GUIDE TO HONG KONG´S BEST PHOTO LOCATIONS Part.6 — CESAR MENDEZ

Victoria Peak is a mountain on the west side of Hong Kong, also known as Mount Austin, but nobody knows that, unless you read wikipedia; so, everybody knows this place as “The Peak”.

The Peak is a crowded place and one of the most popular attractions in Hong Kong, is natural, I remember my first visit to Hong Kong when I did not know anything about the city, my first instinct was to go up there to check out the view, so is a no brainer, and because of its popularity, you need to take your time and work this location if you want to get a portfolio worthy image.

Before we go into the image making, let’s explain how to get yourself up there; if you are already in Hong Kong Island you have three choices, cab, bus or Tram, the easiest, fastest and second scariest way to get up there is to take a cab, now you’ll be wondering why I said that it was scary, a simple reason, the drivers take tourist up and down many times a day, so they have become fearless of driving in the narrow roads with very dangerous turns at full speed. The scary ride it’ll cost you somewhere around 60 HK dollars or more, depending where you were before taking the cab.

If you are on a budget the obvious choice will be the bus, this is the scariest transportation of them all! Usually they are packed full of passengers and to my surprise, they are double decker buses, so, you can imagine what it feels like coming down the narrow and curvy road at a reasonable high speed in a double decker bus full of people cutting corners and swinging to the sides feeling that it might tip over, I’m pretty sure that the drivers are more than skilled for this roads, but it is scary, definitely not for the fainted heart.

Funny bus sign, in HK they appreciate quiet time more than China mainland.

If you have time to spare and have some extra bucks to spend, you could take the Peak Tram, but be aware, every time that I’ve been to Hong Kong there’s always a line, and not a small one for sure, 1 to 2 hours wait, in fact I’ve never had the time to take the tram because of the waiting time, but what I have heard is that is a beautiful ride with great views of the city and the houses on the hills of Hong Kong; if you take this option please comment below, I’d love to hear about your experience.

Once you reach The Peak you are going there are to shopping malls, The Peak Tower and The Peak Galleria, one beside the other, you’ll find some restaurants, coffee shops, super markets and at the top of the malls the amazing deck view of the Victoria Harbour and Kowloon, you should definitely go up there and check out the view, and if you decide that you want to frame your composition from there, be there early, like 2 hours early minimum, this is a popular place and it will be packed full of tourist(like Angkor Watt packed), and remember what I said before about photographers being nice to each other but that I couldn’t say the same about tourist, here you’ll know what I mean, they’ll be pushing you and your gear, trying to get cellphone selfies, not caring about you and your tripod, so it will be kind of a nightmare! But! Do not panic yet! There is a solution; you can grab a couple of snapshots of the view, some selfie of you and your friends and then move on.

Taken from Victoria Peak Galleria lookout, super crowded at sunset.

Victoria Peak Galleria, taken from Lugard Rd. after sunrise

There is a pathway that is actually nice to walk, is full of trees providing shade along the way; some opening through the trees will let you have a glimpse of the panoramic views. To follow this path you need to find and follow Peak Rd. until the intersection with Mount Austin Rd. and Lugard Rd, you take Lugard Rd., this is a pedestrian walkway, follow this road for a little bit more than one kilometer until you reach a lookout, you’ll know when you find it (is just amazing, you can’t miss it). Here is one the most epic lookouts to a cityscape in the world, there are not many places where you can photograph a city from a high vantage point with this many skyscrapers below, for cityscape photographers it doesn’t get better than this.

So, for this location, even if it doesn’t get as crowded as the Peak Galleria, you need to be there early to stake your claim, is a big look out, so there is plenty of room for a lot of people, but sometimes the vegetation grows a little bit more from one side or the other; the last time I was up there, in my opinion there was only one perfect spot where there were no branches blocking part of the cityscape and that’s why you should try to be the first to get there.

If you have a clear day where you can see the mountains in the back and the horizon line, you can consider to be your lucky day because you’ll be rewarded with the most amazing view, to increase your chances of having a haze free day, try to visit Hong Kong in the summer during the monsoon season; you can get clear days all year round, but your chances are at best in the summer days.

This location works great for sunrise as well for sunset; both have a different feel; at sunrise you get to see the sun rising behind Kowloon Mountain layers throwing beautiful light reflecting in the skyscrapers windows and into Victoria Harbour; I specially love when the light hits the ICC tower in Kowloon. If you decide to shoot at sunrise, be there at least one before the blue hour to beat the local photographers. I arrived to this location at 4:30 am and there were already two photographers before me, I couldn’t believe it. Remember, the taxi drop you at the Peak Galleria, but you still need to walk at least one kilometer, so time yourself accordingly to your walking speed also.

My two camera set up, my D810 on the left for stills and my Sony a6000 on the right for time lapses

At sunset the light hit the cityscape in a softer way as the sun sets behind Hong Kong Island, casting a shadow long before dusk, and then the lights start to come on, illuminating the city in a breathtaking view.