Blue Indigo Window

This blue coloured shuttered window was photographed in Lorong Stewart in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. The back streets and lanes of Georgetown are great to wander through to view old historical and heritage houses. I particularly like windows and doors and this window was a great example of that run-down, dilapidated and decaying style that I like in these Asian buildings. You can make out a blue colour in the surrounding walls as well as on the window shutters and this was a very typical colour used in the colonial period. The distinctive blue colour is made by mixing lime with the natural blue dye made from the indigo plant and this dye was imported from India during those days.

Bicycle Bells

Bicycles are a common form of transport to get around Amsterdam and everywhere you go you will see stacks of bicycles parked. This row of bicycles had a colourful array of bells.

Artistic Amsterdam

During the Queen's Day celebrations in central Amsterdam you see a multitude of street artists, musicians, exhibitionists, vendors, etc and it's a very colourful day to spend people watching. This image was captured  of a couple of street artists showing their products and looking chilled-out to say the least. Perhaps the copious beverages consumed during this national holiday helped in attaining this chilled-out composure. I loved all the strong, vibrant colours in this scene as well as the individual characters.

Pluck U

The colourful Pluck U restaurant in the Greenwich Village area of New York stood out from the usual gray buildings. A quick Google search on the restaurant comes up with a wide range of reviews .... from "New York's #1 chicken wings 6 years in a row" to "Do not, I repeat, DO NOT eat Pluck U chicken wings without having a toilet and double-roll of toilet paper nearby." Don't know who to believe here.

Colourful Colombo

I love to dive down little back streets of anyplace I visit to get a real feel for the life there away from all the usual tourist traps. This little side street in Colombo, Sri Lanka was delightful with people living their simple life in simple houses. However the place was brightly painted providing a wonderful mosaic to capture with my lens. Even the little tuk tuks were brightly painted red and green. Again photographer's luck prevailed when I lined up this shot as the little girl appeared in the doorway just to complete the scene.

Magic Bus

Colombo in Sri Lanka is a colourful destination .... the people, the clothes, the houses, the food .... and the buses. This classic Ashok Leyland bus had a psychedelic colour scheme which certainly brightened up the old design and gives it the air of a magic bus.

Ashok Leyland is a commercial vehicle manufacturing company based in Chennai, India. Founded in 1948, the company is one of India's leading manufacturers of commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses, as well as emergency and military vehicles. Operating six plants, Ashok Leyland also makes spare parts and engines for industrial and marine applications. It sells about 60,000 vehicles and about 7,000 engines annually. It is the second largest commercial vehicle company in India in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segment with a market share of 28% (2007–08). With passenger transportation options ranging from 19 seaters to 80 seaters, Ashok Leyland is a market leader in the bus segment.The company claims to carry over 60 million passengers a day, more people than the entire Indian rail network. In the trucks segment Ashok Leyland primarily concentrates on the 16 ton to 25 ton range of trucks. However Ashok Leyland has presence in the entire truck range starting from 7.5 tons to 49 tons. The joint venture announced with Nissan Motors of Japan would improve its presence in the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment (<7.5 tons). Lanka Ashok Leyland was established in 1982 and is a joint venture between Ashok Leyland and the Government of Sri Lanka. 

Red Maple

The strong red colour of these maple leaves really stood out against the cool blue sky and made a lovely splash of colour against the drab colours of winter. This photo was shot on the banks of the West Lake in Hangzhou, China.

Camera Shy in Shanghai

The locals in Shanghai seemed strangely averse to having photographs taken as can be seen in this image. On numerous occasions I had locals turn away or even get downright nasty when my camera was out and armed. This lady took a defensive position by hiding behind her scarf  as she walked down one of the interesting, winding back lanes in the Old City area of Shanghai. I particularly liked the subdued, muted colours of the walls and doors and the outfit worn by the lady seemed to match very well making a good shot .... although a smile may have enhanced the shot even more.

Private Dinner

This quaint restaurant in the Gion district of Kyoto next to the river offered a beautiful setting for dinner for these two ladies. The contrast of colours between the dark blue of the outside building walls and the warm yellow and orange interior lighting made for a good picture and captured a private quiet moment.

Monochrome Girl

This is not a post-processing edit ... this girl is actually black and white and made up to act like a statue in the centre of Innsbruck, Austria. I liked the contrast between the black and white girl and the colourful flowers in the window boxes in background.

Santillana del Mar

Santillana del Mar is a historic town situated in Cantabria, Spain. Certain features of this historical town includes Altamira Caves (Cuevas de Altamira) and many historic buildings, attracting thousands of holiday-makers every year.

There is an old saying that Santillana del Mar is The Town of Three Lies, since it is neither a Saint (Santo), nor flat (llana) and has no sea (Mar) as implied by the town's name. However, the name actually derives from Santa Juliana (or Santa Illana) whose remains are in the kept in the Colegiata, a Romanesque church and former Benedictine monastery.

This colourful balcony was spotted in the middle of the town as everyone seemed to be trying to outdo each other in the presentation and upkeep of their homes.

Colour Splash

This beautiful bed of flowers spotted in Budapest, Hungary provided a splash of colour in contrast to many of the rather drab grey communist buildings.

Windows

Windows are a favourite composition of mine. The variety of designs, frames, shutters, colours and settings along with accompanying ornaments, flowers, type of glass and wall designs are endless. And of course there is always the possibility of a tantalising glimpse inside the window.

Textures and Colours of Kyoto

It was December in Kyoto, Japan but there were still plenty of wonderful Autumn colours and textures to be seen with red maples, green bamboo, red berries and wonderful green moss on the many beautiful walks around the hills and numerous temples.

This was also the first real opportunity to field test my new canon 5D MkII and the way it reproduced the colour depths, textures and tones can certainly be seen in these photos. I will be posting some more pictures from this trip to Kyoto in the coming few days.