Photographer's Book

If any of you have photographer friends, you'll know that they could be quite opinionated when it comes to photographs.

We've had our fair share of encounters. And being photographers ourselves, we too could be a lil hard on our opinions at times. Well, all these is simply because 'beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder'.

However, we are proud to say the least, that my encounters with photographers on this book has been relatively more positive than negative - professionals to amateurs and hobbyists.

The aspects that they have mentioned include the composition whereby the focus or object is given good emphasis with its surrounding supporting it well. Take an example of a photo from the book



As you can see here, the focus is the models, but the staircase gives a good 'feel' and added atmosphere to the picture. Some people have even mentioned that the wall at the back has added the special touch to it, as its old rustic look. Not to mentioned the soft light approach adds to the whole mood, as if the models are going for a batik party!

Some photographers like the mixture of both batik and its background, giving a somewhat Malaysian feel - and which is not too old, neither too modern, but just a good blend.

Of course, many complimented the background aspects. Unlike many photographs from magazines, backgrounds are normally less intricate & detailed, this book however have background that are very unique, and to some very rich in details itself. If not careful, this can overshadow the object of the photographs.

However, eM.K. and myself had similar ideas & discussions on focusing directly on the models parading the batiks... and hence, that is what readers see when they first see the pictures - not the Peranakan (Baba Nyonya/ Straits Chinese) tiles, the colonial buildings or the paintings on the Chinese temples, but instead they first see the beautiful & bold colours of the vibrant batik.

Some photographers have even asked us pertaining to our photography works like where is our studio, how long are we in the trade, etc... and are truly amazed to say that we did this as the very first project, though eM.K. has vast experience in photography, taking photographs especially in events.

The compliments from photographers gives weight to our work. And we feel honoured when they genuinely like the book. In fact, when a photographer like the book, they will really appreciate it and will tell you all the reasons they like it. That, to us, is another feather on our caps :)

Book For All

A pleasant surprise last week. A day after I wrote about giving the book as a corporate gift, I met up with a director from a company.

Apparently, he was talking to eM.K. about photography (as the director business deals with cameras) and eM.K mentioned about the book to be given as a corporate gift.

He mentioned the same lines as we've mentioned before to why this book will be a suitable unique corporate gift to his high end clients - that his clients will appreciate a good book combining Asian values from its batik to the architectural backdrops using Malaccan architecture.

And especially for this client, this book is taken with superb photography using a 22 megapixel camera (that's why we provide the magnifying glass! :) ) and which have been complimented by professional photographers themselves.

And good news - the director bought the idea! I feel honoured as for a person in the photography industry to recognise this book. To make it sweeter, he plans to give it as a corporate gift, hence further re-enforcing his belief in the book himself, and our belief that this book is a book for all - from batik lovers to art enthusiasts and even photographers :)

Unique Asian Corporate Gift

We are proud to say that the Batik Inspirations book serves as a high end corporate gift. So far, we've had companies and even individuals who would like to give a unique Malaysian or for that matter, Asian corporate gift.

The book serves as a corporate gift idea because of its uniqueness of having both the book and the additional magnifying glass. Bundled together, it makes a unique gift.

Some clients who have bought directly from us have given this book as a corporate executive gift - from giving it to their employees, some even to their bosses, and of course, a lot have given this as a gift to their clients who deserve it.

To make things a little more sweet, the book is also purchased as a corporate gift not only from the region but also from overseas, making this gift sweeter, as a gift from Asia.

Batik Artist/ Batik Producer/ Batik Manufacturer

Along the course of marketing this book, Ive encountered with many batik manufacturers, some of which are batik designers or batik artists themselves, but also many who are owners of batik factories with a handful of batik artists under them.

Proud to say that there is quite a good response from them. Many of them bought the batik book because they would like to find out the latest batik motifs/ batik patterns/ batik designs from these top designers from Malaysia.

Of course, some of them use Batik Inspirations as a reference book, as the pictures themselves are able to tell them about batik and the ideas behind them.

Many batik artists also bought the book as a representative of Batik Malaysia - batik artists from Malaysia, Indonesia, and even from USA and India :)

Malaysian Fashion Designer

Today was a pleasant surprise. I was at one of my friend's (a fashion designer) boutique.

There was a customer there, who talked to me. She was saying that she wanted to get a list of Malaysian fashion designers - who specializes in batik, but couldn't find any catalogue of such.

I sincerely mentioned to her about the Batik Inspirations book, which has the addresses of some of the most well known fashion designers who incorporates with batik pattern/ batik design in their works.

She immediately took upon the book, and was very happy with her purchase as it showed the fashion spread by Malaysian top names with inspiration from the bold, beautiful batik colours.. All these with the complete list - address and contact of Malaysian fashion designers, some award winning and some members of Malaysian Official Designer's Association.

This was further enhanced by the employee of my friend who mentioned that the book is sufficient for all information she needs as its a compilation of Malaysian haute couture designers. What a compliment! :)