A day in the Blue

My friend Frederick Johnson (frederickvan.com, @frederickvan on Twitter, and regular on the This Week in Photography podcast; aka TWiP), arranges local photowalks regularly, and Sunday I went along for the photowalk on Treasure Island. I’m not one for wandering around snapping random photos, so I proposed the idea of an “assignment” that we could each follow, to give us some kind of goal. And it’s always clever to force yourself out of your regular comfort zone of photography anyway. We decided the theme would be color, scratched down a series of hues on little scraps paper and drew them out of my knit hat. We chose Red, Yellow, Brown, Blue (but no sky or water allowed), and Black and White (both on the same ticket). We chose to leave out Green, as it would be entirely too obvious. I drew last and got Blue, which turned out to be surprisingly plentiful on the island. Although I think I’ve fulfilled my pain-chip-photo quota for the year!

Rusty Nuts

Having an objective really made it more interesting for me, and I think the rest of the guys agreed. And again it’s always fun to step out of your “normal” area of practice, to see what you can come up with. Here are the respective galleries:

• Blue (mine)


• Yellow (Egan Schulz)


• Red (Mike Greenberg)


• Brown (Frederick Johnson)


• Black & White (Ralf Weber)

I’m sure I’ll be on another one soon. Being the competitive types, I think next time we’ll put money on it and open it up to blind criticism. Fun! ;-)

San Francisco Twilight Criterium

Saturday night I shot the San Francisco Twilight Criterium, a bike race in the city that went from 5pm to after 9pm. The first run was Men’s Amateurs, followed by a Children’s “race”, then the Women’s Pro and finally Men’s Pro. Shooting a bike race at night certainly has its challenges, beyond the obvious “it’s dark out there!”. There were flood lights around the course, providing hot-spots of light at each turn and about mid-way down each straight. However the lights were pointed at the riders’ backs, so as not to blind them of course—but which happens to be very inconvenient for photography!

The gallery has a TON of photos posted; these are all available for the riders so basically anything that’s in focus went online. I like the idea that in some photos, the only face in focus in the middle of a big pack is “Bob”, and when “Bob” finds that photo, he’ll be able to show it off as if the image is all about him. Which of course, it is ;-)

Just one of my favorites from each segment here (I’m obviously keen on the dynamic blurred action shots), and the full 820 (out of 2687 shot—yeah, there’s a lot of throw-away in a shoot like this!) are all on the gallery.

Olympic Village at Night

One slow night in the MPC, I took a Nikon D3 out for a little test-run. The camera performed admirably, although the meter is completely bonkers in low light. I had to shoot manual and under-expose (per the meter) every shot by 1–2 stops, and then tweak the heck out of the RAW files in Aperture. I've never chimped that much in my life. However it performed better in daylight; those images will get here soon(ish).

Anyway the Village at night is gorgeous. It's pretty clear that both landmark venues, the "Bird's Nest" and the "Water Cube", were designed to look amazing at night. I wasn't very impressed with either of them during the day, but to be fair they grew on me. However in total disclosure, when I first arrived in Beijing, I compared the National Stadium (the Bird's Nest) to the Brussels 1958 World Fair's Atomium and its surrounding structures (1958—2008; 50 year anniversary… coincidence? You be the judge!). Not because of it's shape, but because of its hideousness against the grey sky. In Belgium, you have a pretty much guaranteed grey sky most days. Same in Beijing. I'd think that if you were going to build something that large in a city that's mostly grey during the day, you'd find a way to make it stand out. The brushed steel nest against the grey sky does not a pretty picture make.

Site of the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, taken in 1998 on a Kodak DC210 (!)

However again at night, this place really shines. And because of the heat, many events went well after dark, and most guests didn't leave the Village in a rush—there were thousands of people enjoying the warm night, the beautiful lights, the music and the water features late, late into the night.

Here are a few images; there are more in the gallery.

