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May, 2020Views
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Top 20 rank week 2Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
It was taken in an island known in Chinese as Yim Tin Chai. Close to Sai Kung which is sea coast suburb of Hong Kong. This Yim Tin Chai island used to have quite a population of few hundreds in the 1960s, mostly farmers & some fisherfolks. There was a church built by missionaries in the early 1930s. The St Joseph Church is a sort of chapel. As most of the folks had emigrated to UK, Holland & else where, the population dwindled to just a few dozens. Now the church only has Sunday services. I went to the Island in order to find out more about this church.Time
It was in the late afternoon when I arrived in the island. Walked around it to learn more about the island & the folks. I encountered very few people but saw this friendly & elderly cat sleeping, under the sun, in the steps leading to the church. Didn't want to disturb it, I took photo of the church from different perspective under the setting sun. Then I saw this friendly feline again, leaning on my legs and rubbing my legs with the fur of the neck & head. It seemed to be longing for company. That I grasped this delightful moment to collect the light from this friendly cat through the lens of the camera.Lighting
As the sun was setting and I wasn't familiar with the behaviour of this wonderful cat, I couldn't stand too close to it. But I endeavoured to take shots from a top angle while using my body to block the strong direct sunlight from the setting sun. With the light colored church wall acting as background, the reflecting light gave good lateral illumination to the fur. The texture of the fur was evidently shown in the photo.Equipment
Again due to the rapid changing of environmental light, I just took pictures with my IPhone, though I had brought my old faithful Nikon F with Nikkor Micro Lens 55mm f2.8 & Gitzo stand. In general, I seldom use flash. I endeavour to the capture the environmental light, using large aperture and slightly longer time to get the best slightly over-exposure. Large aperture gives smaller depth of field which is great for selective focusing, enhancing the subject or the theme.Inspiration
I am always intrigued by life, whether in the natural environment or at home. I found cats being good subjects for photo-exploration, not too approaching to sniff your camera but calm enough for me to stay closer, step by step. Always have my Nikon F & Nikkor lens ready in my back sack and also my IPhone ready, whether I am walking or jogging. There are always moments for me to catch decisively for many a theme. Whatever I am looking, I am also seeing. What inspires me, there are many. My great companion PingTze is the best model among the intelligent Homo sapiens. The historical Chinese architecture or Colonial architecture in Hong Kong are always attractive and also on the verge of disappearance due to the rapid urban development for profiteering in HK. The insects and plants, specially the indigenous species, are also dropping in their population due to urbanization & environmental pollution in HK. So we have plently of themes, sites, moments for photographic experimentation in HK but I believe this is typical in many parts of the world.Editing
I enjoy seeing good colour saturation in my of my photos. Strong contrast for architecture, whether in geometrical shape, color or historical setting. Great details for insects, cats & plants. Small depth of field for portraiture. Most of these requirements are met before pressing the shutter. But I do some post-camera effects to enhance the saturation and some cropping to select the subject. Sometimes, I experiment to reshot the processed photo. I still use negatives with my old failthful, processing the films in local photo-finishing shop (which are getting rare today). Only 3 to 5 such shops are still in existence in HK.In my camera bag
As I have mentioned before, I have my Nikon F body and a Nikkor Micro 55mm f2.8 lens. Some Cokin filters, genuine ones bought in Paris long ago. A few rolls of Kodak Color-Plus 200 and Ilford BW 125, all are 135 format negatives. I still took BW photos & do my film processing, using Patterson Tanks & developing chemicals bought second-hand in HK.Feedback
Well, do more seeing rather than looking. Before you are seeing, try pre-visualization of your subject. Studying the works of others because no two fellas have the same concepts or combination of techniques. You always learn something from them. Lastly, try to see things by closing your eyes. Then you know would know how the blind can take great photos. What I meant is the camera & lens are just an extension of your eyes, or better, your mind. I beg your pardon, I just want to share my humble knowledge. I am still doing a lot of experimental photography.
