Canon T-shirt (black)

With summer almost upon us, I know many photographers are wondering what on earth their wardrobe contains that will ensure they stand out from the crowds of other photographers this season. Forget scarves. In case something goes wrong with your camera, why not have a t-shirt which doubles as a mini schematic of how your camera works?! The above t-shirt can be purchased in UniQlo in Beijing for the bargain price of 100rmb (US$15).

If schematics are not your thing, then you might want to head for the slightly more understated white t-shirt with simplified Canon EOS motif. Two, surely ‘must have’ items for this year’s summer wardrobe

Canon T-Shirt (white)

Saturday 26th March 2011 marks this year’s ‘Earth Hour’, a global event aimed at raising awareness across borders about the effect we have on our climate and inspire action to manage humanities impact on climate change.

According to Earth Hour’s website: “On Saturday 27 March, Earth Hour 2010 became the biggest Earth Hour ever. A record 128 countries and territories joined the global display of climate action. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Asia Pacific to Europe and Africa to the Americas switched off. People across the world from all walks of life turned off their lights and came together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet.”

China has embraced Earth Hour with gusto with advertisements popping up everywhere in Beijing recently promoting the cause. Last year I headed out the the Bird’s Nest, Beijing’s centerpiece for the 2008 Olympic Games, to capture Earth Hour using timelapse video. The resulting piece shows the crowds who were there to witness the turning off of the lights at this magnificent stadium. In real-time, the change wasn’t quite so dramatic but speeded up to one minute, makes for more interesting viewing.

If You Pay Peanuts, You Get Monkeys

Apparently this is a genuine image used by Canon in a campaign to advertise the  Focus-on-Imaging photographic trade show which is being held in Birmingham, UK at the moment. Canon decided to pull out of the trade show but I think their advert deserves to live on a little longer, hence the post.

Love the f8 at 98.5% tagline.

Hope it brought a smile to your face today.

Thanks to Olivier Laurent over at BJP for originally posting this on their blog.

[Now, I know that technically, chimpanzees are not monkeys. They are great apes. Both are primates, but alas are different. Maybe the headline should be, 'If you pay peanuts, you get primates' ...doesn't quite have the same ring to it though. Please forgive the slight discrepancy. I hope no Zoologists are reading this!]

No. 1

Last week saw the visit of Chinese President, Hu Jintao, to the United States. The visit sparked an online flurry of activity around everything Chinese. As the world wakes up to the looming, unavoidable realisation that China is here and here to stay, more and more people are focusing their attention on the Middle Kingdom and are striving to learn more about it.

One of my stated aims with my photography and this blog is try and assist people in their understanding of China and act as a window into this deeply mysterious and fascinating country. This week, I thought I would be fun to focus on those that I have photographed, in particular a number of Chinese celebrities that I have had the opportunity to meet and take pictures of, since I have been in China. The question is: How well do you know your Chinese celebrities?

No. 2

All you need to do is take a look at the 5 pictures in this post and correctly identify who they are. They all come from quite diverse areas of Chinese culture including politics, education, sport etc but they all have the same thing in common in that they are very very well known here in China. Once you think you know who they are, write a list of their names in the comment section below. The first person to answer all 5 correctly (or closest to 5) will win a signed 9″x6″ print of this image. Easy as that!

To assist you, I advise you to peruse my blog archives, portfolio site and YouTube channel as all of these individuals appear at some point online on my sites. Good luck!

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