Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Diana Mini in the Forbidden City

Last Saturday Brian and I finally participated in the primary tourist activity here: seeing the Forbidden City. Prior to trekking to the center of Beijing though, we stopped in Sanlitun to visit the photography store Lomography. There we purchased a fun plastic camera called the Diana Mini....it pretty much rocks.


image by Lomography
 It's 35mm, takes 2 different formats, can do multiple exposures and overlapped images. Very easy and flexible to use. We got the pictures back yesterday and they're just fun. Everyday images, scenes, and moments became magical under this lens.

Our trip began with a stop at Jingshan Park just to the north of the Forbidden City. Also known as Coal Hill, the major feature of the park is a huge landform where they piled all the fill after digging it from the moat. Great views from the top, centered right on the axis of the FC and the drum and bell towers. It was a bit pollution-hazied day, but still great afternoon light.



Jingshan Park in Spring

View towards the bell and drum towers

Forbidden City from Jingshan Park

We then headed into the FC from the north and simply wandered the rooms, chuckled at the tour groups, and ate Mickey Mouse ear-esque ice cream in the courtyard. Afterwards we had drinks at a nearby hotel rooftop bar as the sunset. We had to keep stopping and saying: Yep, we're in China.

Forbidden City double exposure


Brian was really good at these double exposures


this one is my favorite


Chinese dessert: nuts, dried fruit...in fruitcakeish form


I inadvertently created an overlapped image on the one of brian waiting for a cab. i love it.



1 comment:

  1. I loove these photos.
    Aren't Lomocameras cool!?
    I wish I was going to be home in FL to see you :D

    ReplyDelete