December 27, 2012

Golden hour on the Mekong River

December 27, 2012/ Gary Tyson

I was sitting drinking a coffee by the riverside, and I noticed the light was getting interesting so decided I needed to take advantage of this by grabbing a boat and going out to photograph the small fishing boats I had seen around. The view from the riverside was serene (apart from the eyesore of the new Sokha hotel they are building across the river that seemed to manage to get itself into most of my shots somehow...grrr... Mekong river people. This small boat is their workplace, as well as their family home

My initial idea was to take some sunset shots with the city backdrop of the small boats from the bigger boat, however, as nice as these shots can be, knowing myself, this wasn't going to satisfy my craving for close up action...so after a few minutes sailing around, I asked the skipper to approach a small boat and see if I could get aboard to utilise the 24mm lens to get 'amongst' my subjects.

Another small boat approached to see what I was up to

My only concern with doing all this was if the camera dropped into the river....I had lost an M9 last year due to rain damage in Hong Kong...so the thought of the Leica going for a swim in the Mekong river was not a good thought....however, the picture is far more important than the gear (apart from the fact that I would never have got the SD card back anyway if it had fell in!)....so I decided to take the risk and cautiously climbed over and onto the small raft to join the welcoming family on their boat with the M9P, a 24mm and 35mm.

You can see from these pics by Steve Porte that boarding with expensive gear could easily go wrong

They didn't speak any English, nevertheless we managed to somehow communicate and they were quite happy for me to hang out on their boat for 45 minutes and shoot a small snippet of their life.

The light was great, as were the subjects

Another BTS shot of me working above, taken by Steve Porte

A proud Captain on his ship

Silhouettes are standard shots in this light

Black and white worked well in this light

Both husband and wife took equal turns rowing, fishing and looking after their kids

Fishing the Mekong with the Sokha hotel complex behind

River kids...(who can't swim....could be dangerous in the Mekong...it has a very strong current)

Could have done with an even wider than 24mm lens for this shot I think

Great way to see the city from the river

Another day at the office

There is now a part 2 to this blog post with more images, you can see that by clicking here:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/blog/2013/01/mekong2/

If you wish to see other images and blog posts from this trip and other Cambodia trips you can see a selection by clicking here.

Thanks for taking the time to visit our blog, if you like our blog and website, please ‘like’ us on our public Facebook page and share this story with your friends with the Facebook and twitter links below. You can also subscribe to our blog here.

F8 Photography provides commercial photography and photography and video training workshops, more details can be found via the ‘courses and workshops’ link and upcoming events via the front page of our website.

December 23, 2012

Cambodian Colour - from dawn til dusk

December 23, 2012/ Gary Tyson

It was an early start today, 5.30am, out to the ferry port to shoot the workers arriving to Phnom Penh from across the Mekong river. The great thing about shooting this location is that I could see it easily from my hotel room window...so could do a quick check to make sure the light was developing well before getting ready...(I'm so lazy...this is why you see very few landscape photographs from me).

After shooting the workers and boat people arriving there for the 15 mins of good light, the sun was up and it was back for breakfast before we headed out to scout another new location just outside the city which used to be a lake but has mostly dried up with just a few water channels remaining.

The thing that struck me about this district was 'colour'....the light was great, the buildings were painted in pastels and the kids were dressed in vibrant colours, it just all 'popped'....the other thing that popped was my shoe, which 'popped off' when i got my leg stuck in some swamp when i was trying to shoot some kids sitting in old boats...lol...a small price to pay for the rewards of the images today.

Yet again we were met by all smiling happy faces, the kids were playing all sorts of games and keen to show off to us at every opportunity. Another successful day in this wonderful country, looking forward to a 5am start again tomorrow morning (you don't hear me say that very often...:-))

Here's a few more images from todays shooting, all shot with Leica M9P and lenses from 35-75mm.

If you wish to see other images and blog posts from this trip and other Cambodia trips you can see a selection by clicking here.

December 22, 2012

Shooting Phnom Penh - The Muslim quarter

December 22, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Its the second day of our Christmas 2012 expedition around Phnom Penh, spent this time exploring around the Muslim quarter , a district I have visited before only once before a few years ago. All images below shot on Leica M9P with Leica glass ranging from 24mm to 75mm.

In true Cambodia fashion, everybody was chatting away with us and smiling. We even saw one fish seller start slapping her friend with some raw fish and prompting Steve to shoot the comedy!

I did my usual trick of wandering off alone from our group (I always find it easier to shoot alone, rather than with other photographers, I find it much less intimidating for my subjects if I am by myself. I quickly found some interesting alleyways and residents that invited me into their homes and workplaces to see what they were up to.

One family took me into some dark back room where they had a 20ft python coiled up in the corner....i almost left my camera bag where it was and ran off! lol.

For some reason I am highly attracted at the moment to shooting people in hijabs, i find the m really interesting and the way they frame womens faces makes for lovely images, and I was delighted to find lots of kids and women wearing them around this part of town, not typically something you would expect to find in Cambodia I guess, but like most other cities in the world, theres a little bit of everything, you just need to know where to look.

And last but not least of course is my good friend Stephen Patterson, I couldn't resist a portrait of him with the great light as he was scouring the landscape for his next subjects from the back of the tuk tuk on our way back to town.

December 21, 2012

Back to Phnom Penh (Day 1)

December 21, 2012/ Gary Tyson

'In the avenues and alleyways' M9P, 35mm 8 elements

We've had a crazy busy few weeks in Hong Kong leading up to Christmas, shooting tens of thousands of stills images for commercial work and several commercial video projects have kept us busy right through December, so it was high time for a short break and catch up with some fellow photographers on a jaunt to Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

'Welcome back to Cambodia, step inside', M9P, 24mm

So far I've only been back here one day, but already i can feel the stresses of city life easing away into the background as I wander the vibrant streets of Cambodia meeting some inspirational characters and getting back to basics shooting only with Leica rangefinder.

Shooting thru the Tuk Tuk canopy to create a natural widescreen effect, M9P, 75mm

All the images here were taken over the space of 3 hours on the first day. Yet again for me i find inspiration on every street corner in this wonderful country, and am lucky enough to have 3 of my best friends all shooting with me, Trevor, my old army buddy has travelled all the way from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to shoot here, Stephen Patterson from China has come via Thailand and the North of Cambodia to join us in Phnom Penh and Steve managed to escape Hong Kong a day earlier than me to get a head start with his trusty Canon rigs.

Pastel colours are everywhere, M9P, 35mm 8 elements

We are exploring some different areas of the city this time, as we have become familiar with several districts now so wish to explore some of the even less trodden sidestreets around town, am very much looking forward to unveiling some new characters.

Peek-a-boo from Mummys bike, M9P, 50mm Lux ASPH

We will be back in Cambodia for another workshop in the south in February 2013, but for the meantime we will continue exploring Phnom Penh...this must be my 12th or 13th visit to this place and it never ceases to impress me, the people are so friendly, the light is great, the colours are amazing and the company is good.

Heres a few more images from the first day and wishing all a Merry Christmas of photography that for me will be spent with a bunch of fellow photographers.

Cheers!

Washing line, M9P, 35mm 8 elements

Home Sweet Home, M9P, 24mm

Looking at me?, M9P, 50mm Lux ASPH

Colour, colour, everywhere, M9P, 50mm Lux ASPH

F8 Photography provides stills and video production for weddings, events, corporate, commercial, training, sports, documentaries and NGO projects around the world, to see more of our work our meet us to discuss a project, please contact us here: info@f8photography.com.hk or check out our work via the galleries that can be accessed from the front page of our website here.

December 16, 2012

A wonderful December wedding in Sai Kung

December 16, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Its almost Christmas.....but the weather in Hong Kong refused to cool down today for our final wedding shoot of the year (2nd one this week at this venue!) where we had the pleasure of doing the stills photography for Richard and Glos. I just want to share a few images from todays shoot and say thank you to the lovely couple for inviting us to be their wedding photographers.

