365:16 ANDREW HARDACRE

I am submitting this image to be considered for the 365 project. At first glance I suspect it doesn’t mean so much to most people. It is the exact opposite of what I like - simple compositions. However it encapsulates so much of Hong Kong in one frame:

Lack of space - a typical narrow HK back alley
Bamboo scaffolding - none of your H&S rubbish here
The family unit
The famous ‘Filipino suitcase’ - the soft chequered carrying bag, now widely adopted by many HK’ers for its practicality
Washing hanging outside the window (no space inside these tiny residential units)
Air con units everywhere - we’re tropical you know 🙂
A sort of merging of indoor and outdoor space to waste not a single inch

I also liked the way it came out in processing. I’ve worked hard on improving my processing. I don’t like to over-process. Better to get it right in camera but there are some tools that I think are worth using. I have been through a couple of months with what seems to be an empty tank of inspiration and this was one that actually pleased me. I’ve posted one or two things to the FB group then taken them down as I look again and decide that they don’t merit showing. The tai chi sequence for example. But this one I think holds up.

Tech stuff: 20mb black and white jpeg Leica M10R with Summicron 50mm ASPH in drizzly conditions. ISO 1600, f6.8, 1/180s (I had a 40mb colour DNG file in tandem but didn’t use it). No noise reduction applied but I added some ‘grain’ in Lightroom. I also went for -3 in colour temp as this changes fractionally the tone and I like a tiny amount of blue without going to a selenium finish.

Best,

Andrew