It's Hip to be Square

So this is about the ‘100sq foot exhibition’, the first of it’s kind in London…yes my first ever exhibition held back in Nov 2009, you know, like… one of my photos in a public space in a ‘trendy’ area of London and everything ‘innit’, oo-er!  Thanks to my mate Lou for sending the link though in the first place.
So a few clicks later and £10 lighter, I had booked a square, that was it - I was in.  It happened to be square number 88 (for those that don’t know this but the number 8 is an auspicious number for Chinese people).  It wasn’t a deliberate choice, just not many squares left. I had no idea which photo to enter either…and thought ‘just book it and think about it later’.  The exhibition was an opportunity for anyone to showcase their stuff regardless of experience and background.

Universal Energy

So how did I choose the picture?  Well on my flickr photostream - I picked the photo which had the most ‘views’.  Titled ‘Universal Energy’.  This picture was taken when I went back to HK in Feb 2009 for Chinese New Year. It’s at my parents village near Sai Kung and near the basket ball court looking up at the trees.  I had a go a ‘zoom bursting’ quite allot of things, but oddly enough - I think this was the first attempt!  So yeah, I went with this one as my entry to the 100sqft exhibition 

Zoom burst method

Totally no post processing involved in this photo and what is zoom bursting you ask?
For this type of effect you need a zoom lens - I used my standard 18-55mm kit lens (on Canon 450d). Set the camera at a slower shutter speed e.g. 1 second or less in this case I set it to shutter speed priority. Click and zoom in or out at the same time (or basically for the 1 second you have set the shutter speed to). You will need to have a steady hand or get a tripod if you want ’straight bursts’…otherwise you will get wobbly lines.  I didn’t have a tripod with me I was just lucky!


Show time
This is the 100 ft sq featuring the work from all the artists. Mine is 2nd row from bottom, 3rd from right.  Tip - if you are going to enter this - go for something eye level.  With lots of people standing in front you can’t really see the bottom 3 row well.  However saying that, I got a few positive comments on mine (no I didn’t pay them).  Some guy even found me on facebook and sent a message to say mine was one of his favourites.  Thanks dude!

Launch night was on 22nd November with a DJ and drinks and everything! Special thanks to Jess, Paul and Oli who came along on the opening night to support me. I would have looked like a right nana going on my own - fanks!