Balloons were a key theme throughout the day making a number of appearances

We headed out for an hour on a yacht to take some images before the ceremony

131 is a great venue for a wedding and it shone through yet again (I think this is the 6th wedding we have shot at this venue, and it has some of the best backdrops for a venue in Hong Kong in my eyes (unless you want backdrops of skyscrapers of course....then there's plenty of good locations in Central!).

The setup was well underway when we arrived at midday

This was a cool idea I haven't see before

This little girl loved the camera

the first kiss.....always nice to have a picture to remember it by ;-)

Anyway, enough of my rambling, heres a few more images for the newly weds to see and share with their friends and family as a teaser for the rest that will come in a few weeks time, we wanted to get this post out quick so they can see it immediately, they've been married just over 4 hours now...so its about time the photographer delivered some images ;-)

Best of luck to Richard and Glos for the future, and thanks again for inviting us, we wish you the very best for your future together.

Great to capture the expressions on the faces during key moments

The happy couple just after getting married

The bride and her bridesmaids after the ceremony

(Speeches...another key moment in any wedding)

(more cool ideas for wedding venue decorations)

Richard & Glos invited all their guests to 'make a wish' together and release a balloon....yet another cool and touching idea!

When we met the couple last week to review our plan...the concern on everyone's mind was 'the weather'...as the 7 day forecast for Hong Kong said to expect monsoon rain....hmmm....it seems that couldn't have been further from what we were blessed with today......My advice for wedding photography in Hong Kong....make sure you pick the right photographer and video crew and don't listen to the weather forecast!

November 01, 2012

Southern Cambodia photography workshop - Feb 2013

November 01, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Our next Cambodia workshop will be concentrated in the southern part of the country for 5 days around Sihanoukville, Kep and the surrounding islands. This promises to be another successful experience for a small group of photographers (maximum 6) to fully immerse themselves in a photo rich environment with 2 instructors for personalised hands on training. For more information on the workshop and to register your interest, please follow the link below or click on any of the images:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/event/southcambodiafeb2013/

Here are a few images of this wonderful part of the world from one of our previous trips there that we will enjoying exploring with you again soon.

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October 24, 2012

How a few friends process black and white differently....

October 24, 2012/ Gary Tyson

I manage a facebook group of street photographers (linked here) which has grown rapidly over the last few months and we now have around 350 members....we share our work and discuss many things there including how and why we process using different softwares. This led us to an idea to send a few RAW files to a few different photographers in the group to see how they processed the same RAW file using different software.

Please bear in mind when reading this that its not a black and white 'must do' process at all - this was simply a fun exercise to see how different photographers would process the same image....and these are not my own methods for converting images, as stated they are a few friends.

I picked two very different images that I shot a few days ago, one was a portrait in the street of an Indonesian woman wearing a Burka, and the other image of some local guys playing Chinese Chess in a park in Kowloon.

I asked each photographer to annotate what they did, and return the files to me...these were their results, which of course will all be different, but its just an interesting exercise to see which software does what...and how the photographers got to their end results. I'll make my comments on them underneath each set of images and do some comparisons....I also intend to do an upcoming blog post on my own black and white work flow which may yet change after I take a good look at these images below:

Let's start with Rocco's conversions and his process is explained in his own words below:

1. Rocco's conversions - Alien Skin Exposure 4

For both pictures, Rocco used Alien Skin Exposure 4.

(Edited by Rocco in Alien Skin Exposure 4 - Original image shot by F8 Photography on Olympus OMD)

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HI-RES VERSION HERE:

For the first image of the woman I started off by scrolling through the B&W film presets available in Exposure 4. I limited myself to films with ISO of 100 or less, which in this case left me with a handful of options including a couple of Agfa, Fuji and Kodak presets, and a single Ilford preset. ISO ranges went from 25-100. I wanted to make sure that the face of the subject retained contrast against the veil and background. However, only the Kodak T-MAX 100 preset allowed me to have a good amount of contrast whilst still retaining detail on the face, and not adding an excessive amount of grain to the process. All the other presets made the washed out the color of the face to the point that it was too white for my taste.

I did some additional adjustments to increase the sharpness of the area around the eyes, so as to have a stark expression, and bring the right eye more into focus. I also added a small amount of vignetting to isolate the face slightly more and bring it forward from the background.

(Edited by Rocco in Alien Skin Exposure 4 - Original image shot by F8 Photography on Olympus OMD)

DOWNLOAD A HI-RES VERSION OF THIS EDIT HERE

For the 2nd image of the Chinese Chess players, this is more of a street scene, and due to the fact that in my view Hong Kong street pictures should look weathered and grainy, I started the process by selecting a higher ISO film preset (in this case Kodak TRI-X 400). This preset provides a good starting point with a fair amount of contrast and grain that gives street images a weathered, 60s-70s photojournalism look. This was an easier process for me as I tend to degrade the street photography images more than normal as I think this adds character to the image. I tweaked the preset further by adding more grain (TRI-X 25% Salt & Pepper), and by enhancing the vignetting as well to help guide attention to the mahjong player facing the camera. Overall, I envision most of my street pictures this way, especially in Hong Kong, where a picture taken today can easily be mistaken for a picture taken 30-40yrs ago. It is very difficult to tell old from new in Hong Kong, and old pictures have great character.

F8 COMMENTS ON ABOVE PROCESS: My intial views on Roccos conversions are that I really like the conversion of both images, and I think Alien Skin Exposure 4 software is a great plugin as its simple to use and has gotten some clean results, from all the samples here I think the skin tone is most pleasing on the portrait with this conversion.

2. Jason's conversions - Capture One Pro

Next up was Jason, he used Capture One Pro software and went for some slightly different looks with the same RAW files:

(Image edited by Jason is Capture One Pro) DOWNLOAD A HI-RES VERSION HERE

For both images I processed them in Capture One Pro. I adjusted levels, black point set to 40, purple fringing on and analyzed for chromatic aberration (This is a pretty standard set for me. I also set shadow and highlight sliders but no need for this here). I then process to tiff in 16 bit mode.

Then in Photoshop I added a b&w layer for each image.

For the image of the girl I toned it a sepia tone on the b&w layer. I also adjusted the color sliders for contrast and separation of tones. Then added a curve layer for contrast. I used a layer mask on the curve level to dodge her left eye slightly (using the brush tool to erase away the curve). Then I flattened the image. I then applied unsharp mask to it with the following settings. Amount 90, threshold set to 0 and radius set to 1.2. Then I converted it to 8 bit mode.

For the guys playing chess, everything was the same steps as previous image except I dodged the eyes of the man facing camera and the hair of the man who is in the lower left frame. I toned it to look selenium. I set the unsharp mask as follows. Amount 130, radius set to 1.2 and threshold set to 0.

(Image edited by Jason is Capture One Pro) DOWNLOAD A HI-RES VERSION HERE

F8 COMMENTS ON ABOVE PROCESS: This one for me is interesting for a few reasons - firstly, Jason is the most advanced photographer amongst this group, and an experienced photoshop user, therefore I think he is using the most complex route to get to his results - however, apart from the sharpness that makes the images pop, I am not a big fan of sepia and selenium toned images. However, its very interesting to see how different photographers envision the same image and make completely different conversions.

3. Stephen's conversion - Lightroom & Silver Efex Pro 2

(Image conversion by Stephen using Niksoft Silver Efex Pro 2 and Lightroom. (DOWNLOAD HI-RES VERSION HERE)

To me this image is all about the face and eyes (duh) so that's what I went for...

- Export to Niksoft Silver Efex Pro 2.

- Reduce overall Brightness -62%, Contrast -50%, Structure -62%. This gives me the background I want.

- Add back control point to the face and eyes, adding brightness and some structure (mainly eyes and eyebrows)

- Export to LR4.2

I find I often end up "tweaking" images in LR again to achieve the balance I want. This is a disadvantage of SEP2, not being able to go back and re-edit.

