.: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery :.

You might remember I went to M-IFW a while ago, I posted one set TIAMO (Sylvia Lim) Presents Jonathan Cheng at M-IFW 2007 and promptly forgot I had stayed for another show after that.

The favourite of photographers, Triumph presents Justin Yap, Jimmy Lin & Ken Wong.

Somehow Triumph shows always tend to be the most heavily popular by photographers, I wonder why that is..perhaps it's indicative of the quality of their models? Or it's just something else. Due to that there's always a lot of heads, lenses and flashes popping into your frame, which makes it even harder.

This show was even harder technically speaking than the previous as the main lights were off and it was pretty dim, I had to bust out the flash for some fill. I tried shooting with the 85mm f/1.8 without flash, but it just wasn't happening.

I would have loved to catch Carven Ong a couple over the weekend, but I was busy on that day.

They started out with minimal clothing right away - always a good sign

I blame the cropped foot on using a prime lens..

Shooting with the 85mm did give fantastic depth of field though.

The models were definitely a class above what I've seen in Malaysia normally.

After that was some stuff from Sloggi, which you couldn't see as all the models were wearing boxes..no not boxers - BOXES!

Following on was some kinda sporty, casual theme with the lingerie integrated somehow.

There were all kinds of accessories like inflatable rubber ducks, raincoats, balloons and vinyl umbrellas.

Big hats were definitely in too.

The last set was a bit more kinky, black and red, lacy and more dressy.

Accidental Strobist

And that was the end of Triumph at M-IFW 2007, that's all I shot - maybe I'll do more next year if I win the lottery and get a 70-200mm f/2.8 VR!

Goodbye!

You can see the full set here:

M-IFW Triumph - Nov 2007

So my first time shooting catwalk actually, I've always considered it but never really tried before. I thought it might be tough as I don't have a f/2.8 telephoto lens as I'm using the cheapo 70-300mm VR (f/4.5-5.6). I love the lens, but I guess I have to get the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens one day - weighs a tonne and costs a bomb *sigh*.

I went to M-IFW 2007 on the opening day in the afternoon to shoot TIAMO (brainchild of Sylvia Lim) Presents Jonathan Cheng, and then Triumph after that.

Designs by Jonathan Cheng and accessories/jewelery by TIAMO.

It was a pretty interesting experience, the lights had a tend to blow the highlights and the background was fairly dark - so getting decent subject separation wasn't too hard. I couldn't get a good spot in the middle at the front though as the platform was quite crowded.

The angle I got wasn't too bad though as it meant I could get the model and the brand in

It was a very subdued collection, mostly black with a bit of white and grey, heavy black eye makeup and solemn expressions.

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I was down in KLCC yesterday for a short launch of the new Live services & software by Microsoft.

So I grabbed a quick shot on the way out.

I'll talk a bit more about the new Photo Gallery later as it's actually coooool.

Last weekend I went to Speedzone at Zouk, in honour of the MotoGP at Sepang the next day.

I was attracted by the top notch line-up (Matt Darey trance god and Seb Fontaine).

I was on the media board - femes can?!

The backdrop of course was KLCC visible clearly behind Zouk.

Then when we went in there was some cool bike simulator, you couldn't actually control it - it was more for experience but it was fun. The screen was massive and the sound loud.

It chucked you around pretty hard too - kinda cool.

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A while back I went to a watch exhibition to get poisoned with the purchase of more things I really can't afford! You can find some more info about it here.

Conquest of Time was held at KL Convention Center by Sincere (The watch specialist?!).

First up we had a talk by some dude from Switzerland about some really freaking expensive watches and how they are made (specialist stuff like tourbillon, chronograph and perpetual calendar...These are terms watch geeks are intimate with).

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Before:

vs.

After:

Best appreciated in large format.

If you understand Photoshop at all, here's what was done:

1- Go into LAB mode.
2- Duplicate background.
3- Use "smart blur" and "surface blur" at different settings on each channel to get rid of the noise. You will be losing details.
4- Go back to RGB mode.
5- Adjust the opacity of the blurred layer to bring back some details from the original. You can even use the eraser to work on problem areas.
6- Create two "Photo Filter" layers.
7- Set one of these two adjustment layers to "Overlay." This will give you deeper shadows and change colors all at once.
8- Play with the opacity of the two adjustment layers.
9- Duplicate the blue area from the towers' tips.
10- Use "Gaussian Blur" on this new layer. The towers and the sky are glowing but it's too much.
11- Change opacity. Now it's better and more natural.
12- Add another adjustment layer, this time it will be "Curves."
13- Make a slight S curve.
14- Flatten
15- Sharpen

So after our trip to Cambodia, we were back in KL, wondering what to do.

After a day doing nothing much, sorting out the pictures and taking them to be processed, tidying up the appartment and lunch at Wong Kok Chan Char Teng..it was time to head into KL for a drive around and check out the Chinese New Year lights.

Then of course, as tourists do I thought we could go to KLCC garden, see the fountains and have a beer at San Francisco Steak House, so that's what we did! (I have to say they had the lousiest greasiest crappiest onion rings and potatoe skins I've EVER had)

It was actually totally packed in there, people all over the place, luckily I chose a place to sit that pretty much masked out the hoards of commoners drinking cans of coke and littering the floor like their father owned the place.

It was a pleasant evening, stayed there until the fountain show was done, very relaxing taking in the KL night views, I meant to take my Mom to Luna Bar, but I ran out of time.

The fountain show is very nice and is worth watching now and then.

My Mom was very happy to be there

This is my favourite Fountain Shot, it's just right

And of course the cheesy typical KLCC shot from the base.

I would recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing evening with a visiting friend or relative.