Epcot in Orlando

On 28th December 2009, we traveled to Orlando, Florida to spend a day in the famous Epcot Center. It was not surprising to see so many people from around the world. We had so much hard time to find a spot to take some pictures without human bodies on them. Fortunately, we found this spot right in front of Japan showcase. When we looked through the Japanese arch, there was the park's amazing icon, the Spaceship Earth. It looked like a giant golf ball. When we took this photo, the sun was about to set and the lighting was wonderful.

Epcot is a big park and we had been there several times. However, we may have to go back again and again to capture shots from different angles at different time of the day and season. At the same time, we would enjoy the wonderful environment of the park and learn a lot from various rides and displays.

Fishing in Bald Head Island

Thanks again to Ed and Carol, we were able to visit Bald Head Island once again during the full moon day on 3rd October 2009. In lunar calendar, that day was 15th of August, the Mid Autumn Festival. Chinese would have extensive celebration by gathering family together, eating moon cake, and enjoying watching the full moon together. We managed to be at the famous Cape Fear when the moon was rising on that evening. Surprisingly, there were big crowd but people were there not for watching the full moon, instead, there were very focus in fishing.

The gentleman in this picture was sitting firmly, holding his fishing pole, and very patient and focus. With the moon and the endless sea in front of him, we believed he should be very relax. In fact, while we were there, even we did not hold fishing poles, it was an extremely relaxing environment and we were so lucky to be there. We can see full moon everywhere in the world on that day. However, watching the full moon at Cape Fear was a highlight in our life.

Seagull in Carolina Beach

We know very well that taking picture for flying bird is very hard to do. The bird is moving quickly, chasing the bird with camera equipped with telephoto lens is not an easy job. In less than a second, we will have to focus on a moving bird far away, set up the shutter speed and aperture, then, release the shutter multiple times to take several photos.

Somehow, we got lucky. On 5th September 2009, we visited the Carolina Beach by the North Carolina coast with some good friends. The sky was beautifully blue with a lot of seagulls flying around. The seagulls there are very used to human. They fly just about 10 feet above our heads looking for food feeding by people. Also, they tend to fly slower while trying to spot for food. Because of that, it was much easier for us to take some good photos for those nice-looking seagulls.

Sun Rise in Bald Head Island

When we travel to places, most of the time, we would not be able to get up early in the morning to see the sun rise. First, we would be too tired to get up early. Second, the places we visit may not have good view for the sun rise.

On 20th September 2009 at around 7pm, we woke up in Bald Head Island in North Carolina. The sun was rising and we took some pictures. It was really tough because we were still sleepy. Looking at such a beautiful sun rise scene, we had to concentrate to get some nice shots. So, it was a conflict of interest. Our minds were struggling while we took those photos, we had absolutely unbelievable feeling while we were hold the camera.

Wild Geese in Victoria

Over the years, we have taken numerous photos. For some of them, we feel they are very good but others may not think so. For some others, we do not like them at all but some of our friends like them a lot. Therefore, it is so hard to determine if a photo is good or bad. Human judgment against photos is extremely subjective. This one is another example, some wild geese are wandering around the water in Victoria, Canada on 8th June 2009. Our very good friend, Joyce, took us to visit the floating houses and we spotted those wild geese there.

The geese are not organized in a particular shape and they are also facing different directions. The photo itself is not good according to many photographer's standard. On the other hands, the reflection looks quite interesting. The geese are very calm. This photo gives us a feeling of peace and happiness. What is your subjective opinion?

Golden Tree in Vancouver

On 6th June 2009, our relatives in Vancouver took us to the popular Cypress Provincial Park up in the mountain. Even though it was a hot day in June, there was still snow and ice on the ground. That park is extremely popular in winter for skiing activity. But in June, there was hardly anyone up there. We were able to look over Vancouver downtown from there and it was beautiful.

Up there in the park, there was one tree which caught our eyes. It was blooming with golden yellow flowers, very interesting. When we first saw that tree, for some reasons, we had joyful feeling. It was just a tree we felt happy to look at, simply amazing.

Now, the question is. What kind of tree is that?

Downtown in Seattle

On 16th June 2009, we visited Seattle downtown with good friends Pati and Georgia. Seattle downtown is right by the waterfront and therefore it is very beautiful. The boats, the pier, the high rises, and their image reflection on the water constitute a very pretty picture. Would we be bored to have such a view all the time? Of course, we will not. Unfortunately, photograph does not give you the sense of smell and sound there. Otherwise, the environment would be even more attractive to a lot of people.

