batang toru | again

after siJornih
we spent the night there and left the next day back to sibolga
the initial plan was to go straight to the last city the very same day and return to medan that very night too
however, 4 cek was still so damn unsatisfied with the sunset the previous day that he waited with me
so he said that he wanna stay the night again at sibolga just for the sunset
having said that
obviously i agreed

on our way back
i said why not drop by at batang toru again since we are still pretty damn early for the sunset anyway
and it's that too early-ness that made these pictures turn out bad
direct sun harshness
out of these 4 i'm posting
only 1 turn out nice
the rest were mostly helped by photoshop : /










































































we walked to the other side of the area previously uncovered
pity the sun was so harsh
most of my pics turn out so god damn fugly
after a good 1 hour there
we left to sibolga for the sunset

siJornih final

i've learned something really disappointing for me during my this trip to sibolga
yeah..after one year
it's really disappointing
and here i am night after night still looking and choosing my pics from sibolga
the good thing is i've known my this weakness

i felt
i really didn't no any justice at all to the views and beauty of the places i've visited
i've never seen and shot landscape these intense
and may be that is why
u know when other photographers can wait days after days just for the perfect light
i did not
in fact, i can't
cause my stay there was limited
and most of the time
the place i went was only for a one time basis only

however, my mistake was awfully deeply disappointing
and viewing these pics i've taken
really depresses me so much more

when given a really beautiful scene
me, before one year ago
would just sit back and enjoy the view
i don't whipped out my camera and begin shooting recording them right away
i enjoy myself a lot when faced with such beautiful panorama not seen in our everyday lives
a great sunset would have made my day
like other normal people i believe,
when u got to enjoy something so much
u got lost into yourself and forget everything
and that's what actually happened to me back there
i got awed by the scenes so much
i forgot all about my basic photography rules
my own rules
my principles
my style
and it's really so damn depressing for me
other people will say
"wow" "omg ! so nice" etc etc
like 4 cek who usually was the one back there to view my pics
would just say
"ur pics ar..like out of 10...8 nice, don't know how u'd choose also later"
personally to me
my pics there
out of 10...10 didn't even make it to my standard that i've hoped to achieve by now

and that is why now
i'm beginning to learn my mistakes slowly
thou i still got lost in the scene sometimes
but i think i'm improving a little by little
and let's hope by mid year
i'd know how to divide when to compose a pic and enjoy myself in the scene
and hopefully too
by the end of the year
i'd know how to enjoy myself while shooting properly then

i'm putting a lot of hope for aceh this mid year
let's hope i don't disappoint myself so badly by then

meanwhile, since i've made all these mistakes
let's all just enjoy the views i've seen
thou not justicely taken :)
and am sorry for that
sorry cause i know
i could have done better


























my journey at siJornih continued
and the further i go
the further i got lost into the place
so i shall say no more




















































































that last pic ended my siJornih series
i kinda feel after 2 more entries
this whole trip will end :)

batang toru | gloomy

so the following day
we all drive to another town
the trip, from the start were to visit 3 cities for 4 cek's routine

after sibolga
the next town to go was
padang sidempuan
= another 2 hours driving from sibolga

and after driving 1 hour away
4 cek suddenly remembered that there's this place
batang toru
i think it's the village's name
but it has this wonderful beautiful place


























i was...
speechless when i saw it !
i didn't wait any longer
asked the driver to park
and off i go with my tripod and camera

























it was pretty slippery over there thou
i used my tripod as another leg
and luckily i did
it has definitely saved me down there from falling !
no matter how extra careful i was
the slippery-ness was just crazy

























thank god it was pretty gloomy at that time
again coz it was during mid day
around 12+ to 1
and if there's no dark clouds covering the sun
even with nd8 i won't have nice pics
u'll know what i mean soon :)

























i continued snapping away while 4 cek and the driver had their lunch
occasionally checking with me what i was doing and all
later they joined me as i became more adventurous
jumping from stones to stones further away
that is of course with the help of my tripod and my cam's in the save hand of 4 cek behind
i'll jump first
then he pass it over to me

























and this will be half of the area

























i wanted to go to the middle there
and grab a shot
that would means i'll have to jump pretty far
and i cannot use tripod to help
coz i gotta jump downwards
the only thing i was afraid was not being able to get back
if i have the shot i wanted
i wouldn't mind getting myself wet just to get back already
i'd all be worth it
the only thing that was holding me back was the slippery-ness
and the fact that i'm surrounded by super huge hard stones
if i miss = hospital
confirm
however, the heart keeps on wanting me to just go for it
and just when i was about to jump
like u know
i was there right
and had already pass all my things to 4 cek and my driver
my cam and tripod
it rained !
i grabbed my camera back
and shouted
"RUN !"
and that was it














my fav shot that afternoon :)












we continued our way to padang sidempuan
and having to stay at these smaller towns
with the worker
it'll means there's no luxury at all
it'll means that the place i stay will have eerie toilets and all














the room at padang sidempuan












guess what
even better pics tomorrow !

citra hunting

most of my hunting here in medan are done with people from citra photography school
the following are with them too
this time it was only the 3 of us
our very first outing
well, this one is before the 3 models photoshoot at the previous entry
and today's post are taken from 2 different outings
both were quite short
where in one of them i've only frame 18 images
so can combine the two together



my very first outing with them were to selecta
a restaurant
we were there to frame indoor decorations prior to a wedding dinner
aswin, amei and i made the team
the coming up next pic in the previous entry were taken there
other than that i didn't frame much
well, most of them doesn't make it to my standard thou
so only 1 lor
after that we went to the streets
kesawan square
well, not inside
just outside along the road of kesawan square


























and then i framed a few pics
like 3 low speed pics
before it began to drizzle a bit
so i move in and saw this

























it then drizzle a bit more
so we decided to make a move
but then as for going on an outing with me
the guys had said that it'll never rain as long as the camera is out
and i wasn't satisfied yet
so i told them let's go to another place before we call it a day
and true enough
once we reach
the rain just stops

























i don't know what's that place called
but the walls over there has quite a number of graffiti around
we shot from across the street
and then this aswin went over and asked me to shoot him
i not happy with the results either

























one final shot and we called it a day
a night actually
the next outing happen the very next day
amei, jansen and i made this team next
we were at citra discussing where to go before finally deciding on the location
we went to an overhead bridge right above the train station

























it was here that i framed only 18 pics

























the temple that is under construction still next to the train station

























half-way shooting
we met this two "anak jalanan" who were damn friendly
telling us of the train schedule
sang for us
and we just gave them a pack of cigs in return
well, they said that they live very near the train station
thou i've forgotten their name
our conversations that night still remain vivid in my mind
saddening
these guys were 17
and they've never attended school
and i asked them why not
and their reply were simple

"yah, harus bantu ibu ayah bang"
"yah, gotta help our parents"

i asked if they'd want to go to school
the reply were again obvious
a simple smile and a nod
followed by a

"ya kalau bisa pasti mau donk bang"
"if we could of course we'd want"