Hutong Best Shots

My original statement of intent was to experiment using blur in photos. I tried a couple at the start, but in the end focused more on the color element from Ernst Haas.

Man with a coffee cup

original image

cropped tests

I cropped two different versions using two different techniques. The wider shot utilizes the rule of thirds and puts the figure on the left third. The narrower shot follows the center line, putting the figure in the middle. I ended up not using the wider shot because I thought the background was too distracting

Editing techniques

This is the final edit. I masked out the figure to darken the background, making hte image overall more cohesive. This darkened background also made his face look more saturated, even though I didn’t touch any other colors.

Concepts within image

Overall, this image is one of contradictions. The background and his outfit suggest a more older and traditional man, until you see the Starbucks cup in his hand. It captures, albeit in a different way, my original idea of contrasting the Beijing’s older more traditional architecture to the modern idea of chain stores and Starbucks.

2. Man reading a book

original image

cropped

Editing techniques

When taking the image, I did not hold the camera entirely parallel to the horizon line, creating an oblique angle. This was not my intent — I did not want to suggest the existence of tension especially in this image. I straightened the image and cropped it, focusing on the man reading his book. I cropped the image to put one pillar in the foreground and the one the man is leaning on on the rule of thirds line.

Concepts within image

I wanted to convey a sense of peace in this image. The man has the time to read, to bask in the sun. This peace is achieved by the a large part of the composition being sky and water – blue has connotations of peace. The day we went on the field trip, the sunlight was very bright, casting harsh shadows. The man is sitting in a way that captures what is called in chinese as 明暗交界线. This directly translates to the line where the light and dark meet – the harsh line formed by shadows. This image says that even though we have modern conveniences like phones, sometimes it is sitting down in the sun, reading a paper book, that is what we need.

3. sunning man

original image

cropped image

edited image

Photo/editing techniques

I masked the man out and made the already very gray background even more gray to help make the man stand out even more. The grayscale gives a sense of the concepts in the image being old. The man was also cropped to be on center line.

theme

A pop of modernity in a traditional world. The contrast of the pink to the gray background

4. bike driver

for context: people sit on his car as he bikes them around, giving them historical context. the bike is of an old style intentionally. I did not edit the image.

angle: close up. (I could have gotten even closer)

modern style of baseball hat contrasting old man, his clothes, and the bike he sitson

5. blind man blowing flute

The placement of the sun and shadows just so happen to highlight his hands and face. In order to further enhance the figure I cropped the person behind from out of the image. key ideas include traditional music/instruments.

6. the kid

We were walking back to the bus when I saw this kid on the stroller and it hit me that I didn’t photograph many children on the trip. Because I was walking the first image turned out blurry but as we were waiting at the intersection I quickly took a picture of the kid from his low angle point of view. It puts the rest of the street in the background very high up. The kid’s mischievous/shy avoiding of camera creates an interesting angle of the person/figure, and the stroller bar creates a foreground object

7. woman drinking from cup

original image

too much information – lotus leaves on left, intricate design of covered walkway, not enough focus on the figure

cropped image

bright light hits the woman, creating the same sharp shadows as seen in pic 2. She’s drinking from a cup that is favored by older people – you can pour the hot water out into the lid, which acts as a tea cup. The bright lighting, her worried expression and the distinct texture of her skin as well as ambient lighting from the cup draw attention to her.

8. man playing with cat

Used a high shutter speed because of bright lighting and to capture cat’s movement in detail. Even so the tip of the cat’s tail is slightly blurred, showing the speed of the cat. The rigid tail and overall cat’s posture show its engagement on the string. The bright orange color of the cat also captures attention. I edited the motorbike out of the image because it was too bright and taking attention from the cat.

9. playing cards