June was a month of flowers and raindrops with the occasional sun break thrown in. Nothing exciting but the ordinary is so lovely that one doesn’t really need extra-ordinary.
On to July…our pie apples are almost ripe.
For Zimmerbitch’s The Changing Seasons, June 2020.
Another sculpture from the Auckland Botanical Gardens. More uplifting than the one last week.
I haven’t had much time this week, preparing for the holiday, to either do photography or pull together an Advent 3 post.
This week’s squares, somewhat late, except that I decided to light my fourth candle early, on the solstice instead of waiting for Sunday. It just seemed like the right time to add some light.
Maybe next week I’ll be more pulled together…maybe.
One thing that fascinated me when I researched about the Great Wall of China is that it was used more for communication than for separation. In the days before cell phones, messages could be sent quickly over long distances along the wall using smoke, flares and flags.
These are photos from the reconstructed area called Mutianyu. It is less crowded than Badaling, which is more easily accessed from Beijing. As I mentioned we had a private driver to our hotel as part of Wild Great Wall’s self-guided tour so we did not have to figure out how to get back to the city.
Comparing from the photos I posted last week, Which Way. You can see that the reconstruction and maintenance are a monumental endeavor. The wall is along the crest of the hills and the area is not accessed by roads, the materials are heavy and there is a lot of territory to cover.
Traveling this section there are a lot of stairs, steep and uneven in many places.
For Son of a Beach’s Which Way Photo Challenge
My Time Squares for the second week of Advent:
Time to dance:
It’s time to wear gloves. I took these walking the dogs a couple of weeks ago, on the first frosty morning.
For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Cold
I used to go downtown pretty often. Of late I take the whopping 20 minute bus ride two or three times a year. This past weekend I attended a conference downtown so went in twice. That takes me to above my annual average this year.
Son of a Beach’s Which Way Photo Challenge
For a while now I have been really enjoying the beauty of photographs posted by Bren at Ryan Photography. In her November 5th Flower of the Day post she describes how she post processes images using radial and graduated filters in Adobe Lightroom, which I actually have and know, more or less, how to use. So many of the techniques require photoshop or other fancy things I haven’t learned yet. Last week I had an afternoon free from other worries and while the chili cooked I took a few photos from a fall walk around my neighborhood and gave her techniques a try.
I found it to be relaxing, almost like meditation, to play with the light and shadows. A big thank you to Bren for sharing her techniques.
Son of a Beach’s Which Way Photo Challenge
This afternoon I had a serendipitous experience. I was doing my coddiwomple thing after having coffee with my son and his girlfriend. They headed off to work and I just headed off. I tend to wander in a spiral, keeping a sense of where my ground zero is, but at the same time getting farther and farther afield. As I was headed back toward the center I spied a fascinating looking lion. Of the mythical type you often see on either side of an entrance in China. The thing that caught was the colors of the lion. It turned out that it was ceramic and the amazing coloration was from a brilliant job of glazing.
The shop appeared open but empty. I first peeked in through, then pressed my nose against the window to get a good view of the lions and other merchandise. From the shop next door a woman came out and said “Welcome to Shouguang” and invited me into her shop. She was happy to have me take pictures and she and her assistant served me tea. I believe, and I may learn more tomorrow when I visit another of her shops with my son, who will be able to understand her, it is a special collector’s type of ceramic. I am certain that it is gorgeous.
This is one of those times when I couldn’t have planned to do something I really enjoyed, because I didn’t know it existed.
Come along on an adventure with us!
Nensi patel
En fotoblogg
age is just a (biggish) number
My writing and photo journey of inspiration and discovery
I am passionate about life and my photography and art allows me to share my passions.
This blog is my creative outlet where I can share my photos and a bit of myself.
Ik ben creatief bezig met fotografie, experimenteren maar vooral genieten.
shout it from the rooftops
Everyone Has Something To Teach Us
journal, travel, photography and beauty
Better Living Through Beauty, Wisdom and Whimsey
Taking the camera for a walk!!!
Out and about with PHOTOPHILE
following the bouncing ball across the world
Travel Destinations & Photography
