13/11/2015
Why photography is my most favorite hobby by Raymond Lai
I have to confess that I have many activities that I would like to do for pleasure at my leisure time like traveling, singing, reading, watching movies, music listening, playing golf and playing table tennis but photography is my most favorite hobby.
Traveling was used to be my most favorite hobby.
I also took photos during traveling mainly using landscape as background and the results were sometime not as expected. The ice I saw in Alaska glacier was snow white but it looked very dirty on the photo. The night scene photos were also unacceptable due to motion unsharpness. So I decided to learn more about photography.
During a visit to Florida in 1997, I was attracted by the pattern of the shadow of the roof casted on the floor just outside the exit of a chocolate factory so I took the photos and it won the champion in the 1997 Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong photo competition. Since then, I am crazy about it.
Photography makes me more observant and increases my awareness of the surrounding and the appreciation of the nature beauty. It helps me to seize the day (carpe diem).
It also trains my power of concentration and perseverance as we have to wait for the good opportunity to capture the perfect moment like sunrise and the magic hour just before sunset.
I passed the Associate Distinction examination of The Royal Photographic Society in 2006 by submitting 15 photos of trams in HK.
The goal took me 5 years to accomplish.
At that time, I frequently got on the tram from Kennedy Town terminus to Shau Kei Wan terminus during days and night to capture photos from its inside and from the outside.
I had to get up early and waited outside the Whitty street depot in Sai Wan in order to capture a photo of tram coming out from the gate of the depot.
Learning the composition also helps me to be able to appreciate the painting in Art museum and the beautiful posters inside the MTR station.
I can also savour the joy of my life by watching the photos of happy moment from time to time.
I think photography also contribute to the longevity of HK people as Hong Kong is the kingdom of photography and many photography masters or gurus are very old indeed like Mr. Kan Hing Fook and Dr. Leo Wong Kwai Kuen.
Now, the Sony RX 100 IV compact camera becomes part of my body and I have to carry it around all the time as I don’t want to miss any spectacular photo opportunity.
Unfinished revision before examination was used to be my nightmare but now, being aware that the camera is not around in front of a beautiful scene or discovering that there is no roll of film inside the camera after shooting, no battery and no memory card are my most common nightmares. So you can see how crazy I am about photography
