DSLR Tales: Nasi Goreng and the Stranger

A long-overdue thank you to the stranger in Bandung:

Dear Stranger in Orange, 

I want to thank you for saving me from a disastrous first attempt at food photography. I was about to check out of the guesthouse then, debating whether to spend my last three hours in Jalan Progo photographing the cosy cafe downstairs or analysing what went wrong with my photos the day before. I chose the latter. I ordered nasi goreng, brought the DSLR out and tried my best to capture the delicious Indonesian food before me. Without luck. My photos could not capture the brown fried rice and the chicken satay looked like it was drowning in gravy in my photo. I finished my cafe late and still couldn't figure out what's wrong. 

You and your friend just checked in that morning, and your friend thought I was Indonesian (no surprises there). She talked to me in Bahasa, and I gave the most puzzled look I have and told her that I'm not from Indonesia. She asked me how long have I been a photographer, and I told her that it was my first time. She offered help - your expertise apparently. I passed her my camera, which she then passed to you, and she left the two of us to discuss how to take good photos. In the limited English you knew, you told me about the aperture, the shutter speed, and some other DSLR jargon I couldn't remember. You adjusted my DSLR's settings. And when your friend told you that it was time to go, you instructed me to get my phone and took a photo of the setting you've used.


I said my sincerest thanks; you smiled, you said goodbye and wished me luck. 

And after our encounter, I remember my Film 110 professor's word: "You have to believe in the goodness of people." Indeed. 



***


As of this writing, my food story was out. I managed to take a good photo that escaped the tools of Photoshop. Thank you Mr Stranger, I hope I could master photography, and I will make sure to pay it forward.

 

Being busy, the symptoms

You know everyone in the office is busy when...

• An editor has an unread message count of 1,600 emails. I hope I'm joking
• Someone bought new copies of magazines two weeks ago and they are still inside the paper bag from the store, with the cling wrap still on. Who has the time for some light reading?
• Usual lunch buddies decide to eat chicken rice while answering emails 
• You go for lunch and eat Japanese food, have a nice capuccino, buy snacks for tea time. Do anything that could let you savour every minute of being away from your Mac 
•  Everyone is passing you layouts, and your deadline is always "tomorrow". Or worse, "later"
• There is a shortage of shortbread and chips in the pantry - stress eating is always our salvation
• The phone keeps ringing. Yes, PR people chasing for RSVPs for press events 
• You keep on forgetting to send physical copies of magazines to previous contributors 
• Your editorial director is going back and forth to different desks to remind all of you of things
• Your client service manager is cc-ing you in everything. Even the thank you emails 
• You miss your monthly biking session. How could you. Even your exercise bike session. Nooo 

And you realise you have two trips in the coming months, accommodation? Nil. And you haven't even applied for annual leave.