Tag Archives: chinatown

The Street Barber

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Operating under a droopy canvas on side lanes, the street barber is now a rarity in the city. This one in Chinatown KL survives on tourists and backpackers who appreciate the old world charm and unique experience of a public haircut.

To use an ultrawide-angle lens for street photography, you cannot be shy either. You would need to engage strangers as the lens works best up-close. Contrary to what many think, it is not just for taking everything in from afar. The beauty of this specialised lens is how it affects perspective and exaggerate scale when positioned very near.

Olympus E-PL2, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/160 sec with Lumix 7-14mm ultrawide angle lens.

The Street Barber

I See Dead People (Buying DVDs)

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Whisper after me: “I See Dead People (buying DVDs)”. Some superstitious Chinese do not go out tonight because they consider it risky. After one month of non-stop partying, the hungry ghosts are on their way back. According to Chinese beliefs, the gates of hell are opened for the last time tonight. Last call.

The month-long Hungry Ghost Festival saw many Chinese burning paper replicas of worldly possessions for their dead relatives or ancestors. These include gadgets such as smart phones, tablets and DVD players. Blu-ray is not as popular yet in the netherworld, it seems.

By attaching several ND (Neutral Density) filters to the lens, I was able to reduce the intensity of daylight drastically. This allowed me to use a very slow exposure to capture this seldom seen side of Chinatown. The camera’s slow shutter speed resulted in moving cars and people streaking into ghostly figures.

I See Dead People (Buying DVDs)

 

Single Lens

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I was in Chinatown earlier tonight and had only one lens with me. If you are to take only one fixed-focal lens (non-zoom), which will it be? It is a personal choice but I like the 50 mm (25mm in m43). It is neither too wide or too tight and as such is great for street use. Because it is a bright f1.4, the lighted signboards provided sufficient illumination and speed was a manageable 1/60th of a second, even at ISO 200.

Only limitation is the narrow plane of focus and you have to decide which you want to keep in sharp focus. Here, I focused on the lady. Pana-Leica Summilux paired with the Olympus OMD make a perfect night street photography combo.

Single Lens