Sanya is a bit of a strange place, I must say. It’s considered the “Hawaii” of China because people vacation here to have the tropical beach life. But the strange thing is that the beaches were totally empty, as all the tourists (99% Chinese mainlanders and 1% me) would just hang out at the pool all day. This made it great for me, who actually enjoys the beach and ocean… so I was out there all by myself. However, as you can see, the pool was pretty awesome.

The Pool at the Ritz-Carlton in Sanya

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-03-19 03:59:43
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time8
• Aperture6.3
• ISO400
• Focal Length25.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Chengdu is known as the home of the Panda Bears in China. I don’t love the way they treat animals and stuff in China, but it’s still a beautiful place. I try and imagine Panda Bears swinging around free and eating bamboo ice cream or whatever they eat.

Walking in the Panda Bamboo Forest of Chengdu

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-15 18:43:05
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/80
• Aperture2.8
• ISO800
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

I was surprised to see all the semi-religious buildings and structures in Sanya. You don’t see a lot of this sort of stuff in mainland China, but because Sanya is on an island of their own, they seem to have a bit more of a different history and architecture. It was a welcome relief, because after you’ve seen about 10 Chinese temples of traditional design, you’ve seen them all.

Spirals in Sanya

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-03-18 11:58:42
• CameraFC220
• Camera MakeDJI
• Exposure Time1/3600
• Aperture2.2
• ISO100
• Focal Length4.7 mm
• FlashNo flash function
• Exposure ProgramProgram AE
• Exposure Bias-0.656

Photography is a great sport because it’s solitary and gives you some amazing adventures to have at night. It also gives you a reason to walk around the city and discover new things. The muggles like to explore cities too, but they are usually on their way for an actual purpose: bar, restaurant, or shopping. It’s nice the photography has no real purpose other than wandering and finding things you did not expect.

Exploring the Architecture of Hong Kong

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-02-05 20:16:01
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time0.6
• Aperture5.6
• ISO100
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

I was chatting with my friend Milly the other day about architecture photos. She was asking if I get bored of it because I’ve made thousands of them. I told her, no, not really, because it’s a fun personal challenge either to get a cool angle or to process it differently. If I was the architect, I’d love to stumble upon one of my photos and think, hey that’s cool! Perhaps it a bit of an homage, even though it’s inherently a derivative work.

More Cool Architecture in Hong Kong

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-02-05 20:37:51
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time2.5
• Aperture6.3
• ISO100
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

I haven’t been back since the protests, but I know Hong Kong was a very safe place to take photos at night. There are so many cool lights and the city really comes alive at night. I just sort of wander around randomly to find cool scenes like this. Often times, I’ve got my earphones on and listening to cool music to inspire me even more.

Hong Kong Street Nightlife

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-02-05 21:54:21
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1.3
• Aperture7.1
• ISO125
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

These hotels are always nice, and the Chinese sometimes take them to the next level of palatial. This is not even a ballroom or anything. It’s just one of a ton of different hallways… I’m amazed at the level of decor and quality in these places. It reminds me a bit of Versailles in a way. I got one of the ladies from the hotel to walk down the shiny floor to give it a little more personality.

The Ritz-Carlton in Tianjin

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-12 17:29:32
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time0.6
• Aperture13
• ISO100
• Focal Length29.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Here’s a rarely visited area of Shanghai where this old factory has been converted into an art space. Unfortunately, we got there too late and we could only kinda look through the window. There was a lot of contemporary art in there that looked completely confusing, so it’s probably just as well that I didn’t go in… I could be confused from the outside rather than be confused from the inside.

Art Tour in Shanghai

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-22 00:08:17
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time0.3
• Aperture2.8
• ISO640
• Focal Length21.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

As part of my “thing” with the Ritz-Carlton, they let me take whatever photos I want to take, which is great! They usually have a few suggestions here and there that might be photogenic. Some are good ideas, and some kind of come out to be duds. Anyway, at this hotel in Shanghai they have a nightly ritual where they light lanterns to illuminate the main hallway that leads to the lobby. The women dress up in traditional garb, so I thought it would a fun shooting opportunity, and it was!

Lighting Lamps in Shanghai

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-21 21:53:16
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/50
• Aperture
• ISO640
• Focal Length
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

This monolith along the Bund, Shanghai is where the whole group met for the photo walk while on the Asia tour. Besides all the great people I met there, it was also amazing to run into Liam Gowing, who was a guy I went to Jesuit High School with! He was like the “cool” guy that was the lead singer of the band… I was not cool in high school, believe me. But now, we were both kinda cool, I guess. Hey, cool is a state of mind, right?

Prepping for the Shanghai Photo Walk

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-17 22:03:08
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/125
• Aperture9
• ISO200
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias