ROBIN WONG

Kirk Tuck has an on-going inside joke on his blog about him shooting mannequins and how his readers gave some interesting reactions. I personally think mannequins are awesome and always make for interesting street shooting subjects. I don't usually seek them out but if they appear right in front of me normally, I will point my lens at the mannequin's direction and grab a few clicks. I may not have showcased that many images because they do become redundant after a few iterations (much like my cat shots) but I still shoot them, nonetheless. There is this stretch along Jalan Masjid India downtown KL where you can find all kinds of exotic mannequins in various state of brokenness and undress that just beg the camera to be used! I probably can do a mini project or series on mannequins and publish a zine or something out of this! 

I have been shooting more and more on the streets recently, and the camera of choice has been the Olympus OM-D E-M1 original. I have mentioned several times before here in this blog as well as on my YouTube channel why I love the E-M1 original, and I think it is still a fantastic camera even for today, after 12 years since its launch in 2013. The E-M1 was a legendary camera that paved the way to mirrorless camera revolution, and I have to say, it was a great camera back then, it still is a camera that I will confidently pick up and nail my critical shots on the streets any time. It has been a while but recently I made a POV street shooting video, showing you what was around me and in front of me moments before I clicked my shutter button, so please do check it out here (click). I am sharing plenty of fresh images from the streets of KL in this entry!

Two days ago, I attended the Sigma BF launch event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a guest. I wanted to see the much hyped new camera in person, Sigma being bold and daring in creating something radically different from what the other big boys in the market were doing. The event was held inside a restaurant, housing about 40 guests. Since I was just a guest I did not go overzealous with my shutter clicking, and only captured a few moments during the event. I had with me the Panasonic GM1, which was perfect since it was tiny and did not draw much attention. The Sigma BF definitely was quite a refreshing new product in the current camera industry overcrowded with everyone trying to fight the paper specifications war. Being minimalist and stripping away the features bloat, I thought the BF can appeal to those who don't necessarily need to shoot 120fps, or have the highest pixel count, or the most advanced computational features. As the saying goes, less is more. Maybe, if Sigma Malaysia loaned me a review unit (I'd probably have a higher chance of winning a lottery at this point), I may say more about the BF. For now, let's just dump the images I have taken at the event here. 

I appreciate both color photography as well as black and white. I do admit I do more color photography - it is not fair to compare really, as the bulk of my photography work I shoot for clients, and my jobs demand everything in color. Or at least I have not found a client that specifically requests anything in black and white delivery. As for personal projects, yes color photography is dominant, I am not going to lie, I do celebrate the bold, loud, bombastic colors that I can easily find on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, so it is no secret that maybe 90% of my personal photography is done in full glorious colors. I love colors, but this year, for street photography so far, the ratio has been shifting to maybe 70% color and 30% black and white, and I do want to do more black and white, which will be a topic for another day. I cannot resist good color minimalist framing! 

I have been asked many times what my favorite lenses for street photography are, and I have given several answers over the past years. My answers have always been consistent, the lens I use the most is Olympus 25mm F1.8, but I also use the 45mm F1.8 a lot for my street portraits. Recently, I am warming up to wider angle shooting for my street photography and the Panasonic 15mm F1.7 fills in that gap. I talked about all these lenses and how I use them for my street shooting in my latest video here (click). 

Fujifilm Malaysia had an event last weekend at Starhill. Bukit Bintang where they showcased the latest GFX100RF. The camera sample units were available for anyone to walk in and have a quick hands on experience. As a curious photographer of course, I went in and have a brief look. The cameras were chained and fixed in position, so we could not bring it around to do any testing on our own. Also, considering there were so many people around that space, it was not a great idea to do a video either. With limited time with the camera, I thought it wouldn't be wise to say anything and make a video - what can I know about a camera in 5-10 minutes time, really? Besides the AF being so slower than the now 12 years old E-M1 I had with me (which I used to take the images for this blog), and overall operation of the camera seem sluggish and unpolished. Oh, I better stop, before people accuse me of bashing Fuji. I don't know, for such a high asking price (close to USD5000) I'd expect a little more!

Of course, I went out more than once with the OM System OM-3 and 25mm F1.8 II for even more shutter therapy actions. This time I was at Chow Kit, and together with some friends we attacked the streets there. I must say I am glad that OM Digital Solutions is making a camera that isn't entirely biased toward nature/wildlife genre. The OM-3 feels like a modernized, retro-classic design camera that is aimed for street photographers. It is the kind of camera that urban photographers would be attracted to - beautiful looking camera that inspires you to pick it up, go out and shoot more. It isn't perfect of course, I have discussed some minor flaws and shortcomings of the OM-3, none are dealbreakers in my opinion, but hey, for street photography, don't think too much, just go out with the camera in hand and start making magic happen!