In LR adjust Contrast +24, Whites +24 and Blacks -28. Also I used the spot removal tool to take away some dust spots from the headscarf.

F8 COMMENTS ON ABOVE CONVERSION: Stephen has used a similar route to what I mainly use - Lightroom and Silver Efex....interesting how he has gone for a much darker overall feel than the others, particularly on the Burka she is wearing....For me that loses the background top right of frame which I preferred in the original shot, although I can see exactly why he has done this to create as much contrast with the face as possible, so an interesting route to edit.

4. Ahmed's conversions - Apple Aperture

Generally, I start editing by applying the auto adjustment (in color) in Aperture on my imported images. This is always the base from which I start since I shoot RAW with the most neutral picture style. This means all sliders (saturation, sharpening, contrast ...etc) on my camera are set to zero.

I fine tune the white balance and white and black point if necessary. For B&W conversion, I use the 'B&W' panel in Aperture instead of de-saturating. This turns the image into a "neutral" B&W. Then, I play with the overall contrast using the tone curves ('Curves' panel in Aperture), picking up the tones I want to darken or lighten in the image. This sets the global contrast. Enclosed is the resulting curve for the girl's portrait (curve_girl.jpeg).

(Conversion by Ahmen in Apple Aperture - DOWNLOAD HIRES VERSION HERE)

Next step is to act on individual colors present in the image ('Color' panel in Aperture). For example in the image of the girl, I lightened the red present in the veil and did so with the blue present in the eye to make the look more sparkling. I lightened the yellow present on her face as well. I tried to give the orange top of the man in the second picture a better looking but I am not satisfied with the outcome.

Finally, I may do local contrast adjustment as I did for the face of the man and the right eye of the girl (Local definition slider with a brush in Aperture). The latter was also sharpened a bit. I usually sharpen only locally (using 'Edge Sharpen' in Aperture).

F8'S COMMENTS ON ABOVE CONVERSION: Ahmed has used only Apple Aperture and has basically achieved strong results all round for my tastes. I like the conversion of the woman overall, and good to see people using different colour channel mixers with black and white images to separate tones.

F8's THOUGHTS ON ALL OF THE ABOVE

So my comments are above under each set of images that give an outline of my views....I think the underlying message here is that there are many many ways to get from A to B when converting an image...and its clearly about personal preference....I don't think there is any right or wrong way to do it, its all subjective anyway....so what can we learn from this exercise?

Something I have learned is that the way I do this myself is for sure a little different to all of these guys above - but maybe I can try an incorporate one or two techniques from each of them to help me further develop my own styles. In the past I've heard photographers go on about Silver Efex Pro a lot (and I use it extensively also) - but now I am not so convinced that its the best way...for sure its one of the quickest way and that works for a lot of people....I want to take another look at Exposure 4 now as Roccos conversion is my favourite here due to the way he has chose to tone it (not so harsh as I would have done myself actually, but looking at it, I prefer that now, especially how he has managed to maintain all the details in the Burka very well).

I hope this can be a useful insight, I will do a blog post with video on how I do my own conversions, mainly just using Lightroom 4 and presets which some may find useful, thats coming shortly on the blog.

Our street photographers group on Facebook is flourishing, feel free to come and join the fun and meet the guys who did these conversions, click here to visit the group, and feel free to share the link to anyone in the world you know who's interested ins shooting on the streets and wants to become part of an active community.

October 10, 2012

Manila Photography workshop - signup this week for discount

October 10, 2012/ Gary Tyson

As some of you may know, we are hosting a photography workshop on the streets of Manila in the Phillipines with acclaimed photographer Kurt Kamka from 16-18 November 2012. We are offering an early bird discount price for clients who signup and pay for the workshop before 20th October, so thats just a few days left to go. Save HK$500 by signing up now.

We have capped the workshop at 8 participants, so far we have ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT...act fast if you wish to have a great photography trip with some like minded people.

If you wish to escape the hustle of Hong Kong for a few days and shoot in a subject rich environment in a small group, improve your composition, learn some new techniques, this could be the workshop for you.

Heres the link to the workshop events page:

F8 PHOTOGRAPHY MANILA WORKSHOP - EVENTS PAGE

Heres some blog posts we have done about some of the areas in which we will shoot in Manila:

MANILA WORKSHOP RECCE

PEMBO - PHOTOGRAPHERS PARADISE

MAKATI,MAKATI, MAKATI

LIFE BEYOND THE GRAVES IN MANILA

And heres some very recent blog posts from clients that attended our last workshop held in Cambodia, see their images and read their thoughts.

CAMBODIA WORKSHOP REVIEW BY F8 PHOTOGRAPHY

October 10, 2012

EXCLUSIVE: SLR Magic 35mm 0.95 lens - FIRST LOOK on XE1 & OMD

October 10, 2012/ Gary Tyson

I was recently approached by SLR Magic man Andrew Chan with regards having a play with one of his new lenses, namely the 35mm 0.95 lens....of course I was keen to have a look at it, especially knowing that nobody else has used it, so I would be getting the first 'hands on' usage for stills photography and using the new Fuji XE1 to shoot it. One thing I've hear A LOT from people is how you can't get decent BOKEH (background blur) with these smaller sensor cameras.....well ladies and gentlemen....just look at the image below, shot from about 1.5 metres away.....and then redefine your beliefs....because if thats not bokeh-liscious...then nothing is....

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 1600. Click image or 'save-as' to get the hi-res image.

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 1600, click image for full size direct from RAW to JPEG. (Thanks to Steve for posing, his photography can be seen here)

This lens fits cameras from APS-H size and down, so fits perfectly with adaptors on Fuji XE1, Xpro1, and Olympus OMD. I am unsure if it will fit onto an M Mount camera and perform correctly, if you want to know that, contact Andrew directly, I only know about it working on the Fuji and OMD as those are the two cameras I have tested it on.

Here are a few images shot by my friend Brad on his Sony RX100 of the lens on the OMD and Fuji so you can see the size of it in comparison to the camera bodies (remember this is a prototype lens, so some things will change on final versions, this should be just giving you an idea of size)

(SLR Magic 35mm 0.95 lens on the Fuji XE1, hood out. Remember XE1 is smaller than XPro1)

SLR Magic 35mm 0.95 on the Olympus OMD)

Also to note that this is not a technical review, but simply a selection of images with links to some high res versions that show what the lens can do. I have used the previous 0.95 50mm hyperprime from SLR Magic, and I was a fan, although it was very expensive and very heavy. Of course this is normal for an extreme low light lens, but this lens is much lighter, shorter and although I am not sure of the final price yet, I am confidently informed that it will be in a much more price friendly bracket than the 50mm version. (Update: Introductory price will be USD$1249)

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 800, click image for full size direct from RAW to JPEG.

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 640, click image for full size direct from RAW to JPEG. (Thanks to fellow photographer Sean for posing, his work can be seen at www.sdbphoto.com)

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 400. Click image or 'save-as' to get the hi-res image.

On the Fuji sensors the lens performs as a 50mm (roughly) anyway, so for me this is great, I can get a 50mm view, at a lower price, and still get bokeh that knocks the competition out of the park. Happy days! On my OMD it gives me a 70mm portrait lens with crazy bokeh also....again...happy days! This image below shows the lens performance on the OMD....I personally believe the lens is better suited to the Fuji.....I need more time to justify that, as it may just be that the XE1 sensor is better than the OMD 4/3 sensor...but having discussed it with a few friends when we examined the images, we agreed that the bokeh looked very creamy on the Fuji and a little 'nervous' on the OMD, although this image below shows it looks great on the OMD...so maybe it was due more to the fact we were using the OMD with it in lower light...not yet sure.

Olympus OMD, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 500. Click image or 'save-as' to get the hi-res image.

