Farewell Pixelventures

Farewell for Now

It is with sadness that I write this post as it may be the last one for the weekly Pixelventures Photo Challenge. It is one of the photo challenges I participate in faithfully and very few have I missed. Bastet has encouraged me and spread the word of CTB over the last year by providing links to my humble musings as well as did a “Close Up” interview of me last summer. I will be forever grateful for the additional readers she sent my way. Not only that, but she has helped me grow as a blogger by challenging me into taking better photos and writing poetry, something I rarely did. Again kind words have praised my efforts and pushed me beyond my comfort zone to try something new. I wish her well as she gets some much-needed rest, and ‘me’ time to mend her health and well-being.

For the final challenge she has decided to celebrate and ask us what we should bring to the Farewell. I let my imagination soar. What could I bring if I could bring anything? I decided big, beautiful, bright blue sky with fluffy clouds to accent the sky; the perfect weather and scenery for any party. After all nobody likes to rain on a parade and I imagine the perfect party would be outside.

Blue Sky From Above

I thought it would also be fitting to share a photo from one of the first Pixelventures challenges I participated in just over a year ago.

Never say good-bye
but see you later,
or see you soon
doesn’t make it easier
but gives us hope
to be reunited with friends
and to be together again

– CTB 😀 July 2014

So let this not be a sad farewell, but a see you later and hope to see you again soon.

Stay tuned…

What Lurks in the Shadows

 

What lurks in the shadows
Can make our hair stand on end
Skin prickle and goose bumps
Fears ready to send

Fleeing away legs ready to run
Shiver down the spine
Is something out there
Or its that imagination of mine?

With lightness and darkness
Shadows and the mind playing tricks
Creating images and visions
Fear often it picks

To spook and to scare
Delightfully fright
Of the sounds and the shadows
That go bump in the night

© CTB :D/DFY July 4/14

Check more images of shadows at this week’s Bastet’s Pixleventures.

Stay tuned….

 

Playing With Pictures

I want to take the perfect photo. I have been trying for years to perfect my skills. I have learned about lighting, angles, framing to get the shot. A lot comes down to talent and sometimes just getting to be in the right place at the right time. That said I prefer not to play with my photos editing colour and the like. I rarely even crop my shots, as that is something I try to solve when I take the photo. This week Bastet has asked us to play with pictures and use an app or other program to showcase our work. So here is my attempt at something new and different.

The original

Neon

Holga-ish

Pencil

I have used Picasa to adjust these photos of a thistle I took 2 summers ago. I also did the same thing as an experiment with some flowers in winter. You can see that post here.

What do you usually do to enhance your photos? What do you think of my attempts?

This weekend I am heading back home for the summer holiday. Hard to believe the last day of school, with the kids, was today. I may not respond as quick as usual, but soon as I get back on-line and back on the right time zone I;ll be back!

 

Stay tuned…

 

Between & Perspective: Photo Challenge

Between the arches and bricks of the Great Wall of China I could see the shades of the mountains and just pick out the shadowy outline of one of the many gates that dot the length of the wall. From my point of view I felt so small as I strained my eyes to take it all in.

 

Between ancient arches

In Cambodia the long lines of stone masonry gave me an interesting perspective. As I stood between the long galleries, with many other people, at the Angkor Watt and Ta Prohm temples my eye was drawn along the length of covered passages . Old stone fallen and restored.

Say Cheese 🙂

 

 

Check out Bastet Pixleventures and Word Press this week to see more.

 

Next weekend will be the ‘official’ last weekend for the Festivals and Gatherings theme for my monthly challenge Tourist in Your Own Town. Stay tuned for a new theme in July which, I will post once I return to Canada and get over jet lag 😉

 

Macro Shots: Photo Challenge

In this day and age I don’t know how I managed, but for 4 years I had a crappy phone where no one could hear me unless I shouted. Texting wasn’t much better since things didn’t line up and although I pressed this a letter a letter from the opposite side would often appear. For just over a year I gave up and the cheap terrible China iPhone became an expensive alarm clock. That is what happens when you are new to town… they prey on the stupid. I managed for as long as I could with this phone, so I guess I got what I paid for and finally gotsome of  my money’s worth by using it as long as  I did.

