Bernard Lim

Been interested in the idea of 山水画 shan shui hua (mountain water painting), finally got to see it in person despite how chaotic and stressful the situation was lol It touches on the concept of 无为 wuwei (non doing), to put effortless effort and forgetting preconceived techniques. And if u want to learn to be calm, chaos is where u truly learn to jazz, i’m grateful for the chaos I’m at now 留白liu bai (leave white) is also intentional, it’s not lifeless physical space but rather it’s silence in music. This eastern idea of Emptiness is a positive one compared to western, where your cup is empty so you can drink Taiwanese cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Ping also mentioned most Chinese paintings are b&w, it’s the darkness that conveys beauty, it’s about finding layers of light in darkness. By painting you’re actually removing lights rather than adding, how amazing to see lighting this way, ok bye Thanks for the photo James

Throwback to a spontaneous short we made for last year’s Raintown Film Festival, may have experienced the highest blood pressure trying to AD the kids and bribed them with cans of cokes @laixiangpow as writer n director n sound @junyu_yeo one man tech crew (who won last year’s Raintown!) @eanjei_0912 the editor and their friend Sean Kook who came to help Aki Huang as music composer It’s based on Lai Xiang’s childhood which he recalled throwing his toys out of balcony so that he could get out of the house to play Always nice to capture slice of local life, hopefully more to come with a bigger scale in the future :D Shot on fx3 n thypoch simera c

Collecting ‘sketches’ on iphone, some recent island and city vibe Everyone must be listening to Harry Styles sign of the times now

Another throwback last year on a 30s promo content for Taylor’s University fashion department, can’t recall if we shot it on Leica R primes Marks the first time working with Didrie the director, Jia Wei the gaffer and Shunnie art director as well i think! The art department really propped the studio up nicely, when this happens, you really hope to not fack up and do their art justice in the frame

Speaking Hands, a Taylor’s University video about a student who designed an app that interprets sign language live, with a mini cny scene for the festive Shot on kinefinity mavo edge 6k and contax zeiss Some shots posted didn’t make it in, last min change in scripts but as the saying goes everything eventually worked out, even badly This is an actor’s piece, i didn’t think i did justice for the whole film itself but this is Hong Wei debut, the spotlight belongs to him! Bit nostalgic lately, reflecting on my imposter, measurement of self worth, how capitalism promotes me gen, people i love or to have loved better and how i didn’t die last year lol Nuff said happy chinese new year, in the year of horse i wish you all 马上有钱, funny hor

Blurred slice of life from Jan onwards Taking stills with iphone except 3 n 4, accidental modern renaissance painting on the 2nd last, Darius Khonji call them sketches which he could use to daydream lights and scenes My YouTube for some reasons recommended me “Life Lessons I wish I knew earlier - Here’s what matters” by Rob so far so good (Give it a watch!) Whether it’s the best or worst times, it’s the only time we’ve got. Art Buchwald

Compilation of Datai Serenity series, Wellness instructor including movement artist, somatic dancer, podiatrist, neurophysio therapist with director Jim Tim n Didrie Shot on FX3 w thypoch simera c Not so serene experience shooting it lol, in the hands of nature especially during monsoon season n perhaps a lack of skill n quick thinking as there’s no shot lists, forgive some flat images, hope it gets better this year! Trying to master the game of spontaneity, lack of control and minimum footprint, it’s often keeping each other in stillness and forgiving moment of frustration more important than technical, course it goes hand in hand Fear and Anger are primal emotions, so maybe with practising compassion and mindfulness, the craft and energy that radiates around workspace would shift for the better as well :)

Datai Chef Series Something I’ve been coming back to Langkawi for the past few months with PinangFilms team, shot with 2 fx3 cam, 1 on monopod and 1 on gimbal It’s closer to being a documentary than a social media content, guerrilla style shooting which better translates to spray mindfully and pray religiously. The natural lighting often decides where the framing is. Food presentation is the most stressful part as the ingredients disintegrate very quickly the moment it’s served It was difficult not to fall into stagnancy of ‘formula’ when shooting in the same kitchen over n over, directors consciously come out with different concept, but often the chaotic kitchen will stir your plan and u spray and pray again i hope being put into this kind of shooting situation allows me to develop more intuitive framing rather than wasting footage recording lazy video!

Fragments of stills, first 5 were kodakvision3 250d and the rest were sony point n shoot rx100iv People often ask if there’s some sort of epiphany after near death experience, I recalled this quote from Uncle Iroh in The Last Airbender, “life happens wherever you’re, whether you make it or not”. I remember it felt lonely, sounds pessimistic but i think it can also be enriching to know you can enjoy manoeuvring through life as yourself as long as you’re still alive. Just don’t get into the self love trend of consuming philosophical info that are only intellectualised but not internalised. Live, don’t just be-live. Days are long, years are short holds true. Continue catching beauty and wonder in little things not analytically but childlike way, be aware of breathing, learn to direct anger and chaos in calmness, get lost in the unknown without measuring your self worth through productivity or success, if you can’t beat them kill them 😈. Maybe a micro dose of healthy suppression, balance of hopeless dream/desire and surrender to life force is needed to go on living :)

Happy to share that the film Old Leaves has won Best Outstanding Documentary award for SSBI (Small Story Big Impact) category for @walkaboutasia Walk A Doc festival in Melaka last 5th-7th Nov 2025 Always feels like the last time i’ll be seeing them every time i leave my hometown Penang. It’s a visual diary about my grandmas living their ordinary lives, reminiscing and finding beauty and equal meaning in the mundane everyday rituals. It was more personal filming on my own with just a 4ft tube, mc n black cloth, not to mention my parents and aunties helping with the carrying n driving, couldn’t ask for better crews hahah Big thanks to @nurashikinzaharuddin for organising this whole event, lovely judges and delegates around SEA. Great meeting @welldyhans the EP who has both confidence and humility. Also congrats on the honourable mentions to Matthew & Cadence on Body of Faith n @agnes.yjn on Beyond Rituals And those in the credits list, u know who you’re, film wouldn’t be completed without the main post production people @neohneohneoh on edit @yyynn.exe on sound @xanderlew365 on colour @bethdaora on the poster and supers @zhsee on hokkien transcript, my kokor (dad’s sis) helped too Thank you all for making this happen. Hope this acts as a reassurance and resilience to me transitioning as a cinematographer :) Ok so after this self inflating ego post, how do i submit to film fest before this becomes another vid in harddrive help

Throwback to a short Deepavali greeting from Datai with @pinangfilms Planned for the ws for blue hour but it didn’t work out as it only lasted 20mins, the effort of lighting every single candle with the wind constantly blowing it off was huge effort, vfx added some subtle touch on those which was unlit. A minimal crew of 3, all nights were shot on 12800 using 60x to create moonlight (where James held the lightstand with his leg to face top down) and a tiny satisfaction of using a plate full of candlelight for cu instead of small led light. Thypoch 1.5 tstops was a lifesaver Alas it was literally festive of light and wax around my shoes n pants

Part 2 Romania: Parents My mum loves getting her photos taken, but her vanity is a different kind, the kind where it’s out of naivety and gratitude rather than the intention of pleasing others. In fact, my parents are easy to be pleased and satisfied with little. Can’t believe my dad is taking selfie better than my mum. I hope they had fun being in Europe for the first time. A song recommended saying this describes romania best…