I got myself an LS-4000 to scan some of the photos from the past ten years. I am starting backwards so the Leica shots get on my photo page first! This folder is from my most recent trip to Chengdu in Szechuan province. Thanks for your comments. Rgds, Ray.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=190507

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), March 11, 2002

Answers

I like your scap collector photo and the monk poet but your other shots are too "removed". The shot titled "monks" has some strong graphical elements that lend it suitable for B&W rendering... unfortunately the human element is minimal (their backs are turned to you) and this detracts from the shot IMHO. Good use of DOF for isolating the scrap collector from the background but had you moved closer to him you could've given the shot more intimacy to make up for its lack of strong graphical organization. Same with the monk poet... had you taken a more oblique angle and used a small aperture. But this is all IMVHO. Good attempts. Keep on posting.

-- John (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), March 11, 2002.

I like the scrap collector shot but feel that there may be too much space on the right - a tighter shot might have worked better IMHO.

-- sunil (yatsunil@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

Rai:

Great "poet monk" !! Thanks for sharing.

Regards

-Iván

-- Iván Barrientos M (ingenieria@simltda.tie.cl), March 11, 2002.

Ray:

Very nice body of work! Thanks for sharing it. I am bummed because I cannot read the signs!

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 11, 2002.

I like the pictures. Something you might consider--a friend of mine once criticized my work because I tended to shoot everything from the same distance, giving about the same viewpoint to everything, rather than giving a variety of perspectives on things . . .

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

Ahhh now there's something enjoyable on this forum- exotic places and people in photos! I liked them all, especially "Buddist Temple", thanks for sharing!

-- James (snodoggydogg@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

Thanks for the helpful comments. My primary purpose was to shoot the interior of that temple but it would have been quite dull without people in the shots. Luckily it raining and made more of these shots more interesting. Alternatively I could have used a 24mm and placed the people more promenantly in the foreground but I am trying to develope my own style but I guess I have ways to go. Good point about shooting everything from the same distance; It is just a combination of shyness and the need to include the structure in the pictures. The scrap collector was just a grab shot I took while walking; should have waited for something interesting to come by to fill the right side before pressing the shutter. Great comment! Sadly the best shot of the bunch is the poet monk who posed for me. Incidentally he was the one who carved the tablets. For someone who grew up in New Jersey, Chengdu is pretty exotic for me as well.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), March 12, 2002.

Ray,

I actually think the empty space in the scrap collector photo is part of what makes it work - "negative space" which often goes along with using the rule-of-thirds in composition. The empty space, for me at least, symbolizes his waiting for things to come his way.

In the same vein, I think the monk poet would have been stronger without the white slab at the right - again putting the subject at a rule-of-thirds intersection.

Just my two cents, however. Other opinions are encouraged to vary.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), March 12, 2002.

Great tonality - bit distant. Are you a little shy? Nice feel for light.

-- Steve Jones (stephenjjones@btopenworld.com), March 12, 2002.

Just a thought - how about using a 50mm lens - I reckon it would suit your style better... (sometimes I wonder why I don't throw away all my other lenses..)

-- Steve Jones (stephenjjones@btopenworld.com), March 12, 2002.

I have my nitpicks of some of the compositions, too, but I really enjoyed the use of light and how it reinforced the mood in the images.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), March 12, 2002.

Ray, these are really nice pictures. Thank you for sharing them with us. Cheers.

-- Don (wgpinc@yahoo.com), March 12, 2002.

Thanks again for the useful comments. I learned how to shoot with the FM2 and used 50mm and 28mm exclusively for many years. Using the M6 and a 35mm lens has been a whole new learning experience for me. I suppose I am more comfortable with a 50mm and 28mm. Oh yes.. the poet monk carved a poem on the white tablet but there isn't enough contrast to see it. I am still learning how to use Photoshop.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), March 14, 2002.