The Camera Itch and Spontaneous Street Walk

Side Note: All photographs were taken with Olympus E-5 with various Olympus Zuiko lenses: 7-14mm F4, 11-22mm F2.8-3.5, 50mm F2 macro. All photographs have been post-processed.

I have been away for the past weekend, and most of my time was occupied for the Pre-Wedding shoot which I have blogged in my previous entry. I have always, always set aside time to go out with my camera and do photography for myself, every single week without fail. Somehow, skipping my usual shutter therapy sessions left a hole over the weekend. The feeling was as if I forgot to brush my teeth when I got up in the morning. I just have got to do something about this, and I just have got to pick that camera up and go out and make something happen with it.

Came late Monday afternoon, my hand was itching so badly for shutter therapy session I decided to grab the camera bag and attack the streets just before sunset. Made it home from work rather early, I sped off to Petaling Street in the city, just in time to catch the dying lights. Unfortunately, it was raining rather heavily when I arrived, but that did not stop my determination to come home with enough pictures to make myself smile. I just need to be on the streets, and shoot purely for myself. Oh no, is this what we call, an obsession? Or an addiction?

DRAMATIC TONE Art Filter applied.

Sunset under gloomy sky. Noise-filter set to high, producing a fake-smooth overall appearance.

Pre-Wedding Shoot with Olympus E-5

Over the weekend, I have had the opportunity to dive into a new territory that I have not stepped foot into before. It was a pre-wedding shoot assignment. I have covered many actual wedding day wedding assignment before, and I must say that I was rather excited and thrilled to try out something almost entirely different. Joey and Jess contacted me a couple of months back, after meeting them up for a drink session and working out our expectations from this photo-shoot session, we decided to make it happen this weekend. We all travelled to Malacca, and we shot at three different locations: St Paul’s Church, Puri Hotel and Kelebang Beach.

What Have I Eaten Lately?

I am a food lover, there is no denying to that. Long, long time ago during my compact point and shoot camera times, I used to bring the camera everywhere I went to, and I made it a point to photograph almost everything that I ate and blogged about them. Food photography is one photography genre by itself, which I have been exploring less and less these days. I think I might need a smaller camera like a micro 4/3 PEN E-PL1 or something similar.

Soft Boiled Egg on Toasted Bread..... how come I did not discover this sooner? Something so simple, but the combination is heavenly.

Shooting Animals with Olympus 40-150mm F3.5-4.5

I took a bus down to Malacca over the weekend, and spent some time away from the hectic city. Work has become more and more stressful lately, thus getting away for a while was crucial for me to maintain my sanity. Of course, shutter therapy sessions did help a lot too.

I decided to go to the Malacca Zoo, to utilize the Olympus Zuiko 40-150mm F3.5-4.5, which has been spending a lot of time idling in the camera bag lately. It may only be a kit lens, which has been discontinued, and not so much of anyone's favourite lens, but I love this lens tremendously. Not only is it cheap (yes, for a budget conscious person like me, this is an important point), the performance is nothing short of stellar. It may not outperform Olympus 50-200mm or 70-300mm, but coming from the "standard lens" category, the sharpness and overall quality of this 40-150mm lens was really something to praise about.

All photographs in this entry were taken with Olympus E-5 and the 40-150mm F3.5-4.5 lens, except for the first image which was taken with 11-22mm F2.8-3.5. Do take note that all the images have been post-processed. I am not longer doing reviews, and it is time for me to truly let myself loose and do what I want with the camera without any restrictions.

Smell the lens.

Walk with E-5

Side Note:

Oh my, my previous entry has caused quite a philosophical debate in the DPreview forums. Allow me to clarify a few things:

1) I did not expect anything in return from Olympus when they asked me to do the reviews on my blog, and they did not promise any "reward", until much later they contacted me after all the reviews are done on the "small token of appreciation".

2) I love Olympus. Everyone knows that. Call me a fanboy if you want. Is it not obvious on any entry I have written here for the past few years? Yes I will always praise Olympus, because I believe it is a great camera system. I write from the bottom of my heart.

3) I know my opinion will be biased towards Olympus' favor. That was the main reason why I decided not to do any technical reviews and camera comparisons.

4) My review was user-experienced based, and I concentrated heavily on photographs taken with the Olympus E-5. You may not trust my words, but my photographs do NOT lie. My photography work (from a photography-enthusiast's point of view) with the E-5 alone justifies the validity of my blog entries.

Give a boy an Olympus E-5, and what will he do? Go out and shoot and shoot and shoot.

