Mutianyu Great Wall
Apr, 2015Views
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Awards
Winner in Ancient Architecture Photo Challenge
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photograph was taken at the Mutianyu Great Wall [of China], located about two and a half hours drive from Beijing, China. This section of the wall was about two miles from the walls common entrance at Mutianyu.Time
It was a cold mid-December day, around 3 PM in the afternoon.Lighting
Overall it was an overcast cold and dreary gray day with a lot of haze which had to be contended. The overcast provided soft light for a lot of texture in the photos.Equipment
For this photo I used a Nikon D7000 paired with a Nikkor 18-300mm 3.5-5.6G ED VR DX lens. Camera was set on a portion of the wall for steadiness.Inspiration
Walking the Great Wall has been one of my dreams and visiting the wall outside of tourist season was a bonus as so few people there to compete for good photo locations. This particular location (on top of a guard tower) caught my eye as as it showed the vastness and bleakness of the wall's topography during the long cold winters.Editing
Post processing was limited to minor adjustments of the contrast on Adobe Lightroom 5 to remove the haze.In my camera bag
I do a lot of travel photography. My standard equipment for most trips is a Nikon D810, paired with a Nikkor 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 ED VR lens and a Nikon D7000 paired with the Nikkor 18-300mm 3.5-5.6G ED VR DX lens as well as a Sigma 10-20mm 4-5.6 EX DC HSM lens. I use an aluminum Dolica 62 inch Proline tripod with a ball head.Feedback
I love traveling, but I do not like competing with all the other cameras, mobile phones, and tablets which seem constantly to get thrown in front of my lens... Part of my strategy is to visit popular locations during the off-season. This also results in photos that few others have with less people and a different perspective (for example, most photos of the Great Wall are taken in warmer months with lush green vegetation on either side of the wall, disguising the vast emptiness of the cold mountain tops the defenders had to endure!
