Swiss-cheese itinerary

A brief visit by any standard. And most of the free time was spent on cruising between various camera shops.

But even with a Swiss-cheese like itinerary full of tiny holes to fill in with the wonders of the gateway to China, some things are inevitable.

The classics: the peak, the symphony of lights, the markets – and some of the classic narrow streets brimming with life.

First the overrated symphony of lights: if you like crowded places with mediocre show of some spotlights that look like a few folks with headlamps trying to scramble to the top of the buildings – you might like it. Go for it if you enjoy squeezing through the crowds of aimlessly turning in circles tourists and the couples of local youths on their 'dating mission'. Add to it a line of “$40 for a badly exposed photo in 2 minutes” stalls and the air filled with the Asian ‘suicide music’ (if you wonder - I mean the wining of femalish-looking boys wearing make-up and serenading their everlasting love at the pitch as depressing as that of Adele... They deserve a new genre in all the music services...).

Bottom line: if you want to enjoy the skyline go at any other time. Early morning is probably the best for it.  And you will get better photos in the early hours as well…

The markets in HK are famous: imagine an off-line version of eBay. There is everything you might – or might not – want. Junk, old stuff, shops specialising in old-fashion, second-hand treasures such as speakers (and speakers only). The place to pick up a real pre-MP3 Hi-Fi, shit lots of light bulbs (don't ask me why) or the latest Samsung mobile phone, which seems to be sold like pretzels from endless corner stalls.

And inevitably food. The air is filled with scents – some appalling some appealing. There is buzz that you will not find on line. It is crazy and great at the same time.



It's also worth to pay a quick visit to some of the more known temples: if you after the real think - try Man Mo Temple: dark, small and filled with incense that will make your eyes to water. Also, pretty empty considering that you are in HK.





If you prefer some cheapish, more plasticy but full of buzz temple - head for the Wong Tai Sin Temple. Crowds of tourist mingling with pious devotees praying for good fortune, the air filled with the symphonies of incense and rattling of the fortune sticks.





Watch out as it seems easy to catch fire from the often still burning incenses...




The trip would not be completed without a trip to The Peak. Actually, I would recommend two trips: one in the morning for a bit of a walk and one in the evening, to catch a glimpse of the famous skyline. While most guides recommend taking the tram - it seems overrated. Crowded with rude and overweight US school kids pushing to get on first, no views and the ride takes as long as a toilet sex. It also feels a bit like this - full of regrets. On your second trip up take the Bus 15: you will have a better chance to feel how tall these buildings are when you in a tiny road climbing the winding road up. Not to mention the overview of the many super-cars on the way up...
In the evening expect some serious crowds - with the 'main' viewing point being barricaded with intertwining tripod legs long before the sunset.




Finally, the most laughable feature seem to be the so-called parks: always living in places where nature was just a short ride away, these parks make you wonder. Locals lounging on the concrete, mini-garden plots that seem to be luxury being locked behind bars, nets and padlocks. It seems that if there is a tree - it is to be considered a park...

Having fun in the local 'park':








And the finally: dear Travelex, not only your rates suck but so your political correctness.
Strictly speaking Taiwan is NOT a province of China (despite China being delusional and claiming so). I should probably send you some sunflowers ☺

the making of... Essential Auckland

 The morning did not look very promising. Dragging the feet out of cosy bed early(ish) just to get scolded by gulping hot tea and scratched by the neighbour’s cat, who decided she wanted to come in when I was getting out. Not to mention the pretty good chance of getting a speeding ticket for trying to make it in time for the sunrise. Oh why could I not pick less stretching hobby – as there was anything wrong with chess, stamps or wine tasting clubs…. Wrapped in countless layers of merino, polar fleece and – just in case – a body-warmer I ended up gazing towards the majestic Rangitoto - hot tea in the hand and a lot of hot swears directed towards the big, fat cloud sitting exactly where the sun was supposed to be coming up in 56 seconds. Drizzle came next...

