Both Feelings and Your Gear Count

(Sony A55)

Let me start by saying something about today's shot. This was taken on the escalator leading to the lift lobby level of the Upper House hotel where I attended the cocktail party last night to open the photo exhibition of the Leica x Swire Hotels project. I think this image adequately conveys the mysterious quality to the hotel's atmosphere, as well as the moment's jovial feelings in my heart fluttering with inexpressible anticipation of the event -- my winning shot was one of the highlights in the exhibition.

The reason for me to take this shot was simple: to challenge a commissioned photo taken (by a Beijing photographer) at the escalator top for the project echoing the theme "views from the top". It is not that the commissioned photo taken with a Leica M is bad, but that I prefer one with more depth in meaning apart from the interest of composition so that the photo can give more punch. The soliloquy to my soul led to one conclusion: take a shot to challenge it. And if I were the commissioned photographer, I would have put a semi-nude model on the top of the escalator and shed enough flash light to freeze and light up her in this final image.

To me, it is the photographer's spontaneous feelings at the moment that makes the difference. No true feelings, no good photos. I also tend to believe that at the shutter-releasing moment of capturing the spontaneous feelings in the final image, an experienced photographer would have factored in all the considerations between, as we just discussed here, light and no light, seeing and interpreting, as well as the camera and the brain. These are all reflected in the final image. With a trained eye, you just know it at first sight.

So the cocktail party was a success. I met lots of people, some photographers and directors of some magazines. On my way home an epiphany dawned on me. Suddenly I saw a reason to use a more powerful camera with higher-grade lenses. If one continues on doing photography seriously, preparation should be made for a future chance to present the works to studios or magazines. Take for example my winning shots taken with the GX200. The A2-size print of the photo for the exhibition is about the maximum stretch of its resolution.

The exhibition began last week and will be on until the coming Sunday (P.S.: just learnt that it has been extended to March 19). I was told that the exhibition will move to Beijing afterwards.

The above shots were taken at the cocktail party while the one below shows the print in the exhibition area at L6 lift lobby of the Upper House hotel. The commissioned photos are shown alongside mine. Some more are displayed on L36. If you are in town and nearby, drop in and check them out.

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

Search This Blog