Rural Hefei (合肥乡下) - Anhui, China (Part 2)

In the month of December in 2013, I took a trip to China to visit relatives and to travel places and take photos. On this trip, I visited Jiangsu (江苏), Anhui (安徽), Hong Kong (香港), and Macau (澳门). I took many photos on this trip and I will be splitting them into many parts. I will do my best in these blog post to describe the photos, however due to the lack of map data for China (on Google) and my horrible Chinese, I may not be able to give you too much details on certain things. At the time of visit, the smog in China is very heavy. In many of the photos, you will see what looks to be fog or haze, but it is the smog (pollution) in China. Be warned, that the pollution in China is not at safe levels. I started coughing less than one week into the trip, and I did not recover until the beginning of March this year (2014). Many individuals in China had the same cough I got. If you haven't done so, you can view my vlogs here. I already posted all my vlogs (of the entire trip) on Youtube, but these photos will come out in parts.

12/2013，我去中国旅游。我去了江苏、安徽、香港、和澳门玩。我会把照片分成很多部分。我的中文没有那么好，我不能翻译所有的东西。 我去中国的时候有很大的雾霾。我咳嗽咳了好几个月。我这次旅游也拍了一些视频，你可以在这里看。

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best China photos from this trip, use this link. To view all of my photos from 12/15/2013 through 12/17/2013, use this link.

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The photos for today are from Hefei (合肥) in Anhui, China (安徽, 中国). The photos are shot in a rural area in Hefei (合肥).

我今天的照片是在安徽的合肥乡下拍的。

Continuing from the previous post, my ancestors grave site is in these fields. Here is a photo of rural Hefei (合肥) showing the resident's houses off in the distance, with fields of cotton and bok choy. You can also tell from the photo, there is heavy smog even in the rural area. 

 合肥的农村和地。植物有白菜和棉花。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 14 N 117 16 02 E

Black and white process of the photo above.  

This is the first time I've seen cotton grown on a plant. I was very interested. 

这是我第一次看到棉花植物。

Another photo of the fields of bok choy and cotton plants. 

农村白菜和棉花地。 

 Here are the narrow dirt roads the workers walk on. 

地里面的土路。

Here is the grave site of our ancestors. No crops are grown on there. Chinese traditions is to burn paper money and launch some firecrackers over the grave site during your visit. In this photo, you can see my relatives. 

Here is a photo of the paper money being burned. These few shots are taken from around the same area, so I won't give a GPS reading.  

 Black and white process of the photo above.  

 Now back out of the fields, back to the houses. Here are some cotton picked off the plant. 

摘下来的棉花。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 16 N 117 16 04 E

Here are cotton shells with the cotton already separated out. 

棉花壳 

Here is an even closer shot of freshly picked cotton. 

 摘下来的棉花。

Now we go visit the remains of my great grandfather's house. On the walk there, I spotted this really cool window at a house. I stopped to find a good angle to photograph it. The home owner came to see what I was doing. I told him, I find your window very interesting, I want a photo. He said fine and went back home. This window seems to be one on a really old mud house that is no longer used. There was only 2 walls left on the structure. The home owner stores some building supplies behind the wall. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 16 N 117 16 05 E

  Black and white process of the photo above.  

I get up close to that window for some abstract shots.  

  Black and white process of the photo above.   

I spot a rope on the window. Decided to get a depth of field shot of it.  

  Black and white process of the photo above.   

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will continue with more photos from Anhui, China (安徽, 中国) and a few shots from Suzhou (苏州). Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

我下一次有跟多安徽和苏州拍的照片。

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Lu'an, Sanhe, & Hefei - Anhui, China (Part 1)

In the month of December in 2013, I took a trip to China to visit relatives and to travel places and take photos. On this trip, I visited Jiangsu (江苏), Anhui (安徽), Hong Kong (香港), and Macau (澳门). I took many photos on this trip and I will be splitting them into many parts. I will do my best in these blog post to describe the photos, however due to the lack of map data for China (on Google) and my horrible Chinese, I may not be able to give you too much details on certain things. At the time of visit, the smog in China is very heavy. In many of the photos, you will see what looks to be fog or haze, but it is the smog (pollution) in China. Be warned, that the pollution in China is not at safe levels. I started coughing less than one week into the trip, and I did not recover until the beginning of March this year (2014). Many individuals in China had the same cough I got. If you haven't done so, you can view my vlogs here. I already posted all my vlogs (of the entire trip) on Youtube, but these photos will come out in parts.

12/2013，我去中国旅游。我去了江苏、安徽、香港、和澳门玩。我会把照片分成很多部分。我的中文没有那么好，我不能翻译所有的东西。 我去中国的时候有很大的雾霾。我咳嗽咳了好几个月。我这次旅游也拍了一些视频，你可以在这里看。

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best China photos from this trip, use this link. To view all of my photos from 12/15/2013 through 12/17/2013, use this link.

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The photos for today are from several places in Anhui, China (安徽, 中国). The photos include photos out in China's rural side in Lu'an (六安), Sanhe Ancient Town (三河古镇), and Hefei (合肥).

