Canal and doorway,Suzhou

I really enjoyed the time I spent in Xi’an , and was starting to feel quite at home exploring the areas within the city walls, trying  the different food styles.  It seemed sometimes from the conversation in the hostel that many of the westerners staying were taking refuge from the foreignness of the exterior, and had lurid stories of the strange food and experiences. Xi’an is a modern city but  it was the beginning of the silk road so has a real mix of cultures and cuisine. Maybe it was all to much for them to absorb .

Booking a berth on a sleeper train was a straightforward affair as despite priming myself with all the right language I was quite deflated when it turned out the woman in the ticket in the office spoke perfect English. I discovered it pays to book early as there are a lot of people coming through Xi’an from further in the interior so the trains are well patronised.  I had planned to be a little bit adventurous and go hard sleeper, but was in unable to book one so fortunately had to go Soft sleeper. 16 hours on a train was a novelty for me, still suffering from the flu I was glad to be able to do it in comfort. When you go soft sleeper, you get to wait in the comfortable soft seat lounge at the station and are spared the scramble for the platform. Thank goodness as it turned into quite a long wait.

Finally we were permitted to go on to the platform to the train.

I only just settled into the berth and was idly staring at the platform and wondering if I should go out and buy some more food when I was greeted by and extraordinary spectacle. Two travellers who turned  out to be Mexican  waving fists full of RMB at the Guard as they wanted to upgrade from the hard sleepers they had originally booked.  It seemed they were getting the last train out of some disaster and more and more money appeared. ”We have money!” they declared.

Their English wasn’t that great and the guard had none so I found myself in the roll of incompetent interpreter. Despite the traveller’s hysteria, the guard was unfussed and found them room on the car, having to shift a few of the other passengers around so they could be in the same compartment. She said to me there was no need for any trouble, it happened all the time. As long as they could pay the extra charge it just took a little patience to work something out. Sadly I couldn’t make the most of the opportunity to extend the conversation. But I was relieved I hadn’t found myself in the same situation.

The train was fairly uneventful. The compartment had four berths but was spacious and comfortable. There was plenty of room for luggage above the door. I shared with two others, but for the most part of the journey we all slept. I got up a couple of times to walk the length of the carriage, to see the bleary eyed guard sitting in her office. At some point she retired and another guard took over duty. When the sun came up the train passed through dusty towns and villages , past power stations and farms. It was all very similar, but pretty in the early morning sun. At a very early hour the radio started, blaring out cross talk ( a  form of spoken chinese comedy not dissimilar to English speaking comic duos)  then at one point exercise suggestions , along with a count . Looking out into the hallway, I discovered many of the older passengers out there actually doing the exercises while admiring the view.

Eventually we arrived in Suzhou ( Venice of the east!) where I disembarked . I walked out of the platform and immediately into what seemed like a wall of touts and vendors. Clearly it was a slow day the way they converged on to the single foreigner disembarking the train. I bought a map and then started to look for a taxi.   I had many offers for taxis from the crowd, but stuck to the plan and got a taxi from the rank, which was half the price I had been quoted by other non official taxis!.

I booked into the Suzhou Watertown hostel, a friendly, centrally situated hostel the dragon bus recommended. I settled in and then went for a walk to check the place out. Managing to read the map incorrectly, I got myself lost , but this was no bad thing! Rather than the streets prepared for tourists I managed to see a number of areas that were more the way people in Suzhou lived and worked around the canals, and the pretty whitewashed houses that lined them .  Occasionally I would see a main street  I should probably have followed but was finding it all so interesting.Suzhou is a major industrial area, but you wouldn’t know walking around the central district. I managed to make my way back along the busy main street, at that time dug up in many areas with a subway being installed.

House wall beside canal,Suzhou

The following day I planned to visit some of the gardens that Suzhou is so famous for. Unfortunately it was raining, but after borrowing an umbrella, and getting a better map and basic guidance from the hostel I set out to see as many as I could, along with the Museum and art gallery. I was only able to spend a couple of days in Suzhou and clearly this was insufficient. Highlights included the Humble administrator’s garden and the Suzhou museum, which had a stunning exhibition of bronzes from Baoji on display.

 

The time I spent in Suzhou was too short, there were to many things I missed due to the flu and weather. On the way to catch the train to Shanghai I ended up getting the scenic route by an avaricious taxi driver. Stuck in a small tourist area on the outskirts of Suzhou, which seemed like it might be quite pleasant in other circumstances, I finally worked out how to get the bus back to the railway station . Actually I can highly recommend this as a way to get to see quite a large area of Suzhou and an insight to the wider area of Suzhou and the way people live there. Fortunately I found a tourist office where they spoke a little bit of English, Mandarin didn’t seem to work too well in this area where the local dialect seemed to dominate.

Following the usual rail way customs and while waiting watching workers seemingly en masse welding the new Suzhou train station together and resembling a giant spider web of girders in the sky , I boarded the train to Shanghai , a relatively brief trip of only an hour on a high speed train . A very comfortable seat and hostesses that would not look too out of place in a thunderbirds film . Pulling into Shanghai at dusk was quite an experience and I was sharply reminded that we are definitely now in the 21^stcentury with trains and cars apparently zooming through the sky. After  disembarking I made my way – by subway  – to the hostel .

Fortunately Shanghai’s subway is very easy and convenient to get around on,  all the announcements were in English as well as Chinese, so it wasn’t hard to work out where to go. A couple of times I encountered the Shanghai dialect, a language in itself , so again mandarin was of little help.

