If you are a fan of Initial D anime and a car enthusiast, the Initial D themed Fujiwara Yakitori Bar in Kuala Lumpur is the place to be. It was my first time shooting portraits inside a Japanese restaurant. Shooting in the Fujiwara tofu shop based on the Japanese anime Initial D is a totally amazing experience!
The Japanese restaurant serves nice grilled food, ice-cold beers, sake and a nice environment for chilling out with friends. The restaurant owner is quite nice and generous in giving us the opportunity to do a photoshoot in his venue. The interior of the Japanese tofu shop is well decorated with old school Japanese posters, and more importantly, the Initial D themed signboard, decorations and of course the Toyota AE86.
This was my second time joining the photoshoot event after the boudoir photoshoot in KL and this time we were shooting in a group with our model, Emily Chong. I was actually shooting SOOC more with the One for the Road B&W recipe & Kodachrome 64, and the results are amazing! I love the Japanese decorations in the restaurant and this gives me the opportunity to do some ‘street style photography‘ inside a restaurant, it does sound weird but it was fun.
I was only able to shoot in SOOC JPEG and have no idea why the Image Quality setting in my Fujifilm X-T4 was set to FINE instead of FINE + RAW, therefore I have no RAW files at all to do editing or create new Fujifilm film simulation recipes this time. The SOOC JPEGs are more than enough and it does save me time without editing, although some images are either overexposed or have lots of shadows on the model.
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Click on the slideshow to view more photos
Here I have selected some of the best shots I’ve got from the photoshoot session at the Fujiwara Yakitori Bar. My Fujifilm X-T4 is always attached with the Moment CineBloom diffusion filter, the best diffusion filter I’ve listed in the best creative lens filters guide article. As I was also shooting with film stocks, I am so excited and just can’t wait to get my Ilford HP5 Plus 400 developed.
I love swapping between my Fujifilm X-T4 and the Yashica Electro 35 GTN while shooting, it’s more fun for me. As for this shoot, the highlights are intentionally overblown or increased in shadow to mimic Daido Moriyama B&W style, or maybe not. I also shot this series by pushing the Ilford HP5 Plus 400 film one stop. The image sharpness for the black & white recipe is also purposely set to the lowest for a more film look. For Fuji shooters out there, if you like how the B&W photos look, feel free to check out the recipe.
Once again, it was nice having a photoshoot inside the Japanese restaurant. If you are looking for the nearest Initial D themed Fujiwara tofu shop in Kuala Lumpur, do check out Fujiwara Yakitori Bar which opens from Tuesday to Sunday, 3 pm till 11 pm.
