It alway amazes me to see what people can do to create an a great photo. Whether it be crazy props for portraiture photography or staying overnight to catch the stars for night photography. Figure photography is no exception to this as some people go to great lengths to get a great set of photos.

I’ve kind of lost touch with the Black Rock Shooter series ever since they started releasing variants but there are three different types of Black Rock Shooter here. I have a vague idea of what they are called but chances are I’ll chances are it’s not completely correct. Can you name them all?

Credits to Zh3us to the amazing setup for Black Rock Shooter and Ex14 for the usage of his figures. Do check out his post here for more photos. Taken with the Panasonic Lumix GF3.

A pleasant sunny visit to Singapore’s Marina Barrage with Alafista and his daughter Mari. For those who have not visited the Marina Barrage you can expect it to be rather quite throughout the week, possibly with slightly more people on the weekend. Although there is really much to do there you can see a very scenic view of the south side of Singapore. Kite flying seems to be a popular activity there since there are relatively strong winds as it is by the sea.

Over the last couple of months, I’ve been finding things to keep myself occupied. Rather than continue to let my PSP collect dust I’d decided to give Fate/Extra a whirl. With much curiosity sparked by close friends I decided to give the English version a try.

Naturally me being a Saber fan I picked Saber to be my starting servant. Funnily enough I found her personality to be quite humorous as well as interesting. I’ll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum so for those who do not know who her real identity is she is in fact Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. I’ll leave it to you to play the game to find out more as there’s much more to uncover about the plot and other servants.

Once again this was shot with the Lumix GF3, lately I’ve been finding myself using it more frequently as its a pretty awesome prosumer camera. Much credit goes to Zh3us for the crazy lighting and backdrop setup as well as Ex14 for the usage of his prized Saber.

Just a little tribute to Yui from Angel Beats. Although there’s not really any remarkable figure out there of Yui felt this one was not too shabby even if it is a prize figure. Seems like companies like Good Smile Company, Alter and the rest refuse to give her any love I guess I’ll have to make do with what there is.

As you can see there is a gross amount of noise, the Lumix GF3′s sensor isnt really great for low lighting shots as you can see. Could have reduced the noise with a tripod or my regular camera however I didn’t really have those on me at the time. I really hope a better figure of Yui comes out eventually. Much thanks to Nutcase23 and ScorchNRoses for making this shot possible. Couldn’t have been done without him without his ‘portable sun’ LED panel and IKEA LED pads.

A few behind the scenes photos of the event as well as other happenings during the trip down to Malaysia. For the post with all the cosplay action you can find it here in the previous post. You can see the size of the crowd infront of the stage which increased further in the day especially during the live band and singing performances.

On a side note it happened to be a friend’s birthday too! Happy Birthday Jean! It was also a fantastic opportunity to meet some of Malaysia’s otaku community as well as catching up with friends. Was able to catch up with Irudono, Crimotaku, Chibi Pammy and Furizero. I have a feeling I left out other people’s names so I apologize if I did. Probably my last post of 2011. What a way to end it and thanks everyone who made it made it possible.

Quite some time back before 2011 came to an end Comic Fiesta 2011 took place. For those who do not know what Comic Fiesta 2011 is, basically it is the largest anime convention held in Malaysia. The difference between this and any other convention is that it’s run completely by fans for fans.

This would be my third year returning to Comic Fiesta. This wouldn’t have been possible without Shinji and Sasuke SD for making this all possible as well everyone who came alone for the insane trip. A great way to end the year in the company of friends and having a blast!

Looking for the photos behind the scenes? You can find it here. I was going to cram all the photos into one post but it turns out there was more than I had expected so I split the posts into two for ease of viewing. If not, here are the photos…

If you wish to view the photos in a larger resolution you can find them here on Flickr.

As Anime Festival Asia 2011 ended it was very closely followed by Culture Japan Night or Day 4 of AFA11 dubbed by some people. Many people brought their daughters along whom were displayed on the table for photos. For information about Consumer Generated Media Night or Culture Japan Night you can find it here.

A little sometime I made about a week before Anime Festival Asia 2011 so people can find my photos easier so should I take any photos of them that they need or want. My supply of cards are running a little short right now so I intend to make another batch sometime before Comic Fiesta 2011. As this name card was decided in the last minute I decided to borrow it from Hexlord and Nutcase23 whom had used it before for temporary purposes. I’ll admit it’s a bit uncreative of me to use a design used by someone else before however after this batch I’ll spend some time to create my own. Credits to Zh3us, Yang, Evelia and Mika for letting me use their photos for my card as well as Hexlord and Nutcase23 for the name card design.

