GX GARNERINGS

(Leica X1) If the camera industry and in fact the whole photographic community had been all the trees in the garden, what could be the photographers’ perennial doubt as the nourishment other than the constant wondering of when the non-existent best camera would be here on earth?  Notwithstanding the lack of preciseness in the question asked, the doubt itself is the fuel that has kept the history of photography going in a big way. So to contribute to the course of that history, and hence the development of humanity, I have recently been wondering if it is high time for me to make a proper upgrade to hopefully the Leica system. (Ricoh GR) The Ricoh system was my first sortie into the digital photographic era as I evolved from what the quantum leap in digital photography has made it seemed the medieval film period.  I still keep the the historical relic, the Minolta Dynax 7 (film) for its sentimental value to me though.  Kudos to the Ricoh GX200 designed with photographe...

One of the reasons I made my foray into photography some light years ago was because I had a sum of government grants for paying for my first semester in the uni and a marked lack of interest in any other hobby that I thought was remotely related to endearing myself to any prospective girlfriend in an effective way – which was proved a smart and fruitful choice. (Ricoh GR) I had saved some pocket money from my mum to pay for the semester instead.  Huh! I have never been very comfortable with action sports.  I don’t like the way those sports requiring one to compete with another in a way that the whole reality seems to build only on winning over the others.  That’s just personal.  I was more the Confucian kind of man of sport – that rather static kind of observant chap that could sit effortlessly with and listen effort-fully to you for hours, patting on your shoulder to cue you to move on and over.  I can do sports but odds are the result I get won’t lo...

(Ricoh GR) SoHo of Hong Kong got its name from south of Hollywood Road, which is the area strewn with swanky bars, restaurants, boutiques in a mix with some very old, traditional Cantonese shops.  The last decades have seen lots of art galleries springing up in the area, taking advantage of the absence of specific taxation regime for art sale in Hong Kong, to earn easy money from the veracious Chinese buyers.  The area is more known for its nightlife but I definitely recommend a walk in daytime to get a taste of the exotic east-meet-west mix.  Most Chinese shops and restaurants close in the evening.

(Ricoh GR) I’ve found myself constantly slowing down among the daily busyness to enjoy more of everything around as I approach the slide-down section of the backslope from the timeline of age.  I’m taking everything more easy.  It’s the quality of life that matters after all.  It’s less about material stuff than the spiritual fulfillment.  Probably this newfound philosophy in me has found its way to the hobby part of my life.  Yes, it’s nice to have a new camera with functions that blow one’s mind.  One that allows the sharp images to ravish your eyes, when the elements are right and the there is good light.  But at the end of the day, it is still the image that matters.  It is still how the photographic eye interprets a scene all right that makes the image click. So it’s still me carrying my camera everyday to try my luck around each corner where a photo worthy opportunity may present itself.  My 5-year-old a55, 4-year-old Leica X1 and 2-y...

(Leica X1) I framed the scene so that the pile of wooden racks sit between the human subject with the bright background on the left and the light source beaming through the metal gate on the right, allowing the bright parts echo one another; hence guiding the viewers’ gaze around the image clockwise.  This may hopefully bring the static image a sense of flow to complement the walking subject.

(Leica X1) This afternoon I ran into a young man carrying a Leica with a friendly countenance apparently showing his passion for photography.  The Leica was mounted with a Voigtländer lens, if I was not mistaken.  Nice choice.  Just because those state-of-the-art cameras offers tons of features, doesn’t necessary mean that the owner will be happier.  In fact, as far as I know what the psychology theory suggests, more options oblige us to work our brain harder lest we may miss the good stuff which can make us less happy.  On the contrary, simplicity allows us to enjoy ourselves more.  With a Leica, the shooter just needs to focus on the basic scheme of taking a good photo.  And that is all.  I had a little chat with the young man and just two years into photography he has acquired a sophisticated, expensive taste.  Though with 20 years in the hobby under my belt, maybe I can learn a lot from him.  One never knows. We all can move on to p...

(Ricoh GR) Since the start of this blog back in 2008, Hong Kong has seen a sea of changes in its political reality and ruling system to the worst which, as matter stands, leads to a decline of logic and common sense by far among the cream of the society and their followers begging power.  To those who have grown in the city when governance was by reason, the de facto dead of the city it once was is probably a past tense.  The death knell has rung loud and clear.  It is sad to admit so.  These are the images through my sad eye to hopefully illustrate how empty the city seems to me now.