The hostel I stayed at was a short subway ride from town . It was clean and well run with a large lounge with a bar. Unfortunately it was difficult to find anything other than Mcdonalds or KFC nearby, so the closer food options were a  bit limited.

My time was cut short in Shanghai due to the earlier dodgy taxi ride in Suzhou . I really only spent a couple of days there. It was enough to see the city, walk down the bund to the old town and do a bit of shopping in the city centre. I didn’t get out to some of the water towns in the further out suburbs or over to Pudong to go to the top of the pearl tower. I went to the Museum only briefly. But it was a very interesting place for what it is , which is a money town as opposed to the cultural side of Beijing. The buildings along the Bund certainly give the impression that it has been that way for a long time .

A curious fact is that the old town used to be called China town, as the city was so international that is  where the  Chinese were forced to live up until the mid 1930’s, it also had walls around it to keep them in at night , long since torn down.

I left early the next morning by subway out to the Mag lev train , which took me from Shanghai in indecent haste at the speed of 400 kilometers per hour to the Airport. It was too soon to have to leave China, while  I was exhausted I was considering how I might return some day soon .

Garden of rememberance,Suzhou

Interior, garden of rememberance,Suzhou

Rock garden in the garden of remembrance, Suzhou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The humble administrator's garden , Suzhou

Rain in the canals, Suzhou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Houses by the canals , Suzhou

The humble administrator's garden , Suzho

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canal , Suzhou

After school in the old town, Shanghai

Buildings along the Bund, Shanghai

View from the bund to Pudong

Shoe shop, the old town, Shanghai

The people's park , Shanghai

Baozi (steamed pork bun) stall, Qingdao

Daoist statue, Laoshan national park , Qingdao

Helping Dad in the food market, Qingdao

Leaving Qingdao the dragon bus took us through some of the larger industrial areas in this part of China, and also gave us a view of some of the spectacular construction projects going on . In one case, it was the 38km long bridge spanning a bay.

A bridge outside Qingdao stretches across a bay

A comfortable 5 hr ride took us to Qufu and to the birthplace of Confucius and the home of the Confucius family.

Qufu is a fascinating place, It still has the city wall and within it is set up for the large numbers of Asian tourists who come to the home of Confucius.  After reading the entry in the lonely planet guide I wasn’t expecting much, but in fact they were wrong . While it is a little touristy, its not expensive and in fact my experiences with the locals were very positive. The temple, residence and tomb were all worth seeing. The hostel was clean and comfortable and if you didn’t feel like venturing out the food was ok.

After we arrived in Qufu, Andy and I decided to go to find some food, the others decided on an early night. Most places were winding down for the night ( and highly uninspiring) and eventually we got in a taxi and asked him where the locals would go at such a late hour. He drove us out of the city walls and to a small local restaurant where we had a delicious meal of  various dishes and the small delicious lamb kebabs ( 羊肉串,if you are trying to find it on the menu, just remember the character that looks like a kebab and you are pretty much there).

Interior room , confucius residence

Ancient bronze pillar outside confucius temple

The entrance to the Confucius cemetary, Qufu

The scholars hall in the Confucius temple

Making Pancakes , Qufu

The moat outside the city wall, Qufu

Cold noodles stall, Qufu

Stone handbasin in the Confucius residence

Bridge outside the Confucius residence

After Andy and another table exchanged pleasantries, or insults (I couldn’t tell), we joined a group of gentlemen who were  making a large collection of empty beer bottles on their table . Andy asked what their job was “beer salesmen !” they replied. Andy asked their religion, ”Muslim” they said .  “ but how can you be a Muslim and drink beer?” , perhaps you are modern  Muslims ! Andy suggested, they agreed. So we passed the evening generally impressing every one with our foreign ness, which meant having to prove ourselves with beer drinking, learning about the local dishes,  disgracing ourselves in a devastating chili eating competition, in which I’m sure my face partially evaporated, and being offered to be provided with a couple of “friends” for the evening, which we kindly declined. I have heard people in Shandong province were the friendliest in China, which I concur with, but this was really above and beyond. But eventually we all had to go home. The leader of the group was finding the important meeting with the foreigners excuse was starting to wear thin with his wife, so we climbed into a taxi and back to the hostel. The next day after touring two of the three Kongs ( Temple and residence) we rode a colourful horse and buggy to the Confucius family cemetary and spent a very pleasant afternoon in the Confucius  tomb making charcoal rubbings off the stone carvings.  There was a massive gauntlet of souvenir vendors to be run, but fortunately it must have been thee afternoon break as they largely left us alone.

The family graveyard is a very peaceful place, which covers quite a few hectares. Its starting to get crowded and I imagine the threshold to qualify as a descendant is much higher these days, given there must be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of direct descendants by now.

A room in the Confucius residence

Making charcoal rubbings on the Confucius grave

Colourful horse drawn cart, Qufu

Trees in the Confucius cemetary

Our days at Qufu over, also saying good bye to Shandong province, we boarded the train to Henan province and Zhengzhou, a substantial city inland and a major rail  terminus for the transport of goods throughout China, also positioned close to the yellow river and for that reason a relatively wealthy city.

