I'm Listening Mummy

I'm Listening Mummy

Taken near a temple in Changsha, China. There were lots of people and small children out in the park. Nice time to grab some baby shots. This particular one is cute and guess what, it cried seconds after this photo was taken.

Bai Sha Gu Jing

Bai Sha Gu Jing

This place has a well known well. It's water will freshen any who has drank it and the water has been fresh for hundreds of years. There were many people who brought along their small children to drink. Old people also brought empty large gallon bottle on a trolley to top up water. I had asked my model, Michelle to jump in front of these entrance which she gladly did. The image was post processed to clean up most of the surrounding people using a second image and a radial blur was applied.



The Baisha well by the reputation is "the Changsha first spring", also is one of Chiangnan famous springs; Existing mouth of a spring four, the well head to Huagang Crag builds, the length of approximately 67 centimeters, the width only 33 centimeters, the depth 70 centimeters. In 1964 this well is listed as the Changsha cultural relic preservation program, in 1983 the government allocated funds to carry on the restoration; In 1993 is decided as again the city level cultural relic preservation organ.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com, translated by babel fish)

Ship Museum

Ship Museum

This photo was taken back in Changsha, China. These men were looking at those wooden boat just beside the river. Do those ships belong to them? Are they wanting to buy the ships? What interest me is that those steep banks in the foreground of the picture are in the shape of a hull of a ship.



Until the application of the steam engine to ships in the early 19th century, oars propelled galleys or the wind propelled sailing ships. Before mechanisation, merchant ships always used sail, but as long as naval warfare depended on ships closing to ram or to fight hand-to-hand, galleys dominated in marine conflicts because of their maneuverability and speed. The Greek navies that fought in the Peloponnesian War used triremes, as did the Romans contesting the Battle of Actium. The use of large numbers of cannon from the 16th century meant that maneuverability took second place to broadside weight; this led to the dominance of the sail-powered warship.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

The Old and New

The Old and New

Just two blocks away from the new developed high rise city, is these block of old dilapidated houses. Lots of activities going on on these streets too. From chopping of fresh fish on the road side to carrying 6 new spring mattress on a trolley. I started to frame my shots when I saw this old lady exits her house. I started taking a few frames hoping that she will face her right and that's it, she started to do so and I got my final shot.

The Unforeseen Teller

The Unforeseen Teller

This blind man is a fortune teller. Fortune teller claim that they can see the future and could advise you of your danger and paths that you should take. One think that always ponders me is why can't they see their own future on how to strike it rich. Maybe because he has lost his sight, he could see the coming future.

Chinese Fortune Telling better known as (Chinese: 算命, syun meng) have been through countless rituals and divination techniques throughout the dynastic periods. There are only 4 major methods still in practice between China and Hong Kong today due to accuracy and popularity by choice. Overtime, many of these concepts have gone into Korean and Japanese culture under other names. For example "Saju" in Korea is using the four pillar method.

Methods

1. Face reading - It is the interpretation of facial features of nose, eyes, mouth and other criteria within one's face. And convert those criteria into predictions of the future. This usually covers the phase of one's life, and reveal the type of luck associated with certain age range.
2. Palm reading - It analyzes the positioning of palm lines for love, personality and other traits.
3. Kau Cim - It requires the shaking of a bamboo cylinder, which results in at least one modified incense stick leaving the cylinder. The Chinese characters inscribed on the stick is analyzed by an interpreter. The prediction is short ranged as it covers one Chinese calendar year.
4. Zi wei dou shu - The procedure is sometimes loosely called (Chinese: 劈命, pik meng) or if someone seeks a advisor with a mastery of the Chinese calendar. The astrology is used in combination with Chinese constellation, four pillars of destiny and the five elements. The end result is a translation of one's destiny path. It is an interpretation of a pre-determined fate. The result of the details vary depend on the accuracy of the original four pillars information you provided. This method can also verify unique events that have already happened in one's life.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Pee Over Peep

Pee Over Peep

It's winter. Of course the dogs are wearing their own tiny 6 holes clothes. The dog peeing, I peeping.

Watermelon Man

Watermelon Man

Shot while I was in Changsha China, many peddlers wet up temporary stalls beside the road. One which caught my attention was this hugely popular sale of the smaller than usual watermelon. The man will peel half of the watermelon and placed it in the plastic bag. Not sure why he does that for.

