Yandangshan
I’m back in the Internet cafe next to Xiaoxiao’s house after having spent the whole day at Yandangshan. Last year it was one of the best places I visited and it was good again this year. Unlike last time I didn’t take a flying leap off any bridges, much as I wanted to. I’ve got some great shots (I think) of other people doing it though—that AF-C mode my camera has is really handy for something!
I’m still struggling with my Nikon RAW files but I discovered today I’m using a fairly old version of dcraw (the utility to convert the RAW files to files editable by my graphics application). I’ve now got the latest version downloaded, which I hope to get working when I get back later on. I spent the whole day shooting RAW today so, assuming I can decrypt the white balance information, I hope to upload some fairly decent photos of the place tomorrow.
Yesterday I got up really late (mid-day) and didn’t go out until about 3pm as Xiaoxiao wasn’t feeling too well. In the end I went out on my old but had some great fun wandering around the “back streets” taking photos. In the evening I asked to visit a tall building to have a go at taking some long “night” (read: twilight) exposures to try and get the really cool streaky-headlight photos. We ended up at a brand new hotel (built to a five star standard but it is so new it doesn’t have the official status) where we went straight to the top floor to the restaurant.
I don’t think I’ve really been anywhere quite as posh as this one before but I was surprised to find that the prices weren’t too outrageous (rich Chinese seem to enjoy paying money for the sake of it)—a Coke was approximately the same price as in England. I managed to take a few shots but unfortunately there were far too many lights on in the building (although they actually switched some off when Xiaoxiao’s Dad asked). I’m fairly happy with the results though—with a little more practice and a better location to shoot from (i.e. outside, not through a window) I reckon I can get some really great results.
Tomorrow we are spending the whole day shopping (yay (!)) as Xiaoxiao claims she has no suitable clothes. The following day we are travelling to the adjoining province to do some “touristing”. Maybe if I can convince Xiaoxiao to be quick with her shopping we can set off tomorrow evening.
Tags: Travel