The Eyes Have It!

We tend to take our sight and our eyes for granted!

"The eyes are the window of the soul." - English Proverb

As a photographer, no prize for telling what is your most precious sense!

May be I should have taken better care of my eyes?

I noticed my right eye was going out of focus two years ago and it turn out that I had a Retinal Detachment!

According to Wikipedia: Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blindness. It is a medical emergency.


After THREE laser procedures, they managed (I think) to attach my damaged retina back "on the wall".

My right eye is not like before, now it contain an "Intraccular Lens" because my existing natural crystalline lens has to be replace during the operation.

During the last six months I noticed my right vision was getting "hazy", it was like a translucent veil was covering it! I suspected that "lens" is getting hazy, obviously what was put in was not of Canon "L" lens standard! ;)

This is what my right eye saw, from the deck of our house!

I was thankful that my eyes were examined by Shannon Tubman of McClellan & Grimmer Optometrists a month ago and she reckoned I should go for a YAG laser capsulotomy to clear up the haze!

A YAK, no; a YAG laser? And capsu who? Sound awful eh?

Actually it is a simple procedure where the doctor uses a laser beam to make a tiny hole in the posterior membrane of the lens to let light pass through and restore clear vision. Although the laser procedure requires close and precise focusing by the ophthalmologist, for the patient the technique is a painless, outpatient procedure.

Yesterday I had that done by the same eye surgeon who operated my eye before. It was a 2 minutes procedure, you hear "clicks" and see flashes when the laser zap your eye ball and before you know it, it was over!

So does it work?

Well, it is still too early to say but today; this is how my right eye's vision look like.


Dramatic alright!! The sharpness are still not there, but hopefully with new glasses, it should improve some ;)

To celebrate my new vision I went and look for my shots that features stunning, beautiful; expressive eyes!

My favorite...

I was shooting a feature at Bethany Home (Home for disadvantaged children) at Simpang Empat, Perak; Malaysia. I had a feeling that I was being "watch".

Then I saw these BIG, beautiful sad eyes peeping through a classroom window.... Priya, 6; cannot hear or speak, what was she thinking?

Shot with Kodak DCS 520 DSLR at ISO 400 with Canon 70-200 at full f2.8.

A child of the "Children of the Dam", at Kuala Kubu Bahru, Malaysia; just before their homes and village were taken away to build a new dam.

Perspiration on her upper lip, suspicious eyes... a grippping close-up.

Kodak DCS520 digital, Canon 70-200 f2.8

A candid shots taken in Kuching, Sarawak. Their shy eyes were peeping at me while I tried to get a shot of the native "long house". Canon D2000 DSLR, 70-210 f2.8.

A model's eyes... Fannie Kong, model for a tungsten studio light demo. Shot her with the Kodak 2 mega pixel DCS520 DSLR, the quality was unbelievable!

Beautiful eyes! Our young photographer Leen, playing model for me to compare between film and Kodak DCS560 DSLR. Film won ;)

Happy eyes... Jerico, our neighbor's son. A 400% crop from a Canon G7 shot, showing the prowess of a P&S lens!

Glamorous eyes... Erra Fazira is a Malaysian actress. She became well-known during the mid-nineties, in particular after starring in the romantic drama Sembilu, a film which grossed $4.2 million.
Intelligent eyes... Vania; our neighbor's daughter, in 1998. She will be pursuing a medical degree next year!

Famous Last Words:

I once made a comment that "Good photographers cannot be trained, sad but true..."; because of that I was accused of being arrogant and a prima donna by my ex bosses!

What I actually meant was a good photographer has to have that "X" factor first, that creativity factor is inborn and coupled with a good guidance from a dedicated Picture Editor, he/she will become a very good photographer indeed.

If what I claimed is hot air, then explain to me WHY so many photographers are still lousy snappers after a life time working in the media?

Come to think of it, he or she must first have the eyes for pictures ;)

You Might Also Like:

The X Factor