Hey everyone!

This is my class project, which was photographed in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. I’d appreciate feedback from anyone who feels like sharing. And if you want to see more of my work, please check out my Instagram page: @christinepickering.photography. Thank you so much!

Bonus shot: Thean Hou Temple

The above cover image is of a temple dedicated to the Chinese sea goddess Mazu and built by the Hainanese community in Malaysia. It is one of the largest temples in Southeast Asia.

I call this a "bonus shot" because it honestly didn't quite fit any of the five categories we were supposed to shoot – but it is hands-down my favourite image from this trip to Kuala Lumpur, so I had to include it! I photographed this right before a crazy storm, in the late afternoon, so the lighting was perfect – the sky was super grey and dramatic, and the lanterns were lit up for the evening. I loved how the wind was blowing the lanterns and their tassels around, adding some motion and dynamism to the scene. 

 

Birdseye shot: Batu Caves

This is an aerial view of the 43 metre-tall statue of Lord Murugan and the 272 rainbow-coloured steps leading to the entrance of the famous Batu Caves and the temples inside. 

I took these with my drone (DJI Mini 2) and I thought this was a great place to make use of the drone. This is a common tourist attraction, but almost everyone who photographs it shoots it from below, as there is no point above the statue from which to take a photo (so I guess this could also work for the Postcard shot!). I love the vibrant colours of the statue, the trees, and the rainbow stairs, of course. I also like that you can see some people on the steps, which provides a sense of scale and shows you how enormous this statue actually is!

Off the beaten path shot: Overpass in Kuala Lumpur

KL is filled with tons of overpasses, like this delightfully creepy one close to Chinatown neighbourhood (Petaling Street). I really liked the leading lines of this structure, and the fact that it was kind of old and gritty, a drastic juxtaposition to all the modern architecture and brand-new skyscrapers. I also liked that there was a man sitting there, in his construction worker's uniform, both to show a sense of scale but also to show a different side to the fanciness, modernity, and wealth that this metropolis is often associated with.

 

Middle of the road shot: NU Sentral escalators

In contrast to the gritty overpass above, this escalator, just outside of NU Sentral shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, is probably one of Malaysia’s most photographed spots and a typical place for Instagram photo shoots! I had to see what all the fuss was about, and it didn’t disappoint! This is a typical example of KL's "look": modern, sophisticated, futuristic, and sleek. I really loved the crazy symmetry and the beautiful interior design here – this is probably the most excited I’ve ever been to see an escalator. :) 

 

Signs of life shot: Schoolchildren passing the Petronas Twin Towers

I was actually in the middle of photographing my "Postcard" shot (the next image), when these schoolchildren just walked by for this perfect moment! I loved the juxtaposition of this sleek, almost robot-like and super-modern symbol of KL (the Petronas Towers) in the background with the happy kids in their school uniforms in the foreground, laughing, holding hands, and enjoying life. This very human scene really showed me the personality of KL: a forward-looking city in a peaceful and openminded Muslim country. You can see that people embrace both modern technology and design as well as older traditions and simple ways of life.

 

Postcard shot: Close-up of the Petronas Towers

This last photo was a challenging one, that's for sure! How do you capture something so well-known, that every visitor to Malaysia photographs, in a way that makes it feel fresh and new? To create this postcard image, I first looked at how the Petronas Twin Towers are usually photographed – and I noticed that usually they are shot either straight on (so from high up, in one of the adjacent buildings) or from a low angle (from ground level). But almost always, the two towers are fully in the frame and the image is shot from very far away. So for my take on this, I instead went right up to one of the buildings and shot it in a close-up, focusing on textures and tone through changing the image to black-and-white in editing. I don't know if people can still recognize it as the Petronas Towers... but I do think it is a slightly different way of looking at this famous landmark. What do you think?

 

Challenges faced

Overall, this was an excellent class and project concept that really challenged me to think outside of the box. I do always carry my camera with me, and I photograph whatever I see that's interesting to me, whenever I want. However, this time, I really had to think specifically about getting these five shots, which made me look at things (especially famous landmarks) from a different perspective. And I was in a slight panic when, on the last day of my trip, I still hadn't found two of them. But I think being constrained in such a way is actually a good thing – it forces you to be creative within certain restrictions and parameters, which is what working with a client or on an assignment would be like.

As well, I found the editing to be challenging. Dan, you discussed using the same preset / editing style with the images in order to give them some consistency and a strong visual aesthetic. But because they were all shot on different days and at different times (with different lighting), and some were in colour while some were in black and white, this was a challenge for me! I do notice that I love contrast, though, so in all the images, I tried to bring up the contrast (in either the colours or tones), and for the colour images, I made them as vibrant as possible.

I would love feedback from you, Dan, and from anyone else on whether I achieved a consistent(ish) visual style and on the quality of the images overall.

Thank you for a wonderful class, and happy photographing and editing, everybody!