I always believe in giving. “The more you give, the more you get back” is the mantra I still believe in today.

Every now and then, I try to give wholeheartedly as much as I can.

So when Louis Pang contacted and invited me to share my journey as a photographer at his Inspire+ seminar last weekend, I didn’t think twice about it. I said “Yes” immediately and had gotten goose bump after I had agreed to the invitation.

The idea of sharing the stage with my mentor is a bit overwhelming.

So last weekend, I shared with a room of aspiring photographers about how I went on and did an 180 degree turn from someone who was burnt out a year and half ago to someone who is shooting from the heart, improving and enjoying his life as a photographer every single day. I shared that every now and then a photographer needs to venture out of his/her comfort zone and create work from the heart.

And I shared my slideshow during the 15 minutes sharing session.

I met lots of aspiring photographers during the 1 day seminar and it was an honour to share the stage with Louis. It was a good feeling to be able to give back to the community and I would like to do it more in the future.

Thank you to all the participants and thank you to Louis for the opportunity.

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It has been a busy end of October for my team & I. We will be covering a 3 day corporate event at PWTC starting tomorrow. We are nervous but ready nevertheless.

Everything has taken a back seat this last few weeks. Albums are far from being finished (Aizat – am getting there! will let you know ASAP), and at the same time, businesses are pouring in. Thank God for the energy that I have and the support of the team behind me.

I am proud to announce that I have two Junior Photographers working with me side by side – Nazir Azhari & Faris Fakri. They are working their way up with me to become an associate and a co branding with my studio, WOW Art & Photography. To start things off, we are running a November White Studio promotion just for my junior photographers all month long.

So far, I am excited with 2010. I’ve been working closely with a creative and talented designer on my branding. And after few brain storming with ideas and concept, I am pleased to revealed the new Hafiz Ismail Wedding Photography logo, as you can see above.

I am also working closely with a website designer for my new web portfolio which will be revealed soon. So stay tuned!

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I will post more on the ongoing projects and what nots in the coming posts.

Til then.

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My fellow BNI Chapter members came over to my studio to let the steam out.

Gary Wong of AMP Corporate Services Sdn Bhd

Our Chapter President – Penny

Ronnie Siow of CYS Risk Management

Esther of ETS

Esther & Her Husband

Ai Li of Class Act Consultancy

SL Ong of Sun Hin Transport

Mr Chan of Arkitek Daya Seni Sdn Bhd

Rachel Low of Organic Cottage

Business people can also have fun!

We truly had fun!

More info on BNI -

BNI was founded in 1985 by Dr. Ivan Misne “for the primary purpose of building powerful referral networks,” according to marketing writer John Jantsch. Chapters allow one person per professional classification, and prospective members must be approved via an application process.

BNI provides a structured and supportive system of giving and receiving business. At BNI, our philosophy is “Givers Gain” – giving business to others first and you will get business in return.

My chapter meet every Thursday at 7am at SS2 Petaling Jaya. We are looking at expanding our 20 Member chapter to 40. So if you are looking at recession proofing your business, just give me a call!

Til the next post.

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After the morning corporate shoot with Ernst & Young, I headed to PUNB office in Plaza Sentral for 1 hour portraiture session with Datuk Nasir Ahmad – the CEO. Remember the 3 minutes I had with him? Well, the editor wanted more.

Datuk is a friendly guy. It was not a rushing 1 hour. We ended up shooting and getting to know each other well. He is a natural in front of the camera!

The London editor wanted a shot against a white seamless so that the graphic department can use the photo creatively. So we brought along a white cloth to act as the seamless background.

He is planning to produce a book containing all his write ups on entrepreneurship – a compilation from all the newspaper article he has written for over 5 years.

A must in any publication – a “talking shot”.

Looking forward to read his book as it will be an inspirational guide to young entrepreneurs like me!

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On Saturday, I had the opportunity to do a mini portraiture session with ACCA Malaysia Advisory Committee. The catch was that I only have approximately 3 minutes with each one of them. I had 5 members to be photographed – starting with the President of ACCA Malaysia Advisory Committee.

What can you achieve with only 3 minutes? I had to be quick. I had to rapport with them and make them comfortable with the camera. Plus, I had to think quick too. I did not the same kind of shots for every one of them. And I had to explain what I wanted to achieve with their photos.

The situation reminded me when I was in Louis Pang‘s From Ordinary to Extraordinary workshop where we were put in the room with a model and come up with photos in 3 minutes time. Back then, the rapport with the model had already been established one day earlier and it was easy to communicate with her. But now, 3 minutes with a VIP and I had to gain their trust.

It went smoothly nevertheless. I stuck to my guts feeling and proceed with the shoot. I treated them as if I have already know them. I explain quickly and concisely. I gained their trust.

Datuk Mohd Nasir Ahmad, the CEO of PUNB and the President of ACCA Malaysia Advisory Committee was the first to be photographed. He was so friendly and really really helpful when I asked him to pose for me. We ended up doing two shots. I showed him the photos and he was extremely satisfied with it. We exchanged name card and he ask me to stay in touch.

Next was Mr Abraham Verghese, a member of the Advisory Committee. Another friendly and nice guy. We did one pose with him and he was excited about the photo.

We ventured out of the room since I didn’t want my creativity to be limited by the size of the room. So, we did the next few photos with Dr Ng, Mr Adrian & Mr X (I totally forgotten his name!) outside the room.

Dr Ng love this pose and gave me a pat on the back!

All in all it was an interesting experience. My mind was on alert the whole 15 minutes. I love it when they love the photos. That made the situation was all worth while.

I have to thank Nazir for assisting me with the strobe that day. Without him, this was not possible at all.

