I took to many midnight walks around the Pudong area of Shanghai. It’s very beautiful and great to photograph, but it feels a bit organically dead. There are no restaurants or bars that are open late. There is no activity. This is purely a business district and everyone leaves after the work is done… it’s almost like a ghost-town… or an apocalyptic scene where no humans remain.

Shanghai Around Midnight

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-21 02:29:45
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time2
• Aperture10
• ISO160
• Focal Length35.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

I shot this while in Shanghai one day. Almost anywhere you go, you see couples out in lavish outfits taking photos. They usually have their photographers that are dressed in ostentatious ways too. I do find it interesting how the Chinese can be quite homogeneous in many ways, but, at the same time, have such individualistic outfits for their nuptials.

Chinese Weddings for the Silly Win

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-19 15:03:15
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/640
• Aperture4
• ISO200
• Focal Length63.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

When I look back on photos like this, it reminds me to get out and shoot more in the rain! It’s not gonna kill me, ya know? What’s a little bit of water on your head and camera? Both can take it. The head was built to be waterproof as long as you are above the waterline. And sure, you get a little wet, but, in 47 years, I’ve become a total expert at drying myself, right? Maybe one exception is when it is really cold… don’t want to get into the hypothermia zone, like I am probably in right now in Japan!

Rain on the Bund in Shanghai

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-23 01:41:58
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/20
• Aperture2.8
• ISO800
• Focal Length17.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Here’s another shot I took out of my hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton there in Shanghai. It was the end of our Asia tour and I was feeling exceptionally lazy, so sometimes I would just relax in my room, read books, and then lazily walk over to the window and take some photos. I’m not used to being lazy, and it made me feel rather lame, actually. I’m generally much more stimulated when I’m running around doing ten different things. I mean, I can still be quiet and meditate for a while, but, when that is done, I’m ready for extreme action!

Shanghai Skyline

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-18 23:32:14
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/4
• Aperture4
• ISO400
• Focal Length105.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

What a cool tunnel eh? I first visited here about eight years ago and got a similar photo. I didn’t end up going back to this tunnel until my final night in Shanghai. I was thinking “oh, why bother… I already have that shot”. I wasn’t too enthusiastic, but then I got back in and forgot how fun it was to get these sorts of shots. I like them because you really are not in too much control over how the long exposure will finally look.

The Tunnel Under Shanghai

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-23 02:01:31
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1.3
• Aperture2.8
• ISO160
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

One of my favorite kinds of photos is to take photos of other people taking photos. I’ve been taking photos for quite a while now, and I see a lot of people just now getting into the sport. I think it is very interesting to watch how people pose other people to try to get the best shot. There’s always some level of confusion as they move people this way and that. The only problem with these sorts of photos is when they see me with a big camera and then think, “Hey, that guy knows what he’s doing, let me hand him my phone so he can take photos of us!” I always say yes, and then I, of course, try my best to get them a memorable photo.

A Rainy Evening in Shanghai

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-23 01:47:24
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/30
• Aperture2.8
• ISO800
• Focal Length25.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

You don’t know how difficult it was to get this photo! It seems pretty easy because there is an entire mile of railing on the Bund side that looks across to the Pudong side of Shanghai. But, on this evening (the evening of the photowalk), people were stacked 6 deep along the railing. And not just any people. Chinese people. Their stacking density is 4x normal cultural stacking density. The means that getting up to the front with a giant tripod was a bit like a salmon trying to swim up a waterfall. And none of them knew any English, so I had great trouble explaining I was only going to be there 30 seconds and they can get back to their normal uncomfortable situation.

On the Bund in Shanghai

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-17 23:12:33
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time3.2
• Aperture13
• ISO100
• Focal Length25.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

One of my favorite things about Asia is you can ask anyone in public to do anything at any time and they will say yes. This comes in very handy for trying to set up a shot! For example, I was here taking photos of this amazing reflection of the Bund in Shanghai in the rain. People were walking around with umbrellas, but they were moving too fast for me to get a good exposure. There were a couple of girls taking photos of one another and I went over to offer to take their photo together. After that, I asked if this girl would walk slowly with her umbrella. She was excited to do that… I generally find if you’re really nice to people and ask them to do things they always say yes.

The Bund in the Rain

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-23 01:38:23
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/20
• Aperture2.8
• ISO800
• Focal Length17.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

I’m not 100% sure that these three buildings in Shanghai are called “The Three Sisters” but I will continue to call them that because I like the ring of it. They are three of the tallest buildings in Shanghai, and they’re all clustered together in Pudong. This photo was really difficult to take because it was raining at the time… it’s not exactly easy to keep the rain off your lens when you’re aiming straight up! I could only go as wide as 24mm here, and I wish I would have had a lens that let me get down to 12mm or so, as I think it would be a much more impressive shot. Still, it’s okay, I think.

The Three Sisters

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-23 04:14:20
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time2
• Aperture2.8
• ISO160
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

I mentioned before how it rained most of the days that I was in Shanghai, but that didn’t bother me at all. Unfortunately, my long-gone assistant spent half his time on another gig, so I didn’t have anyone to hold an umbrella over me. I know that sounds like a real primadonna kind of thing to want, but it’s almost critical because you need two hands to operate the camera. I’ve tried locking the umbrella in my bent neck (like a 1970’s phone receiver), but that doesn’t really work because there’s not enough diameter to keep it from spinning around all over the place. So, I just had to be really quick and try my best.

Beautiful Rain in Shanghai

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-23 01:27:13
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/6
• Aperture2.8
• ISO200
• Focal Length21.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias