NPX: How long have you been dabbling in nature photography?

Chris- Well my photography started by accident… I was buying and selling cameras and got stuck with one that I could not or rather was not able to get rid of because of the price. Your question would then be how the hell did I get into selling and buying cameras in the first place. Okay, I was working with a shipping line and my job was to go on aboard the ships to do paper work like clearing immigration, customs and etc, so I get to meet with the ship’s crew who sometimes runs out of money, so they sell anything that could fetch them money, and that is how I got into it and that was 25 years ago. I did stop pursuing this hobby for a while due to work commitment and picked up again 5 years ago.

NPX: What do you like particularly about it?

Chris – Photography to me is like challenging yourself to keep improving, as long as you are still not happy with what you have you keep learning from others you consider to be better than you, and the creativity side of it when it might be a masterpiece to some and it can also be rubbish to others, it has no boundary.

NPX: How did you learn photography techniques?

I had the opportunity to join a local Photography Club back in Penang.

NPX: Were there any photographer(s) that you like and influenced your style?

I do not really have a style or follow anyone in particular. I am more into improving my techniques rather than having a personal style, because I still consider my photography at a learning stage adn still a lot of room for improvement.

NPX: What are the stuff in your dry cabinet? If you can only bring one lens out on your trip, which one will that be?

Well I have lot of stuff, but my main gears consist of 3 bodies (1DMK3, 50D and 40D). For lenses I have the Canon 500mm, 300mm, 70-200mm, 24-105mm, 135mm f/2.8, 17-40mm and Tamron 180mm. Plus the normal accessories like flash, cable release etc……

NPX: Which is your favourite bird species and why?

Actually I have several favourite species ie the Trogons, Barbets and Broadbills. I like them due to their stunning colors and the difficulty in capturing a good shots of them.

NPX: Which other genres of nature photography you’d like to pursue in the future? Why is it so?

Well I started off with macro and I still do like macro apart from brids, but if opportunity arises, I would like to shoot African wild life.

NPX: While pursuing your hobby, what is your most memorable moment to date?

At the moment it is the first time I when to Bukit Tinggi accidentally also my first time using the newly bought 500mm lens.

NPX: What are the challenges you’ve faced?

Not enough focal length.

NPX: Any word of advise for beginners starting out on nature photography?

Never give up, learn to enjoy the hobby and dont worry about the equipment. Just keep shooting!

NPX: Please share with us a couple of your favourite images accumulated over the years. Please describe to us why you like these images.

These images are not the best technically, but I like them all the same.

This is my very first raptor shot when I started to learn how to shoot birds

and the above was my very first decent macro shot.

NPX: Thanks for taking the time for this interview.

My pleasure..

You can visit Chrisli gallery @ http://www.flickr.com/gp/9536690@N08/unS760