A free workshop by Olympus

Olympus sponsored a free photography workshop in Kelapa Gading Mall 3 two weeks ago.  It was a 3 day event which featured notable Indonesian photographers as well as a guest Japanese photographer.  The workshop included a photography contest with the winner going home with a brand new pocket camera.  Who could resist?

I came Friday.  I was a bit late and when I got there, there was this Indonesian photographer explaining the latest features of the new Olympus camera.  Well, what can you expect?  It is a sponsored event after all.  Good thing was that he also gave photography tips while showing his portfolio.  There was no photo contest on Friday so nothing exciting happened.

Saturday was different.  Again there was another speaker, another famous Indonesian photographer whose name slips my mind right now.  Like the other day, the speaker gave photography tips while showcasing his portfolio.  There was also a question and answer session after the workshop.  Then after the question and answer session came the photography contest.  There were no models to shoot at though.  Instead, there were a  dancing trio.  Well it was something different for a change to shoot dancers.  Of course, it was quite difficult because of their constant movement.  But it was a welcome change.  It was difficult to jockey for a good shooting position due to the number of amateur photographers who came.  Nevertheless, I had a good time shooting away.

Sunday night, the Japanese photographer showcased his portfolio but didn't really give any shooting tips.  The fun part was that he had a Japanese model with him who we shot.  First part of the model shoot was in a Kimono outfit.  Very traditional Japanese.  The model moved very slowly and posed in very subtle cute poses.  Images of a geisha were running in my head while shooting her.  After the kimono outfit, she changed into a very skimpy mini skirt.  That put the crowd into life.  The model was quite professional in her poses.

After the Japanese model, there were dancers again to shoot.  This time, the dancers were a different pair than Saturday.  I got a bit bored with the dancers so I didn't shoot as much as the other night.  Besides, there were too many people jockeying for postion that it was almost impossible to get a decent shot.

I enjoyed the weekend just for being able to shoot for free.