Vivian Maier

July 21, 2017 by Ming Hung in Urban Exploration, Art

I dabble in street photography. I am a recent dabbler so I do not know very many of the masters of the genre. However, the relatively recent discovery of Chicago-area nanny Vivian Maier's work sort of opened the door to street photography for me. Maier was a prolific shooter, and often had the kids she took care of in tow. Her work is brilliant.

Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra created this beautiful, colorful tribute to Maier. Her work was mostly shot on black and white film so I also made a monochrome version.

Click images to view on black.

Alone at Work

July 12, 2017 by Ming Hung in Black and White

I have not been out shooting very much in recent weeks, as I am in the middle of a nine-week classroom and on-the-job-training regimen for a new position at work. However, during an earlier training session a few months ago I took a few shots inside the training facility. We are required to complete annual and quarterly recurrent lessons in a computer lab. I usually zip through them and am often left to my own devices afterward. When there are not classes of new hires for various departments in the building then there are not very many people in the building at all, especially during afternoon and evening shifts. I was able to wander the halls of the building alone for a while.

I really liked the light cast and shadows created on the concrete walls in the shots above and below. The building is relatively old so I wanted some shots before it gets torn down some time next year. I will have to shoot some more when I get the chance.

Click on images to view on black.

Happy Accidents

June 09, 2017 by Ming Hung in Black and White

I have been having trouble keeping this blog updated. I go shooting frequently, but I do not want to use this blog as an image dump--I also want to write more meaningfully about the photographic process. The drought temporarily ended yesterday with a happy accident. Happy accidents happen in photography just as they do in life. The backstory on this is that I have not ridden my bicycle very much at all over the last few years, including not riding it even once last year. So a few days ago a buddy reached out and asked if I wanted to go for a bike ride. I agreed, and we laid out a specific course because there was a sculpture I wanted to take some photos of.

The stainless steel piece titled Looking Up is by American artist Tom Friedman. It stands 33.3 feet tall and currently stands near 53rd Street along Chicago's lakefront. This is one of three such figures looking up to the heavens. One is a proof and another stands in New York City.

The happy accident here was the position of the sun. I did not plan to be there at that exact moment. I have driven past the sculpture on several occasions and never stopped to shoot. Several things had to happen: my friend had to reach out, I had to not come up with an excuse not to meet him, and I had to arrive at that time. My images would have been boring without an element of interest in the sky, and I would have taken fewer frames. I was delighted when I arrived and saw the sun where it was. That is not to say that I would not return when the sky above is really cloudy.

If not for the position of the sun I would not have played around with as many angles as I did. I would not have played with flaring as I did in the above image. What is a happy accident that happened to you in your photographic experiences?

Click images to view on black.

One Year In

April 10, 2017 by Ming Hung in Photography

I have been using the Fujifilm X-Pro2 for a little over a year now, and it has been the best shooting experience I have ever had. Many have likened it to Leica's system in looks and feel. I would not go that far, but I will agree with what has been described as an "organic" shooting experience for the Fuji X system. I look down on the camera and my exposure triangle controls (for ISO, aperture, and shutter speed) are right there. I can have all my settings down before I even turn on the camera.

I learned to shoot in the film days, and the first camera that I used that made me want to go out and shoot with it was the Nikon F2. I owned some non-memorable cameras before and after it, and that F2 was brilliant. Fast forward a decade and I made the jump to digital. Canon's 5D mark II was the camera that I have used most. It was a terrific camera. I was content. Then mirrorless cameras started coming out. A friend of mine bought Fujifilm's X-E1. I liked it, but not enough to replace the 5D. But the 5D really started weighing on me. I was getting tired of carrying the size and weight of the camera and gear, especially when shooting all weekend at conventions. Then I discovered the Sony a6000. No, it did not look professional at all, but bang-for-the-buck it was one of the best deals I have seen. It had some great features all packed into a tiny body. And Zeiss lenses! Yet it was not enough to get me to sell my Canon gear.

Then Fujifilm announced the X-Pro2. I had never even noticed the X-Pro1, but I started reading about the X-Pro2. Then I started reading and watching review articles and videos. I was sold before I even touched the camera. I ordered one. I was excited. When I got it I was in love. The rangefinder style fit my way of shooting, and brought me back to my childhood, using my father's Konica. It was not long before I sold my Canon gear and fully bought into the Fuji X system. This camera makes me want to go out and shoot. What camera(s) have made you want to go out and shoot?

I shot this image with the Sony a6000, lol.

Click image to view on black.

GAS - Gear Acquisition Syndrome

March 26, 2017 by Ming Hung in Photography

I have owned a fair amount of cameras and lenses over the last 15-20 years. I am not a collector of any cameras, as I do not have any vintage gear sitting on my shelves. Even my favorite cameras are gone. But no matter what brand and system I was using at any given time I had GAS. Many photographers suffer from Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Those of us who suffered had to have gear--the latest and the greatest. I could not afford the latest and the greatest, but I did buy my fair share of gear that I never needed, only wanted. Having a lot of stuff has not made me a better photographer. That was something I had to learn the hard way--too bad for my wallet.

My current kit consists of one body, the Fujifilm X-Pro2. And less than 10 lenses, lol. I mostly carry the two "Fujicron" lenses, the 23mm and the 35mm. They are both F2 and weather-sealed like the camera body. The lenses are tiny! I have pared down my day bag to just the camera and these two lenses and a few miscellaneous items. In the past I felt I needed to carry more lenses to cover a wider focal range, but my body ached. I had to learn to just "see" in one or two focal lengths, and that's how I operate now. The Fuji X system is really "knocking it out of the park" for me.

Click images to view on black.