Glorious Technicolour (And Pollution)

So... Here's some colour. These are from the lake in Hangzhou. I managed to catch a rather impressive water fountain show by sheer chance. The pollution kind of makes the pictures more impressive as it dulls the light of the sun as it comes down. You kind of get a glimpse of the mountains in the background.

I'm not actually sure whether they do this water show regularly. I wouldn't have stopped and took these if it hadn't have started as I walked past. Above and below were just a couple of experiments with silhouettes. 

This one is the better of the two. I think with taking it in landscape you get more of the mountains in the background, and just people from the waist up. 

These with the water are a little tricky to get. You need a fairly high shutter speed to catch it, which also means that less light goes through the lens and on the the negative so can come out a little dark. I practiced this when I was in Jersey, and meant to put the results up - something I obviously haven't done - when I was on the beach; I was trying to get pictures of waves hitting rocks. Out of 4 or 5 pictures, only one came out well. Anyway. So the one above you can kind of see the water being shot up from right to left. There is a little too much glare from the sun though.

This one I really rather like. Unfortunately I couldn't get all of the sprays in. But it kind of gives some sense of proportion.

I think I should probably crop this around the couple. I may do at a later date, but for now I like them as they are. It's a little romantic. Save for the E.T. looking chap behind them.

Lots of people were there. Apparently they seemed to know there was a fountain show. You can tell by the pictures above there were loads of people at the front. This girl was quite lucky though.

More police. Checking their phones. 

Spare Time

I obviously have a little too much of it. I figured a little (drastic) design change was in order. With a fair few photos in black and white, that are maybe a little too dark, I figured this was a better look.
Thoughts; comments?

People-y Type Things

There is a lot of internal tourism in China. So there are a lots of people to take photos of. The quality of them are up and down. I think it's still hard to get photos of people right all the time.

Kid chasing bubbles. Annoyingly the bubbles aren't too clear.

There was a whole lot of writing carved into the pavement near the lake. No idea what any of it says but looked well impressive. I mean come on... It was carved into the pavement!

I think this picture is brilliant. It's got a little too much white light, but it's cool.

The old man in the Mao suit is kind of funny looking. Or maybe about to start a fight

Peace.

A Mixed Bag

I spent a month in Hangzhou after I came out to China. It's a nice place. Quite famous for its lake and tea, and some other things. Anyway. The lake is a big tourist pleaser. And there are thousands of people there. So in an effort to take better pictures of people, it was a good place to start. First couple of sets are in black and white...

I got some good photos of some of the kids by the lake. There were people handing out all sorts of balloons and blowing soap bubbles and what not. It had a good atmosphere

There is a fair amount of pollution in Hangzhou. So you can't really see across the lake, but I have a couple of better pictures where you can get the idea. They're also in colour...

There are a few of these. They're flimsy as hell. I took a ride in one and it was quite a laugh. Business was apparently slow.

I couldn't resist... There is a bike loan scheme in Hangzhou. And there are loads of them.

I was using a fairly decent lense so I got some good shots. I like how this guy is sitting right on the edge of the bench.

Something I Missed

Oh, look. Another bicycle.

This is my last bike shot from Shanghai that I missed. I have no idea what the writing on the wall says. But I like the look of it.

Market Values

China has a lot of things to see. It's a big place. Markets are pretty fun places to hang out. Not in a shopping sense. I hate shopping. But if you want to people watch, or even just see how things can be a little familiar but completely different, markets are a good place to go.

This is the other end of that ally/partly abandoned house I was in (actually it wasn't really abandoned - there was a tattoo shop I was looking for and you had to walk through this building; it seemed abandoned though). There was more light down the other and was easier to focus the shot.

These were some kitchy looking plates just on a side of market stall. I love how they are just outside - this is on the side of a fairly busy road.

