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VMY2007: Happy 50th Birthday Malaysia!
Malaysia celebrates its 50th independence anniversary today, and Team Japan’s fireworks performance doubled up as a ‘Merdeka fireworks display’ last night as the organizers postponed it from 10pm to 12am. It would have been perfect if there was a countdown to go along with it.
I arrived around 9pm with HC at the Cyberjaya Lake View park (I’m not sure exactly what’s that place called, but it sure has a nice lake view), which was already packed with a good crowd. I was there hoping to get good reflections of light - I told a friend I wanted to try and capture the fireworks plus reflections from the lake.
The park was actually very well-lit, scenic and beautiful - no wonder my friend recommended me to go there. Many people brought mats, food and drinks; some even came with portable DVD players and notebooks! HC, for instance, was watching her favorite anime on her brand new Toshiba notebook.
We found a nice spot between a Malay family and a Chinese family, which was nice considering it was a Merdeka eve. For about two hours, we chatted with the Malay family and I learned that the husband was working for Setia Haruman, the developer of Cyberjaya. We didn’t chat up the Chinese family as they were very engrossed watching DVD.
By the time the fireworks started, the park was jam-packed like a typical Pasar Malam. The display wasn’t as nice as I had expected, and from our spot, there was simply too much smoke, which spoiled many of my pictures :(
Given a choice, I’d rather have no reflections than having to put up with so much smoke. I also heard the background music playing during the fireworks, albeit a little soft. I imagine Akon’s Smack That - which was played before the fireworks started - would have been a nicer accompaniment :p
I wonder if there is a way to capture fireworks without capturing too much of its smoke. The Japanese team had alot of ‘mini-fireworks’, where much of its flares were not very long :(. It was tricky as I had to estimate the size (hence duration) of these flares and set my shutter speed accordingly.
I like this picture alot but sadly some of it went out of my capture range. It’s really colourful and vibrant. I didn’t expect it to shoot up so high suddenly!
And then there were little drawings in the sky, which was really cute. Some looked like planets with a planetary ring around them, some others looked like flowers. In any case, their flares weren’t very big therefore I couldn’t expose my shutter for too long.
This one’s pretty cute too, although I can’t quite make out what it looks like. The one on the right looks like some trees and the left… I dunno, the sun? Anyway, here are some more shots taken before the show ended:
I got what I wanted - reflections. But I also got alot of smoke! After it was all over, the entire place was blanketed with a layer of thick smoke, which was quite bad. And then there were people who ‘conveniently’ left their trash (newspapers, food wrappers, etc) behind for others to pick up. Malaysians never learn, do they?
Anyway, we wished the Malay family ‘Selamat Hari Merdeka’ before they left. All in all I can’t say I enjoyed the fireworks tremendously, given the overblown hype and expectations about the Japanese team. Maybe it was the viewing angle. As you know, the best spot is always in PICC itself - which isn’t F.O.C. The traffic conditions on our way back was, as usual, very bad but I’ve gotten used to it already.
Happy Merdeka and have a great weekend!
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31 Aug 2007 narrowband
ประเทศมาเลเซีย สันต์วันเกิดนะครับ
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALAYSIA!
From Thailand.
So nice…i especially love 8,9 and 11
Those photos are mesmerising, too bad I can’t be there myself.
Anyway, HAPPY MERDEKA!
[…] Malaysia celebrates its 50th independence anniversary today, and Team Japan s fireworks performance doubled up as a Merdeka fireworks display last night as the organizers postponed it from 10pm to 12am. It would have been perfect if there was a countdown to go along with it. I arrived around 9pm with HC at the Cyberjaya Lake View park (I m not sure exactly what s that place called, but it sure has a nice lake view), which was already packed with a good crowd. I was there hoping …more […]
The higher the number of aperture, you can reduce quite a number of smoke. However you’ll need a faster shutter speed to compensate n make it balance.
Btw, there isnt that much smoke in all yr fotos. Nicely taken! And lastly, Slamat hari merdeka ;)
Pisanu - I really like what you and your co-author Sofia are doing, highlighting anything related to the ongoings in the Asean region. Keep up the excellent work!
