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Here are some shots of the Great Wall which I took when I went to China for my son's wedding.
This is an indication of how popular it is in the most visited spots.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1367/1469324788_01529befa2_o.jpg
More shots of the wall
#1
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1231/1468471177_322ce16d03_o.jpg
#2 a close up of the bity that goes nowhere.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1134/1468471361_7d4daf6a0a_o.jpg
#3
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1148/1468471543_179e673a6a_o.jpg
#4 a close up of a tower - 2999 to go
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1047/1468471889_477577aca9_o.jpg
#5 towards the highest point
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1322/1468472069_ffe67fbda2_o.jpg
#6 another tower
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1379/1468472329_4a3a566009_o.jpg
The Great Wall is amazing.
rh1944
Fantasic set of shots, the great wall is something I would love to visit, not only to photograph but just to see it in the flesh.
I think my favourite shot would be #1 or #3
dafmeister
14-05-2008, 18:40
Thats a good set. Bet you done a lot of walking that day?
Bikemansteve
14-05-2008, 18:46
Stunning shots of the World's biggest man made monument......
Thats a good set. Bet you done a lot of walking that day?
Many thanks. On that day, we'd been to a Jade factory - where you could buy a bracelet for £500, which is a bucketful of money in China. When we went to the silk factory, we bought a silk duvet and duvet cover for £150 and my mate valued that at £750 retail in the UK.
We'd also been to Mings' Tombs - well one of them.
The day we went to the Forbidden City, we also went to the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. A day is not enough for either the Forbidden City -9999.5 rooms or the Summer Palace which hosts the longest covered walkway in the world.
rh1944
Fantasic set of shots, the great wall is something I would love to visit, not only to photograph but just to see it in the flesh.
I think my favourite shot would be #1 or #3
It's well worth seeing - words and pictures are not enough. My cousin went to the TerraCotta Army and from his photos, I want to go there -it's staggering the scale of it.
rh1944
Stunning shots of the World's biggest man made monument......
Many thanks, but with the Great Wall, it's just stand there, compose a picture and click. No real work necessary; the wall takes care of itself from a photographer's point of view.
rh1944
Duckydoodle
14-05-2008, 18:56
Amazing structure. I particularly liked nos 1, 3 and 5 but thought they were all good :thumbs:
Amazing structure. I particularly liked nos 1, 3 and 5 but thought they were all good :thumbs:
One of the things about China is that it was (last year) and in the main probably still is very cheap by our standards. We had a meal at the most famous restaurant in Beijing and that cost £14 per head. Every other evening we never spent more than £8 for a meal and there was always more than we could eat. We stayed in a very expensive room in Beijing and it was £58 per night for the two of us including breakfast; it was the best hotel room I have ever stayed in. In Dalian we paid £30 for a very large room. The most expensive thing was the flight and that was £420.
Go if you can but watch out for the pollution, not only does it get to your lungs - it also gets to your photographs. When using the 300mm zoom on the 400D, the skies were ruined by pollution effects that the lens captured. I have a black museum of photographs that failed because of the light. If I had the camera on auto then it asked for the flash at 4 PM in Beijing.
rh1944
did you know that the steps on the Great Wall are deliberately uneven
that way any invading troops that got onto the steps would either trip or spend all their time looking at their feet
the local troops got to know the pattern so could move easily up and down the steps!
great pics by the way not easy when there are so many people about!:clap:
did you know that the steps on the Great Wall are deliberately uneven
that way any invading troops that got onto the steps would either trip or spend all their time looking at their feet
the local troops got to know the pattern so could move easily up and down the steps!
great pics by the way not easy when there are so many people about!:clap:
I didn't know that - I can tell you that some of the sections are very steep indeed. You wouldn't be able to run up them.
Many thanks. There were times when I would wait five or ten minutes to get a shot with no one in it. The other decision I made was to photograph the Chinese; if you can't keep them out of the shots then make them the subject. I have included some examples in the Dalian thread.
rh1944
I just looked @ #6 again
is there some unfinished cloning going on there at the top of the steps?
