travel

Oxford in the Sun

*Oxford in the Sun*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford Pan F

Last summer I did a bit of mad traveling going from Bordeaux to Paris to Mâcon to Paris again, to Vienna to Lyon to Marseille to Bordeaux to London/Oxford and back to Bordeaux, most of it for work and in the space of two weeks. It was too much. When I arrived in Oxford it was brutally hot, very unusually so for Britain, but very clear as well. Just outside the train station, I saw this row of beautiful old British houses, took out the camera, and voila.

Keep Your Lantern Trimmed and Burning

*Keep your Lantern Trimmed and Burning*
Fuji XT3

I took a lot of portraits of lantern bearers. I was looking for interesting subjects, but also interesting moments. Here, I liked how the lantern light was directly lighting the young man’s face. Of and yes, the title is a bit of a nod to an old, old song…

The Dragon’s Head

*The Dragon’s Head*
Fuji XT3

Getting a good shot of the Dragon’s head is devilishly hard. Since it’s made of rope with only the teeth and eyelamps to actually understand what it is, you need the right angle. Also, it’s nighttime, there’s incense smoke everywhere, and it’s constantly in movement. So I was quite pleased with this shot, and quite thankful I took my f/1.2 lens with me (this was shot at 1.4). The rest of the shot is blurred, but hey, you have to imagine that everything is in motion!

A Dance with Dragons

*A Dance with Dragons*
Fuji XT3

Last week-end was the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance (nothing to do with George RR Martin, despite my facetious title). I had attended last year, with only my trusted 35mm x100F in hand, and while I got a few good shots including this great portrait I felt the need to revisit the event (which is fun in its own right anyway) and try to capture more diverse shots. I carried both my 56mm 1.2 and my 50-140 2.8 and both were put to great use. This is a broad shot of the wonderfully lit lantern display at the top of Wun Sha Street where the Dragon is dressed with incense sticks.

Double Asian Crouch

*Double Asian Crouch*
Fuji XT3

I’ve spoken about the Asian crouch already, this particular posture that you see everywhere in Asia. But I don’t think I had shot a double Asian crouch until that week-end in Guangzhou !

Sleeping Anywhere

*Sleeping Anywhere*
Fuji XT3

One of the things that strikes you the minute you start walking the streets of China is how people (mostly men, it must be said) can be found asleep absolutely anywhere. In Europe, you’d think this was the photo of a homeless man. In China, this is just the photo of a man.

Buddha and Acolytes

*Buddha and Acolytes*
Fuji XT3

Guangxiao temple in Guangzhou is quite spectacular even if the outside buildings are nothing to write home about (especially when wrapped in scaffolding). But the brass statues (at least I’m assuming it’s brass) are quite spectacular, as this trio showcases.

Street Scripture

*Street Scripture*
Fuji XT3

It’s not the first time I see people in China writing down characters on the pavement. I’m assuming this are religious texts, but in fact I don’t know for sure, since I can’t read Chinese. In any case, it makes for an interesting, dynamic shot, I think.

Senso-ji at Night

*Senso-ji at Night*
Fuji XT3

Sneso-ji at night was all it was supposed to be and more. But I had to try this one over ten times to get a decent result : long exposures theoretically erase people in front of you from the picture… except when they stand still for minutes on end in front of you to take photos. I can’t blame them, I was doing the same !

Squared and Rounded

*Squared and Rounded*
Canon 7D

La Villette in Paris is a great parc, very modern, with industrial buildings including La Géode, this spherical cinema that is all shiny from the outside. The main building reflections into it in a really interesting way.