Travels in China: Photographing the landscapes and people of Guilin and XiaPu

Hi, everyone - Sorry I am late to the game in responding, as I was traveling with limited internet access and did not immediately realize the article was published. I've read the great variety of comments on the portfolio and wanted to say thanks for having a look and for your comments, whether positive or negative. Ken Koskela

Apr 28, 2016permalink

Tiffles

Hi Ken, amazing Photos. Which time of the year did you go there? August or September I reckon? Thanks!

Apr 30, 2016permalink

Hello, Tiffles! I just saw this message now... sorry about that. Thanks for the comment. I took these shots in May, which is a good time of the year to go. You will have to deal with some rain, but when the clouds work they work well. Also, the rice terraces are mostly filled with water then, which looks good. September and possibly October are good also. Rice terraces are yellow. Hope that helps! Ken

Jul 20, 2016permalink

riman

How were the people and how was the food?

Apr 19, 2016permalink

I enjoyed both! Meeting the Chinese photographers was a highlight of the trip. Thanks.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

lynmay

Incredible set of photos! Truly photos that were made
and not just a copy of what "is".

Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing
your creativity and skill.

Apr 19, 2016permalink

Thanks very much for the comment. :)

Apr 28, 2016permalink

blohum

Ignore the nit-pickers Ken, this is a great set of work! Who says a photo needs to be realistic? A photo should represent how you interpreted the scene and I've enjoyed all of these.

I visited the area 10 years ago, unfortunately I only had a compact camera and very little photographic knowledge at the time... one day I'd like to go back!

Apr 18, 2016permalink

Thanks! I've been there twice now and plan to be back again in 2017. May is a great time of the year to go.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

Carlos Loff

Are there many guys like this one or this particular individual is the most photographed person in China, lol ???

Apr 18, 2016permalink

Hi, Carlos - There are at least several of these fishermen who are photographed, but not uncommon to see the same ones showing up in pictures. :)

Apr 28, 2016permalink

Joseph Radhik

To all those who are saying over saturated, it's sad that you can't look past something as basic as saturation and appreciate the brilliant composition in these images. And the mood/emotion in those portraits. Or the minimalism in those tele landscapes.

Maybe it's just me who sees the world in color, and the rest have desaturation sunglasses on.

Apr 18, 2016permalink

Thanks, Joseph!

Apr 28, 2016permalink

LaurenceSvirchev

I photographed the LongJiTitian and parts of Guilin in 2001using a Canon G1. It doesn't matter what part of the world you go to. When you want to photogrpah the land, you scout first, find your angle, pre-envision your shot and camp out or come back in the early am & set up before the sun rises. Or you do it with the setting sun.

The photo of Cuipingshan Hill Sun Beams is heavily manipulated. Xiang Gong Shan Sunrise is pretty accurate, and the fishing photos are manipulated but not heavily so. The I know this from my vivid memory of these extraordinary areas and a review of my own photos.

Photography is such a wonderful art! Mr Koskela clearly has a style that he can be proud of and if he wants to manipulate or 'overly manipulate' as in the Cuipingshan Hill photo, that is his absolute right which he earned by hard work.

Apr 18, 2016permalink

Thanks, Laurence - I appreciate the comments. You are right... Cuipingshan Hill was manipulated more than the rest of the landscapes... the shot was taken perhaps 45 minutes before sunset to capture the light beams, so I underexposed the sky in parts to pull the color out. Thanks again, Laurence.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

InTheMist

I think this is a beautiful set to be proud of.

Apr 18, 2016permalink

Thank you!

Apr 28, 2016permalink

J A C S

Wow, great images and more great images on his site as well! Taken with obsolete gear like the 5D2, the 24-105 and the 16-35/2.8 (he also owns the not so obsolete 100-400II).

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Prixnobeldefoot

It's sad to think that an old model makes it necessarily obsolete. I use a 5D2 once in a while and it's far from being obsolete.

Apr 18, 2016permalink

riman

Flash powder and flash bulbs are what is meant as obsolete...

Apr 19, 2016permalink

Thanks! I finally got the Mark III two weeks ago. :) Later this year, I'm guessing that will be obsolete, too.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

ElviraGrey

These really romanticize rural China to an excessive degree. I read a BBC article a while back that presented a much more realistic and sober account of what life is like for the residents there. In short it's a constant struggle for survival each day and many have been forced to leave behind their families to seek work in factories in the cities. Needless to say, there were no over saturated, panoramic pictures of sunrises in the article. But I know I know, this is supposed to be artistic and broaden our minds. Excuse me if my ability to appreciated this stuff is growing thin having seen one too many over processed travel brochures by 'hard working' globetrotting photographers. Is this an occupation now?

