Hangzhou is known for a number of things one of them being the West Lake,  an artificial lake built around 800AD.  I took several pictures in the early morning with the overnight fog just lifting giving a moody feel.    In this instance I went with a black and white treatment and like the range of tones present.  You'll notice the grainy appearance particularly in the sky, a tell tale sign that this was originally captured on film.     KD.

         Original capture on 35mm colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm zoom lens.

     Once again,  shots from my China 1999 trip.   Whilst in the Huangshan Mountain region,  which I've featured in a couple of recent postings,  I had the opportunity to observe and photograph some wildlife at reasonably close range.    When I mentioned animal pictures recently,  I wonder how many readers thought...China...animals...Pandas!  Well sorry,  no pandas.   But what I did get to see was a troop of snow monkeys including quite a few very young ones,  so turn up the cute meter!  

    I probably saw about 40-50 monkeys in total.  They are wild but at the end of each day they gather near a creek where they know that people scatter loose corn for them.    When you look at the first couple of shots of the adult holding the infant,  you may assume that it's a mother and her young,  but in fact the adults pictured are males.  It seems to be a behavioural characteristic of this species that it's the males who carry and care for the young.   I assume this means the young have progressed to the point where they are no longer being suckled.          

     All photographs taken on 35mm colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm and 80-400mm zoom lenses.

    One of the most enjoyable days of my 1999 China trip was spent visiting a small rural town in the south of the country.   Western visitors to this area were a rarity at the time and hence we were met with a great deal of curiosity.  It happened that our arrival coincided with a break in class at the local primary school and so there was some playful interaction with the local kids resulting in some of my favourite shots from the whole trip.   I particularly like the first shot,  as the boys in the foreground play to the camera,  the expressions of the three children in the background cover a range of feelings from apprehension, to shy curiosity,  to open amusement.      

     The second shot shows what amounts to the "school bus" of the town.   Once again our presence was the subject of much amusement to the kids.

In addition to the kids,  I found that many of the older people of the town were intrigued by our presence as well.    They were mostly pleased,  even flattered,  to be photographed and this resulted in some fairly relaxed,  simple,  and I found,  pleasing portraits.     There are some days that stand out in my mind as really memorable during my travels and this was one of them.    One of those days where you find yourself on a natural high and grinning with satisfaction at the end of it.     It's not always easy to analyse what makes such days.   On this occasion it was making an, albeit fleeting,  connection with the people of this town.     I recall another day during a trip I did to Vietnam years ago where I stood on the top of a hill looking out over the coastline.  There was something about the light that day which was special,  the sky blended into the sea in a way that I found quite beautiful,  I remember feeling quite euphoric observing and photographing it.     Like many people I find taking photographs of strangers quite difficult.  How do you approach people,  how do you present yourself as not being a voyeuristic intruder into their lives?  I think sometimes it relates back to the feelings you yourself give to people and the positive attitude you adopt.   Someone famous once commented "the camera looks both ways",  maybe this is what he meant.   The world around us is in some ways a reflection of ourselves.   If we're positive,  the world around us tends to look like a wondrous place,  if we're negative, the world can appear depressing or even hostile.      I could count to ten and say "hello" and "thank you" in Mandarin and that was it.   The people I met were for the most part even more restricted in English.   But a friendly wave, smile, gesture, nod of appreciation, are almost universal and in this instance were the most important "photographic" tools I carried with me.     KD

   Well in recent weeks I've been treating Wednesdays as the day for my weird or unusual, off beat, off colour (you get the idea!) pictures,  but not today.   I guess this is a not so weird Wednesday posting.   Still with me?    Then continue reading.    A week ago I published "a strange play of light" and indicated that there were more Huangshan Mountains shots to come.   This region is quite beautiful and has inspired artists, poets and others for centuries with its combination of rocky outcrops,  forests and sometimes mysterious misty weather conditions.   

     Once again the photos you see here were originally taken on colour negative film and some of them started out looking rather washed out and uninspiring when first scanned into the computer.    I experimented with the Photoshop processing on these and stumbled upon a technique which I think worked pretty well.  I've ended up with images that are slightly higher contrast,  higher colour saturated and "denser" than I might have got otherwise.   Overall,  I like the effect I'm getting and I think it works well for these types of subjects.   