我今天的照片是在中国的安徽乡下拍的。城市有六安、三河古镇、和合肥。

So once we were in Anhui, China (安徽, 中国), we slept the first night there at our relatives house. Next day, we went driving out to Hefei (合肥) to go pay respects to our ancestor's grave site. On the trip there, really had to go use the bathroom, and being in rural China on a rural highway, that only existed on the side of the road. I happened to have pulled over to this abandoned building in Lu'an (六安). I did my business and proceeded to find a good angle on the building. Sadly, I found an outhouse on the left side of it. (Why couldn't it have shown itself earlier?!) Anyways, this seems to be an abandoned restaurant, which now is a trash recycling center. 

六安拍的一张照片。开往合肥的路上拍的。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 18 01 N 117 01 27 E

Black and white process of the photo above.  

 Now I go ahead and shoot a photo of the rural highway in Lu'an (六安). As you can see the smog (pollution) issue is also very severe in rural China. This photo has had its contrast upped more than what I usually do for photos. 

六安乡下的高速公路。

Now I get to Sanhe Ancient Town (三河古镇).

到了三河古镇。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 31 06 N 117 14 19 E

 Here is a photo of Sanhe Ancient Town (三河古镇). I will go into the town after I visit our ancestor's grave site. This is just an overview from the side of the road on a bridge. 

这是三河古镇。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 31 07 N 117 14 17 E

Here is another photo of Sanhe Ancient Town (三河古镇) from another angle on the bridge.  

这是三河古镇。

 Black and white process of the photo above.  

 Now I arrive at rural Hefei (合肥) where my ancestors are buried. Here is a rural shot of the dirt road we were driving on. It was very hard to drive on as it was dusty and narrow, but we managed. On the left is a household where one of our distant relatives lives. They took us to the grave site. 

到了合肥乡下了。土路上很难开车。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 16 N 117 16 02 E

Black and white process of the photo above.   

 Here is a photo turned around of the rural houses. On the left is what I suspect to be the original building. On the distant right is a house rebuilt. With the newer house, you can see the upper level of the house is added on at a later date. In rural China, money is tight, therefore, this does happen quite a lot. 

这些是乡下的房子。左边因该是旧房子。右边因该是新建的房子。

Here is a photo of the bricks on one of the walls of the house.  

一个房子的墙。

Chickens on the farm! Not the first time I've seen live chickens, but still very cool. We don't see these in the SF Bay Area (except Chinatown in SF). 

农村的鸡。 

 Black and white process of the photo above.   

 Here is another rural house in Hefei (合肥) along with a dirt road on the right. 

这个是乡下的房子。右边是土路。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 17 N 117 16 02 E

 Black and white process of the photo above.    

An abstract shot of a wall. I decided to photograph it with the edge of the wall through the center. Upper center is an electrical extension cord of some sort.  

 Black and white process of the photo above.   

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will continue with more photos from Anhui, China (安徽, 中国). Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

我下一次有跟多安徽拍的照片。

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Leggett, Piercy, Eureka, Arcata Bay - California's Coast

From 7/17/2013 to 8/2/2013, I took a road trip from the SF Bay Area to Vancouver, BC, Canada. Half of the trip was spent driving up the west coast. On my trip, I visited many famous places such as Seattle, Butchart Gardens, Mount Rainier, and much more. Obviously I got many coastal shots and many places that isn't as famous. The reason I am posting it now is because the high amount of photos I took equaled a high amount of processing time. I took a bit over 2000 photos on the trip. After stitching the panoramas, compositing the HDRs, and picking out photos from the repeats, I have a bit over 1000 photos to show you guys. The photos will be split into parts. I will link you to the previous and next parts on each post just like I did with my Death Valley National Park photos and my Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Park photos. Hope you enjoy viewing this chain of posts!

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best California photos from this trip, use this link. To view all of my day 2 photos, use this link.

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Today I continue my trip up California's Coast. I have photos from Legget, Piercy, Eureka, and Arcata.

I start off with photos along SR-1 in Leggett, CA. This photo is of the South Fork Eel River.  

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 39 51 51 N 123 43 22 W

Here is a photo of the river on the other side of the bridge.  

As I have always recommended, get a photo of the sign! This way you'll never forget where you took the photo.  

 Here is the photo of the bridge over the South For Eel River. This is part of SR-1.

Here is a photo of Confusion Hill in Piercy, CA along SR-1. I didn't go in. Just got a few photos from the parking lot and left. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 39 55 09 N 123 45 53 W

Another photo of Confusion Hill.  

 Here is a photo of The Legend of Bigfoot, also located in Piercy, CA along SR-1. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 40 02 03 N 123 47 35 W

 Now I move onto Eureka, CA. Since this is a big city, I went down and explored a bit. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 40 48 11 N 124 10 38 W

A black and white process of the above image.  

 Now a few photos from the Eureka Boardwalk. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 40 48 21 N 124 10 08 W

 Another photo from the Eureka Boardwalk.

