First time in Hong Kong, first time with my new camera and nothing but several rolls of Kodak Tri-X in my pocket. I was excited and thrilled to explore the city.
Before I went on my flight to Hong Kong I really thought long about what camera to take on this trip. The decision just to take my new Yashica Electro 35 GSN was not easy. I expected many shooting possibilities during day and night. On the other hand I was well aware that the city has been captured million times on photographs before so I thought committing to black and white film was a good idea. I did not expect to come back home with something exciting or new, I just wanted to explore the city, learn my new camera while capturing some personal memories on film. Well that is what I did.
After a long flight from Europe we arrived in Kai Tak late afternoon just before sunset. I was a gorgeous moment, the light haze over the city was illuminated by a beautiful warm autumn light. After some great Thai food for dinner we also explored Hong Kong´s fascinating night life. The charm of the city even grows after sunset, when all the lights are illuminating the streets. Hong Kong is busy, always, even during night.
One of the coolest adventures in Hong Kong is taking the Star Ferry between Hong Kong and Kowloon. This traditional line connects the main parts of the city. Travel time is short and the price is very low. For only 2 HKD the ferry takes every 10 minutes on a scenic ride. It is fascinating at night and relaxing during the day.
Shooting the streets was more challenging than I remembered, as I was not out shooting in the streets for quite a long time. It took me a while to get used to it again. The new camera was keeping me busy and I needed to learn how to correctly expose a scene and the semi-automatic exposure control of the Yashica sometimes gave me a hard time. Focusing a rangefinder camera was not easy in the beginning. But the more you shoot, the more you fall in love with it. Today I know my new camera did a good job. Except for two or three frames, exposure was spot on and focus always close!
At home I was really excited to see the results. I developed the rolls in Kodak XTOL and scanned them on my new Pakon F135 scanner. There was almost no post-processing in Adobe Lightroom required. I just added some sharpening, adjusted the black point slightly and also added some contrast. This is it, very honest and pure, nothing fancy - just some personal memories from a great trip. I am quite sure I will be back soon!
Kodak TX400 - Yashica Electro 35GSN - Kodak XTOL 1:1 standard - Kodak Pakon F135