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Posted by bobbyofbrunei on 20 October 2009
I am a photographer, you can see my work from my flickr page which you can preview and access from the sidebar on the left. Please take a look around. Check out my gallery or the camera equipment I use or get to know more about the photographer – me! 
If you are interested please contact me by messaging me through flickr or e-mailing me at attiev_10(at)yahoo(dot)com (the brackets are to avoid spambots)
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Posted by attiev on 3 March 2010
Below is a shot that I took of the reward that my husband promised me. This phone is to replace my dead mobile phone.
To see the image that I used in the above shot, please click here.
To read about this shot, please click the image.
Posted in Flickr Picture | Tagged: Attiev, Nokia, Nokia XpressMusic 5800, Phone, Product shot, Still Shot | 2 Comments »
Posted by attiev on 28 February 2010
Yesterday my husband and I went to a different wasai this time. We had a guide from the recent local newspaper on how to reach there. We went to look for the wasai after we had our lunch. When we reach Kg. Padnunok, we followed the guide. Let’s just say, we wasted more than 1 hour to look for the place and we even got lost and went through a road that we didn’t even know existed in the country. Before we got lost, I saw Kg. Padnunok’s the head of village’s house. We would have save a lot of time if we had stop by and ask where on earth was the wasai!
While driving around for 1 hr, we went in circles, went out into another kampong and going back to that Kg. Padnunok again. It was frustrating for both of us. Finally we went to the head of village’s house.
With the new direction that was given to us, we reached the wasai at 3.30pm. Surprisingly, we met one of our LiveWIRE members with the rest of his family there. He also used the guide from the local newspaper but he initially did not find the place, he started to ask for directions from the local people. That tells you a lot about if you provide the wrong information in the newspaper or even in the internet.
My husband was already feeling motion sickness from all that lost driving and with me being upset, just worsen his condition.
So we went down to see the waterfall, accompanied by our friend. There were a lot of people. The wasai was crowded! We had to wait until 6.30pm, then we were the only one left. I asked my husband to bring my camera so I could take a few shots of the waterfall. It was getting darker by the minute.
That exalting feeling that I meant was the feeling that I experience after I jumped into the wasai. YES, I jumped from the top of about 4 or 5 meters and landed into the water on my feet. My hands were the ones that hit the ground in the water. My husband who jumped earlier along with other visitors there, had previously told me that the depth of the wasai was a bit more than 2 meters (I am about 1.5 meters tall). When I felt the clayey ground with my hands, my left brain quickly told me that I was way way under the surface. I pushed myself up with my feet as hard as I could. I started kicking and swam so I could reach the surface as fast as I could. I survived. Otherwise I would not be writing about it, would I? I swam to the side and I was shaking so hard. That must have been from the adrenaline rush.
My husband made me an offer that I could not resist. He offered to replace my dead mobile phone with the new mobile phone that I want next week if I jump. I hesitated so many times when I was on top of that waterfall until he said that offer valid until 6.15pm only. I looked at my watch and it was already 6.12pm. I want that mobile phone. I made up my mind when I visualized how I was going to do it. I shut the chattering in my head, my mind was blank and I jumped off the cliff.
After I was done with taking pictures, we were ready to pack up, on the muddy ground, I walked few steps to get my slippers. I was barefoot when I stepped on something sharp. I thought I stepped on thorn branches. It felt sting and apparently that cut my flesh. When my husband picked up the what I thought “thorn branches”, it was a broken piece of ceramic plate. There were a few of them on the ground. My husband also got a cut under his feet by a broken piece of sharp food tin can. When my husband showed me the broken piece of tin can, we realized that there were quite a lot of rubbish around the area.
Later we met an avid visitor to the area, he said that there will be more improvements in the area, and there will be cleaning campaign to be held in the near future.
Here is the view of the wasai.
PS If you guys are planning to go there and jumping off the cliff, I personally think those of you who are not swimmers to steer clear of that activity. In times of panic, you do not know what you did wrong that could claim your own life.
