"fook wah mansions"

Posted by hugo poon (hong kong, Hong Kong) on 9 September 2008 in Cityscape & Urban and Portfolio.

Just an ordinary typical building of the early 60's across the street where I live today, but it keeps reminding me of the days when I was a boy...

Lyttelton Road, Hong Kong

PS. Taken in the same afternoon as yesterday's pic; the afternoon light and shadow were inspiring...

I do not regard myself as a photographer. I'm merely a guy who enjoys capturing all the memorable scenes that I encounter in my everyday life. Perhaps, it's like a traveller hoping to record his memorable journey, but in my case, it's the journey of my life ... If I can record my encounters in such a way that they leave an image on the mind of myself and other viewers, it's a tremendous joy and some accomplishment...
In terms of photography, I'm trying to preserve the moments as my eyes see "something" and my heart feels it too. As such, I seldom feel interested in planned, arranged or manipulated photographs...

http://www.pbase.com/hpicckcy

vfxy Photoblogs

Comments (8)

Elaine from Vancouver, Canada

sooooooo beautiful !!! you are exactly the kind of shooter i want to be... can you tell me what software you use to get that richness? i'm looking for good software to handle my images right out of the camera, any advice for me? i am on a mac, not a pc... thanks for any help you can give me, i'm going to favorite you if you are on VFXY so i can always come back

9 Sep 2008 8:29am

@Elaine: Oh Elaine, makes my day to read such wonderful words as yours! Thanks so much for stopping by!:-)

However, I might be disappointing you cause I'm still using an "old" and elementary software (the one I've been using since I took up photography in 2005) - PS Elements 3.0!! Maybe I'm not too much a fan of digital art and I find this software (with plugins like PTLens and Neat Image) still adequate.

That said, I do enjoy enhancing an image through some subtle and appropriate PP to "preserve and convey" the atmosphere that has caught my eyes and mind when the shot is being taken. For instance, in the present picture, the out-of-camera image was a little hazy; I improved it to that clarity in my mind's eye by boosting the contrast (using the technique of Local Contrast Enhancement). Secondly, the colourful details were a little distracting and I decided to desaturate the image a tad. Finally, I did add some sharpness (USM) to bring out the details and textures... These were about all and took me no more than several minutes to come to the final product.

BTW, I've visited your gallery and found alot inspiring and beautiful images!:-)

Have fun!
Hugo

Mirko Herzner from Mühlheim am Main, Germany

The light and shadow makes this one so special. You have a great eye for these details, Hugo!

9 Sep 2008 10:30am

GJC from Kyoto, Japan

This is marvelous. You chose the angle just right, and you got the composition just right with the light highlighting that white part which you put in the middle and then that lovely shaft of light coming from the right. Really admirable.

9 Sep 2008 12:44pm

dj.tigersprout from San Bruno, CA, United States

a beautiful shaft of light here on this local scene, Hugo -- your ability to capture the 'inner' moments of a city are just amazing -- you bring Hong Kong to life: vividly, romantically, sadly, joyfully -- the spread and wealth of emotion and experience in your photos is boundless! as always, amazingly seen and captured -- i have long ago begun to suspect that you REALLY ARE a photographer in disguise!!! of course i mean this in the best of ways!!! bravo!! :D

9 Sep 2008 4:17pm

Paolo from Italy

the more I look at your phot, the more I'm astonished by the darkness of the scene, except for that only shaft of light. It's a wonderful shot.

ciao

9 Sep 2008 6:15pm

Observing from West Cheshire, United Kingdom

I love how the light is slicing through the dark shadows, illuminating the old buildings and offering some relief from the dismal surroundings. Super shot Hugo.

9 Sep 2008 9:23pm

Ron from Saint Louis, United States

Beautiful light, Hugo, you caught it at the perfect time!

10 Sep 2008 12:31am

emily from Adelaide, Australia

great light and moment. did you have to wait for a bit? or the moment was jus right?

11 Sep 2008 8:52am

@emily: Thanks so much Emily! This is really a matter of luck and maybe a matter of patience as well... I have always wanted to photograph this building, and this light was exactly the "element" that would give the subject the right atmosphere. Glad I had the little photo machine with me when I saw this...

Add your comment ...

next day →

Fujifilm FinePix F100fd
1/600 second
F/3.6
ISO 100
10 mm