Monsters invading town...

Well, someone of you might know that I have recently gotten myself involved in a new game - Monsterpocalypse by Privateer Press. They are these really nice looking pre-painted miniatures and you get to stomp buildings and throw other monsters around. Pretty fun stuff :)



We had a tournament in Toybox and I didn't play but it was fun taking photos of the game in progress. The above is an SSS unit going to utterly destroy a helpless Cthulhu unit.



One of the players seem to be in prayers that his Terra Khan will be able to win the game.



A G-tank of GUARD wondering what mess did he get into going against the mighty Terra Khan of the Terrasaurs.



Lord of Cthulhu terrorising downtown err.. Kuala Lumpur?



And then we have the Planet Eaters who wants to eat our Planet. Not for real but in the game.



Beneath all the colourful monsters, the game is actually about these dices. The key to winning is knowing how to manage the pool correctly.

So, thats it, if you are interested in the game, let me know :) Oh, and the shots above were shot with the new toy, 85mm. Maybe I should sharpen them again after resizing.

Non-macro shots on a macro outing...

Well, without a macro lens, I walked around, distracting LordMint from taking his macro shots and we both saw...



A hornbill! Well, he had his 100-400mm so he was busy snapping away. I had an 85mm so this is the best I could do :(



So, I had to search for a bigger subject, and the lily was too far away. But then the light was so interesting that I gave it a go as well.



Then, of course, the macro shooters started shooting macro. I didn't wanna be left out so I also tried. But can't get close enough :( But I love the bokeh though :D



And before I went home, I spotted this flower which well, got to shoot la. Nothing fantastic but thought the flower managed to make itself stand out.

And thats all for this week!

ShutterAsia First Macro Outing for 2009

No macro lens. So what was I doing at ShutterAsia's first macro outing for 2009? That was the question I was asking myself as I woke up at 8.30am. Slowly making my way to Tmn Rimba Kiara, I guessed it was for the people and also to try out my new toy.

Met a couple of the macro sifus but can't post one of the shot because it was said that I can't take a solo shot of him or I will be banned :P So here are the people I met:

1. KianKheong


2. aerden and his friend cum assistant


3. LordMint


4. a_manson79


Tomorrow I shall post what I managed to capture :)

Chinese Orchestra Performance!

I had the opportunity to shoot or capture the moments for a Chinese orchestra performance recently at SGMS and it was quite fun. We were given a briefing by the OP and because he was a Nikon user, he even gave us some lens to use.

Lucky friend of mine got to try out the 70-200mm VR f2.8. Well, not too sure if he was lucky because he is now craving for it.



After capturing some shots based on the OP's instructions, I went around looking for shots that I want. Time to see how many angles I can explore. Of course, the standard, hands pulling er hu have to be in.



Surprisingly, this is one of my fav. No idea why but the shot feels fun to me. As though the mic is getting lectured :P



But certainly, the level of concentration, focus and determination to perform well for a crowd was evident from the performers' faces. You can certainly feel that they have put in a lot of work into this.



So, the event was again fun to shoot, much like the Dance Fest. I am beginning to develop a liking to covering stage events. Anyone with jalan for me to get in? :)

Note: I will be away in Singapore for a long weekend. Will only be back and blogging on Thursday. So, to my Chinese friends, Happy Chinese New Year! If you are married, email me your address so I can collect angpow.

For my non-Chinese friends, have a great long weekend!

Dance Fest 2008 - Conclusion

After the girl flew yesterday, the next dance took me by surprise. The whole hall went dark and I went "uh oh". At least I had the stage lights previously, but this is complete darkness.

Out came coloured flash lights and the dance begun. And what you see above is my attempt to at least show some elements of that dance.



Switched to slow shutter, and then realised that my camera can't AF in the dark :P So had to switch to MF and pray that some pictures will turn out at least "artistically" alright :P



And then, there was light! And we could see the performers. I breathed a sigh of relief. Any more of that dark stuff and I'll be scratching my head what to do next. Some photographers were using flash and I wonder how that turned out.



And so, tada! And we have reached the end of Dance Fest 2008. It was fun covering the event and I think it has been my longest series here :P

I will be going away to Bali and be back on Tuesday so this blog will be quiet. So, don't miss me yah! :P

Dance Fest 2008 - Part 8

After the "Lost" dance, it was time for a dance that symbolises hope. It was a slow start to the dance and it didn't take long for them to introduce the props.



First we had hoops. Lots of hoops. They were throwing them, going through them, twirling them, rolling them. Anything you can do with a hoop, they did.



After hoops, the flags came out. Waving them, tossing them and once again, anything you can do with a flag, they did.



