FwuKai Quah - The Battered Photographer

FwuKai Quah - The Battered Photographer
© FwuKai Quah

It is a great privilege for me to introduce the work of FwuKai Quah, a young photographer from Penang. FwuKai is best known for having created time lapse photographs of Penang. He calls himself the Battered Photographer. (Now why such an odd name? I'll let him describe it to you shortly, in his own words.)

I first came across FwuKai's work on the web, and was so impressed by his time-lapse photography of Penang that I immediately shot him an invitation to be the first photographer to be featured on Penang Travel Tips's new "Photographers of Penang" section. FwuKai graciously accepted the invitation to have his art showcased for the enjoyment of Penang Travel Tips readers.

But who is this FwuKai Quah, and what does he shoot? Allow me now bring him over, and let him introduce himself to you.

Penang Bridge Close-Up
© FwuKai Quah using this photo

FwuKai Quah: the photographer in his own words

My name is FwuKai Quah. I am a self-taught nature landscape and time-lapse photographer from Penang, Malaysia. I picked up my first DSLR, a Canon Rebel 450D when I was on a 1-year job-related training in California. The intention was simple, that is to capture and record down where I've been in the US to show to my friends and family back home.

Since then, I frequently come across influential works from native Californian landscape photographers with the likes of Jim Patterson, Joshua Cripps and Patrick Smith. They help sculpt and develop my style of photography which leans towards capturing the scene with strong leading line and engaging composition, often harmonizing the land and sky with beautiful natural light. I grew ambitious, believing I could produce some fine-art landscape images that I could hang on my wall when I returned home. With that, my journey as a landscape photographer began.

Tan Jetty
© FwuKai Quah using this photo

The Battered Photographer?

On one of my photography trips, I set up my camera on a tripod at "Hole in the Wall Beach" in Santa Cruz, California. Out of a sudden, a rogue wave hit the beach. My instinctive reflexes had me dashing away, but I didn't have time to save my camera. It was knocked into the sea and damaged. That was indeed an agonizing experience - I could not understand why it happened to me! But through that unforgettable experience, I decided to call my website "Battered Photographer".

I couldn't live without a camera, of course, so I bought myself another. This time it was a Canon 60D, a more advanced piece of equipment than the previous. My pledge was to never give up despite what nature might chose to throw at me. I got stronger, bolder and was shooting even under extreme terrain and adverse weather conditions.

Lombard Trail, Penang Botanic Gardens
© FwuKai Quah using this photo

Shooting Penang

When I returned to Penang in 2010 with my newly acquired hobby, I started to seek out beautiful places to satisfy my photography appetite. In fact I found Balik Pulau to be especially pleasant with a lot of greenery and a touch out local kampung style. Come night fall, the sky in Sungai Burong will be lit up by gazillions of stars and of course the mighty MilkyWay, which is always easily spotted.

For seascape, I was particularly drawn to Sungai Batu where the rocky foreground strikes a great balance with the lapping waves. If you're looking for a more exotic and secluded experience, the beaches at the Penang National Park such as Monkey Beach never fails to put one in tune with nature. I can only say that my sunrise experience there was magical!

On and off, I do come across new spots for photography around Penang that really surprises me. To start, Penang Hill would be the best candidate with many trails to explore, and lately I've discovered a stream, a waterfall and a beautiful hiking trail composition from my casual exploration.

Exploring the World of Time-Lapse Photography

While I was surfing the web one day, I came across a video that I would regard as life-changing. It's called "Manhattan in Motion", a time-lapse photography video that was beautifully put together by Josh Owens. And I thought for a while that my city deserves to have a time-lapse photography video too. Since then, I have successfully produced "Penang in Motion" and recently "Penang in Motion 2".

Time-lapse photography is a very time-consuming process. It doesn't come easily when I first got started doing it, because there wasn't enough resource for me to learn the new style in Asia. It is through many trials and errors, a long learning curve, digging for information on the web and some costly investment on new photographic equipment that I finally managed to pull everything through. It's always a great feeling to see Penangites feeling proud of themselves after watching the video. Penang is finally on the "Time-Lapse photography" atlas!

FwuKai Quah at Dove Jetty (Jelutong Fishermen Wharf), Jelutong (24 November 2012)
© Nikko Tan

About FwuKai Quah

FwuKai is an engineer by day, but on weekends he accepts photography assignments (landscape/time-lapse/videography). He occasionally holds informal private photography workshops or even provides guided photo-tour for tourists and photography enthusiasts. Those who are interested can contact him at fwukaiquah@yahoo.com for details.

FwuKai offers two types of informal private photography workshops, namely landscape photography and time-lapse photography. These are aimed at improving the student's field techniques, post processing workflow and finishing.

George Town
© FwuKai Quah using this photo

Sale and Licensing of FwuKai Quah's Works

Sale of Prints
All of FwuKai's works are posted on his website at www.batteredphotographer.com. They are also available in print form. Please expect a 2-3-week delivery fulfillment within Malaysia, and 4-5 weeks for non-Malaysia mailing addresses.

The prints are available in the following sizes:

8" x 12" - US$30.00 (RM80)
16" x 24" - US$60.00 (RM170)
24" x 36" - US$90.00 (RM260)
32" x 48" - US$120.00 (RM350)

Canvas prints are available with stretched framing in the following sizes:

8" x 12" - US$60.00 (RM170)
16" x 24" - US$120.00 (RM350)
24" x 36" - US$240.00 (RM700)
32" x 48" - US$480.00 (RM1400)

Shipping fees are not included. When you order, he will provide you his Paypal account for transaction. Notice that for order within Malaysia a cheaper price in Ringgit Malaysia will apply, so do take this advantage to add his work on your wall!

Licensing
FwuKai's works are available for licensing in advertisements, calendar, coffee table books, brochures and other print literature. The fee is dependent on media and volume of print-run. Please email inquiries to FwuKai with your requirement details.

You may stay updated on FwuKai's photography journey by liking his facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/TheBatteredPhotographer

Spooky House - Sungai Burung
© FwuKai Quah using this photo

Accolades received by FwuKai Quah

Featured Pages

FwuKai's photographs are also featured on the following pages in Penang Travel Tips:

FwuKai Quah Photo Gallery

And now it's time for us to enjoy the photography of FwuKai Quah. I arrange them according to categories. Click the thumbnails to view individual pages.


Parting shot of FwuKai, a self-portrait taken in early 2012 at Death Valley National Park in California, the United States
© FwuKai Quah

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