October 2019 – Tukang Rantek Claudius

Monthly archives: October 2019

The Story Behind Dayung Laut Contestants (2019)

Tabi basa and greetings family and friends,

How was your week so far? I hope it is great for you in this final week of October. Soon it will be November, and December will follow. 2019 is at its final quarter, and I do hope that you are making a lot of memories this year, because there will no longer the same year. Back in the 90s, I thought I would see cars flying around once we have reached 2020. It sounds so futuristic, with high hopes of our country will achieve accelerated modernisation. However, in 2019, all I wish for is road users to be able to use their turn signal light properly. There is no point for me to complain on something I can’t control, but I should do something within my control.

For this edition, I want to show to you the challenges, hopes and dreams of these wonderful ladies that joined the Dayung Laut Competition. SInce these ladies are working offshore, I was unable to reach some of them for the full interview.

Regardsless, the intention of this post is to show how these ladies started their offshore career, what do they love about it, challenges faced and future plans/dreams.

First Contest: Felicitie George

Full name: Felicitie George
Profession : Piping Engineer
Company : Petra Resources Sdn. Bhd.
Location : F12

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, sky, outdoor and water — Another day at work.

How did you join offshore / oil and gas industry?

I was pushing my lucks applying offshore jobs after I graduated from Uni.

What do you love about offshore?

I love the environment. The sounds of wave crashing, the cold breeze and the skies full of stars at night. It give you sense of peace and serenity regardless chaotic day you have to endure when you at offshore.

Challenges faced offshore and how do you stay resilient offshore?

There are time when I cant deliver my work to meet my client’s expectations. Things didn’t turn out as planned. I always find a simplest and efficient way to solve it rather than making it worse. I will just ignore the negativity and focus on the goals.

Advice to ladies planning to work offshore

Be safe wherever you are.

Future career plan for yourself

To become a specialist in my field and working with big players in oil and gas

Second Contestant: Sandra Sim

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, sitting

Full name : Sandra Sim Vi Ting
Profession : Site Planner / Associate Engineer
Company : Petra Resources Sdn. Bhd.
Location : West Lutong Oil Field

How did you join offshore / oil and gas industry?

Kick-started with internship in Sarawak Shell Berhad as Trainee Process Engineer.

What do you love about offshore?

It’s an amazing creation, a cool job place.

Challenges faced offshore and how do you stay resilient offshore?

Adverse weather, that causes the boat to roll. As the result, I vomit, and have to sleep before I can recover. Also, you will meet all kinds of men out there. So, be open minded, dedicated and firmed.

Advice to ladies planning to work offshore

No hesitate, no fear, no regret.

Future career plan for yourself

Build solid knowledge foundation by hands on experience which able to contribute in planning. Ultimate goal is to move into project management.

Third Contestant: Esther Michael

Full name : Esther Michael
Proffession : Wellsite/Operations Geologist
Company : Repsol Malaysia
Location : PM3

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, standing, sky and outdoor

How did you join offshore / oil and gas industry

My name is Esther Michael a mix Sebob/ Lun Bawang from Miri. Started career in oil and gas as a Sample Catcher/Mudlogger with International Logging in year 2005. Joines Petronas Carigali after that as a Wellsite/Operations Geologist / Geoscientist for 8 years and finally to Repsol Oil & Gas Limited (previously known as Talisman) for about 6 years till present.

What do you love about offshore?

What I love about offshore is the fact that the workplace is just steps away from bedroom and only wearing coveralls! Concentration on work is more in offshore as there are less meetings compared to being in office so less interuption. People treat you with respect (despite being a woman!) and listens to your input and takes them into consideration. But of course, being on the rig/platform is like its own small little world, therefore people are usually really nice.

What is the challenge faced offshore?

Challenges faced is to manage your time because the critical job can go for few days non stop. People rely on your intepretation and input to plan for next way forward of the well. Scary part is at times, you are worried whether your inputs are inaccurate that it may lead to another issue. So far touch wood..all okay! And of course being away from my 3 boys! Those early days, harrasments were encountered but nowadays you don’t hear that anymore. Regulations are rather strict when it comes to harrasments.

Advice to ladies:

Be professional and treat everyone from all colour coveralls with respect. Not using gender as an excuse to not perform or demand special treatment. Own the well and always aim to perform your best.

Future plan

To be an entrepreneur!

Note: She won Mrs Chipao Malaysia 2018. Chipao is cheongsam.

Fourth Contestant: Stephie Kayus

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, sky and outdoor

Full name: Stephanie Kayus
Profession : Field Engineer
Company : FugroTSM
Location : Jasmine Field, Thailand

How did you join offshore / oil and gas industry

I joined O&G upstream since 2009 as a graduate engineer with Subsea 7 in subsea construction. My main task as project/field engineer is to ensure sufficient preparation for subsea construction. I develop installation procedure for offshore campaign and join in the execution on construction boats. I worked mostly in Sabah’s water. Currently, I’m an operation engineer with Cortez Subsea oversee their operation in Malaysia.

