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.
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.
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.