And Now for some Talk About Composition.

Playing with my filters again, to fun artsy effect on this baby pic! And below, the original photo, unchanged in any way, straight out of the camera.

It's time to talk about composition. I often avoid discussing composition, because I compose without thinking. To translate whatever little non-verbal connections are going on in my brain into words is hard. Sure we talked about composition during critiques in art grad school. But I'm not in art grad school any more and I rarely partake in art grad school discussions these days.

The original photo is decent composition already. The almost uniformly dark background gives nice geometric shape to the negative space: nothing distracting there. The white-clad arms of the baby both "point" or draw the eye towards the baby face. And then bang! The eyes come straight out at you, and thus your eye isn't pulled anywhere else after that happens. Intentionally off-center and asymmetric, the darks and lights of the photo balance each other.



I did however, find the mom's hand and neck distracting. The baby eyes are the real strong point of the pic, so I wanted to zoom in and bring them to the forefront. When cropping, I had to decide between keeping the image landscape, or switching to portrait. In a landscape situation -assuming I wanted to keep everything from eyes to mouth in the pic, we'd also see the ears, part of the dark background, and the white onesie. He is a little hunched over, and the white onesie gives that body position away, and thus a viewer might be distracted by that slight posture discomfort, not to mention, the snippet of dark background. Portrait allowed me to cut all this extraneous stuff out. Ears are not important in this case. But if I cropped wide (ie, the edges of the rectangle really close to but not including ears) the face would look too wide, as if spread out on a flat plane. But crop too close to the eyes and the pic will feel unbalanced, with the 2 subjects of focus spread on either edge of the pic.

The pic is centered - though not perfectly so, for a touch of naturalness but centered enough for impact. The inclusion of forehead hair and chin frame the face. I blasted the whole photo with light to remove distracting shadows and worried forehead wrinkles. Deleted the tiny dark spot at the curve of the left cheek where the onesie collar meets the face. Converted to B&W - twice, for stark contrast. And threw in the filter for fun. What is the true color of the baby's eyes? Hmm!

Practical Advice when photographing babies: When your subject is a person (as opposed to the person and their environment, e.g. You in front of the Eiffel tower); ie The Baby - don't be afraid to get up close. Close enough to crop out all the distracting stuff (TVs, stray shoes, Ikea furniture, purse thrown on couch, sleep deprived parent). If your camera doesn't focus coz you're so close up to your subject, take the pic in hi-res and crop later.

I Am A Grumpy Cat

Someone contacted me through my Craiglist ad today, and asked if I were available to cover a certain event. I said yes. Then she asked for a discount. That was a few hours ago, but I am still exasperated. I am not hawking mass made Made-In-China trinkets. Would a person ask their Dentist for a discount? At Safeway, at the checkout counter? At a Gas Station? Post office? Taxi? For Some Reason, it is acceptable to some people to ask Artists to discount their rates, or to ask Artists to work for free. Or for "portfolio". Or for "promotion" (ie, my website will be next to my picture, on what ever random site the client happens to post the photo.) Just look on Craigslist "creative gigs", and see what people are offering in exchange for Artistic services.

Actually, let me bring a typical example to you:
"Amazing Costume Designer Needed ...
... I can't pay you. But what you'll get is: all costuming credit, copies of the images for your portfolio, and the possibility of being part of a potentially amazing project..."

It's one thing to ask an amateur or complete beginner to work for free. Even this is not quite right. But to ask for "amazing" or "experienced" or "expert" or "talented" or "published" Artist to work for No Pay - I just don't even know what to say. It's really disheartening.

OK, Discount and Free are two different issues, and I believe I've ranted about Free enough, so I'll turn now to Discount.

I will give an immediate discount for photography services for a limited number of reasons:
1. The client is my friend
2. Non-profit gigs that are too extensive to do entirely for free
And upon consultation, possibly:
3. Guarantee of repeat hire several times within a year
4. The chance to shoot a really really unique subject, such as Sheep Cheese Making (with Lambs included in the shoot) or the Rubik's Cube World Championships. Actually, I'd do these last 2 things for free, they are that awesome.

I know people don't mean to be insulting. But it's really insulting. I've worked really hard to get to where I am. I use way expensive equipment. My photographic eye can make trash into art. I think my rates are incredibly reasonable already. In case you're wondering, I won't be photographing the fore-mentioned event.

Here Comes The Sun

A few minutes after the first photo, the afternoon sun sank below the cloud level and the whole picture changed! In the short time that the sun lingered below could and above ocean, we redid the photos, this time in warm light. What a difference it makes to go from clouds to sunset lighting. The colors are richer, there is more depth to the photo, it is far less Blah. Unfortunately in SF, the weather is most often Blah, so on those days, it's best to shoot in locations that don't rely on the sky to look good; e.g. more greenery, or buildings.

