[貼圖] 中国舊式圍庭, 有点書卷味道

ssal

ssal

4# norman.ho

This is the Chinese Scholar Garden in the Snug Harbor Museum in Staten Island New York.
I pictured this a couple of years ago but the weather wasn't nice. A lot of my friends asked me where in China was this.
I told them, if this was in China, there would be a million Chinese climbing rocks and jammed in there.

It is not as big or as detail as those in China that I have visited. But for picturing, this is better.

Thanks.

ssal

I read somewhere that the Staten Island Chinese Scholar Garden was one of the best outside of China. I wouldn't doubt it except that it was small. I like the Yu's Garden in Ching-Huan-Mei in Shanghai, but there was always a million people rubbing shoulders with you no matter what time of the day you go.

There is also one in the Botanical Garden in Montreal but I have never been there.

You can take the ferry to Staten Island from lower Manhattan and the ride is free. Once you get there, you'll need to take a bus to the museum. The bus ride is what turns me off about the ferry route. The bus fare is pretty expensive too, #2.25 one way each. If you have 3 people, driving is more economically. The bridge toll is $11.

With the car, you can also go to Ft. Wadsworth under the Verrizano Bridge. The scene is breathe taking.

Here's a few picture I took over there from this trip, and the one before:

ssal

There is one in Guangzhou. I think it is called the Chan-Kar-Chi.

Very nice place.

The only problem I have with it was the vendors had set up many shops inside the garden, making it totally commercial. At least the one in Shanghai doesn't have inside the garden.

ssal

One of the thing noticeably missing from the "foreign" Chinese Scholar Garden is the opium dent, which was always there in the old ones in China.

I guess it is something that doesn't sit well with the Chinese authority, or it is something they don't want to bring up in a foreign country.

As a Hong Kong Chinese myself, I feel that it is an important chapter of our history. It is what we must learn from, If we are not strong, foreign powers, like the Brits once was, or Japan, or US, would force shits down our throat. It would be hard to explain the history of Hong Kong to our children and grand children without mentioning the opium war, the United Army of the eight powerful countries, and their gunboat policy.

Maybe something we can forgive. But we should NEVER, NEVER forget.

.

ssal

I think it has something to do with the upbringing. I met a lot of Taiwanese students in my earlier days of college in the US. And I have traveled quite extensively to the mainland since it was opened up in 80's. I think I can compare the systems of the three major Chinese areas. Unlike Taiwan and the mainland, Hong Kong's education did not try to preach any doctrine. Yes, some people call it the colonial system, but back in my earlier days (the 50's), all our teachers came from China and they would make sure they taught us the underlining Chinese philosophy and value. Without doctrine, we were allowed more free thinking and questioning.

Once we moved oversea, we are also greatly affected by the freedom afforded to democracy. So we do speak freely of what's on our mind.

But we are all Chinese with great love to our homeland. I am very proud to see that these three areas are moving towards the common good of Chinese. We are definitely on the upside of the curve while most western powers are either standing still or going down. I hope we will continue to play our cards well so fellow Chinese will benefit from the prosperity and the respect that associates with wealth and power.

我們都是黄口黄臉的中国人

ssal

agree, it's something people keep forgetting.  The Dutch invasion of Taiwan, the Brits forcibly renting HK, Commodore Perry landing on Tane Island forcing Japan to open it's doors with unethical accor ...
moxfactor 發表於 2010-9-2 02:39 AM

moxfactor,

Thank you for the invitation. Where are you physically located?

I've been in Kwai-Lin and Huang Shan. But that was before digital cameras. I want to go back with my modern gears and retake more pictures of these two wonderful natural beauties of our country. One of these days, I'm going just walk away from this rat race and just go, when I can still move around on my own.

Regarding Dr. Sun, I don't know how history will judge him. It is really too soon to render judgment to a recent figure. I am not  too knowledgeable about the events that happened during that era. But I can imagine that he had to joggle a lot between the major powers. On one hand, he needed their support and money to overthrow the dynasty. At the meantime, those powers all had their own ulterior and selfish ambition towards China. Dr. Sun had to balance what he wanted to accomplish while dancing with the wolfs.

Seeing Japan's barbaric actions in Southeast Asia during that period of time, I am pretty sure that they would invade us with or without Dr. Sun.

Again, history will render its judgment when it all settles.


.

ssal

Had you used CPL?
cat14051 發表於 2010-9-3 11:19 AM

I used to use CPL when I shot film. Now I seldom use CPL unless I shoot over water or reflective surface and I want to minimize the glare and reflection.
With blue sky, I can easily turn the sky darker to highlight the cloud.

ssal

Use the Select ->Color tool to select only the sky.
Use the + eyedrop to add to it or use the Fuzziness slider to make sure the entire sky is selected.
Press Enter
Press Ctrl+J to create a layer, which contains only the sky.
On the new layer, change the blending mode to "Multiply"
You can refine it by moving the Opaque slider
You can also drag a mask on the layer than use the paint brush to refine the edges.

I don't know about your Photoshop skill level. You may have to play with the above a few times to get it right.

CPL is too cumbersome and it may not give you a even darkness because of the angle of the sun.