Exposure: Benny Lee

Benny is a storyteller who uses his camera to weave a narrative. Check out his portfolio in this month's Exposure.

Lexy Savvides

Lexy is an on-air presenter and award-winning producer who covers consumer tech, including the latest smartphones, wearables and emerging trends like assistive robotics. She's won two Gold Telly Awards for her video series Beta Test. Prior to her career at CNET, she was a magazine editor, radio announcer and DJ. Lexy is based in San Francisco.

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Lexy Savvides

April 1, 2012 8:00 p.m. PT

1 of 16 Benny Lee

Bokeh temple

(Credit: Benny Lee)

Photographer: Benny Lee

Speciality: portraits, landscapes

Biography: like a hyperactive child, Benny wants to do anything and everything once he finishes his media production degree. That being said, if he knows one thing it's that it will be visually and creatively oriented so that he can continue shooting photo or video on his Nikon D7000. Through either medium he just wants to tell a story.

Benny picked up his first dSLR early in 2011 after playing around with a best mate's D70 and has taught himself everything he knows about cameras. He holds an affinity towards shooting people as they are interesting subjects and always have a story. Recently, he's taken an interest in landscapes and wishes to experiment with various lighting techniques.

Equipment: Nikon D7000, Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8, Sigma 50 f/1.4, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, Lensbaby Scout Fisheye, Nikon SB-700, Manfrotto 055XPROB, Manfrotto 701HDV Fluid Head, Zacuto Z-Finder Pro, Blackrapid Sport Strap, GoPro HD Hero, Zacuto Fast Draw, Think Tank Airport International, Lightroom 3, Photoshop CS5.1

Video interview

More of Benny's work can be seen on his Flickr or follow him on Twitter for updates, as well as photos and videos.

On a bitterly cold morning high up in the Xikou Mountains of China, the picturesque landscape was covered in fog and low-lying clouds. As I didn't want to leave empty-handed, my attention turned to other things. Bokeh Temple is a result of that.

Exposure: 1/100, f/2.8, ISO 100, 70mm

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Ethereal incense

Before the Buddhist monks began their lunch, they lit this incense as part of a ceremonial ritual. The smoke just wafted so lazily it had an ethereal feel to it.

Exposure: 1/100, f/2.8, ISO 200, 70mm

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Nurtured nature

Shanghai is a city of grey, grey skies, grey buildings — it's just nice to see green in a city of grey and that's how this little plant caught my eye.

Exposure: 1/125, f/2.8, ISO 640, 24mm

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Feng shui

The Xikou Mountains of China hold a gigantic Buddha statue. We chose a very foggy day to be visiting. I like the dreamy, mystical feel of the scene.

Exposure: 1/100, f/2.8, ISO 100, 31mm

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Daily commute

While the amount of registered cars in Shanghai exponentially increases, a large majority of the population still cycles. I also like this photo, as seeing the sun's rays in Shanghai is as rare as snow in Sydney.

Exposure: 1/125, f/10, ISO 100, 24mm

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Distracted

This photo of my girlfriend was quickly snapped while waiting for food to be served. She was reluctant to model that day.

Exposure: 1/60, f/2.8, ISO 320, 31mm

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Divine light

Lacking a flash at the time I was determined to find nice light. I stumbled upon a storefront that was closed for the day that had brilliant light shining down and promptly got my friend Sam to help make use of the light.

Exposure: 1/125, f/1.4, ISO 400, 50mm

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Fishing for light

This is one of my favourite and first photos taken with my D7000 on a fishing trip to La Perouse. I used the SB-700 to light my mate Justin up so that he wouldn't just be a silhouette.

Exposure: 1/250, f/13, ISO 100, 26mm

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Graffiti and girls

Melbourne's alleyways hold interesting secrets. We were fortunate enough to stumble upon an alleyway with amazing street art. I love the duality in this photo.

Exposure: 1/15, f/2.8, ISO 100, 50mm

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Lost in thought

My grandpa was trying to recall something when he froze and a beam of sunlight shone on to his face.

Exposure: 1/125, f/2.8, ISO 1250, 48mm

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Overpass at night

An unsuccessful night of long exposure shooting with the girlfriend, but I did manage to capture this gem. I really like looking back at the Sydney skyline.

Exposure: 1/15, f/2.8, ISO 2200, 36mm

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Putting on a show

The first concert I ever went to accompanied by my camera. An intimate gig with The Vines. Craig Nicholls smashed his Fender straight after the set.

Exposure: 1/250, f/2.8, ISO 400, 32mm

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Rock God is human, too

After a few powerful and explosive songs, Craig Nicholls calms down and shows a human and vulnerable side to him. With the light constantly changing I love how the spotlight hits him.

Exposure: 1/160, f/3.2, ISO 400, 48mm

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The Vines

While the microphone stand clutters up this shot I still really like it for the colour and the action that occurs. I'm particularly fond of it as the lighting changed multiple times every second.

Exposure: 1/100, f/2.8, ISO 400, 22mm

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Sunset and silhouettes

The world seems like a desolate but beautiful place and this is what I wanted to capture with this photograph. This is one of my favourite photos.

Exposure: 1/250, f/8, ISO 100, 36mm

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A street scene

A photograph that captures the hustle and bustle of the Sydney CBD. Coincidentally, on the other side of the street, another photographer had just taken the portrait of a passing cyclist.

Exposure: 1/125, f/5.6, ISO 400, 50mm