Wulingyuan is a scenic and historic interest area in Hunan Province, China, famous for its approximately 3,100 tall quartzite sandstone pillars, some over 200 meters in height. It is home to three ethnic minority groups: the Tujia, the Miao, and the Bai people, who all have their own languages, traditional cultures, festivals, and architectural styles. If you are amongst the tribes you might be forgiven for thinking that you have stepped back in time, but you'll quickly be jolted out of your daydream. Wulingyuan is a favourite holiday spot and Chinese and international tour groups are everywhere. This scenic area has been successfully marketed as a key tourist site and tourism in China is mushrooming.
The New York Times brings us another travel-related slideshow, and while its photography is rather pedestrian, it's brought here to TTP because of the wonderful narration by Simon Winchester...whose pronunciation (he's British) and enunciation, as well as timing sense, bring life to an otherwise bland travelogue. Ariana Lindquist's photographs seem to have been plucked by a photo editor whose heart wasn't in the assignment...too bad, because I'm sure that the photographer must have submitted better ones than those. However, Simon Winchester's narration saves it.
The real point of the post, you ask? Well, it's obvious that hiring a good narrator (or being blessed with inborn narrative skills) greatly enhances photographers' multimedia productions, and with the intensity of competition increasing minute by minute, I believe that it behooves us to learn how to narrate well, or to hire someone with these skills. I have seen and heard many such multimedia shows that are marred by the mumblings of the photographers, and it's a shame...as it diminishes the impact on viewers.
The New York Times' The Skyscrapers of Wulingyuan feature. (Registration may be required).
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