We had one free day in Dallas so we decided to experience Texas the best we could. First, Choon Ean, Jasmine and I checked out the Sixth Floor Museum. Located on the sixth floor of what was formerly known as the Dealey Plaza from which Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly assassinated the late President John F Kennedy. This is one of the top ten things a visitor must do, especially if you are a history buff. There were plenty of artifacts, photographs & videos to chronicle the event. Well worth a visit.

The big bonus was “A Photographer’s Story” an exhibition of Pulitzer Award winning photographer, Bob Jackson. His photograph of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald at point blank range, forever seared into our minds the JFK assassination. I was impressed by the breadth and depth of his work and his journalistic instincts that was shown throughout his career. When he covered the assassination, he was only 3 years into his job.

The exhibition showcased some of the unused frames of Bob’s captures. You could see he was thinking as he snapped away. This is what Bob said in 2008, “The Pulitzer Prize image will last a long time. I was just on a pretty routine assignment that turned into an historical event. I was just fortunate to be able to cover it. In the end, I want to be remembered not just for one picture, but for a career where I tried to do my best on any and every assignment.”

Won’t it be cool to interview him for WedShooter.TV?

After the museum, we headed to Fort Worth Stockyard, about 40 minutes from Dallas. How can you experience Texas without being to a rodeo & some good old cowboy food? We had some steaks and calf fries a.k.a calves’ testicles. In all fairness, we had no idea what it was until we finished most of it. “It’s calves’ testicles, a cowboy delicacy” said the waiter. Nope, he wasn’t kidding! Well, all you need is creative cooking techniques and willing stomach

The two-hour rodeo show was fun. I had always wanted to see one. These guys paid U$65 to compete for the night and most of them didn’t last more than 2 seconds on the back of a bull! Boy did we had fun. Signing off now as I am getting ready for a week-long workshop with Joe McNally at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop. Here are some shots we had in Texas.

The Sixth Floor Museum, a must see in Dallas

Right outside the building from which Lee Harvey Osward fired three shots that killed JFK

Calf Fries, my friend

Choon Ean’s reaction when we found out what we had just put into our mouths. Too late, the whole plate was almost gone by the time we found out.

The national anthem was sung by an 11-year-old and the flag bearer stood still.

This is the most dangerous sports I’ve ever seen.

No bull! You’d better run!

Trying out some panning shots.

a bunch of kids chasing after a sheep!

Signing off with another panning shot!

Our maiden trip to New York got off to a bad start. As we exited the airport, a man who claimed to be a taxi driver intercepted as and led us to his car in the car park. Coming from Malaysia, Jasmine and I felt he sounded and looked like an illegitimate cab driver that we are all too accustomed in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. We were quoted a flat rate of U$55 from JFK to Lond Island, which sounded very fair. Half way in the journey he revised it to U$75, including tips. We were so tired after a 24-hour journey that we didn’t argue. Now, here is the “best” part…

When we arrived the hotel, I handed over U$75 to him. He turned around and asked, “What is this? Only U$30?”, he waved two $5 and a $20 bills at me. I was 100% certain that I handed the right amount to him but he insisted I was wrong. As a visitor, I didn’t want to create a scene so I handed him a $50 bill. When we caught up with Choon Ean, our videographer who arrived 12 hours earlier from Kuala Lumpur, she related the same experience. Using the same trick, the taxi driver cheated $100 out of her. We couldn’t believe this.

Apparently this is a common trick by some unscrupulous NY cab drivers. So be very careful when you hand money over to the cab driver. Make sure you count the bills one by one in front of him.

On the bright side, our New York couple, Kevin and Sarah look GORGEOUS! They are even sweeter people. We’ve checked out some locations today and it will be an AWESOME shoot on Saturday, I promise.

It’s time to get some sleep and restart our New York trip with a good night sleep & nice breakfast. Adios!

Our friends at Wedding & Portraits Photographer International (WPPI) loves this blog. Remember the photographers get-together at La Bodega in May? It didn’t go unnoticed…hmm, someone in California is reading this blog It is sweet to be reminded this blog has an international following. Just great fun to connect with people near and far.

See this link for the WPPI newsletter in which we were mentioned

This has to be one of the best days for Malaysian wedding photographers. Shen, Jenny and I combined to win first, second and third place at the latest WPPI print competition! WOW! Here are the winning entries:

“Father’s Prayer” by Shen, 1st place Wedding Photojournalism

“Torch Bearers” by Louis, 2nd place Non-Wedding Photojournalism

“Mandy & Matt” by Jenny Sun, 3rd place Bride & Groom Together

This is such a fantastic news and encouragement for our photographers. Winning is nice. Winning together is so much nicer! Many also won Accolades of Excellence Awards in the same print competition: Kenneth Tan, Clement Lee, Malcolm Foo, Andy Chin, Qippy. Jasmine and I were jumping up and down for you all!

I am even prouder of your humility and gratitude. I appreciate the thank you notes…hey, don’t give me too much credit. You worked for it and you deserved it. Blessings everyone! Malaysia Boleh!

Two days ago, someone broke into our home and stole these items: D3, D700, 17-35mm & a Powerbook. I was scheduled for a shoot in Penang which I eventually canceled. Even if I could borrow these equipment, I wouldn’t be in the right state of mind to do the shoot. I felt angry, violated and heartbroken.

For the last 48 hours, Jasmine and I went through an emotional roller coaster ride. “Was there an inside collaborator?” “How long have we been watched?” “How did they get in?” “Are we still safe here?” Stressed out & frightened, we consoled each other and prayed. Eventually fatigue knocked us off and we fell asleep.

48 hours on…I realize there are many silverlinings in this unfortunate event:

1. Love & Friendship
Thank you so much for the outpouring of support, prayers and love. There was an explosion of love at Twitter. There were soooooo many emails, tweets, smses. Someone offers me a immediate personal loan to buy new gear. Another offer to loan me his entire gear system for 2 months (including a D3)! If I could weigh your love in gold, I would be richer than Bill Gates! THANK YOU!

2. Police Efficiency
I’ve had my fair share of criticising law enforcement in our country. We always harp on their glaring mistakes but rarely credit them for job well done. The investigating officer was in contact with me until 11:30pm. These guys probably work 18-20 hours a day when they are at the verge of solving a case. They were friendly, informative and fast. The main suspect was nabbed in 18 hours! I am grateful.

3. It could have been worse
I’ve lost things, which are temporal and replaceable. Jasmine and I weren’t in the house so we weren’t harmed. Our passports were not touched! PHEW! Imagine if they were gone…our NY trip/shoot that we’ve planned for so long would have to be canceled. Imagine the horror on my bride’s face!

We’ve spent the last two days improving the security measures in our house, going through evidences, etc. I felt like a CSI. FYI, pixelated CCTV footages cannot be “zoom and made clear” like they did it in the CSI tv series. I was stupid enough to try that!

Thank you for your prayers & support.

p/s – the best part of my day was calling Shen to congratulate him on winning 1st place in his first WPPI print competition entry. Shen took my 3-day workshop last year.