Foresty Institute

Foresty Institute, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

An ent, perhaps? Spotted at the Forestry Institute near Cypress City, China.

Yuelu Academy

Yuelu Academy, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Changsha, China - I was interested in the lattice work of the windows when a couple of tourists peeked into the room where I was making photos.

Rock Martin

Rock Martin, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

With a mouth full of mud, this rock martin was not very concerned about people going in and out of the ablutions block at DeHoop Nature Reserve campground.

Cape Robin-chat

Cape Robin-chat, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

We have snow on the ground again today. This has been a long and cold (very cold!) winter here in central Ohio. To cheer myself up, I think back to my field season last autumn, which was late winter/early spring in South Africa. I clearly remember some very cold and wet days, but the ones with sunshine and warm temps are what keep me going at the moment...

Kelp gull

Kelp gull, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

It seems as if this winter will never end. After a few days of warm temperatures - enough to melt most of the snow - we're back to cold weather, more snow and ice on the way, etc. I've been teaching a double course load this semester to make up for taking all of autumn off so that I could do field work and go to international meetings. As I'm pondering the continuation of winter, I think back to my awesome field season in South Africa. The last few days were spent near Cape Agulhas, camping with Dennis and Gigi Laidler at DeHoop Nature Reserve. This gull was one of my early morning meditations as I sat above the vlei, basking in the morning sun.

Swap meet

Swap meet, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Outside the bamboo scripts museum in Changsha there was a swap meet for antiques being held. This young man caught my eye because of his interesting make-shift chair. The market was very interesting, but, as a non-native, I had no way of judging the authenticity or prices of the wares.

Winter sunset

Winter sunset, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

We've had a bit of a thaw this week, which is a delightful break from the snow we've had on the ground since the first of January. This photo is from the end of January - about the time we had such an interesting appearance of snow rollers.

Faces of China:

Faces of China:, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I made this photo in Cypress City, Hunan Province. The little boy had been chasing a stray cat, and I had done a series of photos. The grandfather decided I needed to do a portrait, too, so he brought his grandson over for a visit. This was just one of the many lovely encounters I had while visiting Hunan Province.

Facies of China: Street vendor

Facies of China: Street vendor, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Another street vendor in Changsha (Hunan Province). Everywhere we went for lunch there were vendors outside the restaurant who were selling fruit, chestnuts, or other food. Our group was always interested in seeing what there was for sale, and sometimes we would buy a variety of things to share on the bus as we were going from one site to another.

Faces of China Series: Street vendor

Faces of China Series: Street vendor, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

One of the things I really enjoyed while traveling with the International Wood Culture Society group was the opportunity to sample the citrus from the region (Hunan Province). These are Valencia oranges, but about twice the size of what I've seen in the USA. I'd be interested to know where these were grown. They had a Sunkist 3108 label....

Cape Weaver

Cape Weaver, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Here's another photo of a Cape Weaver from DeHoop Nature reserve. There's actually another bird inside this particular nest, so I assume he's been successful at attracting a mate.

Cape Weaver

Cape Weaver, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Back to South Africa for today's post. This is a Cape Weaver male, advertising his territory. From DeHoop Nature Reserve, Western Cape.

Yuelu Academy

Yuelu Academy, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Tourists are the same all over the world. Smart phones snapping pictures of historic sites; a sense of awe in being in the presence of beauty.

Yuelu Academy is in Changsha China. The architecture includes a great deal of wood, which is why this place was on the itinerary for the pre-conference tour of the International Wood Culture Society symposium.

David Wong

David Wong, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

If you've never heard David Wong or had the pleasure of seeing one of his performances, you're missing out on a real treat. David has a very large Youtube presence, and I recommend that you find his channel. His repertoire is extensive, including looped covers of pop music. He does everything from classical to jazz to rock to you name it, he probably plays it. Aside from his amazing talent, he's a heck of a nice guy, too.

