The Next Muay Thai

i didn't take that much of action pics this time. i've gone artistic (so to speak) for the time being.

this time i focused on muay thai from its artistic facade. to me all martial arts forms has both its brutal and the artistic facade.

from my days in taekwondo i saw people bled too. just as these muay thai exponents did. i say kicks that broke jaw bones. let alone fingers, toes and legs. i saw those in taekwondo. but i wonder why is it there's such a double standard towards muay thai?

gearing up for another bout.

i am currently gearing up for the next muay thai bout tomorrow. to shoot it that is. its still a looong way to till i fight again

by the way there's going an impromptu photography exhibition featuring the past Z1 kedah royal cup.

http://www.boxxtomoi.com/2011/07/fight-card-17-18-july-z1-menara-alor.html

The Best Seat in The House(night 2)

Being this late is unforgivable. I know.
At the beginning of the week i was so slump with work.
Barely have time to catch a breath.

Night 2 was AMAZING. But not too many shots though.
Why? 1 pluralized sweet word.

KNOCK-OUTs baby!!!

Almost all the bouts didn't last to the final bout. It was a knockout galore, fights ended at round 1 mostly, few left standing.

 

The best seat in the house.

muay thai had caught my eye for as long as i remember. 

when i was young it was not so commercialized. no modern gyms then and there were the old kampung style gyms which for a town(not city) kid it was too far away. hence i join one of the more accessible martial art and coincidentally taekwondo has clubs in almost all the schools around town. 

later in my life i rekindled my interest for muay thai thanks to the birth of contender asia and tony jaa and his movies. 

then last year i learnt about this tournament here in Kedah. Last year i couldn't join it because i got something to do but this year i didn't want to let the chance fly by again. I got in touch with Mr. Musaddik from http://www.boxxtomoi.com/ asking him if i can tag along. And he said yes. One thing lead to another i landed myself a spot right at the corner of the ring. And here's some of my haul from night one.

Pekan Rabu.

If you're in Alor Setar, holding a camera, its best for you to head for Pekan Rabu. Showers of colours are waiting for you there. 

You can find almost everything here. Clothes for your loved ones. For any occasions.

 

Handicrafts, souvenirs for your friends back home. 

Even food are colourful here.

Needless to say, the people are friendly here. They don't shy away from a camera that easy.

Now get up, grab your camera go around town, and snap away! 

taking a bite off the press (IMHO)

even to the untrained eye you can see the difference of complexion on the other pic, let alone his mouth. 

I apologize for any discomfort this post may cause. I also apologize to the family of the person whom picture's is used and may widely be found over the net over the past 24 hours.

I am not at all a conspiracy theorist.
This is just my take on the picture that the press claims to be Osama's.
and I am not supporting nor denying whether did he really had passed on.

What I am saying is that it is relatively easy to forge this pic.

I'm just going to comment this from a photographer and his bestfriend; Photoshop point of view.

this is a pic of osama in a 2008 pic

this is a pic of the other guy. and it had looked like a bomb blast did him in

i copied osama's picture from the end of his beard up to his eyebags 

i aligned it to the right size and portion and from here onwards its just a matter of tweaking here and there

let me just stop right here. that's how easy it was, the end result is just as the pic above. 

So needless to say it is still anybody's bet to say he's alive or dead.

Futra+Rafidah@hotel seri malaysia

To tell you the truth, I was worried when Futra told me that his reception is going to be in the hall.
Lightings, speedlights, batteries, iso (you name it.) but, worrying is good; makes you prepare better.

Come the day itself. It was great.

I have heard a bunch of (not so nice) stories about Seri Malaysia (one or two i have had it happened to me) but for this wedding i think that they have redeemed themselves.(or to me at the very least)

I arrived at the Seri Malinja Hall early to have a test shoot for the wedding (to get the right settings for my camera and flash) and when I opened the doors I saw the staff were doing their final touches on the lights for the 'pelamin'. The set up and were amazing. I had very little trouble with my pictures.  

Equally amazing were the lovely newly weds themselves. They were a good sport. Easily posed. And their candid shots are amazing!

I wish them the best. Selamat Pengantin Baru Friends.