My Photo Gear

/ Me, Photo

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One of the viewers of my blog left a message on my about page recently asking about photography.

Hello, been following your blog lately. You are getting good at photography. Could you advise me on how to get started? What camera would you recommend for a newbie? Do you have maybe a few techniques to share or any books/blogs you’d recommend? I love your designs as well.

So first off, thanks for reading my blog and checking out my photos. I could talk about this stuff all day, but here the highlights…

Getting Started with Photography
The new mobile phones have really improved their cameras. I’ve seen some really incredible photos taken with iPhones—they excel at landscapes, macro and panoramas.

There are a ton of apps that can help you with editing the photo. Here’s a good article that’ll get you started by one of my fellow comrades at Spot.

In general, an iPhone provides you a focal length of about 28mm. It’s a wide angle, and you’ll need to be creative. Also, it’s not going to be really limited in low light environments… but, that’s where you need creativity. I’d focus on composition (rule of 3rd’s) and using available light (magic hour). The rule of thumb to follow is to get closer if your photos are kinda blah.

Camera and Gear
So, this is a rabbit hole that you can go down. I have a very strong perspective about this—less is more. Most photographers tell beginners to start using the kit zoom lens (the lens that comes with most DSLRs), but I’d avoid it. I’d focus on getting one fast prime lens—something like a 35mm or 50mm f1.8 would a starting point. I would weight towards a 35mm since it’s more versatile. If you can swing for a 35mm f1.4, do it—That way you can shoot in the dark handheld. ^_^

As for a body, I’d go for something compact. If money wasn’t an issue, I’d go for a Sony A7RII. And if you want to go really crazy, go for a Leica.

If you’re like me, go for something used. I shoot with a Nikon D600. I tried to spend the least amount for a body—your money is best spent on good glass. You can check out my old post about camera shopping tips here. The new Fuji APS-C cameras are pretty bad ass. One of my roommates has one, and they’re really fun to use. I love the compact retro feel. If you love your camera, you’ll use it more. ^_^

Just remember, start with less gear. Stick with one lens and focus on composition, lighting and a theme. The less you have, the more creative you’ll become.

Recommended Sites
You can learn a lot about gear by checking out the EXIF information in a photograph. It’s the meta information that’s captured in all photos. You can usually download a picture and check out the EXIF info; however, I like going to sites like 500px and Flickr and clicking on a photo’s details. As you favorite and bookmark photos, you’ll start seeing a pattern emerge of specific styles, genres and gear people are using.

I also spend a bunch of time on fstoppers.com. They have some great articles about gear.

Post Processing
Focus on making sure your original photo is the best it can be. Slow down and focus on better composition, lighting, etc. Once you have your photos, you want to narrow them down to the best. My recommendation would be to get Adobe Lightroom and grab some free presets. VSCO has some really good ones and you can download them here. To get a film look, you’ll want to shoot RAW and maximize on the dynamic range. Post processing is a topic in itself. If you’re up for the challenge, start with making all your photos black and white.

Summary
Here’s my current gear featured on Kit.

Current Photography Kit

This is my gear. I typically only lug around one lens.

kit by @jeffwongdesign

MORE ON

Happy Birthday Patrick!

/ Cali, Food, Me

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This weekend, Patrick threw a party for his 29th birthday.

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He spent the entire day cooking up a storm for everyone.

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Yeh, there were lots of meats.

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And more meats.

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And wrapped meats.

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There were all sorts of desserts as well, including a chocolate cake, cheesecake, and coffee ice cream.

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Oh yeh, and this is Suki, Patrick’s newly adopted cat. Get ready for more cat photos.

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Happy birthday Patrick! Hope you had a good one! ^_^

Hanging Out With Vinny

/ Cali, Me

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It was great to hang out Vinny this past week. Hopefully he’ll be able to come out here more often.

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We went to a restaurant nearby in bernal heights and grabbed a bite to eat.

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I can’t wait to get my boosted board so I can get around town a little easier.

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Dinner at Great China

/ Food, Me

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Last night, a group of coworkers and friends got together for some fine dining at Great China, located in Berkeley. The food was pretty amazing, and we shared hilarious stories of times when we got drunk in the past.

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This restaurant was suggested by Rudy and Laney, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s solid. The quality of each dish was consistently high, and the overall price was reasonable (though a little on the higher side). It cost us roughly $50 per person, but there was a tremendous amount of food, and the quality was impressive. And that’s what this place is all about, the food. Nothing fancy—no TV screens, no fancy furniture or ambience—just good asian food.

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It’s nice to see everyone try all the dishes. There’s an open-mindedness about trying new experiences here, and I like that. Everyone tried everything. Bravo!

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The first dish was called a double skin noodle (I think). It’s a transparent noodle mixed together in front of you. The noodles were delicious—similar to a very thin asian crepe that you get at dim sum.

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Next up, peaking duck wraps. The duck was good—solid and not too fatty. It’s something that I’ve had many times in my life, and this was on the good end of the spectrum.

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Here’s some of the sauce. Gotta go light on it—a touch too much can be overpowering. The key to the wrap is to not put too much of anything. Focus more on the balance of the wrap, versus quantity.

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Northern style break rolls served with crab meat (pictured below).

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This was Rudy’s favorite dish. For me, I liked it, but it wasn’t the star of the evening.

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This was the star. Clams in a sauce sauce/oil sauce. The quality of the clams was close to a texture you’d find in a scallop. I never had clams that had an almost flakey texture, and the sauce was phenomenal. This sauce is almost identical to the one my mom makes… except this was a little more on the oily side. Nonetheless, this dish stood out in my mind, and it’s worth writing home about. If you go here, I would highly recommend the clams.

And for Justin, he ended up ordering another dish of clams for himself because he liked it so much.

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Veggies were good. I think this was some kind of squash.

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Filleted fish with a thick sauce.

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Fried shrimp with walnuts. My god, this was good too. The size of the shrimp were perfect, and each shrimp was glazed flawlessly.

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Pork on pork on pork. Yeh, this was the heaviest dish of the night. It’s a pro belly on top of diced pork. Normally, it’s supposed to be juicy and flavorful, but I think tonight it was a little on the dry side, and way too oily. It’s something that’s going to be way too rich for most people. I could see how this would be delicious with some rice if it were a little less dry.

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So there you have it. Great China—a memorable dinner with some dishes that are definitely worth trying if you’re in town.

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Oh by the way, we went and got some ice cream afterwards. And let me just say that the ice cream is actually priced fair here. In SF, you’re paying about $10-15 for two scoops of ice cream at the mall. Yeh, that’s crazy town.

In Berkeley, it was $2 for two scoops. I like that. This something nice about this part of California, and I’m looking forward to exploring it more.

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Thanks everyone for coming out and making it a fun night.

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