APERTURE: F/4

SHUTTER SPEED: 1/100 SEC

CAMERA: HASSELBLAD X1D II 50C

FOCAL LENGTH: 30MM (XCD 3,5/30)

© MATTHEW NG

WEEKLY WINNER

Matthew Ng

HONG KONG

What made you become the photographer you are today?

Just like in life, I was running around like a headless chicken – having no sense of where I was going or what I was doing. But because of this lack of direction, I forced myself to explore every genre of photography, ranging from simple still life, portraiture, landscape, wildlife, wedding, abstract, street and much more. Ultimately, I found joy in landscape/cityscape photography. It was a way for me to connect with the world, whether I was roaming the streets of a city or hiking up a steep mountain. I always have my camera with me to capture every moment and share those moments with family and friends.

What does the X System camera do for your photography?

The best thing I love about the X System is how portable it is. Additionally, the image quality is exceptional. I only have one lens (XCD 30) for the X1D II at the moment, but because of the 50 megapixels, I can crop in post processing to achieve the framing I want.

Tell us the story behind how you created your image.

I was walking around Hong Kong, and I decided to explore the Polytechnic University campus. It brought back memories of when I attended university back in Canada. The exact building that this staircase is in is the Jockey Club Innovation Tower. When I took this image, I had the idea in my mind that it would look great in black and white. The colour temperature of the interior lighting was daylight so nothing special. When I post processed the image, I converted it into black and white but it didn’t feel right, so I converted it back into colour and still had this picture in a monochromatic style. I started moving the sliders until I found a cool blue tone that I liked. I do a lot of my editing without presets and just edit freely depending on how the photo speaks to me.