I just got back to Hong Kong from Macau, where the Macau Poker Cup Championship (MPCC) at the Grand Lisboa wrapped up over the weekend. There were events throughout the week, including the 6-Handed High Rollers and the invitation-only Tournament of Champions. Amidst all of the action, crucial Asia Player of the Year points were up for grabs as Team Asia Pros Raymond Wu and Bryan Huang raced for leaderboard standings.

I was focused on shooting the main event, which included about 250 players competing over 4 days. Having setup a MacBook and netbook by the bloggers table, I was editing on the fly and uploading player photos to two displays in the poker room.

Hats off again to the PokerStars Macau team for organizing another successful event. You can also see some of my images on the PokerStars blog.

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Photographers-a-plenty at the kickoff festivities

Asia Player of the Year, Bryan Huang and Team Pro Raymond Wu signs an autograph

Women in full force

Jeff Lisandro and Joe Hachem

Tony Dunst

PokerStars’ Fred Leung

Julian Hasse takes down Kelly Flynn at the Main Event Final Table

Last week on July 29th, Slash, former lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses, performed live in Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo.

GnR has been my favorite rock band growing up. But since Axl went crazy years ago and with all that bad blood within the band, I was pretty sure that I’d never see them live ever. So you could imagine how giddy I was with anticipation when I heard Slash’s tour would be coming to Asia.

On to the show itself…absolutely unreal. Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge) lead vocals on the older GnR and the more recent Velvet Revolver stuff was impressive. He didn’t quite have the reptilian dance moves of an Axl or a Scott Weiland but he did have a style all his own. Meeting Slash was a dream come true. Underneath his iconic sunglasses and top hat, he was a gentleman during the VIP meet and greet and a guitar god on stage.

My favorite songs from the night: Night Train, Slither, and Sweet Child O’ Mine. Gave me goosebumps. Here are some of the event’s photos from the night.

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Last week PokerStars Macau held its most successful Macau Poker Cup event to date at the Grand Lisboa poker room. The big story of the event was Japan’s Kenichi Takarabe, the last man standing in the Red Dragon main event. Takarabe overtook Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang of Singapore, who held the chip lead for most of the tournament.

Despite attending several poker events, I still have not managed to pick up the poker addiction. But even as a spectator I could not help but to appreciate the sheer passion for the game shared by all the players. Even the PokerStars Macau team (for the ‘regulars’ of the poker room, you would’ve at some point met Fred, Dom, Danny, and Roberto among others) run the tournament with a professionalism and love for the game that is truly admirable.

Among the players, the friendly competition and mutual respect for each other’s game were awesome to observe. The scene in the room actually reminded me a little bit of the photographer community – just a bunch of people doing what they love.

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A spectator watches over the tournament action

Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin taking down a pot

Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang’s most loyal fan

Red Dragon main event final table: Kenichi Takarabe (Japan) vs. Bryan Huang (Singapore)

Last week was all about Legend Fighting Championship, Hong Kong’s first professional mixed martial arts competition, leading up to Fight Night last Thursday June 24th at HITEC’s Star Hall in Kowloon Bay. Earlier in the week, I had the opportunity meet with some of the fighters who were still getting over jetlag and cutting weight. Among them were new and returning fighters that were in good spirits and overall were really nice dudes.

Last January, Legend 1 had the tall task of becoming the first MMA production in HK. This time around, I felt Legend 2 raised the bar even higher for fight promotion in Hong Kong, drawing what I thought was the biggest, most excited and most MMA-savvy crowd I’ve seen here. The fights did not disappoint either – showcasing brutal knockout power, advanced grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, paired with fair officiating and judging. As a huge fan of MMA anticipating big things for the sport in HK, I’m very excited =) And oh yeah, did I mention Legend 3 in September?

Here are shots of the excitement from the Legend 2 fight card.

