Interior Photography of OCBC

OCBC Bank, one of the largest global banking and financial service providers, The branch of Penang is located in the heart of UNESCO heritage zone. Their in house designer is coming out with the unique interior design which match the colonial building of OCBC premium banking, My assignment is shoot the  interior photography of OCBC Bank, The 8,000 square-foot Centre will be used to bring lifestyle events to the Bank’s customers alongside several facilities and services that were previously unavailable. These include a comfortable private customer discussion area, ample parking with valet services, live telecast video conferencing facilities and more dedicated safe deposit boxes. The Centre is also the largest in the OCBC Bank network nationwide

The OCBC Bank heritage in Malaysia can be traced back almost a century now, with the Penang branch having been in existence since 1917 as part of the then Ho Hong Bank. This bank would later merge with Overseas Chinese Bank and Chinese Commercial Bank to give birth to OCBC Bank in 1932.

For Interior photography, first, you must understand a bit of the design before you can actually compose the right shot. I'm grateful that the designer join be in this interior photo shoot and explain a bit of the layout and what he really want to include in the shooting. It took me 5 visits to complete the shooting of this Penang interior photography project

Penang Hill

Penang Hill is one of the must see attraction in Penang Island. it was the first hill resort of its kind in Malaysia, and since its opening in 1923, the funicular railway has provided a convenient way to reach the top. After the major renovation and the new funicular, it draws almost 2000 visitors per day. What I love about this place is because it faces the most beautiful cityscape in Penang Island and more over it give you difference kind of scene at different time. Penang Hill is just 5 minutes away from where I live,  this is why I can make as many trip as I wanted. I can plan my trip in the very last minutes and my outing is all depends on the weather. You can see my Penang hill collection HERE.

In this Samsung imagelogger assignment, what i plan is to record the different moment but with the same scene on top of Penang Hill. From dawn to dusk, rain or shine. The shooting with this Samsung NX1 is straight forward, What i need is just a tripod and cable release. My favorite time to visit the hill is at 6:30am the very first train from the station. The weather up there is chilling and very quiet in the morning and I always enjoy being alone up there.

I hope you like some collection of my photos in Penang Hill, there is no lucky moment to get a good shot from Penang Hill. luck is where preparation and opportunity meet.  You just have to put in more effort by keep visiting in different kind of weather and time and the mother nature will surprise you.

All photos, above, have been shot with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics. Co., Ltd.

Brave the Penang Storm

Most photographers like to photograph their landscape pictures on a beautiful day with clear sunny blue sky, without a doubt scenery as such makes us happy. I used to be doing that at the past, but things change slightly nowadays for me. I think artists are crafters of human thought and emotion, I want to try expressing the emotion and dramatic mood in my landscape photography. Since then, I started chasing storm clouds in Penang Island since the last two years. The mother nature never fails to surprise me with the spectacular phenomenon. Now, I would go out when I know there will be a storm, to try get some pictures. The downside of shooting at bad weather is that, if you are unprepared it's easy to get soaking wet or having your gears damaged by rain water. And not forgetting, the possible risk of being strike by lightning.

Often, I will carry a big umbrella with me when I plan to chase the storm. I always have my bag's built-in rain coat on to protect my gears from getting wet. A cleaning cloth is a must, to get ready for the needs to wipe off rainwater on my camera lens. Most importantly, I think there is not a single photo that is worth more than our own life, it's always good to think of our own safety when photographing on the field.

To get massive storm clouds in Penang Island can be quite rare due to our geographical location. Penang island is strategically sheltered between the peninsular of Malaysia and Sumatra of Indonesia. Fortunately, we still get monsoon season in Malaysia, so this will give us some variation of climates throughout the year.

From these photos, maybe you can relate that having the best photographic gears are not the things that make a good photographer. In my opinion, it is the commitment and effort to anticipate that perfect shot matters. I hope you enjoy what I am sharing, feel free to share them with your friends. Thank You