Announcement : Save The Date : 6th February 2010

Malaysian

FREEDOM FILM FEST 2009

comes to London...

Date: 6th February 2010

Time: 2pm - 6pm

Venue: Amnesty International UK [map]

The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard London, EC2A 3EA

We are proud to bring to London and to share the latest edition of the Freedom Film Festival this time, showcasing films made by Malaysians in line with the theme of "Real Change?" --- exploring change, searching for change, questioning change.

Come spend a Saturday afternoon watching independently made documentaries that will provoke the mind, pique the curiosity and inspire! (Malaysia Boleh!)

Films that will be featured include 'Kayuh' about the 100+ ordinary citizens who cycled the length of Peninsular Malaysia to raise awareness about the plight of the marginalized in Malaysia, 'No Silver Lining' which showcases a 'political wrestling match' in the state of Perak, while another features the revisitation of two singer-songwriters of the 1985 massacre in Memali, Kedah.

After the 'political tsunami' of the 2008 general elections - this latest offering of award winning films from the Freedom Film Fest examine the question of 'Real Change?' -- and will provide those interested in keeping up to date with recent events and developments in Malaysia a chance to find out more through the lens of these Malaysian film makers.

Join us in discussions after each set of films and enjoy the opportunity to connect with others who hope for a better Malaysia. Bring friends and family, all are welcome!

Tickets and more information are available online at :

http://freedomfilmfestlondon.blogspot.com

Book Online, then pay at the door. Tickets £2 or £1 for concessions

Photos from the Weekend

Digital Editing Workshop : 9 & 10 January 2010

Photos from the Weekend

We started the weekend workshop photographing Portobello Road market on a freezing cold and snowy Saturday morning, but the session soon warmed up with crunchy croissants and hot black coffee back at ‘class’. By the next day, participants were churning out super A3 prints that were jaw-droppingly gorgeous and highly artistic !

Lightroom is a powerful and intuitive app that is simplistic to use, apart from ‘cataloging’ utility, which got a few confused as to where the original files were kept. I think Mac users outnumbered PCs but Andy’s latest Sony Vaio won the ‘coolest’ gadget prize. Running LR on a 10″ screen is brave. Thanks again to those that had to catch trains and planes, hope you all got home safely in the icy conditions. Well done.

http://explorenation.net/2009/12/17/digital-editing-workshop/

Digital Editing Workshop, London

UPDATE : For those joining us in the weekend Digital Editing Workshop in London, we will be using Adobe Photoshop CS, CS2 and Adobe Lightroom 2. However, Lightroom 3 BETA is available free to download until April 2010. It is a fully working version, with some processes being tested until they release the actual version in April. It is similar to Lightroom 2, with several improvements. I have just downloaded it to test it. You can, too by registering with Adobe below :

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/

FROM SHOOT TO PRINT : We are holding a weekend of Digital Photo Editing in Central London, for photographers who want to adopt a logical digital workflow. Topics covered include : RAW conversion, colour workspace, archiving, basic Adobe Photoshop editing, preparation for printing. Includes : use of A3+ Epson Photo Printer, paper, lunch and use of iMacs. We will be using Adobe Photoshop CS, CS2 and Adobe Lightroom 2.

Require : Digital camera, own laptop with necessary applications. (see above)

We start off with a walk and shoot in nearby colourful Portobello Road market on a Saturday morning. Shooting in RAW mode will enable you to have a ‘digital negative’ which you can then apply processing parameters to ‘develop’ your image without damaging the original file. Participants will be able to adopt a suitable workflow by using Lightroom or Photoshop on their selected images and prepare them for large scale printing on an Epson A3+ printer supplied for use, including photo paper. Some basic ‘photographic’ corrective or enhancement techniques will be demonstrated using Curves, Levels, Cloning, Colour Balance and Sharpening tools.

Extra date scheduled for 23/24 January (to be confirmed). More details on the explorenation.net website here.