Come in if you dare Photo

Photographer’s Note

This is the long awaited next photo in my China series. This is the Zhonghua gate, flanked by two of the Zhonghua men, This is the gate to the south of the city of Nanjing.

Zhonghua gate is the most famous and most fortified gate of the wall. It was constructed with 1000kg vertically sliding doors and contained 27 vaults that could hold thousands of soldiers. The idea was that if an enemy entered, the doors could be slammed shut. The enemy, trapped inside, would then be ambushed by soldiers inside. Enemy armies avoided this super-fortified gate in favour of attacking Nanjing via weaker points along the wall.

ocskaymarci, scobert, Photo65Net, danos, jlbrthnn, robob, AROBN54, Cricri, Budapestman, gunbud, kiwi_explorer, Graal, andante, siolaw, syd1946, gary91, stego, jackart, bakes888, patdeph, Philippe, emjleclercq, JorgeCK, MLINES, pablominto has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ocskaymarci (2508) 2008-01-18 11:08

Hello Wilson,
It's nice to have you back!
Excellent photo! And really frightening: the enclosure, the "guards" and the long way through the gates. I like the POV (but you could have gone a bit more to the right), the DOF and the sharpness.
TFS!
Best wishes,
Marci

bracasha75 (22127) 2008-01-18 11:19

Hi Wilson
Very good shot and excellent post
TFS
Cheers,Braca

Gustaw (21670) 2008-01-18 11:49

Hi, my friend!
I see next very interesting photo from China. I like your long perspective. Good colours and light. Very interesting old architecture and art.
Marek

batalay (20964) 2008-01-18 13:01

Hello Wilson,

This is truly fabulous shot, where the symmetric perspective works perfectly. Indeed, the arch within arch vanishing into the horizon represents exceptionally good one-point perspective. The highly informative, but succinct note, complements the excellent image.

Warm regards from Virginia,

Bulent

scobert (5333) 2008-01-18 13:40

Hello Wilson,
I am glad that you have posted a new image of your trip to China. You have the art of excluding uneccessary and extraneous details from your compositions down to a science (you must be a gardener...like pulling out weeds). The composition is perfect and only includes what is neccessary and no more, and it works beautifully here. You also did an outstanding job of creating a sense of depth with the fence in the immediate foreground and the archways "echoing" well into the background. Someone would have had to have been an idiot to storm this well fortified building. This is great work!
Stan

ptibelo (2966) 2008-01-18 14:01

Bel effet des arches qui se succèdent..et travail impressionnant.
merci du partage.
JMarie

maltese (21535) 2008-01-18 22:44

Hello Wilson
une bonne utilisation de la perspective pour ces différentes arches. Une belle réalisation avec de très bonnes couleurs et une belle netteté.
Du bon travail!!
Amicalement
hervé

TopGeo (21847) 2008-01-19 0:56

Hi Wilson excellent shot!A picture very good and as composition and as detail good contrast and the clarity and in the depth. I like the presence(zhonghua men?) of guards front in stone entry.
Georgios

Photo65Net (43096) 2008-01-19 1:29

Wilson,
Glad you're back !
A nice catch here, I like a lot the guards, and the way you framed it, very original.
Nice one, interesting note too.
Regards,
JB.

danos (32538) 2008-01-19 3:03

Hello Wilson,
nice composition with great perspective and a depth of field.The two 'soldiers' hold the the entrance from the curious, i think.Excellent the colours and the light as the sharpness and the clarity.Informative your note too.

Have a nice weekend,Danos

jlbrthnn (38055) 2008-01-19 4:11

Hello Wilson,
I like much the way in which your image describes this super fortification. Your text contributes to make this entry impressive. Very good framing which accentuates the depth. Congratulations.
Have a nice day and weekend
Cordially
Joël

robob (3640) 2008-01-19 4:36

Hello Wilson,
Pas idiot du tout cette série de portes qui était un piège très redoutable pour l’ennemi !
Très bon cadrage sur cet imposant édifice,
Note très intéressante également,
Très bon week-end à toi,
Robert

AROBN54 (10777) 2008-01-19 7:29

Hey, Wilson,
this is a great shot. I like the gate in the foreground and the way you can just see on and on into the shot. I love those subdued colors and the guards so fiercely watching for intruders. :)) Wonderful, sharp detail in this, too. You handled this scene just perfectly. Well done!! Thanks and have a good weekend,
Shelly

Cricri (43108) 2008-01-19 8:32

Hi Wilson,
Intéressante composition, belle perspective des portes et cadrage original, belle présentation et couleurs naturels, compliment
Have a nice week end for you
cricri

Budapestman (42020) 2008-01-19 11:19

Hi Wilson,
Spectacular and impressive shot for the Zhonghua Gate with superb perspective. I like the attractive details and the composition, Well done! Have a nice weekend
George

danyy (68859) 2008-01-19 14:26

Bonjour Wilson,
une Chine qui arrive à mélanger ultra-modernisme avec le respect des traditions millénaires.
Une barrière qui gêne un peu le regard qui nous mêne vers cet intérieur qui a l'air somptueux.
With my best regards.
Daniel.

