Rob Cheng’s Blog

Today was a cold and windy day in Myrtle Beach, but it was also quite sunny. We decided to explore the city and visitd Alligator Adventure in North Myrtle Beach. I was very impressed. I had never seen anything quite like it. They literally have over a thousand alligators and crocodiles at the park. Additionally, they have the largest captive alligator measuring in at an astonishing 24 feet.

On top of the alligators, they also have tigers, camels, tons of lizards and a wide variety of other animals. This was also a good test for me because many of the exhibits were also indoors requiring me to change around the camera settings on the fly. I am starting to get the hang of it but it is always a challenge. More »

January 16th, 2012 | Category: Photos, Slide Show | Leave a comment

The weather has been spectacular here in Myrtle Beach. I have been here for a little over a month and virtually every day has been sunny and warm. By warm, I mean anywhere from highs of 65 to 75 degrees. It is very nice, and that is almost perfect weather to take photos.

In my continuing quest to not let my new camera conquer me, I took my wife to Market Commons for a brief photo shoot. Myrtle Beach has been part of our nation’s economic bubble, and currently Myrtle Beach has the highest unemployment in all of South Carolina. Market Commons for me is a symbol of that bubble. It is a very ambitious project to bring together commerce and apartments all in one integrated community. It also was completed shortly before the bubble first and rumour has it is near financial ruin. Despite all of that, it is a very beautifully designed place and it is seldom very crowded. Hence a great place for a photo shoot.

All of these photos were taken with ISO 200, although I spent quite a bit of time monkeying around with f-stops and shutter speeds. There are clearly flaws in some of the photos but others turned out pretty good. Solange is also learning how to become a good model too. It was a fun project never the less. Solange has been putting her hair in a bun kind of like Amy Winehouse, which gives a different look to the photo shoot.

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December 31st, 2011 | Category: Photos, Slide Show, Solange | Leave a comment

Teddy and I went out yesterday for his first golf outing. I wasn’t planning to go with him because I didn’t think he was ready, but he cried plenty until I agreed. I normally play at Prestwick, but that is a very hard course for anybody much less a 4 year old, so we went to a little par 3 called Midway close to our house.

It was a beautiful winter day. The temperature was in the in mid 70′s which was awesome. I brought a large plastic softball, and then we also had a blue plastic golf ball, and then of course normal golf balls. Teddy is very patient, and very determined, so we always made it to the hole, and then Teddy really loved trying to putt the ball near the hole. The trick is that the closer to the hole, the less hard you must hit the ball. Teddy figured it all out. We paid for 9 holes and we played each hole twice. We certainly got our money’s worth and I want to thank all the other golfers on the course that put up with us. We let quite a few play through.

It wasn’t easy taking photos since I still don’t understand my new camera well, and I have not played golf in a while. I only took a few shots, but I am so glad I did because it is so cool to see Teddy learning something new. More »

December 18th, 2011 | Category: Photos, Slide Show, Teddy | Comments (1)

When in Rio, my good old Panasonic Lumix camera broke. It really made me sad, because I was just figuring out how to compose a decent photograph. So as soon as I got back to the United States, I bought a new camera. I decided to upgrade a bit and I purchased the new Sony NEX-5N which is a new type of camera that gives SLR style photos but the camera has no mirror. It is also is a lot smaller and lighter than the big honking SLR’s that we see people carrying around.

So this is my first photo shoot with the new camera. I am still getting used to it, because it is a very sophisticated camera. We went to Brookgreen Gardens which is a beautiful and elaborate garden just south of Myrtle Beach. It was a beautiful fall day and I have always wanted to do a photo shoot of my beautiful wife, Solange. I also think she was curious to see if she could model for the camera. So this is her first attempt at being a model, and my first attempt with my new camera. Some of the shots are a little over exposed but over all I think it turned out not too bad for a first effort. Leave us a comment particularly if you know a lot about photography. As always, the photos look much better in full screen mode.

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December 14th, 2011 | Category: Photos, Slide Show, Solange | Leave a comment

On Sunday, August 9th, 2011, we went to the gay parade here in Rio de Janeiro. In the last few years, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro has made a concerted effort to attract gays and lesbians to Rio de Janeiro. He actually has gone on record as stating that the wants Rio de Janeiro to be the most gay friendly city in the whole world. They want to attracts gays and lesbians throughout Brazil and the rest of the world as well. In Ipanema, they actually have a beach that is primarily for people of alternate life styles.

This year was truly spectacular. The estimate that over 1.5 million people participated in this year’s parade. That is a lot of people. We were so lucky. We arrived about a half hour before the parade began, and there was a small platform that was built by the city. No one was on the platform, and we were the first on the platform. It is great because we had a great view and more importantly as the crowd filled up, we got pushed and shoved a lot less than the others. It was a cloudy day but even with my point and shoot camera, I was able to get some decent photos.

