The World Behind The Viewfinder

Vivaciously Red [12~13th May 2007 @ The Curve Damansara]

rfcheah — Fri, 18 May 2007 03:23:08 +0200

Yet another fashion show in mall, this time around at The Curve, themed 'Vivaciously Red'. It is kind of the 'in' thing to do now for the malls in town to have fashion show featuring the latest outfits from the tenants. To match the theme of the show, the walkway and some decoration rectangular window frames are in red colors. I was there for one show on Saturday (12th May), and stayed whole day on Sunday (13th May).

The shows include brand names like Uluwatu (didn't even know this has presence in Malaysia, saw tons of this shop in Bali), Elements, Key Ng, Calvin Klein Jeans, Schwarzkopf (hair salon) and some others that I can't recall. Most of the shows are quite short in duration, probably about 10mins only. The Fashion On 1 felt more classy than Vivaciously Red, but the Vivaciously Red allowed a close up photos on the models (at least on Saturday; Sunday was crowded and security chain was in place). Model wise, V.Red mostly were having locals while the Fashion On 1 has mostly non-locals. And this is my favorite model, she just has something that works for me: --->

Another revelation is actually the Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro. I switched from 70-200mm F4L to 100mm F2.8 on one instance and the photos came out from the 100mm, even at max aperture of F2.8, are really sharp -- probably too sharp for portraits, but it is really a pleasant surprise. Furthermore, I was able to use ISO400 while using the 100mm lens whereas the 70-200mm F4 required ISO800 to be bright enough.

More photos here: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/V/content/index.html

Florathon 2007 [Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur 20th Jan 2007]

rfcheah — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:56:32 +0100

Took quite a few photos from this late Jan'2007 event at Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur. Participants were to complete a course of ~3km from Merdeka Square to the nearby Lake Garden and back, and the best decorated individual/team with flowers will win the event.

More photos here: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/Florathon2007/

The Last Night of routine Fireworks at Eye On Malaysia [Titiwangsa, 25th Feb 2007]

rfcheah — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 17:03:08 +0100

Rushed to Titiwangsa Lake from home in order to snap some fireworks display at the Eye On Malaysia - tonight is the last night where the routine fireworks happen here. Arriving at the parking ~9:10pm, the Jet Ski show has started, just in time for me to setup the fragile tripod (it is not mine, I borrowed from Hiu) among the crowd. The crowd is not too overwhelming but certain more than normal nights to witness the last of the fireworks here. I wish I had come earlier to get a better viewpoint.

This was actually my first fireworks shoots with a tripod. I've taken some fireworks hand-held previously but they sucked. The tripod is filmsy and not up to eye level when fully extended - I have to bend my knees quite a bit to be able to view thru the viewfinder and compose. Also, adjusting and locking the camera in certain position is non-trivial in the dark, as I have to feel the adjustment knobs/stick and screw them tight. I was using Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 initially for composing, and decided to change to Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 for the wider view to include the Eye On Malaysia and most of the skies.

Fireworks started at 9:30pm and lasted about 10mins.

Lesson from this photoshoot:

1. To get a stable and tall enough tripod with ball head.
2. To arrive much earlier to get better position.
3. To bring the tripod bag along with me instead of throw it somewhere under a tree - someone had taken the tripod bag when I finished the shootin yesterday!

More photos here: eye_ii

FGS Dong Zen Temple 佛光山东禅寺 [20th Feb 2007]

rfcheah — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:04:07 +0100

My second time visiting this temple at Jenjarung (first time being a few years back), it now has a new tower near one of the side entrances. It is a pay-per-visit thingy that cost RM10/person to go up and have a bird eye's view. The temple is decorated with lots of red lanterns and small yellowish lightbulbs, and it is quite crowded when we were there around 7:30-9pm. There is also flowers display at the 1st floor of one of the buildings. At the ground floor of the building there are some small but very interesting buddha statues on display.

See more photos here.

CNY Eve at Thean Hou Temple 天后宫

rfcheah — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:08:05 +0100


Pole decorated with Dragon	Red Lanterns and Fireworks

Arriving just before midnight, temple is already 'people mountain people sea'. We got lucky to get a parking at the foot of the hill. Most of the lanterns/lights were not switched on, waiting for turning to Year of the Pig at 12 midnight. 林祥才 was there addressing to the crowd beside the temple entrance. There was also a fireworks show at 12 midnight for about 10 minutes.

More photos at thean_hou_temple album.

Le Tour de Langkawi: Stage 10 - Kuala Lumpur Criterium [11th Feb 2007]

rfcheah — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:11:18 +0100

Another photo outing with Hiu, this time the Stage 10 of the Le Tour de Langkawi (official site http://ltdl.com.my). This last stage of the LTDL, dubbed "Kuala Lumpur Criterium", is more like a winner's parade than anything else, as this is a flat 80km route circling the Kay-El Downtown.


Hot Pursuit	Wrong Way!	The Leading 3

More photos here: 2007-tour-de-langkawi-stage-10

Some night shots of Eye On Malaysia

rfcheah — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:09:45 +0100

Took some night shots of Eye On Malaysia the other day, failing miserably on all the firework shots. Still trying to figure out the optimum shutter speed and ISO combination, and need a tripod badly!


ISO 800!	30s Long Exposure	What can I say? My skills have much more room to improve!!

And few more photos here: eye_on_malaysia

Thaipusam 2007 [Batu Caves, Selangor 1st Feb 2007]

rfcheah — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 17:13:14 +0100

It was very crowded, as expected during each year's Thaipusam, but this year it was reported over 1.5M people turned up at Batu Caves during the few days of Thaipusam celebration. I don't know which genius comes out with this figure, but while I was there at 1st Feb noon time, the crowd was overwhelming especially at the 272 staircase steps leading to the Caves' entrance. I didn't plan to go up there this time, as it will be easily taking a few hours. It was physically challenged to stuck in between the crowd to track up the steps under the blazing sun rays, let alone those of whom bearing the heavy Kavadis. This is really a mind-over-body feast for the devotees - Salute Salute!


Rosy Back	Young Devotee	Trance

Few more photos here: thaipusam_2007