Shanghai Untitled 01

This is one of my favorite shots from Shanghai. It was on one of the days where i was roaming the sidestreets of YuYuan Gardens on my own. The reason it took me so long to post it was because there was a guy in the background that was kind of distracting. I never thought i could pull off editing him out but i finally sat down and 3 hours later... BAM.

Ok ok yeah i changed the composition with photoshop :P But you never have a time to wait for all distractions to clear in candid street photog. I really like this shot even more now... but maybe cuz i'm on a buzz from managing to edit out the guy.

But unfortunately, another china photo suffering from the "too high iso"-itus. So now i have one thing to complain about my camera. It doesnt show you the ISO setting on the info panel unless you press a specific button.

Oh and one more thing that i'm proud of... 23mm focal length. Talk about in your face. And i didnt get yelled at. :D

Shooting Info

Capture Date: October 20, 2005
Capture Time: 14:37:46.5

Camera: Nikon D50
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G

Aperature: F/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO Sensitivity: 1600
Focal Length: 23mm

Shooting Mode: Aperature Priority
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
Flash: None

Driver

So many of my photos from China have suffered the "you took it on the wrong ISO setting again!"-itus. Sigh. Well here's one that didn't. ISO200! Wish my camera went down to ISO100.

Anywho, This lady was our driver and guide for our excursion from Shanghai to SuZhou. She was super friendly, a tough cookie, and psychotic driver. Yeah Yeah everyone is a psychotic driver in Shanghai especially if it's your profession. She was also our driver to the airport. Super friendly.

Here's a story. On our way into SuZhou, there was a specific garden that my uncle wanted to go to and our driver didnt know how to get there. Tourism is a big thing in SuZhou. So along the highway, you would see poor people who live on the outskirts for hire as local guides. So our driver stopped and picked one up to get directions. Apparently the local guide didnt really know where she was going either. We eventually got to our destination. Afterwards, we need directions to get to another part of SuZhou but i guess our local guide didnt really know the directions again. In the end, she guided our driver down a one way street in the wrong direction. And with all the bad luck, there was a police officer and our driver got a ticket (especially dicey situation since i dont think she had a license to be a hired driver :P so we were "family").

Right after that fiasco we stopped for lunch. I never saw the local guide after we got into the restaurant. apparently our driver "dismissed" her. Felt quite bad for the local guide. She seemed like she led a hard life. Our driver was paying the guide out of her own pocket since it was her responsibility to get us where we needed to go. But I overheard that the local guide was only getting 10Y for the day. That is less than 2$ canadian. It was quite a long drive from where we picked her up on the highway to the city center and she most likely had no choice but to walk home. So sad so sad. :( :( :(

I guess this post should be a photo of our local guide since i am talking about her so much.

Shooting Info

Capture Date: October 19,2005
Capture Time: 10:47:07.2

Camera: Nikon D50
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G

Aperature: F/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO Sensitivity: 200
Focal Length: 55mm

Shooting Mode: Aperature Priority
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
Flash: None

Yu Yuan Vendor

A snack vendor at the Yu Yuan Gardens. Not much to say about this photo except that the guy seemed very friendly. I took some pictures of him and he saw me and so i did my normal smile and nod and he smiled back. That's like the ok to take photos and i think that was the only time it ever happened when i was in china.

Shooting Info

Capture Date: October 20, 2005
Capture Time: 10:21:39.5

Camera: Nikon D50
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G

Aperature: F/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/50
ISO Sensitivity: 800
Focal Length: 55mm

Shooting Mode: Aperature Priority
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
Flash: None

SCAM!

I took this photo on the Bund in Shanghai. The Bund has been the symbol of Shanghai for hundreds of years. It's a magnificent waterfront along the Huangpu River that contains modern and colonial architecture. end tourism blurb.

I think this guy was an illegal vendor. More of a scam artist if you ask me. He is selling this toy that can magically jump up and down by itself (that pink thing near his left hand). But if you look really closely (you wont be able to tell from the photo), the toy is attached to a transparant wire. One end of the wire is attached to the box, and the other end runs through the gap between his legs (near his knees) and he is holding it with his right hand which is concealed underneath his bag. By tugging the wire, he can make the toy move.

The only reason i knew this right away was because i saw the exact same scam in Venice Italy about 8 years ago. I guess it's a good scam.

Shooting Info

Capture Date: October 18, 2005
Capture Time: 14:19:25.4

Camera: Nikon D50
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G

Aperature: F/5.3
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO Sensitivity: 800
Focal Length: 42mm

Shooting Mode: Aperature Priority
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
Flash: None