Apr 17, 2016*permalink

Exactly, getting up early to take photos on holiday is NOT hard work. It's the OPPOSITE of hard work.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Akpinxit

First , allow me to say that the landscapes and composition is stunning and should take a professional to capture it .
Second , I will agree that the life presented here has been over saturated as the sunsets .

Apr 17, 2016permalink

"And should take a professional to capture it"

why? from my experience, the best landscape photography is by amateurs. Why would any of these need a professional? Landscape photography, by and large, is democratic enough that anybody can do it; you don't need to be a professional. There are certain locations that one needs an expensive guide, permits, permission, or travel arrangements, and therefore being a professional facilitates access; but the actual process of taking a photo - anybody with the skill can do it. Nothing to do with their profession.

Apr 17, 2016*permalink

Akpinxit

My remark on "professionalism" mend exactly what you said "... There are certain locations that one needs an expensive guide, permits, permission, or travel arrangements, and therefore being a professional facilitates access..." . Sure , once you're on the moon , you can capture it .

Apr 17, 2016permalink

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/05/25/article-0-19FFC98A000005DC-930_964x643.jpg

well, if that is what you meant, then it is not relevant to these photos.

Your point was that the composition was such that a professional was required to capture it.

Go to flickr, search Guilin and these exact scenes, taken from exactly the same spot, turn up hundreds of times, taken by amateurs on their holidays. Incidentally, a couple of minutes will show you how beautiful the scene is, without being destroyed by HDR.

Now, if you want to take a photo of the Queen on the Balmoral Estate, you are most likely going to be a professional with lots of accreditation and security access. Doesn't guarantee good composition. Just allows the shot, like this

fishermen in China, not so much,

Apr 17, 2016permalink

apestorm

as a photographer you should always look for yourself, not just believe the news.

its like complaining someone took pictures in yellowstone rather than detroit. For each photographer his own subject matter.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

villagranvicent

The landscape shots are pretty good, the portraits are obviously posed and we all have seem those many times.

Guilin is an amazing place, and you need to be up early in the morning otherwise to capture it otherwise you will share the view with more than 10-12 thousand tourists that crowded those waters every day and the reality will be completely different.

"Romanticising" places has been done over and over again; how many pictures in black and white of lonely and contemplative beautiful women (with an espresso cup and a Hemingway's book as props) captured through the glass of some Brooklyn coffee shop- have you seen? No smelly sewers, homeless or traffics jam there.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Hi, Elvira - I agree that the images do not reflect the difficulties faced in many of these areas. I've spent around 20 years working in and traveling to very under-resourced areas (not for photography) and am familiar with many of the challenges. Many of the people I've met certainly face hardships, but many and even most people I've met seem happy in spite of it. I've only started shooting portraits recently, but it is always an enjoyable experience for me and for those being photographed. I do take issue with your apparently sarcastic comment about me being a "hard working" globetrotting photographer. I did not write the article and never called myself hard working. Moreover, you know nothing about my background or work experience to base the comment on. Nevertheless, thanks for looking at the photos and for your comments.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

SamTrekker

Yes, but I don't even think about it because it's all worth it! It motivates you to witness sunrises, sunsets that you might otw have missed. Every sunrise & sunset is different especially when you're traveling far-flung places you may not return to given all the amazing places the world has to offer. The memories rekindled when you look back through your photos is immeasurably rewarding & you can almost taste the air & feel the ambience of when the shots were taken. Bliss 👣📷😀

Apr 17, 2016*permalink

Hugo808

These are all undoutably excellent photos that I'd be most proud of, but what I'd really like to see is the new China, the vast cities and dams and the changing life of the people. I doubt I could go there and not try and capture something like that...

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Akpinxit

You should check the polution rates there and the hard price that been payed by health .

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Hugo808

Dude, I wear a pollution filter when I'm cycling in town in England. If I went to China I'd take a full body suit and oxygen tanks. I would definitely go though...