What do you love about offshore?

The smell of the sea and the adrenaline of executing the subsea construction whether with divers or ROV. Sometimes, we got surprises when encountered sea creatures during construction. When we went to the very deep of the sea, everything would be just quiet and serene. At night, I love looking at the bright stars. And my favourite when going offshore is counting the day of going home 🙂

Challenges faced offshore and how do you stay resilient offshore?

Always being the only lady on the construction boat could be very challenging for me. As a lady engineer, giving instruction to some guys could be very challenging as my scope involve a lot of preparation at the back deck.I have to be smart to ensure work is done safely and according to procedure. But I always have the peak of being in the only lady. Most of the time, i get my own cabin, washroom and locker room. When things get tough, I just tell myself, what doesnt kill me, make me stronger and most of the time, it’s true.

Advice to ladies planning to work offshore

Offshore is not for everyone. But once you are in, you are hooked. Ladies, you can be yourself, you don’t need to prove you are equal to your male colleagues but you can be as good or better than them. Work safely and enjoy the moment.

Future career plan for yourself

My future career plan is to be the boss..Lol..joking..I would like to be a project manager in near future and to lead a team for more subsea construction work offshore.

Fifth Contestant: Grace Tolebin

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, standing

Full name : Gracy Tolebin
Proffession : Project Engineer
Company : Boilermaster
Location : Puteri Zamrud

How did you join offshore / oil and gas industry?

After completing my study in mechanical engineering, I joined Boilermaster company in 2016 until now. My boss gave me an opportunity to study again and I believe I can go further. Some people has a different mindset, i.e. they think that ladies are weak, “ladies no need to go offshore. They don’t know what to do, so it is better for them to sit at the office only”. I have travelled to follow projects, Turnarounds and for training. Also, I have the opportunity to go offshore. My boss gave me hope and believe that I can do it even though I am a lady. Various experiences I have gone through. From this company and myself, I managed to go places.

What do you love about offshore?

I love new experiences because it is seldom for woman to go offshore. We know different culture that they have over there. With the five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 😂 foods, another thing is the mind therapy, where we can think a lot about future as we gaze upon the blue sea, fishes, wide open sky. I am amazed by the wondrous creation of God.

Challenges faced offshore and how do you stay resilient offshore?

I have to be tough, mentally strong, fit physically, be safe everywhere, alert all the time. This is because I saw Deepwater Horizon which is based on true story (highly recommended to watch 😿). I need to look after my ethiques because I am the only lady. Team work also has to be strong.

Advice to ladies planning to work offshore:

For ladies out there , don’t be afraid to try something new. Like what they said, “belum cuba, belum tahu” (you wouln’t know until you try). Before we do something, we need to ask our parents so that they can bless our career. You also must be active and strong (power). 💪🏻💪🏻

Future career plan for yourself:

My career is still long, and there is a lot that I want to accomplish. My dream is when I am 30 plus years old, i want to have my own business. Probably hardware shop, material supplies that relates to oil and gas. 😅

Sixth Contestant: Amelda Rowellna

Full name : Amelda Rowellna Anak Awang
Proffession : Cook
Company : Maersk Drilling, Brunei Darussalam
Location : SWA 108 Ampa Oil Field

In July 2012 to July 2014🎩, im taking course DIPLOMA IN HOTEL&CATERING MANAGEMENT at MTSSR (maktab teknik sultan saiful rijal) ,😊 after graduating, there is BMA (Brunei Marine Academy) programme , 🙌 which 1 year seatimes as a Trainee Cook 🍽️under vessel of Pacific Radiance Ltd.

Working rotation 3 months on board, difficult times when rough sea🌊😭 season, the sea sickness but its okay, good experience to be remembered 😊👍. After completing the seatimes in July 2016 to July 2017, i ve got another job opportunity worked in drilling rig, Maersk Convincer😍.

What i love the most about working offshore is there is no trafficking xp, 😂😂despite the fact that working offshore will be far from families & love one, plus, we must have tough heart&mind, surround ur self with good peoples & vibes, love ur job! cause everyday is like Monday to us 😂🙌.

For those ladies, wanted to challenge their self, just go for it! dont hesitate, 😎believe that you can do it👏!

Seventh Contestant: Jennet Blasius

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, standing, ocean, sky and outdoor

Full name : Jennet Blasius
Proffession : Offshore/Site Planner
Company : Petra Resources Sdn Bhd
Location : Sumandak, Petra Endeavour

How did you join offshore / oil and gas industry?

I’ve started my career in oil & gas industry on March 2015. Started working on offshore based on May 2019.

What do you love about offshore?

Plan to put my career on higher level through exposing myself more on technical part & field experience. Also felt want to experience offshore life myself.

Challenges faced offshore:

Task as offshore planner, the most challenging part is handling and dealing with construction crews.. the highest volume of crews that i had handled is 230pax. Apart from that is doing daily reporting & in charge of admin works at offshore at the same time. Boat & gangway transfer has always been challenging my courage. But, all challenges can be adapted..we just need a little time & a lot of patience & confidence.

