Yiuphotography.com

Welcome to yiuphotography.com! Thank you for stopping by, I'm Hoyu Yiu, the creator of this weblog. Based in New York City, I'm a full-time graphic designer, and part-time photographer. I thoroughly enjoy the artistic freedom of the latter.

Primarily, I use this weblog for displaying and sharing (aka. bragging and showing off) my photographs, showcasing design projects, and sharing random bits of knowledge. You just might find some useful information for your own work. Posts are added periodically so feel free to return to my site for new stuff. I'm also a sucker for comments. Whether it's a compliment or criticism— constructive or destructive, it's all good.

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Ariane Hunter Life Style Portraits

Post by fotolistic on July 11th, 2010 In Category : Life Style, Photography

Ariane Hunter of Ariane Hunter Photography, asked if I can take some lifestyle photos for her. Since she’s also a friend of mine, I have no choice but to say yes. HAHA, just kidding. I love to, I rarely turn down photography gigs if you ask nicely. =) Anyway, she said she had photographed many people, but being on the other side of the camera is a little weird. Now she will experience first hand at being directed and how to look natural for those candid shots. She pick Astoria Park as her location of choice for her photo session. Here’s how the session when.

For the first time, she finds herself in front of the camera. What do I do? How do I pose?

Lets warm up with some simple portraitures.

Give me a sweet smile.

Then I asked her to spin around. Silly I know, but she did that just fine.

Ok she’s a bit dizzy here.

Whose’s the best photographer I asked?

Then we change the topic to Jacob and Edward of Twilight. She immediate forgot the fact that she was in a photo shoot and a glow came over her face.

I asked her what happen if Jacob was doing this shoot instead of me… She wish he has my photography skills. HAHA.

A few portrait with her trusty Cammy.

Show us what you got!

You shoot I shoot.

You look funny Hoyu. No, she didn’t really say that.

We have to politely ask this gentleman to excuse us a bit so we can get this bench shot.

Giddy Smile. She has a simile that can light up a room. Wonder if she knows that.

If you know the famous painting Christina’s World, this would be the front point of view of that painting.

We had our eyes on Mr Softy since we arrived to the park. Finally we got some. She took off the top before I had a chance to take any photos.

She’s at one with her ice cream.

I suppose ice cream can turn anyone back to a kid again.

Hope you like these photos Ariane.

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Low Light Photography at Coney Island

Post by fotolistic on June 22nd, 2010 In Category : DSLR Photography 101, Meetup, Photography

It’s been a while since I shared any photos shot during events from my Digital Photography Workshop Meetup group. For those of you who didn’t know, I run a photography hobbyist group with Meetup.com in New York City. We go around town and photograph a variety of subjects at different times of the day to experience how to better their skills as a photographer. And occasionally, I’ll host workshops on how to use the DSLR and Photoshop/Aperture software.

Our objective for this event is practicing low light photography and slow shutter camera handling. Where else in NYC could we all get some of the best night photography settings than our famous Luna Park Amusement Park at Coney Island. I compiled a couple of before and after photos from the images I shot during this event, and these will show you how a just a few minutes of tweaking can help turn a mediocre photo into a better photo. You can also see more of what the other members shot in my meetup group gallery.

The following photographs were shot handheld in Raw Format with my Canon 5D using Shutter Speed Priority.
I used either a 16mm – 35mm f/2.8 Lens or the 50mm f/1.4 Lens at ISO of 640 to 1000. Daylight White Balance.
Post processed with Aperture and Photoshop CS4.

ISO 1000 | ƒ/7.1 | 1/100s | 35mm
Right: Original. Underexposed, loss of detail in shadow area, white balance that was too blue.
Left: I wanted to go for that vintage look in this photo. I increased exposure for 25%, warmer WB, increase overall contrast 15%, increased mid tone contrast 15%, increased highlight brightness 10%, added yellow tint to highlight, added purple tint to shadow, plus 5% saturation.

ISO 1000 | ƒ/8 | 1/100s | 31mm
Bottom: Original. A bit underexposed and too warm.
Top: increased exposure for 10%, color balance for greener highlight and mid tone, increased overall contrast 20%,
increased mid tone contrast 15%, added purple tint to shadow.

ISO 1000 | ƒ/5 | 1/100s | 17mm
Bottom: Original. Also underexposed.
Top: increased exposure for 10%, increased overall contrast 20%, increased
increased highlight contrast 15%, added magenta tint to the blue, increased 10% saturation.

