Tag Archives: tan

July 11, 2011 · 10:25 am

More from Hong Kong, Summer 2010

As Yuling and I gear up to head to Cambodia and Thailand, I’ve decided to organize a section of images on this site that take place outside of Taiwan. The “Josh in Hong Kong” section above will soon be changing to a more general title and will link to our coming adventures in southeast Asia.

With this decision, I decided to go back and reprocess some of the images that I had from the last trip to HK. Starting off is another look at the famous Hong Kong skyline, seen originally in many images in this post. Saving RAW files is a lifesaver when it comes to making progress with my postprocessing. I’m very happy that I’ve got nearly every shot I’ve taken backed upon on an external hard drive.

Next off is a second attempt at the famous Tian Tan Giant Buddha. I took many images of this statue while visiting the first time and also followed up with a second post not too long ago. I prefer this version over the others as it uses contrast and color a bit better than my attempts beforehand.

The rest of the images are some leftover from the streets – the first two from Central District and the last from near Tsim Tsa Tshui, Kowloon.

   

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June 3, 2011 · 11:10 am

Tian Tan Giant Buddha, Hong Kong

This image is from nearly a year ago. As I’m hoping to get out of Taiwan for a few weeks this summer, I’ll have another post outside of Taiwan coming up in the near future, I hope. I’m looking at flying to Thailand in July. I would LOVE to do a Thailand-Cambodia trip, but a mix between Yuling’s preferences and the amount of time we have might constrict us. Oh, and I might be stopping in the Philippines, so I’ll wave hello to Odee!

Anyway, I was thinking about my photography when looking at this shot. It was taken with my then newly-purchased 70-300mm VR. This has been a great lens for me and got me into some bird/wildlife photography and gave me a closer look at shows. Unfortunately, the aperture is f/4.5-5.6, but it works fine for daylight shooting.

I like the image in that it’s pretty simple. The Buddha is a “giant” Buddha (see more images here) and is a massive sight to behold – yet quite touristy.

With that said, I was looking at what could’ve been done better. Processing sticks out as an issue. My shadows have little contrast and the top of the head is blown out by the sun. The sky gives an awkward range of colors and there could be more detail in the bronze of the statue.

On top of that, a giant shadow covers the face. While I can’t reshoot, it’s good to keep in mind for next time.

Perhaps I’ll retry the RAW file. It’s always good to breath new life into old photos.

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August 15, 2010 · 3:19 pm

Tian Tan Buddha, Ngong Ping (Hong Kong Post 3)

On day 3 of the Hong Kong trip, Yuling and I spent some time for the first half of the day visiting Ngong Ping, home of a famous “giant” Buddha, the Tian Tan Buddha I mentioned earlier.

The day started off with a cable car ride, which I refrained from shooting because I’m a stickler when it comes to getting the best shot with my lens.  The way I figured, why would I take a picture out of some plexiglass that will ruin the quality of my (expensive) camera lens?  Anyway, I did get this photo of these water droplets from condensation…

…interestingly, the place was a sort of Buddhist Disney World for the first part – as another blogger has mentioned.  On one hand, I saw this as unfortunate… but then again, kind of fascinating.  There were mascots (some kind of monkey thing) but no costumed performers.  The entire area was new – the “village” of shops and Western and Asian restaurants reeked of being manufactured while the statue itself was only completed in 1993.

Nonetheless, it was all a fascinating experience… after climbing 200+ steps, the visitor is introduced to quite a few sights.

The above is an HDR of some statues built to worship the giant Buddha.  All are also bronze and each has a different offering… I counted four of them, if I in fact remember correctly…

The above is a single-exposure of the view to the north… at the back side of the seated Buddha.

This was set up along the stairs to perhaps represent a pagoda or Joss chimney.  I thought it made a good contrast with the background.

If you look closely here, you can see the cable cars to the top left.

I’m not sure what kind of plant this is, but it does show the power of my new 70-300mm lens, as I was quite far away from the flower.

The last photo here shows this location as a great spot to put this Buddha.  Hong Kong’s mountains have this intermittent haze that really makes the place seem otherworldly – especially with a 150-foot Buddha seated on top of a mountain.

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August 13, 2010 · 5:10 pm

…and we’re back!

After three days of exploring Hong Kong, Yuling and I are back in Jhubei and quite exhausted. The great thing about not working until the end of this month is that I had today to sleep away – I didn’t get out of bed until about 11:30 – a good 11 or so hours of sleep.

During our three days, we were active during every waking hour – exploring nightmarkets, famous landmarks, and taking in the beautiful view of the city. I do have to say (and this is a good thing) that I prefer Taiwan. A few things work against HK – the fact that it’s so expensive, very Westernized, and sometimes just too touristy.

With that said, I’m glad I made the visit. I’ve at least got it off “the list” and have to say I did enjoy my time. I will be posting my first photo I’ve finished here for now – an HDR of the Tian Tan Giant Buddha, a massive bronze statue, and will be getting the rest of the trip’s photos up in time.

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