Advices to ladies planning to work offshore:

Don’t afraid to work at offshore. You need to grab it once given opportunity..the expereince is priceless.

Future plan for yourself

become construction engineer..

The one from Jennet makes the end of interview.

These are the participants that I was unable to reach due to connection issue. But nevertheless, I just put the basic info here based on the info that they have placed for the competitions.

Eigth Contestant: Nuraisha Abd Halim

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, standing and night

Full name: Nuraisha Abd Halim@ Robert Henry Eli
Profession : Material coordinator
Company: Brooke Dockyard
Location/field: Bokor

Ninth Contestant: Nor Afzan

Image may contain: 1 person, ocean, sky, outdoor and water

Full name : Nor Afzan Binti Wahid
Profession : Safety Health Officer(SHO)
Company : Sapura Energy
Location : NC3

Tenth Contestant: Jill Uring

Image may contain: 1 person, selfie and closeup

Full name: Jill Uring Paul
Profession : Inspection Engineer
Company: Oceancare corporation sdn bhd.
Location : Bayan

End Note:

From the words from these ladies, I know there is a lot of challenges. However with the right spirit, mindset and mental fortitude, you can work offshore and become respectable part of the bigger oil and gas community. I sincerely hope that these stories inspires you to work offshore.

To say offshore industry if only for men and men alone is not entirely true as there are a lot of women out there working offshore, helping to grow our national economic growth from oil and gas. This is a tough business, especially if you are a mother and have to leave behind your little ones onshore. Another misconception that I always hear is that if you are a lady working offshore, you will become more man-like, which is not true. You still can be a lady and work offshore, no problem at all. Besides, there are rules about any form of harassment, be it physical or verbal, to deter any kind of such offense, all to provide a better working environment to everyone. Therefore, for the young girls out there, don’t be afraid to make offshore jobs your career path of choice. Emilia has done it, these ladies also has done it, and so can you. You can do it. Have faith in yourself. God bless!

Your Tukang Rantek,
Claudius Weson

Your Tukang Rantek

1 year ago

Tabi basa and greetings,

Dear family and friends,

Today I would like to write about fragility of our dreams. When I was still in primary school, my class teacher would distribute a form where it will display our performances so far. Let’s call it our KPI card. The best part about that card is the section behind it, where it I can write my ambitions, what I want to be when I grow up. For me, it varies. I remember that I want to be scientist, then a WWE wrestler (no kidding, I wrote it). I think it was highly influences by The Rock’s popularity back then. As I became more mature, it became more realistic. When I was in Primary 6, I even wrote I want to be teacher because I was highly inflluenced by Great Teacher Onizuka. I want to be a badass teacher, just like him.

What I am doing now though has nothing to do with what I write there. It seems like my ambition evolves over time. If you ask me five years ago, I would answer a different thing. I want to be like a big bike racer. That is why I bought my first big bike, a Kawasaki Z800, sold it, then get my Ducati 916. It costs me a lot of money though, so I sell it because it serves me no purpose, partly after I discovered that I have more important things to do; namely contribute as part of the bigger community in Malaysia oil and gas industry, and a bigger thing in mind – I want to be Tukang Rantek.

Origin of “Tukang Rantek” Terminology

The name of Tukang Rantek came from the sound that old film camera used to make. It makes that funny sound, that goes like this – krek, krek, krek. My villagers has no pronoun for it for they were farmers/hunters, so they created a new name for it, which is “rantek”. “Tukang” is a name for the person who is specialised/in charge of something. In this case, Tukang Rantek means, photographer.

However, I think only Kampung Pichin uses this term in Serian area. Therefore, due to its rarity, I adopted that name to be my moniker.

Tukang Rantek’s Dream

I always believe that everyone has their own wildest dream. Probably, one of you want to be a famous person beyond everything else. Or rich beyond measure? For me, I used to have a wild dream of buying and owning every single Leica lens in the world. After collecting and tried the best 50mm ever produced by Leica, my dream was stopped for a while. It seems like it does not fit to be a dream. I also realised, if I were to dream, it better be something that push my limit, beyond my current potential, the one that forces me to stay awake to make it a reality. I also cannot attach it to something that will be made obsolete in few years’ time as our technology improves. It has to be something wild.

Then I realised, I have a simple dream. I want to create the best image. Therefore, it not bounded by time. The definition of “best” may change from time to time. As our technology improves, it helps me to create the best image. However, I still stick to the essentials, which is ISO control, aperture control, and shutter speed controls. Also, focus controls. All manual.

One Camera, One Lens

That is my philosophy, as much as I can. I love to use 50mm lens for my photography purposes. It forces me to be creative, and many would smile when I always take few steps back to fit in more items in my composition. But it’s alright, and I don’t think I owe anyone an explanation. Fellow photographers would understand that.

