Shoot Till You Drop

^ Post processed to slightly tint the buildings for a more surreal impact. The shot was taken in Canton Road, a mecca to big brand name spenders. This is the real scene and not digitally engineered. Can you explain it?

Hong Kong is well known for its shopping experience as Ricoh cameras for photography, at least as far as I'm concerned. The Ricoh cameras are understated in their appearances as well as market share. There are something in the world that you have to try for yourselves before knowing them better and finally becoming in love with them. Ricoh cameras are definitely in this category.

The regular readers know that I've been a SLR user for many years. I'd correct myself by saying "had been" because I have finished only two rolls of films for the last ten months after acquiring the GX200. There are some areas that the GX200 cannot match the big guy. But the small camera is just way too handy and responsive to resist.

From time to time, I have seen photographers using the huge DSLRs attached with external flashguns and the vertical grips to photograph the street scenes, the foliage or the sunset sky. Beside them stood Nevin with the tiny GX200 doing the same shots. Those DSLRs looked like overkill. I just wonder on what occasions will I really need a DSLR and all those lenses for attaching and detaching.

As I wrote before, with the tiny GX200 and its great ergonomics, I as a photographer can concentrate even more on observing a scene and be more creative (Explanation to the above surreal scene: The sidewalk is reflected in the ceiling mirror panels and the photo is upside down). Ricoh has got some product designers and engineers who must be photographers themselves. This is a big reason I am loving the GX200 so much, and the Ricoh brand more as time goes by.

This is a big reason for my consideration of making extra investment in the Ricoh accessories and the CX1. A restraint of the GX200 is its zoom length. The CX1 can make a handy and good companion to the camera in this respect.

Comments

A Real Hero

(Grip On Reality: This photo was taken on my way to work. I was walking past trucks parking on a cul-de-sac when the ropes caught my attention. The light was right, the colour was right and the criss-crossing pattern was perfect and I held up my GX200. People passing by checked me out and wondered what could be made out of such a boring scene. To me, the fun in photography is that the photographer makes something interesting out of what is not obvious to most at the scene. The ropes tied in knots somehow reminded people I know who are in the grip of the recession) You must have also known a friend or two, or even yourself, being baffled by the spiral downturn of the economy. Bank went bankrupt and the rich was faced with a shrinking wealth. A friend of mine has just had his salary cut by over 10% and some of his colleagues started to be shed. But, wait. Was this done really for the sake of continuing the business? Or is there a factor or greed in it? I wonder whether the

New Low Prices

The window shopping some hours ago has almost provoked my AgIDS illness. Just in case you’re in Hong Kong or are coming here, and have the money to burn (All in HK$/ body only): GX200 = $3,280 GRD2 = $3,380 LX3 = $3,180 G10 = $3,280 Prices are available form a gear shop on the 1st floor of the Mongkok Computer Centre. Besides these new low prices, I found that Wing Shing Photo (55-57Sai Yeung Choi St., MK Tel: 2396 6886/ 91-95 Fa Yuen St., MK Tel: 2396 6885) is offering a Sony A700 + Carl Zeiss Lens package for HK$9,980 (hopefully, a bargain will make it some hundreds cheaper).

Eye Contact

(Leica D-lux 5) The digital era may make it easier to end up with fave shots. Even lousy photos may be turned likable after a few clicks in the post-processing workflow. But if digital advancement or amendments have any bearing on the cultivation of personal style, no photographers will need to discover his or her own photographer’s eye. Undoutedly, this is out of the question. Only with a trained photographer’s eye can we give a thinking gaze and capture an eternal moment, in our unique style. Style is the soul of a great photo. A few posts have been written in GXG to touch on the topic of photographer’s eye. Instead of finding an answer, which would require academic discussions, the posts are intended to give my general reflections and spark interests in moving towards further exploration of the topic. The posts can be viewed after the links: 1) Photographer's Eye: Storytelling 2) Photographer's Eye: Little Show of Observing 3) Photographer's Eye: Sight-Worthy 4

GX GARNERINGS

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