Earlier this week, the American and British governments issued travel advisories against visiting Hong Kong. This says quite a bit about the severity of the political situation that Hong Kong is in -- more so than it being threatened by the Wuhan coronavirus, in fact; something underlined by pro-democracy activist Sunny Cheung being the latest person to announce that he has fled Hong Kong.
In truth, however, Hong Kong has been devoid of tourists from everywhere in the world for some months now (after the government imposed a ban on tourist arrivals in late March -- but walked back on its stated plan that same day to ban alcohol sales). And even while hotels and other tourism-dependent parties rue the damage this has brought to their finances, many residents have been enjoying effectively having gotten parts of the city back from the tourist hordes (an uncomfortably large percentage of which have hailed in recent years from Mainland China)!
This has particularly been the case with regards to Tsim Sha Tsui, the area with the highest density of hotels in Hong Kong (and, it can feel like, the most businesses catered to Mainland Chinese tourists). And I don't think it's coincidence that I've happily spent more time in this section of Kowloon in recent months than I have in years! Heck, I've even happily strolled along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, including the section that's home to the revamped Avenue of Stars, a few times in recent months -- something I'd otherwise be loathe to do because I'd want to avoid the madding crowds there! For proof, check out the following photo-essay cobbled together from snaps taken from one cold weather afternoon and earlier this week!
6 comments:
Hi There,
I went there on 4th Sep in the evening for some harbour night shots on tripod. (Still trying to get used to the Fuji Camera to find out how it works). There are fewer people, but the number of them walking around is still substantial (approximately 5-8 in a 10 metre square when I was there).
T
Hi T --
Hope you got nice shots! Did you go during the Symphony of Lights show? I've actually never seen it from Tsim Sha Tsui! :D
Hi There,
I was there just before 2000 hrs but I guess the light show had been cancelled since the tourists stopped coming. Some buildings still have their running lights operational, but no lasers and fireworks.
Long exposture together with auto-focus digital cameras are not easy to handle as there are times the auto-focus would not work. Sometimes even the power assisted manual focus would not work as well.
On the other hand I am sort of weak on framing my subjects.
T
Hi again T --
I had heard that the light show had not been cancelled. Glad to hear that it has been as I am of the opinion that it's a waste of money and electricity!
Good luck with continuing to work out how best to use your camera at night! I, too, am much more confident taking daytime rather than nighttime shots; though I have found that with each new camera I get, my night shots have gotten better and better. :)
Hi There,
Those cameras are probably too complicated to work with anyway. Even if I was using my Minota X-700 SLR film cameras decades ago, most of my actions were guess work. All I did was setting up the ASA value (ISO nowaways) according to the film I was using, select shutter speed and apeture (or use full automatic). It's just that the guess work become less expensive as we do not have to buy films anymore.
But for those old cameras, we really see the images optically instead of electronically like today's digital cameras. Oh well....
T
Hi once more T --
Sounds like you have some nostalgia for non-digital cameras! I must admit to preferring digital ones because I can look instantly at what I took and take another, better photo if needed, and also because, as you said, the guess work is less expensive -- and consequently encourages me to sometimes experiment more with shots than I otherwise would do.
Actually, would you believe that before the digital camera, I often preferred to eschew taking photographs on trips, etc.? This because I felt that the time and concentration needed to take photographs often distracted me from truly experiencing the occasion and appreciating what was before and around me!
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