I took pictures of clouds and as I was playing with them in the photo-editing app on my tablet, I was inspired to do something else with them. I hope you enjoy these pictures.
Before
After
Before
After
Clouds
Tag: Photo challenge
A pretty tree on my way to the park
Someone is taking great care of the park
Apples from the tree at one of the rental property (the house by the park)
Beautiful white rose poking out of someone’s yard
Morning Glory
A look into the neighborhood
Dandelion – close-up
Two Miles Walk
My mom has this horrible habit that really pick on my nerve. She picks the worst time to do anything, which it’s whenever I’m busy doing my stuff (studying, blogging, writing etc). I tell her “not right now.” She would reply, “Yes, right now.”
This past week, she had been picking my TV time to make me go for a walk with her. Hello, I’m in the middle of something! Besides, I hate going out right before nightfall. That’s when all the bugs come out and I always end up getting bit by something. I asked why we can’t go earlier, her answer was “because it’s too hot.”
There is nothing hot about this summer. The temperatures of most days have been in the 80’s which is cool for the summer.
Another thing I don’t like about these walks is that she walks fast. Her pace is always too fast for walking yet too slow for jogging. She also likes to talk while walking. I can barely catch my breath with that pace. If I walked just a tad slower, she’d immediately assume I can’t keep up. She wouldn’t slow down but instead she would begin blaring me with mean words.
- If you don’t start exercising, you’d be dead at 33. I don’t care. I’ll just get the insurance money and you can go join your dad and step-dad.
- If you don’t start exercising, how do you expect to face your relatives when you go back to China?
- If you don’t start exercising, your legs will be thick like an elephant leg.
- Look at your legs, they are paler than that of a pig.
Why would anyone say such terrible, offensive, and hurtful things?
Tonight, I really want to watch TV, my favorite show’s on and I’ve been waiting an entire week to watch it. So to satisfy her, I went for a two mile walk this morning and because my mom doesn’t really trust anyone these days, I took some pictures for proof but I know it won’t matter. She will just say, “I don’t care. Your death is your problem.” Ouch! 😦
Fruits
This is a close up on the Asian Pears so far. Hopefully, it will survive until harvest because we had quite a few broken branches lately due to high wind. I watched the weather report a few days and the weatherman said it’s supposed to rain in the upcoming week. Hopefully, that’s true. The weatherman hasn’t been very accurate lately.
It’s not even harvest yet and we’ve already had a loss of apples, branches snapping off due to wind and the weight. These are fairly recent but they grow fast, don’t they. I realize I’ve mostly just showing pictures of the berry bushes and not much of the apples or Asian Pear trees, so here it is.
Finally, here is a plate of blackberries from a few days ago. There have been two other batches since then. If the berry harvest continues, I think I will be super tired of berries by the end of the summer.
Summer Harvest
So here are some pictures from the recent harvest of blackberries. I have a suspicion there is a lot to come.
My mom picked these. I told her to only pick the ones that are black as coal but she didn’t believe me. After all, what do I know? I’ve only been the sole harvester of blackberries for last three years or so.
“Whatever,” she said and popped a red one into her mouth.
“I told you,” I sighed as I watched her squeeze her eyes shut like she had just drunk a spoonful of apple cider vinegar. “The red ones are extremely sour.” I told her afterwards.
That’s why it’s called blackberries and not red berries because they are only sweet when it’s black. I think she had learned her lesson though, just like I learned mine back in 2012. I guess there’s always a first time for everything.
Here is a close-up on the blackberries bushes. It’s just a matter of time before these ripen and are ready to be picked.
There is! One ripened blackberry. They are sweet as sugar.
Just to give you a perspective of the amount of berries in the backyard. This is just a fraction. I thought after my aunt botched the pruning last fall, we would have less berries or none at all this year but instead, we have more. It is incredible.
Here are the watermelons my mom planted about two weeks back. Look at how much they’ve grown. Apparently, watermelons like heat and water. That’s probably why people love it so much in the summer. I am so looking forward to this harvest.
Finally, while the roses are taking a break, the dahlias are blooming in the front yard. Not a lot though, after all, we have just planted them last Summer. It’ll take a little time to grow. This flower has been around for about a week or two and that is already longer than the roses.
Symbol of Friendship
…black and white spots
Summer 2008
Symbol of Nature
A Mix Reflection and Symbols
So I have been busy all day and didn’t get to write at all. What about the story I posted this morning? That was just a little something I put together yesterday. Continue reading “A Mix Reflection and Symbols”
Unexpected Guests
Warning: Read on at your own risk. I cannot guarantee this post is safe for everyone with Arachnophobia. Continue reading “Unexpected Guests”
Photo101: Glass
When I was looking at these pictures for the first time, they looked like what an astronaut would see if they looked out the window of their space capsule. Except for the rose bush, it looked sort of like that to me.