It is already 10 minutes past the sunrise. Some stranded rays are shooting upwards and sideways from behind the cloud. The fluorescent-like, cold light makes the morning feel even damper and colder. Steel-coloured sky above the city of sails.



As the sun went up and the air finally started to warm, pockets mist commenced their way up. Numerous white chimneys of smoke - yet no Pope to be announced...
Frail rays of the rising sun shyly peaked from behind the edges of the thinning slowly cloud. On the ground, the mist intensified, engulfing at first buildings and trees, while rising up to become one with the Long White Cloud. A game of shadows was in full play...



As the sun moved up by a notch, more and more sun rays drilled through the thick of the annoying cloud. The scene ignited as the sun hit the raising mist. Rich, yellow colours started dancing in front of the lens. One ray hits the sky behind the Skytower, igniting it like a fire ranging through golden coloured savannah.



It did not last more than a minute. The mist, being scolded by the rays, flexed its muscle for the last time. A thick blanket covers the hill. Droplets of water form on the filter and legs of the tripod.
Visibility drops to a couple of meters. The air smells of moist. Rangitoto and Sky Tower disappear in the mist. As the dance between the light and mist continues, a vague silhouette of the famous landmarks appear and disappear. Time for a pano of the 'City in the Mist'. If only I can manage to wipe the filters, lens and follow the swiftly changing light to make sure it can be stitched. Click - click - click.


"Did I get it?" "How many water droplets on the lens?" As the thoughts race through a ray of the rising sun hits the hill I'm on. It feels like standing in one of these energy-saving bulbs: weak, shy glow at first. Than the whole surrounding starts to glow. Surrounded by light.



Whatever the morning started as it ended up like magic. Forget the scolding, scratches and lack of sleep. This was well worth the effort... Forget about chess, stamps - as for wine - always can do AFTER the sunset.

When it just does not feel like shooting...

  Sometimes either the mood or the situation does not allow for shooting action: be it a dinner with a friend, a work related travel that allows little free 'creative' time or just being totally wiped out. I felt like that for the last couple of days: uninspired as work and heat did not help to get the gear out. Fortunately, there was a relaxing option on hand to catch a dinner with a friend in Singapore. And although not a single shot was fired, the time perhaps was not all wasted.

As we walked the overwhelmingly busy Little India, grabbed a meal at Banana Leaf followed by a relaxing Turkish tea around Arab Street I did not have the energy to take photos. After being busy all day felt like a beer, tea or food and not thinking. Little India felt not very little: there were hundreds of men around the main throughputs mingling, queuing or walking slowly. Navigating these incredibly busy streets was a challenge. I was in mood to get out - and a meal in colder and less busy restaurant sounded like heaven.

But the next day, thinking of the experience, and how very different this was from my previous visit, I thought that this was uniquely Singaporean. A visit to Little India and Arab Street during the weekend captures the dynamics of life of the local labour immigrant: relaxing with friends after a hard week of work, watching the queues of people sending money back home or getting that extra cheap calling card. These were not the usual views of Singapore - this is how the real Singapore seems and operates...
This could make an interesting photo story. A few ideas:

* slow shutter, high vantage and one of the landmark buildings to get the constant stream of people on the streets of Little India

* crowds of friends relaxing by some tea and shisha around the Arab Street - get the details of the setting: the ties, the smoke, the deeply relaxed look on the faces of the patrons. Getting the smoke would be hard - but since things are moving slowly there...

So the next visit is already filling up with ideas for photos: not the new, flashy buildings common in the glossy magz - instead the core of the little country: the food, the people, the daily life...

I think I now look forward the next Singapore trip...

Feet, heads and bellybuttons

      Is India the next photo-destination? Just a few hours of watching the Diwali festival in Auckland I think it is! The colourful Diwali festival are a feast for a shutter! Have a look yourself!

  See the original gallery here

resisting the iPhone...getting harder and harder!

When it comes to taking photos new smartphones are a blessing: calculate the sunrise and sunset times in a minute, get that DOF and make some notes of locations. Real help! But...

