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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Trump International Hotel and Tower

August 02, 2017 by Ming Hung in People, Street Photography

No matter where you stand on the political spectrum there is no denying that the current president is making some noise. Closer to home the Trump Tower has become a gathering place for protesters, supporters, artists, and tourists.

The artist who created this sculpture was not being political, as this piece was made several years ago. Whoever decided to install it across the river from the tower was probably practicing some political commentary.

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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.

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Snowy Day in Chicago

March 09, 2017 by Ming Hung in landscape

We have not had accumulated snowfall for the months of January and February in Chicago. This has not happened in nearly 150 years. So I was glad that I went out on a heavy snowfall day back in December. The snow was wet and the flakes were big. I took advantage of the weather-sealed camera and lens combination of the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and the Fujinon XF35mmF2. I wore a good water repellent coat and a great pair of boots, but my pants were soaked in some spots so I was not completely comfortable. The camera and lens though? They performed phenomenally.

I wanted to show park spaces in downtown Chicago devoid of human presence. These spaces are often populated when it is warm so my goal was to show the exact opposite. It was a gray day and I decided to present the images in gray scale. Fujifilm's Acros film simulation is beautiful. Despite the highly-touted quality of the jpegs I used and worked with the RAW files.

This group of 106 head- and armless bodies is called Agora. They are iron sculptures crafted by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. They wander in every direction just off the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue.

This scene has become one of my personal favorite images. I was not particularly a fan of this park space at all, but it just looked so beautiful at the moment I walked by. I liked the symmetry of some of the scene. I actually got this one in one take. As you may know, we're not always so lucky with our shooting. Sometimes I take frame after frame and get nothing and move on. This was one of those happy moments I have as a photographer, knowing that I got the shot right away.

I made one decision to disturb the continuity of the series. The red and yellow sculptures in this park added a pop of color to an otherwise gray day and environment.

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