Then I got lucky. Standing at one side of the stage, I saw this girl running towards me. Big smile on her face, arms waving the flags around. I knew it. Something is going to happen. And she...



She flew!!! :P Well, she jumped up la. But it was nice to capture that moment. Shutter speed didn't allow me to freeze it entirely though.

Coming up: The end, the conclusion, you can now say finally! :P

Dance Fest 2008 - Part 7

After going on fast paced for the past few dances, things suddenly took a dip as the Fest sent a message that sometimes, life is not all the time perfect. Quite a good message to send out in view of 2009 which is expected to be a challenge for all of us.



The dance aim to depict how people are lost in current times. Be it spiritually, or even just lost in the moment. Where human values are traded for another day's meal. Where political powers toy with regular lives. And how some tries to break away but gets suck back in.



Of course, at the end, the message of hope, that humanity is reaching out and we, standing up, and rising to the challenge was portrayed. Can't be too down :) I thought this was well-executed, a very powerful dance and I loved the images I got from this dance.

Next up: Flags away!

Dance Fest 2008 - Part 6

After the ballroom dance, it was time for some props to emerge. The first being the Chinese fan. While is usual to see Chinese fan dance, I was surprised that they went with a contemporary costume this time rather than going traditional.



I guess the choice of costume was in line with the way the performance was going. If everybody thought Chinese fan dance was going to be slow, they were wrong. They kept up the tempo and more swirly kicks were to be seen.



So it was an interesting take on an old traditional dance. One that I enjoyed. The above is a bad PP job from me. I like the composition as I found space to put the logo but I just didn't blend it in well enough. Sigh.

Next up: Dance Fest 2008 goes down!

Dance Fest 2008 - Part 5

This is beginning to be quite a long series eh? Well, it goes on :P With the heat of ballroom dancing going around, it is no surprise that a Dance Fest should have ballroom dancing as well.



Entered a few young couples, strutting their stuff and performing some kind of Latin dance I think. At least I think its Latin.



The twists, the twirls, the looks into each other's eyes. You would think they were all in love. Maybe they were. Hrmm....

Anyway, that ends this Part 5. Next up! More Dance Fest of course. Could it finally be the end?

Dance Fest 2008 - Part 4

After the last dance, a more modern group came out to perform some hip hop moves of their own. It started off with a small group performing at the corner of the stage before more joined them.



Again, the crowd were thoroughly entertained with fast music, energetic moves and very very skillful dancers. In the blink of an eye, the modern hip hop dancers made way to a very "back to the 60s" dancers.



We are talking big ribbons on hair, bow ties for guys and very pink costumes.



So, another energetic dance and the crowd is getting seriously worked up here. It looks like the 1000 people that turned up is getting a good night out after all.

Next week: SGM does ballroom dancing?

Dance Fest 2008 - Part 3

After the "kids" dance, it got serious when the theme song for Flashdance started playing. They used some interesting silhoutte to complement the start of the song which was slow.



But once the music started, the dancers were unstoppable! It was an excellent performance, extremely energetic and highly enjoyable.



The guys were throwing the girls around, swinging them and they were doing splits, jumps and I believed it did justice to such a classic song. They were doing so many things, moving so fast, that capturing them was proving to be a challenge.

Nevertheless, I think I got pretty ok shots for them :)



At the end of the performance, it was without a doubt that they had great applause.

Tomorrow: The energetic show continues!

Dance Fest 2008 - Part 2

The emcees kicked off the event with some simple welcoming message, an explanation of the event and what the audience can expect. Then its off to non-stop dancing!



So, the show started off with some martial arts combo with dancing moves and it was pretty cool. The SGMS Dancing Group has certainly improved by leaps and bounds since the last time I saw them perform.



After that, they went with a journey back in time as they profiled the colours and innocence of children. Well, they got tweens to dress up and dance like children but it was pretty well done.



So, the Dance Fest was off to a good start but it was about to get even better. Find out tomorrow!

Dance Fest 2008 - Part 1

Recently, I was invited to a Dance Fest organised by Soka Gakkai Malaysia Selangor to shoot some photos and I, of course, snapped up the chance. It was a very well done event and the hall was packed with more than 1000 people! Some even had to sit outside and watch it through a specially set up projector screen.



The crowd was entertained with a welcoming dance before the main event started. Some traditional dances of all three major races in Malaysia were performed much to the delight of the people there.



After their dance, the dancers then form a line to welcome the audience. Lots of singing and cheering and generally, it was pushing the atmosphere to a high. The crowd that were pouring in were happy to receive such a warm welcome.

Next up: Part 2 where we look at some of the first few dances!