Zuiko and a Barongan Dancer of Bali

The rim lights provided a regal aura to the girl.

E-3 with Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD

101mm, f/3.2, 1/200s, ISO400, -0.3ev

Seated about ten rows away from the stage posed no problem for the Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD lens. And the E-3 had no problem locking focus with the subject in strong backlighting, too.

What I loved most about the stage lighting was how the sunlight was controlled to illuminate the performers. The soft lighting provided exquisite shadow and highlight tones; thus, resulting in sublime colors to the already intricately designed costumes.

Zuiko and the Surfer Child of Bali

The surf, the sand..... and a child.

E-3 with Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD

200mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO100

When I was on a trip to Bali early last year, I brought along the E-3, Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f2.8-3.5 and Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD in a small shoulder bag. It's just perfect, not too heavy for a couple of hours walking.

During one of the tour, we stopped at a seafood place at Jimbaran beach. While waiting for the sunset, I saw this image of the little girl sitting with a surfboard. I observed her actions for quite a while, before deciding to make the image. The light from the setting sun provided the rim light that I really liked, and without a moments notice I took the shot. Incidentally, that was the only shot!!

Zuiko and Birds of Prey

While I was residing at Bukit Jelutong, which was just adjacent to the TUDM Air Base, I had a chance to shoot a few birds, luckily some birds of prey.

This was of an eagle, circling the airspace hunting for prey. It was hovering the airspace flexing its prowess. It was breathtaking to see such scene of pure power.

I present to you the king of raptors!

E-510 with Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm F2.8-3.5

200mm, f/9.0, 1/250s, ISO100, +0.3EV

Also, there is the other version of raptor lurking over the skies of Bukit Jelutong. Usually, we will be treated with roars of jet afterburners at least twice a year - during the F1 race and National Day.

The king of the skies, supersonic jet fighters!!!

E-510 with Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm F2.8-3.5

182mm, f/3.5, 1/640s, ISO100, +0.7EV

The TUDM F-18D Hornet making a landing approach. The landing gears can clearly be seen!

There were four of them birds making the descent, in which they just flew mere hundreds of feet above me!!!! I was shooting them within the compounds of my apartment.

The speed was mind boggling, with the crescendo of thunderous jet power!! Panning was difficult.

Forget F1, this is the ultimate speed machine!!!

Zuiko and Two Peacocks

When you enter the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, you are greeted with these beautiful and vain pheasants. These birds just litter the whole pathway of the bird park, and minding their own business. 

A beautiful profile of the Indian Blue Peacock, Pavo Cristatus.

Olympus E-3 with Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm F2.8-3.5

208mm, f/4.5, 1/1000s, ISO800, +0.7EV

Just wait for the right moment, and you will be rewarded.

A grandeur pose of the Green Peacock, Pavo Muticus.

E-3 with Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm F2.8-3.5 + EC-14 Teleconverter

283mm, f/4.9, 1/1000s, ISO800, +0.3EV

Indeed a regal sight.

Zuiko and "The Beautiful Game" Challenge

E-3 with Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm f2.8-3.5 & FL-50R

76mm, F/10, 1/160s, ISO100, Wireless Flash TTL

So far, this is my best entry to the dpReview.com challenge. It earned 12th spot. This challenge was titled as such because the theme was to capture "anything to do with sports aside from the players or the action itself".

The flash was located remotely to the right of the frame, approximately the same distance as the camera to the balls. This created an isosceles triangle with the balls being the reference point. Thus, the TTL measurement for the camera and the flash was similar and exposure was spot on!

The low angle of the flash created a long shadow as if the balls were witnessing a sunrise. In my opinion, that's what caught the eye of the voters in the Challenge.

Zuiko and ISO3200

Most people say, the small sensor 4/3 system is noisy. While it's true to a point, it is not as bad as it seems. With proper treatment, and understanding of Olympus' philosophy in noise management, the noise can be tamed. One thing to understand is that the E-3 has one of the best shadow gradations, albeit quite a limiting highlight gradations. The rich shadow gradations ensure stunning tones, but is guilty of showing lots of noise in high ISO situations.


