f8 Photography

Chinese New Year discounts – F8 Photography Workshops

Gary Tyson — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 07:08:20 +0000

Over the period of Chinese New Year between 8th – 18th February if you sign up for ANY 2 of our upcoming workshop you will receive a total discount of 20% on the price.

This offer is only valid on the dates 8th -28th February 2013, then the prices will revert to the normal rates offered on the event pages.

When enquiring please state ‘F8CNYDISCOUNT’ in your enquiry to apply the 20% discount.

Upcoming workshops and dates are as follows:

F8 TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY AND PORTRAITURE WORKSHOP IN CAMBODIA, 23 FEB – 3RD MARCH 2013

ERIC KIM – INTRODUCTION TO STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IN HONG KONG, 16/17 MARCH 2013

DAVID GIBSON – ADVANCED STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IN HONG KONG, 11/12 MAY 2013

Shooting the HK100 Ultra-Mountain Marathon

Gary Tyson — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 13:28:22 +0000

It was 4.30am Saturday morning….time to get up and get to the mountains for the start of the HK100 Ultra-mountain marathon….I shouldn’t complain about having to get up early, I haven’t got to run 100kms over the mountains of Hong Kong, an event which covers more elevation than climbing Mount Everest!

So we arrived, split into two teams (2 x photographer and 2 x video crew) and set off around the various checkpoints to cover the race as best we could, focussing on the Team ‘Vibram’ participants from HK/China and the European Team that had flown in for the event.

The weather was cold in the morning, ranging too freezing by night time, so an administrative task for everyone concerned was making sure you had the right equipment and clothing to cover what would turn out to be almost 24 hours on the mountains and shooting thousands of images in the process, a selection which had to be edited on the laptop up the hills and sent to press the same day as the event.

These kind of jobs remind of my days in the army where we would work crazy long days in the cold, up hills…..at least this time i get to wear my F8 Photography hoodie instead of combat body armour and a helmet…although come to think of it that would have kept me warmer i’m sure…lol. There were a few outfits worn for the event, the ever present shark-fin soup protesters were out in force also which was good to see.

Here’s a taster of the event photos that I took throughout the day, trying to capture the spirit and emotion of the race and its participants.

It was a very long day…..but worth every minute. We very much look forward to working with Team Vibram again in 2013.

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F8 Photography provides commercial photography and photography and video training workshops, more details can be found via the ‘courses and workshops’ link and upcoming events via the front page of our website.

Canon 50mm 0.95 on Leica M9

Gary Tyson — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 07:41:10 +0000

Christmas and New Year 2012/2013 was spent in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with a motley crew of other photographer friends from around Asia. Whilst there my ex-army buddy and fellow Leica shooter Trevor had brought along his old Canon 50mm 0.95 lens to test on the Olympus OMD.

Me with the M9P and Canon 50mm 0.95 fitted to the camera

The lens has previously been converted to Leica M Mount so of course I couldn’t resist to have a play with it on the M9P despite already having a 50mm summilux with me for this trip.

I have tested a few other fast 50mm lenses in the past on Leica, including the Voigtlander 1.1 and SLR Magic hyperprime 50mm 0.95.

A great portrait lens, dreamy backgrounds and smooth skin tones

This Canon lens is a different beast, as heavy as the Leica Noctilux or SLR Magic lens, but much shorter, almost stubby, which is cool.

Nothing plucks a subject out of the background like a 0.95 lens

The first day I used this lens i wasn’t sure about it…the look of the images was so different to the 50 summilux, i almost dismissed it, but I gave it another few days and shot for several hours each day with only this lens and after less than a week have completely fallen in love with it.

For sure it has a unique look to it…some will love it, others may not care for it….but for sure you won’t find it with other lenses

The reasons are shown in a few of the images below. Like any extremely fast lens, if you misfocus even slightly, you are screwed, it looks terrible, BUT if you get it right, the look is completely unique and like nothing i’ve shot before. I’m not saying its better than a Leica Noctilux, but two things for sure….its a damn site cheaper (i.e. you could buy this and a round the world trip for the same price as a Noctilux), and the build quality is amazing. I have no idea how old this particular lens I’m using is, but its built like a tank, solid, perfect glass, super smooth movement, zero focus shift at any distance as far as I can tell and technically as good as any Leica or Canon L lens build quality I’ve used.
Shot in very low light, even the summilux would struggle in this light, a breeze for 0.95

The Bokeh is a bit of a ‘love/hate’ scenario I imagine for many people. I wasn’t sure at first as i said, as its very swirly, almost painterly with some backgrounds, and of course this won’t be to everyone tastes. That said, to try and reproduce these kind of looks with anything other than a 0.95 lens is impossible, so for that alone I think its a very interesting lens for any Leica user that seeks that ‘dreamy’ look.

