VF Photography

Chinese New Year 2012 at Pavilion

2012-01-28T20:52:00.004+08:00

I was at Pavilion earlier today to capture to long awaited 200meter long dragon that is hanging from above the ceiling of Pavilion. This was one part of the town that I did not venture into before the Chinese New Year until now.

Kun Seng Keng at One Utama performance.

2012-01-24T18:21:00.004+08:00

I went to One Utama just a couple of days before Chinese New Year to catch the Kun Seng Keng troupe in action again this year. They had a better performance compared to rprevious years and for the finale the last lion actually did a side flip from the acrobatic pole instead of a normal frontal leap.

Visit to Tien Hou Temple

2012-01-17T17:08:00.003+08:00

Organised another outing for my students, this time Tien Hou temple for their Chinese New Year decoration shoot. Initially wanted to stay back later for a shot of the lights, however it seems their lights were not fully setup. Perhaps we will have another trip there next week.

New Year Eve Fireworks

2012-01-01T12:23:00.007+08:00

As 2011 draws to a close, hundreds and thousandof people hits the streets of Klang Valley to welcome 2012. I on the other hand, headed to Desapark City with Jenny and my student Desmond Teoh. Another student You Jing managed to join us just before the fireworks starts. We manage to walk around the bazaar and had dinner at one of the Korean restaurant in the area before proceeding to the fireworks location. After the fireworks, we decided to avoid the traffic jam by staying back for another one half hours before leaving the area.

DCIM 2011 and Velocity Angels Model Search 2011

2011-12-26T12:23:00.010+08:00

DCIM 2011 ended yesterday with a lesser crowd from Saturday, and also the winners of the Velocity Angels Model Search 2011 was finally announced after three days of catwalk, posing and judging by nine different judges. The photogenic prize went to Weng Li, with 2nd runners up went to Collins Tin, 1st runners up to Sylvia Tan and the winner goes to Ho Li Sha.

DCIM 2011

2011-12-25T08:03:00.008+08:00

Digital Camera, Imaging and Media (DCIM 2011) is back since Friday after being postponed since the Japan tsunami. However choosing to do a photography tradeshow over a Christmas weekend wasn’t such a good idea after all. The crowd on Friday was bad and only got a little better yesterday. A number of accessories vendors did not participate in the tradeshow as well. Today will be the last day of DCIM 2011 on Christmas Day.

Nikon promoting the new mirrorless V1 and J1

Panasonic Lumix promoting the GX1 with Santa Claus and santarinas.

Nikon Club was there to recruit new members

Canon users trying their hands on the 200mm F2.0, the new 300mm F2.8 and 400mm F2.8

Canon providing basic cleaning services for Canon cameras and lenses for free

Every Canon users wet dream

Christmas Decoration everywhere

2011-12-22T16:48:00.007+08:00

Had a bit of time to walk around town, and manage to take a few snap shots of the Christmas decorations around various shopping centres in KL.

Hot Import Nights

2011-12-22T11:52:00.006+08:00

I manage to get some time after the Formula Drift event and got over to Hot Import Nights, another modified car show located at Melawati Stadium, Shah Alam. The event was quite small but was properly organised with various sections for different categories of products and shows.

Achilles Formula Drift Malaysia 2011

2011-12-20T19:48:00.010+08:00

I was at the Achilles Formula Drift Malaysia 2011 over the weekend, the last and final round of the Achilles Formula Drift competition. Media passes was granted, however media was only allowed to be at certain places to shoot, and could not cover any extra angles. The competition also saw some big crashes. One of the cars even went up the barriers but luckily no one was hurt in the process.

Ms Tourism International 2011, Subsidiary Title, Ms Sunway Charm

2011-12-20T19:34:00.007+08:00

Ms International Tourims 2011 is back again and last Saturday held their first Subsidiary Title competition, Ms Sunway Charm. The contest involved 53 delegates representing all five continents of world. The competition was separated into two rounds, first in casual wear and second in evening gown. For the first round, I teste my newly acquired 300mm F4 and swap into my trusty old 80-200mm F2.8 for the evening gown segment. This allowed me a wider zoom. The subsidiary title was won by our neighbour Ms Singapore.

Visit to the Bird Park

2011-12-19T11:16:00.004+08:00

This is the second time I went on for the KL Hop on Hop off ride, but this time instead of being with my fellow photo enthusiats friends, I went with my students from the college photography club. This is officially our first outing for the club. We only manage to visit the Bird Park, as the plan to visit the National Museum as the bus ride took us 3 hours around KL City before reaching the National Museum.

