FREEDOM
This is a beautiful nation that we live in. We have plenty of freedom. We can choose to go to the places we want to go and to become the person we want to be. We have the freedom to choose. It’s just that some choices will give us even more freedom and some less.
Normally candi shots like this need no explanations but I thought I would just write a little about this one. It may not seem special to others but it means something to me, because having been to Mt Eden for countless times today I finally made my way down to the crater. So the photos were actually shot from a much lower view point. 
2011 REFLECTION AND HELLOW 2012!
Happy New Year! Thank you for those of you who follow keep your ongoing support for me and my blog. I believe you’ve had a wonderful Christmas and a great start in the New Year.
It’s a tradition for many of us to celebrate our New Year by going into the city for New Year’s countdown as well as watching the midnight firework. And for me, it became my tradition to write something to conclude my past year when transitioning into the New Year. Unfortunately this year I was not able to finish this post in time due to my busy schedule, but it definitely feels wrong not to write about it at all. It’s better late than never. Right? Right.
Friends who know me well would know that I go to movies often, pretty much a wide range of films. And in one of my most recently watched movies, The New Year’s Eve, a speech made by Hilary Swank (acting Claire Morgan) in the middle of the film really is what enlightened the soul of this all-star celebration movie and made it different. I googled it and here’s the original quote I found:
“It’s suspended there to remind us before we pop the champagne and celebrate the new year, to stop and reflect on the year that has gone by. To remember both our triumphs and our missteps, our promises made and broken. The times we opened ourselves up to great adventures or closed ourselves down for fear of getting hurt coz that is what new years is all about- getting another chance. A chance to forgive, to do better, to do more, to give more, to love more. And stop worrying about what if and start embracing what would be. So when that ball drops at midnight and it will drop, let’s remember to be nice to each other, kind to each other. And not just tonight but all year long.”
It’s true. In the process of pursuing our dreams and success we must not rush into actions. Instead we must take time to pause, reflect and set goals, having the confidence the next year is going to be great. This is one of the main reasons I keep a blog going instead of employing a fancy-designed website. This way I get to keep track of my photography, the things I do, the people I met and basically…my life. And of course my life is way more complicated than what’s on this blog, but when I do go back and read through my past entries, I do get encouraged of how far a path I have come. Ultimately, I feel glad.
The Last Image of 2011
This is one of the last images I took in 2011, taken at Cornwall Park on 30th December. It perhaps well describes what my past year was like – a not so straight path with lot’s of rain, but well protected and full of companies. The end of the road was not easily seen but the scenery along the way was beautiful. That’s 2011 – New job, new friends, hurts and wounds, every growing business with new allies and new opportunities.
This year again I was pleased to be back into the city again to watch the New Year firework. Although the skytower was not clearly seen due to cloudy weather, the celebration spirit was nothing less.
While some would like to keep their heads or bottles up to celebrate, some decided to take the competition right through to the new year. ; )
No matter where you are and how you would like to celebrate your New Year, it’s always important to know you are not celebrating it alone.
As for 2012, what will this year be like? Will I be able to reinforce my advantages and further develop my strengths? Will I be able to learn from mistakes I made in the past and be wiser and be a better person? I am excited to find out! But what I know is, we are off to a great start. This year is going to be different. Because I know it deep in my heart.
I wish you a meaningful 2012. Keep your passion up and follow your dreams!
TRAVELLER JAMES DEAN
He arrived in NZ at mid night five days ago, and has been camping at Aotea Square since. He plans to travel from country to country, but without a set plan. He packs light, and only packs for one season. He’s from America. He’s James. And he’s a traveller. As we were walking past each other he suddenly greeted me in Chinese – “Ni hao”. I turned arround, thinking he must be one of those who know only a few words and would greet a Chinese with “Konnichiwa”(hellow in Japanese). But he was in fact able to converse pretty well in Chinese. Well that’s not too surprising given that there are many from western countries who also learn and speak Chinese, till I found out he was only there for 6 months. He travelled to places in China where I have never been to before and lost many times in those cities. He worked in the farm so to make a living and immersed himself in the Chinese language environment. Although I doubt if I would want this kind of live but I admire that he’s able to put aside his career and his normal life back home. For better or for worse, life is definitely different for him since. He doesn’t have a camera with him and he’s broken/lost a few during his adventure. Thinking his friends and family back home would only see how he looks like when he gets tagged on facebook, I asked if he would like a photo in front of the camp site. And naturally, he did an Asian pose. 
