Christmas lights.....

One strand of Christmas lights hanging on a barn fence... so simple, yet so festive...

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from my family to yours.....

Deer in my yard....

Every year family of deers will show up in my yard to forage leftover acorns from the fall. Yesterday was the first time I saw six of them together and they stayed all day long. I went out several times to photograph, and by the end of the day, they figured that I was not any threat to them, and they just kept eating...but they did keep an eye on me....

Heart shaped lights?

I saw a post on my fellow bloggers site and I had to try it... I think it turned out pretty... Go check out C. Jane Create blog and find out how I made the lights into heart shapes.... Please let her know that you saw it on my blog.....

New note cards from N Buckles Photography

Fun and colorful photographs of doors from Bo-Kaap, Cape Town South Africa has been made into a lovely note cards. It is ready to write your special messages and send it in matching envelops or it can be put it right into 5x7 frame to decorate your walls..... it is a set of five different note cards in clear plastic box with lovely silver ribbon, but can also be purchased separately...

"Landen's Lions and Friends"

This holiday season, I decided to make a photo book for my nephew with animals and birds I photographed in South Africa. I thought it would be a very special one of a kind gift from an Aunty....I color corrected, re-sized and prepared each file. I then put them in a folder and uploaded them to the Kodak site. I choose the layout for each page, added captions and appropriate photographs. I also added personal messages for my nephew. After several editorial review (My husband and spell check) I have finally sent it in to be made into a book... it is titled "Landen's Lions and Friends" I can not wait to see my nephew's face when he sees this special book.......

Protea...flowers beyond the ordinary

The King Protea the National Flower of South Africa


Fynbos is the major vegetation type of the small botanical region known as the Cape Floral Kingdom. The smallest of the six floral kingdoms, the Cape Floral Kingdom is a global biodiversity asset of great importance. It is home to more types of indigenous plants than any other similar sized area on Earth. At least 70% of the 9,600 plant species of the Cape Floral Kingdom are found nowhere else on Earth. One of the fynbos plant families are proteas. I was fortunate to see many different kind on my recent trip, above photographs were taken at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site –it is the first botanic garden in the world to be included within a natural World Heritage Site.

St. George's Cathedral

When I travel I make a point to visit at least one church, and if time allows I go to the service and Cape Town was no exception. St. George's Cathedral is known as the People's church, and it was central in the fight against apartheid and at the time many people gathered to listen to Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other speakers. Since English was not the only language the service was conducted in, the person next to me helped me find my place in the program. This person had the prettiest lavender fingernails that I had to take a second look.. He was... yes, he was dressed very dapper. Little later, a young black couple came in and sat on my other side. They were very serious and followed the sermon with an intent look on their face, but very kind expression. This church was like the melting pot of the Cape Town, where all different race, black or white, or whatever came to listen to the service...I knew that AIDS is a big problem in South Africa, I don't know that statistics, but many families are raised by a single parent because of AIDS. The service talked about how Jesus healed Lepers with his hand. While AIDS will not be healed by our beliefs we can help heal the victims' hearts with our prayers. It was very moving service...

Groot Constantia Vineyard and Winery

Groot Constantia is the South Africa's oldest winery estate (established in 1685)and is easy drive from Cape Town. After you go through an impressive gate you will come to the visitors center. It is a Cape-Dutch white washed building and inside is just as impressive. Here you can purchase bottles of wine, art, and you can taste wines for R35, about $5. I decided to take a cellar tour which was few kilometers up the mountain through the Vineyards. Once I reached the tour area I was told to come back in one hour because of the big private tour. But you know me, after talking to the manager, I was allowed to tag along, of all things, 35 Japanese tourists from Tokyo....I don't think anyone suspected that I was not with the tour, even the Japanese tour guide helped me find a seat at the wine tasting. How was the wines? it was probably the best, well balanced wine I have ever had... not that I drink awfully a lot..



More photographs can be viewed on my flicker site. Just click on the flicker badge to the top left......

