DP | @ekhoophotography

A very different appearance compared to the previous shoot we had. This time round, we were shooting my brother in-law and his family. Despite the clouds and a short drizzle, the weather was hot. Chinese New Year hot. So hot that I got pretty dehydrated before I even got home. Anyways, because of the rain, the lion dance was also pretty tame. In fact, they were mostly going after anyone who waved a hong bao (red packet with money inside I presume) in their face. So tame that even tourists could pose by the lion and take a photo!

On the fourth day of Chinese New Year, we decided that the evening was just the right time to drop by the Thean Hou Temple in KL for a shoot. As usual, it was packed and being the Lunar New Year, it also features a lot of performances and activities that add to the bustling atmosphere. My first time here in the evening and I'm already loving the light or the lack of it. Makes the use of small flashes all the more important but also trying to jostle light to add a bit of sparkle to the already vibrant scene.

With the year of the Tiger, there were many tiger lanterns made from wire and canvas. In the darkness, they glowed beautifully but if you drop by in the daytime, they look faded, dirty and uneventful. Tripods were a challenge in a crowded place like this so I ended up shooting handheld with the McNally grip, high ISO (up to 6400 but mostly on 1600 and 3200), and wireless flash and radiopoppers. We also had another shoot the following morning. I'll post that later and you can see the difference.

Lots of great food, good company, cooling weather thanks to the earlier rain and you've got the making of a great time!

These Pork burgers are beep awesome!

Here comes the KL Chan Ceramah Series...

For the photographers: all shot on a 5D Mark II with a 24-105mm lens. Aperture was mostly f/5.6 with shutter speeds ranging from 1/100 to 1/800 with RadioPoppers and high-speed sync flash 2x 580EX IIs and a 430EX II.

2009 was my quietest blogging year with only 65 entries compared to 117 in 2008! I guess things got a bit crazy, especially with work after the big house move. I guess also a lot of things happened as well.

Well, here goes 2009 in review on DP...

January

February

March - Before the big house move...

April - No time to blog... moving house

Truck load #1

May - Settling in...

New Home switches!

June

July

August

September - Realized I shoot more of others' families than my own...

October

November - A blacked-out month after life's greatest lesson about living - dying.

December - Miracles do happen... more over here.

Last night, I had a couple of friends over to my little box in the sky. It was a small party, only a total of 9 people but it was fun. We had lots of good home cooked food, dessert galore including strawberry crumble and a nice cake. We played taboo (the card game) till about 11:45pm when some early-fused fireworks over at 1-Utama or the Curve started going off. Unfortunately this year, the office tower under construction has blocked our view of the 1U/Curve fireworks but we still were treated to quite a few other spectacular firework displays from Tropicana to Summit and Sunway.

As we also had a good view of the LDP from our living room window, it's nice to be at a cozy place, chilling out with friends compared to a cramped car, stuck in traffic trying to get to 1U or the Curve. Of course at 12:30am, the traffic snarl was in reverse direction.

Looking back at 2008, well, there has been a whole bunch of unexpected events, many of them were unpleasant and unwelcome but there is a heap of of stuff to be thankful for. From things like health and well-being to having the love of my mind, heart and soul always beside me. From Family to great friends, the support of whom is so important. Above all, is God's amazing faithfulness and mercy, without which this year will be a disaster. Every step of the way, God has been with us, keeping us safe to make true his promises. There were rough patches but when you look back, God has been there, always and will always be there to see us through. So, yes, 2008 was absolutely fantastic. 2009 will be wonderful because soon, I'll be moving into the home that the Lord has promised three years ago.

Happy New Year 2009 everybody.