A Bug's Life, Macro Photography During the 2017 Chinese New Year Holiday

Chinese New Year is a time when I usually travel back to my hometown Ipoh to visit my friends and relatives. If it's possible, I would see if there is time for photography as well. For the past years, aside from family portraiture, I have taken photos like street photography, landscapes, and also architecture. This year, macro photography came into my mind.

So, I contacted my friend, Markus Kam, a macro sifu based in Ipoh, and met up with him (and another friend, Ms Lim) on the third day of Chinese New Year for some snapshots at a nearby forest reserve.

Armed with my macro kit comprising of the Olympus OM-D E-M1, the Olympus 60mm macro lens the Olympus FL-600R with a Gamilight softbox attached, I went into an area adjacent to the forest reserve at Kledang Saiong, Ipoh.

It's not my first visit there as I am still recovering from mosquitoe bites from my previous visits just a few weeks ago. 😢 Those little mosquitoes are really poisonous! 😓

The Gamilight softbox isn't intended for macro photography, but I do not have a dedicated diffuser like the Canon and Nikon photographers since there isn't any commercially built for the Olympus FL-600R flash. One choice is to buy and use a new macro lens on either my Canon 7D or Nikon D800E. Then I can get a proper one (diffuser) from Markus since he builds and sells them.

Anyway, here are some of the findings.

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark ii Announced & My Initial Thoughts

It's Photokina 2016 and Olympus has just made its announcement on its new flagship OM-D line camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark ii. I watched the live feed video and wow! I am very impressed! (My initial thoughts after the jump.)

The following is the official recording by Olympus Europa - Olympus Photokina Press Event LIVE from Cologne, Germany.

Note: I have included the video-link fast-forwarded to start 17 minutes into the recording.

[00:00] When the announcement starts.
[00:50] Olympus Head of Imaging Business Unit, Mr. Michael Handa, talks about the development and vision of the imaging business for photographers.
[10:00] Olympus Europa OMD Brand Manager, Mr. Ali Kiani, talks about the specifications of the E-M1 ii .
[21:15] Olympus Pro lens Line-up

Retrospective: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Touch and Try on 22nd September 2013

*This is one of the blog entries written in retrospective based on my recollection of the events which took place earlier. 

I spent the Sunday morning poisoning myself with the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 ! Which path to continue, m43 or full frame? Hmm...

All photos are taken with the E-M5 + the Helios 58mm f2 manual focus lens.

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 taking a shower with the 60mm macro

© Edward Chen Photography