Canvas

Shot as a high dynamic range image (HDR), during a rare sunset in Shanghai, the shot combines different exposures to show the unusual sky with lots of detail in the clubhouse and water. The living compound at the Western end of Changning district is typical for Shanghai's wealthier people, with several high rises encircling playgrounds, indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, golf driving range and clubhouse. The HDR technique allows us to show the scene like the human eye would perceive it, extending the dynamic range upwards and downwards by two stops each. The old shipyards along the Huangpu river are being dismantled, giving way to the Expo 2010. Most shipyards have been moved to the Yellow River, where land is cheaper and in ample supply. In this image, a massive tanker is floating next to smaller vessels in the docks, while material is piled high on shore. The sun bursts through a cloud covered sky onto the mist covered islets of the bay. At the end of a long day, with only a single shot left on my card, I stopped by the road as the sky cleared enough to let the sun shine through. Mystically beautiful, the bay is West of the 12 apostles along the Great Ocean Road running from Melbourne to Adelaide. The Jin Mao Tower stands for Shanghai like no other building. It is the second tallest building in Shanghai, dwarfed by the Wold Financial Center, but much prettier. It is one of the few buildings in Shanghai actually worth looking at for its design. In this image, the tip is captured in the early morning light, revealing endless facets of glistening steel and glass. The World Financial Center is (for now) the tallest building in Shanghai. Shaped like an oversized bottle opener, the viewing platform on top provides an amazing view of Shanghai. This shot of the top end's facade shows its intricate class work in a most abstract fashion. The facade of the Jin Mao Tower is an endless mosaic of pipes on top of glass. Surfaces are angled and cut up into smaller panes, and there are endless reflections of the surrounding buildings and the sky. I must confess that this is probably the most likable building in all of Shanghai for me. The canvas roof of the visitors center in Lujiazui Park partly obscures the facade of an unfinished building. New building sprout like mushrooms in this city, adding dazzling reflections everywhere. Icon beyond measure, the opera house took endless years to complete, and went well over budget. A bus parking lot in the early morning light, shot from above. The sunlight reflecting from the ground creates nice geometric forms. Early morning draws crowds of surfer to Manly's outer beach. With a decent swell, Sydneysiders surf first, then hop onto the ferry to go downtown for work. This surfer was happily outrunning the swell behind him. This old lady was practicing for maybe two hours, her agility belying her age. The sword is not sharp and very flexible, but give her a real sword and you would not want to face her. This iconic image of the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai was taken during the late afternoon, when the sun was lighting it up with a golden glow. I was high up on the other side of the Huang Pu river and able to isolate the tower against the sky with the sunlight behind me. The sun rises behind the skyline of Pudong in Shanghai. The river is already busy with traffic and the lights from the office buildings blend with the sunrise. Repairs to the electrical wiring are often made with rather little precautions. A wooden ladder leaning against the wires, a hemp rope and the work can begin. Far from being a rare sight, this is how things are done in Shanghai. Similar methods are used for cleaning the facades of skyscrapers and more. Advertising in the metro clashes with the reality of the travelers, many of whom can't afford the modern trappings of the city and are left behind in the race for a better future. The Three Sisters rock formation in the Jamieson valley just outside of Sydney is an integral part of Aboriginal history. Here it is captured in the last light of the day, bouncing of a beautiful cloud. The Twelve Apostles (only eleven remain standing) are situated on one of the harshest stretches of coast known to man. From here on South, nothing but roaring ocean until we hit Antartica. This shot was taken before sunrise, blurring the waves. A worker in Lijiang, Yunnan, smiles at the viewer, as he lets the day slip by on the town square. Playing a game of cards on the city square, old timers ignore the tourists around them and play for stakes. An old woman on the market haggles over her eggs. The markets are full of small stalls, with colorful produce and people bringing it in on tricycles and scooters. A young mother is carving souvenirs for tourists, her child tied on her back in the old town of Lijiang, Yunnan. The Jade Snow Mountain close to Lijiang beckons through the clouds. It is covered in snow year round, and many attempts to climb it have failed. In it's vicinity are other peaks, but also golf courses, and man made attractions where children can ride yaks in the river and more. The fish market in Shanghai is full of gritty images, smiling people and fish. Busy in the early morning, it all quiets down around 7am. Then the corrugated steel plates come up and get washed and the repairs