Hopeful or Hopeless

I had some interesting discussions on "Stay and Fight or Give Up and Leave" with some relatives and friends in the past few weeks.

I'll leave the points brought up by the following people (old posts though):
Khoo Kay Peng's How Many 5 Years Do You Have in a Life Time
Zewt's Migration: Running Away or Towards Something

Feel free to leave your opinions...

My First PAID Gig

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to capture some family portraits. It's certainly a great experience and I hope I will be able to build on it. I spent about 2 hours with the family of 4 (5th on its way though) and snapped a couple of hundred images. Below are some of my favourites which are aplenty.


Having a paid job, does that equate to being a professional now? In my book, a professional probably has the following features though in no particular order:
1) A technique and style that are unique to his work
2) Well-known and widely recognised by peers
3) Well-versed with LIGHT - A quote by Anthony McKee "The Study of Light Takes A Lifetime"
4) Consistently producing high quality images/artworks
5) Down-to-earth attitude yet still keeping professionalism at heart
6) Commitment, Sacrifice and Taking Chances
7) Keep learning to progression and development

So, am I a pro? I just know I'm passionate about photography and I'll keep learning......

Art or Porn

Recently, I have had some discussions with a few friends about images that involve some nudity. Are these art or pornography? It is a controversial subject, especially for me who has been brought up in a typical Asian way of life.

There is a fine line drawn between the two. However, the line can be very much different from one person to another, from male to female, from the young to the wise.

I have asked and will continue to ask friends on this particular subject. As of today, there were 6 gals and 3 guys. I'm sure one would ask why the imbalance........Well, most nudes involve females and it's certainly a topic that the gals will have an entirely different perception than guys. Most guys just don't care about it and will be excited about any nude images (of the other sex, of course)~!!

Call me sexist but it's true...!!

As for me, I think it's an art so long we stick within that fine line.

Anyway, here are some modeling shots taken on Sat night.

Discussion: Blessing or Curse

One's natural ability to do something not many would be able to is a gift from mother nature and written in our gnome or DNA. Is this natural gift a blessing or a curse?

Let me start off by being my usual self, objective and open-minded.

It's a blessing for the following factors:

• Ability to achieve something extraordinary and perhaps for the greater good - For example Ian Thorpe who is very gifted the ability to swim well and attained the glory. He has also used that fame for the greater good in channeling his efforts in charity work. Others include Michael Jordan, Jet Li, Richard Gere, Angelina Jolie and the late Princess Diana
  
• Ability to scale greater heights and attained personal growth which may have a domino effect to those around the person - For example Stephen Hawkings, Albert Einstein, Alexander Bell and the Wright Bros.

It's a curse due to the following reasons:

• Complacency due to snobbishness and subsequent downfall- A person may consider oneself to be unique from others and lead to exploitation. Hence, that person may look down on those unfortunates. The obvious example I can think of is Adolf Hitler.
  
• Side effect/Overdo of the ability that turns into a weakness/backfire - A gifted athlete who relies to much on his/her gift lost out others who may not be as gifted but are determined and diligent.
  

Some personal experience I have accumulated over the years:
One obvious gift that I have (very much like my dad, my uncle and, I know of, a cousin) is my memory.
Advantages - Ability to BS in exams by linking logical factors (which I aced thru the History paper in the public exams, to my surprise), to remind others on their schedules (friends and family), walking telephone book/share market info (that's my dad and/or my uncle)
Disadvantages - Having a wonderful memory can sometimes be frustrating and/or vengeful due to past events, conversations and news that may hurt someone's feeling at best and ruin a friendship/relationship at worst when blurted out unintentionally (I had been thru that myself, so had my dad and uncle of which I have seen it materialised).

In sports, I know of a few of my friends are gifted in some ways or another. They were complacent and lazy while the unfortunates who gave their best in training and improving themselves technically and physically, were able to give them a beating or at least a worthy challenge! I'm not gifted with height and the abilities to glued to water and being "floaty" for swimming. I made up by giving my all in training and striving to perfect my techniques. If a swimmer could put in 7 sessions a week, I'll put in 9-11 a week and spent additional days figuring out the little things like at the reaction time on plunging block, turnings, finishings and even strength-building.

So, what's your position in this issue? As for me, I guess a good balance with self-control may minimise, but not eliminate, the cons.