WPC: Serene at the Plitvice lakes, Croatia (4)

Jiuzhaigou – Before and After the Recent Earthquake

It takes millions of years to create the picturesque environment of the beautiful lakes in Jiuzhaigou, China.

The placid and serene lakes there are known for their mirror like reflection. The water is so clear that you can see the bottom of the lakes.

Water with calcium in it flows through the area creating bund like structures and series of terraces.

The water is so blue as it has no living plants in there; trees fallen over in the lake are progressively calcified.

Now, everything is destroyed.

The waterfalls are gone, the bunds disappeared.

Perhaps, the area will never recover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The last two photos are from the news agencies to which credit is due.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Path (4)

This week’s DP challenge is Path.

While visiting the Plitvice national Lakes in Croatia, we walked on this curvy path.

The boardwalks there bring us close to the waterfalls and other water features.

While my previous post shows a birds-eye view of the boardwalk; this photo shows a close up of the boardwalk.

The walk brought us a close view of the waterfalls; it was amazing!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mirror ( Hokkaido Autumn )

This week’s DP photo challenge is Mirror.

It is sort of romantic up there in the lakes of Hokkaido in Autumn.

Colored foliage and a lone yacht with perfect reflection in the placid pool.

A perfect mirror image in the Autumn lakes – a paradise for photographers!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mirror ( Jiuzhaigou)

This week’s DP photo challenge is Mirror. 

There are many lakes in Jiuzhaigou, China that are mirror like.

The serene water has a lot of dissolved calcium giving the distinct blue colors of the water and also perfect reflections of the nearby hills and trees.

Here are a couple of examples that attest to this.

Legend has it that a fairy has dropped her mirror and the pieces have scattered in the lakes.

 

Peaceful Feeling ( B&W vs Color)

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I have this peaceful feeling whenever I look into these pictures.

The original color photo was taken in Jiuzhaigou, China.

The top picture was converted to black and white.

Please enjoy 🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: Serenity (at Lake Galve, Lithuania)

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Lake Galvė is a lake in Trakai, Lithuania. It has 21 islands, and one of them houses Trakai Island Castle ( see my previous posts). The lake and most of the other lakes surrounding the castle and city have myths and legends connected to them, of which most contain a tragic love story. The lakes and castle are therefore also said to be haunted.

While visiting the Trakai Castle, I have a good stroll outside the castle by the lake, viewing the lake scenery mainly.

It found it very serene – with the sailing boats and the blue sky.

The three photos here are a selection of photos with a similar theme. Sailing boats are my favorites, so is the deep blue lake water.

Hope the serene scenes bring serenity and inner peace.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Serenity ( at some quiet corners )

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Some beautiful and touristy places do have great views, some of them are serene too.

There are always places which are less traveled, less visited or secluded which offer a lot of serenity.

The three photos were taken in such quiet places.

The first one was taken in a quiet corner of the Plitvice Lakes park in Croatia. I always like trees reaching out to the water, with the water seems deep and unfathomable.

The second one was taken at a little river in the Ritsurin Garden at Shinkoku, Japan – everything seem very tranquil.

The last one was taken in the Central Park, New York with a masonry arch bridge behind it.

Maybe, you can decipher what are the common elements which contribute to serenity.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Refraction

The Photo Challenge of the Daily Post this week is Refraction.

This is a photo which I have not shown to anyone.

Not many people can understand what is shown in the photo without any explanation.

This is what you see when you view down the clear calcium rich waters of the lakes in Jiuzhaigou, China.

This is also a perfect example of Refraction ( this is not to be confused with reflection which some people have submitted for this photo challenge).

When I studied physics in high school, I understand that when a wave travels through medium of different refraction index, its speed of travel changes according to the medium, this is detectable when say, light (as a wave), travels in water and air etc.

The picture shows not only fishes in the clear water but also tree trunks which have fallen into the water. The tree trunks look bent from their original straight alignment when immersed in the lake water – a good example of refraction.

If you look directly over the lake water, the bottom is the lake appear shallower, again, a result of refraction.

The Daily Post asks us to show a picture to show our understanding of refraction; this is perhaps the best example that I can give!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Dreamy (Pictures in the Rain)

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Two years ago about this time  we travelled to South Korea.

It started raining when we were taking a cable car up Daedunsan.

Not far from us, we can still see the color foliage on the hill slope but we know we were heading into heavy rain as the sky was darkened further uphill.

The picture shows a big contrast in colors and mood.

The second picture was taken at West Lake about 3 years ago.

It was raining hard and you can see the ripples on the lake surface.

Further away is a Chinese style bridge – it looks amazing in the rain.

No tourist really wants rain in their trip, but chances are that there will be rain in our travels!