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07
Mar 2013

The Sleeping Dragon | Guilin

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Enter the Reed Flute Cave, one of Guilin, China’s oldest and most popular attractions. The natural limestone formations are illuminated by an array of colorful lights that give it a wild and otherworldly feel. Throughout the interior, there are 70 ink inscriptions that can be dated as far back as 792 AD in the Tang Dynasty. That means people have been visiting this cave since ancient times. Although, I’m fairly confident the colored lights are a more modern addition.

It’s also worth noting that after spending 3 cold, overcast, and rainy weeks in southern China, I learned a very valuable photography tip. It never rains in a cave. ;)

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 16 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-24 / BH-40 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8
Pano: 5 Exposure Brackets x 4 Vertical Shots

Location: Shot in Guilin, China – February 2013, and post-processed in Key Largo, Florida – March 2013.

Hardware: 15” 2013 Macbook Pro Retina, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom 4.3, Photoshop CS6, NIK Color Efex Pro 4, NIK Sharpener Pro 3

Technique and Details: Digital Blending / Photomerge

After spending some time learning the sequence of lights, I was able to time and shoot a 4 shot pano and a series of long exposure brackets. Each of the 4 (vertical) shots were blended manually in Photoshop before applying the Photomerge function to build the Pano. After that, some more editing was done and though the saturation levels were adjusted, no additional colors were added to the scene. The full resolution file is 10,000 x 6750 at 300dpi.

Espresso: 100% Arabica from the Yunnan Province of China.

Enter the Reed Flute Cave, one of Guilin China’s most interesting and ancient attractions

Filed Under: China, Landscape, Panorama, Travel
26
Jun 2012

Along The North Wall – Forbidden City, Beijing

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Along The North Wall || Forbidden City, Beijing

While my wife and I were in Beijing, we rented a little apartment right across the street from this view of the Forbidden City. China has some really strange weather so it was nice to be able to easily access this spot over the course of a few nights. Out of my 3 attempts with this shot, this was by far the best sunset. To be fair though, I think it was the only sunset. Every other time I shot here the sky was completely coated with a thick smog.

The weather wasn’t the strangest thing though. Every time I visited this spot, there was this old man doing the most obnoxious duck calls I’ve ever heard. The first time I heard it, I swore he had Tourette syndrome. There was no way that all those crazy grunts and belches had anything to do with duck calls. But the more he made these noises, the more admiration he seemed to receive from the people around him. So, bravo Mr. crazy tourettes duck belch guy. Apparently you earned it. ;)

Along The North Wall - Forbidden City

Post-processing Before and After Comparison

Shooting into direct sunlight is always a tricky operation. When the light is this intense, I’ll usually shoot 9 bracketed exposures instead of my normal 5-7. Even if I don’t use them, it’s always good to have the data just in case I need it.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Nikon D700 |&| 24-70 f/2.8 at 28mm
Exposure: 1/125 at f/8.0
ISO: 200

Filed Under: Architecture, Before & After, Beijing, China, Sunrise and Sunset, Travel
08
May 2012

To The Heavens – Beijing

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The Temple Of Heaven

This serene and empty view of The Temple of Heaven in Beijing was one of the trickiest locations I’ve ever had to shoot. It took me 2 visits to capture it but thankfully my perseverance (and rigid stubbornness) paid off.

I’ve always had a secret weapon for minimizing crowds and capturing my scenes free and clear of people. It may seem simple but all it takes is getting up early. I know it sucks getting up before the sun rises but it assures that you arrive at the location way before the tour busses do. It’s worked in every country I’ve visited except for China. All I have to say is, HOLY SHIT can those people get up early.

At the Temple Of Heaven Park, the tour busses were rolling in at 6:30am. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. In Europe for example, the earliest I’ve seen a tour bus show up is 8:00am, which — in most cases — is plenty of time after sunrise and AM Golden Hour.

So, to make a long rant short, I shot this just before sunset as the Temple of Heaven closed. This was captured literally 2 minutes before the uniformed guards blew the whistle on my little operation. I’m not speaking metaphorically either, they were actually blowing whistles at me.