Bo-Kaap the colorful neighborhood

Bo-Kaap (means above Cape Town) was one of the place I had marked as the must visit for a photo shoot, and as it turned out it was a walking distance from my hotel. So early one morning, I grabbed my camera and walked up a steep hill for several blocks to reach this colorful, very unique area. I thought I would be the only one with the camera walking around, but several tour buses had already beat me to it, and there was a fashion shoot going on as well, so I took this opportunity to visit with the street vendors that were selling breakfast, and talked to a self appointed mayor of Bo-Kaap and it's welcoming committee until they left. This area is mostly associated with the Muslims who arrived in the Cape from 1658 and onwards and today's residents are the descendants of skilled craftsmen.

African Penguins ( Part - 1 @ Boulders Beach)

Only 10% of the 1.4 million population of African Penguins estimated in 1910 remains. At the Borders beach, it has grown from two breeding pairs in 1982 to about 3,000 in recent years. Because of their donkey-like braying call they were previously named the jackass Penguin, but now the local birds have been renamed African Penguins. Peak moulting time is December, but this year they were in the mid-peak moulting season in early October. While they are moulting, they do not go out to the sea to feed so all of the Penguins at Boulders beach were on the land, and it was delight to see them sunning nearby....

My travel to Cape Town, South Africa

I was very fortunate to be able to travel to Cape Town, South Africa in October. For the next month or so I would like to post my wonderful and exciting experience of traveling solo to the other side of the earth. I had some anxious moments starting from arriving into the foreign country at midnight to an empty airport, having couple of huge baboons jumping into the rented car to steal bag of potato chips, huge Rhino with long horn charging at the jeep I was sitting in, but I also had many wonderful memorable moments.. By far the best experience was just being able to talk to the warm and very welcoming local people.. I did see that South Africa is still very much divided racially, at some instances I was totally ignored (I am Asian) until upon hearing my American accent, I instantly became Okay because I am an American.... but overall, It was a fantastic trip and one that I will never forget.....

So I hope you will enjoy my journey to Breathtakingly Beautiful South Africa .....

Photo above is of rose garden at Company Garden with Table Mountain at the back ground.

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

On the day I re-visited the Multnomah Falls, it was raining pretty hard. I parked the car at the parking lot just off the Interstate thinking I really do not want to get out of the car. I had been driving all morning photographing and this was my last stop, so needless to say I was tired and did not have the energy to walk to the bottom of the fall as I had planned. But as I looked out the window from my car, I noticed that fog was starting to cover the top of the trees, and created this mystical aura. With trees heavy with rain and intensifying the deep green the waterfall looked just amazing....

Sky Lantern

At the recent outdoor wedding we attended in Oregon, relative of the bride released this lantern at the reception. It was just simply beautiful to see the warm glow from the lantern fill the nights sky at the vineyard wishing the newlyweds good fortune.....

Autzen Stadium

Autzen stadium has got to be one of the most beautiful stadiums in the conference. We sat at the very top and what we saw from our seats were fantastic. Clear view of the game,intensity of the game was not lost, great sound of the marching band, and .. the mountains... wow, we can't get that in the Midwest...... and look at this little guy.... so cool... "I love my Ducks"

side note.... beat Cardinals.....

Columbia River

Above photographs were taken at Columbia River on the Oregon side about one hour apart. Photographers always talk about magic of the light as the sun goes down, and here is the proof... how beautiful is this.....

Taco Time

My love for Taco Time started way back in high school days. I used to go at least once a week, and even thought of owning one at one point. Their Mexifries are the best, it is the one that looks like Tater Tots but with Mexican seasonings and it is deep fried. It is the best.... crunchy on the outside, very potatoy in the inside and just the right seasoning to make it spicy.....

Little critters of summer

With a new lens on my camera, I went for an early morning walk. I found these critters on the path and was able to photograph them before they went out on their way.. I love the way these photographs turned out, but the new lens just did not work out, so was returned....

College Marching Band

Okay so I have been absent from blogging for a while, it has been a busy summer but as my boys have gone back to school, and I can feel the autumn in the air. I thought maybe it is time to get back to blogging....