get done. In this image, a welder fixes the rails under the steel plates and basks everything in the light from his torch. Large incense sticks are burning in a temple. Intricate patterns and writing create a beautiful color scheme. These candles have the same function as candles in Western churches and can be found everywhere. In the biggest temple in Bali, the rain has just washed everything clean. A yellow sash adorns the statue and creates a beautiful contrast to the moss covered dark stone. A surfer spills in the waves off Manly beach in Northern Sydney. With predictable swells and a picturesque background, these guys are out there every morning. I watched them over the course of several days and had a great time. After a couple hours surfing, they towel off and hop onto the ferry to downtown where the offices are. Life does not get much better than that. Two older guys check out the surf. They're down in the water any chance they get, well into their 50's. I watched them gear up and head out into 10ft waves to have some real fun and show the kids how it's done. A surfer heads along the face of a perfect wave in Manly, Sydney. The wind tears the spray away from the top of the wave and everything is in perfect balance for a while. We stayed for a few days in Batemans Bay, somewhere along the coast of New South Wales, towards Victoria. From our window, we looked out on the lagoon where these shorebirds and many others had made their home. Here they were kind enough to land in formation, right in front of my nose. Encircling Sydney almost completely, the Blue Mountains proved a formidable barrier for the early settlers. It was not until they followed some cows who had wandered off and around them that it occurred to them that going around was also an option. In this image, the sun sets behind the mountains, as seen from Katoomba. These birds seem to be everywhere and anywhere in Australia. Here, three of them fly against the evening sky in the middle of nowhere (of which Australia has quite a lot ...). Australia's gum trees are dominating the landscape. They come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and varieties and have conquered almost all habitats. This one is standing in the winter parched fields somewhere in New South Wales. A water lily blooms in Southern China. Snowcapped, holy, beautiful, perfect and serene. Mt. Fuji embodies Japan and vice versa. Here he is shown from 30000 ft as the morning light hits its slope and swirling clouds. After a very early morning at the Twelve Apostles, we headed for Port Campbell for breakfast. It was overcast and drizzly, but the cafe was nice and so was their cappuchino. Unusually clean, this little dumpling kitchen serves a hole in the wall restaurant off the beaten track in Shanghai. Shot on film, as most of my black and white this is what Shanghai really looks like, to most of the foreigners living there. This shed stood on the site for many months. It is rather typical for many places in Shanghai. Nowadays, the Puli stands there, with glitzy facade and ambitious slogans. The children in this orphanage have it harder than others, since they are all mentally retarded in some form or other. The young children's winter days are often spent in their chairs, since outside is it too cold to play and they cannot look after themselves. A child in an orphanage in Shanghai is looking straight at the viewer. With little hope of adoption these children have little to look forward to and their nurses are constantly looking for better food, diapers and more to help them survive another few months. They have a volunteer program. Money donations are not accepted, but items, like diapers, milk powder, food, etc are. The early morning sun required a long exposure to capture this Black Oyster Catcher on the Californian coast, making beautifully abstract patterns out of the sea. These birds were perching on a power line in the early morning. Shot against the sky and moon they are just plain funny to look at. This Willet was sitting in the bird preserve of the Elkhorn slew, between San Jose and Pacific Grove. Shorebirds are congregating in the shallow waters of Morro Bay. A mixture of quite environment (in winter, at least) and rich, shallow waters draws many different kinds of birds to Morro Bay. Dusk was getting on, when a snowy egret landed right in front of me in the water. After a short while another came. Then another. They all lined up right front of me, waiting for the light get just right and have their group photo taken. A young seagull is trying to get some food out of her mother. What looks like a fight is really just normal rituals. These Brown Pelikans have an enormous wingspan and glide along the wind in search of food. A pelican starts his dive for the fish in the waters some 20 meters below. In the background, the morning sun shines on the mission of Santa Barbara. A Brown Pelican poses in the morning sun to have his portrait taken. Rather than being shy, these birds are inquisitive and hardly mind human presence. These black swans make a home of the little lagoon. Here the composition just fell into my lap, as I waited in the early morning for something interesting to happen. All the colors just created the perfect frame for the swans and the shorebirds. Suiting their black color, the sewage from the city