Climbing the Wall Photo

Photographer’s Note

It is our first day in China and our plan to spend the day and another night in Beijing has been upturned by the visit of the Communist Party. It is the start of their conference – held once every five years – and they have booked up our hotel so that we have to give up the rooms we had booked! Fortunately we are able to reverse our itinerary and visit the Great Wall instead.

It has long since been held that the Great Wall is one of the few man-made features which is visible to the naked eye from the moon, but this is really just a myth; the wall is too slender and is in ruins in many parts and does not run continuously. Nevertheless, at about 6400km long it is an impressive feat of construction. Built over several dynasties, parts of the wall were begun as early as the 7th century BC, though work was still continuing nine centuries later. The purpose of the wall was to keep out the hostile tribesmen from the North of China, but the attempts failed spectacularly.

Today the wall is largely in ruin, though some parts have been reconstructed for tourists. On this day we walked for about 4 hours from Jinshanling to Simatai. Parts of the wall had been smoothly paved for the benefit of daytrippers, while other parts – such as this steep section – had been left rather less well reconstructed. After our long flight the day before it was a good opportunity to stretch our legs fully!

emka, avene, cessy, pasternak, eyesthetix, nwoehnl, ChrisJ, cbrman, Floydian, Bruno40, jwmunro has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

cessy (13647) 2007-11-07 12:02

Hallo Susanna
it is indeed a very good place to 'exercise' the legs .. :)
excellent angle and composition
I like the colors as well

avene (11140) 2007-11-07 12:05

excellent shot! I like how the point of view you've chosen emphasises the grandeur of the structure that seems to loom over the viewer. the strairs are also a great way the lead the eye into the shot, and people on top of them allows to appreciate the scale. I find that the composition in general is very harmonious - the line of stairs transforming into the line made bu the edge of the building and the mountain. excellent colours too. great shot.
best,
Kristine

eyesthetix (637) 2007-11-07 14:15

Hi Susanna,
the POV is very engaging. Excellent detail in the steps and elsewhere too. Colours look very 'true'

Well done. Best regards, Daniel

toni_al (15476) 2007-11-07 14:39

Salut Susanna
Rien qu'à regarder un haut j'ai déjà le vertige. Un cadrage qui ilustre bien l'inclinaison du site.
@+
Toni

pasternak (13650) 2007-11-08 1:44

Bonsoir Susanna, as someone coming from a former Communist country, I can assure you that you've made the right choice escaping to the Great Wall! ;)) I really like the POV here, an untraditional one concerning the myriads of the Great Wall shots made from the top. We can see how high it is, and that one has to make an effort to climb... well, I am sure you were rewarded with a great view!

Cheers
Alexander

nwoehnl (120) 2007-11-08 2:15

Hi Susanna, long time no see. So you made the big leap to China. This is a very interesting shot that renders the steepness of this portiong of the wall in a convincing way. Crisp details retained in the bright and shadowy parts, and good angle to have the stones section apply some structure within the overall composition. Vivid colors are nice too and of course the descriptive note is excellent.

ChrisJ (70443) 2007-11-08 2:21

Hi Susanna

You were lucky with the weather. A superb blue sky & upward pov. It rained when I went to Badaling section of the Great Wall. I had my eye on this sector of the wall as a daytrip too, so tfs. I ended up revisiting Badaling a 2nd time & got some good shots. The warm cold colour opposition of the reddish brick wall against the blue sky here is excellent. Tfs!

cbrman (19051) 2007-11-08 2:44

Hello Susanna,

La vue en contre-plongée donne le vertige sur cette image ! On a l'impression que la pente est extrème ! La Grande Muraille doit être impressionnante à visiter et ton image nous donne envie d'y faire un tour !
J'espère que tu as pris d'autre photographies !
A+

Dominique

Floydian (30970) 2007-11-08 3:28

Hello Susanna,
A complete different view from the great wall but how i like this. It really shows you have to work to get up there, a great pov you found here.
Putting some human elements inside only enhance the steepness of the climb...very nice captured.
No i won't say it, but you know what i mean ;-)
Regards, Henk

Bruno40 (6442) 2007-11-08 5:27

Hi Susanna
I love the POV of yuor photo. I visited the Wall as well but in some other section. Your photo has amazing colours and sharpness, but teh POV is the best... it even gives you a sense of vetigo
TFS
Jorge

jemaflor (39759) 2007-11-09 3:56

Salut Susanna,
Bon cadrage avec une excellente lumière, la prise en contre plongée accentue l'effet de hauteur et renforce l'impression de pénibilité pour gravir ces marches ...

jwmunro (6255) 2007-11-09 18:08

Hello Susan -

This is a very unique perspective of the Great Wall. At first I was inclined not to like because it looks like it looses definition and the steepness has collapsed the perspective. But, the more I look at it the collapsed perspective is what is making the image work so well. I know some places of the wall are steep and your image shows and conveys the steepness very well. The inclusion of the hikers (climbers) adds life and another dimension. Well done!!

Thank you for sharing.

John

markstaples (15670) 2007-11-11 2:53

What a steep climb! The low POV adds much impact here in this sharp and colourful image. Good light management. Nice work.
Best wishes
Mark

gilou530 (35700) 2007-11-16 12:46

salut susanna
un bon POV en contre plongé qui donne de la hauteur a ces marches, magnifique ciel bleu, beau travail
amitiés
gilbert

emka (22357) 2007-11-29 22:06

Hi Susanna,

So this is the Wall in Simatai. It looks more genuine than Badaling. Although on this photo there is no wall going over mountains like a dragon I like this view. The stairs are very steep!

Regards

Malgorzata

Drom (1165) 2007-12-01 1:51

Salut Susanna,
et bravo pour l'apic!
J'en ai meme le vertige...
Amitié
Dominique

Photo Information

Copyright: Susanna Leon (sleon) (9352)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-10-15
Categories: Architecture, Ruins
Camera: Canon EOS 350D, Canon EF-S 17-85mm F4-5.6 IS USM, Hama circular polariser
Exposure: f/11, 1/60 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Travelogue: Nine Million Bicycles - China 2007
Date Submitted: 2007-11-07 11:49