Finally, after 3 months of photoshoots, intensive planning and furious run arounds; all stretched out on a shoe string budget, the main event for the World Hepatitis Day 2011 Malaysia Campaign has come to fruition in Sunway Pyramid on 16-17 July 2011. The event was held at LG2, Blue Wing from 11am - 5pm.
As the official photographer for this event, there were many activities held from official launch till early evening. KLPac’s Theatre for Young People (T4YP) kicked off with a short but entertaining sketch on hepatitis awareness. There were also band performances and energetic Jazzercise sessions.
The main highlight of this event is of course, free hepatitis screening for the public. The campaign has in store 6,000 FREE blood tests, of which about 850 blood tests were registered in Sunway Pyramid alone.
The remaining hepatitis screenings will be held in various participating hospitals all over the nation up till 30 July 2011. So if you’re still reading this in time, go get your blood test done quickly!
Among the many activities in Sunway Pyramid was a photography exhibition of my works which were already on display in Pelita Hati Gallery’s “Being There” photo exhibition last month. Instead of the entire collection of 22 pictures, there were only 12 pictures exhibited.
Apart from these pictures which would be for sale (a portion of the proceeds goes to World Hepatitis Day funds), I also showcased another 12 pictures (24″ x 36″) of the placard bearers. The number “12″ denotes the shocking statistic that one in 12 people worldwide is living with either chronic hepatitis B or chronic hepatitis C. While this is far higher than the prevalence of HIV or any cancer, awareness is comparatively low and the majority of those infected are unaware that they carry the virus.
Ashley Khoo a.k.a “Summer”, the professional online gamer, dropped by to show her support.
On both days from 3pm – 5pm, there was a “Pledge your support!” photography session, where willing participants can choose a message of their liking (e.g. “C a doctor”, “Know your liver” and “B aware”) before posing for a photo. These photos will be uploaded to World Hepatitis Day’s photo album in Facebook. As a reward, these participants will be entitled to a 12% discount off their next photography session with me worth RM 400. If their pictures are tagged, they will enjoy a 24% discount instead.
Initially the plan was to shoot against a white projector screen as the backdrop. However, I soon found out it was not appropriate as some of the subjects turn up in groups of 3 or more. The backdrop couldn’t fit all of them. As a result, on the second day, I shot all subjects against the side of a “tent” (a make-shift “room” used for liver screening for the public) as the backdrop.
I’m using a simple two lights setup here. One shoot-thru umbrella close to subjects on camera left and a hidden CTO-gelled accent strobe at waist height (pointed upwards), behind the bunting. My settings were 1/200 sec, f/5 @ ISO 100 on full manual for all shots.
This “Pledge your support!” offer which is valid until 31 Dec 2011 includes no less than 30 high quality pictures plus 5 black/white pictures and a CD, all softcopies. 3 print-quality softcopies (selected by yourselves) will be provided for the first 12 customers. As this is a promotional package, there’ll be no hard copy prints provided, though, if you would like one, I can have it arranged for you.
This photo package is well suited for any individual portraiture, family, children, baby or birthday shoots. And oh, by the way, this offer is transferrable. For more information, please contact me.
Its this year got a similiar function done by u at sunway or other place??pls let me know ya or call me or mesej..0122614047
Hi Hazly,
I will be the official photographer for this year’s World Hepatitis Day Event to be held at One Utama end of July. Do keep a close watch at this space or visit http://www.myhepatitisday.com for more info.
Meanwhile, thanks for the interest in the campaign and appreciate if you could help spread the word.