Canal Boat

This scene, shot on one one of the canals in central Amsterdam, almost looked like an oil painting with the murky canal water, the floating leaves and the run-down boat with the peeling paintwork. The photo comprised of 3-bracketed shots and was post-processed in Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro.

Water Calligraphy

As I walked around the perimeter of the West Lake in Hangzhou I started to notice some strange markings on the tiled pathway. At first I thought it was just water marks but then recognised these as Chinese symbols. Further down the path I eventually found the source of these marks, a man with an oversized calligraphy brush and a can of water was meticulously practising his Chinese calligraphy in each square of the tiled pathway. 

Malaysia Boleh

A colourful umbrella shades this artist spotted near the central mosque in Kuala Lumpur with a variety of sketches of various local scenes. The logo on the umbrella "Malaysia Boleh" translates as "Malaysia Can" and has become a bit of a local joke given that usually it is rather the opposite that is the norm in Malaysia!

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.

Chinese Art Brushes

I was in Shanghai over Christmas and the old city and back streets of Shanghai provided some great photo opportunities. This image shows some traditional Chinese art brushed used for watercolours and calligraphy and come in a large variety of sizes, designs and colours.

Belgian Graffiti

As you wander through the streets of the capital of the European Union, Brussels and just when you have almost had enough of beautiful ancient monuments, churches and grand palaces or the classic medieval, gothic style architecture you turn the corner and are brought back to reality with a splurge of graffiti grunge.