M-Shooter’s Bliss

I am always happy when I am behind my own M camera. To use other’s camera feels awkward, as if I have the sense of loyalty to my own camera. Familiarity makes thing automated to you, as my muscle memories moves my finger to focus automatically without even thinking. I only have to wait for the right moment, and voila, I have the shot. The sound of the shutter is like a music to my ears. The sound of M9 is the best, and that is why I still keep the M Monochrom, though I still use M10 for other purposes.

Heading For Tomorrow

Initially, it is normal to feel want to belong somewhere; to a group, band, society, community. However, for the wild ones, they will realise that they have least control when they are in group. Like Tetris, once they fit in, they disappear.

I don’t want to disappear. I want to make my presence known, in the right way. I may not have my own CW Clan now, and it makes me like a lone wolf with all of the community. However, none of that matters. All that matters is in the end of the day, I still can go back to my family and capture the photos of my growing niece and nephew. I will groom them to be a useful person. With my core family behind me, I am willing to move forward alone. It is difficult, but it is the one that makes you stronger.

In The Beginning

When I started my CWPhotography, I faced quite a number of condescenders that told me it is a pointless path to be made. I still remember it vividly 2 year’s ago. However, I forced myself to be stubborn and I move along, and focus only to the weak signals of those who supports me. They are like the tonic ones that I need, especially my other half, with genuine connection that exists outside social media; unseen, unheard, but it is real. Fast forward, 2 years, I have achieved a level that I can only dream back then.

I still do, and I do acknowledge that I have a lot to learn. I am grateful to me a lot of people that has a positive impact to me, in photography space: Sifu Edwin Lay; from Leica community, Ng Chi Loon, Thorsten Overgaard, Craig Semetko, Fulvio Bugani, Anthony Barlan, Mathias Heng. Not to forget also Joyce, Daniel and Erica, and more recent batch, “Team Lead” Hanif and Harry. Outside photography community, Marvin Gau – the guy who challenges me to do something about photography. I will be forever grateful to him to him for the “push”.

Don’t Want To be a “Jaguh Kampung”

I remembered the TEDEx talk by Zung, Ninja Photographer. He said, don’t be a “jaguh kampung”. What he meant was, don’t be someone who is famous only in a certain place. This is a term coined by the Malay communities at Malaysia, which means, you are the champion of the village (Jaguh = Champion, Kampung = Village). My understanding from Zung’s word is don’t make “Jaguh Kampung” or even “Bandar” (City) as your final aim. It is like confining a shark in a tank. The shark baby will only grow as large as the tank. The smaller the tank, the smaller it will be. Wasted potential. In the open ocean, a shark can grow as big as they can be. This becomes the basis of Spielberg’s famous film, Jaws. Freddie Mercury would say, Jaws was never my scene and he don’t like Star Wars (but that is actually a lie. He likes both).

Likewise, your potential is only as much as you think it is. Your tank is your belief that you have framed in your mind. Therefore, your potential is much more than that. If you have achieved certain level of achievement, for example, you have done a talk or have your own private exhibition, aim for something higher, or bigger. Aim to have your personal TEDEx. I have always been invited to Curtin to give talk, but mostly on career. Echoing Simon Sinek, I always ask them, what is your “WHY”. Not knowing your why, you will not be able to push forward. It is the sole reason you are doing the things you are doing. For example, your WHY is your family. You may not like the job, but it pays good money. Therefore, because of your WHY, it overrides your discomfort and you stays on. It is also another unique trait of human to ensure longevity, we persevere when we required, or when we have to.

I don’t believe in competing with other people, because that does not make me happy. I am aware of certain unofficial rivalry or competition between groups, which is a strong reason why I don’t brand myself with such groups as it creates unnecessary friction because I always believe in creating positive connection with other peoples. The worst is when the other side is not compatible with the energy that I emits. Instead of tonic, it became a toxic connection. The best thing to do in that situation is to minimise contact and keep it professional. There is no point to take it personal because they might have their own reasons, or their life’s journey has framed their mind and behaviour to act in such a way. Regardless, it is not my worry. I should worry more about things within my control. I should be more worried about what is plan for tomorrow, and what I can improve next. I already branded myself as “Your Tukang Rantek”, with “Dayung Laut” as part of my brand.

Further to the topic, I believe in competition with myself, where I always strive to be better, faster and more efficient that who I was yesterday. For example, now it took me few seconds to focus using my M manual camera. My target is to be able to focus as fast possible, probably split second using M-lenses. Not possible yet, but I believe I can go as fast as I can. Now I am started to learn how to use lights in a better way. I learned the fundamental in a proper way from Sifu Edwin Lay. I am looking forward to Rarindra’s class next year.

I personally would not know my own true potential if I stuck at my village. Only when I step outside, get to know other peoples, that I know how large of a shark I can be. I rather be a lone, hungry shark in the open ocean than a well-fed shark that’s stuck in a zoo. Who knows I can get to meet Aquaman on my way to Atlantis?