I took a few shots with the lens wide open and stopped down to F4 and beyond and found it to be extremely sharp (images below shows this with 100% crops), however for me its pointless to use this kind of lens at anything other than wide open at 0.95. Its so much heavier and bigger than a 1.4 or F2 lens, it wouldn’t make sense to use this instead for those apertures….this lens screams to be shot wide open for those dreamy looks, in fact if the aperture ring happened to jam locked on 0.95 I wouldn’t be worried, as thats the only aperture I’m interested in shooting it at.

wide open at 0.95

100% crop at 0.95

stopped down to F4

100% crop at f4, as sharp as any other 50mm I have used at F4

I am looking forward to shoot more with this lens in the dark streets of Hong Kong (we generally have a few stops less light than most cities in asia thanks to the China factories spewing a cloud of pollution over the city that acts like a 30 miles wide ND filter!), it will enable me to get shots in light that is impossible with any other combo that I own.

Here are a few more shots of Trevor that are direct from camera JPEGS set to black and white mode with various contrast settings in camera only on the M9P.

This image below shows perhaps the most random thing I ever expected to see in Cambodia at Christmas….a reindeer!!!!!! lol, shot wide open at 0.95.

Final shot that showcases the bokeh again of this lens

Final thoughts and recommendations:

Do I recommend this lens? YES, 100% if you are looking for a ‘dreamy’ rendering super fast lens and don’t have or want to spend the budget on a Noctilux, then look no further.

Is it sharp enough? YES, I have posted a few images above then a 100%crop from those images. I hope anyone viewing them will agree that for a 0.95 shot, its more than sharp enough when you hit the focus right.

Is it affordable? Its not cheap, but when you are looking at 10,000 USD for a Noctilux, it’s comparatively extremely good value as another option to Leica. Of course other options are the Voigtlander 1.1 lens which is about half the price again….but I couldn’t fall in love with that lens personally when I tried it a few years ago, it was nice, sure, but for me it lacked character any …..something the Canon 0.95 just oozes.

If you wish to see other images and blog posts from this trip and other Cambodia trips you can see a selection by clicking here.

Mekong River people – part 2

Gary Tyson — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:11:56 +0000

A few days ago I blogged with some images from the Mekong River people along the Phnom Penh waterways. The experience I had was so good I couldn’t resist returning a few days later.

A typical scene of family life on the boats at dusk

This time I won’t say too much about the experience, rather I just show the images from spending just 30 minutes on a few small boats. The original part 1 experience and images can be found here.

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/blog/2012/12/river/

The light is great on the river around sunset, so it seems to me the perfect way to end a day in Phnom Penh by exploring the waterways on a small boat, keeping away from the noise of tuk tuk horns and hustle and bustle and just taking in the sunset and sound of paddles and splashing water….a perfect day.

This time i just had one lens, the 24mm on the Leica M9P, as i was worried that changing lenses on the small boats was going to end in tears…therefore 1 lens it was, and I hope I managed to capture the scenes OK with just one focal length this time.

My chauffeur for the evening, a charming character

I got the impression that everything was about ‘family’ with this group of people, great to see

Kids with faces like movie stars

Great light welcomed us every time we went on the river

Grandmother and grandaughter

A youngster pops her head out to see who the stranger is

2 of my travel companions, Trevor (left) and Stephen (right). this photo by Steve Porte

Me and Stephen Patterson were the two who risked the small boats and I’m happy to say we returned to our bigger vessel later on with all our gear still dry…so mission accomplished

If you wish to see other images and blog posts from this trip and other Cambodia trips you can see a selection by clicking here.

Golden hour on the Mekong River

Gary Tyson — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 07:46:27 +0000

I was sitting drinking a coffee by the riverside, and I noticed the light was getting interesting so decided I needed to take advantage of this by grabbing a boat and going out to photograph the small fishing boats I had seen around. The view from the riverside was serene (apart from the eyesore of the new Sokha hotel they are building across the river that seemed to manage to get itself into most of my shots somehow…grrr…

Mekong river people. This small boat is their workplace, as well as their family home

My initial idea was to take some sunset shots with the city backdrop of the small boats from the bigger boat, however, as nice as these shots can be, knowing myself, this wasn’t going to satisfy my craving for close up action…so after a few minutes sailing around, I asked the skipper to approach a small boat and see if I could get aboard to utilise the 24mm lens to get ‘amongst’ my subjects.

