So we decided to embrace the difference and see if we could, like our original mission statement, produce something a little different: inject a little laowai feeling into it and offer an alternative view of CNY. And so far the reaction has been exactly what we were hoping for. We’re already taking bookings and lining up shoots. And it’s been described by our clients as ‘cool’ and a ‘very foreign look’ at CNY. We’re happy with the diagnosis and hope to share images of our clients shoots in the near future
Read MoreMerry Christmas
This year for our famous Christmas shoot we went with a warm home environment. As usual we used our own family for the example photos. It was a family by the fireside Christmas with a little present opening and tree decorating. But also a chance to capture the beauty of your children with portraits in the classic Rembrandt style.
Read MoreChildren's Day
Like the recent Easter photo I wanted to capture a very vintage image of childhood for Children’s Day. I think I missed the mark a little with the Easter shot but got a lot closer to genuine looking vintage photo. We already had the rocking horse in the studio for a Christmas shoot from a few years ago. This one was fun as as the horn was very loud Hermione had a great time during the shoot and it shows in her expression.
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Happy Mother's Day
I’m quite keen to get back into B&W photography so this year for my Mother’s Day promotion at our family portrait studio I photographed my wife and two youngest daughter. I wanted to capture quiet, emotional moments as well as conventional portraits. The promotion was very successful although I was worried how well a Chinese audience would take B&W portraits. Our studio work is at www.rembrandt-portraits.com although that reminds me to update the website which I have’ done for about 2 years as most Chinese people use phone app and not the web.
But most importantly of all Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers around the world.
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Happy Easter
My youngest daughter posing for a vintage style easter photo just for fun. Hope you’re all enjoying this time of year wherever you are.
Music Lessons with Strings Attached
Hang on a moment! I was quite suspicious at this stage so I asked why they were steering us away from the violin. Did they have an over supply of cellos and a shortage of violins?
Read MoreWhat I wore in the hottest summer in Shanghai since 1898.
The summer of 2022 recorded the hottest ever day in recorded in Shanghai since 1898. A typical Shanghai summer brings with it a stifling 44ºc (112ºf) with over 90% humidity. Contrary to popular belief it is possible to dress well in the summer which is sometimes necessary if you likened work in a city. Personally I prefer to keep my shorts and t-shirts for the parks and beaches.
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Sanya Bay beach, China. iPhone panorama.
Sanya, China's answer to Thailand
We found a beach we liked and we stayed in a hotel and an apartment complex that both had fabulous swimming pools and more important paddling pools which both of my daughters loved. We only realised that during the holiday it was Hermione’s first ever experience with swimming as she’d actually never been on holidays, born into the pandemic era.
Read MoreImprove Your Portraits with One Simple Change
I often get asked for advice on what camera to buy my first questions is “What camera do you have?” It’s usually a pretty good camera and the desire to improve one’s photography will rarely be with a new camera. Almost any camera bought in the last five years is going to take high quality photos. However most people still have the kit lens that came with the camera attached and therein lies the problem.
Stop right there! Don’t scroll to the next article! I’m not going to persuade you to invest your children’s college fund in gear acquisition. It turns out for portraits and general photography one of the best lenses you can buy is also the cheapest - the ubiquitous 50mm f/1.8 lens. Every brand produces one.
Why 50mm?
Historically it was the standard lens on film cameras so 50mm lenses have been produced for so long they are very high quality and inexpensive. 50mm is the closest to how the human eye sees (it’s precisely 42mm if you love acuracy) and this gives photos a very real and natural feeling. There is no wide angel distortion or telephoto compression for effect, very useful for portraits.
Why is f/1.8 Useful?
For portraits the person in the frame is always your main subject. F/1.8 gives you a blurred background allowing you to isolate your subject from any busy environment while still allowing the atmosphere to form part of the image. It’s useful when shooting in modern busy locations that we often find ourselves and our families in. F/4.5 or even f/5.6 which is typical of kit or cheap zoom lenses will give you a very sharp and distracting background that will take attention away from your subject.
The wide aperture is also very useful for shooting in dark environments such as indoors or at night. Again a frequent feature for family snaps and day trips. This will allow for cleaner and sharper photos with less noise that will kill skin tones.
It’s A Great Carry Around Lens.
50mm lenses are small and light which makes them great to carry around all day long on holidays or weekends. They turn a cumbersome DSLR and heavy zoom into something that you don’t dread taking with you or even have to think twice about. It can fit in a small bag and not strain you shoulder garter a full day of carrying about. I almost always have this in my bag unless I’m planning something special.
Are there any drawbacks?
