A nearby park which I cross when jogging has some nice spots, so we decided to shoot in a small clearing where sunlight could easily fall through the trees and provide light and shadow. As often plans do not necessarily work out well. The morning of the wedding I found myself sticking to my tablet to observe satellite pictures in order to estimate when rain would stop.  Needless to say that weddings have a tight schedule and so we had to start at 10 anyway. But thank God at least rain stopped shortly after their arrival at the park only leaving heavy clouds that would hide the sun for the next hour, destroying my plans on light and shadow.

I decided to switch on my spare sun and clamped a flashlight with 1/2 orange gel into the trees in order to add some spice to the photos; a friend held a reflector to mirror the artificial sun. I think for most of the pictures this setup worked out well.

I wish you all the best M&R.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Hongkong restaurant

Hongkong - Kowloon

The more we enjoyed the relatively fresh air and the rain on the crowded and busy streets. Hongkong reminded me of India (many indian people/tailors) and England (cars are driving on the left side). Streets are narrow, shops are side by side and jewelers at every corner selling jade jewelry. At the first night we “enjoyed” the huge laser show at the harbor. Laser beams are projected into the night sky accompanied with music – to be honest we saw this show twice and we didn’t like it that much, although it’s a kind of unique.

Symphony of Lights

Best thing to do in Hongkong is definitely to climb up Victoria Peak which is on Hongkonog Island. It is also possible to be driven up in a cable car but I will not miss to find the way up on my own. Humidity is breathtaking but I could enjoy the longest path of escalators in the world and get the feeling of being in a jungle. At the top it’s much cooler and windier and we spend our time with walking the Victoria garden trail and eating at Bubba Gump’s until I could take the picture of Hongkong skyline.

Hongkong Skyline

Victoria Harbour

There are many things to do in and around Hongkong, like visiting the Chi Lin Nunnery with its beautiful garden, seeing the biggest sitting buddha Tian Tan on the top of a mountain on Lantau, relaxing at Kowloon Park, walking through bird and flower market or just go shopping for cheap electronics.

Tian Tan Buddha

Chi Lin Nunnery

Kowloon Park

Hongkong seems to be different to Shanghai and Beijing, regarding food, people and mentality. It is more western like although it makes the impression to be indian and british…like a big chinatown in a british colony in India. Briefly speaking I liked it most in Hongkong.

At the fish market

My private symphony of lights

Shanghai Skyline

When leaving the subway at Yuyuan Garden my first impression was that the city was louder and the climate already warmer. At the exit of the subway something odd happened, we were already “expected” by a mid-aged couple that I would, in retrospect, rate as informers of the communist party. Or why should exactly we, struggeling with backpacks and suitcases, take a picture of them, speak about our travel adventures, letting us explain the way to our hotel? Considering that everyone applying for a visa must send detailled copies of the travel itinerary, hotel reservations and flights it only makes sense that someone proofs the truth. I mean they were nice people and the first ones who spoke perfect English, so nothing to worry about…although a bad first impression of the city.

Early Morning at The Bund

Some of the must sees in Shanghai are The Bund, a long promenade at the river with a beautiful view of the skyline, Yuyuan Garden, an oasis in the middle of the turbulent old town, the view from the World Financial Center or (cheaper) from the 88 floor of the Jin Mao Tower. The bar/restaurant at the top of the Jin Mao Tower does have reasonable prices, a nice atmosphere and a spectacular view – there is no need to go see the skywalk at the World Financial Center. From floor 56 I was not only fascinated by the 32 story high atrium but also by the band which plays modern songs with chinese instruments (e.g. er-hu); they play every night, starting at 7 p.m. After I found out that the hotel sells a CD from “On 56″, I went back and bought it. Actually I liked the unplugged version at the hotel better, where they didn’t use percussion. But it’s still a nice compilation of melodic songs.

Shanghai and Beijing can sometimes be shocking when it comes to people begging for money. Some of them were crippled, making there way through the subway at rush-hour, sometimes walking, sometimes sitting on a skateboard. Some of them were walking through the narrow food concourse in Shanghai – one guy was pushing a kind of hospital-bed through the narrow streets, begging for money for an older man, who seemed to sleep on the mattress. For well situated Europeans like us a scene like this hits you with a brick.