Tell me, do you see it too?
Symbol of Friendship
Photo101: Treasure and Close Up
This assignment is a little tricky because it asks about treasures and yet, it showed a piece of delicious tart. Then I understood. The delicious tart is a symbolic way to say that things will be gone sooner or later. Therefore, we have to treasure it while it lasts.
So what is my treasure? I’ve been asked that question before when I took Writing 101 in April. Then, it was the things we treasure and I picked my iPod. I am not going to do that again.
My other treasure is symbolic. It is friendship. I don’t make friends easily but when I make a friend, I tend to hold on to that friend like a vise. So, I was a little sad when I had to move to Texas. Before I went, my friend gave me this last thing to hold on. She made it all, all out of straws (the kind you drank from). Although presently, we are merely just acquaintances, I have treasured this parting gift and I am so glad this assignment jogged my memory. 
She had taught me to make these stars once but I wasn’t as good as her. It’s quite difficult to pull the straw through such a small space with my chubby fingers. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
Photo101: Landscape
I take a lot of landscape shots but I rarely take panoramic picture. It’s just too time-consuming and having shaking hands do not help. However, when I can’t resist, I would spend however long to take a perfect panorama.
For some of you, you may remember this picture from last Christmas. This picture is about as perfect as I can make a panorama turn out. It took me five tries and about 30 minutes to take this single shot. It’s worth it though because I’m pretty sure they only decorate this area at Christmas. It is the scene when everyone gather to witness the birth of Jesus Christ.
I did not and am not going to crop this picture because then, it would destroy the purpose of a panoramic picture.
I have also prepare the following pictures to show but I don’t have anything to say about them. They are just some picture I took during one of my walks in the park.
Photo101: Architecture and Monochrome
I was actually dreading this assignment because there are really not much architecture around here that’s worth showing in color let alone in black and white. Now that the project at my other job complete, I just have to go to work once a week to update the inventory and I never bring my camera for that. Then this morning, as I was digging around in search of some landscape pictures, I came across these. They aren’t much but I’m sure they belong in the category of some sort of architecture. Continue reading “Photo101: Architecture and Monochrome”
Withered English Tea Rose
Fresh + Withered English Tea Roses
My Muse
I am definitely obsessed with taking pictures of flowers, plants, and landscapes. What can I say? Those are the only things here.
At the moment, though, I don’t really have any landscapes pictures worthy of showing. So I will just stick with flowers. I took these just three days ago and since then, I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Before I go, can someone please tell me the name of those pink flowers? I honestly don’t know. Thank you. 🙂
Response to Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Muse
Observation From My Walks
Originally, this was published under Photo101. The original title was: Photo101: Observation. Therefore, below are the original texts:
Since I don’t know what scale means, at least in terms of photography, I’ll just do observation.
From what I understand, observation is something we see and typically, the camera captures more or less than what we see. For example, in the picture above, my eyes are paying attention on the path several feet ahead while the camera captures the entire scene, no matter how I adjust it. I’m not sure if this is making sense to anybody. Ugh, I suck at explaining things. Anyway, the same goes for the picture below.
Did I achieve the goal of the assignment? Yes? No? Maybe?
Anyway, now, looking back, I think these pictures are great for the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge – Beneath Your Feet.
Photo101: Play with Light
I wish I had shown this picture for yesterday’s prompt because it was taken a little more than a hour after the sun had risen. At the time (April), the sun didn’t rise until a little after seven. Continue reading “Photo101: Play with Light”
Photo101: Moment and Motion
This is a picture of the University of Utah fountain. Continue reading “Photo101: Moment and Motion”
Photo101: A Pop of Color
So I haven’t really had the opportunity to go out and take some new photographs since mom has decided to only work one day a week now that she’s getting closer to being laid-off. It affect me going outside and taking pictures because she doesn’t believe in taking pictures without people in it. Continue reading “Photo101: A Pop of Color”
Red Roses
Orange Pumpkin Pie
Yellow Tulip
Green leaves with pink elephant ear roses
Yellowstone Lake
I guess this can be classify as violet, right?
