Went street shooting with Dan J (his blog Snapping China) the other day and one of his buddies, another photographer named Joseph (Dext Dee) from Ghana. We had agreed to walk around and scout possible locations for our upcoming Dalian Photo Walk (sign up here), which will coincide with the annual Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk. I was massively hungover so I wasn't really in the mood to do daylight street shooting, and there is just something about shooting in one's own city that makes me lose motivation...however, in my mind, the shot below makes up for the pain of getting up and getting out and wrapping my camera around my wrist for quick shots. Perfect timing with the woman's near sinister look at me. Not impressed with my snapping away. I only took one shot though and that's all it took. Seriously though, worst....hair....ever... But thank you, whoever you are, for such a classic street shot. Click the image to make it larger.
Out with my fellow co-workers and a student here in Dalian a couple nights ago eating some barbecue after they had been flat- hunting all day. We were just sitting around, drinking some Tsingdao beers and eating the usual barbecued fare (lamb and beef skewers, sweet pieces of bread, eggplant, spicy peppers, corn, tofu-wrapped mushrooms, fish, etc). Phil and Coman were talking about comedians, many of whom I had never heard of, when I noticed the carcass of a slaughtered lamb 15 meters away, hanging from a hook. On closer inspection, I noticed it's two large testicles hanging limply against it's body. This may sound gross, and if you are queazy at all about these kinds of things then don't continue reading or looking at the pictures, however this is very common and a normal thing to see on any market street in China (and many countries in Asia). Now, I must tell you, I have been watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain's TV show "No Reservations" almost daily - as well as reading his books - so recently exotic food, ingredients and anything food-related has taken a firm place in the front of my mind. Well, food as well as photography, which are the two ingredients which make up this blog post. When Phil and Coman finished talking about Dylan Moran or some other random comic, I interjected, "You guys think we could eat those lamb balls?" They looked at the lamb and Phil said, "Well, I think YOU could eat them." I was very serious about it though, as I have never eaten lamb testicles. I told them all about Anthony Bourdain and my recent fascination and curiosity with odd cuisines and delicacies. It kind of turned into a bet then, and Coman (new Irish teacher with a big beard) agreed to eat the balls with me (don't say that everyday do ya). I asked the Chinese waiter how much and it was 10 kuai (about $1.50) per ball. Not too expensive for such a 'delicate' cut of meat. This is when I got up and rushed over to take some photos before he severed the ball from the carcass. I was too late, as he did it in the blink of an eye; however, he posed his hand with the other ball so I could shoot. Shots of the event can be seen below with related captions below the photos. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TASTE
All in all, the balls were quite tasty. The skin was too tough to chew and get down but the inside was quite nice, it had a melting rather than crumbling texture to it, similar to chicken or duck liver or kidney, but not quite as tough. The taste was also similar to kidney, although not as bitter or strong. Really, most of what I could taste was the barbecue seasoning that is pasted on anything you eat at a street-side barbecue joint. Coman also enjoyed the taste. There was also a bit of what I think was cartilage at the end of the ball. Coman tried this and said it was crispy and salty like bacon. So, overall, quite a ballin experience with the lamb's testicle. Here's one last odd photo I took, Ian helped me title it "Male Bonding Balls in Hand". A couple months ago I met a photographer who introduced me to the editor of the local English/Chinese magazine Focus on Dalian. I emailed him and asked if he needed any help with photography projects or writing articles. At the last minute he had a 'Feature Photographer" cancel on him and so, because he liked some of the Qingming photos that I took, he suggested that I fill in for the other guy. I happily obliged and quickly emailed him some of my recent shots taken around Dalian and wrote up a quick article about taking photos in China. Below is the two page spread (with an advertisement cropped out on the right-hand side) that appeared in the magazine.
Here's what I wrote: What Makes China, China As an aspiring photographer living and teaching in Dalian, I enjoy taking shots of things that really make China, China. Not just the tourist attractions and scenery, but also the people and events which define the country. On April 4th, Qingming Festival took place. It is held annually to welcome the coming spring and to commemorate family and relatives who have passed away. Traditionally, families will burn auspicious ‘fake’ money to see that their deceased ancestors will remain comfortable in the afterlife. That night, I ventured out to photograph people in the midst of their honoring. I wanted to capture the dignified process of money burning naturally. I sought neither to interfere nor disturb, therefore I respectfully kept my distance, blending into the shadows while shooting. I saw the devotedness on the faces of those commemorating and felt humbled, even reflecting a bit on my own ancestors. Later in the week, still feeling inspired, I went on an outing to Labor Park. I was able to photograph more of the people and events that truly make China such a fascinating place. For example, a street cleaner painting beautiful calligraphy on the ground with a water brush. These are the things that continually motivate me and what truly makes China, China. The next photo I'm going to write about was also taken alongside Fuxian Lake in Chengjiang, Yunnan. It was taken about 20 minutes after the Afternoon Net-Fishing shot.