Faces of China - Changsha

Faces of China - Changsha, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

While visiting Hunan Province last fall, I did a series of street portraits for my Faces of China project. I met this man in a pedestrian tunnel under a very busy and wide street in Changsha. He was selling fruit at the bottom of the stairs.

What this photo tells me is that a smile is the universal language of all humanity. I connected with him by smiling and pointing to my camera and then to my face. He nodded and smiled, and then we had a lovely exchange while I made this photo. He was amused by the image I showed him on the camera LCD, too.

Via Flickr:
While visiting Hunan Province last fall, I did a series of street portraits. I met this man in a tunnel running under a main street. He was selling fruit at the bottom of the stairs.

Espresso, please.

Espresso, please., a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I think this is the last of my series from the North Market. I've enjoyed working with black and white processing for these photos. If you're interested in how I develop my photos, here's an outline of the process: 1) import RAW files into Lightroom; 2) adjust color, white balance, saturation, vibrance, clarity, contrast, light levels, noise; 3) import processed file into SilverEfexPro 2; 4) choose film type, adjust grain, dodge and burn, adjust contrast and structure, local adjustments to areas that need additional work; 5) work on the edited file in Lightroom to adjust final levels.

Normally, I'll be able to work fairly quickly. Some images require more work than others to bring out the details. I would probably get a more polished look if I were to learn how to use Photoshop properly, but my skills with that software are pretty limited.

Kitchenlittle

Kitchenlittle, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Another great restaurant at the North Market in Columbus, Ohio. I especially like that they use local foods. Ohio has a lot of farms in Central Ohio. Unfortunately, many of them are being planted with new housing developments...

Patisserie

Patisserie, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

When Steve and I visited Paris last May, we fell in love with the patisseries there. It was so nice to discover this one in the North Market of Columbus, Ohio. The staff are very friendly and the sweets are out of this world.

Whipping cream

Whipping cream, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I've mentioned all the wonderful fresh foods at the North Market. There are also sweet shops to sample. Yum!

Butcher's shop

Butcher's shop, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

North Market; Columbus, Ohio - Another shop in the market. There is also a seafood supplier there.

Pizza at the North Market

Pizza at the North Market, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

The series continues.... I didn't realize what a treasure trove the North Market would be for doing street photography. It was pretty easy on this particular morning - we were getting some pretty heavy snow, and we were there just as they opened so their weren't many people there. The restaurants were preparing for the lunch rush, and that always makes for good action photos.

I made all my photos in color, but have been using SilverEfexPro to convert to monochrome. I like the monochrome versions better than the color ones for this photo shoot.

At the North Market

At the North Market, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Steve chatting with Dion about black and white film photography. One of the nice things about hanging around in the North Market to take photos was the connections made with shopkeepers. Dion has a big interest in photography, so it was fun to talk to him.

Bento Box

Bento Box, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Another from my North Market series. I liked the juxtaposition of the duck-head canisters with the restaurant in the background.

Spices

Spices, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

There's a wonderful spice shop in the North Market of Columbus, Ohio. The folks are friendly there, and I really enjoyed exploring the shelves of exotic herbs and spices. All the standards for American cuisine are there, of course, but there is a wide assortment of herbs and spices from around the globe.

Spices

Spices, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I made this photo in the Spices shop at the North Market. It's a wonderful little shop with a lovely variety of spices and flavorings. I'm thinking of bringing my students here on a field trip the next time I teach my Plants and People course...

Mocha at the North Market

Mocha at the North Market, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Fun at the espresso shop. Coffee is my friend....

Firdous

Firdous, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Another informal portrait from my walkabout in Columbus, Ohio's North Market. Steve actually found this spot first, but I liked it well enough to do an informal portrait, too. I'm sure his photo is much better than the one I made, though....

If I were to set this up again, I'd center the face to be reflected symmetrically on both sides.

Florist

Florist, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Another photo from my series about Columbus, Ohio's North Market. The folks at the florist shop were very friendly and I enjoyed watching the flower arranging going on there.