Special Freight

(Leica X1)

The special freight bag had to be quite cosy. Look at his expression of satisfaction!

Long Stick, Boys

(Leica D-Lux 5)

On my way home from tonight's talk by Simon Wheatley on his project, I stumbled upon this scene while giving a deep thought to going about a photographic project on a similar aspect of the local culture. Graffiti was not part of the culture among youngsters here until roughly twenty years ago. In recent years, the followers of graffiti have been growing from strength to strength, partly thanks to some voluntary missions offering inexpensive graffiti training to engage and salvage young people from the downwards spiral of family and drug problems.

It is an easy guess on the teenage age of the graffiti creator here as the vulgar wording "LONG DICK BOYS" at the top betrays the authorship. For interest, the Cantonese equivalent of "dick" is "look ye", or literally "stick". "Ye" is more of an exclamatory morpheme homomorphic (similar in form) and homophonic to the character meaning "wild" as in "ye yan" (wild person).

Talking about wild, the photography community has been ranting critism wildly at Leica's two new cameras released today. Well, to me, it is a matter of different mindsets and tastes. It seems to me that those who really need the cameras to suit their photographic styles and needs will give more constructive insights on the issue. To me, the startling dinner break in the middle of the event to precede the annoucment (it was like the threatre went power down when the suspense movie was just going to give out the killer - dissipating all the pent-up emotions) was an even more unbelievable move than the high pricing or the low-res LCD of the MM. MM, what a legible acronym for Money Money.

Money, money, money

Must be funny

In the rich man's world

Money, money, money

Always sunny

In the rich man's world

Aha-ahaa

All the things I could do

If I had a little money

It's a rich man's world

It's a rich man's world...

And about the dinner break, I favoured a tweet by @LeventMagic, "Could you imagine if at the end of a MacWorld Keynote, Steve Jobs had said, "One more thing... But first a dinner break" LOL" 

One more thing...a dinner break for myself.

The Expecting Gaze

(Leica X1)

A wee bit later, Leica will be announcing its new cameras. Photographers around the world are tossing their expecting gaze on the event soon to take place in Berlin. Rumour has it that the X1 will be replaced. No matter what the replacement is going to have in its repertoire, it will be built on the excellent X1 which is already a near miss of a perfect camera in terms of lens quality, build quality and ease of use. I really like Leica's no-nonsense take on this gem. The X2 will certainly not disappoint. Pricing will be a different story as always though.

The X1 is, save its sluggish focusing speed at times which can however be worked around, great for street photography. As seen in today's shot, its 36mm lens can also do justice to portraits for a pleasing result.

A Friendly Reminder

(Ricoh GRD4)

Oh, this is May 10. Leica is launching something new today.

So Long, Hot Dog

(Sony A55)

An undisputable Hong Kong icon, the non air-conditioned bus fleet made the last journey and was put into history yesterday. The non air-conditioned bus has certainly nailed a place in the locals' heart for its long service before the advent of the air-conditioned models.

Passionately dubbed the hot dog bus, an animated term to describe the feeling of riding it, it brought unbearable gust of hot air stream head-on to passengers through the windows when travelling in great speed on the sultry summer days, especially when going through the tunnels. The in-compartment heat could possibly cause heat-stroke if one sat on the lower deck in summer and got stuck in a traffic jam, bearing the brunt of the hot exhaust gas billowing all around outside of the window. The meltingly high temperature in the compartment was not helped by the metal body under the scorching sun. Arduous may be a bit over the top in saying about the journey experience, but stiff is certainly the word jumping to mind at the mention of riding a hot dog bus. Interestingly, it is exactly these unbearable feelings that the hot dog buses will be fondly remembered.

And, oh, the body colour resembling the food did have some bearing on its getting the name "hot dog bus".

Making Repose

(Ricoh GX200 with 19mm converter)

A painter once said to me that souls are the all-important elements in paintings. Souless works are never successful works no matter how skillfully done they are. So, the painter needs to pour out the soul, or the heart's impressions, on the canvas rather than caring too much about the skill aspect. The impressions refer to the imprints of what the painter has been seeing, feeling and reflecting in his daily life. Can the same be said to photographs? I would say in the positive. On this note, today's shot is very pleasing at least to me as I have a strong impression that I need to make repose for myself too! Probably this was the thought I was reminded of on the spot, which therefore appealed to me to snap a shot of this scene.

Super Moon In Hong Kong

(Sony A55, HDR mode, at roughly 450mm; cropped and PPed to sharpen and give it an Afga-film feel)

The biggest full moon was observed around the world last night (here is an educational video). I shot some photos of it here in Hong Kong last night and put them on the 42" TV panel. I was really thrilled. How I wish I had a better lens!

Till Death Do We Part

  (Ricoh GX200)

This is Sunday. Show your love to the people you care. Nothing and no one is to be taken for granted