Stunning Poplar Forests in Xinjiang! Field Test of the Hasselblad 20-35E

In today's photography tutorial, Thomas takes you exploring Yiqikelike in Kuqa and the spectacular poplar autumn colors of the Tarim Poplar Forest Park in Luntai, Xinjiang.

During this shoot, Thomas also field-tested the image quality of the Hasselblad X2D 100MP medium-format camera paired with the 20-35E ultra-wide zoom lens.

Video

▶ Watch the video tutorial on Bilibili

This article is the illustrated companion to the video above: the poplar is said to live a thousand years without dying, stand a thousand years after death, and resist decay a thousand years more. In November Thomas and his team drove to Kuqa and Bazhou in Xinjiang to record the trees at their most brilliant. Shot throughout on the Hasselblad X2D 100C medium-format camera with the XCD 20-35E ultra-wide zoom, the video's complete field techniques are collected here.

A finished frame first: golden foliage, weathered trunks and a tiny human figure — under the ultra-wide lens the poplar forest carries both layered detail and the tension of life (at 0:35).

01 The Yardang Canyons: Clean Backgrounds, Bold Foregrounds

The first stop is Yiqikelik at the southern foot of the Tianshan mountains — the site of a vast oilfield. Using satellite maps, Thomas spotted an oasis of life in the gully-carved canyons: deep inside the yardang terrain hides a stand of poplars (at 1:00).

Poplar forest easily turns messy, so Thomas prioritizes a clean background: either the textured yardangs themselves, or distance between subject and the far grove for layering; meanwhile he hunts for foregrounds — like a patch of red shrubs. With the tripod at its lowest and the lens almost touching the plants, the X2D plus 20-35E renders a boldly exaggerated foreground perspective; and the lower the camera, the less messy ground and the cleaner sky in frame (at 1:25).

With the lens this close, focus becomes an issue: set the X2D to focus bracketing and fire five frames in a row, each focused a step further, then blend them for front-to-back sharpness (at 2:18).

02 Contrast and Moonlight: Dawn, Dusk and Night

Applying the same craft, Thomas shot more canyon poplars at sunrise and sunset. Often the foreground is optional — the tree itself is photogenic enough. One backlit spot offered a tree whose leaves glowed, an S-curve of water-carved sand and grass below; the ultra-wide perspective does it justice, but with high contrast comes a three-frame bracket (at 2:49).

Another scene is almost perfectly symmetrical: moon above, peak and tree below. Wanting to keep detail in the moon itself, he brackets again (at 3:20). And earlier that night, using moonlight to illuminate a tree, a five-frame two-stop bracket captured the dreamlike scene (at 3:39).

During the night shoot the team was lucky enough to witness — and capture — the return capsule of Shenzhou-16 reentering the atmosphere, a bright streak scratched across the night sky (at 3:56).

03 Tarim: A Forest on Fire

The team then drove to the Tarim Huyanglin Forest Park in Luntai, Bazhou. Here the poplars grow along the Tarim River, blazing like fire across the land (at 4:43).

04 The Dandelion Trick: Made Foregrounds and Time Blends

Ultra-wide photography lives on layered compositions. In the park Thomas found a field of dandelions: backlit from the side, dandelions in front and poplars behind both catch the light. Settings: F11 for depth of field, aperture priority, +0.7 EV because the sun sits just above the trees, metering 1/200 s (at 5:38).

A light breeze already carries the seeds through the air, but Thomas wanted more — he gathered fallen dandelions, checked the wind, threw them forward to build a foreground by hand, and fired bursts (at 5:57). Later, time-blending several frames produces a scene full of floating seeds.

05 Natural Frames and One Do-It-All Zoom

Wide lenses also seek out natural frames: two trees here form an arc, with a larger tree beyond — the frame speaks of poplars growing and answering each other (at 6:32). At sunrise the backlight is lovely; for more story, place a figure beneath the trees looking up — humans answering nature. Settings: 35mm, F16 focused on the framing tree so the far tree stays sharp; aperture priority, 1/25 s, ISO 200.

The great benefit of carrying the XCD 20-35E is the ultra-wide zoom's versatility: with excellent optics, every focal length delivers high-grade rendering, ready for nearly any scenery on the road (at 7:25).

1. Poplars turn messy fast: a clean background, relentless foreground hunting and the lowest camera position are the ultra-wide trifecta; 2. Too close means focus bracketing (five frames); high contrast means exposure brackets; moonlit night, a five-frame two-stop bracket; 3. Foregrounds can be made: throw dandelions downwind, fire bursts, then time-blend a sky full of seeds; 4. Find an arched natural frame, add a figure answering the trees — and the photo gains a story of people and nature.

Thomas's sample images