Thanks to Vincent, I was invited to be part of the launching of a new store at the Pavillion, Ted Baker. Ted Baker is a store which sells clothes catering mainly working adults, both male and female. From the crowd which attended the launch, I was sure that their range of female clothing were suited for women in the range of their thirties or so.

As much as I would like to not admit it, it was my first experience attending a store launch and from what Vincent told me, I was expecting a huge bash with loads of food, drinks, and of course people. Instead, when I arrived there with Vincent, this was what I encountered.


Hrmmm....nice sign

Well we were a little early and the "crowd" that I was expecting was most probably going to be fashionably late. The event meant to start at 7pm was only half full at around 7.30pm and by then I was busy munching away at the finger food served as people walked about the store and checked out what was on sale at that time (30%) discount!


Mind you, most of them are workers of the shop!

Anyway by the time the real event started, there were a few speeches by a few people whom I can't really remember their names but someone big from the Royal Sporting House (which brought the brand Ted Baker into Malaysia).



While everyone was busy mingling about, I had to make my way through plenty of photographers (mainly from magazines and a few newspapers) to take some photos of the surrounding area with my trusty IXUS 70 which did the job well enough for me.



Then there was the introduction by one of the Ted Baker representatives from the UK whom Vincent said had a very strong Manchunian accent (no, not from Manchuria but about 7000 miles west at Manchester). I figured out he would say that since is a lousy Man Utd fan.



At least I learned that the store was themed after Alice in Wonderland's tea party where you would see many different tea pots and cups ladened around the store with plastic cakes as decoration. It took me a while before I started understanding what she meant about the theme as I slowly explained to Vincent whom I think missed out on his childhood stories with stories about the great Man Utd instead.

After an hour of sipping wine and munching on some cucumber sandwiches, there was a street magician going about showing card tricks. To be frank, he was rather horrible and the mood was spoilt by his not-so-amazing performance.



By that time, most of the crowd were gone and I was wondering where would people go? I mean, there was free wine, free food, free snacks and a 30% store-wide discount on any items. Where could they be?

It seems that another store was having their launch as well.


There were more food, booze and drinks available and there were models. I even spied some of the people I saw at the Ted Baker shop squeezing their way forward to get close-up shots of the model.



But of course, if you had a long lens like these guys, you wouldn't need to fight your way forward. Looks like its Espirit 1, Ted Baker 0.

Sometime back I attended a workshop teaching us the basics of studio lighting which includes setting up lights, positioning them, talking about the various filters as well as getting the right camera settings. I definitely learned a lot there and I did manage to write a small post about the event here.

Well, here are more photos which I shot at the event as well as the link to my Flickr set.




Learning to take shots with the light positioned at the side. The light was filtered with a softbox creating a larger light source so that it doesn't become too harsh and create harsh shadows.


Dealing with the light position directly facing the model. Not easy as a direct lighting can create a very flat image, hence the need to have a little side or back lighting.


While the model takes a break, we have one of the workshops participant become the model. I think everyone was rather "kiasu" as they wanted to continue shooting even when there was a break given. I had my fair share of being the model as well.


And here is the result, not too flattering eh? But oh well, at least I helped them in a way practice on their shooting. I changed the image to black and white and asked them to position the light at the side to create a "fierce" or "strong" look. Doesn't work too well with the ladies though.


Finally, after a long hard morning/afternoon session, it was time for a break.

Check out my whole Flickr set here.

Check out Ted Adnan's blog here and Photography Portfolio here.