I can’t tell, violet or indigo
Rainbow and More…
Last night, I sat in my new basement bedroom and looked around. I see a variety of things that fit the criteria of Roy G. Biv. But under this bright florescent lighting, the photos do not turn out so good. Therefore, I have decided to again, go to my archive and dig. I’ll show more later, if I have time. Enjoy. Continue reading “Rainbow and More…”
Photo101: Warmth
It’s quite hard to capture something using the sun as the source of light, I think. I’ve tried in the past as you can see in the picture below. It is a picture of the sun on a cloudy day. I was pulling the camera to its maximum zoom (3-times). That’s why everything else look like it’s taken with a cheap phone camera. Continue reading “Photo101: Warmth”
Definitely Out of Season
This year has been undoubtedly wet and warm. However, it’s not just here. Looking at other people’s posts, it looks like it’s happening around the world as well. Yesterday evening, when my mom and I went for a walk in the park, she pointed out the mountains are not snow-capped anymore because normally, a tiny bit of snow would stay remain on the mountains in June or July but this year, there’s none.
Meanwhile, it’s been raining almost everyday. There has hardly been a day where the dark clouds don’t roll in, where we just have blue cloudless skies and plenty of sunshine. Ugh, this weather is killing my mood and inspiration. Please make it STOP!!!
Unfortunately, I’ve already jinxed it. This post was written approximately four days ago and since then, the clouds had cleared up and it’s been one word, HOT! Guess summer has arrived.
Anyway, enough complaining, I want to show you this picture which is definitely out-of-season, trudging in snow in short-sleeves and sandal. This was Yellowstone in July 2011, by the way, and that is NOT my brother (only-child), it’s my friend’s.
Photo101: Natural Worlds
Talk about an easy task. Even though I don’t interact with nature much especially these days, when I step out of the house and something immediately bites me all over but that doesn’t mean I have to be stuck in the house all day long. Therefore, early morning yesterday, while my mom ran to the post office, I took the opportunity and went out to the garden to take some close-up pictures, hoping I can use them for the POV assignment but this is better.
I tweaked this picture just a little bit with Pixlr, a photo-editing app I use but it is a macro picture. Does anyone want to hazard a guess as to what you’re looking at? Hint: it’s a vegetable you eat almost every day, that is, if you eat vegetable.
It looks like the apples from the combination apple tree is coming in nicely. We are going to have lots of apples this year. This is just the Golden Delicious branch. We’ve got Granny Smith, Fuji, and Honeycrisp. All in one tree!
Lastly, blackberries! Last summer, I remember I was harvesting them like I had just harvested snow peas. I think this year will be more or less the same.
Of the three pictures, I am most in love with the blackberry picture. I think the effect I’ve chosen really suits the picture well. Without this effect, the color would look way too bright and the picture would be missing that, oh I can describe it, element.
Photo101: Connect and Tags
For some of you, this picture is not new while for most, it probably is. Yes, this is the same staircase picture I used for my post a few weeks ago. And I’ve decided to use it again for this assignment.
This rickety staircase happens to connect the lower and upper deck of the yard at the rental property. Without it, I probably will not have enough guts to get on the upper level to clear the weeds and distribute the mulch. So thanks to these stairs, I am able to complete that job without my mom throwing a fit about how I’m a scaredy-cat.
Photo101: Solitude
The latest assignment from photo101 is solitude which in my view means a picture of someone looking out into the distance, sad, alone, and may I add, looking completely lost. This kind of photo is quite hard to take and even find because one, I don’t like taking pictures of people because I feel like it’s an invasion of someone privacy to take their pictures without telling them first and two, I’ve never actually seen anyone looking sad, alone, and completely lost. Even when I was in the city today, I didn’t see anything or anyone that fit the description.
So once again, I have dig into my archive and fortunately I found what I needed but first I want to show you this picture:
This is from last May when we went house hunting down by Utah Lake, a large fresh water lake by Provo, Utah. Mom wanted to buy a second house so she wouldn’t have to commute 100 miles daily for work. What you’re looking at is the land. Unfortunately, after we saw the model, we were convinced that it was way too small. It felt smaller than our current home. So we bailed.
That’s me, looking alone. I guess that looks like solitude. I didn’t mean to look like that. I was just standing there when Mom snapped the picture. Honestly though, I felt kind of tired and frustrated because it was all Mom could talk about at the time.
Why is it both black and white and color?
When I messed with the picture just now, I wanted the picture to show that solitude feeling, that loneliness. I guess I failed, huh?
Photo101: Bliss
When I saw day four’s assignment, I was a little stumped. Bliss? I mean I’m not a big gesture kind of person, I mean I don’t do big poses when taking a picture. Where can I find a picture of bliss? Continue reading “Photo101: Bliss”
Photo101: Water
Have I ever show you pictures of that time I went to Great Salt Lake? No? Continue reading “Photo101: Water”
This is Another Story 