Greetings and salutations. This entry is the second in the [FEATURE] series here at The Fear and I am proud to introduce to you yet another inspirational figure in my life. This person is more related to my current field of work, which is photography. We have a lot in common, such as our world view, our take on everyday issues and also our thought process. Do read on about his background in photography, his work, his future goals and why I look up to him as one of my motivations.
Introducing
Muhamad Zul Azraii bin Zulkiple, or Azraii for short, is a Selangor native, born on June 24th 1991 and currently studies at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) in Mechanical Engineering. He is a full-time student on the weekdays but dedicates his weekends to portraiture and wedding shoots. His involvement in professional photography stemmed from his affection of documenting his holidays as a kid and that innocent hobby has now evolved into a means for sustaining his everyday routines and expenses. Azraii and I first met at The Butter Factory in Kuala Lumpur for Apink's High Five event back in September 2012. He and I are part of a big family of K-pop fans called STF and ever since that first meeting, we have been constantly keeping in touch and exchanging ideas and opinions through various social platforms.
Throughout his career in photography and film, Azraii has been involved in many shoots and has also received acknowledgements for his work. These include
To get to know more about Azraii personally, you can hit him up at these links below:
Or to book your portraiture/wedding sessions with him, do follow these links:
To look at some portraits I took during the interview, do visit my Flickr gallery here.
Introducing
Azraii Zulkiple; Engineering Student and Photographer
Muhamad Zul Azraii bin Zulkiple, or Azraii for short, is a Selangor native, born on June 24th 1991 and currently studies at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) in Mechanical Engineering. He is a full-time student on the weekdays but dedicates his weekends to portraiture and wedding shoots. His involvement in professional photography stemmed from his affection of documenting his holidays as a kid and that innocent hobby has now evolved into a means for sustaining his everyday routines and expenses. Azraii and I first met at The Butter Factory in Kuala Lumpur for Apink's High Five event back in September 2012. He and I are part of a big family of K-pop fans called STF and ever since that first meeting, we have been constantly keeping in touch and exchanging ideas and opinions through various social platforms.
Throughout his career in photography and film, Azraii has been involved in many shoots and has also received acknowledgements for his work. These include
- KL 48 Hours Film Project 2012: Shortlisted for Best Film, Best Directing and Cinematography.
- More than 30 weddings and numerous engagement photo shoots throughout his career, with 15 weddings in 2014 only (as of 30th August).
- Color Run Malaysia 2014.
- Team photographer for the Perodua Eco Challenge.
- Graduation photos for graduates at his university.
- Various portraiture sessions and photo shoots.
"Irma & Izdihah wedding at Sempol Love Garden Rawang"
Shot using a Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 50mm f1.4
© Azraii Zulkiple, 2014
"The party at Color Run Malaysia"
Shot using a Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8L
© Azraii Zulkiple, 2014
"UM Law graduating students"
Shot using a Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 50mm f1.4
© Azraii Zulkiple, 2014
"Model: Nina Ghazali; shooting at Bota, Perak"
Shot using a Nikon D90 + 18-135mm
© Azraii Zulkiple, 2014
Azraii is a modest, down-to-earth guy and loves to talk about common interests. As I'd mentioned before, he and I get into a lot of discussions, which mostly revolve around photography, culture, travel, food and all sorts of stuff and it is always a learning process whenever we converse. He and I are very much alike in our philosophy of life, which is to learn as much as you can, as often as you can. His whole life has been a learning experience and I had a newfound respect for him after the interview, where he shared his life story and what brought him to taking on photography and videography professionally.
"Old Mamiya 645 at Penang Camera Museum"
Shot using a Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 50mm f1.4
© Azraii Zulkiple, 2014
Azraii's vast experience began at the tender age of 7 with a Kodak film camera his mother would give him on holidays. He would have a blast just shooting about, documenting his trips and moments with his family. As he got a little older, he became a school prefect and was entrusted with the school's PA system and technical utilities. Although this had nothing to do with photography (nor did it involve any photography), he learned about audio visuals such as setting up microphones and projectors, adjusting speakers and also monitoring equipment. He had also been involved in productions of video montages, slide displays, animations and multimedia presentations. This would eventually be the building blocks for his videography. Much of his secondary school life was spent on campus, as he enrolled in boarding school. Thus, there wasn't a lot of opportunities to freely practise photography.