Another small boat approached to see what I was up to

My only concern with doing all this was if the camera dropped into the river….I had lost an M9 last year due to rain damage in Hong Kong…so the thought of the Leica going for a swim in the Mekong river was not a good thought….however, the picture is far more important than the gear (apart from the fact that I would never have got the SD card back anyway if it had fell in!)….so I decided to take the risk and cautiously climbed over and onto the small raft to join the welcoming family on their boat with the M9P, a 24mm and 35mm.

You can see from these pics by Steve Porte that boarding with expensive gear could easily go wrong

They didn’t speak any English, nevertheless we managed to somehow communicate and they were quite happy for me to hang out on their boat for 45 minutes and shoot a small snippet of their life.

The light was great, as were the subjects

Another BTS shot of me working above, taken by Steve Porte

A proud Captain on his ship

Silhouettes are standard shots in this light

Black and white worked well in this light

Both husband and wife took equal turns rowing, fishing and looking after their kids

Fishing the Mekong with the Sokha hotel complex behind

River kids…(who can’t swim….could be dangerous in the Mekong…it has a very strong current)

Could have done with an even wider than 24mm lens for this shot I think

Great way to see the city from the river

Another day at the office

There is now a part 2 to this blog post with more images, you can see that by clicking here:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/blog/2013/01/mekong2/

If you wish to see other images and blog posts from this trip and other Cambodia trips you can see a selection by clicking here.

Cambodian Colour – from dawn til dusk

Gary Tyson — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 17:23:55 +0000

It was an early start today, 5.30am, out to the ferry port to shoot the workers arriving to Phnom Penh from across the Mekong river. The great thing about shooting this location is that I could see it easily from my hotel room window…so could do a quick check to make sure the light was developing well before getting ready…(I’m so lazy…this is why you see very few landscape photographs from me).

After shooting the workers and boat people arriving there for the 15 mins of good light, the sun was up and it was back for breakfast before we headed out to scout another new location just outside the city which used to be a lake but has mostly dried up with just a few water channels remaining.

The thing that struck me about this district was ‘colour’….the light was great, the buildings were painted in pastels and the kids were dressed in vibrant colours, it just all ‘popped’….the other thing that popped was my shoe, which ‘popped off’ when i got my leg stuck in some swamp when i was trying to shoot some kids sitting in old boats…lol…a small price to pay for the rewards of the images today.

Yet again we were met by all smiling happy faces, the kids were playing all sorts of games and keen to show off to us at every opportunity. Another successful day in this wonderful country, looking forward to a 5am start again tomorrow morning (you don’t hear me say that very often…:-))

Here’s a few more images from todays shooting, all shot with Leica M9P and lenses from 35-75mm.

If you wish to see other images and blog posts from this trip and other Cambodia trips you can see a selection by clicking here.

Shooting Phnom Penh – The Muslim quarter

Gary Tyson — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 06:24:34 +0000

Its the second day of our Christmas 2012 expedition around Phnom Penh, spent this time exploring around the Muslim quarter , a district I have visited before only once before a few years ago. All images below shot on Leica M9P with Leica glass ranging from 24mm to 75mm.

In true Cambodia fashion, everybody was chatting away with us and smiling. We even saw one fish seller start slapping her friend with some raw fish and prompting Steve to shoot the comedy!

I did my usual trick of wandering off alone from our group (I always find it easier to shoot alone, rather than with other photographers, I find it much less intimidating for my subjects if I am by myself. I quickly found some interesting alleyways and residents that invited me into their homes and workplaces to see what they were up to.

One family took me into some dark back room where they had a 20ft python coiled up in the corner….i almost left my camera bag where it was and ran off! lol.

For some reason I am highly attracted at the moment to shooting people in hijabs, i find the m really interesting and the way they frame womens faces makes for lovely images, and I was delighted to find lots of kids and women wearing them around this part of town, not typically something you would expect to find in Cambodia I guess, but like most other cities in the world, theres a little bit of everything, you just need to know where to look.

And last but not least of course is my good friend Stephen Patterson, I couldn’t resist a portrait of him with the great light as he was scouring the landscape for his next subjects from the back of the tuk tuk on our way back to town.

Back to Phnom Penh (Day 1)

Gary Tyson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:46:33 +0000

‘In the avenues and alleyways’ M9P, 35mm 8 elements

We’ve had a crazy busy few weeks in Hong Kong leading up to Christmas, shooting tens of thousands of stills images for commercial work and several commercial video projects have kept us busy right through December, so it was high time for a short break and catch up with some fellow photographers on a jaunt to Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

‘Welcome back to Cambodia, step inside’, M9P, 24mm

So far I’ve only been back here one day, but already i can feel the stresses of city life easing away into the background as I wander the vibrant streets of Cambodia meeting some inspirational characters and getting back to basics shooting only with Leica rangefinder.