Sign in Butchart Gardens

On 10th June 2009, we spent a day in Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada. That visit was not our first time to the famous Butchart Gardens and we still found the garden very attractive and so enjoyable to walk around. We took a lot of pictures on pretty flowers and landscape. The garden is really a dream place for photographers.

We believe that there are tons of beautiful photos taken from Butchart Gardens on the web and books. However, in the garden, most people may overlook a funny sign like this one. It says "DOGS MUST KEEP OWNERS ON A LEASH". We have not seen such a sign before and it is just hilarious. On the other hand, one can say that the management of Butchart Gardens has done a wonderful job to put up a sign telling visitors something in a funny way. It is because the sign is funny and visitors would most likely read it. If it says "DOGS MUST BE ON A LEASH" instead, visitors would probably ignore it.

Visitors in the garden are very relaxing. Putting up a sign like that will not deminish anyone's enjoyment. It may even enhance it we believe.

Learning in NC Zoo

Whenever we have a day free, we always think of visiting the North Carolina Zoo. Even though we have been there many times, they are so much to learn in there, understanding the difference between sea lion and seal, realizing the special sound made by the elks, etc. In fact, we also learn a lot from people in the zoo. In this picture taking on 19th April 2009, Jessie spent quite a few minutes going over the 3 notice boards about drawing the nature, such as plant, insect, and animal. Most zoo goers would just pass by and they never pay much attention to them. What Jessie did in the zoo is something we should learn.

Full Moon in Chapel Hill

Most of the time in life, when we plan on doing something good, we do not get what we intend to achieve. When we go ahead to work on something just by accident, we may succeed. On 8th April 2009 at 10pm, we walked outside our home to throw the trash, we saw this beautiful moon along with some funny-shape cloud. With no hesitation, we rushed back home and picked up our camera, tripod, and a flashlight. It took us a few minutes to set the camera up and a few minutes to shoot about 50 photos on the same object, the moon.

We like this picture a lot. The moon is accompanied by some cloud and some trees. For weather people, they may say something about the weather tomorrow by looking at those cloud. For us, the lighting on those cloud and their shape caught our eyes. It is just not something we see every night.

After shooting the moon for a few minutes, a big piece of cloud moved over and the moon was hidden behind. We were so lucky to catch that moment by making a quick decision to take pictures and moving quickly to grab our equipment.

Old Baldy Light House in Bald Head Island

Previously, we thought that going to the beach in winter is a little crazy. It is like eating ice scream in winter, getting cold food in the cold. However, we totally change our minds after visiting the Bald Head Island again on 31st January 2009. Carol and Ed invited us to spend a night in their newly renovated vacation house on the island. It was a wonderful experience to be on the island in winter the first time.

Bald Head Island in winter is very charming indeed. We saw less people on the ferry and we certainly enjoyed the quiet moment on the island for a change. Also, the scene is quite different with respect to what we see in summer. The lighting during sun rise and sun set is so nice for photography. This picture was taken when we were on the ferry leaving the island around 4pm, perfect timing to take nice photos for the Old Baldy Light House.

World's Lagest Outdoor Buddha in Hong Kong

On 18th November 2008, our good friends, Raymond and Yin-Fung, took us to visit the world's largest outdoor Buddha in Hong Kong's Po Lin Monastery. It was really a wonderful experience to see such a huge statue.

The monastery was founded in 1906 while the giant Buddha statue was completed in 1993. The Buddha is 34 meters (110 ft) tall. In order for us to be right next to the Buddha, we climbed 268 steps of stairs. When we were up there, we really had to look up to see the face of the Buddha.

Capitol in DC

We visited DC very often. On 23rd November 2007, we spent a day in the National Mall area. Walking in the Mall was quite relaxing. By the time the sun was about to set, we still wanted to take more pictures. This picture of the Capitol was taken right before the sun was down. It was cold but we did not want to go without taking some nice pictures of the Capitol.

Today, 20th January 2009, the Capitol became the place to held one of the most important moments of American history. There were about 1.5 million people right in front of the Capitol to witness the presidential inauguration ceremony for the new president Obama who is the first African American to be the US president. Obama has a brave agenda to fix up problems in US. We are posting this photo to commemorate this event. We are also hoping that because of Obama presidentship people would be more willing to accept new ideas and changes like what Obama is about to do.