The People of Mianyang and Chengdu

In early spring of 1997 I visited Chengdu and Mianyang in Sichuan Province, China.. Those cities are much in the news in recent days following the magnitude 7.9 earthquake with epicenter not far from Mianyang.

I had a wonderful time there and would love to return. The images I see on the news and the web from there are tragic and heartbreaking.

I am posting these pictures of some of the wonderful people I encountered there in hope that wherever they are today, they are safe and well.

Note: Clicking on the photos will take you to it’s page in my Flickr photoset where I have posted more photos from my visit there.

Today these young schoolgirls could be high school or university age. Are they still able to smile as they did in 1997?

From China View

MIANYANG, Sichuan, May 15 (Xinhua) -- A teenage girl has told how she and her classmates sang pop songs together as they lay trapped and injured in the ruins of their high school after the massive earthquake in southwest China on Monday.

The Scissor Sharpener

Mianyang Folksinger

Chengdu Bartender. He was very proud of his city and more than willing to have his picture snapped but he turned his ID badge around first.

Please see: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/14/content_8167930.htm

MIANYANG, Sichuan, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Death toll in the earthquake-stricken Mianyang City jumped from 3629 to 5,430 by 11:40 a.m. on Wednesday.
Information from the quake control and relief efforts headquarter of Mianyang City said Monday's earthquake also left 1,396 people missing, 18,486 more buried in debris, and 23,235 others injured.

See Also:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/14/content_8170751.htm

http://www.cctv.com/english/20080514/101800.shtml

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinajournal/2008/05/13/in-mianyang-street-lights-lit-relative-calm/

Please visit my Mianyang and Chengdu, 1997 photo set where you can see more photos of Mianyang and her people.

Alexander Gardner’s Burnside Bridge Photos

Alexander Gardner took a series of photographs of the Antietam Battlefield beginning just two days after the battle where 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing in a single day of combat.

Gardner’s photographs were the first time an American battlefield had ever been photographed with many of the dead still on the field. Gardner, 41 years old at the time of the battle, was employed by Mathew Brady's studio in Washington, DC.

Library of Congress Image cwpb 04327 from Gardner Negative.


Gardner’s photos include four taken of Burnside Bridge. I have attempted to discover Gardner’s camera position and recreate those shots. The results provide a glimpse of how much (or little) the area has changed in nearly 150 years.

Gardner’s Burnside Bridge (follow link to Gardner’s photo)

This would be the same view seen by many of the attacking soldiers in Burnside's command.

Clicking on the photos will take you to its page in my Flickr photoset where you can see a full size image. You can also locate the camera position on a google map or satellite image by following the “Taken in: (map)” link found under Additional Information on that page.

Clicking on the link that is the photo's title will take you to Alexander Gardner's historic photo for comparison.

Gardner’s Burnside Bridge 2 (to Gardner’s photo)

Now that I know the spot, I can return with my tripod and attempt to duplicate Gardner’s long exposure time.

Gardner’s Burnside Bridge 3 (to Gardner’s photo)

I believe the fence is a bit closer to the bank of the Antietam creek in Gardner’s shot.

Gardner’s Burnside Bridge 4 (to Gardner’s photo)

I have found Gardner’s position for this shot but I have missed on the time of day.

You can see 30 of Gardner’s photographs on the National Park Service Antietam webpage here:

Historic Photographs by Alexander Gardner

The photos can be seen as a slide show or in a gallery of downloadable 3000 x 2400 pixel images.

Follow this link to see a slideshow of some of my recent Antietam Battlefield photos:

LostBob’s Antietam Battlefield Photoset

Explain This

Which end of this tree was in the ground?

Burnside's Heron Revisited

He's in there. He won't let me get much closer than this.



Click on the picture to enlarge to see the heron.

You can see more photos of thus guy’s neighborhood around Burnside Bridge and Antietam National Battlefield here:

http://flickr.com/photos/lostbob/sets/72157604154649292/

I have a Pentax weatherproof 35mm I used to carry on canoe and backpacking trips. It has optics comparable to the Olympus C5050. I could get a good shot easily with the old Pentax zoom90-WR. It had feature that my Olympus lacks. A sensor for the remote control on the back of the camera. I could set the camera on a tripod and focus on the Heron’s favorite spot. I could then hide in cover behind the camera and wait for him to return. I already know it takes only about five minutes for him to return if I am out of sight.

The Olympus has a sensor only on the front of the camera. I would have to hide under the water.

Burnside's Heron

I spotted this Great Blue Heron a few days ago while walking on the Antietam Battlefield. Note: Clicking on the pictures will take you to my Flickr photo sharing site where you can see full size images as well as more photos of feathered friends on the Antietam Battlefield.

The Heron fishes the Antietam Creek just below Burnside Bridge and he keeps me just far enough away to almost get a picture out of this old Olympus camera.

Almost, but not quite. Or maybe it’s just that I am not smart enough to get closer to him. In either case, it’s more about soaking up some sunshine, breathing some fresh air and trying to hang onto whatever is left of my sanity than about the picture. Or the bird.


I have posted some more photos of this guy on my Flickr photo-sharing site. The full size images seen there are cropped from a 2560 x 1920 pixel original off the camera. I can get higher pixel density off the camera but I can’t do anything to improve the little piece of glass that sits in front. I need a real telephoto lens. Like the 300mm auto stabilized one in my 35mm camera bag.

I need a new camera (and a new life). It’s time for a digital SLR.

My Olympus C5050 has been a good camera (mostly) and I have a history with Olympus digital cameras starting with a C2020 when it was one of only about half a dozen 2 mega pixel cameras on the market. That one was replaced with a C4040 after I bounced the 2020 off the seat of my jeep. I loved the C4040. When it was stolen, I replaced it with the C5050. I don’t like the C5050 as much as I did the 4040 because of changes to knobs and controls etc.

When I bought the C5050 my Canon EOS-A2 35mm SLR was still my primary camera. There were digital SLRs on the market then but only one with a large format, full frame CCD and that one cost over 6 grand.

I told myself that I would hold out for digital SLR until Canon’s large format CCD was available in a camera body that sold for less than 2K and was compatible with my EOS lenses.

It looks like the EOS-5D is getting there.

I am interested in hearing from anyone with experience buying Canon camera bodies online.

Any advice about pitfalls to avoid? Things to look out for?