Seize the Moment: Trolley is a very useful tool.

In Hong Kong, it’s very common to see logistics team, grandma, grandpa, garbagemen using this type of trolley. It’s heavy, sturdy, and can go anywhere from commercial buildings, malls and even on the road. I was playing with the Bleach Bypass image filter and I thought it’s cool to document people and things that are simple with it. I think it gives some cinematic feel to the photo without post-processing. Another SOOC.

Ricoh GRD IV
f2,5
ISO 250

Brat @ Elgin Street, SOHO – Specialty Hotdog Restaurant

I found this restaurant on a local food magazine. They have not mentioned about the prices on the menu. So i headed to that place to check it out myself. They priced it so high that I think i’ll not have another eat-out meal for this and the coming month. I’ll just tell you about the prices on their Belgian import specialty beer – around $80+ HKD each bottle. And the one I particularly ordered is a raspberry flavored beer. It’s good just not worth that much..and it’s only 25CL. That’s 250ml.

The Food
I wanted to order a set meal with their highly praised Sweet Potato Fries on OpenRice.com. So sad that they said we can’t do that even to add extra money…I ordered them separately instead. $40 HKD for a small basket of fries, it’s very well enough for 1 person. I kept munching and munching. It was great!

Sweet Potato Fries is Good. And must have.

I’ll not mention about their salad. Technically It cannot exist on their menu for the price we’re expecting. They drizzled balsamic vinegar like it’s free!! The bottom of the plate was all vinegar..

There’re gourmet burger restaurants in many parts of Hong Kong. Their prices are competitive, by all mean, I’m saying they’re competitive in their segment around $70+ HKD for just a burger.  And in Brat, I ordered a Bourbon hotdog. The sausage is not particularly spiced or at least I didn’t taste any cajun sh|t in it. I had been to the Bourbon Street, New Orleans. I have a rough idea what their food tastes like. There’s a topping for the hotdog too, i picked sauteed peppers. Goddamn..it tasted like it’s only microwaved for 15 seconds. I really don’t want to complain too much. Sautee means on a pan with high heat, browning the food briefly to produce a caramelized surface and still tender and juicy on the inside, am I right? $80 bucks for it, hehe..i’ll just very well buy all the ingredients myself from grocery store.

The beer was comforting and I think their beer selection are extremely rare to find in HK.

The Price
Too high, not worth for what i’m paying.

The Place
Comfortable when it’s not crowded.

Verdict
Go there only for the sweet potato fries and get out.

Macro & Image Filters with Ricoh GRD IV

Me & Ricoh GRD IV in the mirror

Rain won’t stop me from shooting with my Ricoh GRD IV. It’s small enough I can cover it with my hand and slip in my vest pocket. I literally ditched my G3 in my camera bag today. And getting productive with my GRD instead. The night before I was frustrated with the white balance correction and messing with the color casts in the WB compensation. It turned out there’s amber (yellow). It really require me to choose the appropriate WB option then carefully change the compensation. So i decided to leave it for later to mess with, at least i know the way of getting the right tone.

I played with the image filters last night after the WB. I found out the “My Setting” at the image filter option is an excellent way to get the right tone without tapping too much of WB. I really wish to re-name it. The “Positive Film” is my favorite after minimizing the effect a little and a weak vignetting. The vignetting is subtle enough to be used on every photo. It really saves time processing afterwards which i normally, casually edit photos as leisure.

This was taken as a test photo. Notice the red hue that was previously used. It adds tone to it, making it look like LOMO. Also notice the vignetting is really subtle. It’s not taking out the detail on the corners at all.

Many says about the advantages of a DSLR or mirrorless camera has over a point & shoot. Where’s the bokeh/shallow depth of field at?? I tend to disagree now especially with my GRD in hand. It absolutely possible to do so with a one push of a button on the macro mode. It’s not anything like what I see from my Leica Summilux f1.4 25mm. It’s still very useable and even creamy on the background.

