If there is one type of photography I most want to explore, it would have to be astro photography. I don’t just mean taking photos of galaxies and nebulae from a mountain top with a telescope adapter, but I mean actually taking photos while floating in space. As a mere earthbound mortal, I’m not sure if commercial space exploration will be available in my life time. But in the meantime, we can live vicariously through the photos taken by the lucky astronauts in the International Space Station.
How many cities do you recognize? What does your home town look like at night?
New York City
New York City (Nikon D3S @ 400mm, 1/30s, f/2.8, ISO 51200) – The lights illuminate the undeniable shape of Manhattan Island, surrounded by the four other boroughs of the city. North faces left in the photo. The narrow unlit area in the middle of Manhattan is central park. NYC, the city that never sleeps. With all those lights, seems about right.
Beijing 北京
Beijing (Nikon D3S @ 400mm, 1/40s, f/3.2, ISO 51200) – The concentric “ring roads” of Beijing surround the Forbidden Palace in the city center. North is up in the photo (rotated from NASA’s original image) and the city’s brightly lit financial and commercial centers are located in the eastern parts of the city, between the 2nd and the 4th rings roads.
Shot in a crowded public park, at around 9PM, in darkness with a single Canon EX270 Flash on the end of a monopod, held 1.5m above the model, pointing straight down.
I had the fortune of renting a 50mm f/1.2L for my trip to Beijing. I will give a two-part review of my impressions. But here’s the gist of it： “一分钱一分货” or “You get what you paid for.” You buy this lens for the bokeh. It is really simple as that. I have never shot with a lens that had bokeh so creamy and so smooth. It makes shooting with any other primes fee inadequate. Honestly, be warned. Continue reading Canon’s Best Fifty, the EF 50mm f/1.2L→
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