Category: Photography

Categories
Announcements Blogging Downingtown Personal Photo Essay

No More Long Hair!

Today is the day that I finally get all my hair cut off!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Front View – Before
Back view – Before
Back view – w/Ruler
Cousin “It” w/Sun glasses
Let it flow…
Getting the hair out of the way
Let the cutting begin
Let the cutting begin – detail
Fishing lures from hair
Beginning to emerge
Beginning to emerge 2
All done!
Locks of Love banner

All the hair was donated to “Locks of Love”

Locks of Love banner

Tech Info

– All images taken with a Kodak DC50 camera

– Andrew
§ § § § §
[adrotate banner=”1″]
Categories
China Personal Photo Essay Photography Travel

Tiananmen Square and The Great Wall

Note – All images are scanned from slide film.

Tiananmen Square – Overview
Monument to the People’s Heros
Museum of Chinese Revolution & History
Working People’s Cultural Palace
Great Hall of the People
Map of the Tombs
Walking up to the tombs
Walking up to the tombs 2
13th Ming Emperor’s Tombs – Looking Out
13th Ming Emperor’s Tombs – Looking Out 2
13th Ming Emperor’s Tombs – Looking Out 3
The Great Wall – Tower
The Great Wall – Walking View
The Great Wall – Looking out
The Great Wall – Stairs
The Great Wall – Walking Surface
The Great Wall – Looking Out 2
The Great Wall – Looking Out 3
The Great Wall – Looking Out 4

Tiananmen Square

  • Tiananmem Square Overview
  • Monument to the People’s Heros
  • Museum of Chinese Revolution & History
  • Working People’s Cultural Palace
  • Great Hall of the People

13th Ming Emperor’s Tombs

  • Map of the Tombs
  • Walking up to the tombs
  • Walking up to the tombs 2

It is very hard to show pictures of the Tomb because they are all underground.

At the entrance, you walk down about 100 feet of stairs, and then opens up into a series of large vaults.

In these vaults are the various items buried with the Emperor.

Back above ground, one is treated with a great view of the surrounding country side.

  • Looking Out
  • Looking Out – Detail 1
  • Looking Out – Detail 2

Lunch in a ‘tourist trap’

Lunch in the upstairs portion of the building.

A tour bus of Chinese tourists came in toward the end of the meal.

Shopping around the International Store.

The Great Wall of China

The drive north-west of Beijing/Peking

There is some beautiful mountains that you drive through to get to the wall. I just kept looking out the window in the amazement of nature.

I was also amazed to see portions of the wall traversing the tops of the mountains. Here was this extremely rugged terrain, and on top of it all, this stone wall!!

Simply put, AMAZING!!

Robert did have a problem with the tickets because of his nationality.

Merchants selling picture books, buttons, and table cloths all along the wall!!

The higher I walked, the more and more I was amazed.

The Wall just stretches as far as the eye can see.

  • Great Wall Tower
  • The Great Wall 01
  • The Great Wall 02
  • Walking up some stairs
  • The Great Wall 03
  • The Great Wall 04
  • The Great Wall 05
  • The Great Wall 06

Drive back to Beijing

I saw a small fire in the under brush that no one seemed to care about. I did not see anyone tending the flames!!

Formal Dinner

Dad was the host for this meal

– Andrew
§ § § § §
[adrotate banner=”1″]
Categories
Japan Photo Essay Photo Journal Photography Travel

Kamakura, Japan

Note – All images are scanned from slide film.

Kamakura Train Station
Temple Front
Temple Roof Detail
Sake barrels
Little girl elaborately dressed
Apex Detail 01
Statue Detail 01
Apex Detail 02
Children Statues 01
Children Statues (Detail)
Bronze Buddha
Bronze Buddha (Head Detail)
Incense Burner (Detail)
Open Air Market
White Dragon protecting a coin pond
Watering Stand w/Cat
Bronze Dragon Shrine
Dragon at the end of the tunnel
Which way to go?
Walk way into Cliffs 01
Looking out from a tunnel
Map (General)
Map (Detail)
Prayer Wall

Temple/Shrine Island

This was a fascinating island.

