From NaturePixels.org
Talk, eat and shooting birds was previously what all this next gentleman whom I am going to interview is all about. With a birding count locally of more then 350 species coupled with good photography evidence, one will be curious on how he did it. Read on to understand more.
May I present Jonathan aka wkcheah ....
NPX: Jon, I chose this portrait pic from your gallery as it showed the real birding "you" then. The innocent looking yet unstyled hair and the 'Phua Chu Kang' boots were the trademark then.
Jon: hahaha ... that was many years back!
NPX: So, ok, lets start. What got you interested in photography?
Jon: I needed to attend a conference in Boston therefore I decided to buy a Nikon F80 and I never looked back since.
NPX: How long have you been doing photography?
Jon: Since 2004.
NPX: What is/are your favourite genre/s of photography? (eg. nature/portraits/landscapes/abstracts)
Jon: Avian photography.
NPX: Who are your photographic influences?
Jon: Hilary Hoe – He is the action expert with the most calming demeanor. When no birds, he can just switch to shoot other things. Never stifle your creativity because you want to be the best, fastest bird image collector.
NPX: What kind of stuff do you put in your camera bag?
Jon: Batteries and lots of them! Actually I normally have my trusty VanMobil near me, so I try to carry as little as possible to concentrate. The more things you bring out the more considerations you have, keep it simple.
NPX: What's the most challenging aspect of shooting your favourite genre of photography?
Jon: Capturing emotions, interactions between chick and parent, both of them have to be either comfortable with you or either that, you have to be well concealed.
NPX: What advice would you give someone who is interested in picking up your genre of photography?
Jon: 1) Drink water, eat air, you got to spend as much as you can get and stick with it. 2) Learn from mistakes; tell people your mistakes so they learn from your mistakes.
NPX: How does your girlfriend feel about your birding passion?
Jon: She was always complaining that me birding was taking away precious time from her with me.
NPX: From your pbase gallery, the amount of birds species count I see in there is horribly huge. How on earth did you manage to get all these shots?
Jon: Study, hunt, network. If you do not share and you got nothing to contribute because you do not put in hardwork. People are less likely to trust you with findings. You are just a panti leech.
NPX: So you are saying that there is such thing as bird politics?
Jon: Yes. To simply describe, it is circles of people lobbying for power. In bird politics, there are several agendas. The purest is to put emphasis back on the birds rather than self or organization. Other than that, spend your time fruitfully elsewhere to inflate your ego.
NPX: Quite a cheem answer. So ok, do you actually skive alot with your previous job to go out birding during office hours?
Jon: Hahaha .... Yes, that job did not challenged me. I realised that I am a person that needs to be very challenged. I need opposition to thrive and without challenges, oppositions, I tend to feel bored. So I think birding was a part of the necessary evil to get me occupied and challenged as work was indeed slow coming but well, I did my PhD in 3 years in my peak of shooting. PhD was really a good time to do birding. While at it, now that I am adequately challenged, my priorities take what I call a saner direction and just walk out of that denial phase, where I did nothing much but hunt all day long. It would be rather interesting, that if a person is shooting day in day out, you MAY be trying to find some avenue to discharge that part of you.... have you thought about it? Goodness, I am analysing myself too hard! :)
NPX: huh?
Jon: hahahaha
NPX: Quite another cheem answer! (chuckles) Ok, let change topic a little. I had the honor to go birding with you in the past and know you used to have a infamous blue vehicle that you bird with. Can you share some photos of it with us?
Jon: Sure, no problem.
NPX: Which is the most illegal place you have been for birding?
Jon: That probably have to be the SAF training grounds?
NPX: Describe your worst followed by the best photography experience you encountered while out in the fields.
Jon: Worse: Getting stuck in a training ground with a Landrover and the Landrover which came to safe me got stuck too. And the training ground barriers came down.
Best: Black Naped Tern maiden flight, its parents after scaring it off the rock, flew along side it, guiding it and then pecking it to return to the rock. The whole sequence was captured amongst the best of my kakis and mentor.
NPX: If you have to choose TWO favourite photo which you have taken, which will they be? Reasons?
Jon: That’s a hard question. A favorite photo may not be a technically perfect photo like those I submitted for PhotoVI. You got me there! I would need a couple of days to think about that, I got like 15,000 odd useable images.
NPX: You seemed to somewhat semi-retired from birding. What is your latest passion?
Jon: Using my time to effectively make money. Increased my remuneration by 10.5 times since the peak of my birding days. I say strike a balance unless you are a rich retiree. It is a fine line between obsession and passion. When people around you suffer, watch out.
NPX: Thanks Jon for the interview.
Jon: No problem. Anytime mate.
You may like to view Jonathan's website to view his works.
http://www.pbase.com/wkcheah
_______________interview edited by Roger Deng