After that, upon entering his university life, he was drawn to the university's photography club called the Media & Technology Club (MEDTECH). Azraii wanted to rekindle his love for photography and he had found a way for exactly that. There, he learned the technical aspects of photography (settings and whatnot) and also the business aspects of photography. After ups and downs with the club, Azraii and several of his friends decided to form their own photography cooperative called Kekanda. Three years striving to book jobs, cover events and sustain the business, discrepancies arose and Azraii ultimately decided to found his own company, which he now owns called Azraii Zulkiple Photography & Films.
Azraii draws inspiration from a lot of places. One big influence on him being involved in productions is his late father, who was an Editor for Bernama (Pertubuhan Berita Nasional Malaysia or Malaysian National News Agency). There, he had learned the ropes in the world of journalism, which opened his eyes to a broader world outside of typical daily routines. He would tag along to his father's office and hang out at the photography site, which injected more interest in photography into him.
Besides that, a fellow MEDTECH senior, Mahsyar Said, was also one of his inspirations. When Azraii first joined MEDTECH, Mahsyar was at the summit of his game. He was already booking his own jobs with corporate customers, using 3D animation for his videos and won a few competitions. Azraii says that looking at the success Mahsyar was having made him want to achieve something similar, if not more.
Throughout his career, Azraii has dealt with all types of clients, all kinds of situations and has had to overcome all sorts of problems, whether they are during the shoot, prior to the shoot and almost always after the shoot. His passion keeps him going and for whatever reason that he might have doubts, he returns to his main goal, which is to keep photographing the world and see beyond typical views. He never seizes to plan his next job, his next trip, his next adventure; and that keeps him fired up for every booking he lands. He loves people, their faces, their spontaneous reactions, their seamless interactions and the moments they create together. In his mind, the smiles of people just having a good time together is something scenic and he wants these moments to be embedded as memories. This is why he loves portraiture and why he goes through the hassle of wedding and event photography. He loves being there with the couple and their family or with crowds of people. To be the one in charge of immortalizing those timeless moments gives him great pleasure and utmost satisfaction.
I admire his drive and his consistency. I admit that, most times, I lack the fuel to my fiery passion and that I sometimes have doubts about all the time and money I put into my photography. However, Azraii is one of those people that remind me why I'm doing this, why I work so hard to engage clients and produce works of art, why I go through sleepless nights and exhausting days clicking the shutter button and indulging in Lightroom, why it means so much to get the perfect shot, the pivotal point, the unforgettable moment - It is because we want to keep doing what we love.
We want to keep creating our own happiness, our own satisfaction and our own sense of accomplishment. There is no sweeter taste than the taste of success and for us as photographers, success means capturing that image we envisioned in our heads, to photograph our reality and to be creative in depicting our own memories. As much as we work to satisfy clients, we use the money we earn to travel, to run our business and to keep our dream alive. Being into photography means seeing the world in a different perspective; our own perspective. Through the viewfinder we see moments of euphoria, moments of despair, moments of danger and also moments so magical, you feel as if you are in a dream-like state, where everything is surreal and the only thing keeping you intact is the fact that you are holding thousands of bucks worth of photographic equipment.
Photography is invigoration. To be in love with something and to be able to do it day in and day out is one of the best things life has to offer. Pursuing your dreams takes nothing less than determination and diligence, but all that hard work pays dividends in the end.
After that, upon entering his university life, he was drawn to the university's photography club called the Media & Technology Club (MEDTECH). Azraii wanted to rekindle his love for photography and he had found a way for exactly that. There, he learned the technical aspects of photography (settings and whatnot) and also the business aspects of photography. After ups and downs with the club, Azraii and several of his friends decided to form their own photography cooperative called Kekanda. Three years striving to book jobs, cover events and sustain the business, discrepancies arose and Azraii ultimately decided to found his own company, which he now owns called Azraii Zulkiple Photography & Films.