Coca Cola Heritage Fair 2011

2011-11-28T20:20:00.006+08:00

I was at Empire Shopping Gallery last weekend for the 1 day Coca Cola Heritage Fair 2011. The fair showcased a number of original memorabilia, souvenirs and collectible items from US, Thailand, Japan, China, etc. The fair also included a small segment of charity auction, where die hard Coca Cola fans get to purchase Coca Cola souvenirs and proceeds goes to a charity foundation.

MotoGP 2011

2011-11-24T11:03:00.034+08:00

This marks the first time I cover the Malaysia Shell Advanced MotoGP 2011 as a media, this is also my first International event coverage. The atmosphere was not as hyped up as the world championship was already decided the week before at Philip Island, Australia with Casey Stoner clinching it for the second time, and defending World Champion Jorge Lorenzo pulled out of the race due to injuries he suffered at the qualifying rounds. The first day was only a normal practice with not much big incidents. Unfortunately I forgotten my pair of solar sleeves and got sunburned on my arms.

Second day started early with some shots of riders arrival at the Sepang International Circuit, followed by morning practice. The afternoon qualifying session saw more actions and crashes in all three classes with Dani Pedrosa hitting turn 15, Ben Spies hitting turn 1, as well as Valentino Rossi. Ben Spies later qualified but decided not to race after receiving concussions from the crash leaving Katsuyuki Nakasuga, the replacement rider for the earlier injured Jorge Lorenzo the only rider for Yamaha Racing.

On race day, it was just like the previous day, early morning to capture the support races, and followed by rider’s arrival. I manage to capture some of riders including Marco Simoncelli unknowingly would be my last photo of him just hours before his tragic death. The rest of the morning was just as usual at Sepang, and came the race period. It started with 125cc, which saw seven crashes into turn 1 and the race was stopped just 1 lap before the final lap. Moto2 went on with not much of an incident. MotoGP class came up next and the race was stopped just after 1 and a half laps due to a horrific crash at turn 11 which involved Marco Simoncelli, Colin Edwards, and Valentino Rossi. I wasn’t at the crash spot, but I was there when the ambulance brought Marco Simoncelli into the Medical Centre where the doctors tried their best to resuscitate him.

About 30 minutes after the incident, the race was officially cancelled and was announced to the crowd which showed their displease and started throwing empty bottles, cans and pizza boxes onto the tracks. After receiving news about the race cancellation, I took a slow walk back to the media centre, and my heart was sunken to see the amount of family, friends and crew waiting for news on Marco’s condition at the medical centre. Minutes later, I saw on the television screen that Marco Simoncelli has succumbed to his injuries. I decided to return to the paddock area to continue shooting for grieving faces at that somber moment. Members of the organizing committee officially announced Marco’s death to the official media in a press conference about 20 minutes later.

I hereby salute the MotoGP photographers and photojournalists who were close friends of Marco Simoncelli and yet could still hold up a camera and do their job at that moment.

Ciao Marco! (1987 – 2011).

Blusens Team Paris Hilton Racing

2011 MotoGP World Champion, Casey Stoner doing a television interview on practice day.

MotoGP legend, Randy Mamola.

Marco Simoncelli’s cheeky arrival on the morning of qualifying day.

Valentino Rossi, walking to his team pit after suiting up in the resting area.

Ben Spies went crashing at turn 1 during qualifying and suffered a concussion. He later continued the qualifying race but announced that he would pull out of the race just to be on the safe side.

Track marshals putting special powders on the tracks after discovering some oil spills just before the MotoGP session. Track checks on qualifying day onwards was more cautious after SIC was fined 15,000 Euros after one track marshal failed to give out a warning flag and caused a rider to crash just the day before.

Two MotoGP fans came in with their modified icebox scooter. They are from Team SOBER (Silly Old Buggers Enjoying Riding).

Dani Pedrosa’s arrival was mobbed by fans asking for autographs and photo opportunities.

Karel Abraham waiving to the photographers and fans as he walks into the pit.

Marco Simoncelli’s arrival on the morning of race day. This photo was taken just hours before his fatal crash.

Valentino Rossi’s arrival on the morning of race day. Despite struggling to secure any pole position and race wins this season, the former 9 times World Champion is still the most loved rider, as he is the only rider that requires 2 security escorts upon arrival.

Photographers waiting at the San Carlo Gressini team pit.

Grieving faces at the paddock area.

Press conference by DORNA announcing Marco Simoncelli’s death.

Snapshots of Canon Photomarathon 2011

2011-11-22T17:05:00.006+08:00

Been a month since my last update here. Been quite busy and tied up with work. This is the second time I attended Canon Photomarathon 2011. I went with Jenny and another 3 students where 4 of them took part. I was just there to capture some snapshots and was in Starbucks most of the time. This time the event is held at Pavilion, with more than 1500 participants. Most of the rules remain the same as in 2009 and 2010, with a few changes. Participants this round is required to have linkages in between the 3 themes and there is also a tagging process required during uploading.

