Photography trip to Kuantan

Just in case you don't already know, Kuantan is the state capital for Pahang, the third largest state in Malaysia (*I'm hearing the voice of Captain Obvious...)

So... yeah, it was a 3 days-2nights trip to Kuantan, mainly for shooting, and also its awesome food (particularly its awesome SEAFOODDDD!!)

Nothing special on the first day, spent most of the time on the road from KL to Kuantan, and was too tired to grab any of the seafood in the town.

It was a great start to the second day, the weather was good(I consider hot weather as good weather, it's more suitable for shooting, compare to gloomy weather, which I dislike the most....). Kicked off my day with 3 hours shooting at the "Black Stone Beach". I am literally tanned now. =.= but I am glad that I could grab some beautiful sceneries of the beach! (P.S. please don't ask me why it is called the Black Stone Beach, I am clueless as you all. The stone ain't black at all!)

10s f/22.0 ISO100 11mm (35mm eq:16mm) 

10s f/22.0 ISO100 11mm

1/125s f/16.0 ISO100 11mm

1/30s f/22.0 ISO100 11mm

1/125s f/22.0 ISO100 14mm

1/125s f/10.0 ISO100 11mm 

1/160s f/10.0 ISO100 11mm

1/125s f/11.0 ISO100 16mm

6s f/16.0 ISO100 16mm

1/125s f/16.0 ISO100 16mm

/125s f/8.0 ISO100 15mm

1/200s f/10.0 ISO100 11mm

1/400s f/10.0 ISO100 11mm 

The shoot took me approximately 3 hours under the frigging hot sun, and for those who are curious with my gears: most of the shots on that day, was taken with the a Nikon D7000, with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X II (Exif Data are all stated below the pictures =) )

 Gladly, there are shops that I could stop by to grab a drink and a piece of cake, and work on my shot, there are Starbucks, McDonald (with McCafe), Burger King, choose whichever you like and stop by for a bite! I personally chose McCafe with a cup of ice-cold Latte, and a Brownie! They are particularly awesome when you have them under a boiling-hot sun!

Sat down for few hours to get the post editing work done, and viola! I have finally completed my main assignment of the trip: conquer the Black Stone Beach!

After the shoot, I headed back to the hotel, did some workout and it's time for dinner!! Check out on the "Hungry Go Where" apps and found this shop, and was stunned by their awesomely prepared dinner! The seafood are fresh, particularly their signature dish, the Assam Fish!

That's their signature dish, Assam Fish!! The soup will be constantly refilled to avoid the soup being dried out, and being too salty.

The ingredients are so fresh!!

Mango Kelabu Tofu

Yeah, that's the best dinner I have had in Kuantan (this is my 5th time coming to Kuantan). You guys must be quite curious with the price eh? The price was pretty reasonable, 4 dishes, cost me around 60 bucks, not too bad eh? For those who are interested, you may visit this shop at:

Restoran Ah Wah 阿华泰式小食 
A200, Jalan Beserah, 
Taman East Coast, 
Pahang, Kuantan, 25000

And not forgetting to mention, their service are ridiculously good too! =D I can't express enough how much I want to have another dinner here again!

Yeah, that's all for my trip to Kuantan. My next photoshoot should be in Ipoh, sometime in August. For those who are interested to know more about El Retrato Photography, you may find us in Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/El-Retrat... . C u there!

Event Shooting: Annual Gathering by Chinese Cultural Society, SMK Bukit Meah

It is that time of the year again, where kids can play with the fireworks, parents giving out angpau,  relatives visiting each other, students have their holidays and visit their friends, and teachers….. err… are not teaching. Yes, it is the Chinese New Year again, and yes, we are all one year older now.

Whereas for the committees of Chinese Society of the SMK Bukit Mewah, they have decided to co-organised an annual event with the alumnus, to gather up all the other alumnus, and the teachers, be it retired or not, to reminisce the good old days.