I walked around another old pier, past children building castles in the sand and more fisherman fishing in the shallows. Then I noticed these three young girls wading about 30 feet out in the water, looking at me and pointing. They were obviously intrigued that a foreigner was wandering around in their very small riverside town. They waved to me and I waved back. Then I smiled and held up my camera as if to say "can I take a photo?" (which is a great travel technique to test whether taking a photo of someone is okay or not). They agreed and kind of posed in the water. I was too far away to get a good shot though. I walked closer and they slowly made their way out of the water to where the flipped boat was. Before I got to them I came across an older woman who was cleaning vegetables at an outside tap (later to find out she was one of these girl's aunt). She also let me take a few shots of her but they are only decent shots, nothing too special. I made my way to the beached boat and met up with the girls. We struck up a casual conversation in Chinese and they were initially very impressed that I could speak Chinese and speak it quite well. I found out they were best friends, still in high school, just enjoying the sunshine in between rain on a pleasant summer day. After a few minutes I asked if I could take some more shots of them. I would take a few shots, show them and then talk a bit more. I actually found myself telling them why I thought some of the photos weren't great as if to explain why I wanted to take more. It was tough to get the lighting right and with the umbrellas it was especially difficult to get the exposure right with the shadows and highlights intact. Now, this photo looks very posed, and I guess it was, but I didn't tell them to stand like this or direct them. That's why when I finally got to look at this photo on my computer weeks later I was very happy with the composition, colors and just the looks on their faces. In post-processing I fixed the exposure, increased the saturation and shadows, and cropped the shot to balance it better. In Photoshop I cloned out some distractions in the water and dodged the girls faces and eyes to lighten them (especially the girls with the umbrellas). Finally I sharpened the image and added a bit of vignette to keep the eyes focused on the center and out. I really like the colors because I think it highlights the youthfulness of the girls and their casual summer lounging. I actually think my people shots could use lots of work, especially posed shots like this. Sometimes I feel shy or like a bother to some people if I take too many shots, and if you like photography, you know sometimes it takes lots of shots to get 'the shot', but these girls were very willing and kind to let me take a bunch of shots. The girl in the middle was the focal point of the shot, as well as the conversation, as she must have been the oldest and most confident of the bunch. She was very nice and pleasant to chat with. Personally, this is one of my favorite shots from Yunnan. What I, and perhaps you, can feel from this shot is the kind and welcoming personality and curiosity of some young, innocent Chinese teenagers just being who they are and doing what they do on a summer's day. I remember a quote from somewhere, something like "people around the world are a whole lot more similar to us and everyone else then they are different". We talked about my travels and job, their school and future plans, lunch and dinner plans, their hometown and my hometown, and finally they recommended some places to visit around the area. Yes, this was taken in a remote area in the south of China, and these girls perhaps have never even left their town, or at least Yunnan province, and I think I was the first foreigner who struck up a conversation with them, but they are exactly who they are as seen in this photo; nothing is hidden and their eyes tell it how it is and who they are. Friendly and curious teenage girls "lakeside lounging" on the shores of Fuxian lake in mid July. PASSION AND PHOTOGRAPHY Today I'm going to post one of my favorite shots from my summer travel in Yunnan and then write a little about the how and why behind the photo. I think it's a decent photo but I'm still learning about all the post-processing tips and tricks using Aperture, Lightroom and Photoshop so I'm not entirely content with a lot of my results. I see the best of the best on the web and my photos lack a certain quality, some compositional skills or imagination. I think many of my photos are 'good' but rarely are they 'great' or 'outstanding'. Practice makes perfect though. Also, I'm reading more books on photography and last night I stumbled upon a very interesting thought which I was quite taken by: A Serbian photographer, Dragan M. Babovic, wrote in Photo Inspiration: Secrets Behind Stunning Images, "my main rule: the passion that you have while taking a photo will be passed on to the ones looking at it later. It is all about the transfer of energy." It made me think about the shots where I really spend time and effort to compose and find the right shot, sometimes taking 30 mins to an hour just to get the image that I envisioned. I found that often these are the images that people are more drawn too. I guess it's true that I also feel something more for these images as well because I was the one using my time to compose them, really putting my 'passion' into getting a shot I was content with (rather than just a split second snapshot taken without thought). In light of this 'rule', I've posted the shot below which adheres to it. I’m also going to try to describe how and why the photo was taken. Enjoy. I'll try to post a new photo and explanation every day. AFTERNOON NET-FISHING
