Beijing

Photographer's Note

A shopkeeper at a fast food place in one of the Beijing hutongs pauses for a moment to count some loose change.

My previous hutong photos were taken nearby the Forbidden City. This hutong is much further out near the south 3rd Ring Road. Whereas the previous hutong could be described as Beijing's showcase hutong, being so close to the centre of town, this one is a bit more down to earth... everything is a little dirtier and a little less organised.

Tech notes:
Heavily cropped from the original. I'm not 100% sure if I got the cropping correct, so workshops or comments most welcome. I'll post the uncropped photo as a workshop to this photo.

I waited until there was somebody going past before taking the photo.

As it was a heavy crop, and was ISO200, there was a bit of noise visible in the photo. I decided to add even more, so the noise you see is intentional.

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Critiques | Translate

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-02-24 9:18

Good photo, I like how it is all very busy.

I have been to Hu tong but on a weekday, but it was not bust at all. However the people that saw me with my camera, they thought I was strange taking photos of old houses, but I guess it is kind of a tourist place too for foreigners.

It isnt sharp, but it is a great TE pic

BobTrips (1857) 2004-02-25 0:54

This is a good shot of daily life, gritty, fairly colorless. It works.

Try cropping up to the top of the table and from the left to the tail of the brown jacket. That will put a bit more emphasis on your subjects.

And you've got a bit of CA in the sky/branches. Pretty easy to eliminate in this case. Set the Sponge Tool on Desaturate and make a quick swipe.

I think the noise might be just a touch too much in the main subject's face. Works in the rest of the shot.

It's a grim time of year there, isn't it?

orme (7219) 2004-02-25 1:35

I like this 'daily life' photo, Josh, but I must say I prefer your original shot, which you posted as a workshop. You have cropped out the 'pot' of cooking food which the shopkeeper had sitting outside - this I feels makes for a more interesting view of China. Still, very well seen. I look forward to seeing more of your 'hutong' shots.

Steely (895) 2004-03-23 3:27