麥克西的世界
高爾夫球，攝影，旅遊，講笑話，寫寫心得，這就是我工作、家庭以外的小世界。
My Learning Experience in Photography（1）
以下是我2008年夏天開始正式自學攝影以來寫的心得筆記。第一集大部分是在2009年年初寫成，最近作了一些加補。更新的經驗放在第二集，是2009年8月後寫的。以後也會繼續。
現在貼上來和大家分享。在攝影上，我仍是初學者。把自己的經驗寫下來，原意是給我自己用，不是用來教別人。有錯之處，還請指教。
I like taking notes when I learn new things. It’s a habit I had since my 12 years of training as a scientist. I did so when I learned golf, which benefited me greatly to lower my score to my personal best of 79. I also did it when I learned photography. I am still doing it today since I am still learning it.
These notes are written for my own benefits. However, I realize that others can also read it to share the experience. I didn’t mean in anyway to teach others on such a subject.
Introduction
I got hooked into photography as a hobby because of one picture - a picture of a whale tale I shot during our family cruise trip to
We took a whale watching excursion at Juno with about 30 people from the cruise. We got onto a bus ride first to a smaller ocean port where we boarded a boat. The boat took us around the bay to find the whale. After about 30 minutes ride and circling around we found a few whales. Boats are allowed to follow the whale for only 30 minutes and then we have to leave the whale alone. And we can't get too close to the whale.
You can imagine the excitement each time we see a whale. All of us brought out our cameras to capture the moment the whale flips its back and tale above the water. Cameras just kept clicking when that happens. I was using a Canon Powershot 950 at that time. After seeing the whale as close as we can, the boat was heading back to the port. Many of us started checking their cameras to review their pictures and share the good ones. I noticed that I made a great shot - with the tale in the air with water drops dripping down. It was a perfect shot - the best shot in the group. Of course my camera was not the best among the group. Far from it. Every one got really excited to see my picture. I heard allot of "wow" and praises. They were all amazed that I made that shot with a Canon "dumb" camera.
Incidentally the crew were selling a few post cards on the boat. I noticed one that looked similar to mine. So I jokingly told them that I didn't make my shot. I simply shot it on the post card. Every one laughed and some actually believed that story. Later I had to prove indeed that my whale photo was real and not a fake by showing the sequence of shots I made before and after that great shot.
That made my day. That was the best feeling I ever had from taking a photo. From that moment on, I realize that great pictures can bring satisfaction just like a great shot in golf. The difference is that a photo can be saved and shared with many people around the world and for many years, but a great golf shot most often can't.
At that point, I decided to become serious on photography. I officially took photography as another hobby of mine. I am writing this blog to document my learning process from a casual/novice photographer to a photographic enthusiast and to an amateur or semi-professional photographer. Hopefully these writings will be beneficial to many readers in the years to come.
Please note that I will write and rewrite this blog over time. I will add pictures and edit the write-up along the way. So stay tuned.
Printing Pictures
Another reason that I got hooked on digital photography was that I truly enjoyed seeing the photos I printed from Walgreen's. The vivid color from the prints are so much more brilliant than what are shown on the computer screen. I just love seeing them.
Previously I rarely printed pictures from my digital cameras. I normally just stored them on my computer. Occasionally I printed some on my laser printer but the result were not that good.
After I returned from
I loved every one of them. They look great. I never realized that the prints can make me to feel so good to look at. Seeing my pictures in larger, professional prints made me wanting to shoot more.
A few words on Walgreen's.
Printing from Walgreen's was a great experience for me. The quality is great and consistent over time. The speed is fast and location is very convenient. I often drop the files off in the morning on my way to work and pick them up on the way home in the afternoon. The price is very competitive. I can now get 8x10 printed at $1.25 each. In comparison, CVS is more expensive and the staff was not as friendly.
I have printed so many pictures at the local store that I have befriended almost every one working at that photo counter. They were the first ones to see, share, and enjoy my pictures. All of them gave me positive feedback. Some of them encouraged me to enter countests and they all said they look like post cards.
Golf Photography
The third reason I fell in love with photography is the subject I chose for my pictures - golf course(s). I have been playing golf for a couple of years now. I am now combining two of my hobbies - golf and photography.
I thought to have interesting photography I must interesting subject. Since I live on a golf course and often play golf, taking pictures of golf courses and the surroundings would make perfect sense. There are many great advantages of golf photography:
(1) I spend time on golf courses anyway
(2) The entire golf course is within 30 minutes walking distance from where I live. The subject is available to me 24/7 all season and all year round. I can go back to any spot to retake pictures at all kinds of weather.