Bengbeng - Ah, you like mini-drawings that float in the skies huh? I tried to capture more of those but I think these two turned out better.
Wayne - Thanks for dropping by here! Actually I think the crowd and the park were more worthy of a mention, than the actual fireworks itself. Everyone - Chinese, Indian, Malay, young and old - turned up and the feeling was absolutely 100% Malaysian.
Victor - Wow man keep these tips coming! I never knew that! However, what I noticed was, whenever I increased the aperture, the brightness somehow decreased. I wonder how will increasing shutter speed help balance things back up (my max ISO is only 400 - pathetic!! And it’s super noisy). I’ll consult you on MSN on this, lol ;p
And on the smoky photos - of course I select only those with less smoke to be put up here! I can’t stand looking at those smoky photos myself - although I managed to capture much of their flares, the smoke is really thick and it’s a huge turn-off!
Wasted hor that colourful pic…
Err… what’s that building? Look like that HK Convention & Exhibition Centre!
[…] Malaysia celebrates its 50th independence anniversary today, and Team Japan s fireworks performance doubled up as a Merdeka fireworks display last night as the organizers postponed it from 10pm to 12am. It would have been perfect if […]
So pretty, the fireworks! I think this time around you took nicer photos even though you say there was a lot of smoke in the not-shown pix.
And your piccies are way better than mine anytime. I shall call you sifu since you already talk the lingo that confuses me. Hehe.
Nice fireworks photo :)
HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY MALAYSIA!
That was a grand celebration! :)
Quote, “All in all I can’t say I enjoyed the fireworks tremendously, given the overblown hype and expectations about the Japanese team” What???? u mean u didn’t enjoy the company??? cis…
Happy birthday Malaysia!~
Dude nice images. may i know which place u were stood on that day. i wish to get some nice place during the final day rather than paying RM30.80 to enter the PICC. There are nth inside the PICC and the foods are expensive.
Happy Merdeka.
Angel - That building hor, is the Putrajaya International Convention Center (PICC) la! -__-”. It’s the place where you can get the best viewing angle!
Rinnah - Thanks!! Eh, I’m also learning k! There’s so much to learn but they’re interesting and the results, if turn out good, are very satisfying and that motivates me :p
Thank you, Chen ;)
ECL - The fireworks in Putrajaya? I think the celebrations in KL were much, much more grand! I shudder to even think about traffic conditions in KL that night.
HC - Haha, I told you I did. You ber-contradicting wan, ‘fireworks’ and ‘company’ are two different things k!
Darren - Thanks. I was in Cyberjaya, some ‘lake view’ park (as mentioned in blog text). I couldn’t find a proper parking, and everybody just double- and triple-parked by the roadside, which was pretty cool! The park is a beautiful place for a night-walk and the atmostphere’s really pleasant. I’m sure you’ll like the scenery and environment there.
Hi dude today i got a nice place for final and it free. I was parked my car somewhere around PICC then i took the free shuttle to PICC therefore the secutiry won’t check my entrance ticket. In case the security ask i will said gonna purchase ticket inside PICC haha… but need to sacrified time and energy to stand… anyway thanks for ur suggestion.
the last pic is the sole reason why i decided to stay at home that day.
nice pics…really! the fireworks is jus awesome!
Haha noting la bro. I’m aso learning onli :P Actually the aperture no refers to the size of the opening of the lens. So it actually works as in u need a fast shutter to capture more light thus requiring a larger aperture (smaller opening) to ensure sufficient light exposure or should i say not to overexpose. Anyways, yah too high ISO make the pics darn noisy..I always prefer lower ISO.
Darren - Like I said, what you did on the last day was brilliant, man! Sacrificing time and energy was exactly what we all did, that day, and if there was a better place to view the fireworks, I would not have minded!
Zewt - Same goes for many others too ;)
Eunice - Haha, after so many days of watching fireworks, suddenly I felt a little tired and bored of them. Before this, I had always liked fireworks, partly because they’re rare. I think MIFC killed the fireworks ;p
Victor - Ya I just learned about that. Oh ya, one of the reasons why I want to get a DSLR is the faster shutter speed, and clean images at high ISO levels.