Magical French Giraffe

First Cute Baby Post of 2010! I actually took these in December. You'll probably be seeing a lot of December photos, as life was too crazy back then to keep my blog updated.

See the rubber giraffe in the left photo? That is Sophie. Sophie is a French Giraffe. She is chewable, and she squeaks. I've met several Sophies, living in different baby homes. Some parents swear she is the baby's favorite toy, sure to please and bring smiles. She has a legendary status.

January is much slower than December. I am glad to have the chance to regroup and catch up. I plan to work on my marketing/advertising. To finally make postcards with my new web address, and photography-specific business cards.

First Gig Of The Year

The floor was being demo'ed for renovation. I was asked: Can you document this with an artistic eye?

*Can I Photograph* bits and pieces of unwanted, unrecognizable, randomly arranged, richly textured objects? One of my favorite non-people subjects! They came to the right person.

I will be documenting the renovation, in wide angle and in detail such as this, of several floors of a downtown office building over the next half year.

Of Smoke, Paper and Wood.

Happy New Year, and New Decade! These photos are from the inside of a Chinese temple along the Lung Yeuk Tai Heritage Trail in Fanling, and then an Ancestral Hall on the Ping Shan Heritage Trail in Tai Po, Hong Kong.

The coils are incense, burning slowly. Incense is also available in the more familiar stick form, placed in incense holders by worshipers. I'm still trying to figure out the purpose of incense, and so far I've gathered that the way to connect between the earthly life and the other life (of ghosts, ancestors, gods, deities) is through burning. I think the sticks are offerings, along with fruit and three cups of tea.
Ancestral worship is probably one of the more foreign (to us western reared people) aspects of Chinese religion. Ancestors are held in great reverence, and should your clan be a wealthy one, you can build a large Ancestral Hall. In it are two large courtyards, one in front of the other. At the very back of the ancestral hall, there is a wall featuring multitudes of these rectangular plaques, topped with folded gold paper triangles. Each of the plaques, I think, represents one ancestor whose generation number is inscribed on the wood. There's obviously still plenty that I don't know about what's going on here.

Cats, Dogs and Turtles, Eyeing Me Suspiciously

For all you cat, dog and turtle lovers out there, here are some Hong Kong animal friends that I disturbed from napping atop piles of construction material (choice bedding for cats, apparently), a balcony, and a floating palette.

Displays Next To Which Hong Kong People Like To Stand And Have Their Photo Taken

There are certain things that Hong Kong people do. One thing is To Queue Up. Hong Kong people are exceptionally good at getting in an orderly line. When McDonalds has a new toy accompanying a meal, everyone - kids, business men and women, grandfolk, will line up efficiently for their collectible rubber statuette of say, Mickey in a traditional Chinese emperor outfit. When a new stamp is issued, people will line up. Manga convention. Members only designer boutique sale. Public bathrooms. If you see anyone cutting in line, or pushing and shoving, most likely they are from non-Hong Kong China. Is that terribly un-PC to say so? It's usually true. The rest of China was not exposed to the British culture of queuing up.

Another activity of which HK people find irresistible is to have one's photo taken next to displays. EVERY mall in HK (or so it seems) puts up seasonal displays. I'm not sure which came first - the displays (which are very photo friendly), or the snap-happy habits. It is probably safe to say that they Co-Evolved. The displays at large malls can be very elaborate, a multi-sensory immersion into a mini theme park. Characters may be made up, such as these deer, or well known such as Snoopy (pronounced See-Noo-Pee) and Shaun the Sheep. Here, my friends demonstrate how to pose with a display. If one is feeling particularly HongKongy, one will of course do the victory sign.

I'm pretty sure Bjork did not expect her Swan dress to be immortalized in fiberglass, placed under one of the largest Christmas trees in Hong Kong.

A New Friend, and More Things Chinese

This little guy has since been scrubbed clean. His rubber piglet skin was perhaps once pink (under the armpits, he is a little pink) but now is olive green. I found him in an abandoned lot in front of a cluster of old houses. The houses, probably a few hundred years old, were crumbling, flooded with polluted water and were supported by metal beams, yet the walls and roofs still showed the original artwork and caligraphy that must've at one point been someone's pride and joy. The area was claimed by weeds and littered with long forgotten work boots, flip flops (why so many shoes?) plastic water bottles, gloves. No really Gross trash, otherwise I wouldn't have been picking around there. I came across this rubber piglet, and moved it to a patch of flowering weeds for a photo. But it was too cute to leave behind.