Olympus OMD, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 800. Click image or 'save-as' to get the hi-res image.

As its a prototype lens, I cant comment on final build quality, all i will say at this point is it was a solid lens, a few things I dont like are that the aperture ring and focus ring are reversed, i.e. aperture ring is closest to camera, focus ring at front....felt strange at first, after having used M lenses before, however the focus ring is put at the front so it is easier to rack focus for cinematographers using follow focus systems.

There are no aperture ring clicks as its designed as a cinema lens...this is not an issue for me. The hood doesnt lock out, it pulls out and pushes in easily, i would prefer a hood that tightens by twisting or similar...not sure if that will be remedied in the final version.

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 400. Click image or 'save-as' to get the hi-res image.

Another thing thats cool about this lens is the minimum focussing distance, which is 23 centimetres....this image below demonstrates that close focus ability...the person walking past from left side of frame in blue shirt is about 1.5 metres away....and is blown to bokeh-bits....any background in that shot is basically unrecognisable...and creamy smooth.

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 800. Click image or 'save-as' to get the hi-res image.

This is a very solid lens, I hope the final versions will live up to the same quality of this lens. The main thing that concerns me when I use a lens is image quality. I can honestly say that this lens is AMAZING when coupled with a mirorless camera, in particular the Fuji XE1 or XPRO1. Here are more samples shot over the last few days (please bear in mind that I have only had the lens for a few days walkabout, so most of the pictures may be uninteresting subject matter...I am just trying to show how the lens performs wide open at this stage).

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 800. Click image or 'save-as' to get the hi-res image.

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 400. Click image or 'save-as' to get the hi-res image.

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 1600. Click image or 'save-as' to get the hi-res image. (Thanks to Rob the 'Events Man' for posing, his site is www.eventsman.com)

Here are a few shots taken on the Hong Kong MTR (underground train), for reference when judging distances the woman in the shot thats in focus is sat 3 places down from me. The second shot is just across to the other side of the train, focussing on the bar in the middle of the train from my seat, the third image i just tried to focus on her watch, check the full size image....I think that gives a good idea of how it can throw out the background so easily. All files can be clicked to access the RAW to JPEG full size shots that are unedited in any way.

Fuji XE1, SLR Magic 35mm 0.95, ISO 1600, click image for full size direct from RAW to JPEG.

UPDATE FROM SLR MAGIC FOR AVAILABILITY: Our lens volunteers can order ahead of time in December 2012. For the public it will be available from February 2013. Introductory retail price is USD$1249.

To summarise my experience over a few days, I can honestly say it seems great, some won't like the fact that its manual focus only, this is not a problem for me as I am well trained with Leica rangefinder systems so I don't see that as a problem, and fine tuning focus at such apertures is essential anyway, so I'm not sure an autofocus lens at 0.95 would be any use.

If you are interested in this lens, download the high res files and just take a look.....it is what it is......nothing more, nothing less.....I like it, and if it comes down to me buying an ultra fast lens that I can use for mirorless cameras (manual focus only), then I'll take this any day of the week.

October 08, 2012

GUEST POST: Terese - Cambodia Workshop

October 08, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Terese Chan (less portraits of Terese) who travelled to Cambodia with us. Terese shot with the Fuji XPro1 throughout the workshop. These are her thoughts.

(the author - Terese, posing for a lighting demo during the workshop in Phnom Penh)

I've been on and off looking for photography courses in Hong Kong for over a year, most of them I found were formal classroom teaching or commercial wedding shooting… Honestly, as a design-trained person I perceived they are boring, stiff and too commercial…and then I found F8 Photograpy (www.f8photography.com.hk). I was stunned by Gary's works, especially the street photos and immediately joined his workshop without hesitation even though I had never met him in Hong Kong.

(A girl playing hide and seek, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F1.8 1/550s)

We met in Cambodia on the first day, all of us got our gear to click on and go! It seems that we had bad luck with heavy showers on the first day but we were lucky though as Gary took us to a good location and we ran into so many lovely warm faces. I had a tough time to avoid getting my camera wet, and yet I didn't want to miss any captures….it was challenging and great fun!

(Terese (left) and Susan still smiling despite the torrential rain...)

(A praying sweet heart, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 1000 F1.4 1/150s)

(Lady under the shelter, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 3200 F2.2 1/110s)

(A girl, Fuji X-pro1 60mm ISO 200 F4 1/45s)

(A boy, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 1000 F2.4 1/52s)

I really enjoyed the total immersion in the environment, it was effective to learn in such a good and relaxing atmosphere with great people. The learning schedule might be intense, but for me the process was fun with all the happy and kind participants, they really made my trip! All the laughter and sharing made the course fruitful and complete! :)

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Terese classed herself as a 'newbie' photographer when she arrived on the workshop. Having heard that I expected to see 'beginner' images at the end of day 1, but this was not the case, Terese absorbed all the information we gave her about using different lenses and viewpoints to improve her composition techniques, she embraced her camera (Fuji XPro1) which can be slow with autfocus at times, and she got on with all the training, always smiling. My view on her work that she produced was that it was outstanding, like the other clients we took on the workshop, they all worked together and pushed each others standards higher throughout, which benefited everyone immensely and raised the self-pressure level. I think working in that style is a good thing, and I know Terese will agree that the images she produced on this workshop were some of, if not her best photographs she has taken to date. I am aware that Terese is very busy working for Cathay Pacific and it is not easy for her to get time off work, so we want to say thanks for making the time to join us, we hope you reaped the benefits of the workshop, your images certainly tell that story. Well done Terese, great work, and look forward to taking you the next travel photography expedition :-)

Here are more of Terese's images from the workshop:

(Terese seemed to be REALLY enjoying the workshop!)

(Gary from F8 helping Terese set up the Fuji XPro1 after installing the new autofocus firmware)

(Sisters, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F1.4 1/680s)

(A boy who peeps, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F2.5 1/220s)

(The boys in a temple, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 1000 F2 1/2900s)

(A smiley face, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F2 1/180s)

We have other posts from the workshop attendees as well as behind the scenes shots and video coming soon. Please stay tuned for that, you can now ‘search’ the blog on the left side of this post to find subject posts easily, try typing ‘cambodia’ to find all our posts from there if you wish to read more.

October 05, 2012

Manila Photography Workshop Recce

October 05, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Details of our November 2012 workshop in Manila can be seen here: http://www.f8photography.com.hk/event/manila-photography-workshop/

I have been to Manila 3 times in the last 2 months and am starting to get familiar with a few of the locales for shooting street life and have hung out with Kurt Kamka a few times, hes an American photographer based in Manila, so its great to have good communication with someone who already has 'boots on the street' (ironically the name of his blog also, which can be seen here).

All images below are shot on the Olympus OMD with 12mm, 25mm, 45mm lenses and processed in Adobe Lightroom 4 with VSCO film presets or Niksoft Silver Efex 2 for black and white images.

(Welcome to Guadalupe, OMD, 25mm)

This last trip we explored the Guadalupe area of Makati which yet again proved to be a fruitful location full of life and great friendly people. Every single person we met was more than happy to be photographed - if anything the only problem was that once you stopped to talk to people and take an image or two, a crowd sometimes gathered which made it more difficult to get good compositions due to the scene becoming far too 'busy' with willing subjects.

(Kurt shows the kids their portraits, you can't help but smile when you see their reactions)

Kurt was shooting with his Leica S2 camera, a beast of a machine capable of producing some amazing image quality, its a bit out of my price range unfortunately and since I am recently divorced from Leica, luckily I am avoiding their gear, although I do agree with him that the quality is second to none. I was using my trusty OMD for this trip again, as it constantly delivers the goods for me, is lighting fast and the lenses are unsurpassed for these 4/3 sensors.

