Ode to "Chinese Whiskers"

July 16, 2018 by Ming Hung in Animal Life, Photography

When photographer Marcel Heijnen moved to Hong Kong he noticed that there were cats in many of the shops, and he started a book project resulting in 2016's "Hong Kong Shop Cats." He has since expanded the project to include cats in outdoor markets and to dogs as well. Cats are kept in shops because they are seen as creatures of luck (a guess), or because they keep the mice and rats away, or for both reasons.

Heijnen's project brought back memories from my childhood of seeing cats in shops here in Chicago's Chinatown, as Chinese immigrants brought the practice of keeping cats in shops to America and elsewhere. The practice waned here as the years went by and I saw less and less cats in shops as I grew up. I was also going to shops with my mom less and less. I only go to such shops with my now-elderly mom when she needs a ride.

I drove her to an herbal shop a few days ago. She was at the counter talking with the shop owner and making a purchase. I did not notice the cat for the first five minutes I was in the shop. It had the chance to observe me. When I turned and saw it I immediately brought the camera to my eye. My original exposure was slightly under, as I forgot my camera was set at ISO 200--a little low for the setting. I made a quick shutter speed adjustment and took this shot.

I believe that having manual focus allowed me to take this shot. Animals notice the beam or signal emitted by cameras with auto focus, and they will look or run away. I got some decent eye contact from my subject that I may not have if I was shooting with AF. Sometimes low-tech is better.

I tried to crouch down to get a shot at a different perspective, and perhaps a better one than the first. However, I am not as quick as a cat. It decided to jump down and come over to greet me. Head to chinesewhiskers.com to see Heijnen's work.

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Dragon Lights Festival

June 03, 2018 by Ming Hung in Art, Colors, Culture

There was a Chinese lantern festival in Chicago at the end of April-beginning of May. This was a festival based on the idea of Chinese lanterns. These exhibits were not made of paper and they were lit electrically. Different companies and organizations sponsored different lantern displays. At the time these images were taken I only had one lens for my Leica M9-P, the 35mm Summicron, so I did not shoot very many images with depth like the one above.

I timed my arrival in order to get images during blue hour, just to have a little bit of interest rather than just a black sky.

I took this shot in to the light to see the qualities of flare from the 35mm Summicron. The colors from the M9-P's CCD sensor are still blowing me away. See the little baby turtle following?

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Chinese New Year Parade

February 08, 2017 by Ming Hung in People, Culture

There are two lunar new year parades in Chicago. These images are from the "south side" Chinatown. I am a lazy photographer, lol. I went out only twenty minutes before the parade was to start so I did not have a good spot from which to shoot. I must confess. I have not been to this parade since I was a child. So when I started the editing process I knew I wanted to use some film presets for a "retro" look. Only problem is that digital grain doesn't look exactly like film emulsion, but hopefully the mood comes across in my images.

I actually got a good spot for the lighting of these strings of firecrackers. Switching to the Fuji mirrorless camera system has been great. I can use the LCD screen on the back of the camera to shoot shots like this. I just stuck my arm up in the air and looked at the screen. I never shot with live view when I was in the Canon SLR system. I like the people across the street covering their ears.

Most of the time I spent at this spot I had to look through a window such as this. I need to be a little taller!

I was shooting pictures of Chinese members of the American Foreign Legion parading by when this gentleman walked into the scene. I included the image because I like this character.

I like it when the guys swoop the dragons down toward children in the crowd. Some kids delight in it and some show apprehension like the little girl in pink below.

I will forever have the lion dance drum and gong beat in my head.

I don't have great images from the parade, but it was still hard to keep the number of images here to a limit. I don't want these photo essays to be very long, but I don't have a very good reason for that either. I'm still trying to figure out what this blog is supposed to be.

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Lunar New Year

January 28, 2017 by Ming Hung in Culture

Happy lunar new year to those who celebrated today! I meant for this blog to be more about my creative process, but since it's a holiday for Chinese people (and other Asians) I decided to share what little I know about it.

This table was set up facing a window where we honored ancestors and some diety(?). We invited my grandparents to come "eat." Then we faced the table toward a portrait of my late father so that he could "eat" too. Then my mother and I ate for real.

I'm terrible because I don't know what anything symbolizes. I just go through the motions and do what my mother tells me to do, lol. I don't have children so these rites and traditions will end with me. And when my parents' generation passes, my cousins' kids would be the ones to carry them on if they wish.

Click images to view on black.