Some are better than others. I resisted overpaying for an iPhone and was happy enough with smaller HTC Wildfire: did the job and all apps that I needed worked fine. The camera sucked - but then at least it made you take the big guy out and not just take a shot with the crappy phone...

The tiny memory soon became an issue and, as a result, I changed to HTC One V. A few weeks later, when trying to plot the sun trajectory with Sun Surveyor (a great app!)I realised that the compass will not work. As it turns out -no magnetometer and that means the digital compass will not work. No idea what the idiots were thinking - but I guess HTC with their rather peculiar strategy will soon join Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola. I'm pretty sure that the next change will steer away from HTC - sorry but can't be bothered with finding out that yet another cost-cutting compromise made half of the apps useless... Would it be an iPhone? Still hope there will be a phone that works and does not cut corners (instead could cut that silly chin...)

An update:
the HTC One V has died all together.
In the meantime Apple decided to release their new iOS7 - which screwed up WiFi on the iPhone 4....
Since there is no more WiFi guess better stay away from iPhone and their slightly destructive updates!

back to phone that sends texts and makes calls maybe?

Photo fashion

I'm definitely not the fashionable one. Outdoor gear and bulky camera bag hardly comes as 'fashionable' in a city... Fashion becomes enslaved by practicality, protection and comfort. Instead I usually laugh at 'badly' coordinated fashion - or people who spent heaps on most ridiculous (i.e. uncomfortable and impractical) overpriced rugs - I mean top-brand fashion items.

So, although photography and fashion go hand in hand, I never really was that bothered or interested and found most of the models too grumpy to point a lens at. But then one day...

One day you might get invited to a fashion show. If it comes with free nibbles and drinks it would be rude to say no! And since you going there anyway - may just be worth to try and see if can get a shot or two. From the moment of arrival - forget about any decent spot at the end of the catwalk where the lights shine and the models pause, turn and sometimes even might smile (or more likely smirk...). This is already full of better-dressed pros with accreditation cards, step-ladders, big flashes and even bigger lenses. It looks like a vertical bamboo forest from a distances - small and big tubes pointing in one direction, swinging from left to the right. 

 
Finally we found a spot at the other end of the catwalk, near the entrance. It felt pretty low to the stage. Introductory speeches seemed to be delivered by very high heels as could not really see the designer from the low vantage point at the very end of the catwalk. What can I possibly do in here? what the choices might be? Go wide and capture the walks? Take out the mini travel flash to get some extra light? Go with a 50mm f1.8? Wasn't really sure what to go for, what to choose... So started off with a zoom - but wide angle just did not work. The high-heels looked stupid from that perspective (speeches are still going on so some time to experiment and see what just might work the best). Than, of course, is the problem of not having a vaguest clue who Trelise Cooper is and what to expect! Not the best start ever...

But as things started rolling out soon I realised that the flash is too restrictive (OK - should have changed the batteries!) - it takes too long to re-charge and the models did not seem to be too keen to stop and wait! Standing at the far end of the catwalk means the models whizz past and do not give you that split second to pause and pose. F1.8 and manual mode was the best bet as often needed to shoot into the light. And most of shots would be upwards - a bit like shooting puffins in a flight...

Fortunately, following the mundane 'office' fashion things picked up: colours filled the stage and with the backlit the hair were just looking amazing.

The speed of the models moving meant there was no time to plan too much - just check the exposure every few shots and try to get the frame... Considering that at that spot the models were passing each other and just coming from the backstage a lot of shots meant one of them just walking into the frame. Argh... patience... planning, panning and forecasting. It finally worked with a few shots that give the feel of dynamics of the catwalk: models whizzing past each other, the stage being pretty dynamic at all the times.



And then the umbrellas came - a twist in its own right that made for some really nice compositions. Not an easy task as the 50mm was a wee too long for the job - but again, with a bit of planning and nearly hurting my back the photo was bagged...

So all in all - not a bad experience, a few good shots and lots of practice - and all for free (plus nibbles!)

