30 December 2006: Forbidden City Tour Group

Forbidden City Tour GroupI visited the Forbidden City on this snowy day because I figured that it would not be especially crowded and that the snow would create interesting opportunities to photograph the buildings and interior spaces. I was wrong on both counts. Although it was probably a bit less crowded than usual, there were plenty of people visiting in spite of the snow. As for photo opportunities, by the end of 2006 Beijing’s Olympic facelift was well underway and, disappointingly, I found most of the major buildings within the Forbidden City shrouded in scaffolding for renovations. The day was nonetheless not a loss photographically. Among other subjects, I encountered this tour group of rather disgruntled looking people from somewhere in greater China.

 

Mt Sopris Up Close

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Another view of Mt Sopris, this one taken from the vacation house where a number of classmates stayed and I spent most of my time during the 60th anniversary visit to our high school alma mater. The view of Sopris was remarkable from the back porch. The house is almost at the base of the mountain, and I brought Sopris a bit closer still by using an 85mm lens to shoot this image.