WHERE HOWARD GOES
Travel photography and storytelling by Howard Cheng
Howard
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London at Christmas 2024
As we move from November into December when the air gets a little crisper as temperatures drop, decorations of Christmas trees and Christmas lights pop up all over London as we get ready for the festive Christmas season. I will be updating this map right up to Christmas 2024 to showcase London’s best festive looks…
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Hiking on the Sólheimajökull glacier
Getting off the van and onto the uneven ground of the Sólheimajökull base camp, we were ushered towards a group of guides stood by some picnic tables piled with equipment. With a helmet on my head, and an ice axe and crampons in hand and after a safety briefing, our group followed our guides along…
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Light Lens Lab 50 mm f/2 Speed Panchro II: make every frame look like a still from a classic Hollywood film
It is said that the one lens which every photography should own is the ‘nifty fifty’ – a 50 mm prime lens. The 50 mm lens is considered a ‘normal’ as images produced with a 50 mm lens results in an image which, when viewed at normal viewing distances – usually at arm’s length –…
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PlanIt Pro: an app that might actually have earned its ‘pro’ title
As we approached September and October 2024, news of a once-in-lifetime visitor to grace our night sky excited many people around the world. Initial estimates identified comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) as having possibly last materialised in the night sky above Earth some 80,000 years ago, although other estimates place the comet’s orbital period even longer…
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Photographing the Milky Way from 35,000 ft
Table of contents A window seat to the stars A couple of weeks ago, while sitting in seat 30K on an Asiana Airlines A350 making an overnight flight from London to Seoul, I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat as I posted on social media a photograph of my Leica Q3’s back LCD screen. The…
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Why Using the Leica Q3 for Over a Year Made Me Realize It Could Be the Only Camera You Will Ever Need on Your Travels
In the world of travel photography – or actually any photography, for that matter – the weight of your gear can make or break your experience. When I first started in freelance photojournalism, I often found myself burdened with a heavy camera bag crammed with multiple lenses, accessories, and other gadgets I thought were essential.…
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Japan’s Struggle with Tourists’ Bad Behaviour
Recently, Japan tourism has hit international headlines with rather controversial stories. On 8 March 2024, The Guardian reported that Kyoto would be banning tourists from parts of the city due to the bad behaviour of tourists affecting locals. On 30 April 2024, The Mainichi reported that Fujikawaguchiko had started work to construct large black screens…
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Brief Reflections on the Sky at Night
I have always had a fascination with the night sky since I was a child, and I always enjoyed re-reading the mythical stories of the fabled heroes who have constellations and cosmic bodies named after them – Perseus the demigod and Andromeda his wife (a constellation and a galaxy respectively), Cassiopeia (Andromeda’s mother and a…
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T’is the Season for Hanami
春が来た桜花は開く長くない The spring has now comeCherry blossoms are bloomingBut only fleeting I usually find myself preferring the cold and dark of winter, all the more so coming up to December with the gentle glow of Christmas lights. I sometimes wonder whether I may have reverse seasonal affective disorder, where I find summer makes me tired,…
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Chasing Shadows and Light: The True Essence of ‘Aurora Chase’ Tours
If you travel to anywhere close to the aurora oval, you will find various tour guides or companies offering ‘aurora chase’ tours. Having been on a couple of them myself, I have noticed from hearing conversations of fellow tour mates that there seems to be a misconception about what an ‘aurora chase’ tour actually involves…
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App Astrophotography Aurora Aurora Borealis Aurora Chase Cherry Blossom Christmas Climate Change Comet France Glacier Haiku Iceland Japan Leica Leica Q3 Light Lens Lab London Milky Way Night Sky Norway PlanIt Pro Poetry Review Sakura Spring Stars Strasbourg Tourism Tutorial United Kingdom