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On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of covering Ranhill Utilities Bhd‘s presence at the Water Malaysia 2009 which was organised by Malaysia Water Association (MWA).  I was there with Nazir.

Mr Ahmad Zahdi Jamil, CEO of SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd and the President of Malaysian Water Association giving a speech

Peter Chin Fah Kui, the Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water

Tun Lim Keng Yaik giving a speech

Apart from my niche – Lifestyle Wedding and Portrait Photography – I also cover corporate events.

No, I am not trying to be the Jack of all trades. But more on getting out of my comfort zone and shoot more.

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The tiredness from all the post processing and corporate work that I was doing since Monday made me decide to take it easy this weekend. I needed to jumpstart my creative juices back after a week of client-focused work. So I announced to Facebook on Saturday morning that I was looking forward to some outdoor portraiture with any interested parties.

Tapai messaged me on FB. He was interested so we met up at 4.15 at WOW. I know Tapai from all the way back during our Degree days in Multimedia University. We were on the SRC back then. Of course we stay in touch every now and then with gatherings and meet ups.

Tapai (or his real name – Tuan Faisal) is very active in theater. He has starrred in many plays and is quite passionate about it. He blogs at tapaitapai.blogspot.com.

So the session was more about experimenting with One Light. I needed to refresh all my knowledge on off-camera lighting and posing a model.

We headed down to an abandoned factory to do some rugged shots. We spent about an hour there and I had fun with the experiment.

Later we headed to top of a hill for sunset shots. Unfortunately the sunset was not that great; but nevertheless I had great shots when we were there.

We came back to WOW for a studio session – as Tapai needed couple of profile shots for his portfolio. I did some experimentation too.

We wrapped up at 9pm. It was a great impromptu session and I managed to jumpstart my creative juices – ready for the Wedding Photography assignments onslaught later in the coming months.

What I have learned?
1. I constantly need to jumpstart my creative juices by creating fun shooting opportunities for myself. Too much time for other people but no time for me is not good.
2. I need a videographer to video me while working. It would be a great tool for me to review myself at work. And of course, the videos can be used for this blog too.

This weekend is all about having fun. So, I am having another session tomorrow (Sunday) with Nazir.

Have a great weekend y’all!

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The main objective of coming to Sabah was to meet up with Louis Pang and get inspired again and again. After the workshop back in February, Amru & I booked a flight ticket to Sabah immediately so that we will not waste any more of our time in wanting to learn more and more from the master himself.

Today, we got to meet up with Louis and had an inspiring and humbling 3-hour mentoring session.

The team behind Louis Pang Studio

The WPPI Award won by Louis

We talked about the goals that both of us had set forward during his class, what have we achieved up to now and what’s next. We had Louis go through our Irwin & Vanessa’s Pre Wedding photos – and we were humbled by his comments. We met with the rest of the team and had a closer look at WPPI 2008 Book which had us bubbling with inspiration! We flipped through Yervant’s book and watch the Yervant’s studio tour video. And most important of all, we talked through the next logical steps for both Amru & I.

It was an inspiring meeting. I personally now know that I can achieve the goals I have set upon myself. And I now believe that I am on the right track. And all the corrections that I have made last month was the right decision.

And what’s next? Amru & I are planning to attend the WPPI Convention in Las Vegas next year. So we have to sort out few things in the coming months – Visa, money, tickets etc.

And we have made a commitment to ourselves – to continue to produce timeless pieces that we can be proud of. And of course, these pieces will need to be vetted by the master himself!

All in all, I am now more inspired! Like they say -

Flight ticket to Kota Kinabalu – RM110.
Accommodation, F&B and travel – RM300.
Meeting with Louis Pang – Priceless.

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WOW had our first Brand Awareness Programme on Saturday. We sponsored an event photography and the Red Carpet Moments for The Association of Professional Accounting Students (APACS) of UiTM Annual Dinner which was held at the Sime Darby Convention Center.

Some of the Red Carpet moments.

More moments can be seen here. The event photos are still in the culling process. Stay tuned.

I believe in branding, and WOW is seriously lacking of Brand Awareness Programme. So, hopefully we will be able to sell this idea to other organisation too.

Basically, what we are proposing is the sponsorship of the Event Coverage with some terms and conditions. Like on Saturday, we had our booth set up with our Red Carpet sessions for the students where the students can have fun with their friends in front of the camera.

Any takers? If you are from an organisation and keen on having us sponsoring an event, get in touch with me!

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I knew Nick way back when we were in Multimedia University. Very energetic guy, business and self development minded. He invited me to join BNI in January and introduced me a whole new network of entrepreneurs.

Taken from his website, www.nicholasyeap.com -

Nicholas Yeap is a certified L.I.F.E. Coach with Self Mastery Learning Centre, coached and trained by Bob Proctor Master Coach Dev. His passion towards empowering and enriching the Malaysian Young Entrepreneurs to live their lifes with purpose is what motivated him to continue to live & serve. To him,the greatest tragedy is not death, but to live a life without purpose.

One of his success stories is he was able to generate the Drive to Change in a person from nobody to somebody – where a low self esteem student was able to be successful in his everyday life. He trains corporate people, individuals, rising stars, entrepreneurs and everybody from any walks of life. He believes in fun and educational training and workshop where fun participation from the participants is a must.

He came WOW for a Master 1-to-1 Session with me yesterday – a session about knowing and helping your fellow BNI Members thoroughly. After the session, we had a short studio session where few photos of Nick were taken for his promotional materials.

I seriously recommends Nicholas Yeap to any organization, any company and anyone who feels that that they need that Drive to Change in order to be successful. Nicholas Yeap can drive that change in you.

What’s your take on Success? Share your opinion and you could win yourself RM200 Voucher from me!

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