All Hands On Deck

Michael Rowed The Boat Ashore

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Maybe the captain of this vessel found himself in the doldrums. No, look carefully at the image and you’ll see that this was not shot in some exotic marina, or some lagoon in the Caribbean. It was shot on a city street.

Yes, you read that correctly. On a city street.

We were in Kuala Lumpur last July and decided to walk from our hotel, the Shangri-La, to the nearby Petronas Towers. As always, I was lagging several yards behind the rest of the family because I kept stopping to take shots of objects or sights that caught my eye.

This boat is just a great advertisement for a local restaurant. Don’t worry, there won’t be a mutiny on the bountiful.

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The Orient Expressed

Working Up An Appetite For Colour

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

It’s not often I’m separated from my camera by more than about six feet. Even when it’s not slung around my shoulder or my neck, it’s in a bag within arm’s reach. But I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with my family last July and we decided to explore our temporary abode, the Shangri-La Hotel.

We’d had a whole day outdoors exploring the city and since it was fairly late at night I didn’t think I’d need my camera, so I left it in our room. We walked around the spacious, ornate lobby and I was mentally ticking off shots I could take the next day – and angles that I could use in daylight.

Then we found our way to the Shang Palace restaurant and even before I got to its entrance, the colours just stopped me in my tracks. It was like looking at some ethereal artwork.


I turned around and, over my shoulder, told the rest of the clan that I was going back to the room for my camera. I was back in less than five minutes and I reckon I couldn’t have gone any quicker, even if I’d strapped a pair of rollerblades on.

It was an interesting exercise shooting this series, because the sheen on the walls caused a reflection that could have actually resulted in a crystal-clear close-up looking as if the focus had been botched. So I walked as far back down the corridor as I could, not only to minimise the problem but also to use the wonderful blue-and-black mural as a counterpoint to the other bright colours.


For earlier posts in this series, check out The Doors Archive.

All The Fun Of The Fare

Deep In The Heart Of Taxis

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I’ve caught taxis in many parts of the world, but I don’t think I’ve ever come across a taxi company that extends such a colourful welcome - or a more enthusiastic, visible greeting - to prospective passengers.

These shots were taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last July, when the entire Authorblog family escaped the Melbourne winter and jumped on a plane to spend ten days in the tropics.

I was eleven years old when we visited Singapore for the first time and I remember being fascinated by the share-taxi concept that existed on the route from the city centre to Bukit Timah. You got into the cab and waited for three other passengers and as soon as they had materialised, the cab driver would get going. Because it was a fixed route, you paid a fixed fare, too.

That was a big deal for me, because the cabs that plied the route were big, majestic diesel Mercedes-Benz sedans. The first time I sat in one, I could barely believe my luck because it was the first time I had ever sat in a Benz. Man, did I have some stories to tell my envious classmates when I got back home.

I also remember vividly the self-closing doors of the silver-and-red taxis in another former British colony, Hong Kong. As soon as we got in I would reach for my seatbelt with one hand and the door handle with the other - but the door would swing closed. It was not immediately that I realised the cab driver was activating a switch that was closing the passenger door!

Both these shots were taken on the move. In KL. The first shot was taken on the long, scenic drive from the international airport to the Shangri-La hotel in the city. I saw the welcoming sticker on the door of a cab that pulled up alongside us at a traffic light - and quickly angled this shot before the lights changed.

The second shot (below) was taken as we walked along a busy footpath in the city centre a few days later. I could see the cab approaching in the lane closest to me and I knew the driver would have to slow down for a set of traffic lights.

I had my 18-125mm lens on the camera, so I composed a neat, tight frame and set the speed accordingly. Then I tracked the cab, allowing the camera lens to follow its path - and simply hit the shutter as soon as the cab was where I wanted it.

(Extra, extra, read all about it: I've been interviewed here. Thank you to all those who have followed this link and checked out the interview. There have been so many wonderful comments that I've tried to reply to each one personally - but you're setting a cracking pace. My humble and heartfelt thanks to all of you for the wonderful tributes and thoughts you have shared on the interview.)


For earlier posts in this series, check out The Doors Archive.