Today is the first national mourning day for MH-17. To the families and friends affected by this tragedy, you have my prayers and thoughts.

Graphics and Photo Credit: Chi Kin

When we observe the general photography discussion over online photography community such as forums, Flickr groups and Facebook Group/Pages, the harmless discussion quickly takes dramatic turn and people obsess over technicalities and proving who knows what better, that I do not see how photography is fun any more. So what if that camera is better than that camera, so what if my lens is not as sharp as yours? What if I decide to break some rules of photography? Surely I do not want any bloodshed. 

Maybe that is why you do not see me in any forums or groups. If you have invited me to join forums or that cool new photography group you have set up on Facebook, I must apologize and respectfully decline the invitation. 

What is photography to me? It is my excuse to go out and have fun. I see photography as a form of therapy for my mind and soul and when I shoot, I will push aside all the complications and stressful thoughts. All I wanted to do with my camera was to enjoy myself, getting lost in the process of shooting nice photographs.

cross section
Olympus Malaysia will be hosting a Photo Sharing session this Saturday Morning (at our headquarters) featuring a multiple international award winning photographer, Sanjitpaal Singh. Sanjit will be sharing his latest photographs taken at various rainforests in Malaysia, showcasing amazing nature photography that I am sure many of you have not seen before. Since it is a photo sharing, this session is all focused on photography and anyone is welcomed to view Sanjit's photographs and ask any questions, so we can all learn and benefit from this session. 


Event details: Sanjitpaal Singh Nature Photography Photo Sharing at Olympus Malaysia this Saturday 16 August 2014 (10am to 12pm). Open to all, registration required. 

For info and registration head over to the Facebook Event page here (click). 


People are often amazed when they found out that I can go to the same KL streets week after week and never get bored. Some friends who initially followed me religiously to shoot have somewhat become "exhausted" of the same scene and decided to either stop shooting, or shoot other photography subjects besides street, or pursue other hobbies entirely (people do change their minds often). It takes a lot of discipline and self-motivation to grab the camera and head out to shoot, and more importantly it takes even more patience and persistence to shoot on the same streets over and over again. 

All images in this entry were taken with Olympus OM-D E-M5 and M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8, 25mm F1. or Panasonic 14mm F2.5 lenses

Portrait of a Street Cat
The past week has been extra crazy for me, so I was physically drained more than usual. I just could not wake up earlier this morning (Saturday) for shutter therapy, so I skipped it altogether and chose to sleep in and wake up much, much later. It felt great to be able to sleep more and that extra sleep was all I needed to recover. 

I went to the Quar/tet at TTDI in the afternoon to meet some friends, and it was my first time there. The place was reputed to serve good coffee (coffee culture is booming up in KL now, as if we never had coffee before). Hence I ordered myself breakfast (at about 2pm) and a cafe latte. Like everyone else in these modern days, before eating, I did the routine of shooting the photographs of my coffee and plate of breakfast. 

E-M1, 45mm F1.8, shot at ISO 200, F3.5, 1/6sec handheld. 

Shot with E-M5 and 25mm F1.8, at ISO400, 1/3sec, F8 handheld



I always tried to stay at lowest ISO possible, but at the same time I keep an eye out for the minimum shutter speed. I started with conservative ISO of 200 and 400, and I noticed the shutter speed was on dangerously slow side, at about 1/2 to 1/10sec (depending on how you meter the subject) There were two options crossing my mind: Option 1) boost up the ISO to achieve faster shutter speed, ideally at 1/45sec or faster if I use 45mm lens, or 1/25 sec or faster if I use the 25mm F1.8 lens, or Option 2) trust in the 5-Axis Image Stabilization system. 

I chose the latter. You know what? Shooting the 45mm lens at 1/6sec shutter speed, and the 25mm lens at 1/3sec shutter speed, and I got away with perfectly sharp images. Simply stunning!

Once you have experienced the amazing capabilities of the Olympus 5-Axis Image Stabilization, it is almost impossible to live without it. 

Sometimes we overcomplicate things. We tend to think too much and take too many considerations before making a photograph happen. While it is almost always crucial to have a checklist of items to tick off in order to ensure nothing goes wrong in that frame you are shooting, sometimes, thinking too much just takes out all the fun of shooting. When things get too complicated with multiple guidelines and theories to capture that "elusive" perfect shot, sometimes we lost sight of what is important. I often emphasized on keeping things simple, just go straight to the heart of the image, identify what made the image worked, and hit it right there. Simplicity has always been proven to be a good solution.



I saw this man, at the back lanes of Chow Kit. He looked friendly. He smiled at me. So I walked nearer to him and asked if I could have his photograph taken. He said yes. "click click click". Then I showed him the photograph taken, he smiled and told me he liked the photograph. I said thank you, and we parted ways.

No special technique was employed. No complicated lighting system. No super technical execution. Nothing to write a book about. However, this one photograph was my favourite from the series I have captured in the same session. This simple image somehow stood out from the rest.


A few weeks ago I have had a close encounter with the Panasonic Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 lens. 

Around the same time, Kirk Tuck said in his blog about the Nocticron: "It's dense because it is built with a certain amount of rare metal called, Unobtainium." 

Shaun who has that lens is in town again, and together with Bjorn we attacked Chow Kit, and Shaun was kind enough to loan me the lens made from Unobtainium for a whole morning. I was a happy kid all over again. 

The lens looks great on the E-M1

First of all, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all my Muslim friends who celebrate! Maaf Zahir dan Batin. 

Hari Raya Puasa is quite a huge occasion in Malaysia, and we have the long weekend for the huge celebration. Therefore, that also meant more time for shutter therapy sessions. This time I decided to do something a little different, instead of using my usual favourite focal lengths (14mm, 25mm and 45mm) I have decided to shoot with an even longer focal length, 75mm. Armed with the amazing M.Zuiko 75mm F1.8 on an E-M1 I roamed the KL streets and little did I know I have enjoyed myself more than I expected!

One of the constantly propagated myth about using long lenses on the street is now disconnected your subjects will be in the photographs. I certainly find that not to be true at all. There is a difference between shooting with a long lens from a far distance from the subject, and shooting with a long lens by getting close to your subject. 75mm (in 35mm format, equals to 150mm) does not mean I can hide in one corner and started clicking away without my subject knowing me shooting them. I still do what I normally do: I walk in and approach the strangers. Interestingly the longer focal length allows tighter composition, meaning I have less background to work with and easily produced cleaner shots. 

The super thin depth of field that the Olympus 75mm F1.8 lens offers is simply amazing. I do not think (not even the Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 lens) any lens from Micro Four Thirds at this moment can rival the shallow depth of field produced by the 75mm F1.8 lens. 

All images were taken with Olympus OM-D E-M1 and M.Zuiko 75mm F1.8 lens

Hard Worker

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