(3) I can use a golf cart to transport me and my equipment from spot to spot. I can also use golf cart as a blind some times.
(4) By design golf courses are beautiful landscapes with many features such as hills, trees, and water. Well, they are not quite natural, but they are as close as we can get these days in a big city like
(5) The photos and walking on the course may help my golf game since I'll study the surroundings well, especially around the green.
(6) Golf photography may be of great commercial value, especially to members of a country club.
I coined the word golfotogrpahy and has registered the domain name. I am serious.
How to Learn Photography? -- Things to Get Started
I realize that I have a steep learning curve to climb to become a good photographer. I want to learn it as fast as I can. The first things I did were:
(1) Upgrade my camera. I wanted to do it slowly. I want to experience cameras from the basic ones to the professional ones one step at a time as part of my learning process. I bought a G9 first. Then 50D. Then 5D Mark II. And soon 1Ds Mark III. I believe having such a process will let me learn more about what a camera can do for a photographer. Of course, this is also an expensive process. Hopefully, what I learned can be beneficial not only to myself but to other readers and friends. I'll give details of what I leared from each camera and the results.
(2) Buy more than 10 photographic books from Amazon.com and a local "Haf Price" book store. It's my philosopy that whenever I want to learn something I always start from the books of that subject.
(3) Start talking to some friends who also love photography, especially Dr. Xu who is a family practice doctor. Dr. Xu happens to be the current chair of the Chinese Photography Association in
(4) Subscribe to a few great photography magazines. I already have National Geography for years, but when I open them again and see the astonishing nature photographs there I re-discovered the magazine as a treasured learning place.
I had a photographer inside me a long time ago
I have always been a lover of photography since my twenties. I dig out some shoe boxes of old pictures. I found quite some artistic pictures without people in them that I took before. Obviously the quality is not as nearly good as the ones I have now; but nevertheless they show that I have had a little photographer in me a long time ago.
Film vs. Digital
By now the verdict for this fight is already long over. However, I would like to share my personal experience of migrating from film to digital.
Like most people I've been a long-time film user before the arrival of digital cameras. However, I did try to convert to digital early on. My first digital camera was a Sony floppy drive model, which I later upgraded once to another Sony floppy model. I must have gone through five digital cameras before my Canon 50D.
The early models of digital camera did not offer high enough resolution; so for many years I didn't bother to print them. The pocket cameras served me well when I traveled around the world to visit computer shows. During the transit time period of 2004-2007 I sometimes carry both film and digital cameras. Not until 2007 or 2008, I realized that the prints from digital camera pictures are just as good if not better than the film ones. As a result, I totally converted to digital and will not go back to film again.
A big drawback of digital cameras
There are countless advantages of digital cameras such as ease to use, which are well documented. However, I do want to point out one big drawback of digital cameras, namingly it's constant ugprade to newer and better models. As a result, the equipment of digital cameras is becoming very expensive especially for those who always look for the latest technology. Needless to say, that is great news for camera makers.
Here is a list of digital cameras that I have went through over the years:
Sony Digital mavica MVC-FD5
Canon PowerShot SD100 3.2MP
Casio Exilim EX-S100 3.2MP
Canon PowerShot SD550 7.1MP
Canon PowerShot SDxxx
Canon PowerShot SD950 12.1MP
Canon PowerShot G9 (July 2008)
Canon 50D Digital SLR 15MP (October 2008)
Canon 5D Mark II Digital SLR 21MP (Jan 2009)
Canon Mark III (soon???)
Most recent: These are for “people shots,” kids to play, and backups
Canon PowerShot SD870 (very small, pocket size; convenient)
Canon PowerShot SDxxx (for underwater)
Here is a list of film cameras that I used to use:
Canon SLR (forgot model), which I used for many years before breaking
Another one, which I forgot the model
Olympus Sylus Epic Zoom 170
My experience with Casio Exilim
The reason I bought the Casio credit-card sized camera was the small size. But I paid a price for it. Not only the initial price is higher; but the durability of the product was not as good as the bigger Canon models. I went through two Casio Exilim EX-S100. Both ended up dead within a year.
That made me to stay with Canon over the years.
(Note: Casio did replace one of them quickly. My experience was limited only to that particular Casio model)
My experience with Canon G9
G9 is the best point-and-shoot camera from Canon. It received excellent reviews online when I did a search.
In August 2008 I bought the Canon G9 from a distributor. In the beginning I like this small cameras. G9 fits me well at that time. I was preparing for a trip to Beijing Olympics. Later I regret that I didn't buy a more power one; but I didn't know better at that time. The G9 served me reasonably well during that trip. I got quite some good shots. It was small enough for me to carry it around.
The G9 has an "aquarium" shot setting, which is great for night scene shots and gives a red-color tone that I liked.
When I came back from
As you can tell, I still have a very long way to go.
Update: G9 is now updated to G10.
My experience with Canon 50D
As I became more and more interested in photography, I realized that I have to upgrade my camera further.
In October 2008 I bought a Canon 50D from Amazon. 50D is a new model from Canon at that time. I almost bought a 30D on sale at a local Wolf Camera shop. I was glad that I waited for the release of 50D.
Some people suggested me to buy Nikon. I have always been using Canon. My first DLR camera was a Canon - some 15 years ago, which broke about 10 years ago. I decided that I don't want to switch the brand to relearn everything.
50D was a great choice. But it was not a full-frame, which I regret later. In the first two months I owned the 50D, I shot more than 10,000 pictures with it. It was a great learning experience. The trial and error process let me to experiment many of the photographic concepts and functions. Here are a few examples of what I learned from the 50D.
Advantages of raw files
The minute I owned the 50D I started shooting in raw files. My photography friends always suggest me to use raw files before; but I felt that the jpg files were just fine. I didn't understand why the raw files are more advantageous. When I asked around, the answer was that the raw file contains more info than jpg. I thought the jpg files have enough information already. The other reason I didn't shoot with raw file on the G9 after experimenting with it was because the software that came with the G9 to review raw files didn't work. I suspect that I received a bad CD but I didn't have time to mess with that. So I kept shooting with jpg on the G9.
The Digital Photo Pro software that came with the 50D worked. I was able to review the raw files right away. The more I started learning on how to use that software the more I like it. I have finally figured out the true advantage of raw files: great control for manupulation of the picture. The raw file allows us to change and modify the color of each of the pixel in the picture without sacrifying the quality of the picture. The JPG files can't do that. Each time we edit a JPG file it loses some resolution.
I started shooting in raw only. No more JPGs.
Depth of Field - Av Control
Previously with PS and G9 I always liked to shoot with the factory set scene mode parameters. I didn't want to bother with the aperture and time control. I thought that was too much trouble. Why do it manually when everything can be automated by the factory?
Then I realized that I have to increase the depth of field for my landscape shots. The automatic shooting modes do not allow that. So I had to experiment with the AV control - Aperture value/priority. By setting up the aperture small, I was able to control the depth of field, which was made easy by the SLR 50D.
I also learned from reading that control of depth of field is the best indicator of the skills of a photographer. I am surely on the right path to master it. Of course I also experimented and learned on how to do time and ISO control. I can now vary ISO, time, and aperture of my shots at ease.
I still use the Landscape and Sport pre-settings on the 50D some times for good reasons.
Shooting speed matters
Even though I got some good shots at the women's gymnastics team finals and individual all-around finals with my G9, the camera was clearly not fast enough, even with the Sports shooting mode. It shoots only 0.6 frames per second (fps).
The 50D shoots at 6 fps. I can get much clearer pictures of moving subjects. I can now shoot great pictures of birds, animals, and sports. The camera makes a huge difference for this purpose.
Importance of different filters
I bought a circular polarizer filter first from a local store. At the first, it was exciting to see the much enhanced blue color of the sky and reflections on the water surface. It was also amazing that the polarizer can differentiate the reflective lights off a surface and the light that goes through. However, After a couple of weeks of testing it, I was disappointed that the filter gives uneven blue color. Some areas are bluer than the others. I don't know how to minimize that. I asked my photography friend, he said that the problem is inherent to the filter. I now very seldom use the filter.
The second filter I got was a UV filter. This one is not that useful. It is designed to block UV component from the sunlight. I rarely use it. However, it serves as a great lens protection. At one time I saw a professional who uses a UV filter all the time.
I know the most useful filter is the graduated neutral density filter. The local store didn't carry one that fits my lense. I finally searched on Amazon and found one made by. This was a great weapon. A must have for landscaping photography. Since I started shooting landscaping under sunrise and sunset conditions, I always encourter this problem: Uneven exposure from the sky and the land. My photography friend suggest to use Photoshop to solve this problem by "lighting up" the darker land area. But I didn't want to use Photoshop. So I decided to give GND a try.
GND really works. It makes the exposure much evener. I love it. It's a must-have for landscaping photography. I am now hoping to get a 1/3 GND and 2/3 GND so that I can get different sections of the frame to be darked/lighted at the time of the shot.
The GND I have is a circular one. It's sometimes annoying to find out that I forgot to turn the filter around when switch from landscaping shots to portrait shots. I have seen rectangular GND filters online and would like to give those a try.
After I received my Canon 5D, I also bought a few neutral density filters. These are designed to darken the entire picture to different levels. I thought that is not necessary since the digital cameras come with controls to adjust the brightness of the entire frame.
I think it would be much harder to mount filters on the G9 or other point-and-shoot cameras. There goes another great advantage of SLRs.
Importance of different lenses
This is one of the greatest advantages of SLR. I can change the lenses on the same camera.
I bought a few different lenses to try. The standard 18-200mm EFS lens that came with the 50D was a good preliminary lens with versatility for length. However, it does not work on Canon 5D Mark II. So I upgraded it to EF 24-105mm/4L lens after I got my 5D. I have used it extensively for landscaping ever since.
But the 24-105mm was not long enough for wild life. So I bought an inexpensive Canon EF 70-300mm/4-5.6L IS next to try. This is better but still not good enough and I used it only for a short period of time.
Later I bought a Canon EF 100-400mm/4.5-5.6L, which I used quite often. It’s great for outdoor wild life in short and relatively long distance and zoom in on a close subject for blurring the background. However, a few months ago, I found that lens does not do that well indoors or at night when the light is not that strong. The lens size (4.5-5.6) is still too small, making the speed not fast enough.
Recently I bought a Canon EF 70-200mm/2.8L. Many people recommended this lens. The larger lens (2.8) for the entire distance makes it much better for sports shots. I can easily shoot at 500 and above shuttle speeds indoors and at evenings when light is not strong and still get very clear pictures on moving subjects. Unfortunately, the distance may not be long enough.
I think eventually I'll need a 500mm or 800mm with 2.8L. I’ll also buy a fish-eye lens.
I bought and experimented a 100mm fixed macro lens and a 50mm macro lens. The macro lenses are great for shooting micro features; however, they are harder to work with because of the extremely narrow depth of field. Manual focusing works better.
After I received the 5D, I realized that the quality and thus the prices vary greatly from one lens to another. The standard 18-200 EFS lens that came with the 50D does not work on the 5D. The better 5D lenses are marked as EF with a red line on the head and designed as "L" series. As a rule of thumb the larger in diameter the lens is, the better and more expensive.
The Image Stablizer (IS) feature of Canon lenses are great and must-haves.
For curiosity, I did try a 35-500mm/8 lens made by
Problems with Canon 50D
50D is not a perfect camera. Here are some of the problems I encountered:
The sensor is very easy to become dirty. Sensor cleaning didn't always work. I know it's a sensor rather than lense problem because after I switching a lens, the same dot still appears in the same spot. I think I should have returned the 50D to Canon to get it either fixed or exchanged.
The other annoying thing is that allot of times I shoot with 2 second wait timer mode on Av. But the Landscaping and Sport settings, the minimum wait time is 10 second. When I switching from the Av mode to these other modes, the 10 second wait time kicks in automatically, which means I may lose some good timing and shots as a result.
The most serious problem with the camera is the fact that it's not a full-frame camera. I still do not know the true advantages of a full-frame camera, yet. But after seeing the advantages of the 50D over G9, I am willing to try a full-frame. I am ready now.
My experience with Canon 5D Mark II
In January 2009, I bought a Canon 5D Mark II from eBay. eBay saved me about $300. I bought it with an EF 24-105mm/4L IS lens. This is a new model with full-frame sensor.
I received my Canon 5D Mark II today. When I opened the shipping box, I said, "what?" The original Canon box was open. The seal was broken. I bought it from eBay that says it's brand new. I checked the inside contents. Everything seems to be there. The camera itself seems to be fine.
The raw files can't be read by the Digital Photo Pro software that came with the 50D, even though the same version (3.5) of the software came with the 5D. That is very inconvenient for people who do upgrades like I did.
Later I installed the DPP software that came with the 5D on the same computer with the 50D software. Magically, the updated DPP now reads raw files from both cameras.
