CameraTalk

There is a Way to Hue – the Hai Van Pass

Alex Harrison — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:08:54 +0000

Hue, pronounced “way” is a major city in the middle of the east coast of Vietnam.

More than 2000 years ago, this region was part of the Nam Viet Empire. The realm of Champa was the ruling party which had reigned over this region for 17 centuries (quite a long time in anyone’s books).

In the 1300s, the King of Champa handed the region over to the Vietnamese. Hue came into being in 1307 after the Champa King Jaya Sinhavarman III handed the city over to Vietnam in exchange for marrying a princess of the Tran dynasty. Now that’s what I call a land swap.

The name Hue originated from the mispronunciation of the term Hoa. In the 19th century, Hue was the capital of the Nguyen dynasty, the region having been under French colonists since 1883. This period produced some beautiful buildings in the city, including the Citadel.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Gia Long, the first Emperor of the Nguyen dynasty, carried out a large scale planning and new construction, making Hue the Capital of the whole country.

We hired a driver and set off from Hoi An via Da Nang, then on to the Hai Van Pass bound for Hue. The spectacular scenery is something to behold (as are the hundreds of cows on the road), not to mention full loaded semi-trailers on both sides of the road (up and down).

The photos are of that short journey. The next blog will cover the Hue Citadel and other stuff.

Hoi An… Did Someone Say Food?

Alex Harrison — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:36:38 +0000

Hoi An… after all that bike riding, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do — round up the offspring and grab ourselves a table overlooking the waterways. Order more food than would be even considered indecent, more cocktails than you should drink before getting back on a bike and, after a few hours of indulgence, hand over the equivalent of AUD$30. Ripped!

And NO, my son didn’t drink that B52 (not from the lack of trying) but someone did.

Reader: Ok, so this post is a complete indulgence? Write: You got it.

Back on the Backstreets of Hoi An Vietnam

Alex Harrison — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:36:46 +0000

There is a distinct difference between an adventurous holiday and a relaxing one. I need both.

I have discovered that for me, the best way to get out and see the ‘real’ parts of a new country is to do it slowly. Bicycle. Ground floor touring. You can get into and around areas with relative ease and if necessary, get the blazes out of there quickly too.

I had convinced Lisa that a bike ride was a good idea. I was then nervous as Lisa hadn’t been on a bike much in the past 25 years. We did a few laps of the circular driveway making sure she was OK with turning left, then right, then braking, and so on. Ok, so far so good. I wondered how Lisa would go on the roads but my concern was soon dispelled.

We ended up looking at the ‘waterfront’ properties complete with chicken and vegie gardens, narrow passage ways and laughing children. Bliss. The ‘white round things’ are rice products used in dishes as fillers.

Try to imagine the noises of chickens clucking, children playing, the quiet bustle of the locals going about their business, the sound of dirt rolling down a concrete path, and the rumble of my stomach as a hunger for more delicious food starts to take hold.

Yep, I put on a stack of weight but MAN was it fun.

In: Series – Emily R

Kenny Smith — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:53:04 +0000

Worked with model Emily updating her portfolio. In this shoot we really went for lively natural poses, and focused on the overall colour palette.
Emily naturally has a real outgoing personality and turned out to be real athletic. I don’t know many models would just do a handstand on a whim, but it went real well with what we were doing.
Styling, hair and Make Up by Mel Grafton.
View the whole series

Tech Info: Canon 1Ds MkIII, 17 – 40mmL, 50mm 1.4, 20mm 2.8, Available light and a large reflector

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www.kennysmithphotography.com

Under $25 – Essential Photography Gear

Andrew Jackson — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:56:58 +0000

There’s a number of things you can do to improve your photography. It doesn’t always come down to technique. Equipment plays a big part.

So here are a few items that won’t bust the budget and will certainly help improve your images and make your photography a little easier.

Mini Tripod

Stability is the key to a sharp image. The mini tripod, under $10, is small enough to fit in your camera bag or handbag. You can whip out the mini tripod for photos you want to be in. Suitable only for small compact cameras, just place it on a table, ledge, or wherever suitable, and shoot sharp photographs.

Lens Cap Keeper

If, like many photographers, you continually misplace your lens cap, the Lens Cap Keeper should solve your problems. Your lens cap will never be more than a few inches away.

LensPEN

Need a better way to clean fingerprints off your lens? Stop using your T-shirt which can scratch the glass. Instead use a LensPEN which is specially designed to keep lenses at their optical best.

