Lin Sun  


Sun Yat-sen by Lin Sun

July 2021 - Sun Yat-sen

About the Image(s)


This photo was taken in Guangzhou City, China, this May. It is a building in memory of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who was the father of democracy in China, and inaugurated there as the President of the nation 100 years ago. I used Fijifilm X-T20 with a fixed 85mm ZhongYi lens, F/8, 1/3000 sec.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
15 comments posted




Arief Rahardjo   Arief Rahardjo
Overall your photo was good as travel photo. The trees framing the building very well.   Posted: 07/09/2021 04:35:35
Lin Sun   Lin Sun
Thank you for your comment. Yes, it was a photo on the trip to visit the memorial   Posted: 07/10/2021 00:17:04



Marilyn Peake   Marilyn Peake
The building has wonderful colors and details, which you captured well. Unfortunately, the top and right sides of the building are cut off and the large area of bright sky on the left draws the eye away from the building toward the brighter area. The building also appears to slope downward toward the left, which could be fixed in editing. Looks like a fascinating spot to photograph.   Posted: 07/09/2021 19:01:39
Lin Sun   Lin Sun
Thank you for your comments! Your suggestions are very valuable. Yes, it was a very famous and beautiful building in history. Actually I wanted to focus on the statue and use the building to represent his repute in history. However, I don't find a proper angle to standout the statue and separate it from the building. And it's too dark as a very old metal sculpture. What's more, I also wanted to express a kind of feeling that fate was unfair to the man in the statue, who should get much more respect but nowadays we can only focus on the building behind him. Literally, inside the memorial, most contents only talk about how the building was designed and built, and how many history stories happened about that building, and only very small amount of words are used to describe the man in the statue, who is deliberately forgotten for years……. But it was too complicated for me to express in a photo….   Posted: 07/10/2021 00:48:36
Marilyn Peake   Marilyn Peake
Thanks for the explanation. It's interesting to hear the history behind the location.   Posted: 07/14/2021 00:19:12



Paul Hoffman   Paul Hoffman
This does look like a fantastic place to visit and take pictures. You have done a good effort. But looking at the image the first impact I get is you aloud the camera to focus for you. I would have shot this at F11 and focus on that statue and the rest bar the overhang would be pin sharp. 85mm Lens is an interesting choice, but I always say that you should try fixed lens as you have to frame the image not the lens and you will learn so much more. I may have dropped it just a touch so it has a bit more room at the bottom and I would crop the chimney away on the right. I would also remove the thing dropping down from the tree. As for the sky, you can always go an take another sky and simply drop it in now with PS. Thank you for letting us see the building.   Posted: 07/14/2021 13:10:50
Lin Sun   Lin Sun
Thank you for your comments and so detailed suggestions. This shot didn't focus well. The lens is a fixed manual one. So I used peak focus of the camera. But I was not always able to focus successfully in that way. Since the picture itself was to express a kind of complex feeling and I was not sure how to express it explicitly, I chose this picture and hope to learn from you.
The version that Mr. Patrick posted should be similar as your suggestion and I like it very much. The building should not take that much space in my original version and the statue should stand in the center of the picture. That's the effect that I wished that the man should get focused instead of the building in nowadays mainstream culture. Thank you for your suggestions.   Posted: 07/18/2021 12:33:49
Paul Hoffman   Paul Hoffman
You say you were not happy with the focusing, not knowing your camera you could always manual focus on the statue at F11 or F8 and it would get the effect. Must admit if I find a picture I really like I will try many shot set-ups.   Posted: 07/19/2021 05:08:10
Lin Sun   Lin Sun
Trying different settings is a good idea! In this picture, I was trying to make both the statue and the building sharp but leaving the leaves at the top blurring, so I chose F8. The "peak focus" feature of the camera told me that most of those interested area was focused well, but it turns out not well enough. I should take a few more shots around the focus on site, together with F11 settings. That could have saved this picture somehow.   Posted: 07/19/2021 12:23:06



 
This is a great start. Here's my finish on it, since the statue is the main subject. I tried to keep him in context. I dodged the statue to get more detail in the man's features. Cropped out the excess sky, upper portion of the building, some of the junk in the background. Burned in some color, and enhanced the brightness of the scene a bit. Just one interpretation. This picture has lots of options for editorial work. Nice shot.   Posted: 07/15/2021 11:18:04
Comment Image
Lin Sun   Lin Sun
Thank you Mr. Patrick for your great efforts on revisioning the picture. I like your version very much and it seems similar as Mr. Hoffman's suggestion. The statue looks much more shining and it can grab my attention much easier than my original version. Thank you for enlightening me that editing could help a lot indeed.   Posted: 07/18/2021 12:49:36



Raymond Zurschmitten   Raymond Zurschmitten
A good picture with beautiful colors. I agree with the comments of the predecessors. Since the statue is in focus, I like Bob's version very much. From my point of view it would be good for the picture to have more lawn at the bottom.   Posted: 07/18/2021 00:46:34
Lin Sun   Lin Sun
Thank you for your comments. Yes, I like Bob's version too. In the original version the space was occupied by the building mostly and leaving no space for lawn to balance in color at the bottom. If it was shot with the idea of Bob's version in mind, lawn at the bottom should help to standout the statue and make it more "stable" with broader foundation.   Posted: 07/18/2021 12:58:31



Stephen Levitas   Stephen Levitas
(Group 32)
This is a fine travel shot, and a complex problem, as you have been discussing with your group colleagues.
It resonates a great deal with me because I went to Taipei with my wife and three children in 1988-89. There, we visited the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, so saw a different memorial to Dr. Sun Yat-sen.   Posted: 07/20/2021 16:46:05
Lin Sun   Lin Sun
You are right that it is a complex problem. Thank you for mentioning the Memorial Hall to Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Taipei. I have never been to there but I believe it is a great place to visit.   Posted: 07/22/2021 10:37:52