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Vivek Mahbubani aka HK’s Bruce Buffer

Takuma flattens Wang Zhen for a rear naked choke

Jo Nam Jin eats a headkick from Kevin Belingon

China’s Zhang Tiequan guillotine submission over Daniel Digby, 0:30 in Round 1

Rob Hill lands a superman punch on the chin of Kwon A Sol

Taiwanese Justin Lee shocks the Hong Kong crowd with a first round KO of Kenny Yeung

Adrian Pang knees Yu Woo Sung on his way to the lightweight belt

Having attended several of the book launch parties before, I am always amazed at the sheer maturity and creative talent of the students. So when it became time to share excerpts from their writing, it did not surprise me to see each young author fearlessly step up to the microphone and read to the large room of family and friends. I really admired them, and the sense of pride in their parents’ smiles made me think that they did as well.

The afternoon ended with each student signing autographed copies of their final published works. Proceeds from sales of the books went to support the Room to Read charity.

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And to be honest I was a little bit skeptical about a concert at a venue where I normally order squid ink pasta. But once I saw the place fill up and opening act Hungry Ghosts do their thing, I knew it was going to be a fun night. And when Saosin came on the place simply went apeshit and I just started shooting like crazy. By the second song some dude jumped on to the stage and frontman Cove Reber put him in a headlock like they were boys from the playground. The atmosphere wasn’t angsty like I am used to in shows in the U.S. but it was more just rocking out and appreciating the band which was amazing to watch. I really hope Grappa’s does more shows like this one, the venue simply works well for these shows.

Did I mention that Saosin rocked out also? I’ll be hitting their iTunes store soon.

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Hungry Ghosts

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Saosin

To be honest, I genuinely would’ve really enjoyed putting down the camera and just being a fan in the stands. But shooting a sport that I have grown to absolutely love in what I considered to be a historical event for HK was way too good to pass up. So when the night began the pressure was on. I claimed my ringside corner and my client took his seat at the judges table behind me (with clear view of my camera LCD display the whole night, yikes).

Overall production was great. Music that matched the brand, dramatic walk-ins (can never go wrong with a smoke machine), great announcer,  a few knockouts etc. so there was plenty for me to shoot and it was incredibly fun. Despite that it was physically draining as the event lasted about 4 hours, and I had to worry about blocking fans’ view of the ring all while trying to keep my focus points locked on through my viewfinder. Simultaneously, I was importing CF cards and generating previews on the laptop because I knew I’d have to get some media shots to the PR guys immediately afterwards. I got water (well, maybe some spit too since it came from a fighter’s mouth) sprayed accidentally on my face, and blood nearly got on my camera, but I consider that part of the fun =)

Special thanks to Ralph Berrett for his great shooting MMA tips. He’s got a great podcast that I hope comes back online soon.  Here are some of my favorite shots from the night.

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The multi-talented Vivek Mahbubani

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Jo Nam Jin checks the clock

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Matt Cain gets the heel hook

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Kenny Yeung entering the ring

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Khuukhenkhuu Amartuvshin near rear-naked choke before the end of the round

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Bae Myung Ho walks in then proceeds to ground and pound

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Zhao Zilong wins by referee stoppage

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Nam Yui Chul vs. Adrian Pang: don’t leave it in the hands of the judges

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Backstage

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Vivek Mahbubani

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Chris Chan

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Chris Mellen

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Matina Leung

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Fab

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This was also my first assignment that I was able to shoot with the new Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR2. For the gear heads out there, it is delicious.

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Constructing the final table hole cams

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Main Event Champion trophy

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Best part of the final table – really, really mean staredowns!

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PokerStars Team Asia Pro: Celina Lin

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PokerStars Team Asia Pro: Bryan Huang

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PokerStars Team Asia Pro: Raymond Wu

The First 48 Hour Film Project in Hong Kong

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David Tao, Zinédine Zidane and Rain at IWC flagship store opening @1881 Heritage Boutique

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3rd Annual Hong Kong International Comedy Festival @Takeout Comedy

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Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem and Bryan Huang at Bank Roll Poker House Grand Opening

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Grandtag Financial Anniversary Banquet @Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong