My First Exhibition

So I had the great plasure of having my photos exhibited in a gallery in the Dalishar Hutong which is just south of Tiananmen Square. I know there were many friends who could not visit the gallery because they were outside China and a number of friends in Beijing could not visit as the last few weeks as the gallery has been closed because of the latest lockdown.

So I thought that I would share my photos here and talk about each of the photos I choose for the Exhibition. I hope you enjoy.

View of Downtown Beijing from the Great Wall 

Nikon D500, 85mm, 1/250 second, F8, ISO 100 

I took this photo in November of 2018 when it was starting to get really cold, but the visibility was perfect. I love the juxtaposition of the ancient and modern parts of China together as well as the beautiful mountains adding an element of Nature. It just all fell into place for me on that day.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain View

Nikon D5300, 116mm, 1/10 second, F8, ISO 100 

I took this photo in April 2019 in Lijiang. I managed to find a high vantage point in the Ancient city the day before and then woke up early the next morning to take this photo. I already noticed the mixture of Ancient Chinese Culture and the beautiful Mountain, and I was hoping for good conditions in the morning and was lucky enough to get them. The first rays of the morning

View of the city from Fragrant Hills

Nikon Z7, 200mm, 1/1000 second, F2.8, ISO 125 

I took this photo in the Autumn of 2019 from the Fragrant Hills area of Beijing. This is an area for its beautiful autumnal colours and while I took some photos of the beautiful red leaves it was this black and white photo I was most happy with from that day. I was able to get to a pretty high vantage point and wanted to capture the layers of all of the different buildings which helps to give scale to the buildings in the CBD. I also wanted to capture the beautiful gradients in the sky.

Reflections on the Yulong River

Nikon Z7, 23mm, 1/80 second, F9, ISO 220 

This is a photo I took in December 2020 from a Bamboo raft. I just remember the beautiful landscapes around every bend; the river was so quiet and serene. I took many photos from that raft, but this was my favourite. The lone house, the beautiful mountains and the reflection all work together in this photo, and they instantly take me back to that beautiful ride on the Yulong river.

Morning view from Husband Mountain
Nikon Z7, 70mm, 1/20 second, F10, ISO 64

 I took this photo just after sunrise on the 30th of December 2020. I got up extremely early to take the trip to this vantage point to see the sunrise, and while the view of the sunrise was obscured by clouds, the light just a few minutes later was beautiful. I had played around with a few possible compositions before the sunrise but decided that rather than going wide to try and capture everything, I would go for a more telephoto focal length to try and focus on the parts of the image that caught my eye which were the s bend of the Li river, the stunning Karst Mountains and the small town. It was a really special morning for me.

Memorable conversation in Xian Mosque 

Nikon Z7, 200mm, 1/125 second, F2.8, ISO 64 

I took this photo in June of 2021 in the beautiful ancient Mosque in Xian’s Muslim Quarter. I noticed these beautiful archways and the way that they lined up on a previous trip to the Mosque but had not had the chance to photograph it. So, when I returned with my camera, these two people were sitting and having a very friendly conversation, and it was clear that they were not going to go anytime soon, so I took the photo, and I was delighted with the result. Two friends are beautifully framed in the archways within Xian’s Mosque.

Commuters to the Big City

Nikon Z7, 70mm, 1/100 second, F8, ISO 4000 

I had pre-visualised this photo as I had been down this street before (that time without my camera) and I was keen to return to try and capture the buildings of Beijing’s CBD and its commuters. I was also glad that I could get the surrounding trees to frame it all. In order to do all of this I was lying on the pavement, but no one seemed to notice or care which suits me just fine.

Street sweeper in Fenghuang

Nikon Z7, 85mm, 1/320 second, F6.3, ISO 220 

This is a photo I took in July 2022. We only stayed in Fenghuang for one night, and we fell in love with this beautiful city. I knew that the best time for taking photos would be the following morning, and the city was so beautiful in the morning light. I took many photos, and this is one that was the least well-received on my social media, but it was my personal favourite, and it still is now. The stillness and quietness of the scene, the light and shadows of the street and the solitary street sweeper walking through the scene.

Mother and Child

Nikon Z7, 85mm, 1/160 second, F4, ISO 64 

This is a photo of my wife and daughter, which I took in my makeshift studio (living room). The pose was natural, and this is what I love about it. The loving embrace from the mother and the insatiable curiosity of the child looking at the piece of Jewellery. We had intended to have both wearing Traditional clothes from Hunan province, but my daughter refused to wear them, and she would choose her clothes. The colour combination worked well, though.