PEN Lovers and Pasta Zanmai

It was an ordinary weekday that the group of wacky PEN Lovers (find out more about us on Facebook) decided to have a small gathering for dinner. We headed to Sunway Pyramid, and had Japanese cuisine at Pasta Zanmai Restaurant. We ate and ate and ate, had plenty of catching up with each other, and laughed like we were in a bar drinking beer. Great food (I have always loved Japanese food) and great company, I could not have asked for a better way to spend my Tuesday night. 

I brought along my Olympus E-5 and intended to use the 25mm Pancake solely, with the aid of flash, knowing well the ambient light would be very dim. Unfortunately, the ceiling of the restaurant interior was fully black, negating my usual flash bounced off the ceiling technique. Therefore, for all my shots inside the restaurant, I resorted to using high ISO at shoot mostly wide open at F2.8. The combination of ISO1000 and F2.8 allowed me good enough shutter speed for most of my shooting, but I overlooked a crucial factor in food photography: depth of field. Being in the atmosphere of great friends chattering and bursting with constant laughter, I neglected the importance of stopping down with narrower aperture, and I wished I have paid more attention to have more zone in focus. Nonetheless, this was not exactly a serious shooting session, it was merely a night outing with friends, having fun. No pressure, and surely no worries. 

I intended to shoot the menu page with all our orders on it, but for some unexplainable reasons I have forgotten to do so. I shall not invent weird names and just leave the food descriptions blank. 

Yap Tzee Meng and his trusty E-PL2. I dig the customized skin !!

Gerald Wong and his E-P2, and man, everyone has one 20mm F1.7 !! 

Thian Jin and Mun Keat

Gerald and Yap in action with their PEN cameras. 

Simon Leong and Yeow Chin Liang. And the new wrist-strap designed especially for PEN cameras. 

Jeff Liew and Wilson Mak

The PEN Lovers Group (left to right):

Yap, Wilson, Yeow, TJ, Simon, Jeff, Mun Keat and Gerald

After having dinner, we migrated to a nearby cafe for drinks and desert. To my surprise my friends ordered LARGE deserts, and they all looked so sinfully fattening. 

Looking through the photographs from this entry, I think my food photography seriously sucks. I must do something soon. Jason Lioh, where are you???? Help !!