Tag Archives: week

A Year Ago at The Gardens

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I don’t wanna leave this blog idling for too long. So, in order to keep it alive, I have decided to post one photo or so from time to time. (during this transition period) I dug this from my old archive. I shot this about a year ago, when I made a trip to KL last year.

Allen Ang © 2009 www.allenang.com

Allen Ang © 2009 www.allenang.com

And this is a solid support to why I would prefer shooting fashion show in KL, than shooting in Kuching. Reasonable, no?

Anyways, about the photo, I shot it with EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM mounted on my EOS 50D. It was Fashionweek in KL, and this show was held at The Gardens.

Spring/Summer Fashion Show @ Mid Valley Marathon

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It was such a coincident that it was fashion weeks around Klang Valley during my visit to KL, and I had my first taste on fashion show photoshoot in KL. Never in my previous time in KL, I had i chance to shoot fashion show. Robin couldn’t hide his exciting, repeatingly praise how good the fashion shows are in KL.

So, off we were to Mid Valley, where the fashion shows are held. Ruby text me couple days earlier, insisting that I should be there for the fashion show that time. So, the anticipation was quite high for the show. In fact, there were fashion shows going on in both Mid Valley’s centre court and The Gardens Mall. However, the timing was quite tight. After every show in Mid Valley, The Gardens Mall will follow with the ones there. So, both Robin and me, along with few other photography enthusiasts were on frenzy running back and forth two places.

I was rather clueless on how I should shoot the show. It was pretty much my first time in KL, and I wanted to try out different method shooting a fashion show. Since the models were constantly moving on the runway, I decided to track the movement in frame with AI Servo. I also switched to Av mode for shooting, while toning down the EV value to – 0.3 EV or – 0.7 EV, for faster shutter speed. I left the aperture set at its widest configuration.

However, my main mistake was, to use multiple AF point with AI Servo. The focusing and tracking was rather disastrous, as there are times when the outcome didn’t turn out like how I would have imagined.

There were some side events before the main show started. Align with the Stadium Emirates theme, they have set up few game stations just next to the stage. Top shoppers in Studio R were invited to play in their EA Sports FIFA game on PS3, projected on Samsung LCD TV. There were even live commentary by the emcee that day. Hehe. I reckon he is also a hardcore Barclays’ Premier League.

EA Sports' FIFA game (PS3 Platform) on Samsung LCD TV.

EA Sports' FIFA game (PS3 Platform) on Samsung LCD TV.

Sisterly Love

Sisterly Love

Canon chick. :D

Canon chick. :D

The lens I chose to start with was my EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM, so on a 1.6x cropped body. With that, the focal length would be equvalent to 144-480mm, so it’s pretty long for where I was standing. It was quite difficult to find a good spot to compose my shot, as I was standing by the side of the stage. I didn’t capture the stage design in this show, will show it in the upcoming posts.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

Since I was not shooting from the photographer’s stage, most of my shot would have obstructions in the frame, especially when I try to get whole body framing.

Look at their eyes, they're so focused.

Look at their eyes, they're so focused.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

So, most of my shot from that day had to be cropped, at least a bit. There was only a handful which didn’t require any cropping.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @iso800

Puma - Kungfu!

Puma - Kungfu!

So there goes show #1 in Midvalley, after this show, we rushed to The Gardens Mall for the next show. However, I will get all shows I shot in Mid Valley done first before moving on to The Gardens. I had three shows in my bag that day.

For more photos, please visit my facebook’s photo album here.

Fashion Week Posts continues with the ones in KL

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After Fashion Week at Kuching, we are going back to KL for the fashion shows I captured during my trip there. Here is one from Sg. Wang. I took this on the first day I arrived in KL, in fact, it was just a few hours after I arrived at KL Sentral. I didn’t know there was fashion show going on at that time.
EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM

I was at a very awkward position, very bad angle to view the show. I was, in fact, just a couple of levels above the  backstage, facing the crowd. So, no much shot from me that night.

Spring/Summer Fashion Week 2009 @ tHe Spring (Kuching)

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Short note: I have just updated my firmware for my EOS 50D – firmware version 1.0.6. It is said to address the vertical banding noise issue. Please refer to dpreview’s post on the 23 April 2009 here. There is also update for EOS 450D and 1000D, please refer to their text for more information.

