Peter Bok ● Photo Journal 卜利泉 ( 光●影●情●事 ): Yaumatei Fruit Market 油麻地果欄

The Hong Kong weather in this December is abnormal with cloudy sky and light rain. The sun has disappeared for half month. However, this has not affected my incentive of having outdoor photography! Two years ago, I visited Yaumatei Fruit Wholesale Market and accomplished a photo album.

This time, I visited the market again hoping to have more inspiration from the gloomy environment in the market. At time of this visit, most of the stalls were closed but some workers were still delivering boxes of fruit for their chores. This was the minimal activity I had seen in the market. But I felt more interested in the lights and shadows in the market which interceded with the activity of workers to create many charming shades, shadows and silhouettes of figures. The whole album is presented in black and white to make the beauty of light and shadow more distinctive and reminiscing.

Photo equipment:
Nikon D300s, Nikon GP-1 GPS
AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
645 PRO for iPhone 5

今年12月的香港天氣反常，天陰和下著微雨，半個月仍未見陽光的蹤影。雖然如此，也不減我外出獵影的慾望！兩年前初訪油麻地菓欄，拍了一輯照片。今次再訪，希望可從昏暗的環境中，找到拍攝的靈感。到訪之時，菓欄內的批發店大多數関了門，但仍見工友們在搬運果箱，這是菓欄內僅可發現的活動。但我感興趣的卻是菓欄內昏暗的光影，與人物活動所產生的線條和影像，全輯照片以黑白顯示，更突出光影的美感和懷舊色彩。

The historical Yaumatei Wholesale Fruit Market is a landmark of Yaumatei district
Nikon D300s, AF18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @36mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO 250
油麻地菓欄，歷史悠久，是油麻地地標。

I went to the market with 2-storey structures on both sides of the lane way.
645 PRO for iPhone 5 @4.1 mm f/2.4, 1/1100 sec, ISO 50
走進菓欄的主要通道，兩旁都是二層高的建築。

The lane way of the market was gloomy with lights casting through the roof.
Nikon D300s, AF18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @18mm, f/10, 1/200 sec, ISO 250
菓欄內裡通道昏暗，全頼陽光透過屋頂的縫隙照明。

I love the silhouette of worker in the gloomy environment. I stepped a little backward and found that gleams of light casting through the roof have flooded the floor with lines of shadows. I have included the boxes of fruits in this photo.
Nikon D300s, AF18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @55mm, f/4.8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 640
我喜歡觀賞昏暗環境下的工人剪影。我後退些，陽光透過屋頂不規則的縫隙灑得一地都是光影的線條。我把旁邊的菓箱都攝入鏡頭。

I made every effort to capture the workers pushing the wooden wagons to reflect their dynamic chores in the market. The light from the roof, shades and shadows on the sides are crucial elements of composition in black and white photography.
Nikon D300s, AF18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @20mm, f/4.5, 1/160 sec, ISO 640
我找緊機會，拍下菓欄內推木頭車的工人。反映了工人幹活兒的動態。屋頂及旁邊的陰暗和光影，都是黑白照片構圖的重要原素。

They are having a casual chat. The one on the left extends his hands to hold the wagon handle. The wagon has displayed a clear and distinctive lines of shadows. The one on the right has a charming silhouette with innervation on his side figure!
Nikon D300s, AF18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @38mm, f/4.5, 1/1250 sec, ISO 640
兩位工人正在聊天，左邊的一位張開雙手握著手推車，木頭車顯示了清淅的線條。右邊工友側面的身影都是美麗富動態的剪影！

Both lifting the boxes is a scene of actual deed versus a charming silhouette of merely 2 chatters in distance.
Nikon D300s, AF18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @26mm, f/4.5, 1/160 sec, ISO 640
左邊卻有兩位工人搬貨的「實景」，遠處兩位工人閒聊的「剪影」也十分吸引。

I looked at him for a long time and found that he was a security guard of the market. I snapped his sitting posture but needed to adjust my camera angle to prevent his head and back from leaning against or overlapping with the post behind. I made a narrow gap in between and left his arms and legs with 'space' and 'white spot' to make the silhouette of his limbs look more distinctive. There was another source of light on the right. The stacking wagons had displayed lines of beautiful shades and shadows. A good contrast to the man silhouette!
Nikon D300s, AF18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @90mm, f/6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 640
我注意他良久，原來是菓欄的護衞員。我拍下他的坐姿，但要調整拍攝角度，使他的頭背不會重疊在背後的柱上，要留下一線縫隙，而他的雙腿及兩手也要「中空」、「留白」，這才顯得剪影清淅。右面是另一組光源，重疊的木架富有強烈的陰影線條美，成為人物剪影的對比了。

An ad of a Chinese medicine practitioner with easy to understand wordings to convince customers!
Nikon D300s, AF18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @46mm, f/4.5, 1/800 sec, ISO 640
菓欄內的中醫廣告，簡單直接，不滿治療，分文不收！