Old, Twisted, but Still Strong

Old, Twisted, but Still Strong by Sean Daniel

This old tree on the Trinity College grounds was standing center of a giant patch of grass. Proud, like it owned hte place. Bold like it knew it belonged. and Strong, remembering what it had survived to get here. I'd love to see this tree in the fall before it dropped its leaves, and I'd love to see it in full bloom. It's strong contrast against the blue sky and deep green grass really caught my eye. View the larger version on Flickr!

Morning of Glory



Morning of Glory. The main gates to Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland is very impressive. You walk through these castle-like walls and enter into this giant open green space with this spire in the center. In December, the sun is so low in the sky, everything gets that morning light and everything just looks amazing. I was just another lemming walking through the gates to school in the morning. View the larger version on Flickr

Chinese Stair Master



Chinese Stair Master. When I "hiked" on the Great Wall, it was like doing a giant stairmaster. I use FitBit and it said that day that I climbed 176 flights of stairs, that's 1760 feet! This image shows one of the massive stair masters that I climbed, I walked down and then started up. The challenging part is it was soooo hot, and the only way to cool down was in the little huts, so you had to climb in the heat, and then recover in the houe before you attempted the next set. I probably shouldn't have warn jeans! View the larger version on Flickr

Half Fogged In



Half Fogged In. A few weeks ago when I was walking in the Inner Harbour of Victoria, BC, the fog was just pouring off the Juan De Fuca Straight into the Inner Harbour. Amazingly, there was a slight breeze from the north east, so it was keeping the fog from fully filling the harbour. I'd imagine all flights to Seattle are cancelled, and all flights to Victoria (by float plane of course) would be fine. Just another day in Paradise! View the larger version on Flickr

Blown Away!



Blown Away!. On Grafton St in Dublin, Ireland, lots of street performers gathered to try to take a few dollars from the christmas shoppers that would wonder by. I kept finding myself drawn to this guy. He would be in this position for hours, maybe folding up his umbrella or crossing his left over his right leg. The only thing I could figure was he never moved his right foot/leg, so perhaps there is a stake that goes into the ground, up his leg and provides a seat and backrest. What do you think? View the larger version on Flickr

Back in Time



Back in Time. The original Dublin Castle had some long reaching walls, at least after it extended a few times. This is a door on the original wall which still exists (not so oldly on Castle St.). I took this shot with both my iPhone & Instagram as wel as with my Canon 5DMII, so this is the 5DMII version. I've edited them similarly and named them the same, but they are slightly different pictures! View the larger version on Flickr

Minor Repairs to Power



Minor Repairs to Power. This building on the far side of River Liffey that I was unable to walk to easily, just looked so powerful to me. I twas both sadening and heartening that this building had scafolding on it. Sadening because it's such a powerful building it seems like it shouldn't need that. Heartening because the Irish are maintaining the power of the buildings! View the larger version on Flickr

Still Standing



Still Standing. This is the casle of Dublin, Ireland. The turrit in the center is part of the original castle, but the building connected to the left and the church on the right are fairly new, although they seem to still fit in. I'm actually standing on the castle helicopter pad, which used to be the "Black Pool" or "Dublina" in Irish (whcih is where Dublin got it's name). View the larger version on Flickr

Early Morning Trolly Ride



Early Morning Trolly Ride. In Ireland, I got to take the LUAS to the office, which is an electric powered train/tram thing that runs into the city and goes out east. It was surprisingly on schedule and always fun to ride. What got me about this shot was the lighting and the reflection in the train View the larger version on Flickr

The Other side



The Other side. Late last year I made it over to Dublin, Ireland. There are plenty of bridges over the River Liffey, and this one caught my eye. The sky was cloudy and with the bridge, made for some really cool reflections. As a side note, December in Ireland is a very short day. The good news is the sun-light for photography is almost always that perfect dawn/dusk time of day as the sun doesn't get very high in the sky at all! View the larger version on Flickr

Hidden Garden



Hidden Garden. This neat little place is inside of the Forbidden City in Beijing and was really hard to find. There was surprisingly nobody in this little outdoor seating area. The texture again was surprising, but yet awesome. So much attention to detail even in the most remote locations of the city. View the larger version on Flickr

It Keeps Going, and Going, ...



It Keeps Going, and Going, .... The Great Wall keeps going and going and going, just like the energizer bunnies. Made me wonder if energizer bunnies created it all those years ago. The structure is amazing! Right down to the water drainage, and the cool huts where you have to stop to get a break from the sun. View the larger version on Flickr

All Tricked out and No Where to Go



All Tricked out and No Where to Go. While wondering in "The Bund" in Shanghai China, I came across this beast of a car, all tricked out, but just resting. Definitely caught my eye along with all the other by-passers. Made me want to play some Forza! View the larger version on Flickr

Long way back



Long way back. In May I was fortunate enough to visit the Great Wall of China (which in China they just call The Great Wall). According to my FitBit, I walked about 7km (which is 3.5km there and back) of the wall. It was smokin hot (like 35 degC) for hiking in jeans and a t-shirt. The Mutianyu section of the wall is touristy, but apparently less crowded than other parts. As a result I ended up getting some shots with no other tourists in there. Shown here is a section of the wall that was renovated, without tourists! View the larger version on Flickr

1000s of years



1000s of years. It's amazing to me what man can build, and it's even more amazing to me what mother nature can take back. This is the roof of one of the buildings in the Forbidden City, at one time pristeen and free of dirt, now contains grass that simply decided to grow there. Mother Nature for the win! View the larger version on Flickr

A River Inside a City



A River Inside a City. Once inside the Forbidden City, the initial square at the front had a river running through it. It was full of weeds but that added to the coolness of the river. I was fortunate to get an angle with so few people in it, there were 1000s of people in this square. View the larger version on Flickr