Throwback - Shooting Carmen with Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm F1.2 PRO Lens

About 2 years ago, I published my review of the Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm F1.2 PRO lens here, and in that review I featured Carmen in the sample gallery. As you all know I do not do much portrait shooting but I particularly enjoyed shooting this session. Special thanks to Carmen, the final samples of her portrait shots successfully displayed the capabilities of the F1.2 lens. I have still a long way to go when it comes to shooting portraits, but looking at these shots my hands got itchy I just want to do a session right now!

I still remembered we finished the shoot within 2 hours, a simple and casual outing. All shots were done with natural ambient light, during the day at various locations around a building, but I did pay attention to how the light hit her face. All these shots were taken with the Olympus PEN-F, with only minimal adjustments in post-processing, and the images were as good as straight out of camera.

A Short Break On An Island

Recently, Olympus Malaysia organized a trip to an island off the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia called Pulau Lang Tengah for bloggers and social media influencers. The trip was filled with numberous photography activities such as portrait shooting, landscape shooting, underwater photography as well as night sky shooting. I was there to conduct workshop and field shooting on night sky photography. For the rest of the day I pretty much had time to myself and I took this opportunity to shoot some photographs as well. Most of my main images shot on the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and M.Zuiko lens 12-100mm F4 PRO will be published on Ming Thein's site very soon. I am sharing images shot on my own smartphone, the Motorola G5S Plus here on this blog, as a teaser and preview to the upcoming article.

There is something about the blueness of ocean water that calms the soul

I wish I could be as peaceful as the sleeping cat

The scene looks surreal even when it is under rain. 

And oh yes, I have plenty more shots coming up with the E-M1 Mark II! Stay tuned!

Meeting Saharil Again!

I have written about Saharil Hasrin Sanin, a local writer/visual artist/blogger/artist/fitness-enthusiast that I have come to admire and respect a lot previously here (click). Saharil made another appearance at a book and arts festival in Publika last weekend, and I managed to catch him just before my short trip away from Kuala Lumpur, which I will be blogging about next. It was super awesome seeing Saharil again and getting some of his awesome new art prints and a booklet!

You may find out more about Saharil and his art work here:
His FB Page: https://web.facebook.com/saharilconteng/
His online store: http://www.kedaisaharil.com/

 When there is a cat in the drawing, I BUY! NO QUESTIONS ASKED. 

My loot from the festival, and yes all from Saharil only. Immediately went to a quiet cafe, got some overpriced coffee and started reading his latest "Keladi" issue. 

 Saharil, in the flesh! This time, I have a photo of myself and him. 

Rough translation: I envy the cup as they kiss your lips everyday. 

I only wish I can be half as talented as Saharil. The way he sees the world is mind-blowing. I do secretly hope that he revives his old blog, Saharil Conteng and uploads fresh contents daily, like he used to many years ago!

Saharil, if you are reading this, thanks for being a great inspiration and do continue writing and making awesome art. We all treasure your contribution and stay awesome always!

Little Creatures - A Little Piece of Perth, Australia

Recently, Charmaine Hon, an old friend whom I have known since my DotA 1/early blogging/university days came to KL for a visit. She brought along a little piece from Perth - a huge bottle of Pale Ale from Little Creatures in Fremantle. Little Creatures is a brewery, restaurant and bar all combined into one huge warehouse-like dining and drinking space just by the seaside overlooking the Indian Ocean during sunset. It was such an amazing place to just chill and have some fresh off the tap beer. I have spent a fair amount of time there on casual outings, as well as occasions when we celebrated someone's birthday.

Image shot with Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm F1.2 PRO lens. 

I do not drink and people who know me, know this, but man, that Pale Ale is something else entirely. To quote what Charmaine said - no one really does Pale Ale like Little Creatures, and I could not agree more.

Maybe I should plan a trip to Western Australia again, and just a purely for fun, photography trip with some time to spare catching up with awesome friends there.

Sometimes I do wonder, are there anyone who reads this blog from Perth, WA? Identify yourself!

The Details Are In The Photograph

Here is a recent photograph of me taken days ago by the awesome Jo Quah.

Looking at the photograph, you can tell that:

1) I have a new camera bag. It is a Manfrotto shoulder bag, a smaller version just enough to fit one small DSLR sized camera (such as the OM-D E-M1 Mark II) and one or two more small prime lenses.

2) We had a photowalk. It was in the morning and what a fun and productive shutter therapy session!

3) I always stop when cats appear. I immediately drop what I do and pet the cats. They always gravitate to me. This time, I gave the cat a command to "sit" and the stranger cat actually obeyed! I was shocked myself. There is just something about playing with cats that I find on the streets to be fun, therapeutic and relaxing all at the same time.

4) I don't always wear shirts with prints or patterns. I prefer plain, basic shirts with no logo or any details. Just simple and blank, with different muted colors. I do explore brighter color options these days. Wearing a striped bright blue shirt was a rarity for me.

5) I probably need a haircut.

6) We were in an area where the remnants of the election campaign flags were not completely cleaned up yet. You can evidently see the banners and flags of different political parties in the background.

7) OMG LOOK AT HOW LUSH AND BUSHY THAT TAIL IS!!

8) I am obsessed with red shoes.

9) For street shooting I don't use neck straps anymore. I much prefer shorter wrist/hand straps. The reason is sweat. Malaysian sun is cruel and unforgiving. Sweating so much during a photowalk makes wearing a neck strap of any kind uncomfortable. And if you don't wash it often it will smell badly too.

10) Nothing makes me happier than doing shutter therapy, petting random cats and spending time with friends shooting together and having overpriced coffee after the photowalk. I find joy in simplest things and I appreciate that I am still able to enjoy doing so.