Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #27: My Travel to Alpine Countries (Part 1)

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Helen C

This is my submission for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #27: My Travels.

It is easy to talk about something I like, but it is difficult to talk about something I deeply love. My trip to Alpine Countries is one of those hard-to-talk trips. (Thanks to Amy… now I will push myself a little harder. 😉

We flew to Frankfurt, and spent one night there. Near our hotel, I was introduced to “garden houses”. A piece of land in the city, it looks like our mobile home park, contains many small houses with gardens. Someone told me these families would spend weekends here to get away from their city life in the city.


(A small garden house in front of a tall building)

Walking back to the hotel from those garden houses, I saw a bus stop at the bus stop. It took me a while to notice the driver was waving to me. He pointed at himself suggesting me to take a photo of him. I did and he was very happy (He didn’t know how bad the photo had turned out. Ha.) A good start of the trip, I thought to myself.

From Frankfurt, we went to…

Munich
We were delighted when we found out there were less than 30 people on the bus, which would usually fit near 50 people. Wei and I happily occupied 2 seats toward the back.


(Marienplatz)

At Marienplatz, we got some free time. Our tour guide instructed us to meet back at 12:30 and he added, “If you are not here by that time, I will assume you have walked back to the hotel by yourself. It’s hard to find a parking spot. We will not wait.” He showed all of us how to get back to our hotel, and said, “It’s very simple.”

There was a parade on that day; Marienplatz was very crowded. After taking some photos, Wei and I decided to head back to the hotel. The walk was much longer than I thought, but we survived. Our tour bus came back late (we were waiting for the bus to continue our afternoon program). When it finally arrived at the hotel, we were told that our tour guide had asked the driver to circle around 3 times looking for us. “Didn’t he say if we were not there, he would assume we had walked back by ourselves?” I asked. Everyone smiled. Apparently, no one had taken our tour guide’s words seriously (not even himself) except us.

One famous local dish around here is German Pork Knuckle (roasted pig feet). “Since we are here, we may as well try it,” I said to Wei. We found a restaurant; German Pork Knuckle and German beer was our yummy dinner! After eating the meal, we wondered how much to tip. We gave some money to our service person and told her to keep the change; I saw a huge smile on her face. OK, we over tipped, I thought to myself, and then turned around said, “It’s all right, we are on vacation.” I said it to Wei and to myself.


(German Pork Knuckle)

Tipping is very confusing in Europe; no tip in some countries; 10% other countries, which we often forgot because we were so used to 15% or more. (Would someone create an iPhone app for this, please?)


(Nymphenburg)


(Linderhof Castle)

Salzburg

(The fountain that was filmed in The Sound of Music)


(Hohensalzburg Fortress)

Vienna

(Schonbrunn Palace)


(Schonbrunn Palace)

Five days into this trip, we hadn’t seen a single mountain. “Did we sign up for the right trip?” we wondered. I had been Vienna before, but hadn’t visited the other cities. They are all beautiful cities in their own ways. Still, we yearned to see mountains and we were getting more and more impatient.

I’ll stop here for part one. Maybe that was why I hesitated to write about this trip – I don’t know how to make it short.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Posted in photo, Trips, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged | 26 Comments

Brenda’s Photo Study: Contemplative Photography XI – Patterns of Light

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Helen C

This is my entry for Brenda’s A Photo Study: Contemplative Photography XI – Patterns of Light, which was posted on Nov. 10, 2018.

On her post, Brenda wrote, “I found that this exercise “seeing patterns of light” was a bit of a challenge for as I was more drawn towards patterns created by shadows. Therefore, while on a photo walk, I found that when I connected with light, I had to actually stop and question, “is this a light pattern or a shadow pattern?”

Now, I started asking myself the same question: “is this a light pattern or a shadow pattern?” — A question that has never came to my mind in the past, that is.


(Halifax Titanic Cemeteries)

After staring at many photos and giving a lot of thoughts on this subject, I think it has a lot to do with which pattern (light pattern or shadow pattern) is the dominating pattern in the photo. Yes?

It’s not a secret that I enjoy reading/studying/contemplating Brenda’s A Photo Study. I haven’t done it as often as I like to because, to be honest, some are too advanced for me (ha ha), and some require more time than I have had. Hopefully I will catch up a little in this year. And, again, thank you, Brenda.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in photo, photo and thoughts | Tagged | 6 Comments

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #26: Photographic Review

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Helen C

This is my submission for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #26: Photographic Review.

