I'm about half way through our pictures from the trip and have been wanting to post some for a while, if I wait until I am done processing them all, it will never happen anyway (Jules?) .

I am still not sure about the category.
There are generally two or three kinds of shots I do.

I most definitely suck at landscapes, and have the hardest time getting anything usefull out of what I shot.
my pictures do not nearly represent the gorgeous places we visited. An additional challenge is the high contrast in many pictures, as of course you can't always choose the time of day and weather when you get to a place.

these are some shots from "jiu zhai gou" or Nine Village Valley in Yunnan, World Heritage and inhabited by only a few Tibetans.











Since I am shooting RAW, I could probably make more out of these. Maybe you have some ideas for me?
or tips on filters, settings etc?
Faces with the amount of pictures you bring back from a trip I am somewhat reluctant to dive into complicated, time consuming post processing.....


Then there are a lot of pictures that I take to show people what we saw, sort of journalistic shots that should be self explanatory.
I find they are often mediocre, I am not very skilled and have little practice filling a wider angle, and again,
the contrast often kills what I was attempting.
Here are some OKish ones:










the following one is one I like much more and where the contrast is part of the picture rather than disturbing it.



Or I get a snapshot, that is anything but a good picture, but for other reasons worth showing:



and occasionally I manage to get one I really like, like this portrait of an artist painting his signature onto his drawings:

[img]What I really like however, and feel I am much better at shooting, are always the close-ups and detail shots. Whether wide or longer, I like to be close. And many times a smaller frame of course will have the advantage of more even lighting.
So I come up with shots like these, that are no longer self explaining, but taken together still add to the pictures of China created in the viewers mind:

these are eggs boiled in tea, one of the many omnipresent snacks sold in the streets for ever hungry Chinese. I love this shot.



or the local cheese of Yunnan, sold at a small shop:



corn cob being layed to dry in the streets



or this "still life" of a hat places in the window of an old house in a small alley:




Of course these are just a few out of thousands, not necessarily the best but some I came across today and decided to post.
Any input is more than welcome, and I still think we should have a travel category

Uli

Sorry, don't know why this is posted twice....:o

These are wonderful pictures Uli.
The landscape looks gorgeous, really great place. I love the waterfall picture... I would have loved to have the chance to take a waterfall picture... but there was none in my trip. Yours looks great!! I am a bit green I must say...

About your portraits all are fantastic. They really tell a story. My favorite is the lady sitting in the door.... Excellent picture that one....

I love the one of the man on a bike, taking his pet cow to the vets .
Great and interesting series.

They are wonderful Uli. The one with the lady in the door is fabulous.

thanks for all your positive comments! Really encouraging, gives me breath to get through the next few Gigabytes.
I'm surprised everyone seems to like the "journalistic" ones, they really don't feel like my style so much.

Uli, your people photography is amazing. I've been admiring it here and in the other threads that I've been looking at. The photo of the artist signing his name is superb. The combination of straight lines and ovals is perfect. I'm also really impressed by your eye for detail. These are the sort of photos I wish I could take.

The old lady sitting just inside the door is a classic, great photos