.: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery :.

So May 10th came faster than expected and everything seemed to come together just in time, World Lupus Day was here!

The first part was getting the Anything Butterfly Photography Competition running, which we got going with the help of the large member base on Shutter Asia, fellow bloggers giving it a mention and adverts donated by Nuffnang!

Plenty of entries came in, Thursday night was reserved for judging, how we did so is explained here:

Winners of the Anything Butterfly Contest

You can also view the winning pictures there.

Friday night was sticking the winning picks on the mounting boards along with the Lupus posters and information for the exhibition.

The exhibition is on until the 18th of May so please do check it out in 1-Utama near the Oval in the new wing on the 1st floor (You can also buy one of my framed pics for charity!).

Saturday was the event itself, after a late night out at Starbucks it was up and out to 1-Utama, the others had been there since earlllyyyy setting up the panels, carpets and so on.

Freaky was the main organiser + sponsor seeker + everything else + emcee for the day!

Along with the runners up and consellation prize winners we also had stories of lupus displayed.

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World Lupus Day is a global awareness effort and is coming soon on May 10th, Malaysia is participating with a charity initiative driven by Shutter Asia in conjunction with Persatuan SLE Malaysia.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) is a chronic autoimmune disease that can be fatal, though with recent medical advances, fatalities are becoming increasingly rare. As with other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body’s cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. SLE can affect any part of the body, but most often harms the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys and nervous system. SOURCE

You can read more about Lupus here at Lupus Malaysia.

To raise money for we will be running a photography contest with the theme of "Anything Butterfly" - this is not limited to macro so go wild. It's up to your interpretation.

First Prize:
Nikon D60 DSLR Camera with kit valued at RM 2,588

Second Prize:
Nikon D40x DSLR Camera with kit valued at RM 1,888

Third Prize:
Coolpix P5100 camera valued at RM 1,048

Five Merit Prizes:
Nikon CF Sprint IV binoculars valued at RM 198 each

Fifteen Consolation Prizes

Download your entry form here: World Lupus Day Entry Form

You need to submit the entry form with a minimum donation of RM10 before April 30th.

Photographs for entry MUST be taken between May 1st and May 7th and entered by May 8th 5pm. An exhibition and prize giving ceremony will be on May 10th and the exhibition will continue until May 18th. More details here.

So do enter, and keep May 10th free to support Shutter Asia and Lupus!

If you don't mind please blog about this too, even if it's just an aside and forward this to any friends you have that are interested in photography.

So last weekend a group of us from Shutter Asia headed out to Perak for a weekend away from the city, the occasion was the 1st anniversary of the forum!

We were staying at Cinta Alam Kelimat Eco Village, nearby Sungai Siput.

A short stop at Ipoh on the way for some food and street photography! It's a great old city so it's good to capture some of the details and faces there.

Family Time

Decrepit

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So after getting up early on Saturday morning we met at the Caltex before the trunk road to Kuala Selangor, after driving for about an hour we reached Sekinchan, just after Kuala Selangor towards Teluk Intan.

Sekinchan is known as the ricebowl of Malaysia with a lot of paddy fields and some pretty interesting fishing villages. The morning was hot, but sadly, a little hazy so the skies and light weren't perfect.

But as always I made the best of it with my superwide 10mm lens and trust CPL.

Even managed to sneak some wide angle panning in

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Shutter Asia (SA) was set-up in March 2007 by a group of like-minded friends who were interested in photography and travel, the idea was for the site to become a friendly community for photography enthusiasts and travelers around Asia and other areas, for asking questions, sharing photographs & techniques, discussing travel and locations and learning in a welcoming and friendly atmosphere.

It's officially launching today, so do join up and contribute.

http://www.shutterasia.com

There is a lot of information on the Internet regarding photography and especially equipment and technical terms (Aperture, Shutter, White Balance etc) but it can be very daunting for a new user or even confusing for an intermediate user. We wanted to get away from the bad attitudes, gear talk, cliques and flaming of other sites and communities and create a relaxed, but knowledgeable user base that will eventually fill our forum wonderful information and images.

We also have a Flickr group you can join here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/shutterasia/

And an active Shoutbox for real-time chat:

http://www.shutterasia.com/forum/shoutbox.php

If you have any feedback, let us know. Do introduce yourself and start posting pictures!