Been to Shanghai again for Business. Those of you that have read my post on Japan (with a couple of Shanghai pics) know that I have met this young photographer. His name (English version) is Jingle. When I knew I would be back to Shanghai for business I let him know and asked if he would like to go out for some shooting. We met and I can say I have found a great new friend. He not only was a great host in his city but he led me to this iconic place on a perfect evening.
Yan’an elevated is a famous photography spot and for cityscape lovers like me this is a place you could spend days just trying to find a new twist to a well known scenery. Well you may say now – why always go to the spots everybody else has already taken hundreds of similar photos of? Excellent question! Let me give you my very personal answer. As a business traveler as the name suggests one travels for business. Time to spend on your hobby is rare and difficult to set aside. I’m not a street photographer – or at least I have not warmed to that style of photography yet. So what’s left in a city, certainly no landscape. But beautiful cityscapes. With a couple of hours to run around the city – mostly in rush hour traffic as sunsets and sunrises have this tendency to be quite often around rush hour in large cities, you have to focus. I usually go on 500px, Flickr and National Geographic (where – by the way – I first saw pictures of this intersection) and just try to figure our where good spots are to shoot. All you can do in two hours is one location. Then you have to hope for some decent weather, which in a city like Shanghai is a rare occasion anyway and then you go out and get your take of what everybody else has shot to death. And I enjoy it! I guess this is what it’s all about, at least for me – and for now. I’m well aware that with your personal advancements in photography interests change as quick as your own style of photography and I’m currently in the phase of trying to emulate photographers I adore and great sceneries.
A big thanks for having made this shoot possible goes out to Jingle my dear friend in Shanghai. I already look forward to my next trip to this upbeat city as I have at least two more spots on my to do list for Shanghai. Stay tuned … and meanwhile enjoy the pics.
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