ROBIN WONG

2017 has been an interesting year for me. I have stepped out of my comfort zone, I have challenged and pushed myself outside my boundaries and I finally am becoming a "real" photographer. It is also a year full of uncertainties, risk taking and making bold decisions when it comes to both my change of career direction and personal life. I cannot confidently say that I know exactly what I want in life, or know what I am fighting for. However,

Several years ago, I met this wonderful photographer, Matti Sulanto from Finland. Recently he visited Malaysia again, this time for a much longer holiday and I had the opportunity to show him around Kuala Lumpur, and shot on the streets with him. He has this awesome on-going project, one camera, one lens for one year! Using only a Sony full frame mirrorless, with a 35mm lens on it, he plans to brave the whole year with only this simple setup. Image

In case you have missed my recent article on Ming Thein's site, I have visited Cambodia and shot on the streets of Phnom Penh, a truly marvelous location to shoot. As usual, for articles on Ming's site, I curated my images much tighter than usual. I do still have some unpublished favourites from that series, which I am showing here. All images were taken with Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and M.Zuiko 12-100mm F4 IS PRO Taking a Selfie to start

If you are not aware, B&H is having Black Friday sale now, and you can find superb deals, especially for Olympus lenses! The lenses that I have probably used for almost ALL the content on this blog (and in continuation at Ming Thein's site) are all on sale, with at least 50% off!!! The following is a list of items on sale, grab them now during the limited offer. Olympus M.Zuiko 30mm F3.5 Macro USD299 USD99 Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm F1.8  USD399

What an amazing, amazing piece of glass! The Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm F1.2 PRO Lens. I want one. Now I have to figure out how to rob a bank. Any bright ideas? In case you have not noticed, my full review for this lens is up on Ming Thein's site here (click).

I was back in my hometown for a short trip, to attend a photography exhibition event that I was participating in. In this short trip, it was tricky juggling my time between spending time with beloved mum, catching up with friends, and still have some shutter therapy action. The exhibition I was involved in was a collective exhibition with a group of talented local Kuching photographers, showcasing various forms of photography. The venue of the exhibition is at Saradise Gallery, and

If you have not read my review on the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III, please do read the full article over at Ming Thein's site here (click).  In case you have not noticed, I have spent a lot more effort in shooting for this review, than I have previously. I was shooting tennis games, which I was not satisfied with my first attempt and returned for a second day to get better shots. Not because of the camera not performing, but

Hey guys, in case some of you have taken the trouble to check this page for my latest review of the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III, I have published a full review of the new camera at Ming Thein's site here (click).  To ensure that you do not miss out on any updates or news about my activities, do follow me on my Facebook Page here.  Special shout out to my beautiful friend, Carmen Hong who agreed to model for me

After all the flirting with Huawei's latest flagship models such as Mate 9 Pro and P10, both featuring Leica co-engineered dual camera module, it definitely is a surprise for most to discover that I have recently purchased a new Nokia 6 for my own personal use. What a huge downgrade! And Robin, seriously, a Nokia? I have been using the Nokia 6, a budget Android smartphone released by HMD Global for more than a week now, and despite the mostly lukewarm

The burger craze has been around in Malaysia for several years now, but it never fails to amaze me how they reinvent the menu and make things relevant. The most recent hype that got all the attention of Instagrammers and food bloggers was the Nasi Lemak Burger. Initially I was not paying much attention to it since a popular trend would eventually fade off while everyone will jump to the next hip thing to try. However, after finally having the chance

On my recent trip home to Kuching (again, yes I am traveling home more and more often these days, why not, mum would love me to visit more frequently), the popular cotton silk tree found directly in front of Merdeka Palace Hotel in Padang Merdeka blossomed and scattered cotton like deposits all over the surrounding area. If only Kuching was not scorching hot that particular weekend, it would have been like we had snow for a while. The tree only blossoms

Not too long ago, Ming Thein released his Ultimate Daybag (in coloboration with premium camera bag manufacturer, Frankie Falcon) which I have written about here (click). While that original version of MT x FF bag was great in many ways, large and spacious to fit many, many items efficiently into it. However to me, a photography enthusiast who use small mirrorless cameras, I did not find the need to carry that many items with me when I go out for my shutter

My hometown, Kuching is located at the heart of Borneo Island, which is separated from the rest of Peninsular Malaysia by the South China Sea. It is only natural that the food found here would be different from the usual encounters in West Malaysia. Typically people rave about Penang and Ipoh food but when asked if they have tried Sarawakian food, many of my friends have not even explored the beautiful Kuching, which is only about an hour and a half

One of the perks of not being tied to a camera company anymore, was the freedom to move around and get invited to product launches from other manufacturers. When an invite came for Lowepro's 50 Years Celebration and launch of their new bags, it was liberating to be able to say yes and attend. It was indeed a surreal experience for me, since the roles have been swapped: that I no longer am the host and organizer of the media and

When I first saw it on display at a local store, I was instantly enamored by the Leica-esque design. The silver retro design was just screaming for attention. I actually walked out of the store because I did not want to end up buying an item that I may not have that much need for, but then I just could not stop thinking about it! So I bought one for myself, you know, sometimes we can have nice things too. Perhaps,

