Canon 60mm 2.8 macro

Old Coins

 Old Coins
Canon 7D, 96mm, f/4, 1/800s, ISO 800

 I’ve always loved flea markets, and the pleasure of discovering completely different flea markets here in Shanghai is even greater than back in France. One of the things I love about them is repetition, the accumulation of identical (or similar) objects which makes for interesting photographic patterns. I was intrigued by those coins that have Chinese markings on one side and the US motto on the other. Probably from the colonial concession era.

A Thousand Buddhas

A Thousand Buddhas
Canon 7D, 96mm, f/4, 1/6400s, ISO 1600

 Now that I’m more or less settled in Shanghai I can start sharing photos again. Many, though not all, will be from Asia, as you can imagine. This is from a wonderful ‘antiques’ market in Dong Tai Lu, Shanghai.

Half a Pinecone

Half a Pinecone
Canon 7D, 95mm, f/13, 1.3s, ISO 200

 Still experimenting with Weston inspired still lives. I really like the texture of the pinecone, I’ll no doubt be doing more of those in the future. This was edited in Lightroom using X-Equals XeL 2.0‘s Scala 200 emulation.

Lonesome Cone

Lonesome Cone
Canon 7D, 96mm, f/8, 1/3s, ISO 200

 In many ways this shot is the polar opposite of Pinecone in Darkness posted last week. It’s harder to light a subject over a white background than over a black one, I think, but I managed to pull off something that works here, I think. Edited in Lightroom with XeL 2.0

Pinecone in Darkness

Pinecone in Darkness
Canon 7D, f/13, 1s, ISO 200

 Still life is as much an exercice in technique as it can be an artistic endeavour. I’ve long been fasinated by Edward Weston’s Pepper No. 30 and without any illusion of getting anywhere near his mastery of light, I’ve been experimenting with similar in the studio still life concepts. I did a fair amount of work on pinecones, and this one is one of the most interesting results, I think.