We travelled hard seat( as opposed to soft seat), perhaps once it was wooden benches and chicken crates, but it was really relatively comfortable with well padded seats, if a little crowded. Apart from our trip in the high speed train from Beijing to Qingdao, It was our first encounter with Chinese rail boarding protocol. It goes like this: wait in the waiting room until your train is announced, then Panic. Get into a queue to get out on to the platform and then wait for the train to arrive and wonder what it was all about as boarding the train seemed quite orderly. If you have tickets for seats, then you are entitled to claim them as you may find that people who have standing only tickets might be using them, Its just a matter of politely indicating to them you have booked the seat and could they please shift . You might find hard to to if it is a woman with a baby or an elderly person. But everyone seems to be prepared to make the best of the situation. Take your own snacks to eat. Hot water is provided at the end of the carriage so pot noodles are a good choice. Food is sold on the train in the form of boxed meals but I can’t vouch for the quality. Toilets , hmmm , if you aren’t comfortable squatting over a hole in a fast moving train with all that implies , then travel soft seat. One tourist in Xi’an told us she dropped her ipod down there. Goodbye ipod, unless you really , really want it back for sentimental reasons.

After the train to Zhengzhou, we booked in to a luxury hotel for the night. Next to a large park with trees and a military or police barracks in the centre. I was offered a massage in my room for 100rmb,  I regretted not having taken up the offer. An earlier foot massage in Beijing had been very beneficial after the hike over the great wall.

Giant emperor heads,beside the yellow river

Zhengzhou museum

View across the yellow river.

Intricate Ding, Zhengzhou

The next day we visited the Zhengzhou museum, a modern building with a large collection of artifacts . Some of the more interesting were the neolithic graves (Zhengzhou has a very ancient history which predates the emperors) and the bronze dings ( pots ), highly intricate and given the delicacy of the bronze casting and the description of technique a staggering achievement for the age . A common error all of us in the group would make was to read the label and see 1500, then realise they meant b.c. so many of the bronze items that looked a couple of hundred years old were in fact more than three thousand years old, quite difficult to grasp at times.

The emperor gets catrried over the dragon carving, but I wonder how they managed the giant heads?

Neolithic burial site, Zhengzhou museum

A local guide took us to have lunch in a restaurant where the staff in green uniforms were surrounding and staring at us . It turned out many of them hadn’t seen real live Europeans before! It was a hot noodle soup, utterly delicious and lots of it. Afterwards we bought pineapple from a street vendor outside and sat in the sun on the side of the road to finish lunch.   It seems to be of the unique features of the dragon bus that you go to places, even big cities, that really don’t seem to see many people of European descent.

Boys, Zhengzhou

Chairman Mao statue beside the yellow river

Street scene, Zhengzhou

Twins, Zhengzhou

We headed out to a recently established park beside the yellow river. A large statue of two of China’s Emperors loomed over the site, and a larger than life bronze statue stood in a place where Chairman Mao once sat to gaze across the yellow river and the verdant plains beyond. Slightly unnerving in the realist style of  bronze sculpture, he sits like a resting giant and wears a long cloth coat ( probably replaced at appropriate intervals) and while I was there had a cigarette burning between his fingers. I couldn’t tell if this was meant to be reverent ( he was famously a chain smoker) or irreverent as another tourist removed the cigarette in disgust. But clearly he receives a lot of attention in the situation.

Another night in Zhengzhou then an early start on a bus out to Shaolin, the site of the famous Kung fu temple, now home to 80,000 students of Kung fu. Now a massive tourist site as well, the temple has been rebuilt and gives Kung fu shows. A most interesting part was the short walk to the Abbott’s pagodas, as small forest of monuments to the leaders of the monastary.

After Shaolin, we headed back on the bus and headed through small villages, fields  and small industrial areas to Luoyang.

We stayed in a home stay in an apartment complex close to a dry riverbed and had dinner in a small restaurant nearby. Smoking is permitted in Chinese restaurants and sometimes it seems as if its the last chance the way some Chinese chain smoke at the table. Butts and ash are simply thrown on the floor for the waitress to sweep up. Its perhaps not like that in the main centers and higher end restaurants,  but definitely in the local provincial restaurants it seems to be standard practice.

Villiage market , near Luoyang

Villiage Locksmith , near Luoyang

Food stall , Luoyang

It was enlightening to see the way many Chinese people live, the apartment was relatively spacious and comfortable despite the rundown impression given by the exterior. The others stayed up late to play cards with the host. I think money changed hands, I hope he had some left at the end of the evening. I went to bed earlier as I was fighting off a cold that was getting the better of me.

I would have liked to have spent a little more time exploring the local food markets as it was a real glimpse of a normal provincial town with no specific provision for tourists but we had to get on the bus to get to the Luoyang grottoes, thousands of Bhuddas beside the Luoyang river carved in to stones over many centuries by devoted monks. It was simply extraordinary to see the scale and the detail. Many had been vandalised by invading armies , including the British and French, and the smashed faces (probably hacked off for souvenirs)  somehow gave the statues an even more dignified air.

View across the river to the Luoyang grottoes

One of the thousands of carvings in the Luoyang grottoes

A morning of tramping through the grottoes, with thousands of others, was in fact quite comfortable as the local authorities had built the infrastucture around the grottoes to cope with large numbers so it never really felt crowded. Then back on the train for the final stage of the dragon bus journey from Luoyang to Xi’an. If you don’t know anything about Xi’an it is based more centrally than Beijing and was originally the Capital city of China during the Tang dynasty. The Tang dynasty was the period in China that is widely acknowledged to be  the pinnacle of Chinese culture as we know it today. Culture, music and poetry became highly refined over this time . The most significant feature of Xi’an is the city wall, massive and 14 kilometres in circumference. Its a great introduction to Xi’an to hire a bike and ride the circumference, you can see all aspects of a Chinese city for an aerial perspective, and orientate yourself to the area at the same time. The day I rode it was sunny and pleasant, and the smog  although present, wasn’t heavy.