The last trip to Hong Kong ended up to be in search of a new phone. We knew if we went to a proper shop we would get an authentic phone, good quality and better price in Hong Kong than China. Electronics are often cheaper there. I was partial to iPhone since it seems everyone has one. Over the last 6 months Samsung has started to take the lead here. So I did some research and asked people who had both pros and cons.

My husband preferred the Samsung and I could go either way, so we decided on Samsung. A selling feature for me was better photo quality and cheaper price tag. In Hong Kong we went to the large mall at Times Square and found the Samsung store. I wanted a good phone, light and easy to carry. Then there was the Samsung zoom, which is more camera than phone. It was on sale… I was sold. For the price of 1 iPhone we got 2 phones. One for me and 1 for hubby. When I have a chance I should do a post about this great purchase, but today’s purpose it a photo challenge, so I best get to it 😉

The great thing about this phone is the amazing quality of macro shots. I was impressed.

Spring Rain

And here is another…

 

raindrop close up

Check out more great macro shots over at Bastet’s Pixleventures.

Stay tuned…. new Tourist in Your Town challenge should be up later this weekend.

 

 

Framed Twists & Turns

Natural framing, or using something that may be otherwise seen as an obstacle can enhance your photography. The trick is having the eye to see it, or right position to capture it.

Seeing the twists and turns of the Great Wall of China I was able to frame it through a gate window.

The Great Wall twists and turns along the mountain ridge.

Meanwhile the natural frame of the twisting roots and tree trunks covered this statue in Cambodia where only the face now peeks out. From guidebooks this phenomenon is described in detail and tells you to be on the look out for it. I was disappointed when I searched high and low and couldn’t find these elusive statues covered by nature. I assumed it was now lost under layers of time as it reclaimed its space. However, I was passing by a travel guide with a small group and they stopped in what appeared to be an unusual spot, nothing to see. I happened to overhear him point out the face peering out through the tree trunk. I looked and saw nothing. I looked closer and saw this tiny little face, something I assumed to be much larger. After all the large faces at Angkor Thom where massive, but this teeny face could be easily missed. What a great coincidence nature twisted and turned and allowed only the face to be perfectly framed and visible.

Peek-a-Boo

The more literal window frames inside the temples in Angkor Wat twisted and turned in such detail. More like spindles of wood than stone. I enjoyed looking through them and how they framed the windows into much more than just a square opening.

Check out Word Press for TWISTS and Pixelventures for FRAMING.

Stay tuned…

Favourite Romantic Work of Art: Photo Challenges Combined

Favourite Romantic Works of Art… 3 photo challenges all rolled into one.

Favourite -show your Favourite thing from where you live (food, place, thing to do…) for Tourist in Your Own Town, which is a monthly challenge hosted by me. 🙂

Romantic -Bastet’s Pixelventures has asked us to show the softer side.

Work of Art – from Word Press. A work of art can be a masterpiece, something your children have made for you, something in nature, or Michelle’s example of gastric delights almost too pretty to eat.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

One of Shanghai’s favourite landmarks to shoot must be the unusual Pearl Tower. How romantic to stroll along the Bund at night and look at al the twinkling lights. It certainly is a masterpiece of unique design inspired by pearls, which are often harvested in China’s waters.

Dali’s melting clock, according to the plaque, is the second one in the world on display. Who would have thought it would be in Shanghai? It is one of my favourite works of art. I was delighted to happen upon this as we strolled along Nanjing Road. For some reason this masterpiece feels romantic for me. Maybe because the first time I saw it I was in the romantic city of Florence, Italy.

Be sure to show or tell about your favourite,  romantic, or work of art in the comments below. Can you roll all 3 into a post too?