Taken only a few centimeters from the petals. The detail is just astonishingly crisp. The image filter adds even more tone straight out from the camera without editing. SOOC

The blurred background melts together, it is comfortable to see.

This post was intended to display the performance of the camera. The 10 megapixel is not stopping me from shooting. It’s NOT hindering me to get quality crisp photos. The 10 px, noise, relatively small sensor is giving user another “FEEL” to photography. Think of it as a true retro style camera with the modern control. It produces great images as we speak!!! $4800HKD, worth it!!!

West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade (西九龍海濱長廊) – A wasteland since 2003 and counting.

Today I was going to visit the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre (temporarily built theatre as part of the annual event tradition). I entered from the Kowloon MTR station side and hoped I could get there. It’s my first time coming to the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade. The entrance of it made me felt like I was entering a junkyard ship dock. It’s even worse as i walked a little further inside. The toilet are just way too temporary. I don’t want to comment anymore. It’s so irritating for me to type further. Fk this.

It started raining as I walked half way. I had to find a shelter, (no sight of the bamboo theatre within my reach) I got back to the MTR station and headed home instead.

For those who don’t know about this tip of the Kowloon peninsula of Hong Kong, you may read about this here (West Kowloon Cultural District Project). It has been delayed for nearly a decade now. And the government says, they should begin the 1st phrase of construction in 2015. I’m feel really powerless and wish to just smack our government in the face. What’s the hold up? Another site for major city development is our Former Hong Kong airport, Kai Tak located also in Kowloon. It’s also a wasteland since even earlier, let me google the exact date…loading…since 1998. That is 14 years of wasteland right beside our Victoria Harbor. 14 years of doing nothing while our fellow citizens are paying taxes for it. Rumor says, they’ll build another promenade….or to build housing, lets hope it’s not private housing. It’s still NOT ANNOUNCED YET. Failure.

All the photos were taken with Ricoh GRD IV – Bleach Bypass filter (Cool). I wanted to show the chilly weather of today just 8ºC, even colder with the wind chill. I got numb fingers.

Kowloon MTR Station – Tung Chung Line

Footbridge over the toll plaza of the west cross harbor tunnel

Cloudy, misty, foggy day. Couldn’t see the top of the ICC tower.

The crappy entrance that makes me want to go back home…

temporary toilet in a cargo container…i mean..there’s nothing wrong with the container..can you guys just make it look good..

I think the term ‘promenade’ for the government means ‘i-dont-know-what-to-do-with-it’.


What is this? A place for Graffiti.


bird formation over the victoria harbor sky. Thanks to the Ricoh adj scroll – I could quickly bump up my ISO to 160 and have a shutter speed of 1/330. Fast enough to freeze the motion above my head.

another what is this…an amphitheatre? BTW..historically nobody ever use amphitheater..correction..grannies and homeless people tend to sleep in public amphitheatre. A very loving government indeed…didn’t know that.

An abandoned KMB bus parking right there. Clearly there isn’t a bus stop in one or two mile radius. And yea,..a piece of low vegetation land surrounded by nets.

Unar Coffee Company, Tai Hang

This place is very easy to find. It's painted black everywhere.

So here you are, showcasing a few shots of my coffee stroll in this Tai Hang community few days ago. I don’t remember which coffee shop in the community has got plenty of recognition by media and stuff. I’m sure this is not the one i once saw on a magazine. I remember there were outdoor seats in the picture. Clearly there wasn’t one. It was a freezing day in Hong Kong, around 10ºc. I needed a warm cup of joe..

