Start again (By Calvin)

At Lunar Park

There was a while I didn’t touch my camera, about 2-3 months. Once I arrived in Australia, I instantly regret selling my DSLR before I came to Australia. Instead, I traded the DSLR for a Prosumer Camera. Although it has the benefits of being light weighted and convenience, some effect cannot be done with a prosumer.

However, during the first trip for taking photos, I was surprised that I forget how to find a better angle! Maybe it is because I didn’t touch my camera for a while. But at that moment, I found a new passion on photography! Why not I learn how to take photos again with this prosumer? It would be a total new experience to me to use a prosumer. A good photographer should not be limited by the equipment he had. And that’s what I believe.

Roar............(By Authur)

It is the first time I go to car expo, it’s really cool, full of cars in my eyesight. Colourful, cool, awesome, plenty, this what I feel.  But it is a bit costy, for 20 AUD.

There are over 20 brands here, like Honda, Toyota, Ferrari, Porshe, Subaru, Audi, Holden, Benz, Ford, Nissan……………….Even though I do not own a car, but I get excited.

Fairlady!! My favourite!

White A4 is elegant

Benz.... no comment, it's not I can afford

There one proplem this time, my prime lens is 30mm, for APS-C CMOS, it is plus 1.5 times, as a result sometimes it is not wide enough, especially in there, cars are close together. I have to switch to kit lens, but of course, image quality are not compared.

The colour from kit lens seems plain

It's time for me to consider new lens members...hahhaha

Surprise (By Arthur)

Australia feels like a united nation to me with people form everywhere from our World, also the culture also feel like fusion. There is no wonder that the building structure here is a bit different compared to other foreign countries.

Blue Sky with blue pond

In here, Sydney, Brisbane, it’s easy to find beautiful things to shoot. The most challenges is the transport, it’s not so convenient if you do not have a car.

But one point is that, in Australia, the scene is beautiful, there are surprises everywhere. Not long ago I have just upgraded to DSLR, and now I am practicing to use prime lens.

Just a snap on a green leaf

I am beautiful? Am I?

Compared to zoom lens, it is winning in both sharpness and colour, but of zoom we have to give up the zoom function.

But I found that DSLR is more difficult to control than a prosumer DC, maybe out of expectation, there are more things to consider.
But now it's using CMOS, a overall ten times better in noise control than a CCD

Harbin- the freezing city(By Arthur)

Just a snap!

Again a snow world, this time have a totally different feeling, it is Harbin. It is really extremely cold, for around -15 to -30 Degree Celsius. Here is beautiful, but in a difference way than Hokkaido. A Chinese city having little feelings of Russia.

Russian style Church



Colour, sharpness can be controlled by users in RAW

This time I have upgraded to Canon S90, with a larger aperture and wider 28mm than previous. This one is amazing, I really recommend it for learners. A better noise control and stabilizer as well, as least up to ISO 400 still acceptable. In this trip, it provided me a excellent chances to take RAW and learn and try about post processing, it is useful as the things done by the camera image processor may not be perfect.

Acceptable noise(320) at night withour a tripod

I am really happy this time is with S90, because with a more flexible setting on ISO and also a bigger aperture, night shots are quite successful, acceptable noise with sharp image.

This time I have first contact with the skill of light painting, a interesting skill but very  beautiful, by just using s mode and slow down the shutter speed to 10s or as long as I want.

Like magic

A little big step with my camera (By Calvin)

Trip START!

Crystal clear blue sky! Maybe not impressive to
Australian, but is enough to impress me. 

Japan is always placed on the top of travel list, so I choose Japan as my first foreign trip! As the capital of Japan, Tokyo is an amazing city. Although the city is highly developed and concrete buildings are everywhere, the air is still clean! For a person who comes from a city that blue sky is kind of luxury. I was so fascinating about the blue sky and high air quality of Tokyo.

One thing I had learnt from this trip was, when going for a trip, it is better to go by private tour instead of group tour. Because there may be some places that you are not interested. The best way is to organize everything by myself. It seems a lot of works and research, but I think it is worth for unforgettable trip.

Japan Sea Life Park

This stop was the Tokyo Sea Life Park. Actually the park was not very impressive when compared to the aquarium in Hong Kong Ocean Park and this was the setback I mentioned above about group tour. But no worries, I could still try to enjoy it. =P

A interesting fish in the aquarium! It looks like a humane face.

The tour guide told me one interesting thing. He said the only place for Japanese kids to see a living fish is aquarium. They usually see processed and packed fish in supermarkets. They are so exciting to see a real fish instead of “swimming sashimi”. Haha! I bet it was totally a joke!

Snow white!? (By Arthur)

Different from navy sky, snow is more valuable, no because it is more beautiful than sky, but due to its scarcity, that is not all countries are having snow. For me, I have to spend a lot and wait for a vocation. But blue sky is having a perfect match with whit snow.

White plus blue, so perfect!

Hokkaido is a good place if you want to see snow. The snow is clean, the air quality is good, and it is safe. It’s not surprising that you see “grey snow” in China or Korea, maybe no one care.

What we need to care is the cold weather, besides taking good care of ourselves, electronic devices also face great challenges. Either the battery run out quickly or they are easy to malfunction when it is very cold.

