ROBIN WONG

Today is the actual day of my birthday, yes I am a Boxing Day boy. Unfortunately, Malaysia decided to not celebrate Boxing Day as an official national holiday, or else it would have been so cool having my birthday falling on a public holiday every year. Nonetheless, it is Saturday today so it was not too bad at all. I have had private celebrations with my friends, and I have even blogged about it here (click).  The year is coming

It was a working Saturday for me so that only left me with a free Sunday. I was itching for some shutter therapy, hence I brought the OM-D E-M10 and several M.Zuiko lenses out to shoot on the streets, but the weather was unbearably scorching hot, I started sweating profusely it became too uncomfortable and I finally decided to just hang out in a nearby coffee place. I thought of resuming the street shooting but the air conditioning got the

Christmas is coming, and if you are wondering what to buy as a gift for that friend/relative/family who is an active user of Micro Four Thirds system, and I am making a short list of 3 items which might just be the perfect gift.  I acknowledge that there are so many gift ideas available already, such as lens pouch, stylish neck straps, memory cards, spare batteries, tripods, camera bags, and the list goes on and on. Nevertheless, these are very

I have recently done my quick impression write-up for the two long lenses from Olympus M.Zuiko line up, the M.Zuiko 75-300mm F4.8-6.7 and 14-150mm F4-5.6 II. Since then, I have received many requests to do similar mini-review for the budget friendly, super compact M.Zuiko 40-150mm F4-5.6 R. I intended to complete this blog entry much earlier, but work obligations plus lots of procrastination on my part had delayed the progress of shooting with the M.Zuiko 40-150mm R lens.  M.Zuiko 40-150mm F4-5.6

Surprise, or not really a surprise to many, I have just purchased the new Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II! Which colour you asked? This time, a SILVER one.  Yes, I know this is a direct contradiction to my previous blog entry about not upgrading your gear. Please hear me out first.  My trusty workhorse, the now aging OM-D E-M5 (original, first version) is dying. If you know me well and have seen the way I use my gear, you would

Note: I have written about improving photography without upgrading gear before (dealing with photography basics, composition, etc). You can read them here (click). This entry will be more focused on simpler, straight to the point tips that can be easily applied.  We constantly find excuses to justify the purchase of that higher grade lens, or a better, more expensive camera bodies. I too suffer from lens lust (that awesome Panasonic Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 is always lingering at the back of

I don't think I have been getting sufficient shutter therapy sessions recently. I was shooting a friend's registration of marriage ceremony on Saturday and spent a huge chunk of Sunday on post-processing the preliminary edits. I did manage to squeeze some hours out for quick rounds at Pudu Markets and boy, it sure was fun just being able to walk aimlessly and enjoy shooting random strangers.  I am now actively using the Olympus PEN E-P5, since no one came forth

Besides shooting human portraits on the streets, my eyes will automatically lock target on any moving four-legged meowing creatures roaming the same streets I frequent for shutter therapy. Oh yes, cats ranked very highly in my "to-shoot" list when I am out there doing street photography. Mock me as much as you like, I do not care, I love cats, though I do not own any as pets, but encountering them on the streets is quite an interesting experience.  I

I am not going to lie to you, initially I wanted to bring the Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm F1.8 lens from the office, and use that only lens for my weekend shutter therapy. I wanted to revisit the lens and see if my personal trainings with the Fujifilm X100 has improved my execution of the 35mm equivalent focal length, especially when shooting on the streets. Unfortunately all the available units of the M.Zuiko 17mm F2.8 have been loaned out. Not giving

It is not too brutally honest to admit that the majority of the traffic to this blog is driven by my Olympus gear reviews which I have done over the years, accumulating an ever growing list. While the biggest success of this blog was largely due to the said gear reviews, at the same time I have worked very hard week after week showcasing new set of photographs in order to create fresh blog contents. I do not want this

If there is a new Olympus OM-D or PEN user, using the basic kit lenses, either M.Zuiko 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ or the 12-50mm F3.5-6.3 EZ asked which lens to go next, I would most likely answer them: stay with your kit lens and use it until you can create beautiful photographs with it. Then what is next? Surely by then, you will not ask me which lens to get because based on your experience shooting excessively with the kit lens,

Note: If you were in Malaysia and you have lost an Olympus PEN E-P5 Silver body, it is possible I have found your unit. Please read this blog here and contact me personally.  The haze in KL is gone, after repeated episodes of heavy downpour over the course of more than a week and the shift of wind direction. That spells out overjoy for us photographers who shoot mainly outdoor. I sure hope the haze is gone for good! I

So, I thought it would be cool to produce a workflow chart to show my street shooting processes. The chart is quite self-explanatory. MY STREET SHOOTING WORKFLOW  If you want to read in full detail about 'How I Approach my Street Portraits" please read the lengthy blog entry I have written here (click) quite recently.

Haze is back with a vengeance. It cleared off after a series of heavy rain last week, but my oh my, when it came back, the haze was twice as bad as it was before, or worse. Outdoor activities are ill-advised, which meant cutting down on my street shooting. I managed to have a super short session last Sunday, a quick walk at Chow Kit just before lunch. Thank goodness I am not doing any important review blog entries at

For many kind souls who came and support us at Olympus in Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival (KLPF) 2015, you have my deepest gratitude. Thank you for dropping by and say hi, giving words of encouragement, I needed them to push through a gruesome 3 full day event, and seeing so many Olympus shooters coming together in one place was quite incredible! Canon and Nikon decided not to join the photography festival (which shows how much they support or care about

If you are in Kuala Lumpur this weekend you may want to make some time for the most happening and largest photography event in Malaysia, the KLPF 2015 (Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival). Olympus is coming in huge this year and we have amazing setup, lined up with tonnes of activities for visitors! I will be stationed at Olympus, KLPF full time on both Saturday and Sunday!