Of course if you go to Xi’an you have to go and see the terracotta warriors. But before you get there, almost insignificant compared to the fame the terracotta warriors have received, is the tomb of emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China . Containing his tomb and yet to be opened, the contents  are legendary in their opulence, and largely borne out by ground based radar examinations. It also is said to contain many traps and mechanisms that would make it a death trap or any one who planned to enter.  So you can’t go in, but you can walk to the top.

Cycling on the city walls , Xi'an

The group of us took a day tour out to the warriors, and it was spectacular. Its also a working archaeology site , and it was just as interesting watching the restoration work as it was the warriors themselves. We had the package tour and lunch, which wasn’t bad, although it was my first experience of a large package tour location with thousands of others. I also enjoyed using my limited Chinese haggling with the vendors over souvenirs. Amazing how low the price would drop,  I wasn’t going to buy as I  didn’t have the space in my too full luggage, but no didn’t seem to be the right answer. I had fun inventing as many reasons as I could.

The city walls , Xi'an

Food stalls in the Muslim quarter, Xi'an

Souvenir stall, The Muslim quarter

View from the Big wild goose pagoda, Xi'an

The big wild goose Pagoda

Crowd enjoying the musical fountain Xi'an

Creative photography, Xi'an

In the grounds of the grand Mosque , Xi'an

Spring flowers , Xi'an

wooden lattice work detail, Grand Mosque , Xi'an

Another of Xi’an’s highlights was the Muslim quarter, and it really is a must to see, especially at night when it really comes alive. There is a warren of lanes containing restaurants and snack shops, along with souvenir stalls and clothes shops. Because Xi’an was at the end of the silk road there are many Turkish and Arabic influences in the cuisine, with a lot of spice and some dishes resembling eastern European food. Many of the stallholders are Hui people, who look Arab and who are distinctively dressed in Muslim white caps. Also in this area is the great mosque of Xi’an, which is well worth a visit as it is an oasis of calm in the chaotic exterior. Also in this area is the tea house, a government project that is restoring a historic official’s residence. There is also an opportunity to sample a range of teas in one part of the residence. A pleasant way to study the different varieties of tea in China.  At this stage I had been a little tired of being harassed by touts and was very wary after an incident in Beijing, and almost missed the residence as the deal coming from the the promoter/guide offered almost sounded too good to be true.

Teracotta warriors reassembly , Xi'an

Teracotta warriors factory tour, Xi'an

Warrior head with some of the original colours

Tourist eye view of Teracotta warriors

We spent one afternoon outside the city walls at the big wild goose Pagoda which is worth going inside to see the view it offers over Xi’an.). This was the site where the first Buddhist scriptures to come to China were translated into Chinese. Many of the translations still used today. We celebrated a tour group member’s birthday in the park outside, very crowded with regular rounds from the grass police, trying to save the grass from the tens of thousands of people in the park that day. With two small blond children in the group many people were very curious so we drew as many people as some of the other attractions that lined the park. Despite the late winter, the gardens were in full bloom and a pleasant change. Inland China was considerably warmer than the coastal regions at this time of the year (early April). At the rear of the Pagoda is a giant musical fountain, stretching over the area of a  couple of football fields a large crowd was enjoying the fountains and dodging the water spray.

Musician in Tang dynasty costume , Drum tower , Xi'an

Got to love Chinglish , please don't change it!

Shoes for woman with bound feet , Xi'an

Wall hanging depicting owner of the official's residence

The little goose pagoda Xi'an

Statue near the Little goose pagoda

Our tour finished here in Xi’an. The Dragon bus tour had been amazing and we were all overwhelmed with the extent and variety of experiences. Seventeen very action packed days and nights.

Time for a short rest in Xi’an and to decide where to go next. had been I spent a couple of days revisiting the Muslim quarter and the Xi’an Museum along with the bell and drum towers. Both worth a look for the ranges of artifacts and also the traditional musical performances on offer.

The hostel was very comfortable and there were often interesting people to talk to. After some debate with others as to my next destination ( the guide said Hanzhou, the locals Suzhou) I booked a sleeper train to Suzhou, sleeping on a  train for me an adventure in itself.

The inaugural food photography class for food bloggers took place last weekend at Muriwai at the gourmet gannet workshop www.gourmetgannet.co.nz.  All partcipants all found it useful , but had particular concerns that I thought I could address further in this post.

The basics of cameras is always a good place to start, and some of you found apertures and shutter speeds confusing. Simply put : With the aperture , the higher the number the smaller the hole and the smaller the whole the more there is in focus . With Shutter speeds the higher the number the faster the shutter speed and the better ability to stop fast motion. So if you are pouring cream or sauce in a picture , you might want to consider this. The two are interrelated so in any given amount of light  they need t0 be adjusted to get the correct exposure , and then creative decisions taken as to  whether you want more in focus or you need to stop movement for some reason – or if you are hand holding the camera you will need the fastest shutter speed you can use to make your details crisp and sharp. If you need to acheive a small amount o focus then a wide aperture and a fast shutter speed need to be used.

In focus with detail

To increase or decrease the sensitivity to light of your camera you can use the asa /iso setting . the higher the setting the more sensitive the camera is to light , but at the cost of a degradation in the image quality , but this will depend on the model of camera, and the bigger the camera the bigger the chip and pixels and the more ability to gather light and produce a higher quality image. So an SLR is better than a point and shoot in this regard.