Apr 17, 2016permalink

joe_leads

Great images. I travelled there 12 years ago, actually it was the reason why I bought my first (film) camera a week before. But my photographic skills were lacking, as one can imagine. When I was in Longyi, it was rainy and foggy for 2 days, you could only see as far as 50 meters, no rice fields at all.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Hi, Joe - Yes, weather is a big challenge there at certain times of year. I have yet to get good light at the rice fields... perhaps one decent sunset over a period of 3 days.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

Roland Karlsson

Like the images. I have been on a tourist trip that visited Guilin. Took a boot cruise on the Li river. Very, very beautiful. As we made large parts of China in 14 days, no time to stop and take pictures like this.

Regarding over saturation. No problems for me. I like when images are a bit more impressive. And I do not find it too overdone.

Note though - about the guys you see photographed (maybe even the kid). They do it for money. You pay something and they pose for you. Of course, most tourists do not manage to take pictures like this. Takes skill to do that.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Hi, Roland - Thanks for the comments. The fishermen pose for you... these are arranged shots. The shots of the villagers were set up spontaneously by my local guide as we walked around through the villages. Most of these were not tourist locations, but rural villages that he was familiar with. We would walk through the villages looking for portrait subjects and ask for 10-15 minutes of their time for a short photo session. We would tip them afterwards for their time... I don't think anyone actually asked for a fee upfront.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

Beautiful place. I just checked and it turns out that I only live 3 hours away by train. I might have to take one of my off days to go wonder around. Would be worth the trip.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Roland Karlsson

Its a big place. Maybe more than an off day?

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Well maybe two. I get two off back to back so I could spend them both there. I'm close enough and the travel is cheap enough I could go weekly if I wanted. Might could make it a once a month trip to get out of the city....

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Roland Karlsson

You are the lucky one!

Apr 17, 2016permalink

It would be better luck if I was a landscape photography haha. The only one I knew recently skipped town. Landscapes aren't really my thing but I am interested in the rice fields. I'd like to do some images of people working the fields if possible

Apr 17, 2016permalink

jadot

To my eye the pictures look a little over processed, but I guess that's a style thing. Just not my taste.
Otherwise, I like the pictures, although the story seems to be more about the photographer than about the subject. I feel I learned more about his trip than I learned about the region.
It's not the photographer's fault: there are few places left on this planet that haven't been turned over to photographic cliché. We've see versions of the same Yosemite, the same Horseshoe Canyon, and the same ancient ruins, and the same fisherman over and over by now.
When all the sunrise pictures have been taken, telling the story of the dedicated photographer who, like thousands before him, got out of bed early, simply doesn't make the picture more authentic, but that's the story on sale here. "I did it, while you read about it".
It's fair enough, but if you want to see exciting photography about China you should look at Nadav Kander's excellent series around the Yangtze.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Thank you for posting that. Very interesting to look at his work and read about his thoughts behind it. It is very true what he says that many Chinese feel it is sad that their culture and traditions are being destroyed by the rapid development. Now is the best time to be in China because in the future there will not be much of old China left at all.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

I think what happens is that, especially for tourists, one finds themselves on a tight time-budget and they want to see the sights. I'm guilty of this; I guess we all are. People go to the Scottish Highlands and photograph Buachaille Etive Mor from the ski area car park; they go to Yosemite and shoot the tunnel view. Really original landscape photography tends to occur when the photographer knows the landscape and lives in it - that's hard to do on a holiday. And the really interesting shots tend to be of places that are not so well known - again difficult if you do not live there.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Thanks, Jadot - Good comments. Yes, the original article was travel-focused more so than photography-focused.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

Cliffrover

Excellent shooting spots but the colours are a bit over turned...

Apr 17, 2016permalink

BasilG

Many of these are excellent, but the first one with the red glow in the sky and the sun in a position that suggests noon is somewhat over the top in terms of processing...

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Hi, Basil - Thanks for the comments. This was actually shot perhaps 45 minutes before sunset... but, yes, I underexposed the sky in spots, pulled color out, saturated, etc.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

villagranvicent

Excellent photos, specially the landscapes. Guilin is one of the most beautiful places in the world, any seasoned photographer MUST come back from there with an amazing pic or two...

Apr 17, 2016permalink

BeaverTerror

A bit too much on the saturation, clarity, and dehaze sliders. Otherwise great shots. I'm lucky enough to be able to frequent this part of China. I'd cut the "bird fisherman" photo. It's a stock scene in Xingping. Every tourist has that shot. Every time I go down there I come home with about thirty shots of that guy. Ok, maybe not that exact same guy; one of his cousins. You get the idea.

Did I mention the oversaturation?

