Ubiquitous Pagoda

                    

Ubiquitous Pagoda

Where would we be on a visit to China without the Ubiquitous Pagoda. This however is a very special little pagoda. It's at the end of a winding bridge in the tree-lined and overgrown base of a quarry. A quarry? Well, behind the block of flats where we used to live was this quarry, and this pagoda has been here since long before I left HK in 1988. One for the family, perhaps, but photographically speaking the dappled sunlight and the symmetrical composition I think present quite a nice scene.

Christmas Cow and Calf

               

Christmas Cow and Calf

Apologies for the late post today - twas a busy morning in my world. This shot doesn't look particularly Christmassy, does it? Well, rather than it being in the rural setting that the surroundings imply, this was taken at the city farm near our flat, on Christmas Day last year. We like to have a nice stroll on Christmas Day...it's so wonderfully peaceful out. This cow and her calf were sitting perfectly under the tree, so I had to try for the shot. The colour's gone a bit washed out in the post, although if you click for the bigger version it looks a bit better.

Britain's Last Word to Italy

               

Britain's Last Word to Italy

Last year's outdoor World War 2 museum was a goldmine photographically speaking. I just love this veteran's whole look - it makes for quite a striking image. Oh, and you'll probably need to view the larger version to understand the title.

London Cloudy Sunset

London Cloudy Sunset 

It's Friday, and I think it'd be nice to have a lovely London Cloudy Sunset to brighten things up. This is actually shot from the window of our flat, when the light was backlighting the clounds and giving them a loverly glow. Click on it (as with all my images) to see a bigger version...enjoy...

Eiffel Tower and Seagull

            

Eiffel Tower & Seagull

When we went to Paris last year it was a somewhat hazy day, so I had trouble getting any decent 'tourist' shots. This one happened by accident....I mean through very careful timing....! And I think it works rather well.

It's That Steep

 It's that steep

So for all of you who know Hong Kong, you'll know about the Peak Tram. For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, a brief history lesson.

In the early days of Hong Kong the rich folk lived up on Victoria Peak - literally a way of rising above the hoi-polloi - but the journey up the winding road to the peak was a pain in a sedan chair. So they built a funicular railway running straight up the side of the hill. It's still running today, although on the third or fourth generation of tram.

The route up the hill is very steep in places - the buildings in the background give a good perspective on how steep the run is. As a side-note, click on the picture for a bigger version - I like the expression on the central lady's face too...

Are You Done Yet...? The Return of the Photo-Spouse

Are You Done Yet...? The Return of the Photo-Spouse

Continuing to mine the rich vein of people-watching travel photos, shot in the same place a few minutes later than the last one, we have another nice photo-spouse shot. I've decided to coin the phrase 'photo-spouse'...maybe I should trademark it. You photographers all know the definition, and those of you who are married/attached/related to us know who you are too. Denise is a wonderful photo-spouse and actively supports and encourages my pastime - the lady above and the gent here are slightly more long-suffering perhaps. Either way, her positioning and body language is saying to me...do we really need 400 shots every 6 yards along the promenade....?

Umbrellas on the Avenue of Stars

Umbrellas on the Avenue of Stars

On the few occasions when the sun was out lots of people in Hong Kong use nice brightly coloured umbrellas to keep the worst of the heat off them. This shot was taken on our last day in HK before moving off to Thailand. I guess I just like the composition of this one, especially considering it was a snap-shot.

Push to the Line

Push to the Line

This is the last horsey shot from Ascot I think...next time we shall move onto different things. So here we're looking at the final push to the line on the biggest race of the day - these guys are clearly urging their mounts on to give every last drop of effort to try to win the race. I just like the sensation of speed in this shot.

Smile for the Camera!

Smile for the Camera!

Well this horse wasn't shy in looking straight at me for this shot. Nothing else to say about it - except that this one's for you, Denise.

Phone and Break

Phone and Break

A second shot from Ascot - it had clouded over by this time, and we were watching the horses come out to parade prior to the second last race. These two chaps were standing opposite us, and I like the symmetry of the composition.