Fresh watermelon may be eaten in a variety of ways and is also often used to flavor summer drinks and smoothies.

A one-cup serving of watermelon will provide around 48 Calories. Watermelon is an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin A, with one serving containing 14.59 mg of vitamin C and 556.32 IU of vitamin A. Watermelon also provides significant amounts of vitamin B6 and vitamin B1, as well as the minerals potassium and magnesium. Pink watermelon is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene.

Grilled watermelon, known as watermelon steak due to its visual similarity to raw steak, has started to become a popular item in restaurants.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Mushroom Vs Orange

Mushroom Vs Orange

Are these things mushroom or orange? Looks like mushroom from far due to its dark underside but seems like oranges from near due to its seeds. Yes, they are oranges, dried oranges. These things are placed on a large trolley in supermarket. Luckily they are odorless.



According to FAOSTAT, the top producers of oranges (in tonnes) in 2005 were:

1.	Brazil	17,804,600
2.	USA	8,393,276
3.	Mexico	4,112,711
4.	India	3,100,000
5.	China	2,412,000
6.	Spain	2,294,600
7.	Italy	2,201,025
8.	Iran	1,900,000
9.	Egypt	1,789,000
10.	Pakistan	1,579,900

Spare Time

Spare Time

Sitting at 90 degrees outside their shops, these four ladies were playing a game of Mahjong to pass time. Notice that they had a heater, probable a coal or wood heater beside them. I am quite sure that they are the owner of the shops or else they will long be fired.

Loo Loo

Loo Loo

You think that Audi is only for the riches? There are plenty of Audis running around in China. This particular one has such a weird license plate parked outside my hotel in Changsha, China.

Audi's German tagline is "Vorsprung durch Technik", meaning "Advancement Through Technology", implying an advantage due to superior technology. The American tagline is "Truth in Engineering".

Pronunciation: The correct German and Latin form rhymes with "howdy", without the 'h' sound (IPA pronunciation: /aʊdi/).

Audi has publicly set a goal to surpass BMW and the luxury and safety leaders Mercedes-Benz in global sales by 2015 and have made giant strides to the achievement of this goal since.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

I'm So Free

I'm So Free

Taken at Sand's Restaurant, Jakarta, it's reception hall features a large tree with lots of tiny bird cages. Shooting at wide open aperture (due to low light too) to get shallow depth of field, I look through my tiny 350D viewfinder to manually focus on this cage. The photo was then post processed to become black and white. After editing the photo, I really feel how free and "uncaged" I am.



Pet birds face numerous challenges in captivity. Most birds fly, which puts them at risk of impacting ceiling fans, stoves, and other hazards. Even birds with their wings clipped may eat hazardous substances, chew on cords, or gnaw at furniture. As many pet birds are not domesticated and still retain their natural instincts, they sometimes can be unpredictable. Their small size makes housing them in cages a convenient solution to these problems.

The newest trend in the market is cages made of solid stainless steel. Large parrot cages made of stainless steel can cost thousands of dollars and will actually outlive a powder-coated cage by 5 to 6 times.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Gaysha

Gaysha

Apologies for all the sluggish snail posting. I have been real busy with my uni work and working on some video for my Grandpa and ma's 80th birthday during my holiday.

This picture was taken indoor. The model, my sister, sticked a round coloured sticker used for sticking on my brother's wedding invitation card. The picture gets interesting with the addition of the "Korean" style fan. Geisha is a female entertainer while "Gaysha", my sister's weird picture.



Geisha or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers, whose skills include performing various Japanese arts, such as classical music and dance. Contrary to popular opinion and Western stereotypes, geisha are not prostitutes. Geisha are similar to the Korean Kisaeng.

Today, the traditional make-up of the apprentice geisha is one of their most recognizable characteristics, though established geisha generally wear full white face makeup characteristic of maiko only during special performances.

The traditional makeup of an apprentice geisha features a thick white base (originally made with lead or rice powder) with red lipstick and red and black accents around the eyes and eyebrows.