It was a public holiday for Malaysia on Wednesday, and my hands were itching crazily for some shutter therapy actions. I brought the newly acquired Olympus E-5 out for a spin on the streets. Having used the camera rather extensively for review purposes before, the camera did not feel alien to me. I did not have anything particular in my mind that I wanted to photograph, or anything I wanted to test out with the E-5. All I wanted to do was to enjoy myself out there, and concentrate on shooting at subjects that move me. (Thanks David, I got this from you).

Lets start the day with a delicious bowl of Wonton Noodles. Yummy !!

Olympus E-5: The Journey Begins

Before you guys dived into what I have written here, may I direct your attention to fellow Olympus photography-enthusiasts from Singapore who have done splendid job in reviewing the Olympus E-5. They have taken many impressive shots with the E-5. Please visit their site here. Great job guys !!

Some time ago, while I was reviewing the Olympus E-5 loaned initial production unit from Olympus Malaysia, I have promised one final entry to conclude the multiple part series of my user-review write-up. Yes, due to some work commitment and procrastination, that final entry has yet to materialize. I know I know, I must finish what I have started, so here is the final piece to wrap things up.

An Afternoon at Carey Island

To be honest, I have not exactly heard of a place called Carey Island before in my life. The place is actually across a river near Banting, housing a group of aboriginal tribe called Mah-Meri, one of the listed and recognized "Orang Asli" in Malaysia. I have an excuse of saying that I come from Sarawak, but much to my astonishment many locals here in KL or Selangor do not even know the existence of such place.

One fine Saturday afternoon a group of Olympus users, Yeow, Lee, Gerald and myself decided to venture into the island, looking for good photo opportunities. Much thanks to Gerald who fetched me from my place, and then we car-pooled in Yeow's car all the way to the Island. Just before crossing the bridge over to Carey Island, we stopped by a seafood restaurant for some really scrumptious lunch. This place was famous for their crabs, seafood and other seafood. I am not quite sure when was the last time I had myself a real seafood feast, and boy, the food was GREAT !!

Deep Fried Prawn

A Walk with Pen Lovers

Last Saturday afternoon, I met up with a bunch of crazy yet cheerful Olympus PEN camera users who organized a "Teh Tarik" session with a brief walkabout at Brickfields. We met up at Olympus Brand Store at KL Sentral, and from there onwards, we attacked the streets of Brickfields. The streets were rather slow and quiet on that Saturday afternoon, most likely due to the on-going Deepavali celebration that weekend. Nonetheless, I had plenty of fun myself getting to know some Olympus supporters, and shared joy and passion in photography.

Lucky number 8

Chee Meng & Angeline

Last Sunday, I have had the privilege to be the photographer for a colleague's wedding actual day. Chee Meng is one of the Associate Director's in my work place, and being there to capture those happy and joyful moments of his big day, I must say it was quite a rewarding and refreshing experience. Partnering with me on that very day was an old friend and a great artist, Chun Chow.

In Desperate Need of Shutter Therapy

To all my Indian readers, Happy Deepavali !!

The past few weeks have been crazy, both at work and off-work life. I was so busy I hardly had any time at all with my own camera, and shooting for myself only. No shutter therapy results in a grumpy, emotionally charged and unhappy Robin. Therefore, before things get worse, I decided to pull myself out of the house early today, and stormed the streets.

It was sooooooooooo nice to be able to walk the streets again with nothing in my mind weighing me down. It was refreshing to be able to focus on what I want to shoot. Shutter therapy has become my drug, and yes, somehow I am addicted to it. Taking that away from me will be like taking a bone away from a dog.

I visited my favorite hunting spot, Chow Kit. Armed with my Olympus E-520 with 11-22mm and 50mm, I went as close as I could to my subjects to invoke the intimate connection with the subjects in my images. I want to feel just inches away from the people on the streets, and really create the sense of closeness, as if you are being there. Yes, I did walk dangerously near to them, and pulled off some stunts I never knew the sane me would. Nonetheless, I was deprived of shutter therapy, hence doing a few crazy stunts made up for the lost sessions.

Sorting out goods

A Friend's Birthday

It was quite late in the afternoon when my phone beeped, a text from Chun Chow asking if I was free for a birthday celebration dinner with Wendy yesterday night. Good thing I did not have anything planned earlier, hence we made a very last minute dinner plans at one of the random restaurant/bar in Sri Petaling. One long day of work, I was really looking forward to this dinner and catch up with friends.

Should Kids Use DSLR?

So much has happened in my life lately that I hardly find any time to sit down in front of my computer at all. I have so many things to share and tell you all, and some photographs to post up here. I shall slow down my pace a little and allow myself to breathe.