When I was leaving a feedback for the purchase on eBay, I sent a message to the seller to tell them about the broken seal. The next day a CS rep called back with heavy
Update: I have been using the 5D for more than half a year now. It has become my primary camera. I have been using the 50D as the secondary and for more casual shots. A few things about the 5D amazed me:
(1) The battery life is amazingly long. Talking about battery, I have to write down this experience. Before the cruise trip to
(2) 5D is much lighter than the 1Ds Mark III. Even though eventually I’ll get a 1Ds, but I think I’ll probably enjoy the 5D more just for the weight.
(3) 5D not necessarily gets me clearer pictures than the 50D, but it certainly gave me an even larger size, which makes it easier to crop.
What I Learned from the Books?
I bought more than 10 books on photography since I took on this hobby. Here are a list of the books:
Art Wolfe, "The Inside Passage to Alaska," 2008
Art Wolfe, "on Puget Sound," 2007
Art Wolfe, "The Living Wild," 2000
Art Wolfe, "Pacific Northwest," 1998
Martha Hill and Art Wolfe, "The Art of Photographing Nature," 1993
Mark Kelly, "Alaska's Tracy Arm & Sawyer Glaciers," 2005
Mark Kelly and John Hyde, "Alaska's Watchable whales," 2004
David Ward, "Landscape within - Insights and inspiration for photographers," 2004
Tim Fitzharris, "National Audubon Society Guide to Landscape Photography," 2007
Joe cornish, "Light and the Art of Landscape Photography," 2003
Rob Sheppard, "The Magic of Digital Nature Photography," 2007
Tony Sweet, "Fine Art Nature Photography," 2002
Michael Busselle, "Special Effects and Photo-Art," 2006
Derrick Story, "Digital Photography Hacks," 2004
Michael Wright, "Digital Photography - All you need to know," 2006
Philip Andrews, "The New Digital Photography Manual," 2007
Jeff Wignall, "Kodak guide to Shooting Great Travel Pictures," 2000
Ben Owen, "Digital Photography Step by Step," 2006
Ruon E. Simmons and Bates Littlehales, "National Geographic Photography Field Guide - Birds," 2002
Heather Angel, "The Book of Nature Photography," 1982
Paul Harcourt Davies, "The Photographer's Practical Handbook," 2005
Kevin L. Moss, "Camera Raw with Photoshop for Dummies," 2006
I bought the books on Alaska during our cruise trip to Alaska in summer 2008. The other books were bought either from Amazon.com or from a local Half Price bookstore.
Reading these books and seeing the sample pictures are a great way to learn photograph. Here are a few things I learned from these books:
Depth of field is very important to landscaping photography. It's amazing that the greatest landscape photos have very deep depth of field for both front and back items - an indication of photography with small aperture, full-frame camera, and a tripod.
The lens, shutter speed and aperture data on the pictures in most of these books are very useful information. They taught me what lens, shuttle speed, and aperture to use for various picture situations.
The greatest benefit is to learn how to use different light effects and the composition skills.
Photography by Scanlan's
During our 2008 Christmas skiing trip to
After the visit I bought their book, John and Debora Scanlan, "Windows to the World," 2006, which contains most of their artwork displayed for sale in their shop. Great photography. It's great that some one figured out a way to profit from photography.
SLEC - Subject, light, exposure, and composition
In a book which I forgot which one, I read the acronym "L.C.D." to indicate three important factors in photography - Light, Composition, and Digital Exposure.
I have modified it with my own term - SLEC - Subject, light, exposure, and composition. These are what I call essential elements of photography in the right sequence of considerations.
We have to choose the subject to shoot first. The subject can also be called stories or concepts. What stories do you want your picture to tell? Ideally, there should be more than one story in each picture without complicating the picture itself. We can't photograph everything in the world. We have to make some choices. To have an interesting picture, it must have an interesting subject.
For me here are my favorite photographic subjects: nature, golf, landscaping, wild life, and our vacation travels.
Once I decide what to shoot, the next important element is to choose the light conditions and related colors. For nature photography, choosing the light condition means choosing the time of the day to shoot your picture. The best time of the day to shoot is in the early morning (60%) and late afternoon (30%) when the sunlight presents very unique color and lighting angles. I shoot during the other day time only 10% of the time.
Exposure means that the exposure of your picture must be just right - not too dark and not too bright.
The last variable is composition. Once you have the perfect story to tell, light to shoot, and exposure, you still need to choose the right composition - what elements to include in your picture and how you present multiple elements in one picture.
To have a perfect picture, I look for a perfect SLEC. Next time I am shooting a picture, I'll think of my SLEC.
