A suprising spring which has taught me a lot about myself

This spring I found it difficult to go out and take photos as I was so busy with my work and also busy being a dad. In the Spring I have tended to go out and take photos of the beautiful flowers and again this year I did go out and take photos of the beautiful flowers and while I enjoyed the process I was not happy with the results. The photos of flowers left me cold and I am not sure why. I love nature and I love many Nature photographers, but for some reason I was drawn to taking photos of man-made structures and the people who inhabit them. Maybe I have just been in the city for too long and I am curious as to whether I will feel differently when we are in the Phillippines and the UK this Summer.

Art District Painters. Shot with Xiaomi 11 Ultra

What I really liked about this photo is the colours, contrast and scale. The contrast of red and green is perfect and the amount of negative space on the left helps to emphasise the scale of the job that these guys have. This was one of the few occasions that I did not have my camera so I used my phone instead and spent alot of time trying to get the lines and perspective right.

Beijing CBD at Sunrise, Nikon Z7, 175mm, F8, 1/25th of a second, ISO 64

This was taken in the early hours of the morning and I love the soft light hitting the buildings and the soft colours in the sky.

Eleanor, Nikon Z7, 135mm, F3.2, 1/250th of a second, ISO 400

I took this one in our local park where there is a huge bed of beautiful purple flowers. Most of it is taped of to stop peple tramling them byt there was a little patch where we manged to get a few photos of Eleanor without ourselves trampling on the flowers.

Broken tower at Jingshanling Great Wall, Nikon Z7, 14mm, F9, 1/250th of a second, ISO 64

I got to go to this section of the wall before the pandemic and I have always wanted to go back since, but as it is outside of Beijing it was not always easy to do so. Anyway it was lovely to be back. I was drawn t this staircase, broken tower and amazing clouds in this composition.

The endless wall, Nikon Z7, 93mm, F9, 1/160th of a second, ISO 125

With this photo, I was trying to convey depth by including multiple layers of the wall as it crisss crosses the landscape endlessly. We also had beautiful light as the sun was just about an hour away from setting.

View from within the tower, Nikon Z7, 46mm, F9, 1/200th of a second, ISO 125

With this photo I was trying to use the doorway to frame the view as well as capture the feeling of the towers interior. I tried many on my trip and this is the best I could get and in reality it is not the best as the light utside was so harsh, but it is a bookmark for me try again later.

Family time at the Wall, Nikon Z7, 34mm, F8, 1/400th of a second, ISO 64

This is not the first time Eleanot has been at the wall, but it is the first time she tried to walk alot of it. I just wanted to capture the moment as she took a rare rest.

A long way down, Nikon Z7, 21mm, F8, 1/400th of a second, ISO 200

Again I was trying to capture depth in my photo to show the expanse of the wall as well as capture a photo that puts you in the moment of walking on the wall.

Hutong Hound, Nikon Z7, 35mm, F8, 1/320th of a second, ISO 2500

I was immediately drawn to this dog as it stared at me as I walked around the corner. So I decided to take a photo as his owner played cards with his friends. I really like the way he stared right into the camera the entire time and the look of curiosity that he had while he was looking at me.

Nikon Z7, 50mm, F7.1, 1/80th of a second, ISO 64

There are a lot of bikes in Beijing and alot of these are rental bikes which can be rented for just a few Yuan. I have long been trying to photograph the people that collect and service them at the end of the day and this was my first real success.

Outdoor Dog Salon, Nikon Z7, 35mm, F8, 1/320th of a second, ISO 1100

I could not resisit taking this photo as I walked past. the dog noticed me before the barber and her friend and was taken just as they saw me. They were actually very ok with me taking more photos (which I did), but I like this one the most as it captured that moment.