Ice craving festival, taken under ISO 400, but there is no choices

I am facing great challenges as my camera at that time are not equipping stabilizer, and my hand shake especially when they are cold. So I have to bear high noise or otherwise I have to give up, that’s why I did not take many photos in this trip.

My favourite one from this trip

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival (By Annie)

Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most popular Chinese holidays, many events and activities are held on that day. To capture this moment, I carried my camera again and went to Vitoria Park to take some photos snaps for people and the events there.

The decoration of the park is really beautiful and amazing. I spent a half day to walk around and take photo snap here. It was a good experience for me and I really enjoyed it. ~o^0^o~

I am waiting to take photos at Vitoria Park the next year and I hope I can learn more technical skills on using camera and can take more profession and beautiful photos before that day. ~HAHA~

Passion on B&W (By Calvin)

Nikon FM2

Taking a good photo not necessary to have a good camera, but it is necessary to have a camera that the photographer loves it. The Nikon FM2 is my dream camera. It is not the most powerful camera, however it is so classic and elegant, just like a classic car in the camera world. FM2 is a film camera, unlike those digital camera nowadays, every time you press the shutter, it will cost you film. Therefore, using a classic camera like FM2 requires  the photographer to think before they take a photograph. This is the point where I think the fun of photography is. No doubt, considering how the lights and motions combine to become a perfect photo cause you a lot time and effort. However, a good photo should bring you sense of fulfillment that can outweigh the hard work in taking the photo. I think this is the true spirit of photography and one day I will own my classic camera!

This is one of my favorite B&W photo, it looks the
Chinese-ink-painting.

Other than the classic camera, I also insane about black and white photos. Others may think a good photo should be rich in colors, but I have another opinion. I think black and white photo can really bring a photo into lives. The is because black and white photo can have better texture and make you feel you are also inside the photo! On the other hand, black and white photo requires more experiences and skill and I am still having troubles to make this magic happen in my photos. Ha!

B&W photo has better texture

Beginning - Europe (by Arthur)

Europe is really a good place for learner, not because it is special, but it has clean sky and much open space between buildings, especially historical ones. It’s easy to make more practices without so many considerations

Thousands of historical buildings are found in Europe

Good weather make it easier to take colourful pictures

        Under clean navy sky, light is sufficient, it is easier to take sharp photos with less noise and richer colour. As my first trip with a manual DC, it gives me feeling of success

     

With a blue sky, everything is amazing!!

        To me, I got my first experience on the magic of photography, maybe I was “infected” by my Dad, who has started his hobbies for 30 years. When I was small, I couldn’t understand his motives, but now I did. I also found that photography also a hobby that will burn your money, besides from technique and skills upgrade, we are always demanding a lens or body upgrade. It is just a start of my endless investment.

A Trip To Cheung Chau (By Annie)

Last year, I went for a day trip to Cheung Chau which is one of the most popular outlying islands in Hong Kong. I think it is a pretty good place to take photos there as the views are so beautiful and so impressive.

I think Cheung Chau is a nice and quiet place with clean air and beautiful views where people can relax themselves and ease their stress there. ~^w^~

I saw there are so many fishing boats that it is not easy to see in the city. Therefore I seized this opportunity to take photos here~^^~

People were having fun here. You can see they are riding on bicycle with smile ~HaHa~

I feel so unforgettable and interesting in this trip and I hope you can have a chance to visit Cheung Chau.  ~ ^w^ ~

  

Why do I take photo??? (By Annie)

Someone may wonder why I carry my camera everywhere and always take photos. And now I will show you the reasons. HaHa~^w^~

The main reason that I take pictures is to help me refresh memories in later years. I like reminding myself of things I see and I experience, therefore, taking photo is a good way for me to do this.

If someone appreciates the photos I take, I will gain sense of achievement. This really encourages me to take photos for the scenery and people.

i and my brother

Photography inspires me to go to some places and see things. This encourages me to go somewhere I normally do not go. :P

Therefore, I love photography ~^0^~

Photography - Just loving it! (By Calvin)

Hong Kong Flower Show 2007, it was an important event for my photographic history as this event built my interest on taking photos. After this event, I started to research the information and skills of photography.

Since then, I joined the school photographic team and actively participate in the school events. The power of photography was fascinating and I found great fulfillment in taking a good photo and share with my friends.

One the miracle of photo is that it can freeze the time. Photography helps me to remember the important time in my life and this point I think is the most important. I think I will never stop taking photos, I really love it.

The start (by Arthur)

At the beginning of the blog, I would like to have some review on my past, or simply say, how do I get start? All things start from my beloved Hong Kong, starting from simple snap.

Snap do not need anything special, ordinary is the best.

They can be my valuable memories in the future

It’s not an easy start especially when there is too much technical stuff to handle at the beginning, but if we are willing to consider and think more, it is an interesting hobby. 

Photography is magic to me, making simple object and view become special

They make me feel success, at least better than just setting automatic. I know, there is still many things to learn, how to control aperture, shutter speed and also light has been a difficult topic, even now, it's not easy. 

One of my recent favourite photos

After getting involved, I found that not only DSLR can take good photos, the elements you need is your heart and also willingness to learn. Maybe now there are thousands things I need to improve, but at least I have given my first step.

My recent move is the upgrade to DSLR and more photos from it will be released. It seems to be more challenging to me than a prosumer DC.