吉姆 JIM HOFMAN | Photography Faces & places in China

Posts Tagged ‘shopping’
Analog | The Village after Covid
Analog | The Village after Covid

I was relieved to see all of my village friends survived the December of 2022 Covid wave that swept through China.

Analog | Ningbo | Returning During Zero Covid
Analog | Ningbo | Returning During Zero Covid

After enjoying the relative safety of China’s Zero Covid policy during 2020 and 2021 I returned after a 15-month absence. Unfortunately, I returned to a very different China.

Hong Kong and China at f0.95
Hong Kong and China at f0.95

I typically dedicate posts to a single location on a trip, but this post is dedicated to a single f-stop – f0.95.  Mitakon makes a 35mm lens with a wicked-fast f0.95 aperture.  Shooting wide open with this lens yields a razor-thin depth of field.

Hong Kong 11.17
Hong Kong 11.17

Two quick passes through Hong Kong on this trip – arriving and departing on a three week trip to China. The weather in October is always amazing.  No humidity or big heat. 

Yangjiang 7.17
Yangjiang 7.17

I participated in the first ever Yangjiang Street Photography Photo Walk this week.  There was three of us, but only two photographers.

Kathmandu 7.17
Kathmandu  7.17

An amazing place – only a 4-hour flight from Guangzhou, but decades behind China.  We arrived prepared for Nepal’s summer monsoon season but returned with sun burns because of the unusually beautiful weather in July.

Hong Kong 3.17
Hong Kong  3.17

I enjoyed a whirlwind photo walk in TST and Mong Kok for a few hours before flying home. I logged 9.2 miles of walking and got some interesting close-up shots. I used the 14mm f2.8 lens on the Fuji X-Pro2 for all of these images.

Ningbo 3.17
Ningbo 3.17

Ningbo was cold and crappy – except for one day, which was like a glimpse of spring. But it was just a tease.

Shenzhen | Qingxi 2.17
Shenzhen | Qingxi 2.17

I was lazy and didn’t get out to the Qingxi wet market early in the morning like I usually do, but there is always activity there and an opportunity for street photos. I also stopped briefly in Shenzhen and got out for a couple hours.

Yangjiang 10.16
Yangjiang  10.16

Another stop in Yangjiang and I wandered down into the old part of the city for a few photos.  I’m experimenting with Fuji’s 56mm f1.2 lens for street photography.  All of these photos were shot wide open at either f1.2 or f1.4.  Two words – Not easy.                 […]

Beijing 6.16
Beijing 6.16

This was my third trip to Beijing. Each time I see the same sights, so this time I was prepared to get some decent photos because I’ve already done the scouting.

Yangjiang 7.16
Yangjiang 7.16

It was blazing hot in Yangjiang this July. I was only able to get out for street photos a couple times because it was raining so much and my schedule was nuts. Heat + rain = humidity. Not great for lenses sitting in an overly air conditioned hotel room. I had to preheat my camera before shooting.

Ningbo 4.16
Ningbo 4.16

I made my usual stop in Ningbo and took photos near my usual shopping mall (Wanda Plaza). Except for the people in the photos it looks like the photos could have been taken in Minneapolis.

Ningbo 1.16
Ningbo  1.16

Lots and lots of rain in Ningbo.  It never stopped.  So I spent my time shooting inside a mall or out in the rain.                      

Yangjiang / Shenzhen 1-16
Yangjiang / Shenzhen 1-16

I often go to Southern China in January to escape the winter in Minneapolis.  This year winter followed me to China and I witnessed the first snow in Shenzhen in over 40 years.  I had to go out and buy a freaking winter coat because it got so cold.  Not exactly the escape I had […]

Hong Kong 11.15
Hong Kong 11.15

I had a few hours in Hong Kong on my way home and grabbed some street photos after dinner. It was a really great trip and this was the icing on the cake. Once again, these were all taken with a small Nikon P7800 with an extra on-camera flash and not my usual big DSLR as an experiment.

Qingxi 11.15
Qingxi 11.15

I absolutely love southern China in October and early November. The humidity and big heat are gone. You can actually walk around in the middle of the day instead of hiding in an air conditioned office or hotel. That meant I could get out and enjoy lots of street photography without my lens fogging.

Guangzhou / Ningbo 10.15
Guangzhou / Ningbo 10.15

My trip took me to both Ningbo & Guangzhou where I stayed at hotels that were both next to a Wanda Mall. This is a chain of upscale malls where China’s middle class goes to spend the money they’ve earned from Walmart.

Yangjiang 10.15
Yangjiang 10.15

I visited Yangjiang twice on this trip, including a period that overlapped with the annual kite festival.

Lijiang 7.15
Lijiang 7.15

I’ve been mentally searching for a western city I’ve visited before that is similar to Lijiang. The only place I can think of is Venice, Italy.

Yangjiang 6.15
Yangjiang 6.15

They were hot streets. Very hot.

Shenzhen & Qingxi 4.15
Shenzhen & Qingxi 4.15

I spent the weekend in Qingxi visiting my usual haunts for street photography – along with some new places in Shenzhen. The weather was perfect on most of the days and I even went mountain climbing with a new friend.

Yangjiang 4.15
Yangjiang 4.15

The weather is just as flaky here as it is in Minneapolis. One day it’s sunny and 80 degrees – the next day it’s in the 50’s and cloudy. Regardless, I got out a couple times for some street photos. I’m staying in a new hotel in the city center that’s better located for street shots.

This is not China…
This is not China...

This is not China… but there are surprising similarities. After my China trip in January I continued west to Dubai and Amman, Jordan. My final destination was Nablus in the West Bank. Of course I took my camera gear and did some street photography in Nablus, Hebron, Ramallah and Bethlehem.