Night and Day

"What a difference a day makes"

Words to live by.

A couple weeks ago, I took the photo below while on the ride home. I was just shooting randomly and fooling around with slow shutter speeds. I got a little creeped out when I got home and saw the ghostly face in the upper right corner:


Here's the same location, shot in daylight.

Like they say, it's all a matter perspective.

Fortunate mistake

The camera chose the wrong exposure setting, but I like the way it turned out.

Shift is Sh!t with an F

My unit has been assigned shift duty to run the Command Center. The photo above is the world as seen through the eyes of someone going home at 3:30 in the morning...

On a day like this, getting sun burned is worth it

3 days of rain, and then this morning...


Days like this don't come often. How could I forgive myself if I didn't make good use of it? 90 minutes under the sun, my shoulders are all red now, but it was worth it.

Again, who wouldn't cherish a day like this?

Shanghai 2010

It's been 8 years since my last visit to Shanghai. Seeing how this year's World Expo is being held there, I figured now would be the ideal time to visit.

More photos in my album: http://www.fotop.net/teruphoto/Shanghai_2010

Before going to the Expo, I revisited the Time Tunnel:

Some highlights from the Expo:

A parting shot from the air:

112 min

That's the amount of time it took to get to work this morning. The running time of "Up" is 96 min. I could have watched the entire movie from start to finish - end credits included - and still have time for a 16 minute nap.

To provide a frame of reference on the actual distance and time, the fastest I've traveled from home to work is 48 min (Sunday morning, no traffic).

Can it still be called rush hour if every vehicle is standing still?

Slaves to Post Processing

When did photography become about spending more time with your hands on a mouse rather than a camera?

Post processing is not a new concept. From the colorizing of prints to cross processing to dodging and burning; adding effects to a photo after the fact is something that photographers have been doing for decades. The advent of digital photography simply made this process more accessible by eliminating the need for a lab or darkroom. While it can't be argued that post processing can be a very effective way to enhance one's photographic experience, somewhere along the way so many of us lost sight of what we were doing. Suddenly, "Photoshopping" became a priority rather than an optional tool.

How many times have you heard or spoken the words "I'm shooting in RAW so I'll fix it later"? RAW is an invaluable tool that allows us to correct and recover from mistakes made during shooting, but to use RAW as the foundation of your workflow seems to be such a waste of time (time that could be better spent shooting more photos). To me, RAW is like the lifejacket beneath your seat on a plane; it's good to know that it's there but it's something you shouldn't have to use unless it's unavoidable.

Most cameras have an array of settings that allow you to apply all sorts of effects the moment you shoot a photo. White balance, color saturation, contrast, exposure control; various combinations of these settings can produce a wide range of interesting effects. I think the problem that many people have is they don't think about how they want a photo to turn out until after it's been taken and they're sitting in front of a computer. To me, there's no greater satisfaction than pressing the shutter button and then seeing that your photo came out exactly the way you wanted it to. That should be the convenience of digital photography; to see the moment you take the photo whether or not you got what you want. Sure, you could shoot something and fix it later in post processing, but nothing beats getting it right the first time.

Maybe I'm lazy, but the thought of spending a large amount of time fixing all my photos after I take them makes photography come dangerously close to becoming a chore rather than a joy (the fact that digital compells some people to shoot hundreds of photos is a topic for another day). So in the coming days, my goal will be to get as much done in-camera as possible so that my time can be better spent doing what I love, rather than slaving away on things that shouldn't have needed fixing.

I love old songs

When I was young, I'd listen to the radio
Waiting for my favorite song.
When it played, I'd sing a long
It made me smile.

"Yesterday Once More", The Carpenters

I love listening to old songs. Digging up old favorites that I haven't listened to in years is definitely time well spent.

Not all songs stand up to the test of time but the good ones, they really blow me away. Songs can trigger fond/ludicrous memories from highschool that bring a smile to my face, put me into a thoughtful silence or move me to tears.

I love it when I listen to the lyrics and see them in an entirely different light. For whatever reason, either from experiences or a change in thinking, sometimes it feels like the lyrics were ripped from my very soul.

Some things don't get older, only better.

Potty humor

I normally don't like chain e-mails, but this one contained some pretty good shit

***
A turkey was chatting with a bull.

"I'd love to be able to get to the top of that tree" sighed the turkey, "but I haven’t got the energy."

"Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They’re packed with nutrients."

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

The moral of the story: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won’t help you stay there.

***
A bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold that the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out. He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird, promptly dug him out and ate him.

The moral of the story: Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy, not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend, and when you’re in deep shit, it’s best to keep your mouth shut.

Boys with Toys

There's an exhibition at Cityplaza featuring the 1:1 model collection of Louis Koo (古天樂). It's nice to know a cool guy like him is still so much of a child at heart.

Full collection at http://www.fotop.net/teruphoto/Louis_Koo_Collection








The George Clooney Batman, complete with Bat-nipples!

Yoda, in full Bad-Ass mode

This model is so cool. I love how it features Spidey and his main baddies (Green Goblin, Venom, Doc Oc, Sandman and Scorpion). Yes, I'm a total geek...