Tripod – Use a tripod if possible , its so much easier if only one thing is moving around. Its not just to keep your camera still , but it can be an important tool to aid composition.

Different light sources – we looked at the difference between tungsten and daylight , many of you were concerned about how you might photograph your food in winter and the shortage of daylight hours to work with. Remember your camera has a tungsten light switch which allows you to use indoor light , if using conventional tungsten bulbs , if using fluorescent, we looked at how to balance the lighting with a grey card using the raw file settings on your camera, .we can do this with jpegs as well within some programs like the Canon digital

wide apeture,soft focus background

professional pro we were using . ( free with your Canon SLR ) its also possible in Adobe lightroom and Camera Raw amongst other computer  programmes.  Some programmes also allow you to shoot directly to your computer , very useful for a better assessment of your images.

tungsten light , camera with daylight setting

tungsten light , camera with tungsten setting

the light as it appears to the camera, very cool and blue

after correction with grey card balance

Reflectors- a basic reflector, white or silver , can make all the difference to lighten shadows and create attractive highlights on the food. We also looked at using a black reflector to deepen shadows and get  a more ” rembrandt painting” style of effect.

with black reflector

with white reflector

Shellfish for the New Zealand Seafood cookbook

www.foodphotography.co.nz

The New Zealand seafood cookbook

Food photography.

(more examples available at www.foodphotography.co.nz and www.seanshadbolt.co.nz )

The number one rule in food photography is the food must look fresh and inviting. Generally if it can’t look fresh, it means it isn’t fresh and is very difficult to make it look otherwise. Food only stays suitable for photography for a few minutes after being prepared, so you need to be ready in advance to photograph it.

There are very few tricks involved. For consumer law reasons, you have to be able to eat what is photographed. The most common technique is to spray water or oil on to the food to keep it looking moist, but even this is not often used. Food can be manipulated with tweezers and arranged to make it more camera friendly and don’t hesitate to do this if you think it means a better picture.

Equipment and technique.

Professional food photographers generally use expensive medium format digital camera equipment to produce photography. It gives a very high quality result for books and magazines.

Other cameras can also be used. The more common SLR camera can also be used and with care a good quality point and shoot type camera or even an iphone camera can be used, but in all instances care with the presentation of the food is necessary.

Using an SLR camera, generally speaking a lens of around 100mm or more is desirable. This gives a reasonable working distance away from the subject matter so to be able to work around the food, leaves space to add reflectors and other light, also to flatten the perspective so the food is not optically spread out as it would be with a wider focal length. This gives the image more impact and immediacy when presented on a website or in print.

A close up lens or attachment is also useful as this gives the ability to pick out interesting details in the food.  Of course a wider or closer lens may be used but composition needs to be adjusted accordingly.

A point and shoot camera or SLR might have a zoom lens and this can be used generally at the longer end but be careful not to use any digital zoom setting as this can significantly degrade the image quality.

Lighting falls into a number of categories, natural window light is the easiest to work with as it softly envelops the food and renders colours with no harsh shadow. Direct sunlight can be very harsh but with some supplementary reflectors can be made to look natural. Our brains adjust for shadows and highlights but film and digital technology doesn’t.

Artificial light falls under a number of categories. Studio flash is daylight balanced and renders colour as it naturally occurs. Tungsten light is artificial and reproduces as yellow on in photographs (can be useful if you need an evening mood style of picture) fluorescent light comes in many different shades of colour, but mostly greenish and is not really desirable. In many situations you might find yourself with a mixture of these lights and daylight as well, so it is best to be able to control the light or the situation as much as possible.

Most digital cameras have an auto white balance or settings for tungsten and fluorescent light, but they aren’t always accurate and professional photographers will often shoot a mid grey reference card and later balance the colour temperature on the computer.

Simple lighting modifiers can be extremely useful, white boards or paper and silver aluminium foil can be used to bounce light in to shadow to create a more even style of lighting, and mirrors can be used to create specular highlights and give a sparkle to some food indicating moistness and freshness. tracing paper can be used to put across windows and to soften direct light, this also can even out big differences in light quality if for instance the sun is continually moving in and out of clouds . But its up the photographer to determine which style of lighting is suitable for the style of food and the style of photography they want to present it in .

When photographing food, it is necessary to disassociate yourself from the aroma and tastes and look at the subject objectively.A sauce or soup with a delicious flavour might taste good but visually might look like vomit and needs care and creativity to be presented in the best possible way. Be aware of these issues as it is very easy to produce food photography that can look unappetizing without the aromas and smells normally associated with the food in the photograph.  Photographs can’t show smell or taste, so have to use other elements like colour and texture to convey the possible flavours of the food.

Professional food photography teams can have a large number of people involved as every step needs to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible to create the best possible end product. Team members might include – chef and assistant, art director, food stylist, photographer and assistant, client or editor.

On larger shoots even more people can be required for lighting and computer operation. This also helps look at the subject matter with more than one set of eyes so every step can be considered carefully. A major advertising campaign might be very embarrassing if some aspect in the photography was not picked up at the time of production.

An interesting site dealing with the problems of reflections on food photography is http://www.professionalphotography101.com/photography/shine.html

I was recently reading an article where a photographer received criticism from another that he used zoom lenses too much .His point of view jumped around all over the place and he might do better to stick to single focal lengths and to develop a more singular  point of view.

I was coming to the same conclusion over the last couple of years. Modern zoom lenses are great quality and have their place . they can be incredibly useful if you are stuck in one position and unable to move in closer  or out further, I use them a lot in aerial photography as it saves having to continually manouver the helicopter to the right position.