Those pictures were taken with my Ricoh GRD IV, ISO 160-320 – without image filter. I had problem getting the correct colors i want. The WB correction does not have yellow?! There’s only blue, red, pink and green to adjust with. I’m still reading the manual to see if it can be adjusted the way i want…

The lens on this compact has a deep DOF. It’s making me to think more about composition. I found it a bit bugging for me during this adjustment period. Today, I only went out with my Ricoh. I scratched my head on how to get the best shot out of it. The image filters are great addition to expand the possibility, I am experimenting a bit too much with different filters on the same view. In other words, i get distracted. Perhaps it’s the cloudy, foggy weather making me want to play with filters. Or is it the straight out of the camera colors are not promising? I still don’t know. I hope i’ll find a solution real soon.

So...there weren't anyone while i was ordering my flat white.

unique wooden plate would be given while waiting

sporty doggy. want some coffee from me, mommy?

I did a tiny bit of tuning on hues.

My tale of an optical viewfinder on a compact camera Ricoh GRD IV

I thought i’d be satisfied with the stock Ricoh GRD IV shooting photos happily with the LCD screen. Until I looked at my photos and deleting them one by one, even more frustrating is the shutter speed that I shot with the photos; they were more than I could handle 1/10, 1/8 and even slowest 1/4. I could get a sharp shot with my Lumix G3. So what else am i missing?

There’re two factors that caused the handheld shake:

• Weight of the camera
• Pose when not using an optical viewfinder

Yes, I went from over 500g to 200g. Seriously i don’t get blur from cellphone…that’s not an issue.. The pose? I have my elbows locked beside my ribcage. It’s steady, i’m darn sure on this. It’s just that I’m not too used to shooting photos this way. I feel like I’m holding a food tray or something. Weird… To shoot photos with a viewfinder becomes my second nature and it does improve my composition quite a bit. Prior to my G3, the last time I used an optical viewfinder was from a cheap Olympus film compact camera. I had no idea how to shoot photos back then (more than 16 years ago). I never understood why many says a viewfinder helps you compose a photo. I was thought the LCD screen in the modern days does everything you need easily, directly, comfortably..without squinting our eyes. My experience on G3 even with the modern Electronic Viewfinder is so unique. I get readings, stats, histogram, other info of what I’m doing while maintaining my focus on what I’m shooting. It’s just nice!

So I trusted my instinct and believed buying an optical viewfinder GV-2 for my compact – Ricoh GRD IV is a right choice. I like the camera obviously. The viewfinder costed me a bunch, ehh..you go check the market price tag and you’d know. It’s not cheap for that tiny piece of accessories. That’s how the camera manufacturers make money these days. The moment i slid it on, it made a huge difference. I immediately felt like I’m not shooting with a compact camera no more. I feel like I’m using more of a camera that I’m accustomed to, with more edge to it. The results I got were surely exactly what I want from the viewfinder. The shake caused by handheld was gone or greatly reduced to acceptable level. The scale is 1:1 on this viewfinder, I get exactly what I aim for in my photo unless I shoot macro (plants, tiny objects).

This little box contains an über expensive gadget

“Seeing is believing” is a bit cheap. I’d say “Testing is believing”. I shot moving vehicles with motion panning. I was able to catch it with my G3. I tried not to use the optical viewfinder to shoot with 10 attempts. They were ALL FAILED. I really thought, man, i suck. I told myself I did it with a G3 before on a viewfinder, I’ll try it out with an optical viewfinder on the Ricoh. Booooom..I performed my first panning shot. I nailed it with the optical viewfinder, and guess what, the GRD IV can do this kind of shot. It’s a nice serious compact camera. Very snappy!

With the viewfinder pose when shooting photos, I can lower the ISO even when shooting at night without blur. But then you’d ask, how am I get the readings from the LCD screen? Here’s how

I tend to half press to display the shutter speed when I get to an area (let say an alley) i intend to shoot for before hand. I tapping from time to time to get a sense of what ISO i need before shooting unexpectedly.

We always chimp on what I shoot anyway, I get around and got the results I wanted. I ease all my wonders and doubts on a viewfinder without data reading. I can do it, so can anyone!!