I am now a weather watcher
Ever since I took on photography, I learned allot from the nature - particularly the weather. I learned what weather conditions would create the most photogenic conditions. The best weather is when there is some cloud in the sky but it's not completely covered by cloud. The cloud pieces give brilliant colors once under sunrise and sunset. Previously, I check weather forecast for my golf games.
Now I do it also for photography. The most exciting weather condition is when there is fog in the air. The moisture mist is one of the most photogenic conditions in nature. It hides allot of unnecessary details and give scenes layers.
I have learned how to predict weather patterns. For example, during a cold front, the sky is often very blue. When the weather warms up, it often forms interesting clouds. I can "predict" the sky pattern by watching outside of my bedroom window to determine whether it is a good or a bad day for my photography.
Why I am refusing to use Photoshop.
There are several reasons.
First of all, the majority of my regular work is done on computers. I am often on a computer 5-7 hours each day. I already have symptoms of copper tunnel syntrom (CTS). I don't want take on another hobby that requires more computer work.
Secondly, photoshop work is time-consuming. I don't have that much time.
Third, I truly enjoy the photo-taking process - outdoors, fresh air, great scenes, etc. But I don't enjoy the articulate, and sometimes painful process of photo editing a photo in great details.
The last but not the least reason I am still refusing to use Photoshop is because I don't want to give people any impression that some of my work was "composed" or created by Photoshop. I want to be able to tell people that I don't use Photoshop at all.
I do use Canon's Digital Photo Pro to modify my photos such as removing sensor dust spots and adjusting color saturation. However, there is a large difference between this software and Photoshop. DPP makes changes often to affect the entire picture, with the exception of the cropping and stamping tools. DPP does not allow layers or cutting and pasting between pictures.
2008
We went to
I took over 1000 pictures in
Sweetwater Country Club
I decided to give myself the task of "photographing beauty within two miles of my house." Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. If we look hard enough, we can find beauty everywhere.
I happen to live on Sweetwater Country Club,
"I shot a bold eagle"
When I was shooting pictures of a white bird and a few ducks in a pond, I noticed that there is a big bird flew by. I changed the shooting mode to Sports right away and clicked away a few pictures of that bird against a blue sky. I didn't give too much thought to those pictures and got back to watching and shooting for the bird and ducks.
When I got back home and started processing the pictures, I noticed that the flying bird I shot was actually an American bold eagle. I was really amazed and wowed by it. How come there is bold eagle in
About a few months later, I saw another bold eagle flying low and right by me through the fairway of Cypress No. 18. That bird had just caught a small bird or animal and was flying with her catch! Unfortunately, my camera's auto focus was not quick enough for me to catch a picture.
"I shot a dear"
On this morning, I was walking around the green area between Cypress Hole No. 17 and 18, I suddenly saw two deer across a creek from me. They were eating grass on the creek bank. I immediately started shooting them. I got a few very good shots. The deer may have heard my camera's clicking noise or noticed me, they became very alert and raised their heads. Later they ran across the golf course,
across the street in front of the club house, and disappeared through Cypress No. 4. When they were crossing the street, one of them was almost hit by a car.
I have lived in
Ever since I got my 50D I always wanted to shoot a deer to document the existence of these big animals within the city of
Luckily I got them today. I am very happy even though the pictures are not as artistic as I would like. When I showed these pictures to my friends most of them were also amazed and asked "are these near your house?"
I just hope that I didn't disturb them as much as I did.
A Sad Story
I know one of my best friends in
Here is his blog showing his pictures:
http://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog.php?blogID=21751
I like his pictures for many reasons: (1) I like his artistic presentation very much. Some of his pictures look like an oil painting, some water-color, and some others like Chinese painting. (2) I also like the colors of his pictures. He obviously tried very hard to make sure each of his color pictures have dramatic colors. (3) His photographic technical skills are excellent, not only in controlling sharpness, depth of field, but also in arranging his compositions. Over the years he has coned his skills.
Youqin is now taking chemotherapy. I wish him the best luck in fighting the cancer. I will be traveling to LA to see him and his family soon. I wish him the best of luck.
Update: It’s very saddened to note that my great friend Youqin Xie passed away on June 30, 2009 in
Canon vs. Nikon
There seem to be two camps of photographers as far as advanced photographic equipment is concerned. One camp uses Canon. The other uses Nikon. People use one but not the other. Rarely they got mixed.
I am now firmly in the Canon camp.
我的攝影學習筆記第2集 My Learning Experience in Photography 2