The city did an awesome job of preparation. There were tons of portopotties and there was rarely a long wait for the facilities despite the fact that there was a lot of people drinking heavily. By the end of the show, the place was a mess, but immediately hundreds of men and dozens of street cleaning machines trailed the parade. In a short time, the streets were pristine again. More »

October 12th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Photos, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show | Leave a comment

This week is the first day of a very unusual vacation for me. Historically, I have always travelled somewhere for my vacations. That’s for more than 30 years, but this time, I have decided to stay at home here in Rio de Janeiro, which is really one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Today was a beautiful day here in Rio. It is getting a little hotter since October is the first month of spring, and there was not a cloud in the sky. We live on a very large lake that is called Lagoa. The lake is exactly 7500 meters around (4.7 miles), and is surrounded by the famous beaches of Leblon, Ipanema, and Copacabana. There is also a small but very popular park about 1/2 mile from our apartment. I run by it every day.

Since it was so sunny, I took the kids to the park. A sunny day is absolutely the best time to take photos. You have much more options with a lot of light than not enough. So I took out my camera and put it in manual mode and started shooting the kids playing around. After looking at the photos, it gives a nice flavour how nice a view the park has.

I am still amazed at the quality of photos that I can take with my cheap little Panasonic camera. I plan to buy another high end camera sometime next year but I want to learn more about my current camera first. Most of the photos are taken with a shutter speed of 1/1300th of a second and the ISO ranged from 100 to 300. I was able to do that because it was such a nice sunny day! I could never have pulled off these photos on a cloudy day with my camera.

I am also trying to use the Rule of 3′s which I learned from my photography class but also numerous of my photographically inclined friends told about. It is essentially to NOT put your subjects in the centre of the picture. This gives the photo more context about what the subject is doing, or what they are seeing.

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October 11th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Jesse, Photos, Slide Show, Teddy | Leave a comment

The last time I was in the United States, I decided to buy Teddy a cheap camera at Best Buy. It was certainly a gamble because the odds were either that he would love the camera or it would be broken in the first 30 minutes of use. After 2.5 months, I am happy to say that the camera is function well. We bought Teddy the cheapest camera we could find which was a Fuji that cost about $100.

About a week ago, I dumped all of the photos from his camera to my computer. I made two discoveries. Camera technology is such that even a 4 year old can take pretty decent photos. Also, photos are a lot different and more interesting from the point of view of a 4 year old. It is also a pretty accurate slice of life of what our lives are like in Rio de Janeiro. Note: neither Solange nor I told him which photos to take. These were all from his little 4 year old point of view.

Here are some notes to help understand the photos:

1. * When we returned from the China and the US, Solange’s mother, Maria, and sister, Sandra were visiting us.
2. * My good friend, Mike Brotherton, came down to Rio for his bachelor party shortly after our return.
3. * Our maid, Cida, is very prominent in Teddy and Jesse’s lives and also in the photos.
4. * Teddy loves playing with his jig saw puzzles.
5. * Teddy’s favorite subject is his little brother, Jesse.

Solange and I have just finished a photography class, and I am amazed at how many of the basics elements of photography that I struggle with and Teddy seems to get right. Maybe it’s luck, or maybe kids have a better natural sense for photography.

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October 7th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Photos, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show, Teddy | Comments (1)

One of the best things that we did for our kids here in Rio de Janeiro was to put them in a day care. We searched for the best and we finally found a place called Ativa-Idade, which means Active Age. Another huge benefit is that it is only about 1/2 a mile from our apartment so it is a quick and simple exercise to drop them off and pick them up.

Since going to the school, they get along better with each other and they talk a lot more. Although it is preschool, we get detailed reports on the kids progress. Or the best they can estimate given their age.

They have also made a deal with a professional photography firm that takes tons of photos of the kids events and they make them available on the web site for the parents and the kids. Here are bunch of photos from that web site. There are three events. Mother Day, a day in the park, and then something called Festa Julina. It happens every July and they try and dress the kids to look like little adults. Not sure why but that explains a lot of the photos. Check them out.

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September 2nd, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Photos, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show | Leave a comment

Since my wife has a new, expensive and complicated camera, she decided to enroll in a photography class here in Rio de Janeiro. We went to the first class last week, and I understood much of what she said, but it isn’t so easy since she is talking about a tough subject in a foreign language, but I managed. This week, she decided to meet us at the park for a photo session.

Since my wife had the new camera, I had to go to the shoot with my little point and shoot camera. Every one in the class had a nicer camera than me. But that was OK. I figured that once I learn more about photography, I will buy myself a nice camera too.

This was a fun experience because the park is called Parque de República, and I have never even known this park existed. It is located in the neighborhood of Catete and the park unlike many parks in Rio is very nicely done. It is about 2 city blocks big. It has a lot of very cool statues, and many of the statues have a common theme of little children strangling animals. Pretty wild! In addition to the statues, there are several large fountains, a water fall, a monkey feeding station, and a turtle station. we were also quite lucky because the weather was beautiful for a cool winter day in August. The place was alive with people of all walks of life. Lastly, there is a huge children’s playground which was packed the entire time.

So our entire class basically start clicking photos in the park. I had no idea what to expect, and I just started. I know how to use my Panasonic Lumix more or less but I never really bothered to learn the finer points of my camera. So I asked the teacher, and she proceeded to give me the best digital camera advice EVER. The impact on the quality of your photos can be amazing. It is so important than I thought I would share it here. More »

August 21st, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Photos, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show | Leave a comment