Monsopiad Photography Workshop

Whoopiee, another photography workshop :D And it's FREE! I have to thank Maslight for the heads-up on this photography workshop, since she's the one who received the email containing the invite. The event was sponsored by KKIPC Sdn Bhd, with collaboration from the Sabah Journalists Association (SJA) and Monsopiad Cultural Village.

Location: Monsopiad Cultural Village
Date: 19 May 2008
Time: 10:00am - 12:30pm






The talk was conducted by Datu Ruslan Sulai and Edmund Samunting, both experienced photographers. Edmund happens to be the brother of one of my classmates :D

Here's Mr. Edmund Samunting briefing the participants.


Ooh, I think I forgot tho take a photo of Datu Ruslan...

Anyway, on with the workshop. First, Datu Ruslan showed some pics and explained the rational of some of the pictures, on why it was taken in such and such an angle, and certain tips were imparted to the participants from his treasure trove of experience. Not long after, Edmund took the mike and continued with the rest of the workshop.

Some of the participants listening intently...


There was a little rest period where refreshments were served (OK, it was still self service). The food was OK, but the real bonus was they served Leehing (rice wine) out of bamboo cups. There was enough in one cup to constitute a shot, I guess. So you would not get drunk unless you finished off about 30 of those, heh heh... Ack, forgot to take a shot of the bamboo glasses as well, dang must be the heat...

Right, before the break, the organisers gave each team (of 5 people) the general assignment: come up with a picture to promote the Monsopiad Cultural Village as a tourist attraction. They gave the assignment before the break so that the team members can discuss the topic and plan out the shots while eating.

After the break, everyone went off to shoot. Most of my shots were ho-hum, nothing really outstanding, but I'll force you to see them anyway BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

First I crossed the little suspension bridge to the other side of the river (I hope they fix up the suspension bridge, some of the planks do not look safe for walking...)



Then I went back to the main site and started shooting things at random, starting with the moonshine brewery, I mean the leehing distillery:


Here are some of the ingredients that goes into rice wine a.k.a. leehing:


Ingredients and the jars that are used to store them:


Next up, the tosung, a.k.a the paddy pounder, used to break open the rice, which then the husk is separated from the rice.


Here's the plow:


And assorted paraphenalia (I'll get the names down later...) :






At around 12:30pm, everyone gathered back at the main hall to choose a photo to present for discussion. Each group had to submit one photo.


Each group had to send a representative to explain the rationale behind the photo. Since my photo was chosen, so I had to go up and yack their ears off. Incidentally, my photo's story was similar to another team's photo, in the sense that we wanted to show the main gong at the entrance. Oh well, most of my points had ben explained by the previous team anyway, so nothing much to rehash :D There was a critique by one of the photogs in the audience, but it was more of a comment, that the photo was a bit dead. Yes, I agree, bcos there were no human action in the picture. Everything was quite static.

Here's me trying to explain the pic:


There were some high-energy discussions between some of the photographers and the critics, but all was in good fun.


Oh ya, everyone received a certificate of attendance. (Thanks to Shadow for the pic)


Lets hope there will be a next one, and hopefully someplace cooler, like Kundasang :D