I've been pretty busy recently. Work hours are long and I'm too tired to head out for night photography. I've been planning a few shots of London for a while now; most to be taken during dusk and night.

I'm also going to try my hand at some HDR photography...

HDR photographs I've seen on Flickr are a little hit-n-miss. Too often the images look surreal; I think people get a little too carried away when down-sampling from the 32bit HDR image. I always thought the purpose of HDR photography was to try and capture a scene as closely to that as perceived by the human eye. It's a shame when someone wrecks a potentially great picture by pursuing pure detail (HDRi captures greater detail due to multiple exposures) as opposed to recreating a scene as accurately as possible.

I will be experimenting with the HDR function within PS to see if I can produce decent results. Hopefully things will work out as planned. I won't be pursuing huge numbers of exposures; 3 exposures taken using the bracketing function on my DSLR should suffice. Loads of people seem to think the greater the number of exposures, the better the picture... which is, of course, rubbish.

If so many people can capture moments so perfectly with a single exposure...

In fact, the only reason I want to try HDRi is to see how accurately I can recreate a scene and if it's nominally better than just a single exposure. My skills with the camera are basic at most so if this will allow me to have greater control of my images, then it'll be a good thing. We will soon find out...

I've just recently returned from a week-long trip to Los Angeles. I gotta say, it's not what I expected at all. Sure, the air is polluted (but so is the air in London), and the roads are packed with traffic (again, so are they in London), but LA is actually a very beautiful and pleasant city. Assuming you don't live in downtown LA, of course.

One striking point for me was the sheer scale Los Angeles; it's one big city... I mean, London ain't no slouch, but in terms of pure land footprint, LA is miles ahead, pun not intended. The highlights of my trip would be my day at Universal Studios and City Walk, as well as my trip to Malibu Beach. Cruising down Sunset Boulevard was fun, as was visiting Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. I just wish I had more time, would've loved to have driven down to Newport Beach. I'll just have to wait till my next visit.

I regret not taking my Nikon D70 with me though; Malibu Beach on a beautiful, sunny Sunday was just incredible. The views from the top of Universal Studios was breathtaking, and I would've loved to have taken some nice pictures of the Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Hills. Alas! The immigration policy in the US is still very strict at the moment, and I would've had to check in my camera. Without a suitable hard travel case, that just wasn't an option for me.

So there I was, in LA, with some truly beautiful views all around me and all I had was my crappy mobile phone camera!

I am adamant such an event will not repeat itself. My camera comes with me now, no matter the hassle.

On another note, I bought myself a brand new 15" MacBook Pro while out in LA. I've now got it hooked up to my 19" monitor, running a dual screen setup. I've also got my old, trusty 12" PowerBook G4 hooked up to my 15" monitor, running a dual screen. So I'm basically staring at four screens! It's all hooked up to a Mac Keyboard (which is just so sleek) and my Logitech mouse, as well as a 1TB external HDD. Yup... I plan to never delete anything ever again!

The shopping was nothing short of bliss. Things are so much cheaper there compared to the UK, and indeed, the world. Ended up buying a few shirts, a pair of trousers and a navy blue jumper from Tommy Hilfiger, a new belt from Kenneth Cole and a cream jumper, a light hoodie and a heavy hoodie from Abercrombie & Fitch. Also bought a Black BC Rich Warlock guitar (fixed bridge) and a gig bag while I was out there. The BC Rich should nicely complement my Mirage Red Ibanez RG1570 Prestige, which is too precious to drag around... hence the new guitar for trashing about.

Another thing I'm adamant not to repeat? Bringing a small suitcase... Next time I'm out in the US, I'm bringing a monster of a suitcase with me to fit all the stuff I'll be buying.

Well, it's that time of year again... it's pretty scary how quickly time seems to go by. Christmas is always a double-edged sword for me; on one hand, it's a a great time to just be with friends and family, enjoying the christmas spirit (ie - Brandy), and on the other hand, it signals the start of the horrible, wet, windy, winter that we enjoy here in England.

Anyways, I've been occupying my free time playing around with photomanipulation and pop art. I think I'll eventually try some line art. Also been writing a lot of songs lately, brings me back to my younger days in school where music was such a huge aspect of my everyday life. Really do miss it!

Well, that's all I've got to say for now. Have a Very Merry Christmas.

Hello world!

Sorry for the inactivity, been busy with lots of stuff and been lazy too. I will definitely endeavor to get some stuff posted soon. I've got my new Nikon D70 now and been playing around with it. It's really fantastic.

I love being able to see my pictures straight away instead of waiting for the roll of film to be used up and then developed, by which point I've usually forgotten what I did! So the move to digital was a pleasant one. I do kinda miss the 'feel' of my Nikon F4 though, the sheer bulk and weight of it was pleasing. Also, I reckon on a bright sunny day (of which there aren't many here in the UK), with the right film, the F4 still beats the D70 for quality.

But being a noob photographer, I have to say the D70 is a dream come true for me. No more rolls of wasted film!

- Huang

Yeah...been absolutely hopeless these past few months in regards to updating/uploading anything new onto DA. Been pretty busy with university, social activities, sports, etc...

I tend to upload misc stuff onto my webby at : [link]

So, do check it out. I'm sure I'll eventually find some time to upload new stuff. I'm just waiting to get a new Nikon D70 camera, once my dad gets his D200. Should be good. Can't wait.

- Huang