ANOTHER PARADISE
零下一度的氣溫是否能凝固悲傷
南半球的繁星是否不會覺得孤單
匆匆劃破夜空的流星是否在趕場
曾經錯過的美景是否能重新欣賞
相信遙遠的異鄉
那未知的另一端
在雙手無法觸碰的地方
必定存在着另一個天堂
致逝去的爺爺奶奶
A SMILE TAKES YOU A LONG WAY
There are many street artists scattered in and around the Auckland city, while some offer really nice repertoires, others make a few noise and want to make a living out of it. Although I appreciate that busking makes a city seem more vibrant and culturally more attractive, I seldom take a few extra steps to make them a donation. On Good Friday afternoon I saw this busker on Queen Street and sat next to him there was this lady clapping and cheering for him. In that very moment I took out my camera and started photographing him playing the guitar. It was happy and harmonious. He gave me a generous smile and continued singing. I was particularly drawn by his music and singing, but it wasn’t such a smile, I doubt I would ever turn around and make my donation.
THE DAYS AFTER TOMORROW
If you are a movie-holic like me, DON’T read it wrong. This blog entry has got nothing to do with that movie! If you have been following this blog from last year you would know that I spent two and a half days down in South Island with Frankie and Lisa. They were basically there to have their pre-wedding photos taken and I was fortunate enough to get tagged along the entire trip. It’s a trip that brought me a lot of happy memories. You can visit the previous blog entry “Remarkable, life as it ought to be” here. I wasn’t their photographer but being a photography enthusiast, I of course did manage to capture a few shots here… : )
and there… : D
Our relationship was interestingly more friends like rather than a purely business-client type. When I bummed into them on Korean Day about a month ago I was told that they were getting married in April, at a vineyard in Matakana! They invited me to come. So here I am, going for a wedding not as a photographer, but as a guest! It’s a strange feeling I tell you, because out of the many many weddings I went to, I’ve only been a guest for a few times. It’s good to do something different. Exciting!
Tomorrow begins their marriage life, and the days after tomorrow they will enjoy and spend the rest of their lives together. Hopefully I will upload some photos of their wedding day as soon as I loaded them into my computer.
MY IMAGE, MY WORLD, MY STORIES ::: I’M JULIA
Photo: Felix
Model: Julia
Chinese caption: Julia
夏天的飛鳥, 飛到我的窗前唱歌,又飛去了.
秋天的黃葉, 它們沒有什麽可唱, 只嘆息一聲, 飛落在那裏.
Stray birds of summer come to my window to sing and fly away.
And yellow leaves of autumn, which have no songs, flutter and fall there with a sign.
憂思在我的心裏平靜下去, 正如暮色降臨在寂靜的山林中.
Sorrow is hushed into peace in my heart like the evening among the silent trees.
有些看不見的手, 伴著懶懶的微風, 在我心上奏著潺潺的樂聲.
Some unseen fingers, like an idle breeze, are playing upon my heart the music of the ripples.
我說不出這心爲什麽那樣默默地頽喪著.
是爲了它那不曾要求, 不曾知道, 不曾記得的小小的需要.
I cannot tell why this heart languishes in silence.
It is for small needs it never asks, or knows or remembers.
樹葉的簌簌之聲, 它們在我心裏歡悅地微語著.
There little thoughts are the rustle of leaves; they have their whisper of joy in my mind.
儅太陽橫過西方的海面時, 對著東方留下他的最後敬禮.
The sun goes to cross the western sea, leaving its last salutation to the east.
你微微笑著, 不同我說什麽話. 而我覺得, 爲了這個, 我已經等待得很久了.
You smiled and talked to me of nothing and i felt that for this i had been waiting long.
綠草求她地上的伴侶, 樹木求他天空的寂寞.
The grass seeks her crowd in the earth, and the tree seeks his solitude of the sky.
今天我的心是在想傢了, 在想著那跨過時間之海的那個甜蜜的時候.
My heart is homesick today for the one sweet hour across the sea of time.