Modern point and shoot photography has also become very convenient with zooms that go from wide to ultra telephoto in the flick of a switch. But there is nothing like a few boundaries to help develop your own point of difference.  A lot of my still life photography is based on one lens and I wanted to see if this could apply in other situations.

At first , I wanted to go back to basics and use the lens that was standard with every camera sold for many years – the 50mm lens. This lens was sold as it corresponds to the natural perspective of human vision in a 35mm format , but for many photographers , including me , it was neither wide enough or close enough. You really had to work to get a good image , but isn’t that a good thing? A style could develop from the restrictions to create a way of working around the limitations. It might be a nuisance professionally , but creatively it definitely has the possibility of being more satisfying

So to keep it really basic , while using a modern digital canon camera , I tried using a Nikon 50mm lens with adapter to force myself to take more control of the process , and to encourage the possibility of mistakes that  might lead to more creative opportunity

I consider it was a success, and I hope to experiment further, but the one big issue is manually focusing is very difficult to do these days with a digital camera , especially if you need a wide aperture like I prefer.  I have an 85mm Canon lens that  while not a 50mm , at least shows me the potential of an auto focus wide aperture lens , also a 50 mm macro , but  the widest aperture is 2.8 , not wide enough for my taste and to really isolate the main subject. So when cash flow allows ,I will purchase a 50mm 1.4. I like the 1.2 model , but  its huge! . and expensive! And from the experience using the Nikon lens its more than likely I will find 1.4 adequate.

This is a video I was involved with a while ago for a Friend to help promote their business of prints on canvas( www.my canvas.co.nz) It was shot by Duncan Mcadams ( www.mcadams.co.nz ) . It gets the message across with simple instructions, and if you are looking at it , you might actually find some useful hints in there. Duncan did a great job of making me sound good with his editing skills.If you still need a professional to do the work – I’m still there at www.seanshadbolt.co.nz

An interesting article from the New York times…

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/study-shows-people-ignore-generic-photos-online/

“Invest in good photo shoots: a great photographer can add a fortune to your Web site’s business value.” After all, most sites are full of “fluff — of which there’s too much already on the Web.”

What about lashing out a bit more and using some original photography!

China always fascinated me, one of the big pieces of Asia on the map that along with Russia , was carefully avoided when questions came up at school about what those countries were . China was always Taiwan to us and the other places were too godlessly communist to mention. Meeting recent immigrants to New Zealand  made the place even more intriguing with their stories of the capitals of China, Beijing and Xi’an ( formerly Chang’an , the capital of the tang dynasty in the 8th and ninth centuries).The German city of Qingdao ( a German city in China?  At the turn of the 19th century, the Germany had owned  by treaty the place and hurriedly put up a city in German style. It must have been at breakneck pace judging by the size of the original city and the number of buildings from that era still remaining) Along with Shanghai and the ancient water town of Suzhou , it really is an interesting (and huge ) place. And that is just the north and not the interior or the southern regions or Tibet!

These days it seems to  be the number one concern of the rest of the world . What will china do? And strangely for a communist country , it now seems to have the most efficiently functioning capitalist system the world has seen. Of course it isn’t either, its a Chinese system , with all the apparent contradictions that implies to western sensibility. Why there wouldn’t be one never seems to occur to the western media , but seems to make perfect sense to all Chinese , whichever their political persuasion. I can’t remember in the economic rules where it says capitalism has to have a western style democracy to function.

Beijing family in Hutongs ( traditional alleyways) enjoying spring sunshine

Part of the temple of heaven , Beijing

Beijing opera actor applies makeup

Making breakfast , Beijing

Dumpling stall , Beijing

I planned a working trip/holiday there and thought it might be a good idea to take some language lessons before I went. Unexpectedly I found my self  fascinated by the concept of a tonal language , and the arcane but highly sophisticated writing system . I was , and still am , very enthusiastic  about learning more about chinese culture , language and cuisine.

Photographically I wanted to explore another country and culture , particularly one where English wasn’t a major language, and to see what I could achieve traveling relatively  in that kind of environment.

I had worked in Thailand and the Pacific previously , and was keen to see some really major cities again ( call me crazy but living near a nice beach and the sea,in a relatively rural setting – I wanted something a little different.)

Tiananmen square , Beijing

I expected to ease into using  the language on arrival in Beijing. Despite  the previous eighteen months with regular lessons I didn’t feel confident , but arriving off the plane by myself  was quite a shock . I needed to speak mandarin straight away to do the basics , find a taxi and get to the hostel then buy food . Thankfully the hostel staff there and later in other places all had a very good command of English , but once outside the doors it was a different situation.

I spent a couple of days in Beijing by myself , exploring the city , experiencing a  few of the tourist traps and well run historical sites. I spent half a day in the forbidden city and sadly it wasn’t enough time . despite having purchase a map at the entrance , I found it to big to take in in the time I had allocated. I had by passed the hall of clocks with the thought that it might not be that interesting but later seeing the fabulous timepieces in that location I regretted the decision.

Bridal photographers window , Beijing

After carefully avoiding the year of the Olympics , I had found an independant tour company that seemed to offer what I was looking for , independent travel with  language and logistical support . On the internet I found www.dragonbuschina.com, it seemed to be the solution to the sort of service I was looking for , rather than the package tour kind of trip with sights and Hotels included.

It was avery good experience and way to travel China, and although we went to places that seemed obvious tour destinations , there were often few , if any other europeans there . In fact the bulk of tourists in China are chinese , going to experience some of the highlights of the country often for the very first time .