In case you are ever on Jeopardy and a category named National Flowers comes up, and when you "Make It A True Daily Double, Alex" and the clue reads "HONG KONG", you can answer confidently: What is Bauhinia and be the runaway winner. A stylized version is featured on the Hong Kong flag, and the $5 coin. Perhaps other coins too, but they're smaller in diameter so I've not paid as much attention.

Weeds and TV antennae; both rooftop dwellers. One of my funner compositions today. I do like making artistic images out of things of little importance; stuff most often not given a second glance, or even a first glance. I like to give recognition to the mundane.

You can click on the photo to see the ceramic figures in a larger picture. Here we have a selection of worshiped beings placed on a red table in front of a temple. The combination of beings depends on the needs of the village (though most villages will want for things such as wealth and long life).

The distinctive long-bearded, massive-foreheaded fellow brandishing a peach is the Longevity guy. Not a deity or god, I'm told, but worshiped nevertheless as a revered legendary character (there are some repeat statues; you'll note 2 peach toting guys). Next over, with the beard and robes, is the God of Fortune and Money. In the middle, a very benevolent Goddess for General Purpose Good Things, like health. And over on the far right, deitified Han dynasty war generals, the more famous one being Kwan Wan Cheong, known for Integrity, Fierce Loyalty and Trust. Apparently, these generals are frequently found in Hong Kong police stations.

By now you're wondering, as I am wondering, What Religion is going on here? Fortunately I have a Chinese Anthropologist in the family. Chinese religion is different from organized world religions. It has folk roots. There is no scripture or book or anything to be studied, such as the Koran or Bible. There aren't any specific rules to be followed (though, Chinese people are generally influenced by ideas in Buddhism and Confuscianism; the latter of which is not a religion but does have writings, read by no-one but scholars.) Asking X God or Deity for something is rather a habit, integrated into life. It's not taught; there are no preachy leaders. If someone you know is sick, just head over to the temple, light some incense, place fruit on a plate and silently ask Benevolent Goddess for some help. This is not to say that the religion is simple; it has a large share of annual, elaborate celebrations, customs and traditions. I am only skimming the surface at this point.

A short lesson on some things Chinese

Instead of the usual highrise buildings, urban architechture, holiday lights, bustling traffic, throngs of people and trendy store fronts that I've photographed so often, I sought out a different side of Hong Kong. There are some parts that are not glass and concrete, but one has to go a bit out of the way to get to these remanents of old Hong Kong. They are mostly in the New Territories, the chunk of northern HK land that is attached to China.

Kat Hing Wai (also known as Kam Tin Walled Village) is a residential area that encompasses some old village remains from 300 years ago. Not THAT old, compared to, say, ruins in Italy, But still a refreshing change in photographic subject. I like old buildings, with peeling paint, rusting hinges, dilapidated roofs. These old buildings were intermingled with modern homes, 2-3 storey houses, so it takes some exploration through narrow alleys to find the old houses. In some cases, people still live in them; others were boarded up, windows painted over.

The people who live here are Hakka, which is a disctinct group of Chinese people, with their own language (apparently other Chinese can't understand it at all), food and customs. An interesting tradition: women do the manual labor and the men stay at home to take care of domestic matters, such as child rearing (this no longer applies to modern families). I'd first heard of Hakka when as a kid, I observed women working the few rice paddies in HK back in the 80s. They wore distinctive hats - wide brimmed straw hats with a curtain of gauzey black fabric encircling the brim edge (you can make it out on the top photo; the traditional hat with jeans and wind breaker). "Those are Hakka women" someone would offhandly mention. Of course, the modern Hakka woman looks like any other Hong Kong career woman, with jobs in commerce instead of the rice paddy.

The peeling paper on the red door are old prints of Chinese door guardians. In temples, they might be actual larger than life size statues, 2 burly armored Chinese dudes with weapons and Angry Eyes. They're also known as "Kum Kong", as in "Gold Sturdiness". Sound familiar? Westerners borrowed the words to name a certain Large Ape.

And this is a T-shaped key-hole. I really enjoy travel photography, not just for the new subject matter, but because the experience of travel is so quick and there is so much new information, I don't have time to investigate things further at the time. Photos allow further reflection and research at a later date, a delayed enhancement of the experience.

Kadoorie Farm Fun

I'd not been to Kadoorie Farm since I was a wee child, at which point I was too thrilled to be on a field trip to really pay attention to what KF was all about.