Steep sided rock outcrops and trees that somehow just seem to hold on, taking root in the smallest of crevices.   It's not hard to see why countless people have been inspired to pick up a paint brush and easel.    And,  of course,  I couldn't resist dragging out the camera!

One of the traditions at this location is for couples to leave a gold coloured lock,  symbolic of their commitment I guess.    The result is these chains festooned with hundreds of locks.

Craggy mountains,  forest,  rock outcrops with trees sprouting out of them,  a bit of mist and some sweet directional light.   What more could I ask for?       All photographs taken in 1999 on colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm and 80-400mm zoom lenses.

 Upcoming posts.

        As I said at the start of the week,  I've got so many shots in the pipeline that I'm trying to get through them a little quicker by turning this into one big week of blogging.   I must also get up to date with my main site and you can expect some new content there in due course.    In show business they say never work with children or animals,  well in the days ahead I intend to do both.    I'll be presenting some of my personal favourite shots from the China 1999 trip in the process.   Stay tuned......KD

     Another shot from the China 1999 series,  taken in the town of Fengjie.   A whole number of classical compositional themes here,  the single figure on a "rule of thirds" placement,  the single contrasting colour element (the umbrella) against the generally muted earthy tones,  the recurring lines and the rock textures.   In all I think this is one of my personal favourites from the Fengjie shots,  the shot being helped by the overcast,  drizzly weather at the time keeping the contrast level down.          

      Pentax SF7 with 80-400mm zoom lens.   Exposure details not recorded,  original capture on colour negative film. 

   In recent blog entries I've referred to a riverboat trip along the Yangzi (Yangtze) River that I did during my 1999 China trip.   I mentioned the story of the town of Fengjie (Fenji) and how it has since been abandoned,  submerged beneath the waters of the Yangzi River following the completion of the Three Gorges dam project.   Today I'm displaying a series of shots from what was a fascinating little historic town which,  when I visited,  was on borrowed time.   The history of the town actually dated back beyond the year 700BC during which era it was an important commercial centre for the region.   As can be seen in the pictures,  access from boats to the town was gained by walking across barges and walkways over the water and then climbing up the steep stairs to the town proper.   The photos also depict the movement of goods,  no mechanisation,  everything carried up the stairs on poles.       

      All shots originally on colour negative film with Pentax 35mm SLRs and 28-80mm and 80-400mm zoom lenses.

   One of the things that amazed me about China was the history of the place.    Much of the country's history dates back to biblical times and,  for much of its history,  China was in many respects the most technologically advanced society in the world.  

Upcoming blog schedule.

      As I continue to review my China 1999 shots,  I realize just how many shots I took,  how many of them I think are worth publishing and the variety of subject matter that's contained.   I've digitally processed over 200 shots so far and I'm only half way through the files.   I'm going to have to be disciplined in editing otherwise it's just going to be unmanageable.    In order to clear some of the backlog I might have to have a mini splurge and increase the posting rate over the next week or so.   The 2 to 3 posts per week may have to be daily for a little while.    I recall a line from one of the Batman movies where Jack Nicholson's "Joker" looks out over Gotham City and declares "this town needs an enema!"   Well I think my computer hard drive needs similar treatment so,  stand by!       ....KD

   Part of my 1999 trip through China included a boat journey along part of the Yangzi River.  The river is navigable by large river boats over 2000 kilometres inland and in parts is flanked by cliffs as much as 900 metres high.   

   I remember a story related to me by an old man I met and knew many years ago,  long before I even thought of visiting China.    He was a member of the British Royal Navy way back in the 1930's,  so pre world war 2 and pre communist government in China.   As a young man he served on a RN gunboat which patrolled up the Yangzi River a distance of over 1500 kilometres.    During that era,  such a journey must have seemed almost like visiting another planet.   He recounted how his gunboat docked at some small township along the river and he and some of his crewmates went ashore.    They had heard that there was an English missionary working in the district and set out to find him.   Their journey took them some distance inland from the river and upon locating the missionary,  my old friend discovered that the missionary was in fact someone he'd gone to school with back in England during his childhood and had not seen since their school days.    I have no reason to doubt the story and I'll let you figure out what the odds were of such a meeting in such circumstances!