Electrical wire Beijing

Comrade Obama in Beijing shop window

Our Guide Andy’s knowledge of local areas and appreciation of aspects of chinese life  was impressive. An Australian married to a chinese woman who spoke fluent mandarin and has lived in China for nine years, he had a good knowledge of how everything worked and how to interact with Chinese.

After meting the other members of the tour , we unanimously agreed at our hostel in Beijing the first thing we all wanted to do was see the Great wall, Although a day trip was included , we all were very keen to see it , even if it meant going to Badaling , the main great wall tour destination. Andy warned us it might be a  little crowded and so it turned out to be, with a mass of humanity moving up and down the wall between the first three towers heading up the hill , after that as the hill got steeper, the crowd thinned out . Nevertheless , the approach to the great wall was an awe inspiring experience and to see Chairman Mao’s statement  that “if you haven’t been to the great wall then you aren’t a  real man” was greatly encouraging to my masculinity. After the trip to the Great wall , we spent the afternoon at the temple of heaven , another vast historical site in Beijing . On entering the exterior park we encountered many , mostly older people playing shuttlecock ( where a shuttlecock is kicked around a circle of people) and others talking and playing musical instruments. The weather was cool , so every one including us , was dressed warmly.

The temple of heaven is the last in a series of locations running through the centre of Beijing where the emperors , lived or received guidance. An aerial map showed me the way the city was laid out  all the way from the bell and drum towers  through the Forbidden city to the far end of the temple of heaven.

After a very spicy Hainan style meal we enjoyed with Andy, learning the finer points of shouting FUWUYUAN! to get the waiters attention. After the meal we bought some food and water in preparation  for the next day  when we would do a hike along the Wall from Scimitai to Jinshanliang .

The hike along  proved to be one of the highlights of the trip . On arrival at Scimitai, we were immediately  confronted with some of the spectacular feats of engineering the wall with towers and the wall following a dizzying path along ridge lines  that seemed somewhat pointless to defend in the first instance as they only guarded steep cliffs – perhaps they in themselves would prove no obstacle to a determined invader. The approach to the wall meant running a gauntlet of hawkers selling everything from souveniers to bottled water . After talking to some of the  sellers I discovered they  were usually farmers in the growing season but to make some additional cash in the other seasons they sold stuff on the wall . I also discovered that if you might look like you were going to buy something , or the possibility of any other financial transaction  , then my limited mandarin was immediately understandable by the seller who might benefit, and it didn’t matter how badly I mangled tones or grammar, and spirited negotiation was a good way to quickly improve. This was to prove very useful later on . Andy said I should be happy to buy stuff I was getting so many free lessons.

The great wall is best taken step by step. In some sections I would look up to see what seemed like thousands of stairs heading up a hill and despaired I was ever going to get to the top , but slowly we did , then headed down the next hill and started to repeat the experience. Thankfully despite poor weather the two days previous, the day was hazy but fine, a cool breeze was welcome . Some of the sections of the wall we traversed were in poor condition with steep drops either side , it was a nerve wracking climb to get through one of the towers

Some of the time on that day was really quite magical . I frequently got left behind when stopping to take photographs and often found myself completely alone , which in one of the worlds most populated countries seemed quite strange.

Walking on the great wall 2010 near Scimitai

Dumpling seller, Beijing 2010

Gateway to the Lama temple , Beijing 2010

Burning incense at Yonghegong ( Lama temple) , Beijing

The Throne room in the forbidden palace , Beijing

Beijing Opera performance, Beijing

The great wall at Scimitai, near Beijing

The crazy construction of the great wall along ridgeline at Scimitai

Double happiness! The Forbidden city Beijing

Broken tower on the great wall

Tang dynasty era Triple Glazing in the forbidden city

After Beijing and our walk on the wall , we headed further north to Chengde, the home of the Emporer’s summer residence and still a fascinating historical spot .

Much cooler than Beijing because of its altitude and more northern location, The town and residence are laid out along a river .  The residence remains a resort , now with the main buildings a museum and the park open to the public , surrounding a lake and with temples and pavilions place around the exterior.

Walking through the summer residence was a fascinating experience. A few aspects stood out  - the large plaque that denounced the agreement of shame , when the five powers invaded China. That was news to me and I wondered who the five powers might have been . As it turned out it was the usual suspects – Britain , France , Russia , Germany and the USA. I got the feeling suspicion of the west was definitely not just a communist era phenomenon. I walked quietly by to a display of the dowager empress Cixi , who maintained power and her position in China  by quietly assassination of any potential heirs to the monarchy.

The parks at that time of year were really pretty . Although the vegetation was mostly brown , recovering from the winter. The lakes were iced over and deer ran over the top between the shores. A stream of people strolled through the paths , many tour groups but a lot of locals as well. A closed amusement area hinted at the parks summertime use . With another member of the tour group I was on , we climbed one of the pagodas and then a hill that overlooked the main part of the city , as well as the summer residence.

Rou jia mou being prepared

Street Scene , Chengde

Buddist Monk , Chengde

Temple buildings in the baby Potala palace , Chengde

Tai Chi in the summer residence , Chengde

Prayer flags and triple glaze tang dynasty ceramics, Chengde

On a day trip we went to the Baby Potala palace. Built by one of the emperors to host the  emperor of Tibet when he came to stay – which could be for extended periods so I guess it was to make him comfortable .

