KLickrVille

We sure had fun setting it up, but in the end, we realised that a 40 by 40 feet in open air may just be a touch too big to be cosy. We made the best of it though. We were at the KLue area in Urbanscapes, right at the end, near the much-maligned non-floating hot air balloon area. At least KLcikrVille took off ……

Since internet was sluggish, we brought our own P1 unit, so surfing in and around the tent was smooth. So was the uploads of photos. The open space however, negated our effort to have a good audio and visual projection, bright sunlight and loud live music conspired against our effort somewhat. The theme was the colours of flicker - re pick and purple. Right, it was not me doing the picking. We got our own sound system, projectors and drinks. Cameras of course. Despite being at KLickerVille almost all day, I still managed more than 200 snaps! We shared our tent with a lomo photography group, so they were the one pulling in the visitors. We distributed leaflets and managed to get crowd in from time to time, but the location well away from the main walking area did not help. The bright sunshine and breezy day was a contrast from the thunderstorm the previous couple of days. Shame that the hot air balloon did not take off, as it would have been a great spectacle. Clear blue sky and carnival atmosphere, and you have balloon in the sky …. Bliss!

What was important was we plodded on, and was rewarded with successful 5 minute Photo Express session. I was also currently in the middle of selecting the winner for the Photo Hunt we organised. Shafina, the Mayor of KLickr was ill however that afternoon, which was a bit of a downer. And with my family traveling down from Kuala Kangsar, I had to leave early as well, meaning before 9, and Bunkface showing up. I did listen to them during their soundcheck a day earlier anyhow, so I was not really complaining.

The 5 minute thingy

Yours truly and Azlan, the photographer extraordinaire. It was a pleasure.20 photos. 5 minutes. Doing the maths, that would be 15 seconds per slide. And that can be intense especially if you were in the middle of your thoughts, and without a PA system, having to shout at the top of your voice against the drum beat of a nearby sound stage. Well, in a nutshell, that was what the 5 Minute Photo Express was all about. All together, we had 15 speakers, spread over 3 sessions who were brave enough to come forward. But I must say, it was a huge success. The only thing we could have done better would be to publicise the even on a bigger scale. Anyway, we made the most of what we had, and still people flocked in.

We had an experimental photographer in Azlan, who exclusively takes medium format slides. He explained the thinking and motivations behind his photographs, grabbing the attention of the listeners no end. Then we had a disabled photographer, taking photographs rolling around on his wheelchair, a travel photographers or two. Somebody who was at the Bersih event the weekend previously. We had Ripi talking about the beauty of blurred photographs, with his memorable quote of - a single frame is a mistake, a dozen frames is an experiment, and hundred frames would be a trend!

Shaz preparing the slides@chimagination and his Million Happy Faces projectWe also had a lady from China, Loh Chi Meng talking about his Million Happy Faces project, Shaz - the host with photographs of blue sky, Prakash on his recent journey to Jakarta. A mixed bag, and that was the beauty of it. I wished that the event was held indoors, like it was in the last Urbsanscapes, with better projections, and without the need to shout at the top of your voice. We would also be able to interact better as well, as interaction was what it was all about …. I just wished that we had the session videoed. That would have been nice …

The Evening Before

The excitement was clearly palpable when I arrived at Padang Astaka. The place was slowly transforming into a carnival site, with props being put up and bands doing their sounchecks. All the tents appeared to be in place, with most of the wiring and electricals in place. The damp weather clearly has not dampen the spirit off the crews. Bumped into a few people I have known from before also involved at some capacity or the other. Many friendly faces, with some of them looking at puzzled, staring at my UM tag around my neck. 

We did some on site reccy and finalising what to put up first thing tomorrow morning. Even though it was about to drizzle, the weather was still kinda muggy, reminding to take plenty of fluids tomorrow. A quick look at the weather forecast - showers, with chance of thunderstorm, but with clear, sunny intervals. I think it would be pouring first thing in the morning, but things would clear up by lunchtime. Looking forward to the party then

Bunkface doing their soundcheck

The crew pass in my bag, most of the technical staff as far as twitter and facebook were concerned for the competitions tomorrow had been sorted out. The problem I had was the limited bandwidth I was getting on my iPhone through Celcom. My Galaxy S2 seemed to be nippier on DiGi. It looked like we would have to bring along the P1 terminals and my wiggy modem just to be on the safe side, even thoughTM promised blanket Unifi coverage. Not very optimistic if the speed would hold if everybody were to log onto the network at the same time.

Just sorting out things to take to the site firs thing tomorrow morning. I would just be bringing my Mac Air alone, not the MacBook Pro as there would be a bit of a walk from the carpark to the tent, and I don’t want to be worried about leaving the laptop. I can always carry the MacAir with me everywhere I go. So, looking forward for tomorrow!

Almost set!

The pamphlet for the Photo Hunt to be given at the entrance. Happy hunting and keep on KLicking!

5 Minute Photo Express

What do you get when you can cramp 17 photographers, give them five minutes each, to showcase 20 of their shots at 15 seconds per shot - doing the maths would give you 5 minutes? The 5 minute photo express of course. Inspired by a ‘Pecha Kucha’ event KLickr was previously involved in, we decided to bring the event to KLickr-ville at Urbanscapes this year.

The photographers would be divided into three groups, taking cues at 3pm, 5pm and 7pm, they will not only project their work, but in the 15 seconds also try to explain the mechanics behind them. I was reliably informed that at 15 seconds a horn will be sounded, and if they were to miss the horn on three occasion, they would be ejected. But I would prefer to keep that as rumours. So here is the line-up, at 3 pm:

Ila Farhana - Raja Indra Putra - Mohd Azlan MAM08 - Abdul Urus - Prakash Daniel - Majidah Hashim

From 5 pm:

Lei Lei - Rames - Sze Too - Dina Zaman - Khalil Makata

And finally from 7pm:

Luke Chua - Paul Ho - Wordsmanifest - Loh Chi Ming - Junior - Shaz

Please come and support them. Even if you do not want to watch their showcase for some reason, visit us any way! Have fun, and keep on KLicking!