Redza Ridzuan :: My Eyes, My Lens, My Life.

Destination 7: Cologne/ Köln

After all the dingdongs in Paris, we headed straight to Cologne, Germany. It was a 3 hours train ride from Paris to Cologne, and I swear that we actually passed through Brussels. But Google Maps thinks otherwise. Well, you get the idea anyway~ :)

January 1st, 2010. We left Paris at about 1pm to reach Cologne Hauptbahnhof, Germany at 4pm and spend some time with En. Bakar & Cik Su (Remember them from my Antwerp visit?) before they leave the city for another destination. It was rainy that evening so I decided to let my camera rest for a while before torturing it again under snowy condition. After sending both En. Bakar & Cik Su off, the three of us focused solely on getting a good rest for the next day.

January 2nd, 2010. We left our hostel early to catch the so called golden hour and our very first shot was done beside the Hohenzollernbridge. The park was empty that morning, and we found just a nice spot to capture as a remembrance of the three of us in Cologne.

A couple of minutes walk led us to a statue, which is one of four riders from the Hohenzollern family that guards the Hohenzollern bridge. The other three reside at every end of the bridge.

Next is the highlight of town itself, the Hohenzollern bridge. A more detailed story of the bridge can be found here but it is sufficient to say that the bridge is famous among tourists as it has tonnes of padlocks that couples and lovebirds put as a symbol of their love.

Local kids crossing the Rhine river via the bridge to head to The Dom Cathedral for a play.

 A building nearby the bridge. The patterns are simply adorable!!!

Next is the Martinsquare. Here is where you can find town houses from Cologne’s medieval era.

I interrupt the broadcast for awhile with some Tap Tap Revenge 3 session by Zura (was waiting for the nightfall in a nearby Starbucks).

These were the shots that we were waiting for (more of I instead of We, actually). A special thank you to both Zura & Shah for willingly *cough* *cough* be there with me to secure these shots…

The lightings were insane, right? The DOM looked totally like a fairy tale castle while Hohenzollern bridge proved itself to be an epic structure of the town. Postcard material you say? you betcha!!! :D

Another shot of the DOM accompanied by the Great St. Martin Church.

The amazing Hohenzollern bridge at night

We then wrapped up our night tour with a visit to The Hard Rock Cafe.

January 3rd, 2010. Our last day in Cologne before we head back to Brussels. This is the day that we dedicated ourselves to conquer the DOM tower’s 509 steps of it’s spiral staircase. The views up there, were astonishing!!

This shot was taken, about half way to the top. Can you spot the horsemen at the sides of the bridge? 

almost to the top…

This is how it looks like in the top of the tower. One of my personal favorite from the trip.

I now conclude this log with smiles 100 meters off the ground.

Cheers~

This is one of those weddings that gives me a whole lot of new experience. If you have sticked around that long, you will notice that I have never covered such a simple wedding ceremony yet provide plenty of details. 

Congratulations to both of you!!! and thank you for being a camera-friendly couple. Hope you will love this series as much as I do.

Whee~!!

I simply can’t resist posting this shot as a sneak peak from the wedding reception of Fazrul & Lini. It was totally a new environment for me to be in, yet I loved every single bit of it. Do stay tune for more :)

*Phew~* It has been quite a while since my last travel log. Lots of things happen, assignments taken, albums completed for the past few months. Let’s pick up the logs where I left off, shall we?

Destination 6: Paris

I bet the first thing that came into your mind is, “That’s one heck of a trip from Brussels to Paris” right? The truth is, it was only a one and a half hour journey by bus. Or maybe, the bus simply took a totally different route from what Google Maps suggest. I can’t really tell as I spent the time sleeping through out the journey.

Cutting the long story of how we ended up lodging in a hotel in Drancy short, the first stop we made was at the Musee Du Louvre.

It was simply amazing to see an unconventional architectural design being put in the middle of building from the old centuries.

and it would be a waste not to have 1 lovely shot with the siblings with the museum as the background. 

Across Musee Du Louvre is the Tuileries Gardens. The mini Arc de Triomphe “Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel ” is located in this park, so does these wicked spots for portraitures.

Yeap, that’s our Lomo ambassador with *her* LC+A. As of now, she has a Holga and a Fisheye 2 in her collection.

Being tourists, we simply can’t resist hopping into those cost-friendly Hop-On Hop-Off buses to bring us around the city. Below are some shots from the top of the bus.

Next was to visit Petite Palais located at Avenue Winston Churchill.

As it was new year’s eve, we planned to stick around Paris to celebrate new year. I got to admit that Paris was very generous with lightings that night.

Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile

But sadly, there were no fireworks and I don’t even get a decent shot of the new year celebration that night due to frustration. Even the locals were not sure when we asked if there would be fireworks display to celebrate the new year. To make things worst, around 12.30am, people start to leave the celebrations spots and rush to the nearby metro stations. It was too jam packed inside the tunnel, we had to walk around the town to find a taxi for a ride home. Yet, Zura manage to strike a pose before leaving the metro station.

What happened next, was us walking around Paris to find a taxi, only to get one at 3.30am. *Sigh~* 

Anyway, the next day, we went to Trocadéro for a final view of the Eiffel Tower.

 and 1 tourist pose by my brother, Shah. Those who have reached Paris would definitely see this kind of attempts all over the park surrounding the Eiffel Tower. Haha!