Posted in Flickr Picture | Tagged: Attiev, Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tutong, Kg. Padnunok, Tutong, Wasai, Wasai Batu Mapan | 2 Comments »
Posted by attiev on 26 February 2010
This is the same image that I uploaded in my previous post.
Here is a different view from the inside of our famous landmark looking outside. Funky Slug loves the sky in the coloured version of this image. But my love of his recent B&W image prompt me to do the same.
The image below was converted to B&W.
Life is full of challenges, we will improve ourselves when we overcome them. Some obstacles are easier to handle and others are a lot harder and need our full dedication to go through them. All these words are easier said than done.
It’s good to have you back in the game Brian!
PS I still don’t own the copyright of this image. I did shoot it, modify it and while presented this image in the competition, the organizer claims the copyright of all the images that I shot during the competition as mentioned in the rules and regulations.
Posted in Flickr Picture, People | 2 Comments »
Posted by attiev on 25 February 2010
Hi guys, we were told of the results after 10.30pm. It was a long wait. I arrived a few minutes after 6pm. There were 10 of us.
I want to share my experience being judged by the judges today. I was the first to be judged because I asked for it. I figured, just get it over and done with. I get what I asked for.
So, here is the gist.
The judges’ comments of the first picture.
My image was out of focus. I should have taken a closer shot. I should have just focused on 4 subjects. They were not sure which one was my subject. I should have used a smaller aperture. I should have worked on the composition. That florescent light!! On the other hand, my image shows the culture of Brunei.
On the second image.
The story of the image was not completed. I should have taken it horizontally. I should have waited for the right moment then snapped my shot. I should have moved a little bit so there was no distraction in the image.
This second image puzzled one of the judges. He was asking how was that image relates to the theme. I mentioned that my understanding of the colors of brunei was its characters. Family is a big thing in Brunei. Hence the image except without the lady,as she presented her back at the time of shooting.
I did joke about this image though. I stated that if the colour of the table cloth was red, then I have all the four colours of our national flag.
On the third image.
They agreed that the image was not sharp. A few of them suggested that I should have use a better lens. I should have underexposed the image by 1 or 2 stops. That might help with the unsharpness of the image. In addition, they complemented the colours, the composition of the image and the drama of the clouds in the sky.
And lastly, one of the judges commented that there was no continuity in the three images that I presented. He even further insulted by saying “The first image is ugly and the last image is outrageous”.
At first, that comment took me by surprised. I guess the first image was ugly because of a small part of a fluorescent lamp was in the image. I guess that just destroys the whole image. However, I could not help but chuckled when I heard that my last image was outrageous. Are you kidding me?
And I ended up by pulling a “diva act” (as my husband described it) by stating that the producers themselves were blur about the themes. I may have offended the producers by saying that. I did apologize to them afterwards. To be honest, pulling a “diva act” was the furthest thing on my mind. It would be better for “disabled” photographers like me if I knew precisely what the producers wanted out of the competition as well as the participants.
To the all 6 finalists, congratulations! You guys deserve to be the finalists. Well done and good luck in the competition.
PS Those images are straight from my camera. One of the rules stated that the images are not to be digitally modified. Just to let you guys know, I no longer hold the copyright of these images.
Posted in Competition, Details | Tagged: Attiev, Brunei Darussalam, Competition, Photography Competition | 3 Comments »
Posted by attiev on 22 February 2010
I kept on hearing people mentioned Wasai Kadir or rather Wasai Wong Kadir. So when we had our public holiday on Monday, my husband and I were prepared to go there for the purpose of taking pictures and also to enjoy ourselves.
We drove deep into the village for about two hours. My husband had went there twice when he was younger. It was my first time been there. We had to hike for 15 to 20 mins to reach the main waterfall.
It was a hot day, it was not even 5 mins and already I had sweat like crazy! Thanks to the humidity of the jungle. We went up and down a few hills, next to the path was a stream. You get to hear the sound of the rippling water. I did not pay attention to the sound of the jungle. I just walked and I was soaking up the beauty of nature.
Below is the view that greeted us when we arrived at the first hut. We continued our hiking by following the path on the right side of this image.
Amazing view!
