11 December 2016

Wedding party stalker?  Sounds rather ominous and the potential to ruin a good day or evening. Check out my previous blogs to get a background into this guy. Be afraid, be very afraid. I use to specialize in incriminating and  embarassing photos in my past. And the photos weren’t of me either.

Sally and I had the honour of being invited to our good friends , Sons wedding. Got that?

Justin is from Hong Kong and his new wife Cheryl is from Singapore.

Normally as I was the guest and not the photographer I wasn’t planning on bringing a “decent” camera to Hong Kong, probably just my point and shoot. However because I was buying a big lens (see previous blog) I thought it best to bring a SLR to test the lens before purchasing. To keep the weight down I brought 2 prime lenses. My Nikon 35mm f1.8 and the Nikon 85mm f1.8.

So at the church I brought the 2 lenses plus my newly acquired wild life lens (Nikon 300mm). Definitely not the best lens for weddings unless you want to examine the teeth….. At the reception at the Grand Hyatt  I took the two prime lenses only and was only going to whip them out if I saw something (or someone) interesting. Well you can see by the photos the camera was out alot! I have a weakness for beautiful women.

So what does a wedding party stalker do when he is actually invited to partake rather than shoot from the outside. Well as the title of the movie says, get “Up Close and Personal”. It wasn’t that hard in my case and quite a pleasure. No doubt helped by the fine French champagne and the New Zealand riesling. At least I was in good company. The wine and I come from the same town-Blenheim. The wine?  Fromm Spatlese Riesling. We came on the same plane. 

The company, food , wine, music and service was also excellent at the Grand Hyatt. (Did I mention that before?)

Hopefully you may find I managed to capture the atmosphere of the occasion at the …. Did you know its a 5 star hotel?

Congratulations Justin and Cheryl on your marriage and I hope you have lots of happy memorable occasions ahead of you both.

ps I don’t do baby photos…….

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2.   iso 6400     35mm     f9.5     1/250sec

3.  iso 5600     300mm     f4.8     1/350sec

4.  iso 1400     300mm     f11     1/1000sec

5.  iso 3600     85mm     f1.8     1/60sec     Enhanced in Color Efex Pro 4

6.  iso 5600     85mm     f2.8     1/60sec

7.  Me, Joseph (Justins Dad)

     Sally    Elizabeth (Justins Mum)

8.  Joseph and his two Sons, Jonathan and  Justin

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11.  iso 6400     85mm     f4.0     1/125sec

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17.   iso6400     35mm     f9.5     1/250sec

5 February 2015

Bird photography is not really my thing. I don’t have the long lenses to get in close or the patience to sit a wait. Then, when a feathered friend takes flight, spray and pray as the camera fires up at nine frames per sec. Some photographers accumulate well over a 1000 shots in one session, then spending all the time in the evening sorting out the shots.

However where I stay in Hong Kong is next door to some wet lands and a favourite bird  photographers spot, attracting people from China and Hong Kong. Here are a few photos taken with my puny 200mm lens -compared to the NZ$14,000, 600mm f4 which is the de rigueur for serious birdies. Oops I forgot the 1.5x extender as well!)

Also I have included photos from my good friend James Fung who also lives in Sallys village and drove us around various sites in Hong Kong on our last visit. James is a passionate photographer and a very good bird photographer. He is a good example of what can be done with Sony cameras and old Minolta lenses. James’s photos are in the Guest section.

1.    29 December 2013    Ho Sheung Heung    Nikon D3s    iso200    200mm    f4.0    1/750sec    Nikon 70-200mm f4

2.    29 December 2013    Ho Sheung Heung    Nikon D3s    iso200    200mm    f4.0    1/1000sec    Nikon 70-200mm f4

3.    22 March 2013    Ho Sheung Heung    Nikon D3s    iso800    200mm    f4.0    1/500sec    Nikon 70-200mm f4

4.    29 December 2013    Nikon D3s    iso 200    190mm    f4.0    1/750sec    Nikon 70-200mm f4.0

5.    5 January 2014    Tsing Yi nature trail    Nikon D3s    iso 1600    200mm    f5.6    1/500sec    Nikon 70-200mm f4

6.    29 December 2013    Ho Sheung Heung    iso 200    200mm    f5.6    1/500sec    Nikon 70-200mmf4

7.    29 December 2013    Ho Sheung Heung    Nikon D3s    iso 200    14mm    f11    1/250sec    Nikon 14-24mm f2.8