Well of course while it’s a great lens it doesn’t do everything. You won’t be able to shoot wide vistas with it or zoom in to far away to catch details. And where portraits are concerned the distance you need to focus from the subject may prevent you from getting a tight head shot. But you can always crop the subject later. Although some lenses offer macro features allowing you to get very close. But it still remains the most versatile lens for photographing people. ANd what’s more important is that you will carry it with you far more often and therefore shoot more. And that what matters most.
Technical Stuff.
Every camera brand offers a cheap 50mm f/1.8 (or equivalent) lens for their system. They will also offer f/1.4 or even f/1.2 versions but they are far more expensive and heavier. It’s impractical to build a full database here of all the lenses currently available so here are a few tips on which lens to buy. And if you’re not sure then just leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you with suggestions.
If you own a full frame camera then you could buy a 50mm f/1.8. If you own an APS-C camera then you should look for in and around a 35mm focal length to get the same view. And if you have a Micro 4/3 camera such as an Olympus or Panasonic then you should buy around a 25mm lens.It’s
Vicious Attack Ends Photoshoot!
But for about an hour we had a great time in one of the most luscious botanic gardens I’ve ever visited. It’s a large park with a river, foot bridges and exotic plant enclosures peppered throughout. It’s also home to the most relaxed and friendly squirrels.
Read MoreOnly Time for One Shot
The one photo I took that day was in surprising location where I didn’t expect to catch anything worthwhile. Thanks to my daughter’s imagination and always having my camera with me and ready to shoot.
Read MoreAnother Model in the Making
A quick blog entry this time. Myself and Lola are having our second child this July. We’re still planning her official maternity photos for later but we did have a wind machine we wanted to test so we took a few early photos. We’re hoping for a girl again and have landed on the name Florence or Flo for short.
Read MoreIn the Shadow of a God - Lijiang, China.
Lijiang is not too unlike Dali, charming cobbled stones lining the streets of old towns full of ethnic charm, delicious local food, craftwork and souvenirs. It doesn’t have the stunning range of street food that Dali has but it has great ethnic restaurants with unique and tasty dishes. And an unusual dual open waterway system, one canal for household water for washing and one to supply toilets. I do hope that kid I just saw peeing into the waterway was using the correct one. Just a little reminder you’re still in China.
Read MoreThe Inland Sea - Dali, China
Dali is most famous for its street food (covered in a previous blog here) but Er Hai is its main attraction. It presents a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the old towns. Although still quite busy the calming effect of the waterfront is instantaneous and welcome. As the sea is so large there are plenty of locations to seek out along the shore. Circumnavigating the circumference is a popular two day drive but we picked only two spots to linger.
Read MoreHow to shoot on vacation in Bad Weather
It was 24ºc so we booked the tickets and when the time came we threw our summer clothes into the suitcase and... Holy Crap! A quick check of the wether before we departed and the temperature had dropped to 12ºc! We were booked to go during a rare and short lived winter spell in Hanoi. I mean that literally, a week after we got back the temperature had returned to 24ºc. So we threw the swimming costumes out of the suitcase and packed sweaters instead. It was a bit depressing but we were going to have a good time anyway.
Read MoreDali, the street food capital of the world.
There is a strong theme of flowers as flavours amongst plenty of familliar offerings like pancakes, tofu and chuar (Chinese kebabs) but it can all be eaten without having to stop the holiday and sit down for too long. I was definitely a bit iffy about the idea of eating flower petals but I was stunned by how delicions they taste. Our sense of taste is heavily influenced by our sense of taste and if you’ve never tired it they taste exactly like they smell. So keep an open mind and it’s definitely worth the visit for the food alone. And come in the winter, it rains all summer long and is warm and sunny in winter.
Read MoreImprove your Phone Photography
Professional photographers love our phones as it means we are never without a camera. And in certain circumstances the phone may be the better choice. But of course we take the same precautions as we do with our ‘real’ camera when shooting. Here are a few guides (and they are guides not rules, there are no rules) that we follow that will help improve your phone photography.
Read MoreEgg Coffee
I’m just back from a tip to Hanoi, Vietnam and I drank more egg coffee than is good for me, or even several mes. The traditional coffee of Hanoi is a delicious blend of a strong sweetened coffee with whisked egg yolk and condensed milk on top.
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everybody. I hope you have a great winter break wherever you are.
Read MoreEn Vogue
One of the advantages of living in Shanghai is the great number of exhibitions, fine art and otherwise, that tour here. Amongst my favourites of the ‘otherwise’ variety so far have been the Tim Burton and Pixar shows. Louis Vuitton might not be an obvious choice when you think of exhibitions but they have an excellent array of historic travel paraphernalia on display at the moment.
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