Anne-Christine said, “This last Lens Artists Photo Challenge of the year 2018, is all about memories. Make a recap of Your 2018! What do you remember most vividly? What precious moments from your everyday life, family, travels, holidays, adventures, meetings, did you capture with your camera?”

What a great way to end 2018, I thought. Preparing for this post, I went through my 2018 photo-folders one by one and happily re-lived the whole year in 30 minutes. That reviewing process made me feel satisfied, but to my surprise, although I had fond memories in many of those moments, those moments, however, were not significant enough to represent 2018. Now what?

I could use some inspirations, I thought. So, I checked around. Anne-Christine decided to pick one or more photos from every season; Nature is important to Patti; Amy told us her fun photographic experience and shared a few nature images; Tina shared a few nature images, too, and also photos of quiet moments of everyday life. Reading each one of these posts was like reading a condensed personal story book! I enjoyed it so much that I have provided links here for you.

But I still had no idea which photos to choose…

Anne-Christine said, “Another interesting idea is to find one single photo that would represent the whole year.”

Pick one photo, any photo… how hard can that be? One photo immediately came to my mind, but I didn’t fully know why. Maybe I would do something “smart” with that photo. I would crop it in several ways, and arrange them on a blank canvas…

So, on New Year’s Eve, I made several copies of this photo and cropped each in a different way. I wasn’t sure where I was heading, but I told myself it was a start, and, hey, it was only Monday (4 more days before next challenge!)

New Year Day… playing with all those images, I suddenly understood what 2018 had meant to me. For me, 2018 was a year of questing for wisdom. I am not talking about religions. I am talking about having an urge of figuring out what I want to do and who I want to be for the rest of my life. It was the first time in my life that I wanted to plan for my life, not just plan for trips. (See what aging may do to you! Or, maybe… I am just a slow learner!)

Anyway, here is my recap of 2018. It says I really like 2018! 😉

Thanks to Anne-Christine for this great challenge. I hope my appreciation has shown through my mumbling words. 😉

Speaking of wisdom, may I share Dalai Lama’s New Year message with you?

Happy New Year and have a Healthy, Happy 2019!

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Posted in photo, photo and thoughts, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged | 21 Comments

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #25: Reflections

Posted on December 28, 2018 by Helen C

This is my submission for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #25: Reflections. Please follow the link to read Patti’s post.

In her post, Patti said she is fascinated with reflections. Me, too!

The photo I really want to post here is the one that has a transformer substation reflected in a dirty rain puddle. I spent a lot of time looking for it, but didn’t find it. Even searching location didn’t help! (Yes, I need to do something with my phone photos!) Anyway, this transformer substation, to be honest, is not something I would consider photographing. That particular rain puddle, in the middle of a walkway, wasn’t interesting at all. But the reflection of the transformer substation reflected in that dirty rain puddle was amazing. I remember standing there confusing with the picture I saw on the phone. Is it possible that there is always another side of “story” that I had missed in many occasions?

That brings me to a different kind of reflection. Winston Churchill said, “Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.” That kind of reflection, I mean.

My daughter woke me up early in the morning on the Christmas day. “Time to open gifts,” she said excitedly. (By the way, it is so nice to see your adult child acting like a little kid!)

Every trip we took, I had bought something for her. “This is from the black forest.”, “This came from Halifax.”…, etc. After she was done opening her gifts, I added, “We think of you all the time, even when we were traveling. ”

Then, it was our turn to open our gifts.

“This is from my Finland trip.”, “I got this when I was in Tennessee,” she said.

I didn’t know… I had assumed… Again, how much of the truth that we really know?

I had a wonderful Christmas. I hope you did, too.

Thanks to Patti for this great challenge.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Posted in photo, photo and thoughts, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged | 16 Comments

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #24: Seasonal

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Helen C

This is my submission for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #24: Seasonal. Please follow the link to read Tina’s post.

Tina included the following quote in her post…

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”
Percy Bysshe Shelley

Tina, it depends on where you live, doesn’t it? 😉

Every spring, I get a new life – that’s what I like to think.

I used to cry in fall for no reason, and that confused me. I finally figured out that knowing “a half of the year had already gone by” made me feel sad. Fall is my favorite season; I can’t change how fast/slow time goes, but I can and will enjoy what I am given. I no longer cry in fall. 😉

White is one of my favorite colors, not hospital kind of white, but snow kind 😉 In my Interior Design class (long time ago), I designed a bedroom with minimum colors. My instructor asked me: “Don’t you like color?”