Next?

I am looking forward to the winner of “Dayung Laut”, a competition that I created and was inspired by Emilia, a fellow oil and gas senior.

Closing Words

I hope my story will inspire you to do something about your dreams, whatever it might be. Remember, when you have a dream, just go for it. Many will not believe in you at first, but just be resilient, persevere and keep on pushing and improving. Something good will come out from it sooner or later. Have faith in yourself. You can do it.

Your Tukang Rantek,
Claudius Weson
Dari Bi-Pichin

Ponsikou kio Musti

1 year ago

Tabi basa & greetings friend and family,

Hopefully this week’s beginning has been an effective one for you. As time goes by, I began to embrace solace in silence. It gave me time to quietened down the external noise, and enables me to listen to my inner voice in the stillness. I encourage everyone to embrace the silence, especially the content-creators community, be it photographer, videographer or even musicians. Also, it is important to take time-off as and when required to help with the physical and mental health management. Otherwise, you would face burnout. That is bad. Don’t be part of the statistics.

As for this current post, I want to write about my latest assignment. This time I was tasked to capture the farewell of one of our leaders, Musti Juin, a Sabahan guy. He is an Operations Installation Manager (OIM), and is in charge of a platform. He is like the boss of the platform, offshore. For those who watched the movie Deepwater Horizon, I am sure you have an idea of what an OIM is. Personally, I always likened an OIM to a Hokage, if you watched Naruto series, simply because he is the most knowledgeable and competent person on-board. Technically, he has to because he need to manage a lot of stuff. Basically, he is the most important person onboard, and has to take care of every aspect of the platform, from HSSE, production, maintenance and even welfare.

The event was a straightforward one. However, the most important thing is not the food, but the gathering of person that worked together to achieve common goal. In this case, his team gathered once more to celebrate his contributions all this while before he move to the next assignment. During

For every hello, there is good bye. But behind every goodbye, is a chance to say hello once again. Talking about workplace, no matter who we are, we have one single goal, which is to bring bread back to the family.

In the modern context, is to feed the family. If we have a good person to work with, the journey itself is more enjoyable. To have a good leader on board, it is indeed a blessing, especially if the leader has years of experiences under his belt, and able to lead the team effectively without relying on his authority to get the job done.

To be able to observe such leader working is a good experience, especially for the younger generations, and the future leaders. You can actually learn a lot from what is unsaid versus what is said. In Ronan Keatings word, you said it best when you say nothing at all. This is one of the skills that is hard to come by, cannot be found in books because soft skills are the things that we are not able to learn through courses, but through deliberate exposure and of course, mentoring by the more senior leader.

For me, and to most of the peoples here, this is definitely not a goodbye, but a “see you again” kind of event. To see the camaraderie demonstrated by the boys tells a lot about how close this team are.

Hence, hasta la vista, and ponsikou (thank you in Kadazan-Dusun), Musti!

Your Tukang Rantek,
Claudius Weson

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In The Beginning

Farewell Speeches

Photo Session

Mejeng Time

Trainee Bartenders

Sayonara

Playing With Colours

1 year ago

Tabi basa and greetings family and friends,

Today is Saturday, and as usual, it is a time for us to spend our free time with family and friends. Do spend the most time with the elder ones, for their time is running out and the younger ones, for they would really need the guidance from us to kickstart their life in a good shape and in the best knowledge.

Dayung Laut

I would like to take this opportunity to inform you about Dayung Laut competition, which was inspired by Emilia Shander’s viral post. The current leader of the pack is Sandra, overtaking Sabahan beauty thanks to the strong support from her family and friends. However, it is too soon for me to say who is the winner to you because there are still one more week to go. Anything can change since the competition is public, and if someone acquires the hordes to vote for them, then it would be good.

The faces of the candidates are as follows:

I will make a separate announcement for the winner next week. Stay tuned!

Playing with Colours

Today’s session is special because it is my first time doing my own studio photoshoot at my own accord, at my own playing ground. The last session was when I attended the Studio Flash Photography Masterclass by Sifu Edwin Lay at Great Wall Camera. Edwin is a good sifu and he patiently teaches us the basics of playing with studio strobes. That is the time I met my fellow photographers based in Kuching area, such as Anathasia Lipina, Alvine, Fidelis George, Ben Foo and Pauline, all with one passion for photography. I wrote about this back in March this year. You can read it here.

Me and fellow participants of Sifu Edwin Lay’s Flash Photography Masterclass, Mar 2019.
Back: Alvine, Michael Ting, Fidelis George, Sifu Edwin Lay, Ben Foo
Front: Anathasia Lipina, Adeline (Kuching-based Model), Pauline
Location: Great Wall Camera, Jalan Padungan, Kuching

This time, I am alone, and I have to direct the lighting myself. It is challenging, because when I am out there, I only have to control the light from my strobe. When I am with Thorsten, it is even different ball-game. Thorsten taught me to find the “magic of light”. When you found it, you will know that your photograph will be awesome.