I just looked @ #6 again
is there some unfinished cloning going on there at the top of the steps?
Whatever is going on is what I snapped. I decided some time ago to limit my post production to exposure and noise - with straightening, perspective correction and cropping if necessary.
During my two weeks in China, I took 2200 shots, threw away 400 in the camera and threw away another 400 in the computer. 1400 shots take a lot of editing if your going to be really clever. Fortunately, the post prod software contains more features than I'll ever understand - so I try and get to grips with essentials and keep to them.
rh1944
yup
took another even closer look
I thought I saw a body cut in half
but there's actually three people loitering up there!
my apologies!
AncientSnapper
16-05-2008, 19:46
wow - and a bit of post-processing would make these great - wish I could go there
wow - and a bit of post-processing would make these great - wish I could go there
Thanks. Do feel free to do any post prod you feel appropriate. Just tell me what you did.
AncientSnapper
20-05-2008, 12:24
Hi Russell,
I've gone a bit mad and over the top, as I got rather absorbed in trying to remove the haze from the 2nd image.
Hopefully this will cover your requirement of telling you what I did!
http://www.broadhurst-family.co.uk/lefteye/MainPages/Tutorial_Haze.htm
Chris
Nice series.
They do seem a bit bright on my PC here ate work.
Had a quick go, (suppose to be working so a bit quick).
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c100/barrybarnes777/1469324788_01529befa2_o.jpg
Great set. I'm envious. Need an excuse to take a month of work and get the kids out of school.
Think I may have just found next years holiday destination.
Great set of photos and has made me very envious!
Hi Russell,
I've gone a bit mad and over the top, as I got rather absorbed in trying to remove the haze from the 2nd image.
Hopefully this will cover your requirement of telling you what I did!
http://www.broadhurst-family.co.uk/lefteye/MainPages/haze.htm
Chris
My son (the one who was on the horse in the wedding shots) and I have had a look at the twelve images and we prefer the Channel Curves and Split RGB to all of the others - including the original.
Well done
Great set. I'm envious. Need an excuse to take a month of work and get the kids out of school.
Many thanks. Spend a day at each of the Great Wall, Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. If you can get down to Xian for the Terracotta Army, then do so. My cousin's shots of it give an idea of how staggering an achievement that is.
Think I may have just found next years holiday destination.
Great set of photos and has made me very envious!
Next year will be better than this, avoid June, July and August when the monsoon arrives and it is very wet.
Many thanks. My wife has me pencilled in for Chinese New Year next year when the weather is very cold, but the fireworks are like only the Chinese can do. The winter settings for the sights are very different.
Nice series.
They do seem a bit bright on my PC here at work.
Had a quick go, (suppose to be working so a bit quick).
Now that you've done that, I've noticed my son, sister and wife in the foreground. Like all things, my experience with post prod was not as good as it is now and I didn't have a very good post processor - only ACDSee at the time. I know a bad workman blames his tools, but I did try...
Lovely set, spectacular place! Not sure my legs would hold out though.
Lovely set, spectacular place! Not sure my legs would hold out though.
Many thanks. The bit in shot is about as steep as it gets; once you've got up this bit, you can push on to the top. There's a sliding car that gets you to this section, so you don't need to do any climbing until you get here.
I found a really good vantage point at the bottom of this section where I could rest my elbow on a bit of stone and take pictures of people coming and going.
I turned round at one point and spotted this woman coming towards me. She spotted me and went into a pose as the Chinese will when they know a lens is pointed at them.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1336/1438198008_3b82677fd0_o.jpg
As you can see, I am reflected in one of the lens of her sunglasses. While I was taking pictures on the wall, at least three people came up and had a chat. So if you don't make it very far, you can still have a good and interesting time - taking photographs and talking to people. There's lot to see and do on the wall.
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