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Hi, Beaver - Yep, there are probably 4-5 of those fishermen as far as I can tell... so, you'll see the same ones showing up. They have been shot many times, so you are right that the images might not appeal as much to photographers who have seen them many times before.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

onlooker

Beautiful photographs, but why not take a few more days off and enjoy this without killing yourself?

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Thanks - I was already pretty maxed out on vacation time... this was a 17-day trip. :)

Apr 28, 2016permalink

M H S

I just returned from a week in China and am now ashamed of my photos.

Great shots.

The critics are so predictable. They only shoot 100% original photos...but of course never show them anywhere.

Apr 17, 2016permalink

Apr 28, 2016permalink

PeaceKeeper

3 cheers for "de-haze"! :D

I tend to only catch sunsets... only ever managed a few sunrises. I like my sleep. Although the few times I DID sacrifice some sleep worked out quite well. There's no other way to catch sun coming through Hickman Bridge in Capital Reef NP.

Apr 16, 2016permalink

jwang88

Looks nice but nothing new. All those farmers and fisherman images are posed by paying them money. I have taken many photo tours to theses two places and thousands of photographers have shot the same images over and over again.

Apr 16, 2016permalink

envnews

I am afraid I'll have to agree.there is noticeable too much saturation in the photos and also as far as the subjects and style are concerned: too many photos that all look the same. I am not saying it is easy to find new paths into that, but I don't find these particularly special

Apr 18, 2016permalink

muppix

Sun's awfully high for 04:00 ...

Apr 16, 2016permalink

(unknown member)

Getting up at 4:00am doesn't actually mean taking photos at that time. The first shot was obviously taken from a high elevation, it would take time to get there probably. I would expect the photographer got up early to be in position for the time and place he had planned to be.

Apr 16, 2016permalink

ElviraGrey

Doesn't matter. There's more than one glaring inconsistency in that photo.

1. Suppose it is, in fact, noon and that's why the sun is overhead, then why is the sky red/orange?

2. Suppose it is not noon and that's why the sun is red, then why is it practically overhead in the sky?

Then only answer that resolves both questions is: post processing liberty. This may not matter to some but to those of us with even a rudimentary understanding of atmospheric physics, this is hard to ignore.

Apr 17, 2016*permalink

(unknown member)

You raise a slightly different point from that to which I responded but, that said, it deserves attention.

Having been in China, although not in this district, I could suggest pollution as a possibility - I HAVE seen it that red at midday! Or it could be the photographer is using a coloured graduation filter, or it could be post-processing.

In judging the validity of the photo the most relevant question is what was the purpose in taking the image? If it was for scientific or documentary purposes I would absolutely support your point. However, if it is for artistic purposes then it falls under artistic license, and becomes a matter of personal taste.

Apr 18, 2016*permalink

Hi, muppix - this shot taken about 45 minutes before sunset.

Apr 28, 2016permalink

papa natas

Wow..That first image...
This is the second time I see those sun rays coming through the clouds since God talked to Charlton Heston.

Apr 16, 2016*permalink

FastGlassLover

Nice images, but since when does getting up early count as hard work? Dedication to the craft, certainly. Hard? That's a pretty low bar for "hard".

Apr 16, 2016permalink

papa natas

Since the computers invaded our lives.
Kids are staying at parent's homes until the age of 50, undecided...
Ask my nephews..

Apr 16, 2016permalink

Boissez

Please reread the article. He only got 4 hours of sleep every day.

Apr 18, 2016permalink

FastGlassLover

Boissez, read that. I guess that's hard work for you.

Apr 18, 2016permalink

Boissez

Haha OK - if you say so. You must be quite the superworker.

Apr 18, 2016*permalink

starwolfy

Love the pics but can't help feeling we've already seen everything about this tourist place of China.

Apr 16, 2016permalink

Hasa

WOW! what a fantastic series. Unfortunately part of getting these extraordinary images is getting up at 4 a.m. (shudder!). Hard work. Sleep deprivation.

Apr 16, 2016permalink

MarioV

All high quality and interesting at the same time. Perfect.

Apr 16, 2016permalink

Will B Milner

Truly outstanding!

Apr 16, 2016permalink

RedFox88

#6 is great. Some before that are too hdr.

Apr 16, 2016permalink

Peerg

Indeed fantastic pictures, awesome!!!! some a bit over processed for my taste

Apr 16, 2016*permalink

Sonyshine

My! Breathtaking!

Apr 16, 2016permalink

bluevellet

Shenmue 3

Apr 16, 2016permalink