As for today’s session, I do play around with red and blue gel, as it is the most common, and it is my personal favourite for this kind of photoshoot. It reminds me to the clip video of In Venere Veritas by HIM, which for me is a cool love metal song. There was a lot of experimentations going around the room, where I being an experimenter has to tweak and tinker before I hit the sweet spot. Once I am in the “zen”, it is also easy to find the right balance.

Gears:

As for the gears I am using today, I am using my trusty M10-P and APO-Summicron 50mm for this job. I love to use Leica gears since it gave me the flexibility to work with the “Leica” look as well as it is light and easy to move around with. I always move around back and forth to adjust the strobes that I am using. 50mm has always been my favourite focal length for all occasions.

Talents:

I am joined by Divabiz Ambassadorz founder, Priscilla Nissie and some of her talents, including Dranadillos and Sylvia, as well as Averia Vella, whom we call “Amoi”.

First session was a simple white t-shirt at a black background.

The next session is using the dress of their choice and this time, I included blue and red gel. Why? I like it. No rocket science behind it.

After enough time having fun using black background, I changed the black background to white background.

Dresses and Accessories

Pua Kumbu Blouse & Black Glitter Evening Dress is designed by Samdoh Beads Boutique. Cocktail Dress is designed by Priscilla Nissie. The

Working Experiences?

For us today, and just like the previous sessions before, we talk about work only. Priscilla and her talents are professional and main topic of conversation is on how to make full use of the session this afternoon. This is well-understood because we only have 24hours per day, and if we start to talk about something other than self-improvement, then it is a waste of our time. That is another reason why I advise my mentees (I do mentoring also) to be very careful in calling someone else your best friend. As we grow older, we realised that we only have so little true friends. The rest are just colleagues or acquaintances, which is fully understood since we only spend the time with those that really matters. The least of all, if you know someone is toxic, just keep it professional and don’t add more salt to the wound.

Theme for Young Lovers

There were one phase in my life where I cared so much about what others think about me, who I mingle with, what I wear, what camera did I use, etc. It is part of a normal teenage to adult transition. It includes all of those negative self-talks. As it names says, it did not make me happy though. It is toxic. As I move along with life, I always strive to make my life simpler. I wear black. I shot manually using Leica all the way. I created my own moniker, Tukang Rantek in honour of my own mother tongue. I charge people for my services as much as I value my time. I still have my own positive circle, I call it tonic friends – those who are crazy and passionate about their side hustle.

The real FREEDOM is to give no care about what others talk about you (unless it is life-threatening or it relates to life of others). If you still care about what others talk about you, you are a slave to their thoughts. Think about that for a moment. In Morpheus’ (The Matrix Trilogy) famous word, free your mind. You have to remember, you need to invest your time in the things that truly matters.

Certain bunch may not like your guts, tenacity, dedication and grit, but who cares? Did they pay your bills month in, month out?

I had this conversation with one of my colleague whom I admire his analytical skills and planning skill. But for himself, like many others, other than work, nothing else come to his mind. He admit it openly, and he also told me that he admires those who are passionate with their own craft; such as Marvin Gau with his MarvinInspire and journey to be Fitness Personal Coach, who is also Certified Personal Trainer under American Council on Exercise, which the journey to attain is equally challenging; and David Liaw, a Powerlifter and Nutritionist.

I am honoured to be able to capture this moment during Marvin and Patrissa’s wedding.

David Liaw – Beast Mode!
Leica Monochrom & Summilux35 FLE

That colleague of mine reminds me of Shikamaru Nara from Naruto series. He is smart, but has no plan for his life apart from working in our company. I know a lot of people outside there whom academic is not their forte, but they are resilient and willing to learn something new and step out of their comfort zone.

They are not like everyone else. They set goals for themselves. They learn new things day in, day out. They may not living the life they want, but they strive to get where they want. I want to be more like those peoples.

Hope For Tomorrow?

I will keep on updating my latest stuff in my website because it is the only media that I really have full control in. My Instagram and Facebook will still be kept alive because most of my friends and family are still using it. Also, it is one of the easiest way for people to reach out to me, apart from contacting my Whatsapp Business.

Lastly, I do hope you enjoy the final images from our session today. Stay safe and have a great Sunday ahead!

Your Tukang Rantek,
Claudius Weson

Dayung Bidayuh Miri

1 year ago

Tabi basa and greetings family and friends,

Once again, Sunday come, and hopefully you are spending your time with your beloved family and friends. Today is a great day and it is hot sunny at Miri. No rain fell from the sky, probably due to heavy rain yesterday.

Note: Dayung means, girl/woman/lady, in Bidayuh language.