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2008-01-19 20:20

Hi Wilson,
Excellent depth here created by the layers of repeating archways. Good use of the intricately designed ironworks of the fence as your background. It is an ancient place but still looks very grand ... I'm glad they've preserved this place well for the future generation to enjoy. I like the life size guards ... they look real. Well captured and composed with very good image/color quality. Excellent work! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

Graal (58039) 2008-01-19 23:47

Hi Wilson,
unusual place and view, fine perspective, good details on fence in FG. Interesting note. Well done photo.
Gr., Aleksander

Silvio1953 (41843) 2008-01-20 0:35

Hi Wilson, superb perspective and splendid colors, wonderful view of great archiotecture, very well done, have a great week end, ciao Silvio

UnTrained (0) 2008-01-20 4:09

Hi Wilson,
just a protected gate, but what a gate. Great depth by the view and excellent texture everywhere. Both soldiers have a furious face, I do not dare :-)
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

andante (7092) 2008-01-20 6:42

Hi Wilson, excellent capture in every sense, nice clarity, sharp details and well-balanced composition. Only two things (from my personal way to approach photography) I would have tried to put the tunnel between the two bars, other than that, it is a very good capture.
Cheers,
Enrique

gunbud (27907) 2008-01-20 6:50

Hi Wilson,
Wonderful shot with magnificent depth and details. The two guards look very imposing with their frozen expressions. Very nice colors and sharpness to this lovely image.
Regards, Tom
BL

siolaw (25750) 2008-01-20 7:51

Hi Wilson,
Quite an intimidating entrance... I like the perspective and depth of the successive arches, and the mighty statues guarding the door seem alive! Good colors and details.
Greetings from India
Laurent

syd1946 (17913) 2008-01-20 11:05

Hello Wilson,
I like very much the way you composed the image.In front of the door,which add a lot to the form of the image.Also the perspective is excellent and the two guards are a nice touch!
Another beautiful one from your last series!

All the best for the new week,
Thomas

gary91 (15321) 2008-01-21 3:06

Hello Wilson,
Good to see you back here !
And first of all, best wishes for this new year, for you and the ones around you :o)
I think I would'nt dare coming into this place, even if the guards do not seem very dangerous, they still look impressive !
Good perspective and symetry.
Have a nice day.
Best regards, Christian

stego (22360) 2008-01-21 10:37

Hi Wilson,
The soldier dummies, along with the weighty walls and gates, impose much respect. The succession of walls makes a very punchy compo with an impressive depth.
Regards, José.

jackart (5562) 2008-01-21 14:11

Hello Wilson!

You had great trip to China. This is another one interesting place. Very simple but attractive shot. Thanks for very useful and interesting note!

Regards
Jacek

bakes888 (18239) 2008-01-21 23:39

Hi Wilson. Very imposing which I guess is the whole point of the gates! Nice capture. Well composed with good symmetry and good depth. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

Nicou (44929) 2008-01-22 0:59

Hello,

Superbe ces 2 gardes avec cette barrière, la présentation de ta très belle image est mangigique recherchée, le cadrage parfait sur cette belle entrée.

Bravo et amitiés

Nicou

patdeph (17918) 2008-01-22 10:47

hello Wilson
superb perspective on the successive arches,that makes a great depth.These doors are really impressive,and the note gives an excellent explanation!Colours ansd sharpness are superb!The railing you have include in the compo gives a stronger idea of the defensive function of this gate!Very well done!
Regards.
Pascale

Philippe (11775) 2008-01-22 12:24

Hi, Wilson. The perspective is interesting here and maybe it would have been better if you could have got rid of the fence in the foreground, which creates depth but somehow ruins the perpsective of the gates - this is only my humble opinion. The two guards add a good contrast in the overall grey colours.

emjleclercq (14310) 2008-01-22 14:22

Very nice perpective though the tunnelled gates. I regret a bit the fence in the foreground although it as an interesting shape, for it is braking slightly the perspective effect.

All the best,

Emmanuel

paololg (13761) 2008-01-25 13:38

Ciao Wilson,
beautiful composition of concentric arcs, rich of details thanks to the good neatness and the good POV. Excellent the management of the light. Beautiful job.
TFS
Paolo.

JorgeCK (2596) 2008-02-06 10:49

Hi my friend,
Excellent shot very well composed with an outstading depth of field. incrediable sharpness. Congratulations and TFS.
joRge

MLINES (10884) 2008-02-07 14:52

Hi Wilson, Excellent photo of this phenomenally cleve defence method. It seems good to trap the invaders then pick them off once they are trapped in the courtyard below. Cunning minds must have thought this one up. I like the series of China trip and enjoy learning from your notes. TFS. Murray.

pablominto (40754) 2008-03-17 13:57

Hello Wilson,
Interesting details in the construction, and you obtain an amazing sense of depth in the image!
A fairly symmetrical composition works well, fine accompanying note...
Sharp fine image of good tech quality!
Greetings,
Pablo -