Messages Under the Moon

I went back to Victoria Park tonight with a friend. It was the last day to experience the full display of lanterns in various forms and shapes along with the make-shift carnival the city had put on in the park. Earlier this week, I had been fascinated with the time and care people put into writing messages on public "wish boards". Tonight, the sponsor of the Carnival (and the giant lantern fish), Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce, handed out small paper "wish tags", and I went around and snapped some more shots of people writing down their wishes.

Again, the light was tricky.  Not feeling that color added much to the shots, I decided to process the photos in black and white. I shot most of the photos with the aperture wide open at f/1.4 or f/1.6 with the 50mm 1.4. The auto focus is downright horrible, and I manually focused about half the shots. Space constraints and the number of people made it difficult to create interesting compositions. Still, the appeal here was more in capturing the concentrated looks on the faces of writers. And in the end, I think that was enough to make the results at least somewhat interesting. 

Read on below the fold to see more shots. And please feel free to leave your thoughts.


   

Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節)

It's Mid-Autumn Festival and the parks and streets of Hong Kong are decked with paper lanterns. In Victoria Park in Causeway Park, the city celebrated by putting up a lantern so big it made it into the The Guinness Book of World Records. I went by to take some shots with my 5d and a few different lenses. The light was a bit tricky and I ended up shooting most of with the photos at ISO 1600 and above. My favorite shot is the one above. There was a public message board in the middle of the park, and I spotted this girl writing a message while her mother was watching. I was struck by the girl's concentrated look, and the picture shows well just how focused she was on leaving her message.

 I had hoped to get some more portraits of the crowds but the rain got in the way.

I've included a few more shots below the fold (including the big lantern processed with some subtle HDR).

A Few More Thoughts on HDR Processing

I have been experimenting a bit more with High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing. Although I feel like it can easily be overused, the technique definitely has its merits. In the shot, above, the strong lights inside the store would have made it difficult to get the exposure right. I also tried to adjust the detail levels and tones to add some feeling of grit to the image.

Below is another shot. This time from a small beach near Sui Kung Peninsula. I didn't bring a tripod, so the shot is a little rough around the edges. Still, I like how I was able to even out the exposure across the composition.

And Another Skyline Shot

This time it's a high dynamic range (HDR) image of the Wan Chai (湾仔) skyline of Hong Kong. For the first time in a while, I experimented with HDR processing today. I'm not a huge fan of HDR but sometimes it can be pretty useful. For example, when shooting outdoors during the day time, the light can be very harsh and it's difficult to get the exposure right (you're either going to end up with a blown out sky or foreground that's too dark). The major drawback is that it can be a bit of a hassle to shoot images for HDR processing. You must bracket the exposure using at least three shots (normal, over, and under exposed images), and a tripod is therefor required. On top of that, the additional processing work can be time consuming. The latest OS for the iPhone let's you shoot HDR images in one go with pretty amazing results--especially for shooting during the day (see this shot for an example).

In the shot above, the HDR processing helps balance the exposure while at the same time exaggerating the edges of the details somewhat. Not too bad, I think. I also like the point of view, although the composition is a little tight at the bottom of the frame (another building did not leave much room, unfortunately).

Below is another shot a little east of the one above. For that image, I only applied some very mild HDR processing.

Another Take on the Hong Kong Skyline

Here's a more exciting view of the Hong Kong skyline. This time from Kam Shan Country Park (near Monkey Mountain) on the outskirts of Kowloon. The contrasts make this photo much more interesting than the one below: new vs. old, nature vs. city, and so on.

I cheated a bit in trying to get the exposure right in this shot. I took the photo in the late afternoon when the sky was still very bright. Ideally, I would have used a tripod, bracketed my exposures and then created a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Instead, I simply selected the green foreground in Photoshop and made it brighter--worked ok, I think.

Hong Kong Skyline (香港夜景)

I brought my GF1 and the 40mm 1.7 pancake lens down to the Kowloon harbor front yesterday. It's not the ideal camera and lens combo for a night time skyline shot--and certainly not so without a tripod. I found a sign I could use for support and shot the photo at 0.4 second with the apature at f/4.0 and ISO at 400. The outcome was decent: a pretty sharp image with a nice amount of detail.

The problem with skyline shots like these is that it's much harder to add creativity to the process. Unless you can catch some lightening, fireworks or something unusual, your photo is going to look a lot like everyone else's.

I would love to hear what people do to make regular tourist shots more interesting. Feel free to share in the comments.

Hong Kong (香港)

I have relocated to Hong Kong and will be here for some time. The last time I was in Hong Kong was in the summer of 1997. The city has changed a lot but, two weeks in to my stay, it seems that it has managed to maintain most of its wonderful grittiness.