Wake Up Call:

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I had a wake-up call, where I realised that when I am posting my stuff at an established social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, I am actually at their “mercy”. For example, if somebody does not like your posting due to whatever reason under the sun, they can report your account and makes your account suspended; or, suddenly there is a new “Facebook”, making the old Facebook redundant. Therefore, your efforts will go down the drain. So, it is better if you can spend your time and resources on something that you really have complete control on, for example, your paid website, so that you can modify it as you wish. I am still learning and in progress of making my website as interactive as possible to give you that one pleasant experience browsing through it. You can leave a comment below at my comment section or you can even message me directly using FB, or even WhatsApp.

Group? What group?

Before I proceed, there are few peoples asked me, which group of photographer do I belong in Miri. To be honest, I don’t belong to any group. I do know and acknowledge that Miri, and Kuching has a lot of talented photographers, belonging to their own respective group. There are fun and joy in having a place to belong to. It is like having a race buddy, or even passion-buddy kind of thing. I like it, I appreciate the camaraderie of being in a group.

However, for me, I am in a constant race with myself. Everyday is a chance for me to learn from myself yesterday. Also, because of the fluidity of my schedule, particularly because I am also working professionally with oil and gas company, I really have to make do of the time that I have available. Also, there are times I want to be like Henri-Cartier Bresson, though I am wearing coverall, but at the same time I want to be like Jason Lanier or Anthony Barlan, doing photoshoot of beautiful ladies at various locations. These constant mental tug-of-war is what makes me who I am now. I love the independence, which also being appreciated by certain personnel that I met along the way. I love to work with tonic peoples, the ones that gave-off positive aura and energy, making me more excited to create beautiful images, be it my favourite Monochromatic or Chromatic like how my clients like it.

Being a freelance photographer, one of the common question I received is that, how many jobs you have this month? I always answer them in this manner: I started CWPhotography not to earn money, but because I want to leave a legacy, or even a book. If I can create one image, and that image is remembered by generations to come, I am a happy man. Genuine passion is what keeps me going, otherwise, I would stop creating images on the first year I am starting CWPhotography due to very few clients. I believe each photographer has their own ways to see images. So, do hire a photographer because you like how they see things, how they tell stories using their camera; not due to their cheap price tag. You will regret your decision later. Happens a lot to me, where I became their listening post for every poor decision making in choosing photographers for their event, or even wedding. I once became a guest to my friend, and I casually capture the moments using my then-M9-P, but my photos ended up becoming her main images of her wedding dinner because she don’t like the final image that she received from her main photographer. This happens, and my please to you, as a photographer, please do your own research before you hire someone.

Camera? You Mean, Rantek?

In case you are wondering, I am using Leica camera, particularly Leica M. I don’t look down on other camera system, there are many camera that is even more modern than the manual M that I am using, with blazing fast autofocus, awesome ISO numbers, with adjustable focal length at an amazing aperture sizes. I don’t use autofocus, mine is all manual: fixed focal length (usually 50mm 99% of the time) manual focusing, manual shutter speed adjustment, manual ISO adjustment, manual aperture adjustment – it’s all manual. I like to take my time in creating beautiful images using my M.

Just like my camera choice, I just want to do things that I like, using the tool that I love. It’s like dating the same girl for the past 8 years even though there are many pretty girls that come and gone, but none gave you the spark that she gave you. You just date her throughout the years simply because you love her, for no reason. Well, you can’t fix your love to a reason, because once the reason is gone, so does your love.

Gear Used:

As usual, I am using my M10 camera, but the difference today is, instead of using my comfort zone lens, Noctilux, I am using collapsible Summicron once again. This time, I want to test how does the collapsible Summicron perform using M10. You can see the result in the images below.

Collapsible Summicron. Still usable although much older than my father’s age.

In terms of handling, it is easy to use the lens. I find it gets easier, and the focusing is getting smoother the more I use it. Previously, when I first obtained it, it felt stiff, probably after few years of being idle inside dry box of the previous owner. I don’t see any fault with the lens. It seems the perfect. No wonder Henri likes to use this lens with his M3.

Photoshoot Time! / Ngirantek Time

Anyway, today’s photoshoot is with two beautiful Bidayuh ladies, Tania and Trisha, residing in Miri. They are also DBNA (Dayak Bidayuh National Association) dancers at Miri, and is active in performing Bidayuh dances around Miri. Trisha has been involved with this business for quite some time already, and I can call her well-experienced, or in Tania’s word, pro. Tania is new to this, but that doesn’t stop her from having fun under the sun, and strobe. The photoshoot is done at my favourite place, Tanjung Lobang because I like beaches. Sunset at tanjung today is not so flattering, but show must go on. I realised that we continue until it’s dark. But that is ok because we have our honorable “bouncer” on duty, Mcgrable or “Mc” from Capture Media. You should check out their Facebook page, they create beautiful videos. Do look for them if you want to hire photographer for your events as well (NOT SPONSORED).

As for the attire, Trisha is wearing Bidayuh Salako’s costume, while Tania is wearing Bidayuh Bau’s costume. The difference can be seen in the colour of their dress and their headgear. For Salako ladies, they have no headgear, while the other groups have headgear, with Padawan/Siburan and Serian has “toko” (highly decorated hats). Both are wearing “pangiah” (necklace), that you can buy from Trisha since she is also selling it (NOT SPONSORED).