(My tribute image to James Nachtwey style composition, OMD, 12mm)

(Mini-gangsta, OMD, 12mm)

We met all sorts along the way, small kids, elderly people, mini-gangstas...all totally friendly. It's easy to see how some people get worried walking around Manila, as of course there are some dangerous areas, much like any other city, however, just knowing which areas to avoid is all that is needed to ensure a pleasureable experience shooting in the streets, I found the place each trip to be more enchanting and you can't help but appreciate the people.

(Friendly lady, OMD, 25mm)

(Need a shave?, OMD, 25mm)

When you look at these images, bear in mind that all of them were taken in the space of 2 hours, that should give an idea of the versatility and range of interesting people that we found in just a short walk down a few streets. Its not easy in some countries to find so much diversity of characters, especially ones so willing to be photographed. I think Kurt is a lucky man to live in such a cool city.

(View across to Makati, OMD, 25mm - HDR effect - combined 3 images in Photomatix Pro)

When looking over at Makati from a bridge the mix of poverty with the new world is evident, with slum housing blending into skyscraper towers only a few metres apart, there is a lot of contrast in Manila, I noticed that, with high end shopping malls and designer brands all around certain areas, but I am not shocked or surprised by this anymore as Hong Kong is exactly the same in my view with these kind of contrasts.

(Manila in colour, OMD, 25mm)

(More colour in Guadalupe, OMD, 12mm)

(Every little shop window greets you with a big friendly smile, OMD, 25mm)

If I could describe Manila in colour tones I would say its 'Kodachrome'....the pastel colours that I see everywhere remind me of this, and it really is a place that lends itself to colour photography....the last few trips as its still monsoon season, there have been lots of muted grey skies which helps give the colours a nice soft look, perfect for photography...as long as you take your umbrella in case of a downpour.

(Jeepneys in monsoon season, OMD, 25mm)

(Big Mommas house - OMD, 12mm)

(Street scene, OMD, 25mm)

(Need a room? OMD, 25mm)

(The daily news, OMD, 25mm)

(More street scenes, OMD, 25mm)

Just shooting street scenes on every corner interest me in Manila, the characters all seem to be just 'hanging out' in interesting poses or compositions, it makes photography easier in this sense, and of course I still love black and white photography in these streets even though I just said earlier that it lends itself very well to colour imagery.

On the way back at the end of the shoot we were strolling along the Pasig River banks and came across a bunch of crazy kids jumping off a road bridge into the river, which looks pretty polluted and has a very very strong current.....these kids must have amazing immune systems, and can swim like olympic athletes to resist that current....not to mention the dangers of jumping off a 50ft high road bridge....one kid had climbed right to the top of the girders as can be seen in the image below...i didn't see him jump from there, maybe he has second thoughts once up there, but Im quite sure some of them have done that before...have to admire their fearless attitude and passion for having fun, no matter the risks.

(The jumpers, Pasig River, OMD, 75mm)

(Underpass, OMD, 25mm)

We will be returning to Manila to run a workshop with Kurt Kamka in November, its really a great place to shoot, its perfectly safe, my only advice there is don't go street shooting at night, keep to areas that are safe and be wary of taxi drivers, almost every taxi driver I met always trys to tell me 'the meter doesnt work' or the fee is an extra few hundred pesos....its just one of those things...confirm the price before you set off with a cab or ensure they use the meter, then you'll be fine and still have a few hundred pesos left over to buy the kids a coke for being so friendly in their village :-)

Details of our November 2012 workshop in Manila can be seen here:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/event/manila-photography-workshop/

Links to Kurt's work can be again seen here at the links below:

http://www.kurtkamka.com/

http://bootsonthestreet.tumblr.com/

If you want to see other posts we have written about Manila, please click this link below which will search out all the Manila posts for you on our blog for your convenience:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/tag/manila/

October 02, 2012

Workshop review - Cambodia September 2012

October 02, 2012/ Gary Tyson

BEHIND THE SCENES - Shooting in Cambodia

Our small group workshop was a resounding success, some of the images produced were simply outstanding, for some photographers who attended, having either never shot 'people photography' before, or having little experience in engaging their subjects, I was honestly amazed at the work they were able to produce over the course of 3 days.

(The Motley Crew - Andrew, Ian, Susan, Terese, Steve & Gary)

The training each day was long, sometimes 12-14 hours of constant photography, editing and review sessions, but being away from their home countries allowed the participants to focus on the tasks without any distractions and this I believe is a key element to fast track learning. That coupled with a photographically rich environment allows for some great work to be produced.

We concentrated on exposing the group to a variety of different locations and subjects, encouraging them to shoot 'people' and use their different lenses, all the while being there to assist with any technical or composition questions and guide where necessary. We spent a small amount of time each day focussing on developing/editing using Adobe Lightroom 4 back at the hotel and then a good hour and a half session every night reviewing/critiquing eachothers best images of the day as a group. This was a really useful part of the training for everyone and we all learnt a lot during these feedback sessions. The group also learnt other features in Lightroom 4 including how to correcty export images for various formats (email/web/print) and to utilise the slideshow feature in Lightroom to produce a finished portfolio of images set to music at the end of the workshop.

Here are a few images from 'behind the scenes' at the workshop, showing the photographers going about their daily shooting rituals in a variety of locations in and around Phnom Penh.

(Rain or shine, we were up and out, smiling, with cameras in hand, shooting all day long)

(1-1 therapy from Gary....(we thought he was the one who needs therapy?!)

(The locals love the OMD as much as us....and Sam (right) setting up to take the group shot on the Contax G2)

(Just interacting with the locals was half the fun of the workshop)

(Showing Terese some XPro1 tips (left) and Susan (right) gets me to pose with her new found friend - a newborn kitten!)

(During some downtime, Ian buys some Cambodia scarfs, as modelled by Gary (right), an essential purchase in Cambodia)

(The girls pose, closely followed by Andrew and Gary striking a pose in the Tuk Tuk)

(Learning to use a diffuser and reflectors is essential for portraits in the harsh light)

(Sam (Tuk Tuk Driver) and Terese (right). Thats what we like to see, smiley happy people)

(We await our transport across the Mekong river whilst Andrew cleverly waits in the shade, it was a long day that one...)

Some of the participants from the workshop have kindly found time to produce some guest blog posts on our site, they can be seen by clicking below, well worth a look, some outstanding imagery they produced over the 3 days:

STEVE (ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR) BLOG POST

ANDREWS GUEST BLOG POST

SUSANS GUEST BLOG POST

As I spent much of the time in country either teaching, watching or assisting our clients with their shooting, I didn't get much time to shoot myself during the workshop. Here are a few of the images that I managed to capture in between events whilst we were out and about.

All the below images shot with Olympus OMD, processed using VSCO film presets in Adobe Lightroom 4.

September 30, 2012

GUEST POST: Steve - Cambodia Workshop (Asst Instructor)

September 30, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Steve Porte (less portraits of Steve) who travelled to Cambodia with us as assistant instructor. Steve shot with a combination of Canon 1D Mk IV and 5D Mk III throughout. These are his thoughts on the workshop:

(Steve is always having a laugh and a joke, enjoying life - here we were setting up a lesson in 'off camera lighting')

Last week, I traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia with F8 Photography owner Gary Tyson and four other photographers. Unlike our casual visit in July (described in a previous post that can be seen here) this trip was to host a formal photography workshop in and around Phnom Penh. The group consisted of four participants, Gary and myself. Here are my thoughts on that trip...

(The motley crew - Andrew, Ian, Susan, Terese, Steve & Gary)

On our last visit, we had great weather and beautiful light. This time, there were daily rain showers - but the rain had little effect on our daily routine. Both during and after the rains, we were bathed in the same soft light we have come to expect in Cambodia, and the rain actually became an interesting element in several of our images. Just like our last visit, the combination of colourful infrastructure, verdant landscape, warm and friendly people, and the soft light, made for a wonderful photographic experience.

