... weird..... but I liked it !
Hey Kirk Tuck, are you reaaaaaally gonna get one? Sony NEX VG900, full frame video dedicated beast. It was behind show-glass, we were not allowed to touch or try the camera. That thing looks HUGE !!!
Alright, I did promise to shoot some girls, right? There were plenty more, but I figured, why fight with so many other photographers over the same subjects? It was getting redundant and a little.... pointless. A friend actually questioned me why I was not that interested in taking photographs of girls so ever readily available for shoot at the photography show.... and I answered him: "To be honest I'd rather shoot random kids and old people and any strangers I can find on the street". He gave me the strangest look I have ever seen, as if I was from another planet or something. 
