The Vlog Godfather Is Coming To Malaysia!

I've been watching Louis Cole's vlogs for a few years and I must say he is my favourite travel vlogger on Youtube. Louis is well-known for his Youtube Channel which is FUN FOR LOUIS with over 1.6 million subscribers. His 'job' is to travel the world and share his experience with us via his daily vlogs. I love watching his vlogs because you get to see many different countries from a traveller's perspective and sometimes we can see places in 360 view! So far he has been to 65 countries, that's impressive.

Being an avid traveller gets him to places which are not often visited by tourists. He has this idea of travelling the world since returning from his first trip oversea. After almost two decades, Louis and his whole family have decided to come back to Malaysia this year for a family holiday. Yeah, he just announced it on his vlog (which is at the end of this write-up). However, he hasn't informed us specifically which part of the country he will be visiting. Hope he'll drop by Sarawak, fingers crossed! Usually his followers will know in advance his next travel destination. So, it won't be a surprise to see some fans end up on his travel vlog later. 

It's Louis who inspired many people around the world to jump on the vlogging bandwagon. I always find his travel vlogs are a lot more entertaining than the television travel programmes because his videos are the 'raw' stuff and not so 'touristy'. Due to his fame, he always gets invited to give a talk at social media or tech conferences all over the world. Sometimes we can see that his travel is organised and sponsored by travel agents or organisations which need him to promote their causes. I've seen Jamie Oliver, Casey Neistat, Kanye West, Russell Brand, Dr. Scott Kelly, CEOs and many more end up on his vlogs. 

One thing I learn from YouTube vloggers is in this internet era, you can make a career out of your passion. As Confucius says, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life". Any famous Youtuber will tell you to keep pursuing what you love to do most and the money or sponsors will come later. You just need to put up quality contents or stories, don't worry about the gadgets that you're using. Well, just letting y'all know that's how I eventually decided to get myself a Canon G7X camera which is owned by vloggers. Not that I want to become one, but I love what the camera can do in different situations. They call it the vlogging camera, famous vloggers like Ben Brown and Casey Neistat have it too. It's an amazing camera! 

So, being a famous vlogger also makes you an influential person. Everything you say, use or wear can easily become a trend. I guess that's why vloggers always get freebies from top brands to promote their products. Besides, vloggers nowadays are really smart too. Not only they are techno-savvy, but they do collaboration to help promote one another. Being a famous figure on social media also has it's own drawback. The more famous you are, the more haters you're going to have. That's something you need to know how to deal with if you decide to vlog. But when you have millions of followers, you have gotta laugh all the way to the bank and forget about those hateful comments!

Peace Out, Enjoy Life, Live The Adventure. Boom! 

Fun For Louis

CANON PhotoMarathon Kuching 2015

Photo taken during the 'run'

Photography enthusiasts in East Malaysia had the opportunity to participate in an annual photography event which was recently organised by CANON Malaysia in Kuching on the 20th of September, 2015. Canon PhotoMarathon is Canon's largest annual photography event which is also held in other countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Brunei. The "base camp" or the official venue for Kuching's CPM was Boulevard Mall. Registration began as early as 7 a.m and each participant was given goodie bag, tag and the official t-shirt. All the fees collected from participants were donated to some charities. 

It is not difficult to join this event because all you need is either a DSLR or a compact camera, regardless of the brand. People who are not familiar with this event have this misconception that you need to own a professional camera, you must be a pro-photographer and you need to run as in jogging during the competition. In fact, some of us who took part in Canon PhotoMarathon came as a family. There were some young kids who participated too. So, there is nothing to be shy about for not using any Canon's camera or just because you are an amateur photographer. We were at this event to have fun and learning from one another at the same time. 

Participants had to submit one photo for each theme and before the cut-off time. We were given three themes throughout the day. For those who completed the challenge within the stipulated time, they were awarded certificates of participation. Although we were not literally running to get the perfect shots, but it was a bit of a rush going places to capture photos for each theme. Besides, we had to submit only one photo within three hours for every theme. All photographers were allowed to travel anywhere to shoot, some participants even went to a cave or as far as Kuching Waterfront to take some stunning photos. 

All the interesting shots taken were shown on a stage screen throughout the day and two of my photos were featured (Theme 1 & 3). Although I did not win any prize but that was already quite an achievement as not everyone's photo was up on the big screen. I must admit photos taken by those in Junior category (under 18) were as good as those in the Open category. The competition offered attractive prizes to both Open and Junior categories. The grand prize went to Sheblee Zulazhar and the Junior category won by Renee Bong. The grand prize winner won himself a trip to Japan for a photography clinic and also some really cool photography equipments. What I really like about this competition is that it truly puts our photography or shooting skills to the test and no one is allowed to edit their photos. 

Just for your information, this annual photography event will not be organised in Kuching only. We are not sure if it is going to be held here again next year as Canon wants to give equal opportunity to other cities too. So, I'm glad and grateful I really pushed myself to join the Canon PhotoMarathon. It was really a fun-filled learning experience, will I do it again? Yes, no doubt I will. Hey, at least I got to meet TV-Celebrity/Professional Photographer like Justin Mott from the History Channel's Photo Face-Off. 

Photo for theme 1: Natural

Photo for theme 2: Hide & Seek

Photo for theme 3: Weather

Click the link below to see all the photos taken by the winners:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153608583077708.1073741958.91064382707&type=3

Stars and Milky Way

I planned to take photos of the Perseid meteor shower these two days but ended up mesmerised by the Milky Way. Stars are much more visible if there is no moon. The darker the sky, the better your eyes can spot the Milky Way. I know it is not easy to spot one, the night sky just look the same for the untrained eyes. During a starry night, the milky way looks like a dusty cloud among the stars. Try to capture the 'cloud' on Manual mode with the settings 30", f/4 (the wider the better, depending on your lens), ISO 1600 or 3200. Just for your information, I took the photos using my Canon G7X. If you can see the Milky Way on your camera screen, then you are zooming in on the right spot in the sky. To capture an excellent photo, you need to be as far as possible from the city or town. Complete darkness is the best place to witness the stunning view of the night sky. It will not be possible for us to see the stars with our naked eyes if there is too much light pollution. Perhaps camping out under the star at somewhere remote or rural is not a bad idea at all. I hope in the future I have the chance to travel to places where the astrophotographers often visit to experience it for myself the real beauty of nature while enhancing my astrophotography skills. By the way, all photos in this blog were taken in Sri Aman town, nowhere 'ulu' nor did I travel overseas for the shoot. I will be glad if anybody can share some information regarding the best place to shoot night landscape in Malaysia. I don't want a typical holiday, I prefer to go on an astrophotography adventure with a group of people who share the same interest and learn something from them. I always love the idea of going on a trip for photography purpose, or on "Instagram mission".