Ben Yew Photography

Well, reason behind my late introduction of myself is because...hm.. no good excuse, just plain lazy. I am not really into writting, hence the delay.

I started photography about 2 years back ( wow, how time flies ) when i was looking to buy a compact camera during a promo event in a shopping mall. while i was trying out the features on it, there was a Nikon D40x camera sitting next to it. Well, looking bulky and not as sleek as the compact, i picked it up and test it as well ( since the price wasnt too far apart ). After a few clicks, i realized i like the manual control of the camera, although i dont really know what the hell is aperture/ISO/Shutter speed and etc..i decided to get an approval from the ministry of home affairs ( my wife ). She was asking me if i am sure about it.. i said.. i think so, no harm since the price is just slightly more. If i regret, i wwould probably only grumble say for...the rest of my life?? haha..

Anyways, after purchasing my first DSLR, Nikon offered me a free 1 day seminar to teach dummies like me, how to even start using the camera, then after that, there is a model shoot which is the best part :). And so i clicked away. It was a really good start for me to have a feel of what photography is all about, at that time of course.

I started taking out my camera more frequently to trips and kept on snapping. Then i realized that i really enjoyed it, although out of 100 images i snapped, 5 is usable. Rest just went to the digital trash.. haha..Roughly after 1-2 months, my wife got my "first" so called client for an actual wedding shoot (first paid job - low cost labourer :P ). Well its pretty common for newbies like me to shoot weddings as we tend to get some fluke shots that looks great! :P..hence, the motivation.. haha

The wedding was in 2 months time. I accepted the job with zero technical skills, zero experience, just 100% b#@lls! ( a more appropriate word is probably bravery, haha ).. there is no secondary photography for the weddings, just me all alone. And worst its around 3 hours drive from home, which is pretty dangerous for me, in case i was dissapointed with performance, i would probably drive down the cliff. :P

My wife said, well.. now you have 2 months to prepare yourself. And its because of short of time, i was desperately looking for experience. I manage to be an assistant photographer for an event and secondary photographer for a couple of weddings, thanks to the my wife strong network of brides to be.

On the day of the event photography, i realized that its a tuff job.. I am actually sweating while taking pictures, running around with a cheapo flash that takes almost 1 year to recycle.. haha..the hall was so dark with high ceiling. I was amazingly disspointed with my shots and gave up. Put the camera in my bag and just hold the remote flash for the main photographer ( its called a voice activated flash control feature : me. ), which turns out to be pretty interesting as well. studying how he shoot at such low light and high ceiling condition.

After that, i started to shoot more weddings to gain more experience as secondary and realized the pressure that the main photographer is having. He/she will need to be in best spot to get the best shot and compose, organize and control the crowd he is about to shoot. While, I.. the secondary photog, just snipe away from a distance, not to get in his way to get some fluke shot.. and sometimes or most of the time.. steal some good posed shots.. :P

I stopped photography for a couple of months as i was busy preparing for my own wedding and new life.

Venturing back in the photography after all is sorted, i realized that i needed " a little" more gears.. well, photography is a VERY VERY expensive hobby for me. My application for further investment into my hobby was constantly rejected by the minister of home affairs. So i got no choice but to fund my gears by taking more paid shoots. Paid shoots = Lotsa Pressure!!, high expectations and consistent fluke shots..!!.. haha

And well, so i did. Taking up shoots i have never done before or even thought of doing..challenging myself to improve to satisfy my client requirements. Not easy, but hey.. got to be done.. need the $$.. some was great, some was fun, some a challenge and of course, some demoralizing. Most of the time, i realized that the people we need to satisfy is ourselves. My clients are very happy with the images that i have taken, but i felt i could do more, do better somehow. That is my motivation and challenge that we constantly give ourselves, may it be photography, business or life.

Got this quote from somewhere, " we photographers often beat ourselves for not living up to our own expectations, but its okay, its a learning process and even the award winning Pro`s have their bad day ".. well something like that, cant really remember the actual sentence.

After some time, i realized that i need work more on my passion while enjoying the process of it. I have decided to take up more commercial/advertising and editorial photography.Its pretty fun and most importantly, reduce wasting my time on never ending tv series ( i.e LOST :P ) .

At present, i am still learning, experimenting and improving to ensure clients get the best of my photography and of course to satisfy my own expectation at the same time.