Alex Hung

A lot of photographers obsess about their gears. What features their cameras have or not have? How does it compares to another model/make? Which lens is sharper/better than another? A healthy understanding of the capability of the gear you own is crucial to capturing the image you want. But if the pursuit of understanding the gear gets beyond that and it becomes feature-matrix obsession, it is very easy to forget about the point of photography which is to make great photos.

I’ve just hanged up a 16″ x 20″ print of a photo of Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren F1 car. It looks great, doesn’t it? The photo captures the dynamic motion of the car as well as Hamilton working with the steering wheel. Do I buy this from the merchandise stand at the track?

Continue reading “Forget about the gears” →

I bought the Apple iPad case on the Thursday before my iPad arrival Friday two weeks ago. My original plan, after much research on the Internet, was (and still is) to get the Case-mate’s Nylon Flip case for everyday transportation and some kind of silicon case for when I take it to the gym. However, since the Case-mate case is out of stock then and still is now, I had to make do with the Apple case.

My expectation of the case was no. Especially after watching the video announcement of the iPad. The style is less elegant than some of the cases out there on the market, especially in Apple’s standard. And it looks pretty thick on the video.

However, once I opened the box at home and put my iPad in, I was very surprised by how thin the material really is. The case fits around the iPad like a second skin and provides good protect against general everyday use and scratches. The more grippy material also makes holding the iPad feel more secure.

There are a few downside to this case. First, dust collect around the edges of the screen, making the gorgeous iPad screen looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in weeks. The tight fit that makes it way better than other very thick cases out there, also means it is very difficult to take off. I much prefer to use the iPad ‘naked’ in the apartment when I don’t have to protect it from the environment. But taking the case off requires considerable force and create the potential of damaging the iPad every time I take it out.

I certainly don’t feel the $40 I spent on the case is wasted but I still think a two cases solution will be more effective for my usage. Now if only Case-mate produces more Nylon Flip Case…

Yesterday morning I was listening to WNYC/NPR during my commute. The reporter was explaining De Beers’ claim of supply shortage of diamonds and there will be a price increase of 5% a year for the next 5 years. In closing of the story, the reporter said something about the effect of price hike of 25%, thus implying that 5% annual increase over 5 years equals to 25% increase in total!

Wrong!

Let’s take a look at the concept of compound interest. First let’s say we start with the price of a mythical diamond at $100. At the end of first year, we increase price by 5%. That is $100 + ($100 x 5%) = $105.

So at the beginning of second year, the price of the mythical diamond is now at $105. At the end second year, we increase price by 5% again. This time $105 + ($105 x 5%) = $110.25.

Repeat this for the next three years:

Year 3: $110.25 + ($110.25 x 5%) = $115.76

Year 4: $115.76 + ($115.76 x 5%) = $121.55

Year 5: $121.55 + ($121.55 x 5%) = $127.63

So at the beginning of fifth year, the last price increase puts the final price of our mythical diamond at $127.63.

But what about the 25% increase in 5 years? Ok, let’s see.

$100 + ($100 x 25%) = $125

Huh! That’s clearly not the same as $127.63!

So my message to liberal arts graduates who may (or may not) become a reporter who would work on story involves numbers: brush up your maths skill!

Ever since I bought the Golf GTI back in March I always planned to take photos of it with nice background. It finally took Leah being stranded in the UK by volcano ash and a burst of sunny weather today to get me to do it.

All of them are taken using my Canon 50D with 50mm f1.8, handheld. This is also the first time I used Aperture 3 in a more in-depth editing role. The brush-in adjustment feature is absolutely awesome!

The whole collection is on Flickr but here are a sample: