Shenzhen Song & Dance Ensemble in Wellington

According to China Culture Org - "The Shenzhen Song and Dance Ensemble was established in October 1987 under the Culture Bureau of Shenzhen. With 110 total staff members, the ensemble is composed of the Dance Troupe, Song Troupe, and Stage Engineering department."

The group from the Shenzhen Song and Dance Ensemble that perform at the last night of CNY in Wellington, New Zealand.

"As a cultural emissary of Shenzhen, the ensemble has paid touring performances to Germany, Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Luxemburg, Austria and Australia, receiving a warm welcome and applause from international friends and overseas Chinese."


The Ensemble did only ONE show in New Zealand, a 90 minutes show at the stuffy TSB Arena in Wellington. The ticket was $20 per adult, I did not go; not because of the $20 but I was NOT ALLOWED to shoot pictures ;)

Our Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown (center) was there, so was our friend Chris Bing; the local Nikon fanatic ;)

Chris was the official photographer for the organiser and that is why I am using his pictures.

Here is what he said... "All the Indoor shots were taken with the D3 and D3s. at ISO 6400. I had the 24-70 f2.8 on one camera and the 105 micro f2.8 on the other. The lighting on stage was very challenging!"

 I think you will agree with me that those are really good shots of the performance!  Well done Chris, oh... "carrying these heavy cameras is worth it and they are not just chick magnets!" Quote and unquote from you ;) I don't remember chicks were stalking me when I was a young photojournalist! Hee...

As for the last shot on top, I prefer the cropping below; the crop removed all that clutter on the bottom of the frame.

This is a candid shot Chris took at the back stage. He has this to say...

 "And behind stage light was non existent apart from one lamp. I cloned the lamp out with the spot remover tool in Lightroom for the close up of the girl's back! Is that allowed in reportage photography or as a photo study for a competition?"

I don't think so mate, if you are working in a photo agency or newspaper (Asian newspapers not included ;) you will be out of a job pronto! As for competition, look at this link!

Famous Last Words...

"Thanks CY for putting my photo on the blog. I just noticed it. Just another excuse to have a dig at me for carrying these big and heavy cameras. But can the OM-D do what I have done?"

I really don't know my friend, why don't you get me in the next time and we will do a you-Nikon and me-OMD duet and we will see ;)