有一次, 我夢見大家都是不相識的. 我醒了, 才知道我們原是相親相愛的.
Once we dreamt that we were strangers. We wake up to find that we were dear to each other.
我們的生命就似渡過一個大海, 我們都相聚在這個狹小的舟中. 等到了岸, 便各往各得世界去了.
This life is the crossing of a sea, where we meet in the same narrow ship. In death we reach the shore and go to our different worlds.
在群星之中, 有一顆星指導者我的生命通過不可知的黑暗.
Let me think that there is one among those stars that guides my life through the dark unknown.
小花問道: “太陽呀, 我要怎樣地對你唱, 怎樣地崇拜你呢?”
太陽答道: “只要用你的純潔樸素的沉默.”
How may i sing to thee and worship, o sun?
By the simple silence of thy purity,
CREATIONHEART TURNS 2
The past 2 years has been an amazing journey for me both personally and professionally. I am now proud to announce that the Creationheart Photography Blog has just turned 2 and it’s now in its 3rd year of operation – documenting laughter, love and life. : )
SOUTH ISLAND ::: DAY 10
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself. – Seren Kierkegaard （敢冒險可能會讓你失足，但是不敢冒險可能會讓你失去自己）
以上是今天微薄上看到的一句話，用來檢討與勉勵自己。As I reflect on myself, i think it’s time to break those rules!
Since the Santa Parade last Sunday, it feels like Auckland has fully switched to summer time. That made my photoshoot in the past two days even tougher! The weather brought back my memory from last Summer – a poor sweaty dark photographer lugging all the gears under such a burning sun! I begin to miss Spring. I miss Autumn. I miss Winter!
I am just reminded that I still haven’t finished updating my South Island Series. I still have a few things to post if I could relocate my Day 12 Photos. Now I am just up to Day 10. It’s so pleasing to look over Day 10′s photos because it’s taken at the Mighty Fox Glacier!
I am not a big fan of spending money on entertainment or pleasure activities, except for going to the cinema. I would happily front up over 1k for photographic gears but spending $90 over bucks just to walk on ice? That is definitely a no no! Why not just look at it, photograph it, smell it IN A DISTANCE? However, when you are in a group environment and the majority says yes, you cannot say no. HAHA! So for the very first time, I had come face to face with the Mighty Fox Glacier…In the end we joined half day walk with the Fox Glacier Guiding Tour. I was told by the guide that overall Fox Glacier has been advancing since 1985 due to constant snowfalls but in the past two years or so it started to retreat. What a concerning fact!
The ice looks quite dirty when mixed with the dust from the nearby mountains.
Human looked so tiny on the glacier.
We too, were fully equipped with boots, jackets and gloves.
I snatched the ice axe from our guide’s hand…ready to do some good work…
Work in progress…: P
不僅僅是歡樂，還是力量
我不是一個很善於用言語去表達的人，因此透過鏡頭我總嘗試毫無顧忌的從心裡分享與傳達自己的想法，讓思想不再受制與笨拙的文法，讓事物超越平凡，讓美麗不僅僅是一個平庸的詞匯。感恩節雖然已經過去，不過其實只要用心觀察，思考，每天都是感恩，感動。感謝上帝，賜予我攝影的能力。感謝父母，給與我選擇人生的機會。感謝生命中的你，為我帶來無數精彩與瞬間。
昨天天氣特好，下班後去Mt Eden看日落還拍了些非常喜歡的照片
他們是小猴和小豬，這是他們的世紀之吻…^^
夕陽下專注拍照的安娜…原片 : )
風中搖擺的小野花
余暉漸漸消失，最後來兩張剪影
太陽下山了，吃飯去！
攝影，靠的是積累。
攝影是一種態度，一種習慣，一種快樂，一種瘋狂。
看完朋友分享的電影《戀愛寫真》頓時讓我有要立刻拿起相機拍照的沖動，等到了真正拍照的時候發現腦子空空的，才又意識到攝影不是靠一時間的熱誠就能取得成果。因為攝影是過程，就跟生活，感情一樣，它靠的是積累。
一個從高處往下拍的畫展，所以我也從高處往下拍
最後是跟我擦身而過的松果，差點敲到我頭上！
SOUTH ISLAND ::: DAY 8 & 9
Day8: During the entire south island trip, one of the most anticipated destination turned out to be the biggest disappointment of all, as Mr. Weather decided to play tricks on us. When we reached Glenorchy, we saw a weather warning about heavy rainfalls over Westland and Otago regions etc. Glenorchy is a famous place because this is where the first of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of The Rings was filmed. Unfortunately, because of the low visibility we couldn’t get a glimpse of how truly beautiful this place is. DisappointinG!
