First built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, the great walls main construction was during the Ming Dynasty. Stretching across China for over 8,851.8 km ( or 5,500.3 miles) the Great Wall was used as defensive tool.
A popular myth is that the great wall is visible from the moon, it is not. From low orbit it is, barely visible, as are many other man made objects.
Premier food blog Cumi dan Ciki is a sensory delight. Though focused on Malaysian cuisine, it rises above other food blogs by adding in a dash of humor, a sprig of travel news, a sprinkle of movie reviews and scoops of great food photography.
Run by Mei Teh and her husband Joe, we take a look at the sites main ingredient – great food photography and how it’s all done …
FotoArk: How did your website start? Was it just a personal blog, or have you always been photographing and, writing about food?
Our blog started out a couple of years back as a means to journal our travels and related photos. However, because we enjoy eating so much (as do other Malaysians!) this blog soon took on the form of a food blog…
[learn_more caption=”Click here to learn more about where the name of Cumi & Ciki comes from …”]There is Cumi-Ciki but who is ‘Dan’? For non-Malaysian or Indonesian readers (our languages are similar but have vast differences too), ‘Dan’ is not an imaginary person but the English word ‘And’. It’s not spelt backwards but that’s how it ‘s translated in Malay language. Since we used it in our original Blogger site, we kept it the same here. Cumi & Ciki is a Malaysian food and travel blog, which also tells of our worldly adventures! The name is derived from a popular educational television puppet show for Malaysian children in the 70s and 80s. This is the tale of the two traveling, eating, thrill-seeking monkeys from Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Peninsular Malaysia. Ultimately food and culture go hand in hand and we strive hard to convey this via our blog on a daily basis.[/learn_more]
FotoArk: Tell us how you set up a photo shoot? Do you talk to the restaurant before and make a private appointment. Or do you just show up and start ordering?
Well sometimes we just walk in, sometimes we get emails or a phone call, requesting we pay the restaurant a visit. How and what we write is entirely up to us. We receive no monetary compensation for the review nor are we obligated to write a positive review if the food turns out, not entirely up to expectations.
FotoArk: Have you ever had a problem with a restaurant owner not letting you shoot there, and how did you deal with this?
No, not really. If they say, no shooting, we respect their wishes. These days, restaurants actually welcome food bloggers. Free publicity is great anyway, don’t you agree? (we do!)
FotoArk: Many food photographers photograph food on a plate when its cold. Using things like soap bubbles on bacon etc to make the food a lot more appetizing. Do you do the same, or do you shoot the food live as it is?
Never. We shoot it as it is. Otherwise it defeats the purpose of blogging and keeping it real. Ours is a blog, not a food magazine.. no air-brushing required nor allowed;)
FotoArk: All of your food photographs are well lit, and the lighting beautiful. But restaurants are often low in light. Can you tell us if you use any special lighting to capture your work?
Invest in a good lens and a good flash. It’s not rocket science… just straight up photography. Take a clear, crisp shot and you are home free. No point having fancy props or a huge-ass camera if you cannot just nail one clear shot, right? I used to take shots on a point and shoot and now, a better camera. One thing remains the same. The clearest shot is the shot that you will end up using on your blog and that will make people hungry for more!
FotoArk: What’s the biggest challenge in photographing, and writing about food, and how have you overcome it?
and you want to be writing till a ripe old age, you need to read. Don’t ever stop reading. Read anything and everything you can get your hands on (not necessarily just about food). Read in the loo, on the bus, in the subway.. read! No input.. no output. Again, not rocket science;)
FotoArk: A pro camera is better than an entry level camera in the hands of an intermediate. Would you agree, or not?
I disagree. I am living proof 😛
FotoArk: What would you answer if a client asked you this: “What makes you different from any other photographer?” (eg, why should we hire you)
If you like what you see on my blog, by all means let’s have coffee and a chat!
Many thanks to Mei for joining us & letting us in on her great world of food photography!
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All photographs in this article are sourced with permission and the copyright of www.cumidanciki.com
From the entrance way into Wat Pho in Bangkok Thailand you will see this near glowing gold statue head of the Buddha
Built from porous rock these cave houses still house people today!
Bronze Imperial guardian lions guard entrance ways into the Forbidden city in Beijing China. Based on myth these creatures are said to have powers of protection.
In the woods behind the concentration camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau is something very ominous. Black marble headstones are places in various areas around the area. They mark the spots where the Nazi’s tried to dump the ash from all the bodies they where incinerating.
Used as fertilizer much of it was shipped away to farms. The rest dumped in to fields around the camp. Here ash from human remains was dumped into ponds of water.
India can get hot. When it does you will never be far away from a man selling cold drinks. In this case it’s one of the rare places where you can buy cold water and no fizzy drinks.
This man is selling plain water, soda water and the ever popular lemon soda.
It’s cold, start and callus. It was worse in the day. Hundred crammed into one barracks. Three to four or more to a bunk bed.
Many of these have been rebuilt as the Nazi’s did their best to destroy them, and the evidence at the end of the war.
In the background you can see the remain chimneys where these barracks used to stand. Fields upon fields of them.
The terracotta army is based in Xi’an. Discovered in 1974 over 7,000 solders have been uncovered. Each solider has their own unique face making the Terracotta army one of the worlds most valuable & historical works of art. While most of the arm is on show there are still vast areas in the complex still not uncovered.
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The Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) from Sabah is famous for its long nose. The monkey is only found on the island of Borneo which consists of Kalimantan, Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah.
The Proboscis monkey has seen a drop of 50% in its population due to de-forestation and hunting.