ISO 1000 | ƒ/22 | 0.5s | 35mm
Bottom: Original. Exposure was almost there. Just needed to correct the color balance and recover some highlight detail and color.
Top: increased exposure for 10%, increased mid-tone brightness 15%, white balance for a cooler tone, color balance sky to a greenish tint, increased saturation 20%, recovered highlight
from the boardwalk and the hot dog shop by increasing highlight brightness 20%.

ISO 1000 | ƒ/4 | 1/100s | 16mm
Bottom: Original. Way underexposed. Lost of detail in the shadow area. Again, I want to go for that vintage look.
Top: Straighten, increased exposure for 25%, increasde highlight brightness 10%, slight shadow detail recovery, color balance sky to a greenish tint by removing magenta from the blue, add magenta tint to the shadow area, increase saturation 20%.

ISO 640 | ƒ/22 | 0.5s | 16mm
Bottom: Original. A bit under exposed and too warm overall.
Top: slightly cropped, increased exposure for 15%, increased highlight brightness 10%, 20% cooler white balance, increased saturday 10% over all, increased saturation 20% to the red and yellow only.

ISO 640 | ƒ/8 | 0.3s | 20mm
Bottom: Original. This shot was almost perfect. Just some slight color adjustment.
Top: increased mid tone brightness 10%, increased saturation 15% over all, added slight green tint to the sky,
increased highlight and mid tone contrast by 15%

ISO 640 | ƒ/2.8 | 1/100s | 21mm
Bottom: Original. Way underexposed. See how much detail I recovered from just increasing exposure?
Top: increased exposure 20%, cooler white balance, increase saturation 15%, increased highlight contrast 10%,
added little magenta tint to the dark color.

ISO 640 | ƒ/7.1 | 1/15s | 50mm
Bottom: Original. Other than the composition, everything else was wrong with this one.
Top: increased exposure 30%, 50% cooler white balance correction, increased overall contrast by 20%, increased highlight contrast by 10% for her hair and lights in the back, increased saturation by 20%.

ISO 640 | ƒ/6.3 | 1/15s | 50mm
Right: Original. This one was just slightly underexposed. I thought it could glow a bit more and a bit more vivid in color.
Left: increased exposure 5%, increased contrast 10%, recover some detail lost in the shadow area, increased saturation 15%, color balance for a bit more magenta on the mid tone to shadow area.

ISO 640 | ƒ/10 | 1/4s | 50mm
Bottom: Original. Slightly underexposed, a bit on the warm side.
Top: increased exposure 5%, increased overall contrast 10%, a bit cooler white balance, decreased saturation 10%,
added some purplish tint to the shadow area.

Not bad for a bunch of handheld slow shutter photography, right?

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Jiali and Vishal’s Spectacular Sunshine Engagement Shoot

Post by fotolistic on May 20th, 2010 In Category : Engagement, Photography

So… here are the photos from the engagement session I told you about in my last post. I always thought that the most beautiful light comes just minutes before the sunset below the horizon. However, I can now say that if I am able to train myself to wake up before roosters in the morning, I would shoot ALL my engagement sessions at sunrise. Not only is the light magnificent, giving everything it touches a golden, fairytale-like glow, it lasts twice as long as a sunset (plus, there’s hardly anyone around). Combine that with an enthusiastic couple, you’ve got yourself an awesome engagement shoot.

My awesome couple for that day was Jiali and Vishal, who are set to wed this July at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I still can’t believe the couple was able to haul an 80 lb vintage bicycle from midtown all the way to Brooklyn Bridge Park at six in the morning. Yup, the bicycle and the balloon was their idea. I love it! Everything when so well with this shoot. I can’t wait to photograph their wedding.

On the Brooklyn Bridge, the sun was just peeking out.

As the sun inches its way up, a blanket of light seem to wrap around Jiali. Accented by her incredible smile, it made for a beautiful shot.

Hot pink handbag and heels?…He’s a ladies’ man.

My hallmark moment of the day. The couple catches the sunrise.

And they sealed the moment.

Some of my signature portraits.

Silly. Some couples take at least an hour to get comfortable in from of the camera. Jiali and Vishal…they were ready to pose as themselves as soon as I pulled my camera out.

Postcard.

Here’s an example of the golden glow I was telling you about.

She told him that she’s in love with him the old fashion way.

Action shots of the day.

She said she wanted a big red balloon. He said it’s in the car.

Some of the more iconic scenery of the Manhattan Bridge.

Did I mention there was a second location for that day as well? We headed back to Manhattan to finish up our engagement session in the streets of the meat packing district.