KF was established in 1951 by the wealthy Kadoorie brothers, British blokes, I gather. Post WWII, Hong Kong was overwhelmed with refugees, and the Kadoories hoped to give agricultural aid in the form of farm education and provision of livestock/ fertiliser/ tools etc to start new farms so that HK could be self sufficient. HK these days is way past farming for itself and imports food, so KF goals have since been changed to be a conservation and education center. Large areas of terraced slopes are dedicated to organic farming, and there are wildlife rehab centers as well as all sorts of gardens. Along the meandering tree shaded trails, it's easy to forget you're in Hong Kong. At the farm store, I purchased some organic dried KF grown chrysanthemum flowers for tea-making. They had home grown eggs and veggies for sale too.

The Barking Deer and Wild Boar are some of the lucky rescued wildlife that live at KF.

I contributed a small patch to this community tapestry. Anyone who comes along is welcome (after a brief tutorial) to add a rew rows. Incorporated are branches, dried grasses and scraps of fabric.

If you are inspired to visit KF, Fly to Hong Kong, take the train (previously KCR, now MTR) to Tai Po Market or Tai Wo in the New Territories, and hop on Double Decker Bus 64K towards Yuen Long. Ride about 20 minutes; the KF bus stop is at the crest of a steep hill.

Bird Street

Bird Street. A bird lover's paradise? An animal rights activists' hell? Depends on how you look at it - I think I talked about bird issues last year on my blog. But always, a photographers' haven. The street is a mix of birds for sale, and birds that are being "walked" by their doting owners, apparently always men. It seems the birds receive as much attention and affection as a pet dog or cat. The bird owners stroll around carrying the bird cage, occassionally stopping to hook the cage next to a tree, or to a gate, and then admire their bird from afar, perhaps discuss the bird with other bird owners. Then unhook, and stroll more, perhaps hook the cage next to birds of the same species. Birds are also a huge source of pride. When a crowd gathers to admire a parrot-type bird, the owners show off bird tricks.

(Does the hand on the far left have an extra finger?)

All Over The World Kittens Are So Cute

Up the escalator, rising from the train level to the terminal level at Mong Kok East station, instead of veering to the right towards the mall, women disembarked and made an immediate left to the floor to ceiling window. Noses were pressed against the glass, squeals of delight were

emited and camera phones were aimed. 70% off shoe sale? Not at all. Something even more delightful. Six kittens, enjoying the afternoon sunshine, frolicking, or basking, batting at blown leaves. The roly poly kittens were a stark contrast to the plain ugly concrete on which they radiated cuteness.

Things Around Home

I made a conscious decision not to bring my camera along on my first day foray into the city on this visit to Hong Kong. It is very distracting having a camera - I decided that I would take everything in without documenting it. Next week I will make specific phototrips, and I will give myself little projects, e.g. storefronts, holiday decor, signage, produce. While on one hand having a camera is distracting, on the other, I've photographed Hong Kong so much that nothing is very novel and thus themes will help me focus my photo attention.

I photographed Things Around my Hong Kong home today. My Mom's orchids came to mind first; a great opportunity to demonstrate "bokeh", or the fuzzing out of background (or foreground) by having limited focal range. The thing with Bokeh is that what one chooses to be in focus is an important element of the composition. If I'd chosen the bottom left flower to be in focus, the photo would be strangely weighted. Even though many of the flowers are just blobs of color, they're still incorporated into the composition.

Photographing things around home makes me feel like a student photographer. The typical things to photograph as a student photographer are things that are easy to access and control, because it's scary to go into the unpredictable outside world to photograph (or draw, or paint, etc). If you see a portfolio with too many obviously Home Taken shots, tell that photographer to Get Out More.

Shrubbery (Part 2 in a Series)

Shrubbery photos work best with kids between say, 4 and 12. If they're too young; toddlers or babies, you worry for them - are they lost? Will they eat dirt by accident? Will they fall and get tangled in the bramble? But at kid age, branch scratches and bug bites are a part of life, you know not to eat just anything, you're mobile enough to skip over tree trunks. But older than 12... the innocence and fantasy forest land start to fade, and I'm more likely to wonder - what are you doing back there, smoking?

I need to find more shrubbery spots around SF. This happens to be a backyard, full of wonderful shrubbery; not manicured looking yet not too dense. Perhaps the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park, if we stray off the path. The BG however, is huge and it is tiring looking for nooks. I wish SF experienced more in the way of Fall colors. A photography dream to photograph kids in a pile of freshly fallen red, orange and yellow leaves!