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.2, ISO 200)

(1D4, 27mm, f/3.5, ISO 200)

(1D4, 16mm, f/6.3, ISO 200)

(1D4, 34mm, f/3.2, ISO 200)

The biggest surprise for me this trip was the quality of work produced by the workshop participants. The four arrived ranging in experience from first-day-with-a-new-point & shoot, to an experienced nature photographer. Although this was billed as a basic-skills workshop, each participant produced some very good images on day one. After four very long days of shooting, group and individual tutoring, and nightly post processing lessons, each participant was putting up some very strong images, with a much-improved keeper rate. Very impressive.

(Steve (top right) tutoring Ian (left) whilst Terese (front) studies her images captured so far)

As always, the real treat shooting in Cambodia was interacting with the local people. We met some well to do folks, and some less fortunate - but regardless of their situation, all were warm, genuine, and displayed the winning Cambodian smile. The warm welcome we received from everyone made the trip wonderful, even without raising a camera.

(Steve engaging some subjects with his infectious smile)

(5D3, 85mm, f/2.2, ISO 200)

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.4, ISO 200)

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.2, ISO 200)

(1D4, 35mm, f/6.3, ISO 200)

This trip, as usual, we delivered portraits taken on the previous trip (and some shot early this visit). Every person to whom we delivered prints beamed at seeing their own images. I’m not sure who was happier - the subjects at receiving the prints, or us at seeing their reaction. A true win-win situation.

(1D4, 22mm, f/5.6, ISO 200)

(1D4, 35mm, f/2.8, ISO 200)

In my last F8 guest post, I mentioned that Cambodia is a wonderful place to visit, to shoot, and to use as an effective teaching venue. The atmosphere is relaxed, there is abundant local and international food cuisine, the light is beautiful, and the people are wonderful. I’m happy to report that nothing has changed. For me, it doesn’t get any better than this - even in the rain....

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.4, ISO 400)

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Just want to say a special thank you to Steve for joining the workshop in this capacity. His assistance, experience, humour and character were a great addition to the workshop, helping everything along smoothly and all the participants have expressed their thanks already. The workshop was a much more fruitful experience for all with his participation. Cheers Steve.

More of Steve's photography can be seen via this weblink.

(Steve quietly ponders which flavour milkshake to try next at the Riverside bar and grill, Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh :-))

September 30, 2012

GUEST POST: Susan - Cambodia Photography Workshop

September 30, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Susan Lim (less portraits of Susan) who travelled to Cambodia with us. Susan shot with the Olympus OMD throughout the workshop. This is her story. (Susan became 'at one' with her OMD shooting sometimes 12 hours a day, practice, practice, practice)

(Susan loved interacting with the kids and shooting in the rain with her new shooting buddy, Terese (far left)

When I first registered for the Cambodia workshop I told Gary that I wanted to explore this part of Cambodia, learn their cultures and practice my basic photography skills using my recently acquired Olympus OMD.

I was given a lot of opportunities to take photos in different locations such as Wat Phnom (Buddhist temple area in the city), the silk weaving villages on Mekong Island, rice fields outside the city, street photography and environmental portraiture inside Pagodas and around other parts of Phnom Penh and the last day we visited an old temple complex about an hour away from Phnom Penh with some old ruins, great for landscape images and portraiture of the elderly temple minders.

(Inside a Pagoda, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Little girl on Mekong Island, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Monks at the Pagoda, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Intense portrait, Olympus 20mm)

In each location, people are willing to have their photographs taken and they were all full of smiles. I did notice a lot of poverty in Cambodia, which sometimes upset me as I am not used to seeing these things having travelled from Hong Kong. The results of my photographs are highly impacted by my emotions.

My thoughts on the the workshop training:

The workshop was very well organised, Gary from F8 Photography is a brilliant photographer. He is knowledgable and well experienced. Without his guidance, I would never have learnt so much about how to see and take images in a way I had never done before.

I also benefited a lot from the other participants who are all highly motivated and engaging, Steve, Andrew, Ian and Terese. Each of our session ended with critiques of photos which includes great suggestions for improving our photographs. I also learned to see results of different camera brands and the photography style of each participants. I would highly recommend F8’s Cambodia workshop to anyone.

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Susan had a great workshop with outstanding results. She had recently purchased the Olympus OMD and wanted to immerse herself somewhere away from the distractions of Hong Kong life to fast track her learning experience. I think she did this without question, and anyone viewing her images here will agree I am quite sure. For someone who has only been shooting a few months, her results were excellent, I was in fact quite envious of some the shots she 'saw' that I didn't see myself :-). On this type of workshop the instructor always learns just as much from the clients I think, I love to see how others interpret a scene, I can always learn from that. Susan was affected by some of the poverty she saw during the workshop, this is not a bad thing, this is a reality, we all react differently to what we see, and it is reflected in some images in her portfolio. This reminded me of my early visits to Cambodia, it is easy to get overwhelmed by some of the sights, but I also think this makes us stronger photographers as being emotional about our work is a good thing, it means we care about what we are trying to say. Good work Susan, well done.

(Rainy day, first shots...this was one of Gary's favourites that Susan produced on Day 1, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Cheeky children, Olympus OMD, 45mm)

September 28, 2012

GUEST POST: Andrew - Cambodia Photography Workshop

September 28, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Andrew Hardacre (less portraits of Andrew) who travelled to Cambodia with us. Andrew shot with a combination of Leica M9 and Fuji X100 for this trip. This is his story.

Photography biorhythms was a new concept to me. Rise at 5.30am, bed at midnight. Flat out. All day, every day.

Gary warned us that we would burn out if we tried to do this. I didn't listen.

The evidence however is in the catalogue. A few gems taken in a burst, followed by long interludes of the mundane. Devoid of inspiration, no spark. Fortunately I did listen to everything else he taught us. I can't promise I can put everything into practice at once. I do however have a much better understanding of the importance of colour, how to engage a subject and the value of a tight frame.

I was already a black and white junky but although I still think B&W first, I can now see why in the past my colour images often failed. I need to go and seek out colours that work and be more selective in what I shoot.

And the really big lesson is then selecting what to keep and what to trash. Forced ranking the day's files down to 20, then 15, then 10....... that was interesting.

(Andrew scouting for new subjects from the Tuk Tuk)

On day 1 and 2 the challenge was to decide which 20 to put up for critique. By the end of day 4 the problem was the other way round. Can I find 10 worth showing out of the hundreds I have taken.

I compared this in my blog to doing a language immersion course and I guess that is pretty close - this is an immersion course in the language of light. Me definitely Leica :-)

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Andrew produced an excellent body of work during the 3 day workshop. Andrew was one of the most self critical members of the workshop - this is something I consider to be a great asset as a photographer, you MUST be able to criticise your own work and be open to constructive criticism in order to grow. Another point from me was that Andrew explained to me before the workshop that he had spent little time photographing 'people' as he is a big fan of nature and landscape photography, and he wanted to expand his portfolio with 'people'.

(Andrew and Gary chilling out whilst waiting for the boat to ferry them across the River Mekong)

I think it is very evident in this short showcase that Andrew easily achieved his goals and produced some fantastic environmental portraits and close up character studies. It was a real pleasure having Andrew with us on the workshop and we very much look forward to spending time shooting with him again in the future. In the meantime, here are a few more images of Andrews from the workshop and some links below to his blog:

Andrew has his own blog that showcases more of his images from Cambodia and his other photography interests also, please take time to go have a look, heres the link below:

ANDREWS PERSONAL BLOG

We will have other posts from the workshop attendees as well as behind the scenes shots and video coming soon. Please stay tuned for that, you can now 'search' the blog on the left side of this post to find subject posts easily, try typing 'cambodia' to find all our posts from there if you wish to read more.

Thanks for taking the time to visit our blog, if you like our blog and website, please ‘like’ us on our public Facebook page or on the 'LIKE' box to the right side of this blog. You can share this story with your friends with the Facebook and twitter links below or on the left side of this blog. You can also subscribe to our blog via the RSS link below or on the right of this post.