“I do, but I want a quiet bedroom. Color brings noise.”

Winter, mostly, is resting time (other than holidays, other than 10,000 steps…). Rest and get ready for spring.

I don’t remember having summer this year. It must because of the forgetfulness that comes with aging. Yes, Mother Nature is getting old.

Now, holiday season…

Happy Holidays!

Thanks to Tina for the interesting challenge.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Posted in photo, photo and thoughts, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged | 17 Comments

CFFC – Catching People Unaware

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Helen C

Here is my entry for CFFC – Catching People Unaware. (Thank you, Cee.)

Como conservatory is a good place to catch people unaware.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge | 11 Comments

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #23: Celebrations

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Helen C

This is my submission for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #23: Celebrations. Please follow the link to read Amy’s post.

This morning, I stepped out to celebrate a beautiful winter day: high 20, no wind, frozen fog on trees…

Actually, when I saw the word “celebrations”, I immediately thought of food. I remember Mom used to cook many dishes celebrating Chinese holidays; I remember we could hardly fit them all on our big table.

I wasn’t interested in cooking when I was young; most of the time I didn’t offer her any help, and when I did, I was kicked out of the kitchen within minutes; Mom apparently didn’t appreciate my free quality control service (frequent tasting). Nowadays, once in a while, I would call my younger sister asking her if she knew how Mom made this or that dish. Sadly, she didn’t know either.

I wish I had some photos of those celebrations, but I don’t. To be honest, back then, I didn’t know I would miss those moments this much.

After getting married, occasionally, I, too, had invited friends over to celebrate holidays. When dinner was ready and I was finally able to sit down to enjoy the food and companies, most of the time, I was no longer in “celebration” mood. I was just happy that cooking was over 😉

We started going out for dinner on our birthdays, anniversaries… We call it a celebration. Sometime I wonder if we have used the word “celebration” as an excuse to avoid cooking. Maybe we have.

Now, the real celebration… I probably have told you the following story; it is one of the stories that I like to keep telling.

I worked for a clinic before I retired. One Monday morning, around 8 o’clock, many coworkers and I squeezed into an elevator (My office was on the 7th floor). Some looked like they were still in their dreams; some had “I don’t like to come to work today” written on their foreheads – clearly, they hated Mondays; some looked like dead trees. Among all well-dressed men and women, there stood a cafeteria lady wearing a simple white shirt, a pair of black pants and a brown apron. Before the elevator reaching to the 2nd floor, the lady started humming in a soft voice. The guy who stood next to her politely asked, “How are you doing?”

“I am doing great!” she said. She paused for a second, and added, “Can’t be better!”

No one made a slight movement, as if no one had heard a sound. What a liar, I thought.

“Really?” the same guy said in a lifeless voice.

“Really. Every day when I wake up, I celebrate for having another day to live. I got up, brushed my teeth, cook and ate breakfast… I did all by myself; I didn’t need any help from others. Isn’t that great or what? Then, I come to work; I buy myself a cup of coffee to celebrate for having a good job. Really, I feel great!”

Ever since that day, I, too, celebrate for every day I get, but I don’t know how to take a photograph of that.

Thanks to Amy for another wonderful theme.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Posted in Memoir, photo, photo and thoughts | Tagged | 27 Comments

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #22: Happiness is

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Helen C

This is my submission for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #22: Happiness Is. Very interesting subject! Please follow the link to read Ann-Christine’s post.

I don’t have many unhappy days after I retired. Everything makes me happy… a flower — withered or not, a tree, a piece of rock, mountains, dirt, food… etc. But, not to worry, I will make this post short. 😉

Happiness is… liking what I do — photographing, writing, cooking, meeting friends…

(Clearly, inspired by Brenda… thanks.)

Happiness is… knowing I am doing all right, because someone says so. (Thank you, my friend.)

Happiness is… having friends… even better if they enjoy listening to my stories 😉

Happiness is… spending time with my parents, even if that can only be done in a dream.

Happiness is… being able to let go. (Still working on this.)

Thank you for visiting my blog. (Happiness is knowing I am not blogging alone. 😉

Posted in photo, photo and thoughts | Tagged | 22 Comments

Coming Back, and a Letter to a Fan

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Helen C

Where did time go? What happened? Let me tell you…

(1) Blogging is like exercise. You blog every week for a while and think you deserve a short break and then a short break turns into a long one. One may wonder… if you enjoy blogging so much, why coming back from a short back is so difficult? I don’t know. All I know is I have experienced the same problem with exercising.