The photo above was taken in Chengjiang, Yunnan. The lake is Fuxian lake. The image may look familiar to you if you have seen one of my past posts (here) which contained an up-close photo of the fisherman. I took this shot about 10 minutes before I took that shot. It was late afternoon and I was just walking along the shore of the lake. I had already leisurely strolled past numerous children and teen boys wading in shallow water, been offered the chance to bathe with four large working men stripped down to their underwear, and photographed fishermen crossing their poles (no pun intended) on another pier. When I got to this area I immediately felt like there were great photographs to be found. The fisherman was casually lifting his net out of the water every 5-10 minutes, and there was no one else around. There was such a peaceful feeling in the air. For the first time during daylight hours, I took out my mini-tripod and walked amongst the 20-30 newly planted trees looking for the right angle to get a shot with the pier and the fisherman included. I eventually saw the semi-symmetry of these four trees which I thought would balance the pier with the fisherman nicely. I set up my Canon 60 D with my Tamron 18-270mm lens on the tripod and placed it on a small rock which luckily was right where I needed it to be. I set the camera on 10 second self timer and after a couple shots I lucked out and captured the fisherman as he raised his net. I had read that one of the things that separates okay photographers from good or great photographers is the use of a tripod even during daylight hours. I wanted this shot to be tack sharp so I used my tripod and I believe I got it as tack as I could, given the lens and the circumstances. In post-processing (I use Apple's Aperture for the RAW processing and then Photoshop CS4) I increased the saturation, increased the contrast and cloned out some of the muck in the water as it was distracting. Ideally, the muck on the left of the photo under the pier would have been nice to clone out, but this is China and a pristine lake, river or ocean is near impossible to find. I also cropped the image to get the symmetry of the trees better placed. Finally, I sharpened the image. Obviously the clouds are overblown a bit and I'm still not perfectly content with the image, but I guess my lack of knowledge with what to do with it has resulted in this finished product. Any tips for improvement? THIS IS CHINA So what does this photo say to me or why did I feel the need to get this shot? What first comes to mind for me is TIC (This is China). TIC is a saying that we foreigners often use in China to represent those occasions when you realize that you really are in the heart of this country and it is like no other place in the world. It's organized chaos and often we shake our heads in disbelief at some of the things that happen in front of our eyes. A few examples of TIC: babies on sidewalks in broad daylight shitting and pissing through the slit cut out of their baby pants, homeless people dusting cars for money at intersections, all of the awkward moments when people spit near you and you debate whether they are actually clearing the mucus out or purposely directing their spit at you thus insulting you, anything to do with driving, girls going on dates at Pizza Hut and watching Korean soap operas on their ipads using earphones, never once looking up to talk to their date, etc. etc. Those are instances of TIC. By no means am I knocking China for having these TIC moments. Actually they are the fragrant and unique herbs and spices added to the already colorful and delicious assortment of cuisine that is life in China. But they are not the meat and veg of the country. Moments like the above are. To me, the photo is another type of TIC moment. The casual fisherman with the stereotypical pointed Chinese hat using an ancient net and technique to catch what will probably be dinner later; the small, symmetrical, traditionally designed and colored pagoda on the end of a pier, the polluted muck at shore's edge and surrounding the pier, the overcast clouds preparing for hot acidic late afternoon rainfall. These are inherent parts of China. They are Chinese. As I wrote in an article that was published in the FOCUS on Dalian magazine, I like taking photos that to me, make China, China. The photo above is representative of old China, of days when one had to catch his/her own fish and feed a family and sweat and toil in the sunlight. It's a reminder that the majority of Chinese people still live in traditional ways and when you get out of the city and into areas where generations upon generations of families have been living and thriving off the fat of the land, then you realize ohhh, THIS is China, this is the meat and potatoes of the country. And as a photographer, stumbling upon a scene like this made me salivate for a savory pork rib quality photo. Perhaps it's only a small bite, but it's a slice nonetheless and I hope it tastes of something Chinese to you, as it does for me. Well, it's Sept 3 now and that means that schools around China all begin today. Luckily I don't start teaching until Wednesday, so I'm just lazing around debating whether to go to Wal-mart to get food or stay in my apartment and mess around with photos (it's raining so I'll probably choose the latter). Below are three class photos from last semester, I forgot I had them and thus forgot to post them on the blog at the end of last semester. Oh, how time (summer!) flies!
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AuthorEric Hevesy is an American who lived in China for six years. He has recently moved from Dalian to beautiful Jeju Island in South Korea. Read more at About Me. My Flickr PhotosArchives
September 2013
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