Photo Essays from China

Yesterday, I went to the Hong Kong Flower Show. Spending a Sunday around orchids, tulips, and cosmos may not sound like an ideal weekend adventure, but I enjoyed myself in spite of the unfavorable conditions:

• After a long night of drunken singing at KTV for my friend's birthday, I was left exhausted the following day. I'm still not sure how I managed to wake up so early and get myself out to Hong Kong for the flower show.
• The event was smaller than I expected and jam-packed full of people. That's what I get for going on the last possible day of the show. And I'm a guy who despises being stuck in crowded areas.
• The weather wasn't exactly uncomfortable: it was incredibly hot and humid. Wearing a t-shirt and shorts didn't do much to keep me cool. It probably didn't help that I was lugging around about 10 pounds worth of camera equipment.
• Despite being there for about 5 hours, I ended up not even having lunch. Come to think of it, all I had while I was there was some sports drink. None of the real food looked appetizing to me so I just didn’t eat.

Like I said, I had a great time despite all of that. Things have been pretty stressful lately and it's been taking a toll on me mentally and physically. Photographing the flower show on Sunday was the type of break that I've been needing. I won't deny that it was also great just to get out of China and head to Hong Kong. But mostly, I've needed to get out and spend some serious time shooting. In those five hours of taking pictures of flowers, I was re-reminded of one of the main reasons why I love photography so much.

Taking pictures just takes a load off my mind. All the crap that I've been dealing with at work and in my personal life just temporarily disappeared during those five hours. When I get into the zone and start hitting my stride, there’s no better escape. And when it comes to macro photography and flowers, it's even better. Flowers don't move and you can't give them direction or tell them how to pose. It’s pretty much just going to sit there prettily. So it takes more concentration from the photographer because you can't control the flower, but you can really control the camera. Thus for me, it requires me focus even more to figure out the right angle, composition, depth of field, exposure, etc.