Shooting thru the Tuk Tuk canopy to create a natural widescreen effect, M9P, 75mm

All the images here were taken over the space of 3 hours on the first day. Yet again for me i find inspiration on every street corner in this wonderful country, and am lucky enough to have 3 of my best friends all shooting with me, Trevor, my old army buddy has travelled all the way from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to shoot here, Stephen Patterson from China has come via Thailand and the North of Cambodia to join us in Phnom Penh and Steve managed to escape Hong Kong a day earlier than me to get a head start with his trusty Canon rigs.

Pastel colours are everywhere, M9P, 35mm 8 elements

We are exploring some different areas of the city this time, as we have become familiar with several districts now so wish to explore some of the even less trodden sidestreets around town, am very much looking forward to unveiling some new characters.

Peek-a-boo from Mummys bike, M9P, 50mm Lux ASPH

We will be back in Cambodia for another workshop in the south in February 2013, but for the meantime we will continue exploring Phnom Penh…this must be my 12th or 13th visit to this place and it never ceases to impress me, the people are so friendly, the light is great, the colours are amazing and the company is good.

Heres a few more images from the first day and wishing all a Merry Christmas of photography that for me will be spent with a bunch of fellow photographers.

Cheers!

Washing line, M9P, 35mm 8 elements

Home Sweet Home, M9P, 24mm

Looking at me?, M9P, 50mm Lux ASPH

Colour, colour, everywhere, M9P, 50mm Lux ASPH

F8 Photography provides stills and video production for weddings, events, corporate, commercial, training, sports, documentaries and NGO projects around the world, to see more of our work our meet us to discuss a project, please contact us here: info@f8photography.com.hk or check out our work via the galleries that can be accessed from the front page of our website here.

A wonderful December wedding in Sai Kung

Gary Tyson — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 12:54:10 +0000

Its almost Christmas…..but the weather in Hong Kong refused to cool down today for our final wedding shoot of the year (2nd one this week at this venue!) where we had the pleasure of doing the stills photography for Richard and Glos.

I just want to share a few images from todays shoot and say thank you to the lovely couple for inviting us to be their wedding photographers.

Balloons were a key theme throughout the day making a number of appearances

We headed out for an hour on a yacht to take some images before the ceremony

131 is a great venue for a wedding and it shone through yet again (I think this is the 6th wedding we have shot at this venue, and it has some of the best backdrops for a venue in Hong Kong in my eyes (unless you want backdrops of skyscrapers of course….then there’s plenty of good locations in Central!).

The setup was well underway when we arrived at midday

This was a cool idea I haven’t see before

This little girl loved the camera

the first kiss…..always nice to have a picture to remember it by

Anyway, enough of my rambling, heres a few more images for the newly weds to see and share with their friends and family as a teaser for the rest that will come in a few weeks time, we wanted to get this post out quick so they can see it immediately, they’ve been married just over 4 hours now…so its about time the photographer delivered some images

Best of luck to Richard and Glos for the future, and thanks again for inviting us, we wish you the very best for your future together.

Great to capture the expressions on the faces during key moments

The happy couple just after getting married

The bride and her bridesmaids after the ceremony

(Speeches…another key moment in any wedding)

(more cool ideas for wedding venue decorations)

Richard & Glos invited all their guests to ‘make a wish’ together and release a balloon….yet another cool and touching idea!

When we met the couple last week to review our plan…the concern on everyone’s mind was ‘the weather’…as the 7 day forecast for Hong Kong said to expect monsoon rain….hmmm….it seems that couldn’t have been further from what we were blessed with today……My advice for wedding photography in Hong Kong….make sure you pick the right photographer and video crew and don’t listen to the weather forecast!

Southern Cambodia photography workshop – Feb 2013

Gary Tyson — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 06:46:30 +0000

Our next Cambodia workshop will be concentrated in the southern part of the country for 5 days around Sihanoukville, Kep and the surrounding islands. This promises to be another successful experience for a small group of photographers (maximum 6) to fully immerse themselves in a photo rich environment with 2 instructors for personalised hands on training.

For more information on the workshop and to register your interest, please follow the link below or click on any of the images:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/event/southcambodiafeb2013/

Here are a few images of this wonderful part of the world from one of our previous trips there that we will enjoying exploring with you again soon.

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