GX GARNERINGS

 (Ricoh GR) In their own unique style, the squatting Mainland Chinese tourists have become an eyesore a common sight in the usually narrow walkways around the more busy areas in Hong Kong since the r eturn of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China (Editor-in-chief's note: Officially banned phrase for political incorrectness) Chinese Communist Party resumed sovereignty over the city. Hordes of  the likes are too generous in their estimation of either the width of the sidewalks or the number of people passing by them, so stretching out an array of luggage cases in a disarray fashion for making rearrangement or taking a recess never seems to be too unedifying a bother to them. No location can dampen their determination in doing so, not even if it is right at a shop front, which is a somehow laudable national quality potentially in a positive way. Well, there are always two sides of a coin. Through the artistic eye of a photographer, can't these scenes be reproduced in an art

(Leica X1) While this blog has not been updated as frequently, even worse, most posts are off-topic now. Life is full of surprising offshoots and sometimes eventful fluctuations, and I can't help touching on various things other than photography, just as I find fascinations in all manners of a thing by looking through a viewfinder which normal people may normally pass by without a cue. Die-hard photographers could be quite abnormal at times. I know, it may seem that photography is no longer the prima ballerina on stage, so to speak. Well, not really. I don't toy with as many cameras for tests as back in 2008, but in the last few years I have tried the Leica SL, M10 and the CL, among which the last one is all-in-all a design disaster (But no review posts - too busy to do that now). I haven't taken photos as often, yes. But I could just as well say that I am more refined in deciding when to press the shutter release or just being wise to cut spending on memory

(Leica X1) I have had quite a bit of bad luck lately.  The fact that bad luck happens to us sometimes somehow is one of those problems that are annoying chiefly because they are not supposed to be there at all.  It was a very early morning last week when I missed my flight to connect to an international flight.  The friendly airport security guy was compassionate enough to help send my oversize luggage case through the x-ray machine, which made quite a scene, and cheered me on as I ran to the gate.  But I came down to the decision to return to the check-in counter when the 15-minute explanation to the ground crew at the gate yielded no result. I left the gate seeing the other passengers off as they went up the plane which was just 100 metres from me. After much ado about putting me on another flight with the helpdesk conversationalist from probably India over the phone, I sighed to myself in the cold morning mist waiting on the bench off the airport entrance for my Airbnb host t

(Sony A99 with Minolta 50mm f/1.7) To street shooters, the Mongkok pedestrian precinct is sort of what water is to fish.  They will love it for the place epitomises the essential opportunities that could present themselves to make shooters into street photography feel just right.  This is as true as it goes for those who haven't been to maybe New York. I haven't been to New York yet.  But Hong Kong is more than good enough. If you wonder what the three Chinese characters in the foreground mean, it is a sexist derogatory expression against women which however is mostly used as a blessing in a joking way.  Literally, it reads, "beg you to bring me into the fold and keep me" or otherwise, "please make me your mistress".  Yes, a blessing in a cheeky sense: be a mistress, have everything paid for and be happily worry-free ever after. Get your camera out and train your eye for any interesting scene that may emerge around the corner. I will be surprised i

(All images taken with Sony A99 fitted with a Minolta 50mm/ f 1.7) The 50mm lens always holds a special place in my heart for it was the focal length with which I started photography.  This Minolta 50mm beauty is the first lens in my armory and especially turns me on.  I am glad that my new addition of the A99 gives a new lease of life to it which has otherwise been used with a crop-sensor camera. Without much of a convincing argument but purely by convention, the 50mm has long been considered a normal focal length.  It gives a field of vision which, as most old-school photographers have been taught to think, resembles how the human eyes see the world (no wonder most cameras came with a "kit" 50mm lens in the old days).  Undoubtedly, this claim doesn't hold up to any serious scrutiny.  You may as well fit almost just any lens on a camera and zoom with your feet.  The claim will become very pale and not be worthy of an argument.  I would rather be contended with t

This was one of the shot I got with the GR during my big loitering in Tasmania. Walking in the city where I was in an early morning I found myself at an empty corner in an empty street.  Suffice to say it that there are absolutely more sheep than human beings in Australia, let alone Tassie.  I scouted the location and had my mind fixated on my existence. Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here? The rather philosophical me got some abstract shots like this.