Seize the Moment: Street of Causeway Bay

man with bamboo. Or I should say scaffolding worker with a bamboo pretty dramatic to move around a long bamboo in the street. I bet that bamboo must be very heavy. Scaffolding is what we see around here in Hong Kong must of the time. I do wonder from time to time, how the hell do they build a 2 digit story building with it, all the way from the bottom to the top with the bamboo scaffolding.

We all know people are so consumed with the iphone rave, those who line up for the new iphones in Apple store are not all apple fans. They are the Apple slave, selling boxed iphones is a easy way to make money. It’s also fueled by the huge demand else where, perhaps to China and for local re-selling at a marked up price. The photo i’m showing is not one of those iphone buyers, it’s just an ordinary 2nd hand used phone buyer on the street. It’s a great way to get rid of your old phone. They give you a quote by making a call. Simple as that. I’ve not tried it though.

New Arsenal: Ricoh GR Digital IV

Welcome my new pistol: Ricoh GR Digital IV. With much of the research, I decided to get it for street photography. I still very much love my Lumix G3, the unsurpassed image quality still kept me shooting with it daily. There’re just times that we need an absolute compact/quiet camera to do random/spontaneous shooting in quiet area. I want to be discret on those situation. If my G3 was a submachine gun, the Ricoh GR Digital IV would be a suppressed assassin pistol.

I visited DCFever today to get a waist strap. The one i found was Hakuba waist strap that screws into the tripod screw hole. It’s just HKD $58. Pretty cheap for a strap like this and I wanted to try something slightly different. The only downfall is i’ve to unscrew it for the battery/memory card compartment lid. I’m fine with that as the screw is made out of metal = durable.

Impression:
The initial feel of the camera is that, the surface of is grippy. It’s not as light as I’d have thought – i compare it to Nikon P300. It has so many customizations in settings. The color filters are fun. Focusing is fast enough. It’s quiet (this is arguable, as muted compact cameras are basically the same and I’d been using M4/3 for 3 months now – getting used to the shutter sound).

The learning curve can be steep for someone who knows little about camera. There’s adjustable fixed focusing, manual focusing as well!!! But I still have no clue how to adjust it yet. The 2 customizable function keys are useful, what’s even better is it can be switched up to 4 pairs of function keys. Meaning for instance (1st pair fn1 AE/AF, fn2 ISO – 2nd pair fn1 color filters, fn2 WB, …) There’s a bypass key allow us to switch between them by pushing bypass and rotate the front dial. Very good features so far.

Japanese really knows what the photographers want. The implication I see it this way – Ninjas makes weapon for another ninja. If this camera is designed for street photography, I’d believe it now. When we are shooting, you want to be discret. How about switching off the LCD display/viewfinder by pushing the display button 3 times. Oh..The bright little green LED power on button is lit, can I turn it off? OMFG *&%$#. The answer is yes! That can be done too, so now we have a completely black camera that DOES NOT glow in your hand.

There are just so many things to play with. And all comes from this compact camera.

f1.9 wide angle prime lens is totally new to me for such small sensor. It’s a wide angle lens, yes..I’d been using M4/3 20mm and 25mm lenses quite extensively. The distancing between subjects has to be reconfigured in my brain again. Prime Lens most of the time guarantees us quality.

Image Quality:
I could only play with it after work at night with the sky completely dark. I tested it with super high ISO 800-1600. It gets really noisy and really easy to get blurred. Not like how it advertised large aperture, shake compensation, etc. Perhaps I’m still new to it. The contrast of the images i found are quite weak, it has much to do with the high ISO. Color loss is significant. For a compact camera is okay, acceptable. It can be better though. I’ll be posting photos later on. The above comment is based on the AF auxiliury light being turned off. Sharpness might improve if I have it turned it back on. Further testing still needed..

Now I should appreciate my Lumix G3  even more. The performance in dim light for M4/3 is reasonably great. I’d been getting sharp images i want most of the time with it.