(2) I was ready to come back a couple of weeks (a month?) ago, then I saw an ad on my post. An ad with a not-so-pleasant picture, that was. I have never seen an ad on my blog (I don’t know why); I understand WP have to make money somewhere, and I am okay with adding ads in posts. But an ad with a not-so-pleasant picture? Worse yet, the same ad was displayed 3 times in a short post. How often do my readers have to suffer through this? I dislike the picture so much that I immediately shut down my phone, didn’t even know what the ad was for. At that moment, I was considering shutting down my blog (or pay the money to get rid of ads?)

(3) I was asked to write a short essay every week (in Chinese) to my Buddhist class. I found out that as long as I had one outlet for my creativity to go, I am quite satisfied and happy. It’s a short essay, but as all writers know – we love revising. It has kept me busy these days.

Thank you for all the nice comments I have received recently. Your comments brought a lot of smile to my face. It’s interesting that after writing in Chinese for a while, I am not use to writing in English anymore. I will work on that. Ha.

Now, a letter to a fan… I have to post it here because I don’t have other way to reach him/her.

Dear Fan,

Your letter was supposed to come 3 days ago according to the notification I’ve received, but it didn’t. It didn’t come a day later either. After reporting “missing mail”, I finally received it yesterday. Missing one corner (USPS attached a note apologizing), but it didn’t seem like anything was missing.

OMG! It’s interesting to me that you saw my book at Amazon first, and then found my blog. After reading what you said about my writing, I thought to myself, “Isn’t this every writer dying to hear?” Then I read what you think about my photos, I thought: “Wow! Every photographer (professional or not) would love to hear this!” When I finished reading the letter, I concluded that this is a letter that would be appreciated by any human being. Thank you! (And thank you for your cat photo and the lucky charm!)

Needless to say, I was stuffed with emotions. Like the above photo… huge amount of beautiful emotions. I was a little confused too, not knowing how to respond. One thing I knew was that I wish I could share my happiness with everyone; I have enough to share with everyone in the world!

I do have more to say… (surprise?)

From my experience, there are three groups of people: one who thinks they are better than anyone; one always finds good things in others; and those who know themselves well and know others too. I have a feeling that you, maybe, have given too much credit to others and not enough to yourself. When I read your letter, I felt you are just like me: compassion, loving, kind… etc. (Yes, I have all that; what I am working on is to have all these all the time 😉 Think about it… you made an effort, writing to a stranger to let her know how much you enjoy her work, if this is not “compassion, loving, kind”, what is it?

You said my words gave you hope, perspective and acceptance. But not everyone found hope in my writing! Do you know what that means? It means that you, yourself, have a hope “seed” in your heart, and my words, maybe, provided a little sunshine to help that seed grow. Now, “acceptance”… the most important lesson I have learned in my life is to accept (and love) myself. Trust me, we are better than we thought we are! If we aren’t now, we can be! 😉

I can talk whole day, can you tell? I don’t like long post…

You signed your letter as “A Fan”. Wikipedia says: Fan (person), a fanatical enthusiast or supporter, especially with regard to entertainment and sports.

I used to be a fan of being a fan. I was a fan to many. Thinking back, there was this element of “blind trust” when I was a fan to someone. In a couple of cases, when I got to know the person, I realized that a part of him/her was just like me. So, instead of being a fan, how about joining the team to make this world better, and I suggest to start by patting your back congratulating yourself for making someone love herself a little more. 😉

So, I thank you. I will never forget your letter. Happy Holidays to you, too.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Posted in random thoughts, Writing | 29 Comments

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #12: Path

Posted on September 23, 2018 by Helen C

Before I start, I want to let you know that I am taking a 2-week break, going north to see fall colors (we hope ;-)) I am not sure if we will have WIFI, so I may not be able to do anything online in these 14 days. Hope you all have 2 wonderful weeks.

This is my entry for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #12: Path.

Sometime, we walk alone; sometime, we don’t.

Sometime we lead; sometime we follow.

Sometime we see a well-marked path in front of us; sometime a red carpet welcomes us.

But, sometime, we have to create our own path to be where we want to be.

Many different paths… maybe that’s one of the reasons why life is interesting.

I want to thank Tina for another wonderful challenge. I have forgotten a lot of paths that I had taken in the past. Suddenly, they all come back to me and they seem all right.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in photo, photo and thoughts, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged | 35 Comments