The application of makeup is hard to perfect and is a time-consuming process. Makeup is applied before dressing to avoid dirtying the kimono. First, a wax or oil substance, called bintsuke-abura, is applied to the skin. Next, white powder is mixed with water into a paste and applied with a bamboo brush. The white makeup covers the face, neck, and chest, with two or three unwhitened areas (forming a "W" or "V" shape) left on the nape, to accentuate this traditionally erotic area, and a line of bare skin around the hairline, which creates the illusion of a mask.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

What's Up

What's Up

Sitting on the dried grass, posing a gangster look and smoking. That really look like some hong kong mafia. Just lacking of black coat. This picture was cropped tilted at an angle to strike a more evoking pose of Shayen. I would love to tilt even more but it would result lesser pixels. The photo was not applied with any soft glow either. Just some usual curves and stamp out tool.

Puffing Vicky

Puffing Vicky

Another picture taken during the Phillip Island trip. This was at the dried grass around the pyramid rock viewing area. The picture was post processed to give as much warmth, and saturation and vignetting too. The orange saturation was reduce as not to let Shayen looking as if she has a cooked skin. The title was given as the picture reminded me of puffing billy. Not only because she was smoking, but also during the trip some people mentioned about riding the puffing billy.



The Puffing Billy Railway is a narrow gauge 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge heritage railway in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, Australia. The railway was originally one of four experimental narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways opened around the beginning of the 20th century.

The Puffing Billy Railway is kept in operation through the efforts of volunteers of the Puffing Billy Preservation Society, although intensive year-round operations necessitate a small band of paid employees to keep things going behind the scenes.

The railway aims to preserve the line as near as possible to how it was in the first three decades of its existence, but with particular emphasis on the early 1920s.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Wrong Colour

Wrong Colour

This is my 300th post!!! A picture that was taken during the Phillip Island Trip. We found a log at this cliff. 3 meters from it will be a straight cliff down to sea + some worn down rocks. I had strip out the blue saturation in this image and made the image really warm. The title was given because anyone looking at this picture will know that this is not the correct colour of the image. Well, it was done on purpose.



A cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are categorized as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers.

Given that a cliff need not be exactly vertical, there can be ambiguity about whether a given slope is a cliff or not, and also about how much of a certain slope to count as a cliff. (For example, given a truly vertical rock wall above a very steep slope, one could count only the rock wall, or the combination.) This makes listings of cliffs an inherently uncertain endeavor.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Retro

Retro

This is the other two models, Theresa and Kenzie. This photo was taken at the pyramid rock also. I had post processed the image in lightroom to make the image to have kind of washed out, light leaked film cameras. Vignette was also applied to the image.

The Holga is an inexpensive, medium format 120 film toy camera, originating in Hong Kong in 1982^[3], that later came to be appreciated for its low-fidelity aesthetic.

The Holga's cheap construction and simple meniscus lens often yields pictures that display vignetting, blur, light leaks, and other distortions. Ironically, the camera's quality problems became a virtue among some photographers, with Holga photos winning awards and competitions in art and news photography.

Most Holga cameras use a single-piece plastic meniscus lens with a focal length of 60 millimeters and can focus from about 1 meter/yard to infinity. There is an aperture switch on the camera with two settings: sunny and cloudy. Due to a manufacturing defect^{[citation needed]}, this switch has no effect and there is only one ('cloudy') aperture of around f/13 - although this switch may be easily modified to provide two usable apertures.

As all single-piece meniscus lenses, the Holga lens exhibits soft focus and chromatic aberration. Other Holga variants, denoted either by the letter 'G' in their model name, or the name WOCA, feature a simple glass lens, but are otherwise identical in construction. Almost the entire circle of light that the Holga lens projects is captured on film, which gives Holga pictures their characteristic vignetting

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Burst Shots

This photo was taken at the pyramid rock in Phillip Island. Instead of the rock, we were busy shooting the models. I had actually came abit late as I went to buy some food with Alvin while the other 3 cars make their way to the pyramid rock. The title was given as I had taken this shot with burst shot, meaning that I kept the button button down and the camera took a few images at 3 frames per second. This was the result of the second shot. You need to be ready to capture those candid shots. The image went through plastic surgery to complete the cutoff fingers of the right hand. This was done with another image which luckily has her fingers attached and in a similar pose.




Canon sets new standards for professional photography with the launch of the EOS-1D Mark III. 10.1 Megapixel APS-H CMOS sensor, delivering 10 frames per second at 10.1 Megapixels for a maximum burst of 110 Large JPEG images (30 in RAW), the EOS-1D Mark III replaces the EOS-1D Mark II N as the world’s fastest digital SLR. Dual “DIGIC III” processors drive the camera’s high speed, high resolution performance, and bring 14-bit image processing to the EOS series for the first time.

(courtesy of dpreview.com)

Skewed

Skewed

This photo was taken at the outside of the bar in the previous photo. I had taken it sideway at an angle to add a sense of interest into the plain picture. I could have taken the picture of the model with the whole window but since the window is huge, the model will appear small for a decent portrait image.

Into The Blank

Into The Blank

This image was taken in a bar at the city of Cowes, Phillip Island. It was taken with a relatively high ISO due to dark indoor lighting. The image was post processed to give a green tint emphasizing the viewer get a sense of loneliness and despair. Image was manipulated with lots of curves to give a darken and underexposed photo while still keeping the image relatively bright.

In The Line

In The Line

Taken at an alley at the city of Cowes at Phillip Island. The light that came from the top back make the model's face dark and soft when she faced away from the light. The photo had been converted to black and white in photoshop and curve adjustment had been done. The line design of the model's cloth seemed to radiate from her face, especially the lines on her arm.

A line can be described as an infinitely thin, infinitely long, perfectly straight curve (the term curve in mathematics includes "straight curves") containing an infinite number of points. In Euclidean geometry, exactly one line can be found that passes through any two points. The line provides the shortest connection between the points.

In two dimensions, two different lines can either be parallel, meaning they never meet, or may intersect at one and only one point. In three or more dimensions, lines may also be skew, meaning they don't meet, but also don't define a plane. Two distinct planes intersect in at most one line. Three or more points that lie on the same line are called collinear.

Creepy Contrast

Creepy Contrast

This photo was taken ion the city of Cowes. Beside the alley in the picture "In The Line", there is this old house with a broken fence and metal door. I had the model stand next to it with her suggesting that she was about to open the door. The large canopy of the roadside trees blocked the sun out of her face but it did not covered the fence and her lower body. This makes the iamge very interesting and the unusual lighting makes a very contrasty image with a sense of creep into it. The photo was post processed with sepia filter.

King of Rhyll

King of Rhyll

This shot was taken at Rhyll as the title had suggested. We were on our back to the car when one of the members yelled at pointed up towards the sky. There was this big pelican sitting on top of a lightpost at the beach. So now, 20+ photographer and camera pointing at the bird and snapping away. I had shot this image using my 50mm lens. The colour of the sky was original and the picture had only been slightly adjusted.



A pelican is any of several very large water birds with a distinctive pouch under the beak belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae. Along with the darters, cormorants, gannets, boobies, frigatebirds, and tropicbirds, it makes up the order Pelecaniformes. Like other birds in that group, pelicans have all four toes webbed (they are totipalmate). Modern pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica.

Pelicans can grow to a wingspan of three meters and weigh 13 kilograms, males being a little larger than females and having a longer bill.

Pelicans have two primary ways of feeding:

• Group fishing: used by white pelicans all over the world. They will form a line to chase schools of small fish into shallow water, and then simply scoop them up. Large fish are caught with the bill-tip, then tossed up in the air to be caught and slid into the gullet head first.
• Plunge-diving: used almost exclusively by the American Brown Pelican, and rarely by white pelicans like the Peruvian Pelican or the Australian Pelican.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Biased Growth

Biased Growth

This photo was a result of boredom. We had actually almost ran out of interesting angles to shoot and "cheated" by stealing a nearby flower and asked our model, Jolyn to hold it and made it seem to be growing among the weed. Post processing was done to leave the flower coloured and reduced saturation while having the rest of the photo de-saturated (black and white). The title of the photo was given to express the biasness for the centre of the flower where most of the people be holding it. Is there anything special about symmetry or just a normal human reaction?

Sway

Sway

Another shot of Jolyn when we are at Rhyll. The sway of the hair was created by the nice and smooth wind as it blow across the beach. This picture was taken from low to create a more interesting angle and perspective even though it makes the model looks abit bloated. Post processing was done to create the diffused glow.