behind the lagoon is no less black than the swans on this overcast day. Although the lagoon is a perfect place for many birds to feed and rest, pollution does nothing to improve their chances. An Egret takes flight in the lagoon of Batemens Bay. The sun sets over the Blue Mountains in Australia. Clouds lit from behind and below shine like fire. A blow hole on the South coast of Australia erupts with a 10 meter high fountain. From here on South, there is nothing but ocean until Antarctica. The tower has stood in the lake by the pass for many years, as a sign to travelers that they have made it across. We wanted to pass over the next one into Italy, but that was still under snow and ice, so we had to make a detour through Switzerland instead. The old wood on the boat landing on the Lago di Como shines in the sunshine, while the lake lies black, awaiting a summer. Traders judge the wares and make up their minds how much to pay. The fish market in Shanghai is old, simple and the action is over by 7am, yet a lot of good fish is sold there and it supplies a lot of the consumer markets around town. People here are friendly and full of the joy of people having a good job and knowing it. Like everywhere else in China, cigarettes oil the haggling and are never far from reach at the fish market. He made my day at the fish market in Shanghai. Telling tall tales and laughing with his friends. The sun rises over the Pacific ocean seen from the Monterey peninsula. Looking back towards the main land, the sun is still below the horizon. A very long exposure has rendered the waves of the ocean like mist hanging in the mountains. It is images like these that make getting up well before first light worth it and rewarding. These old, intricately hammered fittings on the doors create a great contrast with the red varnish of the wood. Dragons are depicted on many of them, symbolizing power and long life. A dragon is hammered in gold, surrounding the knobs that go through the great doors of the city. The fierce face of this bronze head on one of the vast vats scare evil spirits away. The vats can hold fire or water, both important in a palace build entirely from wood. In the background, the columns of one of the central buildings are seen. A bronze fitting on one of the door with a hammered dragon is black with patina, except where countless visitors rubbed the dragon's head for good luck. An old lady rest in front of the great doors of the big building at the entrance. The red and gold color theme of the doors balances with her gray-white hair. Many old people come to the forbidden city every day, some from far away to see it for the first time, others from Beijing te relish its past. The day almost done, an old trader leans back against his basins and enjoys a bit of rest. Rubber boots and old style clothes, but this is still 2009. The place was so dark, fighting camera shake and motion blur was tough, even at ISO 1600 and full frame film. However, the image is so reminiscent of the old days, I think it belongs here. Amidst the rubble of her mostly torn down neighborhood, a little girl who is still living there walks along. Scenes like these are all too common in Shanghai, where the old homes make way for new high rises and shopping malls and the old tenants are displaced to the outskirts, their livelihoods destroyed and the future uncertain. A construction site in downtown Shanghai. While workers in the background clamber over mountains of steel, the guard has a bad day. An old man looks at the remnants of his old home. Amidst the rubble, a few houses are still standing, their tenants still there. A little child clings to his ayi in an old alley. Typical for Shanghai, children often spend more time with their ayi (nanny) than with their parents, who either work or enjoy modern life. A young man climbs across the wall, rather than using the door to have a wash and say hello. Living next to an old factory that is slowly being dismantled, he might find a new home across the street or somewhere far away. High atop one of the many pillars holding up the maglev, three workers look out over the construction site near Shanghai. They invited my up, so I climbed the ramshackle stairs. Two workers stand atop a concrete pillar of the maglev they are building. Each of these pillars supports a giant concrete and steel piece that two tracks are laying on. The workers live on site, in a makeshift shack just down the ramp with their wifes and small children. A migrant worker holds his infant during a break. This house holds maybe twenty workers, their families, and belongings. Looming in the back is a bridge over a local road. The families cook here, wash their veggies out back and move as the construction moves along the track. A worker and his daunting task. Breaking up the road that leads to the new bridge for the maglev. A big sledgehammer is all he has to reduce the concrete blocks to something more manageable. A worker sweeps the road along the construction site of the maglev from Shanghai to Beijing. An old fashioned broom seems little help against the engulfing dust at the end of a long summer in Shanghai on this early morning. Three pillars of the new maglev stand tall in first light on a Saturday morning in Shanghai. Two pillars hold up a prefabricated slab of concrete and steel that the maglev