I Arrived in Beijing in the early morning hours of Sunday July 15th. I had opted to stay close to the Airport due to late but as late as my actual arrival was. Thanks Hilton Honors! This stop on my trip was going to be at better hotels for the English help and a change in comfort level, duly appreciated:)
The next morning I headed by Subway and bus to my hotel 38km from the airport on the opposite edge of the city. I checked into the Hilton Doubletree in the South West corner on Beijing on Ring-road 2 a 10 minute bus to the subway system.
At 4:15 in the next morning I headed by cab to the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) also called the Beijing Egg. I was delighted to find a clear sky and Venus close to a waning moon. Below is a capture out of camera with little LR4 adjustments. I used the 500 rule explained by Alister Benn in Seeing the Unseen. Take 500 divide it by your focal length and that is the number of seconds you can expose before stars appear to blur. This is less for larger bodies. Here is a 24mm 6 second exposure of Venus and the moon. The moon is so thin it looks fine however Venus has a very slight oval shape at several times magnifaication.
As I was leaving I met and talked to a family visiting Beijing from Shenzhen. Below is a capture of their daughter after she received a Canadian flag pin (in her left hand). For some reason I see more people posing with the peace symbol vertical or horizontal. The quintessential Chinese pose??
50,000,000 people live in and around Beijing and I experienced many of them on Monday when I returned from my morning shoot at the NCPA during rush hour by 2 subway lines and a bus. Talk about sardines. I will try to capture this on a sensor 1 morning before I leave.
On the way to the subway I found this tree in front of what I think is a government building. Oh the things that have happened in the life of this tree. I can hardly wait to play with layers in PS to make the subject pop.
I returned to the NCPA that evening to see if they light the building. In the morning I saw MANY lights surrounding the building I believe are used to light the structure. I had read there was a concert at 7:30 so a good chance to capture people through the north facing window wall. Here is a side view with the Great Hall of the People back left. The 10 second exposure gives the water a silky look.
Looking inside. The green looking lighted area is the glass ceiling of the main entry that goes under the water from the subway or street.
Terry,Do you know of any information on the web about feinedg or attracting birds in China? I know that some temples provide food, but what sorts of foods they provide and what sorts of birds are attracted I don’t know. Does anyone feed small birds the way we do in the US or Europe? How about providing nest boxes for birds? I have seen largish boxes, of the size you might provide for small owls, in parks in Beijing and a few other places, but can’t find any information about it on the web.Thanks,Ron Rovansek
I did not know of this. Interesting.