Just Detailed: MB S300 W221

Here’s the Mercedes Benz S300 W221 variant which I finally managed to snag a couple of shots. We’ve been working on a couple of these but didn’t get the chance to photograph them as we we’re on a tight schedule. So here’s a look at Mercedes Benz’s latest reiteration of the executive limousine popularly known as the S-Class.

The most noticeable difference would be the oversized fenders and lots of cool new stuff like the infrared-camera, the new COMMAND control interface and many other technologically advanced features. It feels very well put together(much better than the W220) and the designer touches really brings the luxury level up a notch!

This is by far the most beautiful LCD screen I have seen placed in a luxury car. It is sharp, contrasty and visible under direct sunlight:

This is a rear shot of the S300:

If you fancy dialing it in from the car’s built-in “Pod” phone *hehehe*

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Ezekiel’s Baby Dedication Sunday!

Yesterday was June 30th, a special day for lil ‘Zeke as it was baby dedication Sunday where the Pastor prays for God’s blessings on each child. We got up extra early and zipped over with the rest of the excited parents. I grabbed my SLR, tripod and flashes and quickly snapped a group shot with my parents *hehehe*

‘Zeke was naturally oblivious to his surroundings and was happily chewing his Malt biscuits!

This is him wondering why there were so many camera’s going about… *hehehe*

Hope you liked the shots!

Strobist Shoot: BMW Z4 Roadster

Time to bring out the studio strobes I recently bought! *hehe* I decided to test out some long exposure shots with the new lights. The good thing about portable flashes is that once you’ve mastered how to use them, the same principles apply to larger studio strobes, giving you a variety of lighting options for you to control. I had my assistant manually trigger the large strobe around the car whilst I held the shutter button. I’m not entirely satisfied with the results but it’s a start. Shots were taken as usual at my detailing garage.

Subject: BMW Z4 Roadster freshly detailed at my Garage

Strobist: Single 500W studio strobe in soft-box triggered manually at full power around the subject over a 60 sec exposure(40 seconds for the engine shot). Compositing and post-processing in CS3.

Enjoy!

Just Detailed: BMW Z4 Roadster

I thank God that we’ve been kept very busy at The Garage and even more so since we’ve been appointed as BMW Malaysia’s Official Detailing Partner for their exclusive “White” Membership Card programme. This means more BMW’s at our detailing bays. Here’s a just detailed Z4 Roadster that was completed over 2.5 days. The owner had requested for extra TLC on his convertible soft-top and we told him that we have just the right stuff for it. We stock pretty much all the required products and equipment for all aspects of our clients fine-detailing needs. I personally think the Z4 is one cool roadster and it’s one weekend car I would definitely like to own, unless the Z4M does a massive depreciation dip! *hehehehe* I’d pick the 3 liter straight-six engine that feels incredibly smooth but it’d have to be mated to a stick-shift of course…

Beautiful with the top up:

Equally gorgeous with the top down:

Here’s a rear shot with the top up:

Which one do you prefer?

I think the Z4 is one heck of a cool Bangle-design! The rear arches are just amazingly muscular and curves in all the right places.

The interiors are very avant-garde and inspiring…

Hope you liked the photos!

Puspakom’s New Window Decals

I’ve been a tad irritated with Puspakom’s new window decals which indicate if the glass and tinting are within approved specifications. Take a look and see if you agree with me on this…

I detail a lot of brand-new cars and the fact that the Puspakom can’t take the time and care to properly place the decals so that it has some sort of symmetry with the car shows a rather lackadaisical attitude. I mean I’ve been seeing brand new cars where the decals are all over the place!

I’d be a pretty unhappy owner to find my brand-new car with decals splattered all over since they don’t even have a jig to align them.
:-/

This is My Family :-)

This is lil Ezekiel at 11 months and he’s full of energy, which I have no idea where it comes from. We’ve bought him tons of toys and he’s always crawling around playing with them around the apartment. It’s amazing! He’s got a particular fondness for cars *ahem ahem* and loves to push around his Lightning McQueen race-car(which goes *kapow* *kachow* & *vroom*) and his favourite “Dumpy” which is a construction truck that has motorized wheels(bought by my in-laws *hehe*) although he hasn’t figured out what that pedal is for. He tries to walk by himself but still needs to support. What I am always tickled by is the fact that he goes around his life-sized “Dumpy” and pushes it around the apartment into every room and trying to maneuver it through the entry & exit points.

*hahahahaha*

He’s very curious around my photography & lighting equipment:

I just bought him “Zippy” a bug-like car that he can try to pedal his way around. These few shots are of him doing his “Peeka Boo!” routine on my study chair. He’s awfully confident that I can’t see him when he ducks down even though the chair has transparent mesh material *hehe* I just play along!

Two weekends ago was Father’s Day and I hadn’t posted anything on it because I was waiting for a bit of time to take some shots of my family. I had the best present this year because a routine check-up with our obgyn identified our incoming new addition to the family who’s due very soon in August as a baby girl!! How’s that for a blessing

I am such a happy dad and Wern is extremely thrilled(so much so she cried at the doctors *hehe*). Now she’s spending her time happily shopping around for girls clothes. We’ve named our soon-to-be-born baby, Isabelle!

This is Wern, ‘Zeke & Isabelle(still in tummy of course!)

These are some photos that I took earlier this week at our apartment with some quick lights thrown about.

That’s Barney, Ezekiel’s favourite purple dinosaur that he chews about:

Here is the setup shot for the Strobist-minded:

Strobist Info: Three Sunpak 383’s at 1/8th power placed on the left and right of subjects. A Vivitar 285HV at 1/4 power fired through a white brolly at -45 degrees from front of subject right. Triggered wirelessly.

Have a lovely weekend ya’ll!

Just Detailed: Nissan Skyline V35

Here’s a fresh-off-the-detailing-bay Skyline V35 which was just completed yesterday, along with the bling chrome 3-piece dubs which cost pretty much a bomb! *hehe* Jeff owns this rare Japanese model which shares the same platform as the popular 350Z. He’s put a lot of work into this V35 with a custom Garmin GPS unit built-into the dashboard, a cool ICE setup and the mandatory huge exhaust mufflers. Inspired by the VIP-look from the JDM market, Jeff’s now looking to have another car tweaked to his flavour. I hear it’s a continental this time *hehehehe*

Enjoy the shots!

Cheers!

Just Detailed: Alfa Romeo 147

Here’s an Alfa Romeo hot hatch, the 147(pre-facelift) and it still turns heads around which is quite impressive for a model which is almost 8 years old now. A lifetime in automotive years. *hehe* We worked on this 147 for about 3 days to bring out the Nero Black paintwork to it’s full ShowCar potential. Something the owner had not experienced before.

This is how the paintwork looked before the transformation. It was dull lifeless and typically for a car used for a number of years, required some detailing work to not just restore the car, but to bring out the finish to the next level.

A half bonnet comparison:

Optically perfect bonnet at polishing stage:

A closer look reveals the holograms, scratches and swirls that plague the paintwork:

Colours are rich, deep and glossy:

This is how the paintwork looks right under the bright sunlight!

Our signature finish needs to be appreciated under direct sunlight which will either highlight any flaws in the paintwork or perfectly display the immaculate ShowCar qualities…

Hope you enjoyed the shots!

Cheers