 

Rain Rain Go Away

Rain rain go away…

Heavy rain in Hong Kong. View Looking down onto “Times Square”

I know April showers brings May flowers, but it seems every weekend for the last two months have been super soggy. Spring arrives earlier here in Shanghai than what I was used to back home in Southern Ontario. This year March was glorious. The blossoms filled the air with delicious sweet scents and the sun was shining. Then April happened. We went to Hong Kong in the middle of their ‘Black Rain’, which was a terrible storm that lasted a week. It was the worst they had in years, maybe ever. It must have been a bad omen, bad luck or hid away in our suitcases because we had terrible weather, all of April, here in Shanghai. After a mild winter many complained April turned into winter -cold, damp and grey. We didn’t see the sun for days or sometimes a week at a time. How depressing. The winds were chilly and every weekend it rained. The rain was that heavy downpour that soaks you to the skin in seconds. What is worse it is a cold rain. Brrr!

March sunset and blossoms in Shanghai

April seemed it would never end, but eventually May made its way. After the first soggy weekend in May temperatures started to rise, the sun shone for days in a row; a shock to our now sensitive eyes. Then the weekend came and it rained and again it rained some more. Our balcony is covered in water and the pinging of the heavy rain on the railing and pipes outside is constant. 14 floors up I can hear it coming down! Tomorrow is Monday and the forecast is…. sun.

Join in on Bastet’s Pixleventures and show your examples of Spring activity.

Stay tuned….

 

People: Pixelventures Photo Challenge

This week’s theme over at Bastet’s Pixelventures is PEOPLE. I have snapped some interesting pics of people here in Shanghai and when travelling around Asia. The hard part was narrowing it down to the most interesting and ones you hadn’t seen before. One of my favourite pictures of PEOPLE was posted here for Juxtaposition & Surprise back in January.

Monks at Angkor Wat

This first picture was taken on our trip to Cambodia. Inside the Angkor Wat complex you will often see Monks dressed in the bright orange. I decided to post this one because they were just like the rest of us tourists smiling at the photo they had just taken with their camera. It also shows a variety of other tourists who come from all over the world to see the Angkor Wat complex.

Picnic in the Park

 

I have posted similar pics of this before, but this one is clearer and up close. When local Chinese go to a park they often take small tents to provide cover and shade. Sometimes the grass will be covered with tents and blankets. With so many living in apartments warm spring weekends often draw out everyone and they descend on the local parks.

 

Little Red Riding Hood is that you?

 

OK I really am stumped with this one. A few times I have seen younger Shanghainese walking around dressed up like in costume. I am not sure if this is part of the Japanese phenomenon of dressing like animated characters or something else. Last spring we went to Shanghai Botanical Gardens and we ran into the lone girl dressed like Little Red Riding Hood basket and all. We did a double take and said   什么 (Shénme  – WHAT???)

These last 2 are typical sites as the older way of moving things still lives on. Small electric trike bikes or bikes with a trailer are often piled high with recycled material, small animals in crates, large bottles of water or other things to be sold. The first bike is either someone moving items, or old broken and unwanted items being collected. The second one has a pile of wood with the wife along for the ride. When we first arrived some of these piles would be well over 5 feet high. Now the police crack down on these unsafe heights.

These are my example of people. Check out Bastet’s Pixelventures for more examples.

Hit the OLDER POST button to see some examples of Letters and PEOPLE from yesterday’s post.

Stay Tuned…

Dusky Hues

Here is my response to Bastet’s Pixleventures prompt DUSK.

 

A cold wintry night in December 2012 left beautiful colours as the sun was dipping below the horizon.

Dusky Pastels

 

Conversely, the warm gentle breezes in August painted the sky with soft, pale colours in Port Dalhousie, Ontario.

Pale Dusky Summer Hues

Check out the link above to see more examples. You may also want to see my post from earlier today on our recent quick trip to Hong Kong.

Stay tuned…