Another photo from the Eureka Boardwalk.  

After leaving Eureka, I decided to go for a scenic drive in Arcata, CA. Here is a photo from Arcata Bay on the side of SR-255. Not sure what that is on the ocean. Seems to be some sort of smoke or fog.  

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 40 51 53 N 124 09 04 W

Another photo from Arcata Bay from the same location as above. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I have more photos from California's Coast. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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SR-140/Cathey's Valley Park - Yosemite National Park (Part 1)

Yosemite National Park is a national park located in California that stretches eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in the central eastern portion of California and covers around 761,268 acres or 3,080.74 km² of land. Yosemite National Park is best known for its waterfalls, deep valleys, grand meadows, giant sequoias, giant wilderness area, and much more. I, personally, love Yosemite National Park. I think it is very beautiful and is a great place for photographs. I also happen to live in the SF Bay Area which isn't very far from it! I try to make at least 1 trip almost every year to the park. I visited the park several month ago and I am here to show you some of the photos I took in the park as well as some photos I took on the way into the park from the SF Bay Area. These photos will be divided over several blog posts. I hope you enjoy the photos! Also, I have route information recorded using a Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver. If you are planning a similar trip to Yosemite National Park and would like to see the route I took, feel free to email me at the email address I provided on my "About the Photographer" page for a copy. I can provide you the route information in Google Earth KMZ, Canon NMEA, and GPX formats. If you would like to get notifications when I do post, you can Like/Follow me on the following fan pages: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. If you are interested, choose one of the links below:

• Yosemite 2013 (Best Photos)
• Yosemite 2013 (All Photos)

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Now let's introduce you to the photos for today. The photos for today was from the first day of my trip traveling from the SF Bay Area to Yosemite Cedar Lodge, a hotel near Yosemite National Park. I took many photos on the road so the ones shown today will only be some of it. Most of the photos today was taken on California State Route 140 (SR-140) with a few photos taken at Catheys Valley Park in Catheys Valley, CA (a park near SR-140).

Message from the Photographer: I recently took a road trip from the SF Bay Area to Vancouver, BC, Canada! I took over 2500 photos on the trip. This means it will obviously take me quite a while to sort through everything. I am trying my best to hurry up and work on them. I hope you guys will check back for it. :)

Loved the blue sky and the clouds that day. Made for a really nice country scenery. The road you see is SR-140. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 19 25 N 120 15 35 W

 Someone's farm fenced off with barbed wire. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 19 25 N 120 15 35 W

Photography Tip: The 1st four photos are some of the best work I've done (in my opinion) of rural landscapes. See how the colors are saturated? That is not Photoshop you are seeing there (I did put in a little bit of saturation in Camera RAW), but most of it was because of the polarizing filter in front of my camera lens. Polarizing filters can help get rid of glare (from windows and other stuff) and can also help saturate the colors in the scene your camera is looking at (especially the blue in blue skies). If you do landscape photography, a polarizer is a must. When buying one, make sure you get one that is the correct size for your lens (size should be written on your lens and lens cap). Also make sure if you want auto focus to work, get the circular type. Also, don't cheap out on the filters because the cheap ones will color cast your image, plus tends to be very very hard to clean when it gets dirty. I personally would recommend the B+W brand filters. B+W filters are the best ones I've used so far. As always, if you need help with photography, you can always email me using the email provided on my "About the Photographer" page. 

Another photo on SR-140. Loved the curve in the highway. As you can see, a pro photographer may suddenly slow and pull over with no warning at all. :P So next time you see some douche driving slowly down an empty highway, this could be the reason. LOL

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 21 08 N 120 11 48 W

 Someone's farm fenced off with barbed wire. Some cows off in the distance. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 21 08 N 120 11 48 W

The 1st photo I took at Catheys Valley Park in Catheys Valley, CA (near SR-140). This is an HDR composition I turned black and white. After some Googling, this seems to be a historical blacksmith shop. Not too sure though. The internet doesn't seem to have a lot of information on this park, however the park seems to have some historical significance. 

 You probably have guessed it, before I turned it black and white, it was in color! :P Here is a colored process of the HDR composition. 

A giant grass field at Catheys Valley Park.  

Zoomed out shot of the grass field.  

 A shot of the grass field at a different angle. 

An HDR composition of the playground inside the park.  

A sign labeling the park. Would have gotten a photo of the historical school house, but I couldn't find a really good angle, and of course was in a bit of a rush to get to the hotel before the sun disappears for the day.

A sign talking about the history of Catheys Valley. If you can't read the text just email me at the email address I provided on my "About the Photographer" page for a full resolution copy. Make sure you tell me which blog post it is. 

A sign honoring the Armed Forces of the US. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will continue with more photos from my drive to Yosemite National Park (on SR-140). Please don't forget to share my blog posts with your friends! If you would like to get notifications next time I post, you can "Like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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Copyright Warning: These photos are some of my best and most popular works of art. Unauthorized usage and reproductions are strictly prohibited. Please contact me here to purchase prints and negotiate photo licenses.