"UiTM Convocation"
Shot using a Nikon D90 + 18-135mm
© Azraii Zulkiple, 2014
"Rania's Di at Sunway Pyramid for 2012 New Year Concert"
Shot using a Nikon D90 + 18-135mm
© Azraii Zulkiple, 2014
Azraii draws inspiration from a lot of places. One big influence on him being involved in productions is his late father, who was an Editor for Bernama (Pertubuhan Berita Nasional Malaysia or Malaysian National News Agency). There, he had learned the ropes in the world of journalism, which opened his eyes to a broader world outside of typical daily routines. He would tag along to his father's office and hang out at the photography site, which injected more interest in photography into him.
Besides that, a fellow MEDTECH senior, Mahsyar Said, was also one of his inspirations. When Azraii first joined MEDTECH, Mahsyar was at the summit of his game. He was already booking his own jobs with corporate customers, using 3D animation for his videos and won a few competitions. Azraii says that looking at the success Mahsyar was having made him want to achieve something similar, if not more.
"If these people, the same people as I am, can do this, why can't I?"
Throughout his career, Azraii has dealt with all types of clients, all kinds of situations and has had to overcome all sorts of problems, whether they are during the shoot, prior to the shoot and almost always after the shoot. His passion keeps him going and for whatever reason that he might have doubts, he returns to his main goal, which is to keep photographing the world and see beyond typical views. He never seizes to plan his next job, his next trip, his next adventure; and that keeps him fired up for every booking he lands. He loves people, their faces, their spontaneous reactions, their seamless interactions and the moments they create together. In his mind, the smiles of people just having a good time together is something scenic and he wants these moments to be embedded as memories. This is why he loves portraiture and why he goes through the hassle of wedding and event photography. He loves being there with the couple and their family or with crowds of people. To be the one in charge of immortalizing those timeless moments gives him great pleasure and utmost satisfaction.
"The joy at Color Run Malaysia"
Shot using a Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8L
© Azraii Zulkiple, 2014
I admire his drive and his consistency. I admit that, most times, I lack the fuel to my fiery passion and that I sometimes have doubts about all the time and money I put into my photography. However, Azraii is one of those people that remind me why I'm doing this, why I work so hard to engage clients and produce works of art, why I go through sleepless nights and exhausting days clicking the shutter button and indulging in Lightroom, why it means so much to get the perfect shot, the pivotal point, the unforgettable moment - It is because we want to keep doing what we love.
We want to keep creating our own happiness, our own satisfaction and our own sense of accomplishment. There is no sweeter taste than the taste of success and for us as photographers, success means capturing that image we envisioned in our heads, to photograph our reality and to be creative in depicting our own memories. As much as we work to satisfy clients, we use the money we earn to travel, to run our business and to keep our dream alive. Being into photography means seeing the world in a different perspective; our own perspective. Through the viewfinder we see moments of euphoria, moments of despair, moments of danger and also moments so magical, you feel as if you are in a dream-like state, where everything is surreal and the only thing keeping you intact is the fact that you are holding thousands of bucks worth of photographic equipment.
Photography is invigoration. To be in love with something and to be able to do it day in and day out is one of the best things life has to offer. Pursuing your dreams takes nothing less than determination and diligence, but all that hard work pays dividends in the end.
"I have learned so much and I am continuously improving myself. And after all that I feel like I am on the right path. A lot of people told me I should work before I pursue photography full time while only a few said that I should just go for it. I listen only to those few and I take their words as motivation,"
After graduating, Azraii plans on going full time and opening his own studio in the coming months. He is working to take up photo projects and travel photojournalism, as well. His long term goal is to take up sports photography, where he says the unforgettable moments are just infinite. I wish him well on his endeavours and hope to someday be up there with him and other established photographers.
To get to know more about Azraii personally, you can hit him up at these links below:
To look at some portraits I took during the interview, do visit my Flickr gallery here.
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." – Confucius
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