This set of photos have been post-processed into black and white to express my strong discontentment. You all know why! : )
The a storm was just behind the truly remarkable Mt. Remarkable, taken from Coronet Peak.
Day 9: The next day morning, The paraglinding company came to pick us up from our accommodation and we headed towards Coronet Peak. Cloe had always been thinking of doing this for a while she insisted to go up while Crystal and I were simply spectators. It looked fun. It lasted 20mins. It costed $200. ^__^b
Over the mountain…
Cloe and her instroctor
The dog and his owner were doing bush walk. After seeing me with my camera, the dog ran ahead of his owner and stopped right in front of where I wanted him to sit! Good boy!
An ordinary peaceful moment of Lake Wanaka.
The end.
SOUTH ISLAND ::: DAY 6 ＆ 7
“You live your dream”, a friend said this to me on facebook chat. “Hehe”, dispassionately I laugh. I don’t know exactly where my dream is but I am so blessed that I even have the opportunity to pursue in that direction. The distance to a great dream is too far that can easily frustrate, but in the midst of challenge I am delighted for being one step closer.
A common (mis)understanding leads us to think that the ability to achieve our dream is success. Maybe it isn’t all that important to achieve our dream at all. Our world won’t be a better place because everyone’s success in the pursue of their dreams. To put it plainly, not everyone can achieve their dreams. Some can, others can’t. Those who achieve their dreams have their names and reputation out there, but they aren’t necessarily greater. Some people let go their personal eagle and help contribute in others’ dream building process. They are the true heroes.
ありがとう…your encouragements not only have made me a better photographer, but a better person.
Here my journey continues…
Nothing much happening in Day 6. Most of it involved long distance driving, some bush walking and little scenic viewing. haha!
The light was amazing…
The next day, Day 7.
We got up really early to head straight to Mildford Sound for the cruise. We were told that the weather had been quite bad in the past few days so the road might be closed. Since we were already there, we decided to give it a try anyway, despite of little hope.
And the road was closed……..BUT later on open eventually! Yay!!
I think we went on the cruise just for the sake of being there. Mildford Sound wasn’t all that stunning as I expected but I think it’s a lot to do with the cloudy weather. The highlight of the cruise was the soup they offered in our lunch package. Yummmmy desu!
Departed from Mildford we drove towards our next destination – Queenstown.
Although it’s a place I have been to quite often, this time I had a chance to experience it differently. At night we drove to Jacks point, about 20min drive away from Queenstown to find darkness! And only in complete darkness we could see this amazing milky way. In this place, I felt connected to the galaxy, universe, to the awesome creation and our magnificent God.
It’s beautiful.
SOUTH ISLAND ::: DAY 5
Life has been busy as usual and there won’t be any improvement utill next week. For the first time, I actually prayed for rain so that I could have a real break from travelling and photoshooting. And it rained, but the photoshoot still proceeded as planned. Mr. Weather…I trust next time you could do better! I was literally out shooting everyday for the past 3 weeks and people might mistaken my occupation to be a farmer. Give me another 2 months I might turn into an African boy!
However busy, I will still carry on updating my South Island trip. XD
In the previous entry I mentioned we were at Dunedin. Probably because it’s my first time and it’ such a short stay, the city of Dunedin just appealed to me so much as a beautiful beautiful place. If I could choose to visit one place in NZ again this would be it!
I don’t stay at B&B often but this time I really enjoyed it. The 3 of us were warmly hosted my Alex and his family and the breakfast time was awesome. They were originally from England and we were just in time to catch their celebration of the 40th year in NZ.
The cathedral photos I forgot to post in Day4 entry.
Otago University…it truly looks like the best uni in NZ. hehehe…
The cherry blossom trees added extra mood to the already beautiful clock tower.
At night we were wondering around the CBD and were trying to find out which one was the steepest street. Dunedin really has a lot of steep streets. Driving down from one of them felt like a roller-coaster coming down from the top of the hill. And then we realised it really wasn’t the steepest street we were looking for.