Shrubbery (Part 1 in a Series)

I have a collection of photos now, featuring kids and shrubbery. The key is to use the shrubbery to frame the kids, and to give the picture a sense of place. Trees or Forests and Kids is a reoccurring storybook theme. Little Red Riding Hood. Hansel and Gretel. Lion, Witch & Wardrobe.


There's something magical about forests and childhood. Maybe, before jungle gyms and video games were invented, forests were the first playgrounds. Things to climb on and hide behind. I took the opportunity to apply fun filters to these photos. The gritty textures are very suited to foresty photos, as if the pictures themselves had been scattered in the wind, tossed and scratched and color-seeped by crunchy fall leaves.

Holiday Headgear

A splash of red brightens any photo. Under non-holiday circumstances, people generally don't wear red. Grown ups like to opt for black (I discourage this - if not to make photography more interesting for me, but to avoid overwhelming a pic with a big mass of black) But I've been photographing red outfits left and right recently, and they look great on camera.

It's below freezing tonight in San Francisco. All the more reason to wear hats! Here's an all natural window light photo, with a backdrop held up by dad.

I am happily catching up with myself. My workload is looking doable without pulling all nighters towards the end. This feeling of holiday season deadline dread reminds me so much of being in school! I thought I'd left that behind years ago. At least there are no finals.

Quick Test.

It feels like a Friday, because I just photographed a company holiday party, and because this is my fifth straight day of photo shoots. But it's not over yet. A shoot tomorrow and Weds too. I've truly forgotten what it's like to have a weekend. You know, a day where one has time to do dinner and a movie, and then wake up late the next day. It's been months. I'm really looking forward to my vacation. Eight more (non-stop!)days!

Anyways, Levi's had gone all out with the decor - much in the way of visual effects, including video on the ceiling (snow flurries, much like the Harry Potter dining hall as well as fireworks), changing messages projected on banners. And giant neon letters. Here's the back of the A and M. In its entirety, the letters spell "America". Fantastic DJ. A gourmet cornucopia of food.

Speaking of food, have you ever wondered what happens to catered leftovers? I did. I asked one of the catering staff. (Side note, like making friends with wedding DJs, one of the fun aspects of being an event photographer is meeting other event staff, and knowing you can be candid with one another as neither is customer/client). Yep, you guessed it, All In The Trash. It's heartbreaking. Especially noting the large portion of cheese platter that remained. And vegetable soup. I even felt bad for the salami. It's a matter of health code, no other reason. I wonder, if I signed a waiver that said I wouldn't sue if I got sick from the leftover cheese, could I have all the leftover cheese?


I've written 3 paragraphs without actually talking about photography. Figuring out camera settings to capture light effects is tricky. I put my camera on shutter priority mode, and had an external flash (that just means Not-On-Camera flash- that's the thing that pops up and is permanently attached to the top of the camera) with diffuser. For this low-light situation, approx 1/5 sec setting seemed to work well; long enough to capture the colored lights through the darkness, but short enough that I could hold it completely still for the duration of open shutter. Compare the above MA with the lower MA. Quick test. Which was taken with the faster (shorter) shutter speed?

The lower one! Well done.
Shutter was open for a shorter period, less light detected by camera, darker photo. But crisper - the top photo was subject to camera shake - not being able to hold the camera perfectly still for the entire open shutter period.

Volunteer Photography

I started the day with some volunteer photography, at the Randall Museum's Holiday Craft Fair. It's been a while since I'd photographed for them, as other events just happened to fall on a day that I was photographing a wedding. Anyways, it is always a nice change to photograph free of editing, customer service and delivery worries.


Volunteer photography was one of the ways I originally started building my portfolio. Non-profits welcome volunteer photographers. I've suggested this to aspiring photographers, but I don't think any have taken my advice. I think it's tempting to want to jump into being paid for photography work, but everything stems from a solid portfolio. Ideally one does not have to include mediocre photos in to add quantity to the portfolio. I didn't launch my business until I felt I had a good number of photos in my portfolio, all of which were my best work.

However, it's not a way to build contacts (I've yet to have a photo session scheduled as a result of my volunteerism). I could shove my postcard into the hands of everyone I photographed, but how annoying would that be? To me, that's not the point of volunteer photography anyways. Besides practice and portfolio, volunteer photography is good for karma.

Cats Are Photogenic.

It is the middle of my work week. Well actually I work every day, I just happen to have actual photoshoots Thursday through Tuesday, and any other time I am pretty much editing (or eating, sleeping, or walking Charlotte). So it's a short post today.

Thought I'd leave you with a lovely cat photo, lest you be disappointed in the lack of a new post.