    The old man also described seeing "boat trackers" at work along the river during that era and remained astonished all those years later at what he'd seen.   During that time motorised shipping on the river was less common and many of the boats and barges used were hauled upstream,  against the sometimes rapid current,  by teams of labourers walking along tracks along the river bank,  pulling on ropes strung out from the boats to the shoreline.   In some instances there would be hundreds of men engaged in dragging such boats.  

     In the following photographs you may get some idea of the scale of the landscape.   As you look at the boats dwarfed by the cliffs,  remember that they are 2 and 3 decked river boats and carry several hundred people each.    The final image,  in monochrome,  is a view from the boat that I was travelling on.   I imagine the design of the river boat isn't that different to what may have been used decades ago.     KD.

          All images originally captured on colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm zoom lens.

    I almost wasn't going to bother with a weird Wednesday posting this week,  but spending an evening processing photos on the computer (I lead a quiet life!),  I started exploring some of the possibilities of this shot which I took in the Huangshan Mountains (Yellow Mountains) in China during my 1999 trip.   Obviously it's all about the light with the late afternoon providing these oblique angled shafts pouring in through the gap in the mountains.    As you might imagine the contrast range in the original negative was enormous,  testing the limits of the film's exposure latitude.  The original scan was really washed out and murky so I had to pull out a few stops (and take a few liberties) in Photoshop to get to the final result.

     I'm sure this picture won't be everyone's cup of tea and the result is just weird enough to be a WW shot.    The light effect and the colours you see are,  in the end,  a good representation of what was there at the time.    I'll be presenting some more shots from this region in the week ahead,  the style of presentation will be a little different to previous postings.   I've stumbled upon what I think is a pleasing effect with what were challenging scans,  so stay tuned!      KD.

         Original capture on colour negative film,  Pentax SF7 with 28-80mm lens.

    A fairly simple image today,  where ever I went in China I saw so many people both in major cities and small towns,  riding bicycles and tricycles.   Things are changing fast however, and with increasing industrialization and extraordinary economic growth,  there is a growing push for people to use more and more motor vehicles.   Indeed in the larger cities such as Beijing,  traffic congestion is already a headache and getting worse by the day.   The implications are enormous with car sales in the years ahead projected into the tens of millions,  if not hundreds of millions.   In tandem with this there appears to be little thought given at government level to issues of pollution and air quality in the major cities.  

    There were numerous indications of China's rapid development,  from massive dam and hydro electricity projects to major urban developments.   The sheer scale of some of these developments and the speed with which they are being undertaken is mind boggling.    In the rush for development,  I hope the sight of large numbers of people using bicycles doesn't become a rarity.    Low cost,  environmentally sustainable,  maybe we should all be doing it.    KD. 

        Original capture on colour negative film.  Pentax SF7 with 28-800mm zoom.

    Another shot from my China 1999 series,  again I went the monochrome treatment,  seems to work better than colour for some images.   Pictured on the outskirts of Yangshuo,  this young woman was manoeuvring her cart,  loaded high with goodness knows what,  down a fairly steep hill.   Wearing only light weight sandals she has only her legs for brakes in  maintaining control of the cart.  In the background another woman is struggling with a similar load,  only difference is that she was 2 or even 3 times the age of the girl in front.   Next time you're feeling a bit stiff in the back just think.....   KD.  

     Original capture on colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm zoom.

     I almost wasn't going to bother with a Weird Wednesday posting today as I didn't really have anything "in stock" so to speak that was,  well,  weird enough to justify posting.   But whilst in the seemingly never ending quest to get through my photo archives this evening,  I figured the image I was working on, and the story behind it,  was of interest enough, so here goes.   This particular image is one of several that I took back on my China trip in 1999 and is of the small town of Fenji by the banks of the Yangtze River.   It was a strange experience walking around the narrow streets of this little town and the weather was dreary and showery all afternoon.   The image shown could not be reproduced today.  Why?  Well the clues are in the earlier sentence.   (1). the picture was taken in 1999  (2).  the town was situated by the banks of the Yangtze River.   

