ROBIN WONG

This blog entry is a continuation from recent post about my short trip to Perth, Western Australia. Every time I made a visit back to Perth (5 visits now, since I left in 2008), I cannot help but feel a tinge of regret. What if I have done things a little differently back then, what if I took more chances, what if I was more courageous and braved my way through all the challenges. Perth will always have a special place in my heart, and as much as I would love to cling onto the awesomeness of the place and people, I have decided long ago to move on. We argue that everything that happened would not have happened otherwise, and the events in our lives led us to exactly where we are now, and I am not complaining about my life, but hey, we are also creatures of habit - we always look back and reflect and think of the million alternate possibilities which have come and gone. All that remains, are memories. At least, I can revisit that. 

It has been a while since I last caught up with my friends Jackie and Jaslyn and we made a last minute deicision to have a Sunday Brunch. We went to the new (well, new to me, it was my first time here after the relocation from Publika Shopping Mall) Red Bean Bag, which was renowned for their good coffee and Aussie-styled brunch menu. The new location looked much bigger and the menu has mutated since the last time I ate there. All in all, we had good food, really good coffee and even better conversations. I brought along the Nikon Z5 for casual snapshots, I thought why not? Images captured with the Nikon Z 40mm F2 lens. We went to another location after that since Red Bean Bag imposed a 2 hours dining limit, and after so long 2 hours was not sufficient to gush out all the life happenings. We went to Hetam for second round of coffee. Sundays are for brunches and coffee with friends!

For the longest time I have been complaining about how the newer budget 50mm prime options (from many third-party manufacturers) are made unnecessarily large in size. Kudos to Viltrox for breaking this mold, finally, we have a compact sized, yet highly capable 50mm prime priced in the budget category! Viltrox sent me their latest 50mm F2 Air, and I brought this lens along with my Nikon Z5 on a short holiday to Perth, Western Australia. Based on my experience using this combo for snapshots in this trip, I am sharing my thoughts on why I think this Viltrox 50mm F2 Air is the new best budget 50mm prime for full frame mirrorless cameras. You can check out my mini review in video form here (click). 

I went on a short holiday to Perth, Western Australia last week, mainly just to have a quick break and an escape from my non-stop work schedule. This was a much-needed relaxation and recharge session, so no video-making/YouTube was on the agenda, and certainly photography was not a priority. I spent most of the time revisiting old stomping grounds, places I used to hang out at Perth, my Uni, familiar eateries, and of course, lots and lots of good coffee. I also spent some time catching up with good old friends who were still residing in Perth, and boy oh boy there were plenty to talk about since my last visit was in 2019. These images are just a brief visual journey of where I have been and what I have eaten, mostly snapshots, and they were not complete because many times I wanted to just immerse myself with my surroundings and could not be bothered to turn the camera on. I miss Perth already!

I have just returned from a short holiday trip to Perth, Western Australia, and man I have not felt this exhausted in a long time. I feel physically and mentally drained, and I suspect something else could be happening. One day after returning from the trip, I tried making a full video for the YouTube channel. I finished filming the video, and as I was about to start editing the video I was so tired I could not even open my eyes anymore, I decided to lie down for a short nap. That nap mutated into a 4-hour sleep! I felt sluggish in the gym in the past 2 days, which was not normal at all. I shall give myself a few more days of rest to fully recover, and if I still feel the same way, I may seek medical help. 

This blog entry showcases the last of the series of portraits taken during the test of Brightin Star 50mm F0.95 on OM System OM-3. The model was the ever-amazing Lily (IG @lilyayumiii). For the final look, she changed to a more casual looking outfit, and we contrast that faded, pale overall colors against bold, bombastic rainbow themed stairs! Of all the locations we were shooting Lily, this was the most fun to me personally, I enjoy the loud, bright and vivid backgrounds. Lily did such an incredible job posing and exuding the youthful energy, being cheerful and playful at the same time. 

Continuing directly from the previous blog entry, this is the second series of portraits taken during the test of Brightin Star 50mm F0.95 on the OM System OM-3 camera. The awesome model Lily (IG @lilyayumiii) was on her second outfit of the day. All images were shot with available, natural light, and it was a cloudy day with the sun light diffused heavily through the clouds, creating soft overall look which was working on our favor for this portrait session. I love the rendering of the Brightin Star 50mm F0.95, not only it can render pleasing bokeh, smooth creamy out of focus area, but there is a realistic, natural look to the human shots taken with this lens. The lens is sharp, but not being clinically sharp and the characters, or shall I say the flaws of the lens added much required depth and organic look to the images. If you have not done so, you can check out the video I have done on the Brightin Star 50mm F0.95 lens.