Finally...

1s, f/4.0, ISO 800, 35mm (cropped)

What a relief!  After a week with heavy smog, a rainstorm came through last night and washed away the polluted air.  This morning it was all blue skies and the light in the early dawn was totally stunning.  Beijing will seduce you like that.  Just when you think you've had more than you could possibly take, she will come back with the most amazing weather.

Regular blogging will resume soon.  I've been travelling over the last month and will be back with some shots form Denmark and France.

Sunday Afternoon

1/125s, f/6.3, ISO 800, 35mm

Here's a shot from a Sunday afternoon in Blake Garden in Sheung Wong, Hong Kong.  I'm with happy with the shot: the lines, the color, and the strange combination of the two characters.

Broken

1/1000s, f/1.4, ISO 800, 35mm

The 35mm f/1.4 is just a stellar performer in low light.  Here's a shot on a 5d Mark II at 1/1000s, an ISO of 800 and the lens wide open.  This being a well-lit street in Hong Kong, I could easily have gone with a lower ISO, but it just didn't occur to me (and besides the 5d Mark II does pretty well at ISO 800).

 Overall, the lens still strikes me as a little too wide for my type of street photography.  Still, it has an amazing ability to turn a lot of eyesores into objects of art.