Aug 11, 2016

Olympus Photowalk in Kuching, Sarawak with Great Wall Camera

Last weekend, I was back in my beautiful hometown, Kuching, Sarawak (which is in Borneo Island), and we did an extensive consumer event, stretching the entire Saturday afternoon at Great Wall Camera, Kuching. Firstly, I did an hour long photo-sharing, showcasing a compilation of my most recent street photographs, dispensing tips and tricks on how I obtained my shots, and my ideas and thought process behind each shot. Secondly, we had a touch and try session with the latest Olympus products, we brought along the PEN-F, OM-D E-M5 Mark II, E-M1, E-M10 Mark II, and many M.Zuiko lenses, the 300mm F4 IS PRO, 40-150mm F2.8 PRO, as well as prime lenses such as 17mm F1.8, 25mm F1.8 and 45mm F1.8. Thirdly, we had a photowalk in the late afternoon along Carpenter Street and Main Bazaar (neat the Waterfront), and the participants for this event were allowed to loan our cameras and lenses to try and use during this photowalk!

We had an overwhelming response, unexpectedly there were 46 awesome Kuching folks who turned up, filling the floor space of Great Wall Camera's first floor workshop space to the brim. I rarely did such a huge event, however I also acknowledge that we rarely do events in Kuching and we decided to allow more participants to go in after our initial capping of 25 participants. Considering that the same weekend there was the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF 2016), the turn up could have been more than 50 people, since some of the photographer friends I personally know went to the RMWF instead. It was indeed such a great joy for myself to see so many beautiful Kuching people, my own people, coming together to a photography event, and shoot together! I was so glad to see some familiar faces (Eve, Gladys, Sin, Lance) and meeting many, many more new faces!

Before we started the day, obviously, we fueled ourselves with the breakfast of champions, found exclusively only in Kuching.

Kolo Mee



The Authentic SARAWAK LAKSA, found only in SARAWAK. 
Everything else in West Malaysia is FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE

Washing down the awesome, flavorful Laksa with a gigantic glass of Teh-C-Peng Special. 


PHOTO SHARING SESSION AT GREAT WALL CAMERA

The attendance was a lot more than we anticipated, and thankfully we managed to have enough chairs for every one. Kudos to Great Wall members for quick action!

View from the front, and yes people still keep coming in after this. 

A group photo, before the start of the photowalk, at the front of Great Wall Camera, Kuching. 

PHOTOWALK AT KUCHING STREETS 
Locations: Waterfront, Main Bazaar, Carpenter Street
I was rather busy guiding the street shooting session, as well as answering many questions left right front center! However I did have some opportunities to steal some shots for myself, and some of these shots were done to demonstrate something (it is easier done than said, in this case!)

Local Native Beauty

Special thanks to Theo, a member of Great Wall Camera for taking this super rare behind the scenes photo of me in action. 

Photo Frame Maker in Carpenter Street

Hole in a Hat

Drink, Grind and Eat

Kuching Waterfront

An Expensive Hand-Rest

Looking Far In Front

SOME BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTOS OF PARTICIPANTS IN ACTION
Kindly take note I did not have the photos of everyone in action. I merely sniped away and shot randomly, whoever that was near me. So I have missed out on a lot of people. Nonetheless, Most of the photos taken below were for reporting purposes (I do need to show evidence of what I was doing in this photowalk). Also, if I have taken a photo of you, and you do not see it here, most likely the photo did not turn out flattering, or it was technically screwed up (out of focus, etc). 





LANCE VUN STOP PLAYING POKEMON!!!!!!!




SPECIAL THANKS TO GREAT WALL CAMERA, KUCHING
Great Wall Camera has become the favourite place for photographers to hang out, and check out the latest cameras and lenses. It is currently the Canon Brand Ambassador Center, so it shows how serious this place is committed to the photographers in Kuching! My local friends have spoken very positively about Great Wall Camera, and after this event I have personally seen and experience first hand how capable the members from Great Wall are at providing great service to the photographers!
Special appreciation goes to Mr and Mrs Chin (owners of Great Wall Camera) for hosting this event! I sure hope we will have more future events together. 

Olympus Malaysia x Great Wall Camera
Photo Credit: Theo (Great Wall)
A huge shout out to my colleagues, Boon and Eva who flew all the way from KL to support this event. Thanks guys, I owe you guys coffee. 


Allen & Tiffany
This is the only shot I have of Allen and Tiffany. Special thanks to Allen for the amazing help provided to me and my team! Could not have make it without your help man. I know you are super, super busy and I could not thank you enough for making time for me and my colleagues from KL. More coffee on me in the future, you got it!

What a blast I had in Kuching! I just cannot wait to create more events in Kuching, and now that this event is a huge success, I think we can plan more ahead. 

If you were one of the participants who came to this event, please do drop a comment! I would love to hear from you. 

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8 comments:

  1. Hi Robin, I don't know what to say... great pictures sure, but omg, even better food!!! Feeling very hungry now for some reason, just going to have to fly out there I guess. Love the shot of the lady with the 'hole in the hat' too, brilliantly seen. A big well done on giving that presentation, not an easy task with so many turning up, but terrific to see such enthusiasm shown for photography. Your efforts are clearly inspirational, keep it up!
    Cheers!
    Peter
    https://thetruthaboutphotography.wordpress.com

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    Replies
    1. Hey Peter!
      Thanks for coming and glad to know that you have enjoyed yourself. Thanks so much for the kind words and I appreciate your compliments. I do my best to spread the love of street photography, and all I wish is to see more Kuching people shooting on the streets! Cheers.

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  2. Well done with the event! I know from experience that herding almost 50 people is not an easy thing to do.
    The food looks delicious! I know you are proud of your local Laksa, but to me, the Kolo Mee looks fab! I have to try it! Luckily I live in London, should not be too difficult to find...
    The picture of the girl is nice, what a lovely smile!
    Andy

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  3. Is it really necessary to show us what you had for lunch, it's worse than selfies.

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    Replies
    1. It was not lunch. It was breakfast. And yes, those are Kuching specific breakfasts!

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    2. So where are the lunch pics? Or did you skip lunch?

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  4. Hello Robin,

    thank you for your great essay (as always). As I am very keen on taking photographs of food, could you please tell me what lens you used? I assume, the body was the 10 Mark II and you used the internal flash to lighten things up?

    Cheers,

    Abgeordneter

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  5. The effects of the photos are amazing so distinct as if the place byłow real world.

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