After the Rock Party post, here comes the fashion week run-in couple of weeks ago. I’ll start off with the fashion week in the Spring shopping mall in Kuching. I believe it was the first of its kind fashion week, with a private function slot in among the shows. Coincidentally, I just got off fresh from shooting KL Fashion Week in Midvalley and The Gardens, as well as some glimpses in Sg. Wang, the week before. The ones I took in KL will have to wait after this post. I shall cut the post here as short as possible, do expect a lot less photos to be cut off from the blog here as I actually camped at the Spring for 3 days in a row, shooting all the shows they put on stage.

1st of May marks the start of Fashion Week at the Spring, one of the Spring’s major events for the year, showcasing their tenants’ Spring/Summer 2009 collections. This event is officially sponsored by Jetstar Asia. The other sponsors include Borneo Paradise Landscaping, Himalaya, Clarins, Silhouette, Esprit and Padini Concept Store. Stage is the official makeup sponsor, and Richard and Iris is the official hair stylist sponsor.

The Fashion Week at the Spring is a 3-day extravaganza, which kick-started with a “close function via invitation” function. The private function features collections from 3 major brands in the Spring – Esprit, United Color of Benetton and PDI at Padini Concept Store. The private function draws an estimated number of 200 guests in the event’s guest list that evening.

Robin managed to secure the invitation for me, credit to him for the access.

Fashion Week Private Function Invitation

Fashion Week Private Function Invitation

Thanks to Irene Teo for preparing the invitation on such short notice.

Im proud to see my name printed on the invite.

I'm proud to see my name printed on the invite.

#222

#222

I had quite a nice number printed on my invite – #222, but unfortunately, it didn’t win me lucky draw prize.

The show started with collections from Esprit.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4-5.6 USM @ ISO800

I thought the stage is one of the nicest looking ones in KL, nice and clean. The vibrant color on the backdrop did bring out the spring/summer feel to the stage. I’m grateful that the organizer prepared a photographer’s stage for this event. It helped a lot. However, the restriction for crowd to get near the stage is a lot less on the first night. Due to that, We often get unwanted distractions getting into our frames, such as the heads, mobile phones, cameras and etc. Having said that, there was improvement on the following day, as they extended the space/distance of the restricted area. Which eventually made the shooting more pleasant.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

Although the photographer’s stage gave me height and angle advantage, I had to make do with what I have in my bag. My current telezoom lens is EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM, without IS. The aperture isn’t wide, especially at the tele-end, and it is prone to camera shake with aperture as small at f/5 or f/5.6. The only thing I could do is to boost my ISO. However, for the first night out, I was being too cautious, I only shot with focal length at 90mm whole night.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

As for AF drive, I opted for AI servo, with one AF point defined. I visualize on how I want to compose the photo, then select the point where my subject would likely be coming through. That’s quite a lot of hassle as I may need to change the AF point from time to time. I only got used to using AI Servo from the shoot in KL. Fortunately, the pace on the runway here in Kuching is rather slow. If you missed a shot, worry not, they will still be there for you to recompose and capture. :D

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

I use burst mode a lot that night, and often I manage to catch someone else’s flash in my frame, the effect’s quite nice though. Of the few shots which I caught flash from other camera, I did not perform any enhancement onto the photos, as it came straight out from the camera’s processing.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

After Esprit, United Color of Benetton was next in line for the show. I like the vibrant color from their collection, as it brings out Summer to us. It sure made me a happier man that time. ;-)

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO 800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO 800

The picture above is another example of capturing a flash from off-camera, which I kinda like the result. Too bad the model in the middle turned her head away already.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO 800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO 800

I personally like the yellow dress on the model herself. :)   Anyway, let’s get back to the photography course in this post. Since I was shooting at focal length of 90mm throughout the night, I have to crop many of my shots to get the actual composition I wanted initially.

To round up the show for the night, we had PDI collection from Padini Concept Store on show.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 @ ISO800

PDI’s collection has a lot of vertical line in the tees, both polo and round neck ones.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

In the photo above, you could see the distraction or obstruction, whichever you wanna call it, gets into the way in my frame. This was caused by the lack of space between the edge of the stage and the ground where crowd is allowed to be at.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

The models did a round of ‘run’ after the finale walk, before bringing their runway coordinator towards the end of the show.

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

EOS 50D + EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM @ ISO800

My 90mm focal length on my 1.6x crop-factor body (equivalent to 144mm on 35mm format or full frame body) is not wide enough to fit everyone in. Up next, Day 2 and Day 3 of the Spring Fashion Week. I have uploaded some of the selected photos to my flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/allenang/sets/72157618052967081/. While for the rest of it, I will subsequently upload them to my facebook.