When we finally reached the main waterfall, I was disappointed to see it. It did not look like a waterfall at all. There were a group of young men, already there. Some were sitting on top and at the edge of the waterfall, a few were swimming and one or two were ready to jump.
That was my husband making a bigger splash than the rest of the guys.
I was on a higher ground when I noticed three small water streams on top of the waterfall and I was interested to photograph that. It turned out that we had to go up another hill to get on top of the waterfall.
Below is a landscape view from the same spot.
I will go here again to take shots of the waterfall. However, I will wait for the rainy season before going here again.
Below are the images of the waterfall. An acquaintance of mine wanted to see the how the waterfall looks like now. I guess she has not visit the waterfall for a long time.
Above is an image that I shot at 10mm. That waterfall is a tad small, isn’t it? Or is it?….
Below is a close-up that I shot at 100mm.
Those guys were excited when they saw that I pointed my camera at the scene. Well, they were showing off their jumping skills so I could take pictures of them. Until next time guys! ;p
Posted in Flickr Picture | Tagged: Attiev, Brunei, Brunei Darussalam, HDR, Nature, Wasai Kadir, Waterfall | 4 Comments »
Posted by attiev on 10 February 2010
Ever since I took photography, some people have asked me, how do I achieve a certain look or mood in my photographs. My answer is simple. I visualize what I want out of the images that I shot.
This is often the case when I shoot landscapes, my macro shots and also when I shoot portraits. A few examples to illustrate. Below is an image of a seed head of Sweet Coltsfoot straight from my camera. When I saw the image that I took, my first reaction was, “this is a dull image”. Then I started to think on how I could make this image better. A few series of images flashed in my head and one of them was to use a texture. “It could work”, my mind said.
I then begin series of adjustments in Adobe Photoshop. Below is how it looks like after I was done with it.
In case of landscapes, let me show you a very recent seascape of mine. Now, whenever you look at a scenery, especially a sunset, you get to experience the majestic moment. Sunsets are one of the most beautiful moments that I experience. To capture that moment and to show it to other people is difficult. Check out how the scene was captured by my camera.
Someone was genius enough to create a software that could make a scenery as beautiful as how our eyes see them (or at least close to). With Photomatix and Adobe Photoshop, it is possible to recreate that beautiful scenery.
The seascape looks so much better and the colours are just beautifully executed to mimic the gorgeous seascape that was buried in my memory.
I found a very relevant article concerning this topic. To read more on it, just click the link visualizing and how it applies to photography. The author explains how visualizing can help photographers create ’successful’ photographs and other aspect of photography that photographers need to be aware of. Two thumbs up!
Posted in Flickr Picture, Tips | Tagged: Camera, Landscape, Macro, Photogaphy, Photomatix, Photoshop, Texture, Visualization, Visualizing | 4 Comments »
Posted by attiev on 9 February 2010
Last week I got a call from Brunei Shutters concerning ‘Brunei Shutters’ photography competition. I was selected last Sunday to take part in the competition. I was asked to go to the Marine Centre at The Empire Hotel in the morning. My husband came with me as my assistant. He carried my bag, my tripod (which I did not use that day) and he helped me with changing my lens. I was free to move around and with his presence, he made it a whole lot easy for me.
I got hundreds of shots, I deleted those that I felt were not visually stimulating. I made the decisions after we were done with each activity. My main concern was that I needed the storage, and so I was willing to make the cut on the spot.
I would love to upload some of the images that I got, but unfortunately, when I signed up for this competition, one of the rules and regulations stated that photographers no longer own the copyright of all of the images that they took.
What I noticed so far, whenever Brunei (government or private sectors) holds a photography competition, that rule is always there. To be honest, I am bothered by that rule. I joined international photography competition and what I found is that the photographers still own the copyrights to their submitted images.
One thing that struck me is that, the feeling that I experience when submitting my images to the international photography competition. That feeling is safe, I feel respected, I feel valued, appreciated and in all of those feelings, the one thing that stood out the most is that I am honoured to be involved in the competition. At the back of my mind, this little voice said to me, the organiser understands that the photographers created the images, in the process of creation, the photographers put themselves out there in whatever condition to get the shots. The organiser is not only value the output (prints) but also the photographers themselves.
