Today marks the establishment of the SAR in Hong Kong, so it’s a holiday. There are lots of people out and about so I decided to avoid the crowds. I started on the MacLehose trail stage 4 but went off the main trail towards South Mountain Village. The path wasn’t as neat and tidy as the main trail, but it was passable. There were some slipper spots as it had just rained for several days. Along the path I spotted some butterflies and took there pictures. For this trip I decided to bring my Sony RX100iii and I have no regrets. I really enjoy the portability and functionality of this camera. True with a bigger camera there would be more physical buttons and less menu searching, but that convenience would come at the cost of size and weight. It probably did take me a few extra moments to get the camera into the right settings to shoot with, but I was a lone and had plenty of time.
The mark 3 doesn’t have a touch screen, so there are a few extra steps to getting the manual focus just right. Also it doesn’t have 4K video, but for my purposes primarily pictures this camera does a great job. The path had a lot of rocks and tree roots and uneven surfaces and narrowed to about 3 feet wife in places. I was surprised to see a large concrete bride maybe 8 foot wide on this path. It really seemed out of place. Upon looking to the right I noticed some, waterfalls and decided to go exploring. I walked along the stream a short distance before coming to my first waterfall.
Getting Into Position
When shooting waterfalls it’s a good idea to use a tripod to keep the camera perfectly still. That way you can get the silky shiny water effect. I managed to find rocks to anchor the camera on. It’s also a good idea to have a long an ND filter. Thankfully the RX100iii has one built in that can be turned on and of from the function button. So far I have been impressed with the results. It took me a while to step across the rocks to get in position for a number of these shots. Many of the branches had sharp prickers on them and I have the scratches to prove it. Given that it had recently rained the rocks were slippery at one point I slipped and landed one of my feet in the water.
Finding a Balance
Everyone has a margin or at least should have a margin of safety. It keeps us from unnecessary accidents. Actually here in Hong Kong, I see a lot of people whose margin of safety is so high that they would never venture off the main path to begin with, and even when they are on the main path you can see them taking very tiny steps because they don’t want to risk bigger steps that might result in their falling. That’s okay, they probably won’t fall, but they will go slower and not feel as relaxed on the hike also.
Hope you enjoyed these pictures.
Ken
