I just finished up watching Hong Kong’s Symphony of Lights show (I’m afraid the name is the most exciting part of this show) and was headed back to the hotel for the evening. The waterfront is really pretty and the Hong Kong Space Museum was all lit up in oscillating colors.
I can’t say I fully understand the intricacies of Chinese Astrology. I think I know two things:
When I visited Kowloon’s Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple the place was packed…I walked in shoulder to shoulder with other tourists and worshipers. There wasn’t a clear shot of much so I focused on close-up work. You know…creativity is an attribute of both the Rabbit AND Pisces!
I have visited quite a number of temples, shrines, churches and other holy places around the globe. This is amazing as I get to see how people from different places and walks of life experience religion. The problem is sometimes these sites can run together! Some places like La Sagrada Familia are unmistakable, but this shot…might be a few places! I think, given the prominent spiral incense, its Man Mo Temple, but honestly I am only about 75% sure!
If you take photos (and I hope you do), do you go places wanting specific photos? I do! I have been after a photo like this of one of the red taxi’s in Hong Kong ever since I first visited. This was taken on my most recent and forth trip to HK. I was only passing through and I didn’t expect to get much of anything useful, but I had a few hours in the morning before my flight back to The States. I walked down to the Avenue of Stars and milled around, feeling completely uninspired when it hit me I could try for a taxi shot! This is actually the combination and manipulation of a few photos, but it ended up being one of my favorite photos in recent memory…I hope you enjoy it!
I am just returning from Beijing, China today and as chance would have it, I decided it would be a good time to share a few of my favorite Instagram posts so far in 2014! I usually do a review at the end of the year of my favorite Instagram photos from the entire year, but there are just SO many fun shots I thought it was a good idea to do regular reviews. I maybe should do one every quarter! Instagram for me is a sketch book. I usually take a good deal of time to work on photos and they are not from where I just returned, but a conglomeration of where I have been on ALL of my travels. As such, Instagram lets me stay connected with friends, family and fans and let you all know WHERE I am right now! If you haven’t followed me before, follow me on Instagram now! Before you ask, yes this is all this year…actually January through May. I even visited Hong Kong twice! I really like to travel…Enjoy!
Big cities are always interesting to my small town mind. I grew up in a city of less that 7000 people and when I look back I longed for the “Bright Lights of THE Big City”. I remember collecting maps from National Geographic magazine. Those maps were the only part I recall looking at and I would pour over the details of the Amazon or some medieval European city. We didn’t travel much as a family, for one reason or another, which might well explain my life-long fascination with travel. As a child, travel seemed a magical journey, fought with excitement, and peril. As an adult, I can’t say much has changed in those old attitudes, but one thing I do know…THE Big City is an exciting place to see.
Ok, OK, I know what you are thinking…you went all the way to China and you went to the MALL! Hear me out. I happened to be staying at the Hyatt at K11 and had heard about the strange and very interesting art collection housed at the mall. I assumed it was a gimmick and nothing more, totally writing off a visit. When I was returning from my oh so wonderfully clear night on Victoria Peak, I decided to stop by on my way into the hotel (there are several entrances to the Hyatt inside the mall after all). I was floored! The juxtaposition of their wonderful art collection (mostly contemporary Chinese artists) to those elements purely for consumption had my head spinning with thoughts about where fashion, art, consumption, waste, longevity, youth, sweet shops, labor (on and on) all intersect and interrelate.
This guy is a sculpture of fiberglass and steel and resin by artist Bi Heng. It was this sculpture that initially caught my attention, drawing me into the zigzag that is K11. Iron Panda combines three elements, the giant panda, his iron man suit and tai chi (nature, technology and spirit); his melancholy is apparent beneath his powerfully rugged exterior. Mankind abandoning our heritage in pursuit of technological power, but perhaps balance can save us if we only work to find it (paraphrased from what I recall of the artists statement and my own interpretation).
When you fly halfway around the world for a photo, the least the location can do is cooperate when it comes to the weather! Truth be told, I have been extremely lucky the past few years (knock on wood!!!). Whether it was January in Geneva Switzerland or the constantly fantastic weather in Hawaii…most of the time I have at least a few good days of mostly sunny (with some pretty cloudiness) weather. Our first trip to Hong Kong was an exception and we kept putting off Victoria Peak because of the blanket of clouds. We chose well as our last night was a clear as it got!
Sometimes I end up going to a place I have been before. The secret of cheap travel (are you ready for this revelation?) is to go where the fares are inexpensive, not necessarily where you WANT to go. If the fares take you to Milan, Italy two times this year, then just take the train to Venice. If you missed a clear Victoria Peak shot on your first try in Hong Kong…maybe the second try will pan out!
I have never professed to know exactly what is going on in Buddhist Temples. There is praying of course and offerings, but exactly what transpires is a bit of a mystery. Just after taking this photo of some kind of offering on one of the alters a woman started yelling at me and shooing me away. I think she thought I was taking photos of the worshipers (which I was not out of respect), but still, this was the last think I photographed in the very small Hong Kong temple!
I am a bit afraid of heights and Po Lin Monastery is enshrouded in the clouds that surround the mountains of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. There are only a few ways to get to Ngong Ping, the “Traditional-Style Village” just outside Po Lin Monastery (complete with Starbucks and a place to buy sunglasses and flip-flops). The first is to hike…this takes hours. The second is the travel by bus…this seems boring. The third is by cable car…we chose the latter. I don’t have a recent memory of being so tense while seated. I actually felt better when our view was totally blocked by the clouds.
The Big Buddha, also known as Tian Tan Buddha, is immense and impressive. It’s beauty completely makes up for the commercial bit of awfulness that is Ngong Ping Village. The site is teaming with people and during our visit there was a service with monks circumambulating around the base of the statue in a clock-wise manner while chanting and singing.