September 25, 2012

Smile! you're on camera in Cambodia!

September 25, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Now our Phnom Penh photography workshop is complete and we have returned to Hong Kong I will start to prepare some blog posts from each of the clients so we can share their point of view on the workshop and on Cambodia. Whilst I am doing that I would just like to share a few 'behind the scenes' headshots of our participants and some of our subjects and the underlying memory I have of Phnom Penh which is….happiness….even though the country may be poor, there are few other places I have visited that I have seen so many genuine smiles.

I walk around Hong Kong and the general vibe is very very different to Cambodia, of course these two places cannot be compared, but the reality for me is that whenever I am in countries that have more money and affluent lifestyle…..there always seems to be a lot less smiling going on…..

I hope by viewing a few of these images it can make you smile and give you a very small insight into the vibrant and colourful faces of Cambodia.

We will have lots of blog posts from the clients and behind the scenes footage coming shortly, stay tuned...and keep smiling :-)

September 06, 2012

Interviewed on Eric Kim's Street Photography Blog

September 06, 2012/ Gary Tyson

In March 2012 we ran a street photography workshop with Eric Kim from Los Angeles in Hong Kong, it was a great success with 24 very happy clients over the course of the weekend. Eric recently asked me if I could do a quick interview for his blog, so I'm just re-posting it here for anyone who wishes to view it: CLICK HERE TO SEE THE INTERVIEW WITH F8 PHOTOGRAPHY ON ERIC KIM'S WEBSITE

When Eric was in Hong Kong I also interviewed him on video, you can see that video below (if doesnt appear immediately, just refresh the page)....

Eric Kim interview in Hong Kong from F8 Photography Ltd on Vimeo.

August 28, 2012

Pembo - Photographers Paradise

August 28, 2012/ Gary Tyson

(Welcome to Pembo, OMD - 25mm)

Welcome to Pembo...my new favourite part of Manila. I have to say that ANY photographer visiting Manila simply MUST take the time out to visit this area. Its an amazing little district full of intertwining streets and an extremely vibrant street life culture. This place is exactly how I imagined Manila to be in my mind before I visited, full of smiley faces, great colour and amazing characters - even the cats look cool in this part of town!

(Coca Cola Cat, OMD - 25mm)

I'll start off this post with just a few images from the first 10 minutes of walking into Pembo....this should give you a view into the place, from chaotic traffic, variety of characters, smells of street life (check out the pig photo!) the place was like a circus of life, and I must yet again thank my new friend Kurt Kamka for showing me this place.

(It's all about family - OMD - 25mm)

(Hanging out on the street, OMD - 25mm)

(A local form of transport - the trike - OMD - 45mm)

(Bacon sandwich anyone...OMD - 45mm)

(Peek-a-boo, OMD - 25mm)

As I wandered down the street in Pembo (I was only here for 2 hours), I couldn't decide which lens to use on my camera (this is one reason why I usually just take 1 lens with me whilst out on the street....to minimise confusion and help me concentrate on one focal length)....There was so much to see here, I wanted to shoot wide angle environmental shots, then shoot close up portraits of the same people....luckily the Olympus OMD lenses are all very small and light, which enables me to carry 4 primes, which all together weigh less and take up less room than just one of my Canon 'L' lenses. I switched frantically between my wide, medium and longer lenses (12,25, 45, 75) throughout the walk to enable me to capture as much as I could of this place.

(Harsh light, works for me!, OMD - 45mm)

(A sneak peak into someones living room, OMD - 25mm)

(A proud man, OMD - 25mm)

(More than happy to pose, great character, OMD - 25mm)

Something myself and Kurt discussed on our walk was how everyone just can't help smiling in the Phillipines. Its a great 'de-stress' exercise to just go for a walk around Manila, its infectious and by the time we had finished our shoot, we felt we had a very fulfilling afternoon and pleasant experience, and I feel lucky to be able to just walk around and engage with these people, my life is enriched by meeting them and I am very grateful that they allow me a few seconds of their time to capture their vibrant smiles and laughter.

(Laughing girl, OMD - 45mm)

(Brotherhood , OMD - 25mm)

(Shy at first...OMD - 75mm)

(...then strike a pose...OMD - 75mm)

The light was very harsh and the weather hot as we walked the streets, but as the whole area is made up of small streets and alleyways there is plenty of opportunities to use the shade and dappled light to get some nice shots, even in harsh light, I don't worry too much, there is always a way to shoot...i love shooting into the light as much as anything, so I am always on the lookout for interesting light to use to my advantage when the weather is like this.

(Full of character, OMD - 25mm)

(Hello stranger, OMD - 45mm)

(I LOVE the colours of the buildings - OMD - 75mm)

(Shy boy, OMD - 75mm)

(Mini-Gangsta, OMD - 25mm)

(shooting into harsh light works well with natural diffusers, OMD - 25mm)

We were lucky enough to stumble onto a basketball match between some locals also and they allowed us to shoot them for a while, this was a welcome break for us from the harsh sun outside as we hung out in their indoor court for 20 minutes and a good chance for me to test the high speed 9 frames per second framerate of the Olympus OMD, as I had not used it for sports photography yet, worked pretty well i thought.

(Olympus OMD had no problem with fast moving sports, OMD - 75mm)

(A national past-time in the Phillipines, OMD - 12mm)

I know this blog post is quite a long one with plenty of images, I hope that doesn't bore anyone, I really couldn't make my selection any smaller to show this place, its so interesting for me, I just wanted to share the beauty of this place, and as I said earlier, I strongly encourage anyone visiting Manila to take the time to visit this locale. Here are a few more images of some of the great people we met along the way.

(Family life is everywhere , OMD - 75mm)

(One of my few black and white images from this trip, OMD - 25mm)

(Eating 'Balut', a fertilized duck embryo complete with feathers....yummy....OMD -25m)

(Local musicians in Pembo, OMD, 75mm)

(Friendly waves goodbye as we left Pembo, OMD - 25mm)

(We will be back for sure!, OMD - 45mm)

All images here are shot on the Olympus OMD with various prime lenses and all processed with 1-click presets fromVSCO film presets, still by far my favourite film simulation filters that work directly as a preset within Lightroom 4.

For other posts I have written recently with images of the new Olympus OMD in Manila please see the links below:

LINK TO BLOG POST: Shooting the back streets of Makati

LINK TO BLOG POST: Residents of Makati Catholic Cemetery

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Manila (first trip in July 2012)

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD shooting in Ulingan, Tondo, Manila

August 28, 2012

Makati, Makati, Makati

August 28, 2012/ Gary Tyson

(Kurt Kamka on the prowl on the back streets of Makati, OMD - 25mm)

Some will know Makati as the business district of Manila in the Phillipines....some may know it for another reason - an infamous red light district.....you will find neither of those places featured in this blog post.

Today's post is about two guys just going for a walk down a few streets of Makati, well away from the business zone and suits and well away from the red lights. I see both those things in Hong Kong on a day to day basis whilst moving around town and I have no desire to feature either of them here, so I wanted to simply show a few images from taking a walk down some completely normal streets just off the tourist map in Makati with my new shooting buddy Kurt Kamka.

I was lucky enough to hook up with Kurt Kamka on this trip who was my trusty guide throughout my few days shooting. He does some outstanding photography on the streets of Manila and his work can be see at the following links:

1. Kurt Kamka Blog

2. Kurt Kamka Tumbr site

Something I have mentioned a few times before and will continue to do so is about using the Olympus OMD camera for this type of photography - in my mind its perfect....simple as that.....both me and Kurt shoot in a similar fashion with this camera, fully utilising the rear tiltable screen as a viewfinder and one touch shutter release of the screen...it works wonders. Ironically both of us previously shot with Leica M series cameras but are both finding the Olympus to be well up to the job on the streets (Kurt also still shoots with a Leica S2 camera).