Note: Fellow photographer/blogger Ahmad Firdaus Yosman did an honest and interesting review of his experience with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II, coming from a DSLR user. He has got some awesome photos taken with the E-M5 Mark II too, so please give his blog a visit here (click)! This blog space of mine will experience a little bit of slowing down for the next one to two weeks, mainly due to two reasons: first being the horrible haze enveloping

About three years ago, I have reviewed the Olympus Stylus XZ-2, the then flagship compact camera from Olympus. Many of you may not know this, the Olympus XZ-2 reviews were the most popular blog entries with the highest number of page views. This was further reflected by the number of emails and messages I have received asking generally about XZ-2, even to this very day! I genuinely thought that it was a highly capable compact camera, packed with all the

Interchangeable camera has been popular and successful, allowing camera users the ability to change lenses and use specific purpose lenses to accomplish a wider range of photography needs. The availability of many lenses has overshadowed the original humble kit lens that comes with the camera. I myself have been shooting often with prime lenses such as M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8 and 25mm F1.8 lenses. Somehow, there has been a general belief that kit lenses are inferior: lacking in many aspects of

I rarely blog about restaurants or cafes, but my recent discovery of The Merchant's Lane (thanks to shutter therapy buddy Amir) at my usual street hunting ground, Petaling Street just begged me to photograph the location. Yes, the location itself is quite an interesting subject to shoot. It was an old heritage building, with well preserved old architecture and interiors, sporting a rustic look bringing back nostalgic memories of the 60s, or was it the 70s? The shop lot was

I was thinking about using a lens that I have rarely used for my shutter therapy session this weekend, and looking at the selection of available M.Zuiko lenses, I realized I have not paid much attention to the beautiful 75mm F1.8 lens recently. The most popular lens for my street shooting has always been the 45mm F1.8 lens, and more recently I have been shooting very frequently with a 35mm equivalent lens on the Fuji X100. I knew it was

It is in the middle of the week and I do have a few things to share here. These are the items that do not fit into any of my topical weekly shutter therapy themed blog posts. Nonetheless I have always been a blogger who blogs about random life events and happenings around me, and a part of me still has a strong urge to continue to do so.  1) Once Upon A Miao Once Upon a Miao by Jian

Last weekend, shutter therapy took quite an unexpected turn. Initially, we created a street photography session for a friend (landscape photographer) who wanted to join in the fun, exploring street photography, since this is not something that he does often. An outing was then organized, with a small group of common friends, all non Olympus users. One of them asked if I could bring along the latest OM-D E-M5 Mark II for a test run, so I said yes after

Shutter therapy is a phrase I have created several years ago, which I have used frequently throughout my blog entries here. I do not remember myself defining it, and for some unexplainable reasons the phrase has been widely used by many friends here locally in Malaysia, as well as some photographers I have known overseas. What exactly is Shutter Therapy, and the original meaning when I started using the phrase? Where did it come from? Why do I go for

Note: Before anyone starts asking, the focus bracketing feature in E-M10 Mark II does not work with my usual macro shooting technique. For the focus bracketing to work the camera must not move when the bracketing was in action, and tripod use is a must.  In the very beginning of my early adventures of photography, I started with insect macro photography, something I did fairly often. Macro photography is probably one of the technically more demanding types of photography, it

Important Notes: 1) I am an Olympus Malaysia employee.  2) This is a user experience based approach review of a camera. I spent considerable amount of time shooting, and I am writing this blog review based on that shooting experience, with plenty of sample photographs to show and support my findings.  3) This is not a full technical analysis review site. There are many of such sites out there, I am not equipped with sufficient expertise and equipment to perform

In the continuing effort in learning 35mm photography, I brought the beautiful Fujifilm X100 to Pudu Market, the largest wet market in Kuala Lumpur (and possibly Malaysia). I do not remember using much 35mm perspective in this market, my favourite perspective has always been 50mm, especially shooting in this market. Nevertheless knowing that I will work with very tight space, a wider coverage is always a plus point and having more fitted into a frame forces me to consider my

I started this blog in 2004 (during my University days) with the intention of keeping an online diary, recording in detail of my every day adventures, where I went, whom I have met, what interesting activities I participated in, any exciting events that happened and most importantly, to remember the delicious food that I have eaten. As a typical blogger who regularly posted photographs of food once upon a time, I have often found myself struggling to shoot a decent

If you have spent time exploring my older blog entries you will find that almost every week I will post some photographs from my shutter therapy sessions, which usually involved me and several friends shooting on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. From these street shots that I share, there would be a few portraits of strangers. In this blog entry, I shall share my thoughts on street portrait photography, and subsequently, my favourite photographs of these portraits.  Why Shoot Strangers

Olympus PEN E-P1 was the first Micro Four Thirds camera released by Olympus in the year 2009. This was a significant product for the company, marking the first step into Mirrorless Interchangeable Camera (MILC) world, and shifting of priority from the Four Thirds DSLR system to Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds. When the PEN E-P1 was launched, I was still happily shooting with the Olympus DSLR E-520, an entry level DSLR, even before I did my blog review for the E-5.

Last month has been quite an adventure for me, and shutter therapy sessions have taken some unexpected turns. Instead of just attacking the KL streets on lazy weekends, I went out of KL, spending a weekend earlier in the month in Penang and then just two weeks ago, in Fraser's Hill. I have successfully, to my surprise put aside all the usual, frequently favored prime lenses and went on zoom shooting spree. In Penang I armed myself with the M.Zuiko