There is nothing that says fall, and start of the new academic year like good old football games. But for me, what I enjoyed most was the marching bands. They play before, during, halftime, and after the game. There day on game day starts well before the football players makes it into the locker rooms, and does not end until way after the game. And most of the students on the marching band does it just for fun... no credits earned..... Wow...

This is the first year in 10 years that my boys are not involved in marching band, I am already going through a withdraw...... Ah... maybe, just maybe one will play in the marching band in the grad school next year.... I really miss the sound of the drum line...

Purdue University All American Marching Band will be participating in the Macy's
Thanksgiving day parade, and University of Southern California marching band participated in the Shanghai worlds fair this summer, and will travel to Hawaii for USC's first game of the season......

Fireworks 2010

Last summer I started experimenting with taking photographs of fireworks. Why would I haul all those equipments to take photographs like everyone else... well, the experiment worked really well, and I even had a show to show some of my fireworks shots that turned out well... Thinking that I can duplicate it again, off I went to the same place as last summer... Because of the recent storms we could not park at our usual place, so we had to walk several blocks with heavy tripod, and my gears... when the beautiful fireworks started with a bang I was so excited... yes, I wanted to see the same results... but when I checked, NOOOOOOOOOO...... I could not figure out why it was not turning out as last year, and with all of the stuff I had to carry, I forgot the flash light..... bummer.... Next day we went off to the next fireworks... here... yes.... I brought the flashlight and fixed the settings as the show started... hum.... not quite what I had imagined, but some turned out quite interesting....more can be seen on my facebook page...

Green energy

On I-65 north of Lafayette Indiana, all of the traffic which has been going about 80 mph or faster will suddenly slow down. It is the wind-farm corridor of Indiana. Couple of years a go few showed up right up against the freeway in the corn fields, and now, it is just filled with windmills as far as eyes can see. It is quiet an amazing sight.......come by at night, when all of the red lights on top of the windmill blinks in unison...

Lemonade

Lemonade and Summer... ahhhhh.... My son went out for a run today, and found neighbors girls selling lemonade to raise money for local humane society. He couldn't resist so he grabbed some money (mine) and went out to contribute..... well, it turned out that they were selling lemonade so that they can buy a hamster... he got sucked into by cute girls..... he never learns..... but lemonade, symbols of summer tasted great... he said.....

My sea glass from Cancun

My trip to Cancun last fall was a really special trip. I loved walking on the beach every morning, and just being near the ocean was a joy to me.... on one of the walks I found this sea glass, it is not quiet frosted on the back but this was THE only one that I found the whole week.. When I got back I asked my friend and fellow blogger Jeannine to make it into a jewelry with several of the shells I found .. It turned out just as I had imagined to be... thank you Jeannine.....

Raindrops and flowers...

There is something so therapeutic about rain...seeing raindrops on my garden flowers I could not resist photographing in the rain......

"Colorfest" photography book

Joan Kalmanek, a fellow photographer who I had a privilege of showing our work in "Colorfest" photography exhibit, made the book of our show. It is a glossy 9 1/2 x 8 soft cover photography book with all of our photographs that we had it in the show. It also includes our biography, information about our reception and the cover of this book is actual images from our postcards that we had sent out... Thank you Joan... I will treasure this forever....

Bleeding Heart

I am so sad to report that right after this photograph was taken there was an accident and most of the flowers on this bleeding heart plant were ripped off. I am so thankful that I was able to capture the beautiful little pink heart shaped flowers while they lasted. It shows that we have to treasure every minute as life is so precious.....

Candy Factory - Albanese

Albanese Candy
Factory Outlet store is where everyone, no matter how old you are, turns into kids. First thing I noticed when I walked in was all the fun colored candies that every bin was filled with and melted Chocolate were pouring down from top of the tall column. So sweet.... I did not plan to buy anything (... not) but came out from the place with three pounds of Gummie bears and Gummie worms. They are just the right firmness and filled with tons of unique and tasty flavors..... many people knew exactly what flavor they wanted but me I choose a garden variety to be hand packed. They are sold by the pound and really reasonably priced. There are also chocolate covered goodies that smelled wonderful.. Unfortunately I can not eat chocolate so I only got a small bag of double chocolate covered peanuts for my hubby.....