(Brothers, OMD - 75mm)

We had earlier been shooting some people that live at the Catholic Cemetery in Manila (blog post on that featured here) then grabbed some water and headed for another hours walk round some back streets. These are the images that we captured on that walk. I am still mesmerised by the colours of the Phillipines, I actually find it hard to shoot in black and white here, as everything has a beautiful 1970s pastel colour tone to it (in my mind at least), which I just want to record all the time with my camera. Even this little girls blue Ukalele seen below was exactly that, from the clothes to the Jeepneys, the colours just scream out at me.

(Perhaps the warmest smile of the day - OMD - 75mm)

We came across these kids sat in the street playing musical instruments and having a great time together, I stopped to take some photos, help them practice a little bit of English and then scare them with my terrible Ukalele skills...lol.

(Image by Kurt Kamka - The kids weren't familiar with my Beatles and Rolling Stones renditions...lol)

I have never seen so many smiling kids as I have seen here during this trip, a lot of people call Thailand 'The land of smiles'....I'm quite sure the Phillipines could easily win this title also.

(Land of smiles, OMD - 75mm)

There were also plenty of animals to be found along these back streets, I saw a lot of cockerels tied to doorways, and Kurt explained to me that these were used for 'cockfighting', a viscious sport I imagine which seems to be very popular here and in many other parts of Asia. I also encountered a vicious dog or two, luckily tied to a post, and probably the skinniest cat I have ever seen!

(Who let the dogs out?, OMD, 25mm)

('Ma-Cat-i' in Makati, OMD - 25mm)

As well as the young kids in the street we met plenty of elder folk who were equally as nice and pleased to meet and interact with us as we wandered through their neighbourhood. Of course we had a few funny looks at first, but with big smiles and friendly gestures, every single person we met was more than happy to be photographed.

(Friendly gentlemen in Makati, OMD - 75mm)

On our way out of the back streets we came across a building site, where some workers were hanging around outside on a break, they stopped us in our tracks and insisted that we photograph them. The Fillipinos just seem to LOVE being photographed at every opportunity.

(Pinoy smiling builders, OMD - 75mm)

As we finished our walk the heavens opened and poured down, so it was time to jump in a cab and head back for a coffee and some editing. A succesful day was had by both of us and a great first meeting. On the way back to my hotel I was reminded of the poverty that of course exists here as beggars tapped on the taxi window asking for money, I am never sure what is best in this situation, does giving them money keep them on the streets...i guess so...but its always a hard call for me...

(Begging at the roadside - OMD - 12mm)

The following day I found a photography paradise in a part of town called 'Pembo'. I am currently editing my images from that location and will do my next blog post on that once I arrive back to Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon. Please be sure to come back for a look as there are some great characters featured in those images and if anyone reading this has any desire to photograph life in the phillipines, I strongly recommend visiting that place.

For other posts I have written recently with images of the new Olympus OMD in Manila please see the links below:

LINK TO BLOG POST: Residents of Makati Catholic Cemetery

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Manila (first trip in July 2012)

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD shooting in Ulingan, Tondo, Manila

August 26, 2012

Life beyond the graves in Manila

August 26, 2012/ Gary Tyson

(Entrance to Makati Catholic Cemetery - OMD, 25mm)

Along the backstreets of Makati in the heart of Manila lies an old Catholic Cemetery, seemingly abandoned, but on looking inside it has a lot of residents, who are quite alive.....living in the tombs that remain within. It always amazes me the places that people can turn into quite homely communities....this was yet another one of them, full of smiling faces and vibrant colours.

(Graveyard kids - OMD, 25mm)

During my short trip to Manila I hooked up withKurt Kamka who I have met through our Hong Kong Street Photography group on Facebook (feel free to visit our group and join in if you like shooting street, linked here). This was the first time we had met in person, so we grabbed lunch together and had a chat about cameras and life and it was good to see that we were both shooting with the Olympus OMD today. Another interesting observation from shooting together was that I was preferring to shoot in colour and Kurt shoots mostly in black and white. I also usually shoot this kind of scene in black and white, however, I am finding all the colours of the phillipines impossible to resist, so am still personally hooked on colour for almost all my shooting in Manila at present and also I am loving the VSCO colour film presets that I'm using in Lightroom 4 that allow me '1 click' presets to get me to retro film looks from my OMD RAW files with ease.

Some links to Kurt's work can be found below at his blog and Tumblr sites:

1. Kurt Kamka Blog

2. Kurt Kamka Tumbr site

Kurt suggested we visit the old catholic cemetery as it was very close by. Of course I thought this was a great idea and opportunity to visit a location that I'm quite sure I would never have found on my own - you can't beat local knowledge when travelling somewhere unfamiliar.

(Kurt Kamka (left) and myself outside the cemetery (Kurts websites are linked above this image)

Inside the cemetery, we were greeted by lots of different people, each and every one of them very happy, and quite surprised to see us. I'm guessing they probably don't get many visitors there, and especially not westerners, but like most of the other places I've visited in Manila, we were welcomed by friendly faces and open arms, some of the elderely ladies took a liking to us and insisted on having their photographs taken with us, which was fun and very humbling to be hugged by these people, they really are very genuine people and truly great characters.

(Kurt sharing the love with a friendly lady in the cemetery - OMD, 25mm)

(Great character, full of smiles! - OMD, 25mm)

(Smoke break at the crematorium - OMD, 25mm)

The children we met followed us round for an hour or so and they were more than happy to hang out with us, take some pics and practice their English language skills, I think almost everybody I have met in the phillipines speaks pretty much perfect English, from the youngest child to the eldest of folk, so it makes communication very easy.

(Children living in the graveyard - OMD 12/25mm)

Lots of people were resting in the midday sun whilst we were at the cemetery, so we were careful not to wake them whilst we were wandering around shooting our images, they seemed to be quite content in their hammocks which were usually strung up between two large gravestones.

(Rest in Peace - OMD, 12mm)

The children here have turned certain areas of the graveyard into their playground, a few of the young boys were keen to demonstrate their acrobatic skills springing from tomb to gravestone like some military obstacle course.....I took a few images of this, but was trying to discourage one young boy as he kept looking to me for approval every time he jumped, and I couldn't help thinking that if he missed his landing spot, he was going to be seriously injured!

(The jumper - OMD, 12mm)

(Graveyard girl - OMD, 45mm)

Some areas of the cemetery had dogs roaming around, some of the residents warned us that the dogs could be aggressive, so we kept a few yards from them in most cases, I think they were most likely just hungry dogs so that would make them grumpy and aggitated for sure. I noticed some tombs had dogs tied to the stones, I'm not sure if they were supposed to be guarding that particular tomb, as one man told us the stories of the grave robbers who regularly come at night, digging out graves and taking anything and everything that could be used to make money (gold teeth...metals...etc).

(Graveyard dogs - OMD, 25mm)

It certainly was a unique place to visit, with a vibrant and interesting mix of people living within the cemetery. Again I must say, its always such a humbling experience in these kind of places, always greeted with big smiles, hugs, asking nothing in return.

(Old and young residents of Makati Catholic Cemetery - OMD, 25mm)

I will be shooting again with Kurt Kamka during this short trip to Manila, and will be posting more images from our adventures around the city in the coming day or two, so please check back to see more from this amazing city. In the meantime, here are the links to Kurts sites again, please take a look as he has been living in Manila almost a year now and has an extensive portfolio of images from the city.

1. Kurt Kamka Blog

2. Kurt Kamka Tumbr site

All images here are shot on the Olympus OMD with various prime lenses and all processed with 1-click presets from VSCO film presets, still by far my favourite film simulation filters that work directly as a preset within Lightroom 4.

For other posts I have written recently with images of the new Olympus OMD in Manila and other parts of Asia please see the links below:

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Manila (first trip in July 2012)

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD shooting in Ulingan, Tondo, Manila

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Cosplay event in Hong Kong

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Cambodia