Old Seremban

What do you do when you arrive at a half-deserted small town on a hazy afternoon? You look for compositional elements to liven up your picture.

The yellow box says “No Waiting” but as a photographer you can afford to wait a little. Do not point your camera immediately when you arrive at a location. Walk around and survey with your eyes, not your viewfinder. I saw the lines from across the street and imagined the final capture in my mind.

Charming Seremban town seems to be stuck in a time warp with little new development happening.  Most of the action is now at the newer Seremban 2 and 3, I was told. Sepia toning and vignetting was added to enhance the old world charm.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f10, 1/200 sec.

Old Seremban Town

3am Traffic Jam

The wholesale market in Selayang is busy with trolleys of fish and vegetable whizzing by at every corner. As with any peak-hour gridlock, things get crazy at the intersection. The Olympus OM-D captured everything sharply and its auto white balance rendered nice  colours even with the artificial and low-light conditions. But sometimes you don’t want that. So I used Snapseed to add a slight fog to convey the dreamy, surreal world of the midnight market. Corner vignetting (darkening) effect also enhanced the look.

Still, the most important visual elements that captured the moment of congestion are the two guys at the side looking diametrically. In scenes like these, I always shoot by seeing with my eyes instead of looking through the viewfinder. Also, when strangers you are photographing can see your face and smile, they react more naturally. Try it next time everything is flying around you. You get better pictures.

3am Traffic Jam