runs on top of. Brought up by a machine running on the track laid so far and then moved across the chasm, each of them is some 30-40 meters long. Image running this for 1200km from Shanghai to Beijing. From atop an almost finished pillar, two workers gaze out as the construction site stretches out into the distance of Shanghai. On the left, the big new station will arise. Meanwhile, the workers still have a long way to go to connect Shanghai and Beijing. Perched inside a piece of scaffolding for the new maglev construction, workers take a break. Scaffolding like this stretches for hundreds f meters along Changning Road in Shanghai, where the maglev and several new highways and a metro are all being build at the same time. With so many lines competing for space, each has to put at its own level to make sure traffic can flow well. Two workers are bending new steel together in the early morning sun on a construction site in Shanghai. Overhead, the maglev train, and several highways crisscross and branch. I was fortunate to be there on an early Sunday morning, with the site open and people friendly and welcoming again. Well, there are only five, and they are not really dwarfs, but when I composed the shot, that is what they looked like. In reality, they are construction workers high up on a new piece of highway, looking down during a quick rest break. The site near Shanghai was very accessible and people were curious and friendly as almost always. A young worker is taking five high up in the steel scaffold on a high way construction. The early morning sun casts a nice light on him. The steel rods and his clothes are the same color, the only break is the yellow helmet. He looks lost, deep in thought, maybe wondering how much more construction there will be in his lifetime. Hard at work in the scaffolds, workers appear as black outlines against the morning sky. Only one is lit enough to make out the details and colors of his clothes. I was lucky to get just enough light on him, with the others mostly dark, to make this shot work well. An old rusty wheel barrow sits in a field of debris. The morning sun lights it up, as in the distance workers are braiding steel for another piece of high way. Overhead several highways are parting ways . I like the juxtaposition of the massive highways and the simple, human powered wheel barrow. Sights like these are still very common in China and it always makes you wonder what could be achieved with better tools. Two workers are busy with some more steel, this time shot in back light, against the pillars of concrete already done. I like the eyes and the expression of the man on the left. He is focused on his work, which seems and endless daunting task of tying steel and then doing it all over again tomorrow. An old jeep is parking in a side street in Beijing. This image is shot as high dynamic range and is more of an exploration of that space. I am thinking of creating a series of images like this of old factories, cars, helmets and other stuff. An older peasant is sitting in on the door step of a restaurant, smoking cigarette stubs given to him by the patrons. This image presented itself to me when I was having lunch in the old town of Shaxi in the mountains of Yunnan. The man slowly inched closer the our table the other patrons, gathering cigarette stubs and also hoping for something to eat. The village is in a remote part of Yunnan, with few tourists and the farmers come from the surrounding villages to market every week. They are easy targets for the locals, since they hardly know the value of money and live a very secluded live. The image was shot as he was sitting in the door, bathed in the light of the day against a dark interior. The market day was winding down and the people from the country side were packing up to go home. This lady seemed undaunted by the prospects of a long treck back home to the fields, as she smiled into the camera. I love the unruly hair, and the face, so typical of the mountains of China. An old man is sitting on his veranda in the village of Shaxi in Yunnan, giving himself a haircut with a mechanical cutter. The light glitters on the metal of the cutter and his skin looks like the old wooden beams of the house he is living in. I was fascinated by the posture and the light on his hand and got a couple of shots of through the open door, since I did not wish to intrude. On old, beat up ladle sits on an open bag of rice. The rice is measured and packed there on the spot and different types are on display. Hunks of meat lie on a table, ribs are hanging in the foreground, while a sales woman cuts a choice piece at this market in Shanghai. The meat is not cooled and probably not particularly well kept. This explains partly why all the meat is stir fried and cooked until well done, with more spices added the further South you go. Three sides of meat are hanging from old, hand smithed hooks in a wet market in Shanghai. In the background, a woman is looking at a hunk of meat to figure out how to cut it up. The raw grit of the market caught my attention. With all it's glitz and gleaming facades, Shanghai is still largely a developing country, with appalling sanitary conditions and many needs for change. Deep in thought, a young man is studying his books at the market, while he is waiting for customers to buy meat. A