However, results for this time are not being announced on the event day itself. It will be announce a few days later during the exhibition of the photos at Pavilion as well as presentation of prizes. Photo submission this round was much better as all contestants managed to upload all photos without much of a hassle and complete all uploading within the schedule.

Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race 2011

2011-10-25T08:54:00.020+08:00

Again, such a long time after my previous post. Been too tied up with work recently. I had the opportunity to cover the recent Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race 2011 in Sepang International Circuit, that just happened in the middle of September. This year we weren’t allowed to be at the pit lanes due to last year’s fire incident and extra safety precautions have been in placed for drivers, crews as well as other personnel on the pit lanes.

This year however, the race was won by team Petronas Syntium with their Mercedes SLS AMG. They featured two cars with another one of their counterpart finishing in the top five.

Petaling Street Walkabout

2011-10-06T15:47:00.005+08:00

I had a bit of free time during the Hari Raya break and decided to go for a street photography with a few of my friends. The venue is Petaling Street which is better known as Chinatown, but the sad thing about this place is the fact that it is more like a “Foreigner Town” now due to the high number of foreign workers operating the stalls instead of the locals. News about it is there are plans to tear down the place in order to allow the government future LRT development plans.

Miss Chinese Cosmos 2011

2011-09-26T21:59:00.016+08:00

Been away from here for a while due to some other tasks on hand, but I’m back for more photos. I had the opportunity to shoot the Miss Chinese Cosmos Finals 2011 at the Palace of the Golden Horses about a month ago. It was a good event except the setup wasn’t photography friendly. They had a platform at the end of the hall but nothing much can be done unless you have a 500mm lens, or resort to cropping.

Most of the shooters either ended up sitting just right in front of the stage or standing right behind the judges table that has a table lamp blocking the middle of the stage. The competition however was quite good and had a few contestants from Thailand and Singapore. However the event was won by my student Natalie Chiaw.

Keith Kee Couture 10th Anniversary Fashion Gala

2011-08-30T17:34:00.016+08:00

I had the opportunity to attend Keith Kee Couture 10th Anniversary Fashion gala a few weeks back after receiving an invitation from a friend. The entire showcase was to celebrate Keith Kee Couture’s 10 years in the fashion industry. The event started with a press conference attended by Keith Kee, Benjamin Toong, Amber Chia, and Kelly Jagan, Soo WIncci, as well as other prominent models.

The event showcases more than 100 designs from Keith Kee and paraded by more than 40 models. It started with Soo Wincci performing her new Malay song, followed by an interview with Keith Kee before proceeding to the fashion catwalk. As the show started, there were also performances from electric violinist Dennis Lau, beat boxer Shawn Lee, and Korean singer An Lee. Mini video clips of Keith Kee’s work and passion were also shown.

The catwalk however was interrupted by a technical failure that disrupted the lights and music, however the models manage to showcase another 4 more designs with a follow spotlight before going into an intermission. The show resume about 20 minutes later, with a segment showing Keith Kee’s creativity with the gowns transforming into a second design., as well as Amber Chia taking the runway with her son, Ashton in tow.

Dennis Lau performing with Shawn Lee while the models take on the runway.

Four of the designs show during the power interruption.

The original design of the first gown that would later transform into a second design.

The original dress transformed into a second design.

Amber Chia with her son Ashton in tow.

Catwalk guru Benjamin Toong in his latest trademark 9 inch heels. He previously retired his original trademark 7 inch heels earlier this year.

Keith Kee jumping in joy as the showcase comes to an end.

Keith Kee taking a bow at his guests.

GRA Round 2

2011-08-23T12:23:00.008+08:00

Went to GRA Round 2 race a few weeks back. I was actually contemplating about going to GRA or Gymkhana as both events happens to fall on the same day. I decided to go for GRA instead, since I have not covered this event before.

X Top Model Search Finals 2011

2011-08-16T14:18:00.004+08:00

I attended the X Top Model Search Finals 2011 a few weeks back after knowing that it was a Canon sponsored event just about a day before. The event was held at Sunway Pyramid Ice Skating rink. This is also the first time I attended any event on an ice skating rink. As expected, the competition was won by the top favourite, Aw Sim Hui.

Gymkhana 2011

2011-08-10T16:24:00.005+08:00

Went for Gymkhana 2011 in Cyberjaya a few weeks ago. This is a drifting event for mostly amateurs and they are guided by instructors. The morning practice session was interrupted by a slight rain, but the afternoon challenge was much better with the sunny weather.