    As you can see I've gone with the monochrome (black and white if you prefer) treatment and actually gone a little further than usual with the processing at that.   The original shot on colour negative film is included for reference just to give a clearer idea of how far I took the processing.   If anyone's interested regards the actual Photoshop processing steps,  then let me know and I'll expand on that latter.

Fenji,  China 1999.   Pentax SF7 with 28-80mm zoom lens.  Exposure details not recorded,  original capture on colour negative film.

        So why couldn't you reproduce this shot today?  Figured it out?   In 1999 the massive "three gorges" dam project was well underway with large sections of the Yangtze River to be flooded for the purposes of flood water control and the establishment of a massive hydro electric power plant.   The town of Fenji,  along with several other riverside towns,  was on borrowed time in 1999.   The water level of the Yangtze at that point was due to rise something like 600 feet by about 2006 from memory.   Everything you see in the picture is now gone,  the buildings, streets etc inundated and the people relocated to newer housing estates on higher ground.  Spooky huh!          KD.

    In my last posting I referred the "Guilin region" of Southern China.  Well maybe I should have clearer,  Guilin is one of the larger cities in the Guangxi Provence.   One of the great things to do is a boat trip along the beautiful Li River whose waters pass through Guilin and the smaller town of Yangshuo.   With steep sided limestone karsts lining the edges of the river, a bit of fog here and there,  and the play of light and reflection on the water,  there is little excuse for coming away without at least one or two nice pictures.    These shots were on colour negative film but I love the monochrome treatment and so....     Although I've only put 2 images on this blog entry, check the photo albums as sometimes they vary a bit.  KD

         Both shots Pentax SF7 with 28-80mm zoom lens on colour negative film.  Exposure details not recorded.

    Continuing with shots from my 1999 China trip,  today's images are from the Guilin region in the south of the country.   The area is famous for its rock formations (karsts), farmlands and waterways.   It's also,  almost always it seems,  shrouded in fog,  which photographically some people might find frustrating but I think it adds a feeling of mystery.   The region has inspired artists and writers for centuries.   I'm also preparing some monochrome images from this region,  I'll present those in an upcoming post.    KD.  

          Both shots taken with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm zoom lens.   Original captures on colour negative film.

   Today's image was taken at the Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong.   The monastery complex features a massive "big Buddha" statue,  as well as numerous smaller statues such as this one,  and was built in 1990.     It's not just a monastery but also a tourist attraction.   

This shot was taken on colour negative film with the Pentax SF7 and the 28-80mm zoom.    Exposure details were not recorded but given the subject,  and that the camera was hand held,  the shutter speed would have been about 1/125 second at F16.     The background in the original picture was rather bland and so I decided to do away with it all together.     Knowing that I'd present this on a Weird Wednesday,  I tried numerous colour backgrounds before settling on this one.    The red splash over the statue's shoulder is a flag,  the flagpole is concealed behind the statue.

    I've been fortunate enough to travel to China on 2 occasions,  firstly in 1999 and again in 2001.   Some places leave quite an impression on the traveller and China was such a place for me.    I'm sure that with the Olympics in 2008 and China's growing importance in the world politically and economically,  the world's view of this country is changing and at the same time the Chinese view towards visitors is changing also.   This changing of attitudes was obvious to me during my second visit,  when I sensed that the Chinese people,  at least in the larger cities,  were more comfortable about having foreign visitors about.   I recall having some interactions with people there in 2001 and then thinking "that wouldn't have occurred 2 years ago". 

    These pictures were taken in Hong Kong which was my point of entry during the 1999 trip.   In going through my shots,  which of course were captured on film,  I'm now torn between presenting them in colour or in monochrome.   I think you can expect to see an assortment of both in the weeks ahead.    KD.

	Hong Kong is of course one of the world's great shipping ports with vessels of all sizes and shapes plying it's waters.    The first 2 shots here show the ferries which operate between the mainland and Hong Kong Island.    All photographs were taken with the Pentax SF7 and a 28-80mm zoom lens on colour negative film.
	At the time of my visit it was clear that waste and litter disposal were problems that had not been addressed,  hence the common sight of rubbish floating in the harbour.