Nice way to start a Tuesday - saw that my self-portrait that was submitted for Photo Friday was chosen as ‘noteworthy’. Ironic considering how little amount of planning and time that image took compared to others I’ve submitted, but that’s how it goes with photography at times.
I spend quite a lot of time hanging out around “The Piazza” in Kelapa Gading. That’s where my gym is, Starbucks (yeah don’t say it), absurd numbers of restaurants (mourning the loss of my favorite Indian), and two large stages that regularly have Indonesian artists, singers, celebrities, and all sorts of other events on a near daily basis. Since Jakarta’s traffic has become so congested, it’s often easier to motivate myself to hang around here with Novita than it is to sit in the car for an hour or more to head downtown.
Last Saturday night, there was an event, “Let’s Dance” with coverage by Global TV. One of the artists that seemed to draw a lot of attention was this guy - I believe his name is Afgan? I’m definitely not up with the Indonesian celebs - reminds me of the time Novita and I ran into Julia Perez at the zoo and I thought it was just one of her friends from university by the way they were comfortably conversing.
These type of events prove to be good practice for learning to take photos of staged events, night shooting, and action in low-light.
I ran home, grabbed Novita’s 40d, and a couple of lenses and headed back to try to capture some of this event. Usually, it’d be ideal to use a tripod, but with hundreds of people pushing and shoving to get to the front, it was less than feasible. And generally, it’d be best to use a lens that allows for maximum light (a ‘fast lens’) with an aperture of f/2.8 or larger. As you may have read, I bought the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM while in the States this summer. A perfect lens for night photography, except that I wanted to zoom in much closer for this event. My other option was my Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, but that still wasn’t quite close enough. I brought out the big boy, a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM with a 1.4x teleconvertor (which then limits the f-stop to f/5.6). By using the 40D, this effectively gave me 448mm of zooming goodness.
With the 40D, I lose a slight amount of the noise compensation compared to my 5D (which handles high ISO beautifully), but it’s still quite impressive even at ISO 1200 or so. Typically, you should match your lens’ focal length to the shutter speed (meaning if you use a 50mm lens, you’d use at least 1/60 sec to avoid blurring). This would mean I’d need 1/500 sec for 448mm - which was simply not an option with the 70-200. So, I made due with holding my breath, keeping things as steady as possible, and shooting hand-held at 1/80 sec for these shots. Obviously if I were doing this as a paid gig, or I had to get these shots perfectly sharp, I would never have done the same type of set-up handheld or with a shutter speed so slow. But keep in mind that for the vast majority of people taking photos, a large tripod, and huge fast glass isn’t always an option.
You may hear companies pushing IS technology (Image Stability) either within the camera or in the lenses. This is an awesome technology that allows up to 4-stop difference in comparison to non-IS lenses. My Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM is just such a lens. It’s wonderful for stationary subjects, places that do not permit flash photography, and just great overall walkaround lenses. However, you need to realize that IS does not help for subjects that are moving. Meaning, if you had a scene that required 1/500 sec with a typical lens, you could theoretically bring that shutter down to 1/60 or less with an IS equipped lens. But what if the subject is moving quickly? Then IS will not be of a benefit - only a faster aperture would be. That’s when an aperture of f/2 - f/1.4 really shines. The difference is tremendous when compared to more modest lenses. In my own case, I was using f/5.6 when I could have had dramatically more light if I had switched to the 35mm f/1.4.
The following article from Wikipedia demonstrates aperture quite effectively. (check out the graphic from f/5.6 to f/1.4!)
Lesson learned: If you can afford faster lenses with larger apertures, it can be the factor which makes or breaks the ability to capture subjects in low light; especially if that subject is moving.
I hope this type of article proves helpful for those of you just starting out in photography. If you have further questions or would like to add something to this discussion, you are welcome to comment. I will be doing more low-light and night photography this year, and will continue to assist those with equipment questions or advice for setting up a shot.
A year ago I wrote another post about photographing in low-light conditions. It’s linked here.
Novita standing inside an 1800’s cabin in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
Amongst the temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia
{key sarcasm} A really awesome thing happened today. {/sarcasm}
Our maid, Sri, who has been really great for many months, said she was returning home to her new husband. No worries, we said, do you happen to have a friend who’d like to work? In fact she did.