Micro Fiber Cloth

A camera kit essential, the Micro Fiber cloth will not only clean your camera’s LCD screen, it can also clean the viewfinder, your lenses and your eyeglasses.

LCD Screen Protector

One accessory that people tend to underestimate is the LCD Screen Protector. You need a viewable LCD screen to review and evaluate your images. Avoid damage to it by using a screen protector.

Card Reader

Save batteries, time and frustration. Transfer your photos safely, straight from the memory card to your computer via USB. No need continually plug and unplug cables to your camera and risk damaging the ports on the camera. A card reader will simplify the transfer process.

4GB SDHC Memory Card

Don’t leave yourself short on memory. A backup memory card can save a lot of frustration, especially when travelling. A memory card with a 4GB capacity is the perfect size to transfer to DVD for a hard copy of your images.

Things To Do in Hoi An Vietnam

Alex Harrison — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:19:01 +0000

What is there to do in Hoi An Vietnam? In a word, EXPLORE! Explore your tastebuds in the restaurants. Explore your culinary skills with a cooking class (which we did) and then come home to enjoy real Vietnamese food (as we are doing).

Explore…

You can drink for almost nothing, although I wouldn’t recommend then getting on a bicycle. Not wise!

You can enjoy a spa on just about every street. No I didn’t get a pedicure. But I may have had a manicure and several hot stone massages.

You can try your luck with a tailor… ahhh don’t recommend this. See prior post.

You can get on a bicycle (before drinking) and ride around the backstreets and really get among the chooks and kids.

You could get out your camera and spend hours, if not days, taking photos of the amazing panorama that is the waterways of Hoi An. Seriously, I was in heaven. The soft light, as the sun sets on Hoi An, makes the already yellow facades glow with a warm orange and adds to the already spectacular vista.

Yes, I loved it and yes I rattled off more than a few shots.

I have a few shots below that may just get your travel bugs limbering up. I have only adjusted the levels if needed, and nothing more, so as to present the scenery with as much realism as possible.

Enjoy.

Hoi An Vietnam not Hanoi

Alex Harrison — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:04:29 +0000

Hoi An, Vietnam. Hoi An was all that I had imagined Vietnam to be. It’s country. It’s French influenced yet still Vietnamese. Much quieter and slower paced than the cities. The food! Oh, the food is sensational.

It is New Years Eve 2009 as we jet from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang (halfway up the coast), then take a taxi for the 45 minute ride into Hoi An.

Along the way we pass what will soon be several kilometres of casinos and luxury hotels. Massive hotels. Monolithic hotel chains. Contrast this with what is across the road on the non-beach side — bullocks pulling ploughs, ram-shackle dwellings.

I can see the beauty in the beaches and the hotels are / will be luxurious… but really, it could be anywhere, like Vegas. It’s the crass commercialisation that has no reflection on, or of, the local culture that gets up my nose. I am not averse to bringing in money, but why move Hawaii to Vietnam? Local flavour please.

Hoi An is known for its hundreds of tailors, which had no interest to me at all. The girls, however, did battle trying to get clothes made from photos they had excitedly brought with them. Alas the fantasy was better than the reality.

As a number cruncher I worked out the cost in time taken to go back for the (many) fittings and ‘discussions’ as to why the garment looked only a little like the photo, and decided there were no ’savings’ to be made at all.

I headed off instead (on several occasions), with my son, on some of the oldest bicycles I have seen, laughing and rattling our way around the backstreets of Hoi An. Later, Lisa came out with me and we had a ball also. I will do a separate blog for this adventure.

It’s true that we stayed in an upmarket ‘European’ hotel and spent many hours asleep around the pool. I justify this in one simple way: we were buggered. The year and Saigon had taken all that we had. I can assure you that we went back ‘into Vietnam’ after a swim, followed by a short nap.

I will tease you with one photo of the landscape, with many more to come in the next blog or two. The other shot is me and yes, I know I look tired.

Cya soon ….

Canon’s New Baby 7D

Peter Ching — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:07:08 +0000

Canon’s EOS 550D follows in the footsteps of the mega-selling EOS500D and borrows from the revolutionary EOS 7D.

It has an 18 megapixel APS-C sensor and, in video mode, offers cropping functions, full manual control and of course HD (1920 x 1080) capture at up to 30 frames a second.

The camera’s ISO range goes to 6400 (expandable to 12,800) and you can customise auto ISO, while metering is the same as the EOS 7D’s 63 zone system. SDXC cards are supported, which allows higher speeds (up to 104MB per second) and up to 2TB capacities.

The camera is soon to become available in Australia. As a guide, current US pricing is around US$900.