 
To The Heavens - Beijing, China

Filed Under: Architecture, China, Sunrise and Sunset, Travel
25
Apr 2012

Beyond The Fog || The Great Wall Of China

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As The Light Fades on The Great Wall

This is my favorite view from the top of The Mutianyu Section of The Great Wall Of China, just before the last rays of the sun disappeared into the thickening fog. It was a very spiritual moment for my wife and I, as we watched the soft light fade. We were all alone up there for the final hour of sunset, surrounded only by the gentle sound of the cool spring wind. It’s always been one of my dreams to visit The Great Wall and having finally seen it in person, I can happily say that it lived up to all my expectations.

 


 

Post-processing Before and After

You may be wondering why the before image looks so dull and flat. It’s because I turn off all of my in camera settings. No D-Lighting, color enhancements, or anything else that alters (or processes) the image. Without these camera settings active, the input into Lightroom looks very flat but it also gives me the ability to push and pull all the color data any way I want. And for this shot, that’s all I’ve done. All the color and contrast was already present in the Raw file. All I did was give it a little encouragement in the right direction. :)
 

Filed Under: Architecture, Before & After, Beijing, China, Great Wall, Landscape, Sunrise and Sunset, Travel
17
Apr 2012

Beijing – Reflections Of The Past

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Blogging From The Great Wall!

I gotta say, this is pretty cool. Today, I’m writing this post from the top of the Great Wall of China, the Mutianyu Section to be exact. I was even pleasantly surprised to find full 3G service up here. So of course I checked in on Facebook and Skyped my mom. She was thrilled. I mean, It’s not every day that your son calls you from the Great Wall.

It’s always been one of my dreams to visit the Great Wall so I’m very excited about it. The weather sucks for photography today but I’m honestly just happy to be here. And before you ask, of course I didn’t take the sissy tram. All of myself and all the camera gear took the stairs…. Thousands of them and I’m planning on doing it a second time too, once the lighting improves. On a side note, wasn’t it the Chinese who invented the Stair Master?

New Adventures In Old Beijing

We’ve been staying in Beijing for over a week now is this shabby little apartment right across from the north wall of the Forbidden City. Today’s photo is only a few minutes walk from our front door. Even though there are giant rats living in the ceiling, huge brown slugs sliming all over everything, and pipes breaking open to spew stinky brown goo, the location couldn’t be more perfect. If I was a Realtor, all I’d say is, “It has character.”

What you see here is the north entrance to the Forbidden City shortly after a beautiful sunset. On my second night in Beijing, I jogged the length of the top half of the ancient wall to find some cool vantage points. When I returned here to shoot, there were dozens of little bats fluttering all around my shot. They were a cool addition to the experience and they moved too quick to impact the exposure.

Reflections Of The Past

Reflections Of The Past - Beijing, China

Filed Under: Architecture, Beijing, Blue Hour Photography, China, Night Photography
10
Apr 2012

On A Clear Night – Shanghai, China

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On A Clear Night || Shanghai, China

I spent a week in Shanghai and out of that week, the sky was never as clear as it was on my last night. All along the ride back to Shanghai from Tongli (photos coming soon), It was driving me crazy being stuck in traffic, knowing that the sky was perfect for shooting. I was watching the sunset from the taxi window and the atmosphere was crystal clear. There was no doubt in my mind that t was going to be a beautiful blue hour. I had to keep reminding myself to be patient and go with the flow. Besides, our taxi driver was already driving like a maniac, so if anyone could shave minutes off the ride, it was this mad man. Either way, I knew it was my last night and last chance to capture a clear skyline.

The moment we arrived at the hotel, I bolted to an area of the bund I had previously scouted. My wife stayed back to pay the driver, understanding that timing was crucial. After about a 15 minute sprint, I was perfectly in position and ready to capture the moment as well as my breath. It was the perfect finale to an amazing week in Shanghai.

A good piece of advice that I can share from this experience is: You should always take advantage of good weather, period.
On A Clear Night - (Shanghai, China)

Filed Under: Architecture, Blue Hour Photography, China, Night Photography, Shanghai, Travel