Year 2002 - My very first digital camera, the
Canon G2 (
specs), after much soul seeking from various internet sources, mainly
dpreview forum. Bought it at HKD2500, from Fortress (electronic chain store) in Hong Kong. Yes, HK..... the very place to start digital photography, this place has everything ie. the beautiful Tsim Tsa Tsui bay, the Peak, the colorful streets, the parks, the people, etc.. Mongkok, the city area for all things electronic and electrical was the place to stock up on accessories (which I did within weeks) as my hobby heated up.
I became what people termed as 'a japanese tourist' .... shooting at everything I see and touch. But then again, I was not alone.... the locals were equally dp (digital photo) crazed. Cameras were everywhere (more advanced and hi-tech than mine) ie. from special events, carnivals, holidays and celebrity appearances. Within weeks, I experienced fireworks display at Macau and TST bay, halloween carnivals at Lan Kwai Fong, lantern exhibitions, sightseeing, concerts and everything a photographer would wish for.
My hard disk was easily filled up and challenged for space with the megabytes of photos pouring in. It was huge. In no time, I have stocked up the following stuff :-
- X-drive - portable harddisk with USB connection and multiple card readers
- Compact flash cards - 128MB and 64MB
- Raynox Telephoto converter - for more zoom capability
- Tiffen 0.75x Wideangle converter - to capture more subjects in the frame, without standing further back
- Tiffen Macro converter - for closeup shots
- Camera pouch - to fill up with stuff and easy travelling
- Filters - UV, circular polarizer, haze, etc. for slight tweaks in normal photography
- Canon 420ex - External flash for advanced flash photography
- Software - the hobby was not just about firing away at subjects, but also about tweaking and digital publishing. It was so challenging and time consuming but worth the brain cells in the end with the endless possibilities from Adobe Photoshop and various tweaking softwares. I was already stitching panaromic photos in no time as a novelty.
Check out my
snapshot page (require password though) or
pbase gallery for a dose of my hobby results. Ok ok .... I'm not one of those artistic photographers who hope to sell shots and stuff (though I try).... what I take is enough for personal albums and nice for family pin-ups.... so dun be too judgemental. So, you'll see many pictures with people in it instead of just landscapes, structures and stuff alone. Nothing like some of those galleries in
pbase. Occasionally, I browse and view these galleries of professionals to get some ideas and tips, as well as motivation to capture fantastic shots from ordinary situations.... as you know, hobbies do lose its steam after a while, it just needs some boosting once a while.... and with photography, practice makes perfect. I can tend to get rusty when leaving my G2 in a corner and picking it up for shots later.... I will be slow adjusting it for pictures and my subjects getting desperate and restless from posing... hehehe.
