When suddenly I became aware of someone breathing over my shoulder. I turned to find an Asian looking fellow (not the least uncommon in Vancouver) checking my settings on the LCD on top of my camera. I smiled, and said hello; he smiled and grunted. I tried my usual Mandarin check, but he didn't respond. We went on with sign language for several minutes as he retrieved his camera from his bag (a Nikon, fortunately, so we were already speaking mostly the saem language) and set his settings like mine. I finally tried to introduce myself. He responded, "No English--Chinese". This time I persevered with Mandarin, and ended up not speaking a word of English for the next five hours!
Mr. Huang showed me around Stanley Park, taking me to all the great spots. We saw this incredible blossoming tree, overlooked the harbor, and checked out the Lion's Gate Bridge overlook.
Everywhere we went, Mr. Huang kept telling me these tips he had read in a book translated from a famous American Photographer, and all the tips he said sounded very familiar to me.
Finally, as he reminded me that it's better to get a different perspective on flowers than shooting directly from above, I realized where I had heard all the tips. They were from Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Books. I read Kelby's blog daily and love his witty writing style. His books really do help one to become a better photographer in the fastest, simplest way possible. So, I was pleased to share other favorite tips with Mr. Huang. We continued around the park, had dinner at his favorite Chinese restaurant, and checked out another park, too. It was really fun the way that photography helped us bridge a huge gap.
Wonder who I'll meet in Delaware this week...
GREAT post. Loved the cityscape, the GORGEOUS picture of the flower (it's breathtaking) and the shot of you and your new friend. Amazing that you just happened to speak at least two of his languages.
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