Canon Roadshow @ KLCC

Just got back from attending a Canon Roadshow held today at KLCC. It was my intention to participate in a photography contest that was sponsored by Canon. The first prize? Canon EOS40D DSLR! You heard me right, pilgrims! A newly launched Canon EOS40D DSLR with an 18-55mm EF IS kit lens! (So, there I was thinking, hey, I'm the Richard Avedon of Malaysia. Oughta be a clinch, ya know what I'm sayin'?) Oh, the crowd? Mainly overly excitable teenage schoolgirls waiting for their idol, a Taiwanese boy band to show up. And in the foreground, a 300mm fast lens from Canon.

A close-up of teenage female hormones in action. I swear, my ears are still ringing from all that screaming. Instead of talking crap about schoolgirl uniforms, those righteous minded folks ought to make some reasonable suggestions like banning live appearances of boy bands at KLCC. And if I remember correctly, isn't a public gathering of more than five persons require a police permit or something? (I'm tellin' ya, schoolgirls have it easy, unlike some fellas here that I know of...)

Earlier, I managed to stake out a vantage position in order to shoot for the photography contest. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for the teenage female horde, we all had to watch the Taiwanese boy band make an appearance first. These boys are being sponsored by Canon to endorse the IXUS range of cameras. And I don't even know their names! Apparently, even each of these boys had his 'own' fan club. Can someone please tell me the name of this band? (Lady, will ya quit incitin' those schoolgirls by pointin' up. Those intoxicated teenagers on the 2nd and 3rd floors there just might jump, for God's sake....)

OK. So maybe I'm no Richard Avedon. Funny thing happened when I collected my entry form from the Canon staff manning the booth. A guy in a black polo Canon T-shirt mentioned in passing, "only for SLR cameras."* Huh? Whoa, hold on there, buddy. Ya mean, in order to take a good picture, ya need a DSLR (digital single lens reflex)? Canon! Ya gotta stop makin' those bridge cameras like G9 or those IXUSes ya askin' those four pretty Taiwanese boys to endorse. I mean, can ya guys imagine hordes infatuated teenage girls buyin' those IXUSes only to find out that it couldn't take really, really, really good pictures like an EOS40D could?

* Whilst the contest form did mention participants are required to supply their own '...camera, lenses...', neither was there an express clause stating the exclusion of other type of cameras. Or brands. Or an overly ambitious and unrealistic amateur photographer.

Anyway, the contest was a modeling photography contest and that, more or less, usually means overly excitable grownup working guys taking really, really, really good pictures of beautiful young models strutting about the stage. OK, fine, I admit. It was the reverse of what happened with the Taiwanese boy band bar the screaming. But hormone levels were on par. (Hey, can ya blame a guy for tryin', huh?) You can see from those cameras below, it was absolutely jam-packed near the stage. Anyway, an obese and obviously deprived moron next to me was so certain that his photograph would clinch the first prize of an EOS40D that he got 'irritated' that my backpack was hitting him once in a while and was too 'loud', thus disturbing his 'concentration'. Either that or he is just pissed off because I manage to 'claim' a better vantage position. (I'm tellin' ya, some folks are just too good for the Malaysian photographic scene, ya know what I' m sayin'?)

Anyway, I met a new friend there. Hiya, Andrew! Hope ya readin' this post! Yeah, I know, it truly sucked shooting from far with slow lenses at telephoto ranges! What to do? Sometimes amateur photographers, unlike a so-called 'professional' that we both know, make do with what we have at hand, right? Look, do ya really wanna wade inna crowd like this, huh? Seriously, man. They'll eat ya alive.

The Grand Poohbah hereby do decree under the powers vested in her by the Great Bayer Megapixel that with a DSLR, thou art a PRO! Sympathizers of non-canonical bridge cameras are hereby sentenced to death by reading out-dated camera brochures and manuals for eternity. The Poohbah has spoken!

Anyway, all in all, I guess I took a whole lot of really, really, really crappy shots. Well, at least I now know I'm no Henri Cartier-Bresson. I guess there may be some truth to the insinuation that using a DSLR does make a person a better photographer or capable of taking really, really, really good pictures. What do you think?