Nikkor

China / Chinese / Chinese culture / D300 / Holiday / Nikkor / Nikon / Nikon D300 / Shanghai / Street photography / street food — No Comments
4
Jun 09

Xiao Long Bao in the steamer

Xiao Long Bao in the steamer

Xiao Long Bao in the steamer

Little Dragon Dumplings. More like a little gift from heaven, these things: pork and some soup stock which is chilled until it gets to a kind of jelly consistency, and then wrapped into a dumpling.
When it’s heated, the soup stock obviously gets liquified, and a taste explosion ensues. Just make sure you work out how hot that stuff inside really is, though: my first Xiao Long burned the hell out of my mouth, and eveyone at the table was watching my reaction to eating this Chinese delicacy, so there was no unobtrusive way for me to help myself out of the fire.
I just said my eyes were watering because of the deliciousness. Not sure they believed me, though.
This shot was taken near Tian Dzhe Fun in Shanghai, of a street Xiao Long Bao seller’s stall. I was excited at the find, bought 3 of them, took a bite, and found to my surprise that there was fish in them. Or crab. Or something vaguely piscine.
And to have that taste hit you when you’re expecting pork isn’t a happy sensation.
I like the shot, though. Looks better than it tastes, that’s for sure.
This shot hit #61 on Flickr’s Explore page on the 18th of May 2009. Nice one, guys, thanks a lot for your support.
50mm / China / Nikkor / Nikon / Nikon D300 / Shanghai / Street photography — No Comments
16
Apr 09

On the back of the Bund

Spent a lot of time walking round the streets of Shanghai. Since I resisted the urge to pack all the gear I thought I could use, and restricted myself to my Nikon D300 and a 50mm 1.4 slung over my shoulder, and an Sb-800 flash (which I strapped to my belt, embarrassingly) I was travelling light and had everything ready all the time.

Using this rig, I also got to know the variations of that Nikkor 50mm pretty damn well in all the F-stops: where the sharpness was a little lacking, where it was so damn sharp you could cut yourself, how it reacted to bright light at midday, and when it struggled to focus in the dark. No changing to a lens that would be more suited to the conditions: if I wanted the shot I had to work to make it happen. Realised that sometimes limitations are really liberations. Plus it’s really small and light, and although it’s a little tight on a crop sensor, it’s great for people and for isolating parts of the image. I stuck a circular polarizer

on the front of it to enhance in the usual way, but also to act as a neutral density filter and give me 2-3 stops of grace in the midday sun, and it worked like a charm.

One thing that struck me about Shanghai was the juxtapositions: drab grey concrete pavements with the colour explosion of a Tai Chi class going through their movesin front of it. Young beggars on the old glory of the Bund. It’s often all mixed up there, and I’d find myself decoding a completely different story to the one my wife was looking at, although we were looking at the same scene. And amid the feeling of new prosperity, there was the constant reminder that life is still really tough for many people there, and for many their next meal is in no way guaranteed.

Just behind the post office on the Bund, in an area filled with monuments to money – the old money of the original Bund buildings, all granite marble and brass, and the new buildings that call out to them from Pudong, across the Yellow River – I stumbled on a lean-to with a tiny kitchen, a bed, and some clothes. Nobody was around, but someone calls that place home. I didn’t intrude, just grabbed some shots from the pavement, and went on my way.

The back of the Bund
Shanghai (22 of 712)

Shanghai (21 of 712)
D300 / Nikkor / Nikon / Nikon D300 / building / fire escape / serendipity / urban landscape / view — No Comments
6
Apr 09

The view from my fire escape

Took out the trash yesterday. The communal bin and the recycle bins are out on the landing of the fire escape. I’ve lived in this building for nearly two years, all told, and taken the trash out plenty of times. I’ve never looked out of the window in there.

Not sure I did, yesterday. Glad I did, though, ‘cos there is something about the view out ther that grabbed me. Went inside, grabbed my Nikon D300 and the Nikkor 50mm 1.4 that’always on it these days, and took a few frames.

Liked the result.