The friend came and has been working with us for about four days. She smiled, said good morning every day, and seemed overall quite content. We pay quite well, aren’t the least bit demanding, and always allow any employee to return to their home when asked. Our maid, Sri, left as planned this morning, with her bags in hand and a warm goodbye to Novita.
A few minutes later the new maid came to Novita saying that she had found that Sri had left her handphone in the house and may she run and take it to her? Sure. Why not?
Novita waited. And waited. And then waited some more. She never returned. Novita, you see, has quite a warm heart. And in that warm heartedness, she decided to hop in the car to search for the new maid out of concern - perhaps she got lost in the 300 meter radius? Perhaps she got hurt in the span of only 20 minutes? Perhaps she fell into the festering canal?
No dice. Then the pieces started falling into place.
Upon returning home, Novita tried to call Sri. Her phone was turned off. Red flag #1. As a last resort, she checked the new maid’s quarters. No clothes or any belongings. Cue heart drop.
This means it was all pre-meditated and planned, and that our wonderful trustworthy maid of nearly a year just screwed us.
Someone please explain this one to me. How can someone work closely with us for the better part of year, come into our home, accept a larger salary than most, receive vacation days in as many numbers as she needed, including four months to get married, and then very warmly say goodbye while planning to deceive us? We simply cannot comprehend it.
Now, before you think, “Stupid bule”, realize we’re both pretty good judges of character, and have had absolutely no problem with Sri in the entirety of her time in our home. Novita, being Indonesian, is like a Bloodhound for sniffing out troublesome employees; and Sri was never even a slight concern.
Where is her pride?
I was pissed, understandably, but have realized there’s no reason to carry on with that frustration. It’s Novita that I’m concerned about; she seems almost heartbroken that someone could spend so much time with her, talk about intimate details of life, and then completely shatter any resemblence of trust.
I never wanted to be the type of employer that takes the maid’s I.D. card for hostage so they won’t pull this kind of stunt, and at least will alert you before bolting. Now I understand why my neighbors all do that, and why they’re surely having a good laugh at our situation. “Suckers!” they may say.
After a quick sweep of the house, luckily we haven’t noticed anything missing, besides our trust. Perhaps that’s what actually fell into the canal.
My employer is currently seeking to hire someone as soon as possible.
I believe it’s preferable to have an expat, or an Indonesian fluent in English. The package is good, salary good, and many perks. It’s a great place to work; but I believe they’re keen to fill the position this week. I will remove this post after the position is filled.
Please contact me directly for more information if interested.
Back in Jakarta. Clear head. Stress reduced. Repackaged.
Despite rolling into Jakarta’s smog and absurd traffic within minutes of landing on Saturday, I was surprisingly able to maintain a positive outlook. The summer away was the perfect drug for starting fresh. I’m going to try my best to view Jakarta with the fresh eyes that I had over six years ago, and ‘go with the flow’ to the best of my ability. I used to be able to observe even the frustrating scenarios with interest and acceptance; that changed over the years. I’m working on getting back to that frame of mind.
This will be a year of change, self-improvement, future planning, and appreciation. Or so I say.
Finally got back in the gym last night after a four month hiatus, and ow, I’m feeling it. Tomorrow will feel even worse - but in a good way. Four months is far too long to allow yourself to drop out of a workout routine, and this is the farthest out of shape I’ve been; not a good feeling. Conversely, allowing myself to fall out of shape to this extent has suddenly triggered that obsessive side of myself that will push me to succeed in my fitness goals. I’m looking for one of those Garmin fitness watches that track distance, heart rate, etc. If anyone knows where to find one in Jakarta, please let me know.
I’ve also decided to take up Muay Thai boxing. I’d like to be more efficient in throwing around my 100kg, rather than always grinding away with the iron and treadmills. Will update once I get going.
Back at work, I’m wading through 1484 messages in my inbox. Drowning may be a more appropriate term. Many of my good friends have left in a mass exodus that occurred last year; it’s not the same place without them, but I’ll make the best of things.
Oh, and happy birthday to me; my seventh celebrated in this city, and sixth celebrated with Novita. 
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