Glorious Evening of Shooting

Last Saturday started, as usual, morning clinic which stretched until lunch. But with the virus outbreak, patients who had routine follow-ups rather stayed away from the hospitals. So, my clinic finished earlier than usual. But I was not heading straight for home. Instead, I drove across town to attend the wedding of a patient.

The food there was great, and the venue was a place I had never been before - The Seavoy House in Titiwangsa. It was converted bungalow, with a lovely garden at the back. Traffic was a little heavy to get there, but everything was smooth otherwise.

That unmistakeable landmark

On relection

When I arrived at Bangsar, it started to rain... Oh, dear! I had a whole evening of shooting planned with the usual gang of four that evening. Luckily, as I was getting my gear ready, the rain stopped and the clouds parted! The shoot was on!

I parked at KLCC, arriving there just before 6 pm. I then made my way on foot to the newly opened Pintasan Saloma, a gorgeous bridge linking KLCC to Kampung Baru, over AKLEH Highway. A mesmerising place. And despite arriving there before 6.30, the place was already packed. The more serious photographers had already parked their tripods and ready for the sunset. Those who mingled around kept the place packed, and getting a clear shot proved to be a challenge all evening.

For the outing, I brought only the X-Pro3 with an extra battery plus a couple of lenses. I got the 16 mm f1.4 for the wide shots while keeping the 56 mm f1.2 for the close-ups and candids.

Arriving at the bridge

All the better spots were already taken

Time to hook up with friends

In glorious colours

There were a few familiar faces I met while waiting for the sunset. The gang of four assembled in time, and we were treated with glorious golden and blue hour lights. Despite the crowd, there was plenty for my lens to train at. I got plenty of candids and concentrated on snapping people’s mobile phone composing the scene. A kind of meta! I also managed to get some got shot of the twin tower and the bridge, while Azul managed to get a great photo of myself now used as my Facebook profile.

After the sunset, we walked around for a bit. After Maghrib prayers, we set out on LRT towards Pasar Seni to start the second part of the shooting - Petaling Street. But first, it was dinner. It was the first time I sampled the recommended Al-Baik restaurant opposite Central Market. The food was actually rather good - the mee ladna was the best I had in years!

Now at Petaling Street

The stalls were relatively quiet

Petaling Street next. Robin wanted to try the low-light video feature of the brand-new OM-D E-M1 mark III. I stuck with my 56mm, and we just roamed the area, managing to lose Ripi in the middle of the crowd. We stopped at REXKL, but unfortunately, the place was about to close. We were surprised to see that even the famed Petaling Street was closed by 10 pm, even on a Saturday evening. Jalan Alor and Bukit Bintang might have been livelier.

We went out separate ways on the LRT after that. Robin changed at Masjid Jamek to head home, while Ripi and I alighted at Kampung Baru to have another sample of Pintasan Saloma before getting to our cars. Azul went straight to Wangsa Maju where he left his car.

REXKL was already shutting down

I was sure Azul and Ripi already plotting their next photowalk …

A great night out and in the end, I nearly exhausted my batteries, capturing more than 400 shots by the time I got home. The “classic negative” jpg from Petaling Street really was a home run, atmospheric and with the 1-stop underexposure brought the rich colours and textures to life. More to come in later entries ...