With Anime Festival Asia 2011 over it meant me jumping straight back into the cosplay photoshoot bandwagon. As I mentioned in my previous post I felt that my cosplay photos during AFA11 were unsatisfactory so I felt I had to make it up to myself somehow.

This weeks series was Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (shortened to AnoHana) which is one of my most favourite series. For those who have watched it will know it is a heartwarming and emotional show which was recently shown and has gained popularity since its debut. One of the main characters, Meiko “Menma” Honma, has become fairly popular amongst fans due to her adorable nature. For this shoot I tried to capture the happy and playful nature of Menma just as she is in the television series. Along side with her is the male protagonist whom is paired of with her is Jinta “Jintan” Yadomi.

For this shoot I tried to get several coupling or pair shots where both characters are in frame due to the relationship they have with one another. Although the photos may not show it both of them felt very natural as a couple so setting up the shot and expressing their relationship was easier than expected. For the shots of Menma photos of her playing in the playground and being her usual happy and cheerful self I felt was sufficient as it is close as it gets to her personality in the television series.

I was generally happy with the photos but it did take me two iterations of editing to finally get a result was content with (although it could have still been better). Originally it was too overexposed and pretty much bathed in too much sunlight so I felt it needed to be re-edited however some photos could not be fix due too raw file being too overexposed. If I had to nitpick even more there were another two photos where Menma was playing on the balancing beam where the white balance was not the same as the rest of the photos in the same set. Although there is probably nothing wrong with this I do feel a little unsettled that the colour balance is cooler than the rest so a constant white balance throughout the entire set is unachieved. There’s probably nothing wrong with this but I do like to strive for consistency in white balance for each photoshoot set.

Overall I was pretty satisfied with the photoshoot however I’m a little unhappy a made a few careless mistakes on my end but nonetheless I felt I produced photos I generally liked in the end. I’d like to thank to Hexlord for organizing and inviting me along to his shoot as well as Sotong Xinxin and Jay for letting me join.

Through both days of Anime Festival Asia 2011 the stage events were being held next door to the exhibition itself. There were a range of interviews, performances and movie screens in the staging area throughout the entire few days so there was plenty to keep people occupied with if they were done exploring the exhibition hall next door.

Well, here are the photos…Enjoy! The entire gallery covering the entire 3 days can be found here which includes the photos from this post.

I spent majority of Day 2 in the stage event just to see LiSA in which she does in the video below.

Danny Choo had his own segment where he gave his talk on how he got to where he is today with his business.

Guess who :3

Guest stars Vividblaze appeared on stage for a short performance of Mirai Millennium…

…as well as a short interview by Danny himself. Their song is featured as the opening to Danny’s television series Culture Japan.

As the time went by more and more people started to pour in as LiSA’s appearance was nearing.

As a short warmup for the concert LiSA performed Oath Sign which is the opening song to this seasons anticipated series Fate/Zero.

Aside from the stage events there were also booths in the exhibition hall.

You can see how the booth was put together in the videos above thanks to Kodomut!

An intruder! Guess who is behind him…

A Hatsune Miku itasha that was on display as well promoting a new community website of some sorts.

Dollfie owner’s defending their precious daughters from kidnappers at the dollfie booth. Criminals beware!

A makeshift graffiti board was seen at the back of the exhibition hall however it was with post-it notes instead of a big sheet of paper.

Fellow comrades Pudding and Lisha from Alice Overture who came all the way from Australia and America to join the festivities at Anime Festival Asia 2011.

That’s all for coverage for Anime Festival Asia 2011 Coverage, all that remains is the unofficial Day 4 photos which will be in an upcoming post so stay tuned!

The rest of the posts regarding Anime Festival Asia 2011 can be found here:

• Day 0 and Day 1 (Pre-AFA11)
• Cosplay Coverage
• Figures and Dollfies
• Culture Japan Night / Consumer Generate Media Night (aka AFA11 – Day 4)

• Kodomut
• Zh3us
• Alafista
• Dcal
• Valkyrie-kun
• Nutcase23
• oOgA