travel....

Sometimes.... sometimes, when I travel, it feels a little like this.....

arty area....

a wide angled me at an one of the art galleries I visited in Beijing
on Sunday.....
ain't i all kultured n stuff?

There were ceramic pots in this installation, stakcked one on the
other up to about 2 stories high.... lots of other things around, some
that felt very Chinese.. some that would be at home in a modern art
gallery anywhere in the world....

don't it just...

I would not have thought so.
Still it is on the window.
Large as life,
You cannot argue with it.
Everything here seems to be embodied with meaning
The coffee, a hotel stay, a towel
I wonder if it sounds as corny to the locals?
Nonetheless....
Who would have thought a coffee could do so much.....
The door says so - so who am I to argue?

sculptor

This guy really was goshdarn good!

not quite so heavenly.

I was walking around...
Might have been a tiny bit chilly....
You would not have thought it was cold enough that people were coming
up and grabbing my arms to check I was warm... and then giving me a
thumbs up symbol.... bit uncomfotable really.... despite popular
opinion I am very picky about the people I want touching me!!!


Camera Geek:
Camera is sitting on my camera bag (that is the "tripod" I have with me all the time), using a little (just bought at the markets 1 hour before this) $4 IR remote control.  The on camera flash is up and is on slow sync just to give a little flash at me (if your camera can do this it is INCREDIBLY useful....{slow sync or rear curtain just mean that it take the picture the way that it would if there was no flash... but then it will throw a bit of flash in either at the beginning or end of the shot [really good for giving a bit of extra light on people's faces when you are outdoors]})

Temple of Heaven

Looking very Heavenly indeed....

Starbucks... the place to...

> Go when you need a sleep....
> Or when you and your puppy need a bit of exercise....
> 2 different days..2 different cities. first in Changsha, second in Beijing...

Fireworks in Milou

Ok... so the town I will be living in...
This is a picture of the fireworks for a festival  (fireworks go up here for celebrations like births, weddings, brushing your teeth, or getting a cab with seat belts in the back seat)...

The fireworks were set off by random people everywhere.

This lot was a box that was just set in the biggest intersection in the town and a match was thrown in..

a bit of work to do.....

so this is a picture of the site I will be working on.....
trust me when I say that the outside of the buildings is indicative of
how much still needs to be done inside as well...
yeah...
this is going to be fun...
i am going to keep telling myself that....

Fish at the airport

these guys look nearly as bored as I do right now!

Welcome World. (dubdub! ;)

Welcome to Friday to those who are just getting there...
and welcome to the weekend for those who have been.....

No photo for tonight's post.

I am off to China again this weekend.
Lots of time alone punctuated by biting my tongue to make sure I do not say anything to get myself in trouble...
Should be good.

Back to school...

The beginning of the Australian school year... and the boys are headed back to school....

Impressive Mountains Yesterday.....

the view from our front door....

there aren't many reasons to live anywhere else!!!

Police visit

Been sitting waiting for a police officer to take my fingerprints. I
hope I have not been bad in my sleep cause this search will show it
up....
I remember doing similar waiting to get my photograph at the Louisiana
State Police....
Ahhh good times!

More Portraits...

Ruth's brother and his "not quite finished" car restoration...

Our Niece

Photogeek stuff:

Top photo - really wide angle lens, one flash coming from camera left, nearly level with me and aiming through the back window of the car, another one above and to the right pointing straight at Paul from outside the car.

Bottom photo:  Ruth is standing at the fence with a flash on a radio trigger.  As Rhi rides past i am shooting with a fairly long lens from 20m or so away.  The camera is in manual mode on its max speed for a flash (without doing tricky stuff) to try to get the sky fairly moody, and I adjusted the aperture to get the exposure right in combination with the flash.