This event has become an annual event since sometimes in  2005. And on the 9th day of the Lunar Calendar this year, they have all gathered again, to prolong the fine tradition.. And thanks to the committees, we had the honour to capture all the meaningful moments that night.

Thaipusam At Batu Caves 2014

I am always aware that Thaipusam is one of the most happening festival in Malaysia but yet I have pretended not to be bothered about it, until this year, I have decided to make a trip to Batu Caves and do some exploring myself.

And just to give you some rough ideas,

" Thaipusam is a day for the Hindu populations of Malaysia, South India, Singapore and Sri Lanka to show thanksgiving and penance. Thaipusam honors Murugan, the Hindu god of war and victory, and participants go to extreme measures to show their gratitude.

The traditional way to celebrate Thaipusam is to bear a kavadi, or physical burden. In offering their kavadi to Murugan, devotees inflicting pain on themselves in order to be granted protection against misfortune."

Battery all charged, gear all well prepared and it's time to sleep. But sadly, I was too jumpy and excited the night before the shooting and I was not able to get to sleep. Eventually I have decided to browse through some Thaipusam-related pictures which I thought would help but it turned out to be worst, I barely sleep through the night and woke up at 2.30am, as planned.

Had a quick bite at mamak, reached Batu Caves at 4am and there I go, I begun my "Journey to The Caves".

Albeit it was still very early, the amount of devotees gathered at the Caves are simply unbelievable. I kid you not, I literally have to survive in the crowd crush shovel through the crowd to get to the top of the Caves.

As I reached the top of the Caves, this is what I got:

Look at the crowd!

A devotee getting blessed.

Another young lil devotee is getting blessed too!                 

And he is filled with joy!

And when the sun beginning to rise, I begun to walk downwards.. And the crowd is still expanding rapidly!                                                      

Manliness Lvl > 9999!!

This devotee looks like Jonaz Gutierrez to me.. Don't know him? Ask Google.

Yea yea I know you are looking for something like this.. There you go!

Another one..

They are not feeling the pain at all, but i do feel it for them!

                                   

Step by step, we march forward! God are with us!

                                   

A devotee bears the kavadi.

My favorite shot of the day!

And there it goes, I finally completed my shooting at about 11am and albeit the short of sleep, I still feel energetic because of all the eyes-opening-cultural-activities!! Went back home and thank God I was not stuck in traffic jam. =D

If you would like to view more of my photos of the day, you may visit my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ckphotograph/sets/72157639883104776/

Thank you peeps for reading, so long, good night!

Menu Shooting for Cowboy Burger at Subang SS15/4b

I  recently received an invitation to do a menu shooting at a new burger shop in the town, Cowboy Burger. They are located at the heart of Subang Jaya, SS15/4b. 

I was then welcome by the friendly sheriff, James Chai during the shooting day and I was literally surprised impressed with the quality of their food. And according to James, the master chef is a Malaysian who came back from Japan not long ago. And they came up with this Japanese-Western burger concept. As you can see, they serve a varieties of warm cheese melting patty at the heartwarming centre of a bun for the hunger and tasty of a burger. 

The Japanese-Western fusion dishes certainly made me drool… Look at these mouth watery burgers!!

Their signature dish, Cowboy Double Double Piggy Burger

Another signature dish, Cowboy Aloha Piggy Burger

My favourite, Chicken Teriyaki Burger
                                        

and these….

The Carbonara

Cowboy Bolognese

The Cowboy Chicken Wings

                                       

Cowboy Mushroom Soup

And also these!!

Onion Ring

Brownie

This is a burger shop that you must not miss if you are a burger lover.

Cowboy Burger
25, Jalan SS15/4B, Subang Jaya
Open daily from 1130am-1030pm, except Mondays. Tel: 03-5611-9963

P.s. If you would like to know what it may taste like combining beer and burgers, drop by Cowboy Burger and give it a go!