Short Trip Back To Kuching

I was back in my hometown for a short trip, to attend a photography exhibition event that I was participating in. In this short trip, it was tricky juggling my time between spending time with beloved mum, catching up with friends, and still have some shutter therapy action.

The exhibition I was involved in was a collective exhibition with a group of talented local Kuching photographers, showcasing various forms of photography. The venue of the exhibition is at Saradise Gallery, and you can find more details here (click). If you are in Kuching please do check it out! I have 8 images on showcase, printed in A3 size. I will be writing about my experience having a mini exhibition in Kuching, and perhaps that shall be shared on Ming Thein's site, where I primarily write now. 

I was speaking at a photo sharing event last Saturday (30/9/2017) at Saradise Gallery, and affer the event, we went to have coffee and food at a nearby cafe, Sukha. They had a special item on the menu, "Nasi Lemak Burger" which I think is a limited time menu item. All of us ordered one. My goodness, it was so, so good! I highly recommend anyone from Kuching to try it. 

I definitely should plan more trips home, and do a photo project there. Perhaps, a simple one, just to document the beautiful parts of the hometown which is so dear to me. After all, I grew up here. And it was so awesome spending time Kuching photographers!

All images here were taken with Canon EOS-M6 and kit lens 15-45mm F3.5-6.3

A cup of Flat White, with some "Lotihua" at the side!

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III Shots That Did Not Make It To The Review

If you have not read my review on the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III, please do read the full article over at Ming Thein's site here (click). 

In case you have not noticed, I have spent a lot more effort in shooting for this review, than I have previously. I was shooting tennis games, which I was not satisfied with my first attempt and returned for a second day to get better shots. Not because of the camera not performing, but me believing I could have done better, as a photographer. I even managed to get a friend, Carmen to model for me, and did something I rarely did, a beauty, arranged, model portraiture. Of course there was the usual insect macro stunt that I always did, and I figured you all have seen me done insect macro in a dozen or more reviews before, and it would have been too repetitive, so I only showed two sample images in the final review. In the midst of the SEA Games 2017 happening in Kuala Lumpur, I even attended the weightlifting, badminton and hockey games. I wanted to shoot some aquatics sports (diving and swimming), as well as gymnastics, but tickets were quickly sold out.

Unsurprisingly I came home with thousands and thousands of photographs, and a tight curation narrowed that pile down to just the series shown in the final review article. To my surprise, not a single street photograph, which was quite an achievement for the first time. And I made sure that every photograph played a part in illustrating the capabilities of the E-M10 Mark III.

Naturally, there are a few more favourite shots that did not make it into the final cut. I thought, why not put them here? Nothing wrong with these shots, some of them were a little redundant if added into the original series.

Malaysian weightlifter, Azroy Hazal. Shot at ISO3200. The Truepic 8 engine in the E-M10 Mark III managed to optimize the details, sharpness and noise suppression. 

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III Review Published On Ming Thein's Site

Hey guys, in case some of you have taken the trouble to check this page for my latest review of the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III, I have published a full review of the new camera at Ming Thein's site here (click). 

To ensure that you do not miss out on any updates or news about my activities, do follow me on my Facebook Page here. 

Special shout out to my beautiful friend, Carmen Hong who agreed to model for me so last minute, during my shoot reviewing the E-M10 Mark III.

Nokia 6 - Smartphone Camera Review By A Photographer

After all the flirting with Huawei's latest flagship models such as Mate 9 Pro and P10, both featuring Leica co-engineered dual camera module, it definitely is a surprise for most to discover that I have recently purchased a new Nokia 6 for my own personal use. What a huge downgrade! And Robin, seriously, a Nokia?

I have been using the Nokia 6, a budget Android smartphone released by HMD Global for more than a week now, and despite the mostly lukewarm reception by tech reviewers and gadget sites in general, I find myself loving this phone more than I initially have expected. Yes, the Nokia 6 comes with the lowly Snapdragon 400 series processor, runs on basic 1080p screen, a seemingly ordinary and mediocre 16MP camera with an F2 lens. There really is nothing to write home about, based on paper specifications. So what is the reason for such a huge scale down?

I chose the silver version, because I think I have too many black gadgets. Something shinier and brighter can be a little refreshing.