The Traveling Photographer

Today (technically yesterday...but what the heck...days are counted after gaps of sleep, not by numerical standards, in my opinion) has been one of those hooray days.

The exam I just had was fine, finishing ahead of time is always a good indication of that with all questions answered and time to spare. Life is becoming steady with known factors in place for the upcoming about 3-4 months. Also, I just finished making, ordering and is now waiting for my photobook shipment to my doorstep.

Since Fall of 2008, ever since I came here, I decided to take on a new hobby, trying to seek the perfect balance between light, shadow, colors and substance. I was introduced to my Nikon D90 on a Friday and has ever since that day tried numerously to find my own expression of identity. Fast forward 2 years from then, with my regular kit lens the 18-105mm VR and a normal prime lens 50mm f/1.8D, and a Kata DR-467 Digital Rucksack with my newly acquired Manfrotto 190CX Pro3 and SB-900, I currently have thousands of pictures and more than 50GBs of raw NEF pictures of my travel whilst learning experience here in the States.

And so I set forth trying to print the noteworthy pictures of my endeavor, but with inappropriate funds, I could never print all of the nice photos as poster prints. How do I go about this problem? Simple really.

I've heard once, that photographers of old would go about bringing their career to others with their photo portfolio, and not by digital copies or just showing their camera gears. They had to prove their worth by placing their results on the line. It was different back then, and still is different for the pros and the upstarts. More than not, many photographers here in the States still does thing the old way, with every single photographer who is out to make it for themselves building themselves a portfolio for a professional career ahead. That is very different as to how people perceive as being photographers back in Malaysia, where the biggest camera more often is associated with skill, which is actually uncorrelated in any sense. It is kinda like the purpose of photography is lost with everyone trying to catch on the bandwagon by showing off the larger portion of their body part (censored here, but you kinda get the notion). Malaysians care less about the art of light, of how it dances with each reflections and how it illuminates and glows with each diffraction, but care more only to the sense of who has the bigger gear. If I were to go on about this, I'm afraid that I'll go off topic, and so I'll reserve that for another rant space.

So, I am currently waiting for my photobook to be delivered at my doorstep, and yes, the book is aptly named The Traveling Photographer by dein|photography. It is my first photobook and it accounts to the sights that I caught my sight in Manhattan, New York along with a few captions describing my personal views on the play of light.

Here's hoping all that's well ends well.