My wife and I just returned from a nice trip to Hong Kong and Macau. I got to use a friend’s wedding as an excuse to sneak away from my desk for a nice 5 days of good food and street photography. It was good to get out from behind the computer and away from golf clubs… since we all need a break from golf once in a while don’t we? I brought along my Sony a33 camera and the very versatile DT16-105mm lense as well as one fast Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens while my wife brought her trusty Lumix GF-1.
We arrived a few days before Chinese New Year,which many people warned would be a mistake as Hong Kong would be overflowing with visitors… and they were right. We planned all our walk arounds by ourselves and focused on Tsim Sha Tsui where we were staying as well as Sheung Wan and Causeway Bay. Hong Kong is a colorful city with a hustling life to it that rivals that of Tokyo’s. I actually found Tokyo far more spacious as it felt like a lot more people were crammed into the much smaller area of Hong Kong.
While I still am learning photography, I’ve taken a liking to shooting on the streets especially buildings, and abstract views and even walls while still getting used to shooting people. Both Hong Kong and Macau are filled with character, and the buildings and streets scream color through their wear and tear and and natural surroundings. The Sony a33 did admirably and again not only proved easy to use but also easy to handle with its slightly smaller size compared to other DSLR type cameras.
Amazingly as colorful as Hong Kong and Macau were, I found that shooting in black and white or even with less color saturation brought out a very artistic look in the images. We pretty much walked everywhere and took the MTR for long hauls. The food was awesome, eating yam cha, wonton noodles, fried rice and lots of very nice sweets which kept us going and taking photos through the day.
We had a wonderful trip as the weather was very cooperative. We enjoyed a beautiful wedding and got to see Japan win the Asian Cup Soccer in a sports bar along with other diehard Japanese soccer fans which is something we did not expect to do in Hong Kong. Best of all I’m very glad that I have found another hobby besides golf to share with my wife as she took more pictures than I did. We will certainly go back again.
I am still catching up on my emails and there is a lot to do as we are only 2 weeks away from the Japan Golf Fair. Though I didn’t really ask for them, Titleist shipped over the new 910 fairway wood demos so I think tomorrow I’ll do a comparison with the perennial champion egg Spoon. On another note, I’m proud to say that Tourspecgolf has official passed the 10,000 customer mark which I think is quite a feat and I’d have to say kudos to Chris and Jacque for building such a great place for Japanese golf clubs.
In the mean time please enjoy a few more pictures (all the pictures in this post are using the Sony a33)! Click on the album below to see the pictures.
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love those pics T, travel to HK heaps but still amazed what you have captured.
Tario, thanks for the pics! I haven’t been to Hong Kong in years but I am now stoked to go back! Last time I was there I stayed, believe it or not, at the YMCA Hotel. The views across to Hong Kong island were incredible and from what I’ve heard it’s still there. Anyway thanks for the memories!
Jim
Hong Kong is a favorite city of mine as well. I spent a few days last year wandering around before heading off to Shanghai. They were not enough.
Nice pics, dude. Jealous. Will you adopt me or give me a job as your slave?
Haha, don’t need a slave but you can carry my camera bag. (^_^)
Tario, I can say without a doubt – I want your life. Travel, golf, time for several interests. Awesome.
Your Message
We love Hong Kong.
Its action, friendly, great eats, markets and day trips etc.
Your pictures do not do HK justice.
Sure there are some seedy parts of town.
It sure is a great place. If you read my post a little more carefully I loved Hong Kong, and we had a great time. For exactly the reasons you said.
I never once said it was seedy. Hong Kong is awesome. And the best part is not the modern aspect or glitter or typical tourist spots everyone knows about, its the character of the older buildings and structures which tell so many stories. A lot of these friendly locals live in these wonderful artistic parts of town. I didn’t know it was my duty to take pictures to do Hong Kong justice… just like any other photographer I took pictures of things that caught my eye and looked interesting to me. (^_^)