NOTE: Salako ladies do not use “Pangiah” (Bead Necklace) and “bobot” (fang accessories). This mistake was unintentional as we are using the accessories that we have at that time.

If you like what do you see in this blog post, do leave a comment below. I also welcomed any feedback in case you do have some comments, particularly about my photography. Just like any other people, our lives are a series of decisions. If there are poor decisions that I have made today in terms of photography, do let me know. Thank you for reading until this line. May God bless you and have a pleasant week ahead!

Your Tukang Rantek,

Claudius Weson

Monochrome Photoshoot at Pulau Melayu

1 year ago

Dear friends,

Tabi basa and greetings! It has been a while since I last write my last blog post. The last one was about Garnette and Ayrton’s wedding. Another reason why I restarted this after 5 months shying away from blogging is since something happened to my Instagram account.

For no particular reason, and even after writing to Instagram, I was not able to write at my Instagram, and cannot even like my friend’s post. In a way, it is a wake up call for me. For example, my Facebook account. I have been investing a lot of time and energy to expand the audience of my Claudius Weson Photography Facebook page. The question, is what if suddenly Facebook also no longer the in-thing? Audiences will go away, to the new “Facebook”. I will have to restart again from zero. Worst case scenario, what if suddenly Facebook went haywire like how Instagram did to me? It will be another pointless waste of resources. So, I better stick with form of digital media that I have full control over it with best customer support.

The best thing about blogging is that you don’t have to be perfect to start, but you have to start to be perfect.

Gear: Collapsible Summicron

For this particular photoshoot with Viviana and her girls, in conjunction with her Catwalk Class & Photoshoot Session, I am armed with the first Summicron, which is the collapsible version. I think this beast is a good one.

Old but gold. M9 Monochrom & Collapsible Summicron
Look at the metal focus tab.

I acquired this beast of a lens from a fellow Leica shooter, where he plans to upgrade. Initially, I was skeptical of the lens performance, but after using it for a while, a week to be exact, I started to get used to the focusing tab, which is metal type. For many modern Leica M users, the current plastic tab has an ergonomic shape that it feels right whenever you want to focus with it. For this particular Summicron, you will feel weird at first. I think I am being pampered by the latest generation Summicron, APO-50 (my mainstay when I am going offshore because of its reliability and its small size).

For Leica enthusiast, collapsible Summicron can be had for about RM2500 at eBay, and there is actually a lot. The challenge is to find a good copy. You have to find from a trusted seller, with rating of 99.6% and above from eBay. Otherwise, it would be difficult. I would suggest MK Kamera & All Good Friends Camera (Not Sponsored Here) since my experience with them are pleasant and they are very responsive to your query.

As for lens rendering, for me, Collapsible Summicron is a soft lens, but not as crazy as Thambar. It is at another crazier level, appreciated only by Leica enthusiast. Compared to modern Summicron, Collapsible is a good choice for photoshoot, because you will see the faces of the model is much smoother without you do a lot of editing at post-processing. That will actually leave a good impression to the model as well.

Camera: M9 Monochrom

I am using Monochrom this time because I want to experiment with my Collapsible Summicron. Back in 2017, I bought my first Monochrom because I was without Leica M. My M9-P that time was sent for service due to CCD sensor corrosion issue. I sold my Monochrom last year because I want to upgrade to get my M10-P. When I first receive my M10-P, I did not remember about my Monochrom. After a while though, I started to miss it. Then I shoot using monochrom at my M10-P, but it is not the same. The image that it created, the shutter sound, the slow shooting speed – that are the things that I missed in my Monochrom. After a bit of searching at the web, I managed to find a silver version of Monochrom, partly to reminds me of the missing Monochrom as well as the missing M9-P that I have traded for personal usage.

Experience using Monochrom has always been pleasant. After too used to M10’s blazing speed, Monochrom taught me to slow down and anticipate for the right moment. Of course I won’t use Monochrom for paid job because I don’t want to miss the moments during wedding and events. However, for photoshoot like this, Monochrom is a good choice if one would like to use its excellence in monochrome end pictures.

Photoshoot Time!

During this photoshoot, we are joined by Abang Zak and Abu, but we are kept with out own business. So, not wanting to interrupt their flow of creativity, I shoot models at my own time and pace, and my place of choosing.

It has been a pleasure working with these ladies, with one of them as young as 7 year’s old, Supang. Initially I thought I was working with matured ladies, but it seems like most of them are still studying at secondary school. How time flies!

The final images can be seen below, which I used Silver Efex Pro, a software that is popular among Leica Monochrom shooters. Enjoy! Thank you to you Vivianna and Priscilla for inviting me to this session! I appreciate it.

Your Tukang Rantek,
Claudius Weson

Claudius Weson, is a Bi-Pichin, Serian-born freelance “tukang rantek” (photographer) based in Miri.