That feeling is totally different when I submitted my prints/images to our local photography competition. I have known and met some photographers who felt it was not worth their time and effort, especially with their lost of the copyright of their images. On top of my head, that rule implies that the organiser can do whatever they want with the submitted images without having them feeling guilty for not compensating photographers appropriately. It feels a lot like they are taking advantage of photographers.
That rule alone have a great affect on the local photography competitions, not a lot of very good photographers are willing to join the competition, resulting in less number of participants, especially from professional photographers.
The quality of the images submitted from the participants are most likely not up to standard because the level of the playing field is not extensive. Those whose are excited to join in are mostly amateur photographers with a few intermediate and a lot less of the pros.
The feeling of whole competition is just mediocre when it could be great and exceptional.
And do not get me started on the judging process. I have heard stories and they are stories only, I haven’t experience them, so that is another whole topic that I am not going to get into for now.
On a high note, I get to know the friendly people behind the scene, the crew were amazingly supportive, the whole event was really fun, I got to experience shooting something that was different. It was challenging for me and I am glad that I joined the Brunei Shutters photography competition.
p.s my mobile phone is officially dead after it got splashed by the ocean’s waves during the event. I am without mobile phone now. My husband and I also got sunburnt from the heat. My arms are badly ‘fried’ compared to my face. I know the pain will last for a while and I just have to endure it until it lasts. What I take with me are the wonderful memories and the exalting experience of that Sunday Morning.
Posted in Competition, Event | Tagged: Brunei, Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Shutters, Competition, Copyright, Empire Hotel, Photography, Photography Competition, Rules and Regulation, Sunburnt | 8 Comments »
Posted by attiev on 5 February 2010
Above: My favourite shot of the day!
Here is a link that I found while I was searching for portraits and available light.
Posted in Flickr Picture | Tagged: Attiev, Brunei Darussalam, female, Lady, People | 4 Comments »
Posted by attiev on 27 January 2010
There will be a dialogue held to those who want to have a website of their own by the manager of HITLC.
Title of the dialogue: Creating and Marketing a Website for a Business.
Date: 29th January 2010.
Time: 2.30pm until 4.00pm
Venue: LiveWIRE Brunei, Unit 21, 42 & 61, BT-Hj Uthman Complex, Spg: 13, Jalan Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa, Kg. Jaya Setia, Mukim Berakas A, Negara Brunei Darussalam.
Those who would like to reserve their seats please call the number(s) below.
RSVP: Dina Damit @ 2220951, 2220964 or 2220962
I will be there to help out and also take pictures. See you there!
Posted in Event | Leave a Comment »
Posted by attiev on 26 January 2010
I was on my last assignment. I need to submit 6 images and 1 of them is a capture of fast actions. Luckily, last Sunday, we had a walkathone for a charity event in my village. I arrived at the event before 7.30 am with my camera. My plan was to capture shots of people running. I was being sceptical at first but my husband managed to convince me that there would be kids running during the walkathone.
Here are a few shots that my husband took during the warming-up. I love these shots, the colours are so vibrant in that early morning.
When the walkathone started, instead of joining the ladies, I went to follow the route using my car. We went straight to the beach following the guys route. Below are the shots that I took.
These guys still have some energy in them. The one with AIG blue shirt is my small cousin.
Both of his feet are off the ground!!!
Now, this is what I call precious moments!
Another father and son moment during the walkathone.
I had to persuade these guys to run up the hill so I could snap a few shots.
At the end of the event, there were food served for the participants. My husband noticed that my SD card could only take less than 10 shots, and he asked me to delete some. Here are few of the last shots taken by him.
The one in red is my beautiful cousin with her friend.
I am glad that my husband took this shot. I personally love the lighting on this young boy.
So what is the verdict?
I think my quest was successful
Now, I need to choose which fast action shot that I like for my assignment.
Posted in Event, People | Tagged: charity, exercise, family, fast action, female, kids, male, sports, teens | 2 Comments »
