When I went to China, I had a vision in my mind of a type of photograph I wanted to make.
The vision came from my childhood. When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I had a friend named Elaine who was Chinese. I think her and her sister were the only Chinese people in the school at the time.
Elaine was the only person I ever knew who had to go to school after school. She had to do her Chinese lessons at home.
I remember going to her house a few times to see if she could come out to play, but she hadn’t finished her Chinese lessons yet. I would quietly wait in the hallway, peeking around the corner and watching her make astonishingly complicated letters with a brush. And I would look at the paintings.
Over 40 years later, I remember those paintings.
Isn’t it amazing how exposure to art at such an early age can impact a person?
These are a selection of my images from Huangshan China, the Yellow Mountains, processed in Lightroom to mimic my memory of those paintings.
I hope you enjoy them!
I usually process my images in a singular fashion only taking into account each image on its own. But this time I wanted to create a collection of images that worked together as a group and had a similar look and feel.
I played with the colours forever to get it just right, saved my settings as a Lightroom preset, and then applied the preset to the other images. Then if it wasn’t quite right on one of the others, I would play with the settings some more, and once again apply the new preset to the other images. I must have done that a dozen times before I was satisfied with the result. I’ll probably still play with it some more!
Truly magnificent images, Anne!
Thanks, your comments are much appreciated!
These are very beautiful. I really like how the collection works together.
Ed
Many thanks Ed!
When I first started in photography back in late 1950s, all I did was black and white. Sixty years, I still prefer black and white. Love this series of shots. Love to see more photos in the future.
Great work, keep doing more B&W photos in the future. Love your work
Thanks for sharing your photos with us.
PS:. I love color photos also.
Hi Jim, when I started photography, I did mostly black and white work as well. And I still love black and white images. But I haven’t done very much of it since the switch to digital. Doing this series reminded me why I like it so much! Thanks for your visit and comments, much appreciated.
Thank You for sharing…Very beautiful collection.
Daniel-
Glad you enjoyed them Daniel, Thanks for your visit and comments.
Beautiful images – love how you’ve PP’ed them.
Thank you very much David!
Very nice set of images. Like both the subject matter, your composition and your processing.. Good Work! Regards, Jon
Hi Jon, your comments are much appreciated, thanks!
Anne,
These photos are simply amazing. I have enjoyed B&W and have always enjoyed Ansel Adams Dome of the Rock and the many other photos he’s so well known for. Your photos are right up there in excellence. Congratulations!! Dale
Wow, well I’m not sure I’m quite at the Ansel Adams level, but I sure appreciate your kind comment! Thanks Dale.
These are all splendid, Anne, and just get better as the series goes on. The last two are amazing!
Hi Jackson! Many thanks for your wonderful comments 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous!!!
Thank you Dianna!
Your never cease to amaze me. I love the sepia toning treatment you did to each photo.
Thanks for your kind words Angelito! Always appreciated.
A beautiful and timeless collection, Anne.
Thank you so much Russ, I appreciate that 🙂
Beautiful set of images. I too, love black and white. There is something about the timeless vision it gives. Thanks for sharing these, with your thoughts.
Thank you Lisa!
Will you be publishing these images as a portfolio? If so, I want one.
Hi Tom, yes, these are available in my China gallery here: https://annemckinnell.smugmug.com/China/
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
These are stunning pictures. I love these ones.
Thank you so much, I appreciate that!
I really enjoyed looking at these photos Anne. I’m going to China in January and am even more excited after seeing the beauty you captured. This is my first trip ever, and as excited as I am also so nervous. I hope my shots turn out even 1/10 as good as yours. ❤
Thank you Chandra! I was a bit nervous going to China too because I wasn’t sure how I would make out with the language. It’s much more difficult in a country where you cannot read. But everything turned out fine and the scenery is amazing. I hope you have a wonderful time!
Beautiful images, Anne. You did a great job in post-processing as well. I love b&w.
Thank you Andrei, much appreciated 🙂
Somehow I missed the Nov. newsletter. Just now saw them and these sepia tone images are just bleeping unbelievable! You continue to inspire, Anne.. Just gorgeous!
Thank you Carol! It always makes me smile to get such lovely comments 🙂
Hi Anne, I’ve seen your great photos about your trip to China, I wanted to ask you based on your experience
which lenses are best suited for landscape photography in China and some possible portraits. Thank you
Hi Miguel, I found that I used my 18-55 lens most of the time in China. I thought I would use the wide-angle more, but it made the mountains look small. A mid-range zoom would be perfect and that works for portraits as well. Hope that helps!