The next morning, after a good 10-15min drive we finally found it. Baldwin St, the World’s Steepest St. The sign no turning made me wonder what would happen if I made a U turn at the top. Will I get stuck or roll backwards? Please experiment it and tell me your experience.
A very sweet moment…
This commenced my photo collection of all the Felix Sts around the globe. XD
Departed from Dunedin, we were heading towards Invercargill, following the Southern Scenic Route where we discover these…
this….
these…
and THIS!!!…..
When we reached Invercargill it already past 9pm. We went to a motel looked after by 3 cute little girls while their parents were away. They showed us around different units in a below 9 degree weather in their shorts and barefooted. They upgraded 3 of us to a deluxe family suite with 1 king, 1 queen and 2 single beds for $120. I should have taken a photo for the 3 of them but I forgot. : (
SOUTH ISLAND ::: DAY4
I have not had a single day-off for the past I don’t know how many days. But however busy I am, when life is surrounded by laughter, fun, joy and a bunch of awesome work colleagues, good friends and family, it’s difficult not to feel happy.
Below is the continuation of my South Island series, taken in Day4.
This tree is about 150m away from our accommodation, just at the border (20min drive from CBD) of Oamaru. It doesn’t have much character nor does it have any fancy name, but I really like how simple it looks. Such an ordinary tree giving away such extraordinary presence. Keep it simple, and real. I like it.
It was my first time in Dunedin and I was totally sold to how beautiful the place was. My first impression: 9/10. Driving around the Peninsular was kinda fun. It reminded me of Need For Speed. ^^
People were joyfully singing on the street, making the city centre look much more vibrant. Don’t be fooled by what some of them were wearing, I had my gloves on because it was really COLD!
SOUTH ISLAND ::: DAY 1-2
Although I have been to South Island for way too many of times, each time I discover something new and amazing about this place…
Let’s begin with an iconic photo – the mighty cross and Lake Tekapo…taken on Day 1
Over all the weather turned out to be much better than what the weather forecast, but it didn’t last till the evening though so we didn’t get to see the stars at night. It’s a bit disappointing. However, we were invited to stay with Andy and Elva, which made things even. : )
Day 2 – Second day started with an exciting news – It snowed last night! The streets were covered with ice and snow so everything looked so white and clean.
The beautiful weather insisted to stay with Lake Tekapo. As we were heading towards Mt Cook we could hardly see anything but fog. And as we were driving in the National Park it began to rain, then snow! I’ve never seen snowing like this before so it’s definitely new to me.
I saw this at the i-site and thought it’s a pretty neat arrangement for wheelie bins!
One side is heavy snowing, and on the other side it’s the beautiful sunset colour.
So much for Day 2.
Today is Day 3 and the weather looked beautiful and we could finally glaze Mt Cook in a distance. I took heaps of photos today and I don’t have any good reason why. Tomorrow Crystal will join us and very soon we will have Issac joined us as well. Please look forward to this journey. : )
THIS IS HOW I BOILED WATER
This is one of those interludes during my previous trip to South Island. I know, we had fun, had a great time, and some crazy time, and stupid time. >.<
It’s Day3. We woke up early as usual so that we could get the make up done early and also enjoy some breakfast. So I boiled water.
And it happened.
好吧, 我承認最近是比較心不在焉經常開小差. 今天還被人問了一個這樣的問題, “What were you thinking?” ….sigh…
So Frankie was having his breakfast and coffee; Andy was watching TV; Anna and Lisa were doing makeup; I was just looking at the view outside and checking the weather. All the sudden Frankie shouted “it’s burning!” and the next thing I realised was that Frankie was holding an ON FIRE kattle at the kitchen!!! And we were all stunned.
And this is how: In our apartment I boil water by putting the stainless steal kattle on the stove so it kinda formed a habit in me. So I did the same thing with the electric kattle. I wasn’t thinking at all! =____=;;;
Here’s a picture of the badly burnt electric kattle after the fire incident. Kattle replacement cost: NZD$80.
I pray to God that such stupidity would not recur in my life ever!
