Outdoor Assignment

To some local professional/commercial photographers in Sabah, we are the disdain and disgust to them for being so spartan and cheap with our photographic gears. But with the kind of outdoor assignments we usually get, being cheap is the least of our mindful attention.


For outdoor assignments, NG recommended something lighter but almost as good as our studio driven brethrens. Unlike those local rarefied members,who shoot with superbrands on them and on superbranded touristy locations, we don't have the luxury of clean bedsheet to comfort our cramped muscles nor spitshine bathroom to answer our calls. Outdoor is outside in the woods or mountain ranges and creature comfort is practically nonexistence. Heck we sometimes slept with leeches on our bodies, drank water from rockpool, ate stale rice with Maggi Mee garnishing. And you don't see anyone for days. In fact there was one time when we were so tearfully happy to suddenly came across a buffalo shit after 3 days and 2 nights, wrestling through Dagobah like rainforest.

Once a few years ago while covering an adventure race in the east, a blue blooded senior member of a local photographic society made a thorough decadening highlights on what a cheap photographer I was. He was giving a guided tour to why I was cheap then and even took the liberty to verbally juxtapose me to a friend of his, whom had spent a fortune on his setup. His audiences, 40 over adventure race athletes whom had earlier finished the race and wanted to see the photos I took of them. Then came along this blue blood, with his Malenglish snubs.
"Hey hello...what camera ah you?"
"Canon."
"Oh...see. " He came closer and fondled the EOS 300D. "Wah...so light ah. Plastic oh?"
"Your lens leh?..." Peering closer at the marking on the lens.
"Tamron XR L..." didn't give me any chance at all.
"Also plastic ah. Wah! All your things are plastic ah. Cheap oh?" with disdain creeping on his sweaty face .
"Yes. It's cheap but..." my lame attempt.
"You know...my friend ah...a member in my photo society... bought his camera ah, about 40,000 over ringgit oh!" rolled again his lemon & peppery tongue on my haemorrhaging lacerated ego. By this moment, other bystanders started to crowd around.
"Yours eh?...how much oh?" sprinking some more salts than anything else.
" ...about 4000 ringgit."
" ...wah...so cheap ah. Hey...your camera got film or not oh?!"
"Its digital."
"Good meh this digital!?"glancing around his audience, with a tang of a mocking bird.

I didn't say anything further, or giving him any attention. Keeping quiet,I just smiled to myself at him, seeing how much a colorful creep he was. He had this funny aura about him, as if he was a walking advertising billboard looking for attention. He donned a Buff headband, an Oakley reflective sunglass and Nike branded clothings. All that sporting ads on a skinny palid anorexic figure of a man going past middle age.
Reminds me never ever to register as a member of this glorified society.