"One World, One Dream"… just not for YOU! (*ahem*)

Where journalism come from

Pretty much all the news you've watched, read, or looked at from the Olympics comes out of two buildings here… the IBC (International Broadcast Center) and MPC (Main Press Center). Every video feed from every venue around the city is being fed simultaneously, in real-time, into the IBC where the various networks from around the world have set up camp. They all have access to the same feeds, and cut and edit at-will. Meanwhile the MPC is for the photographers and journalists. There are huge rooms set up with hundreds of computers, as well as laptop stations for those carrying their own. They all have high speed internet, so the journalists can edit their photos, write their stories, and get it all out to their respective publications. Larger organizations, like the AP or USA Today, have their own dedicated rooms spread throughout the multi-story building.

The MPC is practically a small city. There's a large, international cafeteria along with a McDonald's and McCafé, a general store, a gift shop, copy shop, UPS Express shipping center, and more. Kodak provides printing services (along with film developing services for anyone shooting film… yes, it happens!), and both Nikon and Canon are loaning gear by the metric ton.

Here's a few photos from around the MPC so you can see, during the Olympics, where journalism comes from. These are made during a quiet time; after a big match the place would be packed to the brim.

The main hall in the MPC.

Nikon (and Canon) are loaning gear to the photographers.

Several rooms like these are open for anyone with a laptop to plug in and work.

Panasonic put a massive plasma TV in the lobby.

100"? I dunno but it's bigger than mine!

The general store, for everything from aspirin to zip ties, and the oft-needed beer!

A map of the MPC. See, it's big!

The UPS Express store.

McCafé, the only place for a drinkable latte (sold as a 'flat white', surprisingly enough)

McDonald's. 'Nuff said.

The big international food cafeteria. Some decent food to be had here.

And the cafeteria seating. As you can see… room for a LOT of people.

A Bug Lunch

For those that follow the twitter, you know I did something slightly… unusual yesterday. I ate a few things that you don't normally find on western menus. Things you don't normally consider eating. Things if seen in the wild, you'd probably run away screaming like a little girl.

I ate snake.

I ate centipede.

And the pièce de résistance… I ate scorpion.

But let me back up and take you on a tour of the great, famous, Donghuamen Market in Beijing (also seen written as the DongHuaMen Night Market, although it's open during the day).

Breaking tradition, I can't resist posting this movie on here. When we walked into the market, we immediately ran into a TV crew from Curaçao, traveling with Shawn Crawford, winner of the 200m Silver, who were trying to talk themselves into eating something bizarre. They finally settled on the snake (tame enough), but when I ordered a centipede, they couldn't resist getting in on the action. With cameras rolling, the host bit into his snake while I gnawed on the centipede. We traded sticks, and sampled each-others snacks. As you can see in this video, snake and centipede are not high on the yummy list in the islands!! You'll also see the devastation of one crispy scorpion. Delicious!

The video is also on my MobileMe gallery.

My dining experience even merited a comment on Vincent Laforet's Newsweek.com blog! LOL…

This is where to find the Donghaumen Market. On Google it's listed as Dong'anmen St., but I'll stick with the spelling on the sign I photographed there.

View Larger Map

This market is amazing, selling pretty much everything you would ever think not to eat. They sell starfish, centipede, grub, scorpion, snake, all kinds of internal organs, and — wait for it — sheep penis. No, I did not put that in my mouth.

Pictures speak louder than words. Check it out…

Centipede

Grubs

Selection of scorpions (I ate the smaller ones, thank you!)

Scorpion already fried and ready to be reheated

Soft shelled crab

Soft shelled crab cooking

Yep… there it is. Sheep penis.

Of course the market doesn't just sell the bizarre. It also had a great selection of fruits, vegetables, noodles, and different meats. Not that I'd eat any of that crap.

Little boy eating corn

Old woman eating noodles

What an experience. Even if you don't have the cojones to eat any of these delicacies yourself, no trip to Beijing would be complete without this bizarre experience. You gotta go!

In fact… I'm rating this "restaurant" with 5 feet… because damnit, it rocks!!