Jeannine + Blake = Engaged

Someone's pretty photogenic (also)

Slightly subtle glow effect

Last week I shot Jeannine and Blake's engagement photos at the museum district in scenic Fort Worth (Yes, it really is beautiful). The weather, which has ranging from crazy hot to warm and humid, gave us a break between the rain. The wedding will be in October and yours truly will be taking the pics :) It feels nice to take pictures of people again after all the scenic stuff.

Some Hong Kong Randomness...

I snuck and took this inside the Louis Vuitton art gallery...the secret is to take the pic, plead ignorance, and apologize.

There were a lot of dog walkers near The Peak.

One of my several self portraits - the secret is a wide angle lens.

The chaos that is HK at night.

Words to describe the city are raw and untamed (I read this somewhere else and it was the perfect description). It's just a mass of humanity, for better or worse. It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. Compared to Singapore, it's the stark opposite. Singapore, while urban, is clean and orderly. I wouldn't go as far as to call it sterile, but it is very organized and packaged. I'll post more random pictures soon. Both places share one thing in common though, which is that if you're a photo-lover or photographer, these places are dreams. Night photography, landscape, urban, people, colors...both places have it all. I have fulfilled one of my goals to print one of my pictures, blow it up, frame it, and put it on my wall :) Also, I'll be moving very soon to my new "crib." It's a brand new, modern apartment that is in a great location and has a very urban-modern style, which I love. Very loft-like.

Also, new wedding booked. Engagement pics next week. Also Vegas pics. Much more soon.

Hong Kong Avenue of the Stars

I went to the Avenue of the Stars to check out the skyline of Hong Kong Island. The skyline of course was the star, but there are lots of things there. Basically it's the Hollywood walk of fame for HK film stars, like Bruce Lee. There were a lot of stars but among them are Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. I finally found the Bruce Lee statue and also went to the Museum there, which featured Louis Vuitton stuff from his bags to architecture. Surprisingly it was really cool.

Getting dark..


Darker...

That's it!

It's just one spectacular view after another these days. This is the world's greatest skyline, bar none. Of course I'm talking about the breathtaking view of Hong Kong from The Peak. Just simply amazing. I muscled my way to the absolute best location at the very edge. This was the roof of a structure that was pay-to-access. The people there had some serious photography gear, with pro cameras, lenses and tripods. I saw a Canon 5DM2 and some other really nice cameras. But I think I managed just fine without the tripod :)

Hong Kong Victoria Harbor

A view of the harbor from Avenue of the Stars. There was a light and music show.

This is my panoramic shot. It's giant - I'm going to figure out how to post this.

Hong Kong is a completely different beast than Singapore. HK is a bustling jam-packed nitty-gritty city whereas Singapore is a clean, modern, sterile environment. Both have their charm (and great food). I was in awe of the skyline in HK and I went to town with the D3. I shot all this without a tripod and we caught a light/music show. There was a full moon; just the perfect evening except for the weather of course, which was hot and muggy. I'll post more tomorrow but post this one under favorites.

Singapore @ Night: Skyline + Happy 4th!

I took a little boat ride along the river - typical tourist trap - but I didn't expect to see this! The ride intertwined through the business district, giving a spectacular sight of the buildings. It was lit up very nicely at night and the weather was much cooler. I just had a field day snapping away. I felt kinda bad for the rest of the people who had point-and-shoot cameras. They were the nice models but I could tell they were struggling while I snapped away at ISO 3200 and 6400. As you can see, the images are very clean - and I'm not even a very good landscape photographer. (People, just invest in a DSLR and a couple of nice lenses, you won't regret it!) The beautiful scenery made it a little too easy. I might just blow one of these up and hang it on my wall. Next up is Hong Kong, which I know has a breathtaking skyline - it is so on. It was definitely worth lugging around the equipment and I'm glad I brought my D3 instead of the much lighter and portable D70s - it's a great camera, but it can't really hang at night with max ISO 1600 coming out grainy.

Anyway, Singapore is great. The only bad is the weather. But oh well, can I really complain coming from Texas??!! Also, happy 4th of July everyone (albiet one day late). I did get to catch some fireworks but I don't think it was for the US holiday, just something they do on the weekends here. No fireworks pics this year on this blog unfortunately, but you can look in the archives at last year's.

More Singapore

Along the river - I recommend taking the boat at night.

Hindu temple at night

Hanging outside of a Buddhist temple

Some nice colors at an outdoor market in Chinatown

One of my favorite shots from one of the temples - just a very cool angle

Inside of the temple

Our conference is over so now it's mostly vacation mode. Singapore loves their cameras. There are a TON of camera stores and Canon/Nikon advertisements on the buses. Lots of people walking around with their DSLRs and fat lenses, including yours truly - although I try to be really descrete by sticking it back in my bag quickly. The good thing is I don't look out of place with my camera. Earlier this evening I shot some awesome night shots that I can't wait to process and post. Speaking of processing, notice I haven't posted any black and whites? That's because this place is so colorful and vibrant (some may argue sterile) but it's great for scenic pictures. My only complaint is the weather, but other than that it's a very charming place. Some more pictures soon that are way better than these.

Singapore @ Night

A view from the hotel pool deck. Lights reflecting off the river.

Chinatown



My baby (the D3) and I are in Singapore this week. Here are a few night shots. I will have much more later.