Tasmania Trip!

First couple of weeks of the school holidays we spent down in Tasmania, touring around....

I am sure that should mean I will have some photos to put up on the blog...

Here are the boys in a random place in Tasmania.

Down in Melbourne this week.

At least it was a beautiful morning to travel!

Walking around Miluo

I need an exit.

I am reading "The Windup Bird Chronicle" at the moment..... maybe that is why the photo looks like this.....

Probably just a Matrix reference.

Oops.....

Chinese BBQ

We set up a makeshift BBQ in the street over the weekend... all went very well... and very tasty.

One particular gentleman decided he wanted to stop and watch - which he did for a long time.  It was certainly long enough for me to walk up to him and take a photo anyway!

The setup is shown below... well.  missing me and with the camera in one hand and the flash in the other right up close to him!

Dinner time

Great dinner....

Singapore Takeoff

Flying out from Singapore.
Shot with one of the art filters on my Olympus OM-D.... straight out of the camera.
(Which has stopped working!!! - the camera - no idea about the art filter)....
It no longer recognises that a lens is on it.
The Olympus service people have been good with talking to me.... BUT..... I can't do anything about it until I get back to Australia.  I will not be back in Australia for a month!!!    Very disappointing.

Yesterday's morning activities...

Here in Miluo,
out the back of my hotel...
after spending some time ferretting around randomly with my camera and flash...  I worked up the courage to ask the guy I wanted to photograph if I could shoot him while he was working....

He had no problems with it.... and this was the result.  He was shovelling coal from a big pile outside to a smaller pile inside and then from that pile into the boiler that was giving me hot water in my hotel - so I definitely appreciated his efforts!

Temple - Yuelu Mountain

Walking around Miluo

In order to make sure that I did not spend too much time wallowing in my hotel room on the last Sunday in Miluo... I went for a walk in the rain.  All very lovely (and a weird combination of a little hot and bitterly cold)...

my intention was to walk to where all the rice fields started.... I did not quite make it, but found some interesting things on the way.

First one, normal photo run through a vintage process in Silver EFEX.
Second shot... A mum and her child were walking along, at some distance away I pointed to my camera and gestured to ask if I could take a shot...  She nodded and this is what came out...  A little bit of oversharpening to get some detail out of a VERY dreary day...

Selectivity

Coming back from China (Yay! I am back at home for the moment!!!), I was sitting behind a Gentleman in the plane.  He was busily reading a self help book.  To make sure he took in all the salient points he was underlining them.

The problem was.... that as far as I can tell he underlined the ENTIRE book.

Riding to work

What a job!

This young lady's job was to sit out in the cold and convince the thousands of people walking past to come in and organise their photo sessions.  It very much appeared she was not to move or interact with anyone.

I am not sure how the cost compared to dressing a mannequin to put out there... but that was definitely what she was.

Bear with me.

I have been back home for a few weeks and then back here in China again.

Updates have been...  well, non existent...  I think I need to do something about that...

In the mean time..... here is a bear riding a motor bike.

Happy July 4

To anyone who is basking in the sun, sitting beside a pool, eating enormous amounts of BBQ, or even manning a fireworks stand... have a great holiday....

July 4th on this side of the world for me involved a long drive (without any food or a SINGLE COFFEE!!!) to get a whole heap of medical tests done before heading off overseas again...
I also got to pretend I was a pin cushion with the number of injections I got.

Panoramas

A bit of Great Wall...

A bit of Forbidden City....

Great Wall Shenanigans

Went to the Great Wall today.  Ended up looking around with an American Gentlemen who was working on his Executive MBA for the day.  (he was working on the MBA for more than a day... we were just hanging out with him for a day... just thought I would clear that up!)  All good fun.

Water Writing

Writing on the tiles of the Town Square with water....

street....

People playing instruments for change at the side of the road...
They are invariably blind...

This guy was really quite good