spirea and hazel

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contrary to the common beliefs (read the landscapist for details, especially the nonsense about 'hue and saturation to the max') what the 'beautiful pictures crowd' does, i was working with the saturation slider in negative direction. the forenoon light, evened out by some clouds, made the spirea glow, so i could reduce the corkscrew hazel to just some decorative silhouettes. probably i should blame it on someone else, maybe (quote again) the creator got it wrong.

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form follows function

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form follows function was by no means invented by an architect of the 19th century, no, the farmers everywhere had followed this principle more or less intentionally probably everywhere in the world. in this farmer's garden from maybe 100 years ago, now rebuilt in a museum village in austria, this guideline shows up in many incarnations: the placement of the flowers next to the fence because the space inside was needed for vegetables, the mixture of vegetables itself, following implied principles of organic gardening, the fence of small fir stems, doubled in density in the lower half to keep of the hen there and deer, roe and cow in the upper region...what i do like is the harmony not only of the forms here but also the colors.

nothing overly vivid is needed, no gaudy colors, yet the color contrast of red and green is attractive, hilarating and harmonious. and if you think the carriage/horseman scenery is too much cliche, let met tell you that it just happened: they arrived, the coachman just patted his horses and spoke to them while the son organised the beer, and then he had his break, chatting with bystanders or just standing. he was him, and it showed in a short and precious moment. the art of photography was to capture without intruding.

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imperial patterns in nature

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there are many aspects on which to judge a government ruling 100 years ago. the cultural revolution in china found resonance among the millions who suffered under a violent regime that in many ways abused human workforce just for the aggrandissement and luxury of the ruling class (and just a flash of thought: what will history books write about current governments and administrations).

still there are achievements, others but in a different way valuable from the revolutions results. a heritage of art forms that still lives today and articulates valid statements, not only in the field of gardening.

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park tree, nanjing

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nanjing is an extremely busy city - 8 lanes roads, skyscrapers, noise and smog. but when you enter one of the parks, by miracle all that negative aspects of city life stay behind and you are in a different world.

chinese garden design is not that renowned here in europe, we usually take japanese, zen style gardens to be sufficient representative for east asian gardening. and of course china was long enough almost inaccessible for travelers, no wonder everybody concentrated on the available japanese examples of this region's garden style.

so when the light went and the park closed, i took one look (and a picture) back to this enclave that had made me forgotten in which busy place i was. the way back to the hotel in a subway with only chinese directives was an adventure for itself.

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chinese garden, nanjing

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taking a rest from 're nao', the chinese expression for 'hot and loud'. for me, who is coming from a small town in the bavarian mountains, a city like nanjing with 7.5 million inhabitants is really stressful. so i did enjoy this quiet garden with the harmonious forms of the roofs, the ponds and the plants which look nice even in late autumn.

this bonsai i found in zhonghuamen, a restaurated gate in the 12 m high city wall - the longest in the world as the guide told me proudly - and an elder couple was taking care of these trees and enjoyed my attention. unfortunately i was to shy to ask them for the opportunity of a portrait...

zhonghuamen itself consists of three gates in a row, in between deep spaces where every enemy would become easy prey for the soldiers standing on the wall. notice the modern skyline of nanjing in the smog, not so far away.

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think pink

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think pink was a mountaineering related slogan some 20 years ago, connecting environment awareness with fashion and style. searching the web turned out that it still exists in both senses, however i could not find statement about it's importance nowadays (again in both senses...)

here this title is to take literally, thanks to the tulips in my garden and my new 17-70mm lens which has a p&s-like macro focusing right from the glass of the front lens. first and foremost i bought it to reduce the number of lenses (and number of lens changes in dusty environment) for the upcoming business trip to sri lanka, beeing a replacement for my trusty 17-35 plus 28-75, but this macro function is really handy, too.

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Now tell me, is this easter?

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it started to snow on good friday, but the climax was today: 20cm of fresh snow everywhere. ok, not that i would mourn the fate of the pollen that already caused me heavy allergic coryza, but still...

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late snow

nobody wanted it anymore, but now it came: snow down to 300m above sealevel. so the hazel in our garden had her flowers suddenly covered in snow. it will not last long, but it was sufficient to wet us thoroughly on our way to kindergarden.

photographically it brought a nice occasion to see colorful things in a more graphical way, with some falling snow on top - probably only visible in original size.

processed with lightzone.

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