To all my beautiful readers who are celebrating, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir Dan Batin! That is one super rare, non-selfie, properly taken self-portrait of myself, wearing a Baju Melayu. Full festivity mode on!  Eid-ul-Fitr is a huge thing in Malaysia, and the whole nation is celebrating. I was involved with a local music video production as the behind the scenes stills photographer and having the song "Balik Kampung" played repeatedly for several hours sort of got me deep into

You know those super polished, beautifully lit, totally Instagrammable food photographs? I know I should not join those hipster crowd but being Asian myself sometimes I just could not help it. I too, take plenty of food photographs at cafes and restaurants. So, in this blog entry, I will show you how I do it, in step by step instructions. Image was taken by Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO lens

Important note: Hey beautiful people! If you have not found out, I have joined Ming Thein's site as a contributor, and will actively write and share about photography there. However, I will still keep this old site of mine alive, with updates about happenings of photography community around Malaysia, a little bit of personal journal and also random stuff about life and things that go about around me.  Last evening, I was invited by Mahesh, an awesome photographer friend to attend

I have been teasing about a new project I am working on post Olympus departure, and it is finally happening today! I am joining Ming Thein, a fellow photographer who is also based in Malaysia, actively writes about photography, sharing his inspiring photography work and also reviews imaging products. Congratulations to those few who have guessed this right, it is amazing how people can put pieces that were so far apart together! It all started on the actual day I officially

Griffin Hammond, the Panasonic GH5 ambassador was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia speaking on documentary film making. One of the perks of leaving Olympus Malaysia, was the freedom to receive invitations to attend such cool events, and actually be there! Griffin Hammond speaking for Panasonic Malaysia event. 

I was back in my hometown, Kuching for the past few days. Those were full days of shooting, catching up with family and friends, shooting and even more shooting! I was home to shoot for my cousin Andy's wedding, which was a beautiful ceremony and I cannot wait to share some photos here soon from that wedding shoot. It has been a while since I last shot any wedding assignment, so this was particularly challenging for me, but I had such

Lighting is the most important consideration when it comes to making a photograph, after all, a photograph consists of nothing but light and shadow. However, lighting is not ideal in most cases. The worst that can happen, is a strong backlight, rendering the front subjects in dark shadows, and everything else in the background overexposed and burned out in highlights. This is especially true in street photography, you cannot relocate your subjects (I advice not to do so, but if you

My old nemesis, the 35mm perspective that I never quite get when it comes to street photography, is something that is a work in progress. I have stated before, that 35mm is not something I prefer to use for my own photography, if I have the luxury of choice. Nevertheless, I am not giving up on 35mm just yet, and I intend to spend as much time I can with it, doing my shutter therapy session. Sometimes, to improve yourself, you

A lot of people have been asking me, so how is life after Olympus? What is next? Honestly, I have taken a short break from everything for a while, to refresh myself, and to reorganize my life. My priority was fixing my sleep patterns, eating habits, sorting out plans for income generation since I do not have a full time employment now, and of course, focus more on photography growth. What better time to focus on repairing my health than now,

Three and a half years ago, I braved myself to leave an engineering career behind to pursue an entirely different path by joining Olympus Malaysia as a product specialist, a job which is closely related to my passion in photography. Now, I am gathering sufficient courage to exit the company of a brand that I have loved so deeply, to move on and ironically because of a rather similar reason to draw myself closer to my photography passion. It is time

Huawei Malaysia has loaned me the newly launched Huawei P10 smartphone, which features their signature Leica dual camera module. Considering that I have reviewed the dual camera setup performance for the previous iterations, Huawei P9 and Huawei Mate 9 smartphones, and the fact that the new Huawei P10 uses similar setup (with some improvements of course), I shall not be doing a redundant full camera review here. Instead, I decided to spend a full day out shooting with the Huawei P10,

It was a lazy Sunday that I kicked myself out of bed because I knew I needed to satisfy the itch of my fingers for some shutter action. I loaded the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II into the bag along with some small prime lenses, the M.Zuiko 25mm F1.8, 45mm F1.8, and of course the newest addition the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 pancake lens. I did not exactly have anything planned out in mind, no specific objectives, but I knew if I

It has been a terribly long week, so when the weekend came, I decided to take it slow this time. There were a few errands to run and important events to go to, but I basically let the weekend drift and made sure I had plenty of rest. Went to several locations to get some shots that I have had in mind, and I treated myself to some good coffee and comfort food. We deserve to pamper ourselves once in a

Recently I have re-acquired the often underrated Panasonic 14mm F2.5 pancake lens, and naturally it became the most frequently used lens for my latest shutter therapy session. I brought along the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 pancake lens alongside Olympus M.Zuiko  45mm F1.8 to Chow Kit, which was my favourite street hunting ground for a much needed street photography session last Saturday. I had Van, Robert and Sim joining me for this session. I genuinely love pancake lenses, and I think Olympus and

