Fasten your seatbelt and witness these captivating images shot from angles and perspectives that you have never seen before. ViewBug member keowweeloong is a freelance photographer and photojournalist based in Malaysia, his images are daring to take and impressive to see. Do not try this at home!
How do you take these sort of images?
I usually apply the following principles:
a) Calm Down. When you are on top of a high building, adrenaline and acrophobia start to kick in and I'll loose my sense of direction and forget about photography.
b) Time Management - The clock starts ticking when I enter a building. I need to get from ground level to the top undetected by the guards while I scout for a good spot.
c) Setup - I used to climb alone, I had to setup my tripod and get the perfect composition before putting myself into the frame.
How did you capture the People’s choice photo in the Concrete Jungle Photo Contest?
Many people think that it's really simple to get a shot like this one, but it actually took me 4 attempt to get on the building roof because the security is really high in world trade center (causewaybay HK). After sneaking past security I had to find ways to get to the top of the building by exploring floor by floor to evade cctv and security checkpoint. The strategy was to blend in with the employees of the building and stay as low profile as we could while we are walking around the building. Once I got to the roof, I had to find the right spot and setup my tripod to get my shot. In the photo I'm hanging on the edge and my camera attached with the tripod is above me, I used a self timer for this shot.
What inspires you to shoot this sort of photos?
As a photographer I enjoy shooting something unique that nobody else will photograph. Is it worth it to risk your life to capture the photo you want? as a photographer my answer is yes!
What got you started with the high altitude photography?
I started shooting for many politician around South East Asia but no one really notice my photo until I shot high altitude image. so I decided to produce more.
On this photo, what equipment do you use, how do you capture the self-portrait?
I used a manfrotto tripod, a 14mm samyang lens (because it's sharp and wide) and a D700 which perform very well in high ISO. First I attached my tripod at a construction lift and set it to self timer mode while I got myself in position for this shot. I never shoot night photo above ISO 6400 to maintain the quality of the photo, instead I used a longer exposure time (1-2 sec) to compensate for the extra ISO.
I don't use flash at night because it will focus on the subject but the background will be too dark. I used a Metz LED light which produce a constant light on the subject but it won't causes the background to turn dark. It's all about the right exposure, ISO, aperture setting that compliment the LED light on the subject. I normally shoot around F4-5 to prevent the background from getting blurry, I always believe in having the foreground and background focused equally.
See more of keowweeloong's photos and share your love if you like them!