Above is a shot of a common site in Hong Kong: a tangle of rooftop antennas. The shot was done with Canon's 50mm 1.4 lens at f/4.0 exposed at 1/800 with the ISO at 800.

Ducks (橡皮小鴨)

Not much to add to this one. Noticed some rubber ducks at my parents' house and figured their yellow color would make a nice contrast against the green grass. I used the Canon 70-200mm 2.8 lens at 150mm.

Bike on Bleecker

I noticed the bright color of the bike yesterday on my way to work. I had to wait for a few minutes for a line of cars and trucks to get out of the way on the left. I wanted the more balanced and interesting composition an empty street would offer. I was lucky enough that someone came along on a bike and added some motion to the image. Finally, the taxi and school bus in the background complete a, mostly, well-proportioned triangle with the orange bike and the cyclist.

Conductor at 42nd

I haven't taken a portrait of a conductor for a while now. But out with an 85mm 1.2, I couldn't resist shooting a portrait with the lens wide open at 1.2. The narrow depth of field works well in the subway and particularly in this shot. The tones also worked out pretty well.

Call for Writers for Photo Book

Do you have any great subway stories to share?  I am interested in hearing from past and present New Yorkers willing to share stories and anecdotes from the New York Subway. I am planning to publish a non-profit photo-book based on the pictures on this website. If you are interested, please send an email to book@inthesubway.com or use the ask link above.  More details here: http://inthesubway.com/book.

And please spread the word!

Shopping List

Smoothie, anyone?  Here's someone's shopping list I spotted on the ground at the West 4th subway stop. It's a pretty random collection of groceries, so I thought it would make an interesting shot.  And now I want to try hemp milk.

Spring is Here

Spring finally seems to be in New York for good. Above is another shot with the GF1 and the 20mm 1.7 lens. The bokeh (background blur) comes out nicely with this lens and it's quite sharp even when it's wide open.

On the B (and a few thoughts on the GF1)

I've been spending some more time lately with a Panasonic Lumix GF1 and the 20mm 1.7 pancake lens. It's an amazing combo--and great for street photography. Lightweight, flexible, and great quality photos. It could perform better in low light although still gives usable results till at least 1600 ISO (and then you still have the 1.7 aperture to work with).

The shot above is one of my latest subway shots. For more samples, run this search string on my flickr account.

Return to Grand Central Time Lapse (大中央車站 定时拍摄)

Return to Grand Central Time Lapse from Jens Schott Knudsen on Vimeo.

I shot this time lapse video when I was returning to Grand Central on Metro North's Harlem Line. The entire video was shot and edited on an iPhone.  From start to finish, this took less than an hour to put together.  For a camera phone and mobile editing apps, I'd say the result is pretty amazing.  Thoughts?

Ex-Dealership

This is a shot of an empty lot at a Chrysler dealership in Hyde Park, NY that went out of business some time ago. There were a lot of "for rent" signs and empty store fronts in this small town and if it hasn't t so cold I would have tried to document more the town's decline. It's really too bad since Hyde Park seems to have been a charming little town. The surroundings are still spectacular and there are some amazing views of the Hudson nearby. The FDR Presidential Library is nearby and both the Roosevelts and the Vanderbilts had homes nearby.

Super Moon Behind Branches (月亮)

Here's a more abstract shot of the moon from this past weekend. This time I focused on some branches and positioned them in front of the bright moon.

Waiting for the Show

Here's a shot of some concert goers at Steve Martin's show at the Highline Ballroom earlier this week. I really liked the silhouette of the person on the left and it's too bad that the profiles of the other people in the shot aren't as distinct. Still, I like the bright red color against the black here and decided it was a keeper after all.

March Super Moon (月球)

Tonight the moon will be closer to Earth than at any other time during the past 18 years. The apparent size of the moon varies because of the oval shape of the moon's orbit. And tonight it will be particularly close--appearing to be almost 15% larger larger than normal (and 30% brighter). You can more about the phenomenon at NASA's website.

Even yesterday the moon was incredibly bright. I shot the photo above using Canon's 70-200mm at f/10, the shutter at 1/500 and ISO at 400 and cropped substantially. Not exactly astrophotography gear. Even a slightly longer telephoto lens would have helped a lot.

Steve Martin at the Highline Ballroom (史提夫·馬丁)

Did you know that Steve Martin is a Grammy award-winning banjo player? Turns out he's something of a renaissance man (actor, novelist, screenplay writer, and, yes, banjo-player). On Monday, he played the first of several shows in New York City with the Steep Canyon Rangers at the Highline Ballroom. And he pulled off a fantastic and very funny show.

I photographed the show for Time Out New York (you can see a brief write-up at their music blog the Volume. It was my first time at the Highline Ballroom and I liked the intimacy of the venue.

For more photos see this set on Flickr. Or continue below the fold for a shot of Steve with his iPad setlist.