The Wet Market of Xiamen

We are on a trip to Fujian province in China, and on arrival in the Longyan district, a cold front was moving in. Coming from Shenzhen, we are not used to really cold weather, and, although we did bring enough winter clothes, the sudden cold weather was quite a shock to the system.

The First Photo of the Day - in-camera Sepia setting

The cold front also brought with it, overcast conditions that lasted for several days. Friends of us who live in Xiamen invited us to come to Xiamen (about 250 km from where we were) as they have beautiful days with puffy clouds and blue skies.

The Colour Version

So we went to Xiamen, arriving just before sunset but welcomed by another dull overcast sky. They told us that the weather changed in the afternoon.

The initial plan was to go for an early morning sunrise shoot at the beach, but it started raining during the night and was still raining in the morning.

But, as enthusiast photographers, the weather cannot dampen our need to photograph, so we decided to visit the local wet market for some street photography.

In hindsight, the weather actually did us a favour, as the wet weather create some unique photo opportunities.

The first photo I took, was with an in-camera sepia setting and as I liked the look, I continued the shoot in sepia.

Back in the hotel, I opened the raw version of that first photo to see if I can get more definition in the shadow areas, and liked the vibrant colours displayed in the raw converter. It is as if the colour version adds more emphasis on the fact that normal life must go on - even on a miserable rainy day.

For me, these photos asked me to be in colour.