ROBIN WONG

Recently I have been shooting more and more with the Olympus E-620, which I bought just to relive the nostalgia of my early day photography adventures with my first DSLR Olympus E-520. The handling the camera, the turn of the dials, the button presses, the click of the shutter button, the sound of the mirror-slapping and shutter clacking, all brought back sweet memories of me fumbling around my way learning the basics of photography so many years ago. Yet the Olympus E-620 is still a capable shooting machine, while being outdate now in terms of tech and imaging capabilities, it still can deliver great results. There is just something satisfying looking through an optical viewfinder (though I would rather have the safety and assurance of electronic viewfinder for serious work these days), and loud shutter sounds reaffirming that the shots have been taken. These portraits were taken on the same day as the previous blog entry, all on Olympus 50mm F2 Macro lens. These older cameras and lenses sure have some charm to them!

I was truly fortunate to have Jojo as my friend and guide in Bangkok, Thailand. Not only he brought me around the streets of Bangkok and showed me his favourite street hunting grounds, he also brought me to some of the best locations for food! Oh how we feasted. In the few days I had in Bangkok I must have gained so much weight, but all was good. I live to eat, food is one way to enjoy life, I don't care if you disagree with me. Glorious food is meant to be consumed and enjoyed! Bangkok indeed is food paradise, every corner you turn to, there is some amazing street food! 

I recently brought the old Olympus E-620 out to do some portraits shooting. Many of you who have followed me from the beginning would know that I started exploring photography more seriously with my first DSLR, the Olympus E-520. Obviously the E-520 has died many years ago after enduring my abuse, well, that only shows I really did use the camera extensively. A few years ago I found the E-620 and I just could not resist the low price in the used marketplace, so I bought it just to relive the nostalgia of my early days of photography journey. The E-620 is still going strong, I paired it with the Olympus 50mm F2 Macro and shot some portraits of my beautiful friend Ivani (IG @ivani_leang). I also made a video to talk about why I prefer to shoot with an older camera like the dinosaur DSLR Olympus E-620 over any modern smartphones, you can check out the video here (click). 

I recently travelled to Bangkok, Thailand for a short holiday. It was a much needed break after the Kuala Lumpur Photography Workshop which I conducted with Peter Forsgard and Matti Sulanto about 2-3 weeks ago. I only have 3 things in mind for this trip to Bangkok - rest, a bit of street shooting and EAT. Yes, food was at the top of my priority. I went with my travel partner, Spencer and we attacked whatever food that came across our paths. We started with something easy and nearby our hotel, BIB which stood for Break in Bangkok, a Thai Contemporary Cafe restaurant. The food there is a fusion of traditional Thai dishes mixed with modern, western influences, and the food there was so good, we had to return for more! 

I always say that you don't have to break the bank to enjoy photography, and that applies to insect macro photography too. Assuming you already have a basic setup, even an entry level camera with a kit lens, any brand will do, you just need to spend an additional USD100 to start enjoying macro shooting. The trick is to get extension tubes and a cheap flash. The extension tubes allows any lens, even the kit lens to go extremely close to the subject creating massive magnification, almost macro like. The flash helps light the subject, there are many cheap, powerful flash available now, though for cheaper options you may need to control the power manually, which honestly is not a bad thing - you get to pick up a new skill along the way. If you don't want to spend more for a dedicated ready made flash diffuser, go make yourself one, there are many DIY options available, a simple Google search will give you some ideas and directions. I made my first DIY diffuser long time ago from a shoebox! Stop making excuses, and start shooting! I made a video to talk about this topic here (click). 

Taylor Swift has been spotted using Olympus cameras over the years. In her Instagram posts, she specifically uses Olympus Vintage Art Filter I for her personal images. I thought it would be super fun to try out Taylor's favourite Art Filter doing a full street shooting session with it. I brought my Olympus E-M1 Mark II together with Olympus 25mm F1.8 and did a full shutter therapy session around Kuala Lumpur, shooting only with Vintage Art Filter, and the images shown in this blog entry were all straight out of camera. I also did a POV shooting sharing some tips on using Olympus Art Filter in my latest video here (click). 

My friend Jon Low made a new SD Card holder, he named it OneMoreShot. I think the simple idea and design work so well as an always ready carry solution. He gave me two units to play around with, and I have been using them for more than 3 weeks now.  I got to say, I love how well it works, and I think photographers should consider this as a wearable solution to ensure you have a back up at all times! I made a video to talk about OneMoreShot, you can find it here (click). To purchase OneMoreShot, you can go to the official product's TikTok Shop here (click).