Hong Kong Beach

As usual. this shot is a very atypical idea of Hong Kong -- it's a very beautiful beach with crystal clear water. Counter to what you think from the Hong Kong Tourism board adverts, Hong Kong is very rich in natural areas to visit and this is one of them. I can't tell you where this is simply because I can't remember hahaha. Shooting landscapes usually benefits from having more foreground interest than sky (although if the sky is interesting, then this rule should be reversed). Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Blur

This photo is interesting because it illustrates just how much depth of field affects the image. In this photo I really experimented with different apertures to really get the effects I wanted. The question is always -- does one use a small aperture and include as much of the flower and the background as possible or do I selectively focus and choose an aperture that isolates the subject more. There isn't an easy answer for this and it largely depends on the subject matter. I had considered an aperture where each petal was rendered sharp enough, but somehow the background was then too distracting, so I settled on this one. NIkon D200, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8. Below is a shot with a smaller aperture to render more depth of field. You decide.

Tai Mo Shan Panorama

It looks like it's starting to be a yearly thing -- me going to Hong Kong, I mean. As I've said before, the Hong Kong I see is completely different from most people's idea of Hong Kong (big, metropolitan concrete jungle) -- thanks to my environmentalist brother's job, I get to experience what a large part of Hong Kong is actually like. Believe it or not, the city is actually a very small part of the whole of Hong Kong, although the tourism board would have you believe otherwise.

Anyway this panorama is shot on Tai Mo Shan in the New Territories, one of the taller (if not tallest) peaks in Hong Kong, and a very nice picnic spot. Adobe Photoshop CS4 is actually an amazing tool for stitching together images -- it makes blending and correctly aligning the various images (in this case 5 images covering a full 180-degrees) extremely simple. Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't scale panoramas well and it compresses the shot into a very small ghost of the original so you can't really see how much detail and how large this shot is. Click for a larger (but still lousy) version. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mmf/4

Hong Kong!

I recently went on a working trip to Hong Kong to test a new range of Panasonic Lumix cameras, one of which is the latest version of the high-end panorama style compact digital, the LX series. The latest model, the LX3, is a really nice camera that has been vastly improved in many ways from its predecessor. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Keeping it together

One of the things that's been improved is apparently the dynamic range of the LX3 -- in this situation the camera still hasn't blown out the highlights even though there's quite a range of bright and dark here. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Down by the sea

This shot was taken with the B+W mode of the LX3. As usual, a bit of foreground interest to lead you in to the photo is important in a shot like this. Panasonic Lumix LX3

They Live!

It's pretty amazing the amount of live seafood you can find in Hong Kong --- from Abalone, to geoducks, mussels and all kinds of weird things besides, you can find it here. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Hong Kong abstract

This shot was achieved by rotating the camera as the exposure was taken. I tried a number of different methods in an effort to take as many different shots of a common view at Hong Kong's Victoria Peak. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Train and city

I managed to capture this shot mostly on automatic for the LX3. The only adjustment here is to crop off a stray arm on the right that was encroaching into the frame. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Shopping Mall

This shot was taken with the wideangle adapter for the LX3. Strangely enough even though it was past midnight at Victoria's Peak in Hong Kong, the place was still bustling with open shops and people. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Coils

Incense coils at one of the temples I visited in Hong Kong. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Boat lady

This boat lady taking me to the restaurant has a lot of souveniers to peddle! Panasonic Lumix LX3

Grand Lisboa entrance

The entrance of the Grand Lisboa casino and hotel in Macau. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Grand Lisboa 1

This is what the Grand Lisboa, one of the largest casinos in Macau, looks like from the front. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Grand Lisboa 2

This is a side view of one of the biggest casinos in Macau, the Grand Lisboa. The light was just perfect at this time of day -- at dusk with just a bit of light left in the sky. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200m f/3.5-5.6 VR

Poser

I just thought this group of people shooting photos of this cute scruffy dog was quite funny. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Checking out the display

No fancy title for this shot. Just a little girl checking out the display cabinet in the musuem near the St Paul's Cathedral facade. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Facade

The ruins of St Paul's Cathedral, the main tourist destination other than the casinos in Macau. The building was destroyed in a fire in 1835 so only the facade is left -- yes there is nothing behind the facade except the floor and a small musuem of religious relics. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Building a fort

My trip to Macau -- a quick stop at a beach and I found this kid playing on the black sand. Nikon D200. AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Orchids

My brother in Hong Kong has recently picked up my dad's hobby of keeping orchids. Anyway both my brother and I are a little competitive when it comes to our cameras so we challenged each other to shoot a good off-camera flash photo of his orchids. This is my entry. Nikon D200, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8