I have often been asked, why do I walk along the similar shooting routes on the street since I have been there so many times everything would look the same and I will obtain similar photography output? My answer to the above question: 1) I have not shot the "best" photograph yet. In fact, every single time I walk on the same location, shooting the same subjects and scenes, I am getting better, even if the incremental improvement is so marginally

I have been quite active lately with a selective group of local singer-songwriters in Kuala Lumpur, following their gigs and live performance whenever I can. I brought along my faithful Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II to shoot some stills as well as record footage of the stage performance. What better way to end a stressful day (or week) by immersing myself in good quality, locally made music while having my camera itch scratched away at the same time. I was at

I have been looking back at my own collection of photographs lately and discovered a consistent subject which I have been actively hunting. No, it was not the cats on the streets, I have talked about my love for street cats and how they always become the center of my street shooting attention in my previous blog article here (click). Unexpectedly, I have been shooting birds, almost as much as I was shooting cats on the streets. A while ago, a

So I was traveling home again last weekend, this time for the official launch of my first ever photo exhibition, the Street of Kuching, a collective of Kuching street photographers. I chose to stay on for a few days after the launch, just to have some time to catch up with beloved mum, relatives, and some beautiful friends. Surely, I slotted a bit of time for street shooting! Nothing beats shutter therapy in my lovely, awesome hometown, and I had two

Not too long ago, I have purchased a Raynox DCR-250 macro adapter to be used on the Panasonic Lumix LX-100, which gave satisfactory macro shooting results. I have since then been curious to try the Raynox adapter on an Olympus lens, and only recently found some time to do this experimentation. The fun part about macro photography is the infinite possible options of using alternatives to achieve sufficient magnification as well as creative lighting techniques. This time, I fitted the Raynox

I think it is every photographer's goal to have their photographs displayed in a public exhibition, and doing one has been at the back of my mind for a while. I know that my blog here is an actual public space where anyone from anywhere in the world can come freely and view my photography work, but an actual photography exhibition in print is an entirely different thing altogether. I finally had a chance to join a collective of street photographers

It was a working Saturday for me, with a basic photography workshop conducted by me (if there is any chance the attendee of that workshop is visiting this page, thanks, and welcome!) and I was attending a friend's wedding in the evening, and that effectively left me only Sunday for shutter therapy. I wanted to do something differently, and Van suggested that we shoot an on-going ALYA WTA Malaysian Open at TPC, Kuala Lumpur, which was an official WTA tennis tournament.

Shaun was visiting Kuala Lumpur again last weekend, and he brought with him the Panasonic Leica 15mm F1.7 which he claimed to be his favourite lens at this moment for Micro Four Thirds. Another photography friend, Bjorn has also spoken very highly of this lens. I thought, why not give this lens a go and see what I can shoot with it? I am not sure why Panasonic likes to create lenses with really unusual focal lengths. 15mm, which in 35mm equivalent

Edit: I have included more food photographs, just for you, Jason.  I recently have visited Hokkaido, Japan in an officially organized trip by Olympus. There were rounds of sight-seeing and doing touristy activities, and I had the opportunity to bring with me an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II with several PRO lenses to use throughout the trip. We did not have a lot of time, and most of the trip was already planned out, so I was merely tagging along. As

So I have had the Panasonic LX100 for a while now, despite some shortcomings and my complains of a few key missing features, it is starting to grow on me and I am getting more and more shots that I really like shooting with LX100. It is surely not the love at first sight, this camera takes time to learn and understand, surely takes much longer time to love. Yesterday, I did a quick catch up session with dear friend and

Following up my recent camera review of the Huawei Mate 9 Pro smartphone I did few days ago, I have made a video of myself doing shutter therapy in KL streets. The video screenshot feature was particularly useful, so I could capture in video what the camera was seeing!

UPDATE: I have recorded myself using the Huawei Mate 9 Pro for street shooting in a video! You may check out the video here (click).  Huawei has launched their new flagship smartphone series, Huawei Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro just last month. I was approached by Huawei Malaysia with a loaned unit of Huawei Mate 9 Pro for review purposes. The reason I am excited to try this phone out is the Leica involvement with the development of the

Oh dear, so much for a fresh start of a New Year, I have not been updating this blog as frequently as I initially have planned. I did however get plenty of chance to shoot, so I do have fresh images to share, and plenty of ideas to talk about here. Nonetheless, lately there are many things I do need to take care of in real life which negated much of my free time to just sit down and compose a

I have always heard of the existence of the Raynox DCR-250, an inexpensive, yet superbly high in quality macro converter (basically, a close up lens), but never actually tried one, or found a reason to get one. I have had friends who have shown incredible results using the Raynox, and the macro photographers have highly recommended this converter, even if you are doing serious macro photography. When I found out that the native screw on thread of the Raynox DCR-250 is

Happy New Year 2017 to all of you beautiful blog readers! I wish everything awesome flowing into your lives throughout 2017. I have had quite a great head start to 2017, and on today's local paper, The Borneo Post, I was featured in an article about creative artists' resolutions for the 2017 year. Special thanks to the amazing Georgette Tan for the interview and featuring me. It was a long weekend, and when I have some spare time to myself, you