China - Old and New. A small Travel Gallery with my Leica M3

<p>Hi all,<br /><br />I thought that I'd share with you all some impressions from our latest trip - ten days in Beijing over Easter. As usual, I brought the M3 and some B/W film along :-)<br /><br />I took four lenses along this time: 21/28/50/90, but ended up taking all but three shots with the super-compact Voigtlaender Color-Skopar 28/3.5. Maybe a consequence of having two small kids (and my ever-so-patient wife) along - and Beijing is pretty hectic, so changing lenses was often simply not an option. In any case, the 28 was perfect for zone-focusing in the streets...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.imagepro.dk/China_2012">http://www.imagepro.dk/China_2012</a><br /><br />Anyway - I hope that you like them - comments are more than welcome !!<br /><br />Soeren<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><div></div>

<p>Really lovely collection of images. Proof that 57 really well concieved pictures are better than machine-gunning thousands of frames.<br>

I am partial to the view from a 28mm lens, which you used very well. You did a great job of describing both the scale and intimacy of Beijing and it's surroundings, often by carefully including humanity in the frame. I really liked your family on the Great Wall, your girl jumping over the steps, and the four-way intersection shot.<br>

I also really like the look of BW400CN. I wish they would bring it back in 120 format :(<br>

Thanks for sharing!</p>

<p>Soeren--absolutely outstanding!<br>

Thank you for posting.. glad you enjoyed your trip!<br>

Thanks again...<br>

Paul</p>

<p>Oh, one more question -- did you use any B&W contrast filters on the lens? Or is the blue in the sky being held back by the BW400CN?</p>

<p>Thanks, both :-)<br /><br /><strong>@David</strong>: I didn't use any filters. Left my Y2 at home by mistake :-( I thought I would have needed it at The Great Wall, but in the end, it turned out nicely anyway, I think. I just edited the "Technical Info" page at the end a bit.<br /><br /><strong>@any future visitors</strong>: The gallery only contains 22 pictures, I culled them down from the 57 that I actually took in Beijing... Film is expensive, you know :-)</p>

<p>Terrific! A great series of images, <strong>Soeren</strong>, far too many that I like to select a favourite. The 28mm lens really was ideal for your purposes. As with all images of China, there's a mixture of the sombre, the delightful and the disturbing. The BW400CN does impart a classic look to B&W, in my experience, even without your toning, and these images are beautifully graduated. Thanks for a fine gallery and a mini-tour.</p>

<p>Love the pictures with primitive brooms. Just wandering does any sophisticated broom exist? I have one with a spring coil but it is still primitive.</p>

<p>Great pics as usual from you. I so enjoy watching your kids grow up. I never took enough of mine.</p>

<p>Excellent series; the pictures express the joy of your visit. Nice warm tones to the sharp pictures. Thanks. sp</p>

<p>Looks like a nice trip. </p>

<p>Absolutely wonderful photos Soeren, thank you for sharing.</p>

<p>It proves to me again that BW400CN is perfectly suited for the landscape/cityscape photograhy. Just love those rich tones in your shots. Here's another vote for wanting this film back in 120 format.</p>

<p>B.t.w. I just bought an M3 as well, now if only I had some money left to travel to such exotic locations as you ;) </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Excellent gallery, great way to preserve the memories for your family and exercise your own hobby too!</p>

You are the man! Excellent photos . Like Rick, I'm impressed with the tone too. My own 400CN isn't/hasn't been as nice. (Never used/missed the 120 version) Love your eye for a good shot or composition! Some think; "yeahh if I had a Leica."....but we all know there's more to it than that! Looks like a lovely trip for Easter!

<p>My favourites were Traffic and Subway Music. I always love your posts, so keep them coming. And I know I keep saying this, but I'd love it if you took more pictures. Please! ;-)</p>

<p>Your post inspired me to start <a href="../casual-conversations-forum/00aJUx">a thread</a> about the 28mm AOV in the Casual Conversations forum.</p>

<p>I think I prefer old Beijing.</p>

<p>Thanks, all - Much appreciated :-)<br /><br />There were, indeed, lots of chinese around, <strong>Les</strong> - very few foreigners, since I guess it was to early for the tourist season to kick in - but in retrospect I think that on those cramped occasions I was simply too occupied with looking after the family to get a shot with the Leica... Below is a (digital, sorry) snapshot of my lovely wife in a very crowded place :-)<br /><br />Roger, I feel honoured by your comment about my kids. I have been fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the pictures my mother took of us (SRT-101 :-) and hope that my own kids will appreciate my efforts when they grow up.<br /><br />As for the tones in my pictures, I don't really consider that rocket science (as in: I'm not a PS wizard by any means). I think I'll try to do a write-up on what I do and post it around here somewhere. But I'm happy with the result, and glad to hear that you are, too :-)<br /><br /><strong>Karim</strong>, thanks also for your kind words - I'lh head right over to your thread :-)<br /><br />Thanks again to everyone - please keep your comments coming :-)<br /><br />Soeren<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><div></div>

<p>Absolutely stunning group of photos, Soeren. Fabulous work as always. Amazing that those were chosen from just 57 images shot on one camera with a fixed focal-length lens. Most people walking around Beijing with a DSLR would shoot more images than that in an hour, and maybe have one image of this quality. Masterful work. Keep it up. My wife and I were in Beijing about 13 years ago, and I'm glad to see it looks much the same. There was talk when we were there that all of the hutongs were to be torn down soon and replaced with hi-rises. Though they're not great living quarters, they have such character that I'm glad to see some are still there. Some of my favorite times were early mornings in the city parks when everyone was out exercising.</p>

<p>Excellent as always, I really enjoy these sort of photos in B&W, such a change from the usual over-saturated fare these days.<br>

The 28mm lens seems perfect here and I was wondering if people realize what the camera is that you are using.<br>

Also nice to see that cars haven't completely taken over from bicycles!</p>