Nara, Japan

 Sarusawa-ike, Nara (Kofuku-ji in the background)

This wasn't a very interesting photo originally.  The sky was white with high thin clouds.  I noticed the artist had painted the sky blue anyways.  So I decided to do the same with my photo.  

Saint-Maurice-aux-Riches-Hommes

Saint-Maurice-aux-Riches-Hommes, France

I love this photo.  This version reminds me of a painting too.  I tried to create a slight painting appearance in Photoshop.  I like the original untouched photo just as well but this is the one I usually show.  I'm sure I like it more than others do because it reminds me of the beautiful little village where it was taken.  

Impressions of Weeds

This photo reminds me of a painting.  It's not Photoshopped except for the frame.  Early last summer I broke my clavicle when the top buckle on one of my roller blades popped open sending me summersaulting into bushes and rocks on the side of a hill.  I began taking short hikes in the evening since I couldn't ride my bike as usual.  It had been a wet spring and the grasses had grown very tall.  Some of the grasses were blooming.  Very small flowers dangling from the little brushes at the top.  I had never seen grasses bloom like that before or maybe just never noticed.  Some of the grasses were reddish orange and looked wonderful in the evening light.  When I first saw this patch of grass I took a few pictures with my phone and was surprised how much I liked them.  I went back the next evening with my camera.  I used a slow shutter speed to capture the motion of the grass blowing in the wind.  I like the feel of this photo but I am not sure if others will like it or not.  

Sound of Silence

Racetrack Playa at night

A few years ago I drove to Death Valley over the Fourth of July weekend.  I wanted to feel the heat and take a few night photos. I got there in the evening an hour or two before the sunset.  I walked out on the sand dunes a little ways where the temperature was 122 degrees in the shade (yes, I had a thermometer with me).  I had plenty of water but after about 30 minutes I was getting worried about the possibility of heat stroke.  I was alone and there were not many people in the park so I cooled down the best I could on the shady side of a dune.  Then walked back to my car as soon as I could.  Not even stopping to take any pictures.  Then I drove to the Racetrack Playa.  I got there well after dark and I was the only person there.  I set up my camera and began taking photos leaving the shutter open 15 to 30 minutes at a time. While I was waiting for the long exposures I laid down on the playa and watched the nigh sky through binoculars.  I noticed a faint sound that I didn't recognize.  It was a soft intermittent sound.  I thought it sounded kind of like two small blocks of wood bumping together way off in the distance.  I sat up so I could hear the sound better but it stopped.  I laid back down with my binoculars and the sound soon returned.  I thought it might be an insect or a small animal but I had never heard anything quite like it.  I sat up but the sound stopped again.  I would set up my camera for a shot without noticing the sound but after I opened the shutter and went back to star gazing the noise returned.  It was driving me nuts because I couldn't figure out what the strange sound was and every time I tried to listen carefully for it, it would stop.  This went on for about two hours.  Eventually I sat up and looked at the mountains in the distance through my binoculars.  There was a little moon light but I could see nothing but the outline of the horizon.  However, this time the sound didn't stop.  It continued.  I listened very carefully trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from.  It was about this time I realized the sound was my eyelashes brushing the lenses of the binoculars when I blinked.  I put the binoculars away, gazed up at the sky and listened to the sound of silence.  

Longshan Temple

This is my entry for the Photo Roulette Round 39 with the theme of Local Character.  This round is being hosted by Travel with Kat. It was taken at the Longshan Temple in Taipei.  I still hear the chants that were being played at the temple that day every time I see this photo.  I was waiting to get a photo or two with no one in the background when this girl and her mother placed incense in the urn.  The girl lingered a while to watch the incense burn.  

Introvert in Chesler Park

It is great that I live where I can wake up early and drive to a place like Canyonlands  National Park, hike for 8 1/2 hours and then drive home and sleep in my own bed.  Yes, it was a long day but I needed to get out and enjoy the nice weather.  I listened to the audio book "Quiet - The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" while driving down and back.  I found it interesting but being on the introverted side myself, I instinctively already understood most of the ideas in the book.  I hiked the Chesler Park/Joint Trail loop by myself and saw only about 20 other people on the trail.  Some people seem to think it's strange that I go do things like this alone.  Maybe I'll suggest they read "Quiet."  It's a great way for me to recharge.  I know it's not for everyone but I need the solitude.  

The Chesler Park/Joint trail loop is about 11 miles.  I did a variation of the loop that added about 1.5 miles to it.  I read that there was only about a 500 foot elevation change and expected an easy hike.  It was easy in that there were no difficult or steep sections but it was like climbing up and down stairs or ramps for about 10 miles.  I am feeling a little sore today as well as a little sunburned.  I knew I had a tube of sunscreen in my day pack but I didn't know it was nearly empty.  I didn't have enough to go around.  The weather was perfect, about 80 degrees.  The sun was out early and behind thin clouds in the afternoon.    

Photography was not the purpose of my trip.  I just wanted to get out in the sun and become more familiar with this area.  I did, of course, pack my camera gear with me just in case.  The light was not good most of the time and I didn't take many photos but the area was spectacular.  You can click on the panorama to see it a little larger.  There are not any slot canyons in this area but there are a few narrow cracks in the sandstone that the trail goes through.  
Hope you have some great hiking trails near where you live too.  

Jianchuan Photoshopped - Part 2

This cobbler practicing his craft on a street corner caught my attention.  I try to be a discreet when photographing people on the street.  If that's even possible.  I take pictures of them, I just don't want to be in their faces.  Don't want them to notice me or change their behavior.  I wish I could be invisible and get any angle and as close as I want but I can't so I do the best I can.  This wasn't the best angle but it was the best I could do without being noticed.  I was lucky to get a shot without other people or cars passing by. 

The original was okay but nothing special.  I found the colors in the background and on post distracting from the man and his equipment.  Cropping and converting it to black and white help that.  Then I created another layer to add the Chinese characters and give it a distressed look.  I like how it looks like an old photo from the 1930's.  I wished I had been more patient and waited for some fashion conscious  young women to walk by wearing stylish new shoes to contrast with this old cobbler and his equipment. That would have been a much more interesting story. 


Most photos I take are more bout documenting a place and time than they are about art.  They help me remember the places I've been and experiences I've had.  I try to make them the best photos I can but they don't mean anything to anyone else. In fact most are never seen by anyone else.  It's fun to take some of these photos and see what I can turn them into with Photoshop.  Sometimes they're worth sharing.