Photographs & Words by Kurniadi Widodo

Been more than a week since my last post. You see, I've been reaaaaaaally busy....... Nah, it's a lie. The truth is I'm just lazy to make an update. But this week I've been shooting a lot with digital -even in RAWs- so let's review a bit.

Last Wednesday was my 21st birthday. Yay. Must have been the most boring birthday I've ever had... there was practically nothing happening, save for some birthday messages and wishes from a few friends. I'm well aware I've never been a popular guy on the first place, but it would seem to me that the number of people who know my birthday is steadily decreasing every year... heh. Right, let's stop there, before this turns into an emo post. ;)

Anyway, getting into the photos: first set of photos, coming from my first CityPlus assignment... shooting nightlife in 4 different spots around Jogja, of which I just did 3 of them. Gonna shoot in the last spot in near future, since deadline is near. These ones are from around the city center known as 0 KM area:


These ones are from Alun-Alun Kidul, the southern city square:


I really like the above shot. 1/4th second, gotta be one of my most steady shot at that speed.


And these are from Pakualaman:


I realize they're not exactly the best I can give. I have little experience shooting at night, moreover with the mediocre kit lens which really limits me... I tried shooting with the 50/1.8 which is more forgiving by giving a faster shutter speed, but the angle of view is simply not wide enough to give me something I want. So in the end I had to rely on the wide end of my kit lens, which at the maximum aperture of f/3.5 gives me shutter speeds of around 1/15th to half a second at ISO 1600. I am rather surprised myself that I could still give some considerably steady shots at such low speeds...

Last Sunday I was also given the opportunity to do some behind the scene shooting of a model session which is gonna be used as the magz cover. The session was done by a photo studio, and later on I just heard that it's pretty rare for a photo studio to let other people take picture inside the studio while they're doing their job, even when it's only for documentation purpose. Guess we were lucky.

While waiting for the model to come, did some random shooting:


Finally the model came, and then she's being prepared for the session, make-ups and stuff...


The session.


Did you notice I love mirrors? Or any other reflective surfaces, for that matter. For some reason they're always potential for some interesting composition.


In the next few days I will also be covering an interview for an article in the same magz. Currently waiting for the phone call....

Wish me luck, peeps.