Chillingly Muddy

Chillingly Muddy

This photo was taken at the Rhyll in Phillip Island. It has a very spectacular looking beach and we were lucky that the sky and clouds were very nice. I snapped this shot of the two girls while I was walking across the beach. They seemed to enjoy playing and walking in the mud, maybe since they feet are already dirty. Post processing was done to bring out the sky contrast and colour adjustment. "Chillingly Muddy" was given as the title as I felt it had described the nice feeling of the cool and soft mud and on the other hand, the shock look when their parents saw that.

Mud is a liquid or semi-liquid mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to siltstone or solid, mudrock lutites. When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds. Mud is similar to muck, except in that mud lacks significant quantities of humus, and often contains higher proportions of sand.

Mud can provide a home for numerous types of animals, including varieties of worms, frogs, snails, clams, and crayfish. Other animals, such as pigs and elephants, bathe in mud in order to cool off and protect themselves from the sun.

Mud, in the construction industry, refers to wet plaster, stucco, cement or other similar substance. Mud is closely related to slurry and sediment.

In the preparation of materials for making ceramics, the making of liquid mud (called slip) is a stage in the process of refinement of the materials, since larger particles will settle out of the liquid.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

The Saucy Shoe

The Saucy Shoe

This is my shoe, after i had stepped on a pool of water which was "camouflaged" by seaweed. The seaweed made me think that the surface was hard and therefore I had stepped on it. This is the result of it. I had taken this shot to remind me how dirty my shoe was. Thanks to my mum who helped me wash my shoe. Really appreciate it mum.

Men's shoes

Men's shoes can be categorized by how they are closed:

• Balmorals - the vamp has a V-shaped slit to which the laces are attached; also known as "closed lacing." In England, the balmoral is known as the Oxford. The word "Oxford" is used by American clothing companies to market shoes that are not Oxfords, such as rubber-sole bluchers.
• Blüchers - the laces are tied to two pieces of leather independently attached to the vamp; also known as "open lacing." In England, the Blucher is known as the Derby shoe.
• Monk-straps - a buckle and strap instead of lacing

Various other closings exist but are less popular such as side-elastic closings.

Men's shoes can also be decorated in various ways:

• Plain-toes - have a sleek appearance and no extra decorations on the vamp.
• Cap-toes - has an extra layer of leather that 'caps' the toe. This is possibly the most popular decoration
• Wing-tips - The toe of the shoe is covered with a perforated panel, the wing-tip, which extends down either side of the shoe. Wing-tips can be found in both balmoral and blucher styles. In England this is called a brogue.

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Vineyard of The Sea

Vineyard of The Sea

This picture was taken at San Remo beach. It was during a low tide and all there were sea weeds exposed. This plant looks like a grape but with a textured skin looking like a chicken skin. The ground was very soft at that time and I had actually wet my whole shoe when I accidentally step on a pool of water covered by seaweeds.

During the instability of the Middle Ages the monasteries maintained viticulture. They had the resources, security, stability and interest in improving the quality of their vines over time. The monks also had the education and time necessary to enhance their viticulture skills. Throughout the Middle Ages, the best vineyards were owned and tended by the monasteries, and vinum theologium was considered superior to all others.

The vineyards of Europe were planted with various varieties of the Vitis vinifera grape. In the late 19th century the entire species was nearly destroyed by the plant louse called phylloxera that was accidentally introduced to Europe from North America. Native American grapevines include varieties such as Vitis labrusca, which is resistant to the bug, but produce wines with a foxy, animal type taste. Vitis vinifera varieties were saved by being grafted onto rootstocks of native American varieties. However, there is still no remedy for phylloxera, which remains a continuing threat to vineyards around much of the world that are not planted with grafted rootstock. The oldest vineyard in the world is over 400 years old vineyard located in Maribor, Slovenia. Its age was measured with the microscope. In 2004 it was entered as the oldest vineyard into Guiness book of records ^[1].

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Fierce Demand

Fierce Demand

Shayen is a member in Fotoholics and is currently holding the post of Advisor. She is experienced in photography and real easy to go along. I had cleaned the background by using stamp function in photoshop. Some people can be seen on the beach. even though they are blurred, the colours from their shirt contrasted from the sand colour and were disturbing. The title was given as this photo was taken with the following command, "Shayen! Stop! .. Look up! Look there!.. Hold your camera". Sounds really fierce of me. But I'm sure she won't be afraid of those yell.