Chime Long Safari Park

Spent the weekend in Chime Long, China. Photos can be found in my fotop album ( http://www.fotop.net/teruphoto/Chime_Long ) but here are 2 pics that make me glad that I brought my hefty D700 + 70-200mm f/2.8 combo. I've been itching to pick up an Oly E-PL1 as a light weight solution for travel, but I doubt any micro 4/3 system could have reacted quickly enough to grab these 2 shots from a moving bus.


2 heads are better than 1

But 3-of-a-kind trumps a pair

Earth Day 2010

Lights off at 20:30. Yeah, I cheated a little by watching TV, but it's an LCD and I had the brightness tuned down to it's lowest setting.

Young at heart?

Some birthday wisdom: growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. With that in mind, I decided to pay a visit to HK Disneyland. It's been open for over 4 years but I never got around to visiting.


All in all, a fun time. I'll probably write more later, but here are some pics in the meantime.

1:58:34

The alarm goes off. It's dark. The sun won't be up for another 2 hours but you're already eating breakfast. Is it worth it?

HELL YEAH!



The number of people this year was insane! It took me 6 minutes after the sounding of the Go siren before I even reached the starting line. The first 3km was basically a relaxed jog (except for the fact that everyone was elbow to sweaty elbow). Didn't get the results I wanted (1:58...9 minutes slower than last year) but at least I came in at under 2hrs.

You know, you can tell a lot about a person by the way they run in the marathon. For example, I saw Half Marathon people walking at the 3km mark. 3km...really?! How do you expect to finish a 21km race when you can't even make it past the 3km mark? And then there are those who keep cutting and pushing through the crowd. There are a couple hundred people in front of you; how far are you going to get?

Kenya won again. These winners are amazing; they run for 42km at speeds faster than 80% of the 10km runners. Respect!




Later in the day, I was on a bus to Central. It was funny feeling looking at all the traffic, knowing that just a couple of hours ago I was running down the same road.

Going through the motions

Today was the first day of the Lunar New Year. As always, in between all the rush of the day's activities, I found myself thinking about the meaning of the festival.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Chinese traditions, the first and second days of Lunar New Year are usually spent visiting familiy and relatives. We bring gifts of fruits and confections and the elder and/or married relatives give red lucky money packets ("lai see") to the younger generation. During these 2 days, we usually see a lot of relatives that we don't see that often.

And therein lies my quandary.

I guess one's views on visiting depends on whether you're a glass is half empty/half full type of person. One view is that because we don't see these relatives that frequently, visiting on Lunar New Year is all the more important otherwise we'd lose all contact. And on the flip side, some would argue that since we don't see these relatives that much anyways, there's not much point in visiting at all.

Being the pragmatist that I am, I fall into the 2nd category. If the reason you don't see these relatives that often is because of geography (i.e. you require a plane ticket to visit them), then I can understand the desire to see them once in a while to catch up. But if you live in the same city and you still only see them once a year, chances are you don't place much value in keeping contact, and going through the motions to see them seem insincere and superficial. Visiting someone because "it's traditional" is hardly a good reason. If you really thought of them as family, you wouldn't need an offcial holiday as a reason to see them more often.

Probably not a very popular point of view (especially on a day like today) but frankly, sitting around for an hour and making small talk while trying to avoid awkward silences is not my idea of making connections.

The Blue Contagion?

Is it just me, or does the success of "Avatar" baffle anyone else?

Yes, it was an entertaining movie but I can't wrap my mind around all the accolades that this film has been getting. To me, "Avatar" is like a ride at an amusement park; it's enjoyable while you're on it but the experience soon fades after you leave the park.

Sure, it was nominated for 9 Oscars, but 5 of those are for technical accomplishments and none of them are for Acting or Writing. Which makes sense because the story basically follows the same formula as "Dances with Wolves" and "The Last Samurai". And even though "Avatar" was a leap forward in terms of movie making, from an audience's point of view it's nothing that we haven't already seen in "Beowulf" or "Up".

Again, I'm not saying that the movie was bad. But I definitely fall into the confused minority who can't figure out what the commotion is all about.

1:55:26

I ran my first Half Marathon rehearsal today (21k). Not too bad for my first full run, but a lot slower than last year's 1:49. Gonna have to put in a lot more effort before the Feb 28 deadline.

Pro-Democracy...when convenient

It's funny how self delusional people can be.

Just now I was watching the news report on the high speed railway project that's been in the headlines lately. I'm not going to comment on the decision of the government to pass the law but I'd like to point out the irony of all these so-called pro-democracy advocates.

Why is it that they only champion democracy when it's in their favor? The cardinal rule of democracy is "majority wins". All polls indicate that a majority of Hong Kong is in favor of this railway project. So why is it that all the usually outspoken pro-democrats are not strangly fighting against the decision of the majority? You can't champion the democratic cause one day and cry unfair the next when you're in the minority.

And I'm not even going to start about the organizer's claim of "police brutality" against a "peaceful demonstration". Ironic, considering that this speech was made at the same time that a group of protesters were ramming themselves against police barriers.

Their final message: democracy is to be upheld only when it's in one's favor.

2010.01.01

The start of a new year, the dawn of a new decade. A time to let go of yesterday and look towards tomorrow. Here's to fresh starts and happy discoveries!