It was my third trip to Kuching and I was stoked to be able to hangout with the big guns Alvin Leong, Patrick Low, Saiful Nang, Jim & Ning Liaw at the WPPM conference! Kuching felt a lot like Penang – the place, the people, the food. Being the Penangite foodie that I am, I totally enjoyed the local Sarawakian hawker and cuisine! And Alvin was the perfect candidate to bring us around!

I got to try the Sarawakian laksa (very yummy!), which is prepared in a completely different style from the Penang laksa (which I don’t eat), the famous wildly grown midin veggie, char koay kak, popia and even some local fusion food! We also went to the coolest bar in town, and one of te coziest, I might add, the Junk! sandwiched in between a row of old shop houses, the Junk is a somewhat a cryptic maze comprised of a bar/restaurant/private lounge. There were rooms that led to other rooms and then more rooms!

My talk on “creative photography” fell in the last slot on Saturday and I was somewhat relieved not having found anyone dozing off (perhaps Patrick’s threat to call on anyone sleeping up on stage to pose nude DID work afterall)! After a live demo on light-painting, I had two teams give it a go! (check out the images below!)

We found ourselves back at The Junk (for the third time this trip! Yes, it seems like THE PLACE to be!) a few hours later for the Photographer’s chillout session, a panel discussion comprised of Jim, Patrick, Alvin, Saiful and I, followed by a lucky draw and a mini-auction! (I won a bid for speedlight Pro Kit by Joe Chan! SOLD to Fiona (me!) in the red dress for RM270! What a deal for something that retails at RM420!) Later in night was a casual meet & greet session with fellow photographers & enthusiasts. I was stoked to see Lance (who had attended my WPPM talk in KL last year) come in our WTF t-shirt!!!

Big THANKS to Alvin for taking such great care of us during our stay in Kuching and it was so nice to meet his family Christina, Ethan and Shannon and his team, Angeline & Kelvin & Annie! Am looking forward to our next trip back and to seeing everyone else at WPPM Penang in June!!!

Last but not least, big THANKS to Nic who came along and helped me out for the weekend. I absolutely love his shots!

Alvin, goofing around…

Patrick was the first to speak that day. He talked on Wedding Photography Do’s & Dont’s

Saiful talked about becoming an International Photographer…

I was the last to go for the day and had to move everyone to the big auditorium for the light painting live demo!

I was privileged to have Patrick assist me in the live demo (an assistant I definitely can’t afford, so grateful for his kind heart!)

The following 3 photos are courtesy of Patrick and his “baby”, The Hasselblad H3D

Here’s the live demo I did. Model: Nic

Group 1′s shot

Group 2′s shot

And here are a few more photos taken by Kelvin

Meet Kelvin, Official photographer that weekend!

At the Photographer’s Chill out Session @ The Junk

Yay! for winning the bid for the Speedlight Pro Kit by Joe Chan!

I’m stoked and honored to be joining top Photographers Jim Liaw, Patrick Low, Saiful Nang and Alvin Leong in the upcoming WPPM Conference in Kuching this coming weekend! And I cant’ wait to meet all your Sarawakian photographers! I’ll be speaking on Saturday, May 7 so see you there!

Are you in or are you out? To sign up, click HERE !!!

Leading up to our main event WPPM Annual Conference 2011 in August 2011, we are visiting to major cities around Malaysia to share our passion and experiences in wedding and portrait photography. Our very first stop will be KUCHING, SARAWAK. Details of our Kuching stopover is as follows:-

WPPM PLATFORM SEMINAR

Day 1 & 2: WPPM Member – RM220, Non-Member – RM320

Day 2 only: WPPM Member – RM100, Non-Member – RM120

Saturday, 7 May 2011 (Day 1)

Time: 9.00AM to 5.00PM

Venue: Islamic Information Center, Jalan Ong Tiang Swee

Saiful Nang – Becoming an International Photographer

Fiona Lim – Let’s Get Creative, Tricks and Techniques, Thinking Out of the Box!

Patrick Low – Wedding and Portrait Photography, Do’s and Don’ts

Sunday, 8 May 2011 (Day 2)

Time: 10.00AM to 5.00PM

Venue: Islamic Information Center, Jalan Ong Tiang Swee

Jim Liaw – Wedding and Portrait

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WPPM MASTERCLASS WORKSHOP

WPPM Member – RM500, Non-Member – RM580

Monday, 9 May 2011

Time: 10.00AM to 5.00PM

Venue: Alvin Leong Academy of Photography, Queens Court

True Light Workshop – A masterclass by Jim Liaw

For more information, please visit http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=201832393180967 or www.facebook.com/wppm1