That’s all folks. If you have any “New Year in Paris” memories, share your stories in the comments section ay?

Cheerio~ 

*This entry is dedicated to you, Humaira. Uncle hope you will visit this particular entry when you grow older and realize how special you are to me*

This is how you looked like when Uncle & Aunty Fida first met you, Humaira. It was taken in A&W Subang Jaya, the night we had dinner with your parents after your mum got back from Terengganu. You were four months old. We learnt the hard way that you are able to hit high notes this young. Thanks for that friendly gesture, dear.

So last Saturday your dad and your mum threw a small birthday party for you, celebrating your first birthday. Uncle and Aunty Fida went to your house in Klang that afternoon just to witness how overjoy you were that day. 

Aunty Fida playing with you…

I bet you won’t remember this, but I think you were waiting for me to hit the shutter while you give me that pose and look. Simply cute!

That was how much you enjoy cutting your first birthday cake. We kept calling your name so that you look at the camera, but I guess the cake looks more interesting than I do. You enjoyed cutting the cake so much that you literally get mad every time anyone tries to take the plastic knife away.

Yeah, I know that this picture is way too off-focus by any standard. But this one is definitely a keepsake of mine. This is exactly how excited you were, running out of the room with that ladybird costume of yours. The whole house broke in laughter that very moment. 

You with your CJ7 pet. It was way too funny to see a big ladybird trying to rumble that huge CJ7 pet.

You awaiting your bottle of milk from your mum.

You trying to look cute while taking picture while your dad putting your shoes on.

If you are wondering what might that blue light be, that would be the television. Yeap, you like to watch your cartoons THAT close to the television set.

Owh, you may want to know that some of your friends were there too.

This is Kak Iman. Uncle Mang’s eldest daughter.

and this is Aisyah. Uncle Mang’s second daughter.

and this cute little princess here, is Uncle Najib’s daughter, Aina.

So there you go Humaira, your first birthday party. I hope I will be able to attend your birthday party as many as possible. Should that not happen later, I hope you enjoy seeing this photo years to come.

Cheers, 

Your Uncle Ben

Last Saturday was my lovely Humaira’s 1st birthday. Nuar & Nuha threw a small birthday party, and Humaira enjoyed the crowd so much that she entertained us with her charm all the way from morning till evening without needing any short naps.

Full entry coming up soon!

This time, instead of my client, you will be seeing a lot of me in front of the camera. Both Fida and I have just got engaged about a month ago and we were happy that our friend, Anis Daud could make it to our engagement, as the photographer. It was definitely an interesting experience to be in front of the camera knowing someone is actually waiting for a moment to be captured. Thanks Anis for making it less awkward and easier for us to be ourselves that day.

So, here are some of her wonderful sights that day.

 That’s Fida with her sisters, Syikin & Yati.

Again, a huge thanks to Anis for those creative moments and photos.

Whee~!!

Faiz & Tina’s wedding reception took place the very next day. This time of the year, rain pours almost every evening. Hence, I really got to start this post with this 1 special shot I got from Tina’s rooftop that day.

Can you spot that piece of cloth? It is in fact one of the old malay beliefs to put a cloth on the roof to prevent rain from ruining a get-together or event. And YEAH! It did not rain that day, until the moment I pack my bag and head back home. Coincidence? God’s work? Well, you decide. :)

Anyway, it won’t be a fun wedding without kids running around playing with each other. It gets even better when some of those kids become too friendly with you, and jump into your frame! Haha!

Tina doing some final preparations..

While on Faiz’s side, he gets a proper tutorial on how to wear a men’s corset properly. Owh, while I’m at it, Faiz was actually wearing traditional malay costume, only it was sleeveless so that it won’t be too hot wearing it for about 5 hours or so. Tradition improvised? Cheers to that!

Tanjak (head gear) and Keris as the final finishings.

and WALLA!!!

Faiz and his best man, Tam. 

Faiz and the rest of his happy family.

As the local community is heavily involved in agriculture, specifically coconut, it didn’t take us long to decide the location for an outdoor session.

So that’s all folks, my two days with my pal and his life partner, Faiz & Tina. I wish both of you the best in marriage and may you be blessed with beautiful babies!!!

Last but not least, some ring shots me and Tam ( Best Man cum Creative Director) secured early during the day.

Feel free to drop me some comments ya?

Cheers~

Hi everyone! It is now time to share my recent work, which is kind of special for me. Faiz and I were schoolmates back during our primary and secondary school. Both of us were also the percussionists in our school’s traditional performance (Dikir Barat) team. So I am excited to be capturing his wedding with Tina, in Sabak Bernam. Enjoy this series of shots from that day!

A good sisterly-love makeup for a brother. The solemnization took place in the morning, at a mosque nearby Tina’s place.

Faiz, just the way I remember him, a very jovial person.

Tina, his chosen one.

Faiz making his move to visit his newly wedded wife.

and last but not least, some outdoor shots before calling it a day.

Stay tune for Faiz & Tina’s wedding reception photos, soon!!!

Last weekend my old mate Faiz and Tina got married in Sabak Bernam. Since the community is pretty much into coconut plantation, we headed to a nearby estate and got some wicked Malaysian sceneries. Enjoy this teaser ya~

and Faiz, macho factor +10 with that Panglima pose! 

Congratulations both of you! Stay tune for the full photo release~

Cheers~