I have always wanted to learn how to use an abacus. There are a stack in the bottom left hand corner. But what I really like about this is the old suitcase in the foreground. There was a guy repairing old leather suitcases that were more than 50 years old. I was at the market one day without my camera watching him repair them. I went back with my camera and sod's law he wasn't there, but the suitcases were.

This is a different market, but you see the same things. Like guys doing some proper sketchy looking repairs to something or other. I took the photo a while ago and can't quite remember exactly what it is they were fixing.

I first moved to China in 1989. Waaaay back in the day. I don't think I could quite forget how people would sit or squat on the side of the street just watching things go by. Sometimes they would have little stools or buckets they would sit on. You can see how worn this one is.

Here is a different guy repairing cases. I could have said he was the one I was looking for, but he wasn't. These were slightly newer looking ones. See what he's sitting on?

Ahh. Little Chinese statuettes... These were actually painted some fantastic colours. They're basically propaganda in statue form. There are quite a few of Mao, but there are also workers and peasants and all that kind of stuff. Unfortunately Shanghai doesn't have old pictures and paintings and posters of Mao, or various propaganda type things on street walls like some places in China still do. I will eventually find some to snap photos of. Interestingly, posters saying workmen are about and you need a hard hat kind of look like they are straight out of the Cultural Revolution...

I always find it slightly amusing when you see people with terracotta warriors. I remember going to see them in the ground 20 odd years ago when they were still a fairly big deal (they were originally discovered in the 70s). They always keep finding more though...

Bicycles

I was in Shanghai for a couple of weeks in October. Some say it's a slightly sanitised version of China, what with all the foreigners. Maybe. Or it's a place doing foreign things the Chinese way. Possibly. I think it's the latter. Anyway. I love it.

I also like taking photos of bicycles. There isn't much that one would say was particularly interesting about them. But something about a bike propped up against a wall is kind of interesting. I was going to put up some pictures that I just thought came out well, but I had a few just of bikes, and I thought well, there were enough for a post on their own.

These are quite a common sight. It's actually an electric bike, but never mind.

I was looking for something completely different. I ended up walking through what seemed like some old school abandoned houses and there was this bike. It's a little too dark, but I didn't have a flash. I like it a fair bit though.

I was actually focusing on the bike in the background and got too much of the foreground. Results may vary.

I should crop this. Just have the bike against the wall. But there is the bike a little further down the street and it's a nice compliment.

Trike in a market. You can't really tell, but it's old. Really old.

Wrapping Up Carnival

I have a few more photos from carnival that I wanted to put up. Some colour, some black and white. I am still experimenting with colour and am still not entirely happy with how it's going. I have come to the conclusion that the faster the film the better the pictures. Anyway. That's for another post. So yeah. Here is my last bit from Carnival before I more on.

Jump and wave.

These two were running a stall on the side of the road and wanted me to take a picture.

There was a sound system. You can see the people beginning to gather. I took the photo because if you look into the little shack on the left, you can see a guy poking his head up. It was quite funny. He seemed to be resting on his moustache.

Orange: A good colour to take a photo of...

This was a slight experiment into long exposures. I took two like this. The other was too bright, so I am going with this one. Maybe colour would have added something more to it.

Right. Stay tuned for China (in glorious black and white. Ha~!).

Better Late Than Never

Right. So finally I am going to get to putting up some photos. Possibly two months later than when I originally planned to. But hey... screw you.

Carnival is the theme for today...

Other than colour, there is a lot of food. Poor guy was probably there all day. And this was taken at 11 in the morning.

This woman is cool. That is all.

You may have cottoned on to the fact that I like taking photos of groups of policemen.

This guy was cooking and looked like he was taking a break. I'm not sure if I should've cropped the no entry sign out of it, and just had the graffiti.

It could almost be fog. The sheer number of BBQs leads to this kind of thing.

I like how the police are just completely ignoring her, like it's completely normal.

"What's up?", "Just chillin'".

So many many people. I like the slightly washed look of this.

I just like this photo.

It kind of shows how people are just doing their thing and having a good time.