Flora in the Spring of 2009

The Spring of 2009 is in full blooming now. The "Bandit of Flower-picking" is on move again with his skillful hands (holding a camera, of course). Here are a few lucky ones which have been encountered and captured by him while he was moving around.

The weeping peach blossoms

The little red flower

An elegant bowl of flowers

The vibrant tulip

The daisies

Sakura "Kwanzan" is in full blooms

Forsythia

Magnolia

Syringa oblata

Sakura

Narcissus

An elegant tulip

The crabapple blossoms

Dawn Redwood at Tsinghua Courtyard

I returned to Tsinghua University campus again today and took another look of the four old Dawn Redwood (Shui Shan) trees there in the courtyard one week later. I'm really amazed at how fast they're growing their new leaves. Here are a few photos of the trees I just took today.

Here they are - standing tall with more newly sprouted green leaves (in full view)

Let me get a little closer to them

Close-up of their new leaves

This branch apparently shows clearly the peculiar shapes of the leaves

The two trees on the west-side of the Courtyard

The other two on the opposite side of the Courtyard

Another look of the delicate sprouting leaves

New leaves in front of the huge main trunk

The leaves from a much younger Dawn Redwood tree (near the university's West Entrance) actually have managed to grow a little larger in size

Outdoor Glamor Portraits

Glamor portrait is a very traditional category of photography. It is an art of capturing the images of beautiful moments of female figures (usually beautiful and sexy women, nude or not). However, beauties would not necessarily guarantee you with the intended result for glamor. Sometimes, a sweet smile, a sparkle in the eyes or a mischievous wink would actually make the photos more attractive in the eyes of the beholder. It is sunny Spring time now. Today, I got out of the door with a group of hobbyists and a few models in a park and these are a few top picks from my photos. (Most of the pictures were taken with my "official" portrait lens - Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L)

Neo-Glassic Village in Sanlitun

Sanlitun is a small community with higher concentration of foreigners and bars in Beijing. It is a synonym to the western life style to some extent. So, it comes as no surprise to anyone when a stylish glassy mall - Sanlitun Village was recently opened in the neighborhood. These following photos (which I just shot yesterday with my Canon 5D camera + 24mm-70mm f/2.8L lens) should be able to give you a good impression of how daring Chinese commercial brains could be in terms of setting new milestones for creative architectures and different artistic styles.