Hair, fish and event by Trelise Cooper.

When light is no good

      When the light is too harsh it often feels like pack it up and move on.

Or not even take the camera out...



But sometimes it is just worth experimenting a bit. The direct sun created strong reflections - and after watching the shimmering light for a while I realised the reflections of the pattern of concentric rings forming on the water. Combined with 2 steps underexposure made it an interesting picture... Or at least a picture worth taking.

Or sometimes just shoot into the sun - with a little help from flash...

A BADGE!

      Wow!!!! A badge just came through the email...

Not sure what to do with it  - so will park it here and have a bit of a think about it...



It is sort of nice - but really not sure what to do with it...

What could that be?

      Photography offers the possibility to play with unusual perspectives of the, sometimes ordinary and mundane, elements of the daily world.

What this might be? Mayan pyramids during solstice? Perhaps... Or...



Actually it is just a pile of empty barrels stacked up in the Speyside's cooperage. When we first passed by the scene looked exactly as what it was: a pile of barrels in a flat, unappealing light. But the jiggered shape of the stacks looked interesting enough to come back for the sunset. 'Silhouette might just work better' I thought.
When we got back a few hours later I walked the scene up and down looking for an interesting angle - to cut any distractive shapes out and bring some more symmetry to the scene. After a couple of scratches on the barber wire I spotted the mall gap between the barrels: with a perfect alignment of the sun setting behind the barrels and a correct setting of the aperture to create a sunstar it could add some 'astronomical mystery' to the picture. The position to take the photo was extremely uncomfortable - but well worth the effort. A few more scratches and a cow's poo accident on the way back to the car were all well worth it!

Sometimes the secret lies in looking for the strange shapes, features or patterns of colours that look different, strange, unusual or even alien from a particular angle. Another example is a close-up of some patterns on a coast on Isle of Arran.

Travel flash

Traveling often means indoor photography or trying to take a portrait in a harsh daylight... One of the options is using a flash. We all know the limits of the build-in flashes - even on the most expensive cameras. And most of external flashes are intimidatingly big...

I started with Nikon SB600 - great but the incredibly unclear menu meant that changing the settings usually meant missing the shot. The off-camera function is great - though sometimes it is hard to make sure that the camera flash will reach the sensors on SB600 - not a match when compared to a wireless trigger.

The size of SB600 meant that 99.9% of the time it stayed at home and did not even make it to the bag. And if it did - it would often stay inside as the sheer size of the gun can often scared any potential portrait candidates away. It may be great for studio or portrait sessions - but not quite a travel flash. Complicated menu further added to the frustration as changing between different modes (e.g. on / off camera) often took too long.

The smaller option - NIKON SB400 - costs an arm and a leg for no controls. The Metz 24 (or 20 C-2) seems like a good value for money - but again, the design makes it still substantially bigger than SB400. But there is a hope: the Sunpak RD2000 Digital is incredibly small and yet still can produce decent output. The smart tilt design makes it much easier to add a home-made bounce card (all you need is a rubber band and a small white card). As the shoe rotates into the body the flash easily slips into a small pocket in your bag. The only downsides are a comparatively long - and NOISY - recycling times. But if that does not bother you - it is hard to go wrong for the price it sells for...


dark room, dark object - and reasonably even illumination

Sunpak offers some controls (+/- 1.5) and - unlike SB400 - still fires up when hooked up with a wireless trigger. OK - in the simplest "crude manual" mode (with the option of +/- some output) but even that will extend your creative - end especially macro - options. Some "quick" examples of possibilities that small little fella offers when hooked with Hähnel combi TF:




detail of pheasant's feather

So for the same price you can get an even smaller flash (it packs smaller than SB400) and a wireless trigger (e.g. hähnel combi TF). For the more demanding work you wold still need to get a more substantial flash (Metz 48 is on my list). And SB400? With both Sunpak or Metz 24 (or 20) you can simply do more whilst spending less.


backlit peat

 

backlit detail of a wine label for a desert...