After walking through a small little town with many open air markets, we proceeded to the top of the island.

Once at the top, you are greeted by a White Dragon protecting a coin pond. We briefly stop to make an offering, and then continue down the walk way.

As you walk, you see many more Shrines and Temples…

  • Watering Stand w/Cat
  • Bronze Dragon Shrine
  • Prayer Wall

Ocean Side of the Island

Map (General) & Map (Detail)

Once you get to the back side of the island, which faces the ocean, there is a wood walk (green) way that is built into the cliffs.

In two separate areas, there are tunnels (yellow) that go into the cliffs.

  • Walk way into Cliffs 01
  • Looking out from a tunnel
  • Split in the tunnels

At the end of the tunnels, there are mysteries to be found!!

Train back was during late “Rush Hour”

Dinner at Akasu’s

During Dinner an Earthquake of a magnitude 3.0 hit

When I first felt the quake, I thought that it was a large truck, but as the Akasu family looked around, and a door swung open, I began to know there was something more to this.

The Akasu family informed me that I had just witnessed an earthquake!!

After some time, the local TV stations began to report the tremors.

– Andrew
§ § § § §
[adrotate banner=”1″]
Categories
Japan Personal Photo Essay Photo Journal Photography Travel

Culture Day – Japan

Note – All images are scanned from slide film.

Tokyo Tower 01
Guard Gate 01
Guard Gate 02
Dwarf Pine trees
Samurai Warrior Monument
Tokyo Tower 01

Culture Day (Japan)

This morning I woke up around 04:00 A, and I have been puttering about the room. Getting the presents together to
take over later.

07:00 Breakfast

09:00 Meet Mr. Akasu in the lobby

Back to his home for the first time

  • We exchanged gifts
  • We watched the Waterloo Gardens tape

First experience on the Japanese train system

See the young men walking around in full decorative dress with wooden shoes that sounded like horses on
a cobble stone road.

Bus tour took us by…

  • Emperors place
    • Walked around the Emperor’s Place…
      • 500 yrs to build
      • 2013 Dwarf Pine trees in the Main Compound
      • Over 3 miles in circumference around the compound
    • Monuments
      • Samurai Warrior
    • The small stones around the gates where used to detect when someone approaching
      • Guard Gate 01
      • Guard Gate 02
  • The Diet (Japanese Government Building)
  • Russian Embassy
  • Tokyo Tower
    • Tower 1
    • Tower 2

Dinner at the Akasu’s

Agadashi and Delivered Sushi!!

Categories
Personal Photo Essay Photo Journal Photography

Arrive Tokyo/Narita

We finally arrived at Narita airport just as the sun was going down. I got to see some of the southern part before it was too dark.

Getting through the airport was a breeze. My luggage was the first off, and there was no problems with customs.

Mr. Akasu and another gentleman picked me up, and drove me to the hotel.

On the way to the hotel, we passed the Indoor Skiing place. I was told that it contained a 300 ft. slope, and was open year round.

I was also amazed to see children, and single women freely walking or riding bikes around after dark.

I also noticed many vending machines, that serve food, beer, cigs, etc. They are all over the place!

We finally arrived at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Hikarigaoka around 20:00 . I was checked into Room 612, and said good night to Mr. Akasu.

I got to the room, unpacked and crawled into bed.

While laying in bed, I was channel surfing, and I came across a show that had people sitting in wooden tubs, and they would have liquid poured over them, and I think they had to guess what the mixture was.

Another scene had the contestants running through corn fields, and strapped to their back was a 6 ft long bamboo shaft attached to the persons back, with a little yellow flag attached. They would then end at a table which had different plates of food covered with tops, and once again they had to guess what it was.

I think I finally fell asleep around 22:00 P (Local)