It's not Just the Falls at Niagra Falls - Los Angeles Fine Art Photographer

As you know, I visited Niagra Falls recently.  It's a circle that took me 10 years to complete.  For that reason, and also due to my fine quality of being easily distracted (or hardly focused), I took full advantage of walking slowly and checking every angle and perspective so I could get as full of an experience as I possibly can.  As a result, I saw a lot more than the Falls, even more than the beautiful rainbow arched in front of the Rainbow Bridge.

Cormorant-Taking-the-Center-Stage-NagraFalls-Canada-Copyrght-Jean-Huang-Photgraphy

Cormorant-Taking-the-Center-Stage-NagraFalls-Canada-Copyrght-Jean-Huang-Photgraphy

Before we adjourn, I wanted to loop back to our last post and congratulate Miranda Otte for being the first to answer the question about the situation that we ran into while in Kinosaki, Japan correctly.  I will be in touch soon to send you the prize.  That's right, we paid big price to be in Kinosaki, and now I'm paying a prize.  Hehe...

For those that missed the opportunity to grab the prize, you have one more chance.

Last time, we stopped where we were supposed to leave the small town famous for its hot springs.  And as Miranda, and many others that answered via emails, pointed out, we did not have money left to take the train, the only way to leave this area and to head for Kyoto.  What ideas do you have, if you were us, to get out of there?  
  
Here are the simple rules:

1. All eligible answers must be entered in the Facebook comment box below, with "Also post on Facebook" box checked.

2. We are looking for the most interesting/innovative/practical idea.  The answer with the most "likes" wins.  

Ready, set, goooood luck! :-)

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We Paid Big Price to Be in Kinosaki, Japan, or Not - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

It was the perfect season to visit Kinosaki, a charmingly old-fashioned onsen (Japanese for hot springs) town located in northern Hyogo Prefecture on the coast of the Sea of Japan.  It started its development in the 8th century when hot springs were discovered there.  

The weather was cool and what a great idea to stroll by the willow-lined river
in yukata and geta (wooden clogs), after a dip in one (or all) of the seven public hot springs.  And the thought of sleeping in a ryokan (Japanese inn), furnished with tatami, after a meal of the region's famous crab and Tajima beef was enough to keep me awake at night.

Well, no classic story is without a twist.  Due to some misaligned priorities, we failed to exchange Japanese Yen before boarding the long train journey to Kinosaki, on the last effective day of the train pass.  By the time we arrived in the reserved ryokan, it had passed 5:00 pm, on a Friday.  The bank was closed and it was going to remain that way until Monday.  All creative solutions we came up were turned down.  Using a credit card for payment?  No.  Exchanging US Dollars with the hotel?  No.  Exchanging US Dollars with the hotel staff?  No.  I guess, it is an "old-fashioned" town.

Now comes the survival mode.  We scraped up all the Japanese yen we had on us, insisted on paying the ryokan for the night's stay, and walked off to a near-by convenience store for our dinner, a delicious bowl of instant ramen.

The next morning, we were greeted with the timely drizzle that gave this town the mood that meets my eyes. :-)  

On this day, we'd leave Kinosaki on a train, heading in the direction of Kyoto.  But there's a problem.  Can you tell?  

The hint is in the third paragraph.
 The first to answer correctly will be rewarded.

Stroll-in-Rain-in-Kinosaki-Japan-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

Stroll-in-Rain-in-Kinosaki-Japan-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

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Living in the Beauty of Ambiguity - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

Most of time, we see things clearly and want to know where our future holds exactly.  On occasions, when we are dealing with areas being lack of black or white, we become unsettled.  The question is, are you seeing as thoroughly as you think?

Impressionism brought reality into our vision on a different level.  Omission of clarity and details apparently does not affect us understand the subjects at question.  If you are still zooming in, trying to pick every brush stroke, go across the globe to the other side of the world, where renowned Chinese painter Daqian Zhang (ๅผ ๅคงๅƒ) took it even further.  It's believed that he developed the
splashed color, or pocai (ๆณผๅฝฉ), style as he suffered deteriorating eye-sight.  Nonetheless, thanks to such "ailment", he sees beauty in ways that we otherwise would not have.

Years ago, as we were strolling the streets of Kyoto in the Gion district, a geisha passed us by in a "whoosh".  But that quick impression and what became "baked" into my camera has stayed with me.  

This image kind of reminds me of a later creation, Catch Me if You Can (2 of ...), which I once had a friend asking me what it's about after seeing it in my studio.  My response, "it is whatever you see in it".  What do you think of my reply? :-)          

Geisha-Running-through-in-Gion-Kyoto-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

Geisha-Running-through-in-Gion-Kyoto-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

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