For the most of past week I have spent my time at Penang, one of the most beautiful places in Malaysia, for work. I decided perhaps this time I should extend my stay in the weekends and have a proper shutter therapy session. I have opened this session to any one who wanted to join via my Facebook Page, and came along 4 beautiful Penang people to join me in my street adventures. I also brought along ALL M.Zuiko PRO lenses (complete set: 7-14mm F2.8, 12-40mm F2.8, 40-150mm F2.8 and 8mm F1.8 Fisheye) for everyone to try. I have personally used the M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO on the OM-D E-M5 Mark II for most of my shots shown in this blog entry.
Initially I was very worried because it has been pouring heavily for almost the entire week. Thankfully on Saturday it was sunny, and no rain at all throughout the day. I met up with the group of enthusiastic people and we attacked the herritage area of Penang, had lunch and continued shooting all the way till sunset, visiting places such as the Penang bridge as well as the famous Penang Kek Lok Si temple. I have both Mr Ooi and Kend to thank for their generosity and kindness to have me and bring me around.
All images were taken with Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO
Portrait of a Stranger
Closed
lanterns
Curious
A Barber Shop
Young Man
100% Crop from previous image.
Yes that 12-40mm F2.8 PRO, crazy sharp.
By the Road.
Notice the blue shirts/pants
Outside a Temple.
Another blue shirt
Flipping Bread.
More Blue!
Blue Blue Blue and Blue!!!
Penang Famous Asam laksa.
Blue Aprons
Hidden
Fruit Seller
Backalley
Almost noon
Doors
To be renovated
Again, BLUE Shirt
Hard Worker
Pitstop
The Majestic Penang Bridge
Same bridge, but taken with 40-150mm F2.8 PRO
By the bridge
Sunset
The Gang: Ooi, Gabriel, Kend and Lai
Some points to highlight:
1) Blue Shirts
I am not sure what happened, and I did not realize this until I have unloaded my images on my desktop computer, that MOST of the people in my photographs wore blue shirt. It was not in my consideration at all when I was shooting, and I was not selectively choosing blue shirts in my composition. Strangely 90% of the shirts/pants were blue, or had traces of blue.
2) Penang People are FRIENDLY!
People here are amazing. We went around shooting strangers without having any issues at all. And such beautiful smiles do they have!
3) Color vs Black and White
I initially wanted to shoot everything in black and white, but that decision changed when I saw so many colourful compositions that I could have missed out. And then there was the blue shirt!
4) Penang Bridge
This was my first time shooting the Penang bridge, and I know the shots came out "touristy" but to me, that bridge was an epic engineering feat. The first Penang bridge spanned 13.5KM, across the Straights of Malacca from the Penang Island to mainland Peninsular Malaysia. (There is a new Penang Bridge spanned a greater 24KM, but we shall save that second bridge for some other day).
5) That M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO is AMAZING
The reason I left behind all my prime lenses was because I wanted to fit everything within one bag. My work required me to carry all the PRO lenses and E-M5 Mark II, hence it made sense I just used whatever I have brought over in the weekend. The M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO has become a staple street shooting lens for some of my friends in KL, and they have told me how versatile this lens is, producing very high quality images that they did not regret sacrificing the amazing prime lenses for. After shooting an entire day solely on the 12-40mm F2.8 PRO lens, I must agree with my friends: the lens is so flexible to use, yet delivers incredibly sharp images. For my shooting needs, I rarely need anything that wide, and at 40mm telephoto end it was just nice for my tight portrait shots, if I needed to get some.
Special thanks to Gabriel, Ooi, Kend and Lai for joining me in my shutter therapy session! I hope you all had plenty of fun and got some good shots. I miss Penang already!
Penang Street Shooting with M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO
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Oleh
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