These photos are from a trip to Hong Kong during Chinese New Year in 2015. It was my first time using a DSLR camera to take photos and I (quite literally) had NO idea what I was doing. Even the lenses themselves were 'Kit' Lenses' and nowhere near the quality of lens that I might use these days. Concepts of Image Stabilization and the exposure triangle were very new to me. Oftentimes, I found myself shooting 'From the Hip', especially in indoor locations as to not freak out the locals.
Despite that, I was still happy with how the photos turned out overall, and the whole experience definitely taught me a lot about photography in general.
There are 375 photos here which are just a fraction of the total amount that I actually took during my time there. A lot were blurry or unusable, and a lot were taken of a private wedding ceremony that I chose not to post here for privacy reasons.
I have a lot of 'favorite' memories from this trip, but I have to say that one of the funnier things to experience is the use of 'Engrish' which is very common. Of course many people in Hong Kong learn English from a young age and they speak and write it very well. Some people have an average understanding, and of course some have none at all. Some of my favorites were the 'Miracle Kill' on the bag as seen in the photo below, as well as one woman wearing a shirt that said 'Hail Satan!' and another woman who wore a shirt that said 'I <3 Hugs & Drugs!'
Hong Kong was a fascinating country to me and I had a really great time exploring the contrast of the city as it often integrated with nature. The people were very welcoming and the food was amazing. The photos of the menu were from a Hong Kong style 'Diner' which are popular there. The locals like to mix ham and sausage with eggs. The quality may look basic, but it was very high quality for something that came from a 'Diner'. The eggs were soft and silky, the bread was fully and soft, and the butter was really amazing too. Unfortunately I couldn't get a photo of the pineapple bun 'Bolo Bao', but it is essentially a soft baked bun that is scored on top to resemble that of a pineapple.
The Buddha statue (called Tian Tan Buddha) is located on an island called 'Lantau Island' and is considered the second largest bronze Buddha in the world. The tram ride crossed a body of water and up went slowly up the side of the mountain. It was cold, rainy, windy and foggy that day, and I remember not being able to see around the tram for a while going up the mountain. At one point, the wind blew so hard, it felt like the tram car went almost sideways. Needless to say, we ended up taking a bus back down the mountain which ended up taking twice as long, and was probably twice as scary...
Visiting Hong Kong has been perhaps my fondest travel memory so far and I am honored to share these photos with you. I hope you enjoy them!