Chinese Man

Old and Modern

The food concourse that I mentioned above is close to the southern end of the The Bund. It is packed with people and gas cookers, with raw meat, tofu things and fish-like meals. We decided to have noodles and rice and a soup, which looked like dishwater. But no things to worry as soon as I learned that the dish was not really washed, but only thrown into a bowl with water where it was waiting for the next customer, it was no longer the soup I was afraid of. After many meals with gristles and bones I was pretty happy with rice and vegetables, although the table we were sitting at was covered with bones…from other people. However I’m still sure that we could have eaten anything as it is always fresh made and tested by a many people.

Food concourse Shanghai

I noticed for the second time that my Fuji X100 shows some odd behavior. It would over- and underexpose pictures when shooting one and the same scene (e.g. Shanghai skyline) with exactly the same settings for aperture and shutter (manual mode). Something like that must never ever happen! Now that I googled the problem I found out that I’m not the only one, the “codename” is sticky-aperture blades and I will have to send the camera in for repair.

The Bund

Chinese Girls

Handcraft in the street

World Financial Center Shanghai

Bar Rouge at The Bund

One word about the Fuji X100: It performed fantastic. Neither did I miss a zoom lens nor did I miss the weight and size of my D300. OK to be honest it could really have a faster autofocus – especially in low light it can drive you crazy!! But what amazed me most was the dynamic range the camera offers, this is something that I had been missing with my D300 so far.

Early morning at the Galata Bridge

Early morning at the Galata Bridge

Morning at the Galata Bridge

Tünel train

Tünel tram

Blue Mosque

Shop window

At the Topkapi Palace

Me in a mirror

Praying in Blue Mosque (Sultan-Ahmed Mosque)

Washing before prayer

Blue Mosque

Since weather became better we decided to take a boat ride in the direction of the Black Sea. After the cold and windy days it was a relaxing ride sitting in the sun, enjoying the landscape, drinking hot tea and eating fresh made yoghurt.

On the Boat

Bosporus

Relaxing on the boat

Warming sunrays

Bosporus and Süleymaniye Mosque

Istanbul at Sunset with Galata Bridge (from Galata Tower)

At least for me Istanbul does not have a structured cityscape and i could not find THE view when looking into google’s picture search. But maybe this is what characterizes the city. However I was pretty sure that the “blue hour method” would work out well, as it always does. The first day we were on the Galata Tower we were too early and it was quite cloudy. The second day the circumstances were better: I had a tripod with me, it was short to sunset and the sky was clear. It is almost impossible to enjoy the cityscape from the viewing platform as it is very very poky up there so that you will be  jostled involuntarily by people who want to pass you. But this did not bother me: I waited as long as I had to wait standing there with my tripod and I finally took the pictures that were later stitched with Hugin.   And when looking at the result there seems to be structure: it is the mosques that dominate the cityscape. From left to right: Topkapi palace, Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmed Mosque, Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Yeni Mosque, Beyazit Tower (green) and Süleymaniye Mosque. The Galata Bridge is connecting the Old City and Galata.

Street in Galata

Tea in Bazaar

Preparing Tea and Promegranate Juice

Galata and Bosporus

Grand Bazaar

Yeni Mosque and Galata Bridge

With Turkish Airlines to Istanbul

Arcade near the shopping street

Entrance to a Restaurant

What was obvious was the fact that roughly 13 million people  want to be fed. The main shopping street and its side roads are stuffed with kebaps, turkish fast food and fish restaurants, confectionaries and little carts selling roast chestnuts. Most of the meals contain fresh vegetables, goat cheese, white bread and nuts or pistachios.

Saray at shopping street

Saray at Shopping Street

Women preparing food in a window

It was the first time I left my Nikon D300 at home and only took the Fuji X100 with me. It is much lighter, smaller and has a superb image quality. I even dared to use the camera’s internal film simulation modes (Velvia, Astia, Provia and B&W) from time to time and saved some of the images in jpg only.