large, official notice is posted prominently to show that he is legit and his wares are fresh. I found the contrast between the raw piece of meat on its hook and the dreamy, far away expression on his face speak volumes about the change that is engulfing China. Hand smithed, iron meat hooks hold up their pieces at an old market in Shanghai. No two of these hooks and rings are alike, all are individually hammered from iron rods and only roughly finished. They seem to be done in haste by an apprentice blacksmith, but somehow strike a note of nostalgia. I liked the broken symmetry of the image, it's raw impact. Poultry is sitting in cages in a stark, white tiled room in a market in Shanghai. In the background, the bare chested proprietor is putting an end to one of them, readying it for his customer. In a corner is a machine that will pluck the feathers of the birds in a few seconds. The market had several stalls like this, each full of birds, their smell and stained liberally with blood and feathers. This stall was the cleanest that I saw that day. This old man reminded me of a turtle, as he was shopping for vegetables in this Shanghai market. White hair, deep set eyes, dark black eyes made him stand out. The wet market is full of fish in basins, or already gutted and ready to take home. This man was happily bantering with me, although his hand never left his knife on the table. In front, pomfret are lined up on the wooden counter and his arms and clothes are full of scales. Standing amidst his goods, a trader in rice, beans, oil and other canned goods smiles at the camera. Their stall was stuffed to the rafters with bottles and cans, sacks of rice and drums full of oil. The small counter features a poster with a modern, beautiful woman, electronic scales and a small assortment of noodles. Set to one side of the market, these stall were fun to see and made for interesting discoveries of goods and people alike. Holding a plucked chicken in her hand, this market woman wanted me to buy, but I was not in the mood. Stained styrofoam containers, contrast with the clean chicken. A white tile counter, dark hands holding a wipe and dressed out chicken combine in this photo from a market in Shanghai. Neatly lined up, a black chicken lies between the white ones and their legs seem to point like fingers at the man selling them. I like the contrast and starkness, but also the implied neatness geometry of the photo. Rice bags with neat labels made from thin slices of wood, denoting the type and origin form a simple composition of circles and diagonals. This stall was by far the cleanest and best arranged in the entire market and its Japanese proprietor proud, but also camera shy. The waterfall in Cherry Valley in Yunnan is cascading down the rocks to meet the muddy brown river below. In this black and white picture, I wanted to capture the dreamy nature of the waterfall. Throughout the valley clear, hot springs emerge from the rocks to gather in pools. A clear spring may run right next to a surface water, flowing cold and laden with particles from the rich soil. Shot in film, this works quite well for me. Out West in Yunnan, close to Ruili, near the border with Myanmar, an old woman haggles over the price for a bag full of vegetables. Her drawn face shows just how bitter her days have become, and many people in this area are not much better off. The market itself is a ramshackle affair for local villagers, with the raw meat under the sun attracting it's share of flies and the severed head of a pig a bargain not be be passed. On a market in Heshun, a man in hat with really funny teeth smiles at into the camera, while the butcher cuts his meat for him. The setting was just too funny and the smile to engaging to pass up. The meat on the market has, like nearly everywhere else, never seen the inside of a cooler or fridge. Fortunately it is ont too hot, this high up in the mountains. Under the shade of a large temple two monks are studying, well, one is actually sleeping. Right next to them were a few small chairs and a blackboard setup, so the children of the village can also study. Throughout Asia, this is fairly typical, monks teaching the children, while they are studying themselves. Pouring a bowl of congee, the owner of this well assorted breakfast place by the market in Heshun, looks out on the center of the market every day. Serving congee, you tiao, and spicy noodles, the place is a favorite with the locals. Crafted from the finest wood, the blue exterior contrasts with the light color of the wood to produce an powerful interplay. Vanishing into the dark, only the cigar provides a hint to the viewer. The powerful curves and industrial blue, form a great contrast to the light interior of this great humidor by Genco Berk. The shot shows the inside, shot through the half open lid. As in all of Genco's humidores, the interior is of light-colored wood, whereas the exterior is not giving away any hints as to what lies beneath. The Double Happiness, with detached case for three cigars, has the build of a tank and the lightness of Okoume wood. The outside is a formidable round shape, the light wraps around it and plays on its features. A few of the top with attached cigar case, shows the brushed metal that is the hallmark of this detail. Shot with limited light to get the most out of the item.