The image below was shot in ISO3200 with Noise Filter set to Standard. With accurate exposure, the noise was well controlled. That's the trick. Nail the accurate exposure, and the shot will be fine. And thank goodness to E-3 accurate metering, this should not be a huge problem.

E-3 with Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD

200mm, f3.5, 1/30s, ISO3200

This image was captured at the beach of Jimbaran, Bali. Two ladies purchasing corn from the peddler. I was just sitting at the dinner table about 50 feet away. With the long reach of the 50-200mm lens, and E-3's super great Image Stabilization, all I needed was a few shots to get it right.

Click on the image for 2048 x 1536 size.

Zuiko and Birds in Flight

Shooting birds in flight was one of my challenges with the E-3. Along with the Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm F2.8-3.5 SWD lens, I was able to get closer with these little flying creatures. Some of the images even had the EC-14 extender to extend the range up to 283mm F4.9!!!


The trick with shooting birds in flight is all about anticipation. The smaller the bird, the higher the anticipation. The higher the anticipation, the tougher the shot.


With anticipation in mind, the best method to get sharp images is to use high shutter speed with large aperture. ISO value is best left at Auto.


Find the bird, scan its surroundings and its habits of flight. The best is to find it perching, and anticipate its next flight movement. Set the focus to Manual (MF), and lock. As the bird move scan and shoot bursts of 5fps. And hope for the best!


The beauty of the E-system is that it is possible to shoot at 283mm range (equivalent to 566mm in Full Frame) with a kit that is fast enough at F4.9 with just a 1120g lens! Thus, it will not easily tire your arms to scan and pan to anticipate the birds' flight plan.

283mm, Shutter priority

F4.9, 1/2500s, ISO800, -0.3EV

283mm, Shutter priority

F4.9, 1/2000s, ISO800

200mm, Aperture priority

F3.5, 1/1250s, ISO2000, -0.3EV

This was my last image with the ED50-200mm lens. I eventually sold it within one week after this shot.

184mm, Aperture priority

F7.1, 1/800s, ISO400

Zuiko and the Wasp

There is this wasp that always flies over my little flower patch. I always notice this happening around 11am. It was during one of those weekend that I actually waited for it to come; waited anxiously with my long telephoto lens.


E-3, HLD-4, ED50-200mm F2.8-3.5, EC-14

I was waiting under the porch, with a distance of about 15 feet to the flower patch. Then, after about 30 minutes, it came. I quickly setup for shooting, and waited for the perfect moment for the wasp to get into the frame that I wanted.

This shot was a sequence of shots, at about 4-5 frames, which turned out to be the best. The composition was just perfect! With a focal length of 283mm on the 4/3 system, the angle-of-view was similar to 566mm on a Full-Frame 135 system. Just imagine!

Oh ya! I shot this handheld, where the E-3's IS was just perfect, to stabilize my hands after long minutes of framing.

A little butterfly flew over before the wasp came, so I managed to make this shot.

Zuiko and Futsal

About a couple of weeks back, I was asked to cover a futsal event. I never did a sports coverage, and being indoor, the challenge was doubled.

I arrived at the venue, at a fitness center in KLCC, with a very brief instruction from the organizer. "Pick a spot, and cover as much as possible." It seemed, other than myself, there were 3 other photographers at the event. I opted to move around, rather than stuck in a spot. The organizer agreed.

Basics of event coverage entailed me to capture the atmosphere.

Rather than worry about shutter speeds and wide angle lenses, I jumped into the event. "Be there, and F2.0", as I will say it. Everybody was pumped up for the tournament, although I can say 80% had hardly kicked a futsal within the year itself!!

Well, in good clean fun, the energy was electric!!!

Shooting sporting events is fun. The emotions are real. The expressions are real. Everything is real!

*** A little bit of technical stuff, here. ***

In covering the indoor event, I realized that I need to shoot wide open at F2.0 with my ED14-35mm F2.0 lens. The light was at EV8 or lower, and fast action entailed at least 1/250s shutter speed. With the mode set at S-priority, and the rest on Auto, I was set to rock-and-roll. AF setting was at AF-S with Group mode.

***