The burnt kettle surely needs a plastic surgery… =. =”
PHOTOS AT WINTER GARDEN
To anyone who is starting learning photography, Winter Garden in the Auckland Domain is definitely the place to go. Although I often come here every now and then, I seldom set aside time specifically for photography. I remember the last time I seriously took photos here was back in Summer 2009.
This is truly an awesome location for photography. It offers plenty of colourful gorgeous flowers for people who like photographing still subjects. It has got so many elements in one place so it’s ideal for practising choosing your subjects and backgrounds and choosing the right composition. Its transparent roofing design shields the sun from directly hitting the subject yet it provides ample soft lighting perfect for photos. So many reasons point to one thing only: It’s the place to start!
Below are some shots I took directly coming out from my camera, not post-processing added.
Today’s student…
A serious one…
It’s my new habit – photographing cute kids.
REMARKABLE, LIFE AS IT OUGHT TO BE
My job requires me regularly travelling from place to place. Sometimes it can be tiring but I really love it. Because this is what I love doing all day – firing away with my camera! Over the weekend we arrived at Queenstown the day before the actual photoshoot and we had an awesome time together at the top of the Mt. Remarkables. Life as it ought to be – to be remarkable!
Thanks Andy for taking this pic for me. I don’t have a big collection of photos for myself so I am grateful for every one of them. : )
The name The Remarkables reminded me of the movie The Incredible…lol
Some fake snowing moments…
Andy just gone crazy about showing off his “snow-bumming” skills.
While Andy was doing his snowbumming he was also being laughed at by Anna.
There seems to be fewer snow around this year compared to the same time last year. But the breathtaking view hasn’t changed. Sill marvellous!
A cute little boy running by Lake Wakatipu.
THE QUALITIES
It has been another half a month since my last entry. There are too many stories to tell. There are too many photos to post. And there are by far too many thoughts came across my mind. Right now, allow me just post a few random shots.
Comfortable, tough and classic.
Creative, thoughtful and pleasing.
Pure, elegant and simple.
THE VERY BEST CAMERA
Throughout the years that I purpose my passion in photography I have used a few cameras. I have now used both Nikon and Canon and I like them both. While I believe it’s YOU who is behind the viewfinder that will make good photos, not your camera, I do love my equipments. I like how they look, how they sound and how they feel when they are in my hands. And there were a few times when I just felt asleep while playing with my camera. I love my camera!
And just a few days ago a new member added to my family. As much as I like my current Canon 5D Mark II, I like this new one as well. It’s not labelled Canon or Nikon or any other brands that are available to the public, this one is Lena’s limited production (yes, 1 copy only) – “Creationheart MR.X 1Dn series Mark I” kit.
Now let’s look at its specifications:
The built quality – it has improved ergonomics over the the yet to announce Canon 1Ds Mark4, built to the highest quality standard with complete waterproofing materials.
Image Stabilisation (IS) – the latest future IS technology offers 100 stops improvements which means I can not take pictures while running and not worry about getting less than sharp images.
Focal Range - the ultimate zoom lens solution focuses from 0mm to infinity where fish eye and super tele combined as one.
Aperture - F0 allows you to take photos in complete darkness.
Built-in filters – any kind of multi-coating UV, CPL, micro…combined as one.
Storage – it’s built-in memory can contain 1 billion raw files.
Battery - the battery absorbs energy of the planet and therefore never runs out when you are on the job.
Durability – it is built to last for eternity.
I am still studying the manual it’s so huge that I probably won’t finish in days. If there are any specs I forgot to mention here please flick me an email and I will try to get back to you ASAP.
THANK YOU LENA!
TODAY I TURNED 27
I had a long reading session till probably 5ish this morning so I went to bed without switching off my laptop (as I always do). And this morning I woke up with many txt and MSN messages on both my phone and computer. Thank you guys for all your birthday wishes and blessings and may you all be blessed in return. Of all the wishes perhaps the following is the most heart-warming message sent by my mum.
My mum composed a birthday song (one line only) with the lyrics she wrote and a melody from a very patriotic chinese song. How cute! To tell you the truth I have no idea how the lyrics can fit into the song but I am super touched. Even though I have been away from home for over 8 years my parents support, care and love always feel so real to me. I love you all!
Finally, a straight-out-of-bed self-portrait to document my 27th birthday, converted to B&W. XD
