Samples of writing by Christopher Dillon.
Editorial—includes articles from The Financial Times (London), and the South China Morning Post and The Correspondent (Hong Kong).
Commercial—features assignments for Airport Authority Hong Kong and The Economist Group. Topics include technology, finance, management, real estate and more.
Also see the Landed books.
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Open source underwater
Here’s a presentation about underwater photography with the Olympus/OM System TG-5 and editing the images with open source software packages darktable and digiKam. The presentation was part of a face-off with another member of the South China Diving Club. He uses much more expensive equipment and commercial photo editing software. The video covers equipment, software,…
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Rescuing a hard water stained scuba mask
Did you know hard water stains can accumulate on and damage the lenses of your scuba mask? I wear a Gull brand scuba mask, with prescription bifocal lenses. After my prescription changed, I ordered a new mask from Gull, and used the old one as a backup. I’m diligent about rinsing my gear after each…
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CTSR Class of ’85
May 17, 2025—Forty years ago today, I graduated from the Cinema, Television, Stage and Radio Arts (CTSR) program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary, Canada. Here are some images of the CTSR class of 1985, taken from scans of 35mm slides, and color and black and white print film. Details of…
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Submerged UXO in Hong Kong
Updated March 12, 2025—Scuba diving in Hong Kong, you’ll see numerous nudibranches, poisonous pufferfish and the odd octopus. On September 14, 2024, my buddy Edmund Lee and I spotted something different, a submerged UXO (unexploded ordnance), that turned out to be a World War II bomb. At lunchtime the next day, I posted a photo…
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A family photo archive on Permanent.org
December 13, 2024—This post describes the creation of a family photo archive hosted on Permanent.org. The photo archive comprises nearly 1,600 files. It includes shots from a copy stand, scans of 35mm negatives and slides, native digital images, video and documents. Images were processed with the open source program darktable and renamed with digiKam, running…
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Review: Declutter Your Photo Life
November 26, 2024—I discovered Declutter Your Photo Life while preparing to assemble a family photo archive. Written by Adam Pratt, a former Adobe employee who runs a photo digitization business, the 200-page book is a good starting point for anyone thinking of building a photo archive. Strengths… Photo Life includes step-by-step instructions for gathering, preserving,…
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Review: The BlackBox 135 film scanner
November 21, 2024—I ordered the BlackBox 135 film scanner to digitize about 180 rolls of 35mm slide and negative film for a family photo archive. The choice of the BlackBox 135 was based on a review of its big brother, the BlackBox 120, on PetaPixel. The scanner arrived on time and as advertised. What’s in…
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Discovering Hong Kong’s underwater gems
Scuba diving in Hong Kong is better than you might expect. The city offers a surprising array of marine life, year-round diving and dramatic seascapes.
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Covid spells trouble for small landlords
From eviction bans and delinquent tenants to quarantines and social distancing rules, this article from the South China Morning Post looks at how covid made life hard for small landlords.