Babes in Stunning Red and White

I am happy to tell everyone that I have landed in this gigantic city, Kuala Lumpur last night, and everything has worked out wonderful for me here so far. I am currently staying at a dear friend's place, and will be hunting for my own as soon as I can.

Life will be a little bit hectic from now onwards, could be a little bit traumatic as well if things do not go exactly as smooth as I have planned (often they do not, heh) and I will just have to go along with whatever obstacles standing my way. I seriously hope things would turn out fine, and head back to my ordinary life routine soon.

ONE RED, ONE WHITE

Anyway, despite my urgent and tight schedule, I managed to make a stop at Sunway Pyramid to catch up with a great friend, and together with another great friend we spent quite a chunk of the day there. This was my first time coming to this newly renovated and apparently expanded version of Sunway Pyramid, and I almost could not recognize the place at first glance, considering the last time I came here was many, many years ago.

Nevertheless, Sunway has always been a favourite spot for me since ages ago, due to the interesting fact that it conveniently houses almost everything under the same roof, bowling, archery, snooker, arcades, movies, shopping, food, ice skating, well, almost ANYTHING. It is impossible not to find something rather fun to do there.


MOVING IN CLOSER

As me and my friends had time to catch up on each other, and had a stroll along the shopping areas, we came across this bridal promotional fair happening at the lowest ground floor. Coincidentally I brought my camera along with me (when would I not, heh) and together with my trusted friends, we went on nearer to the stage and we started snapping pictures of the two models on stage at that particular time. They appeared to be undergoing cosmetic and costume preparation, performed live by their respective artists on stage, in the center of the public exhibition space.

Fortunately there was not really a crowd nearby, hence I could move in a lot nearer, and snap clearer pictures considering the fact that I do not currently own a tele lens with me. I have only the standard lens which has got very limited zoom.

Ehon has commented on my previous entry about "playing with aperture". I believe what he meant was to have the aperture opened as huge as it possibly can, to get that dramatic bokeh (blurry background) effect that non-dslr users crave so much. I have used the maximum aperture for every single shot for that entry, and believe me, to obtain that bokeh shots with the lens I have, you will need to get really close to the subjects, which obviously I could not. Not having a tele lens sucks, thus I shall grab one off first thing after earning some cash from work which will start soon, very soon. Sigh, photography is such a painfully expensive hobby to invest in.

THE ONE IN RED

I have to say something here, or else everyone will keep saying the same things about my shots. A good photograph is not all about bokeh. There is a lot more to be considered, the composition, the exposure balance, color accuracy, and a few more key elements.

Obviously a lot of people have been brainwashed and some people would literally think that a picture that distinctively distinguishes a good camera from the normal ones, or a good photographer from the others, would be how much blurry background/bokeh that could be observed in the photos. This is so blardy annoyingly not true, and if a good photographer chooses to achieve, or to exclude the bokeh in the shots, he must have a very good reason.

THE ONE IN WHITE

Back to the models in red and white. I am more comfortable taking pictures indoors, but of course, having a tele lens would have helped me achieved better shots (and for some of you bokeh suckers, more bokeh) but like what I have been told many times, work with what I have in hand, and stop complaining about something that I do not have.

Go around things and try to balance things up. I believe I have not entirely accomplished that, but I certainly have tried. My main concern was an even lighting on the faces of the models (thanks for the elaborated tips Luxferi) and natural skin tone. Obviously there are other significant parameters to be observed as well, but I shall just improve on as I go along progressing with more experience.

WITH ARTIST/DRESSER/DESIGNER

I have to admit, the girls modelling for this event were pretty !!! The decorations placed on, above and around the bodies seemed to have weighed them down a little, restricting their movements to pose, but nonetheless I believe they did what they could and they still did rather well. It is not an everyday chance to be there and have a camera ready when this sort of events popped out, so I was very fortunate. I should have stayed on longer, and asked for the numbers to have a chat with the models since the whole event seemed very informal but me and my friends were kinda in a rush, hence we left the scene abruptly.

The main complaint I have would be the set up of the stage. The background was dodgy, cluttered with so many unnecessary mannequins and useless ugly junks, which the overhanging escalator did not aid any bit in improving the backdrop atmosphere. I would have preferred if the stage has a plain mono colored walled backdrop, or anything similar, but having so many elements around and everywhere made the scene very messy.

ONE FOR THE ALBUM

The lack of lighting support, such as spotlights, just made things worse, since the models were not brightly lit to be brought into the center of attention. Of course, like I have mentioned, the show was kind of informal, and the models get to interact with the audience, which was really, a cool concept to begin with.

All in all, it was a rather impromptu live show session, and me happened to be there was purely by chance. It was definitely an awesome way to welcome me to Kuala Lumpur, a great way to start my life here. I will do my best to settle down as quickly and as smoothly as I can, and when I have done so, you guys will have more regular and well-arranged updates from me.

CHUN CHOW (click) And THE ONE IN RED

Until then, do expect long pauses and unintended silence at this humble space of mine.

Take care folks, and have a great weekend !!