I was very surprised given all the reports about religious suppression in China  how prevalent monasteries and temples are , I asked how seriously people took them , considering they were supposed to be living in a secular state and the answer was that nobody took it too seriously , but if you really wanted something , there was no harm in going to the temple to pray for it . that made sense . An RMB each way.

In Addition, the government seemed to be going to a lot of trouble to make sure many of these places were well preserved and maintained. Perhaps they are having a RMB each way too.

After retuning to Beijing for a couple of nights, and negotiating the Beijing railway station , we caught the hi speed train to Qingdao. We passed through Jinan and Weifang  along with other cities on the way. The train was incredibly smooth and comfortable , totally unlike other trains I have been on , not that I have been on  many. I spent some time talking with the people sitting next to me on the train ,(and later met them again while negotiating the Qingdao coastal walk ) .

John is a psycologist studying English and his partner Dujuan  worked at a wool importing company so knew quite a lot about New Zealand.

Monks in the Baby Potala Palace,Chengde

Musician, the baby Potala palace Chengde

At Qingdao we stayed in  a hostel in an old observatory on the top of a hill in the German quarter. Walking around to the back of the building gave a spectacular view of the  city . People came to the top of the hill in the morning and the evening to play Jianzi , a shuttlecock game where a shuttlecock is kicked through the air by players standing in circle .

One of the main benefits of the dragon bus service is that the guides know the best places to eat in the cities we pass through , and you don’t have to pay a fortune. Qingdao has the usual western fast food food restaurants you can find in any international tourist city but if you know about them ,it has the most fantastic small restaurants specialising in seafood, dumplings and other foods . One seafood meal we enjoyed in a small hole in the wall restaurant was superbly cooked ,and served with ( what else?) Qingdao beer. It was a a little strange the group of us entering the restaurant and  taking over the entire room , and the interior decoration was nothing special , but the food really didn’t disappoint.

Walking down to the main city area and the waterfront was easy and interesting ,,. Not only were there the old German buildings but some curiosities like a Russian orthodox church made of a deep red , almost purple, coloured brick .

Old and new buildings , Qingdao

Mayday memorial , Qingdao

Qingdao is a very large industrial city , and the old city is surrounded with ranks of large apartment buildings in various stages of completion . The outer areas of the city are home to many heavy industries, but curiously , one of the main businesses in the Central area is wedding photography. People come from all over the interior of China to have their wedding photography done by the Sea,, to the extent there is a street called wedding photography street. On any given day you can see recently married couples getting their best set of pictures

taken at the seaside .

A walk through the Badaguan scenic area also reveals an interesting mix of building styles. Many of the famous figures of China’s past had residences here , and many of the historical decisions relat

ing to China were made here , but its worth a look to see the mix of architectural styles . On the day I visited , there were Wedding photographers making full use of the scenic backgrounds in the street and beside the sea.

European style hotel , Badaguan

A couple of the highlights of Qingdao was the restaurant visits. Modest interiors but the food was fantastic and of course drunk with the genuinely delicious Qingdao beer. The beer

Waterfall and blessing ribbons, Laoshan national park , Qingdao.

factory tour was , well , a beer factory , but to someone who knows nothing about the process of making beer , it was quite informative. The history of beer making form the Germans to the Japanese and finally the Chinese got to have a go, reflected the history of Qingdao itself.

Sculpture , downtown Qingdao

Dried fish display in the food market , Qingdao

So , on the bus and off to Qufu. If you didn’t already know , Qufu in Shandong  province is the centre of the Confucian universe. Home to the Confucius temple , the Confucius residence , and the Confucius tomb. Known as the three Kongs ( Kongzi is Confucius in Chinese ) to some of the locals in Shandong province. Qufu  has a very pretty city wall and moat, and because of the influence of the Confucian family themselves , no nearby motorways or train stations to disturb the sleep of generations in the Confucius cemetary, which not only has the man himself , but thousands of descendants buried there.

People were generally friendly and helpful which made getting the right images easier than it might have been . Despite the challenges of shooting a whole country in seven days the assignment was a success with the images subsequently used widely in brochure and other advertising collateral.

boys swimming on Savaii

Pink bike and pink lavalava on Upolu

Evening at Virgin Cove , Upolu

Fresh Sashimi , Upolu

Friendly bus driver , Upolu

Friendly face , Savaii

Relaxing in the sunset , Savaii

Hotel staff posing , Savaii

Swimming with turtles , Savaii

Sea and cloudscape , Savaii

Beach Fale at dusk , Savaii

Yellow chairs , Savaii

By the waterfall , Savaii

Tattoos in the sunlight , Savaii

Kids enjoying the water, Lalomanu

Samoan Woman , Upolu

Rower, Virgin Cove , Upolu

Rowing Canoe , Virgin cove , Upolu

Out side church, Apia, Upolu

In the market , Apia

Preparing vegetables for sale , Apia

Police band , Apia

Fire dancing , Apia

alexandra bridge pylon, South Island , new zealand

invercargill

thistle rolled oats works , gore

Building early morning , bluff

Church for sale , bluff , South Island

I have just been going through some of my images I have not had time to really look at and found these of the south island of New Zealand that I took a couple of years ago . The light really was so clear and colours intense , it really is like no other place. Bluff had this wonderful faded splendour quality to it , and so many other places had been spared the development that seems to destroy the character of many New Zealand towns and cities.

I really had a nice few days down there just driving around and checking out the scenery , which was spectacular, but occasionally blighted by rain.
I don’t get down there enough and really enjoyed the different and special character of the place.

Houses early morning , Bluff

Street scene, early morning , Bluff , South Island , New Zealand