Jill Clardy's photostream  

During our trip to Stanford University for the engagement photo shoot for my daughter and future son in law, they posed in front of the sign outside one of the Stanford libraries. It was a beautiful winter day (California style - sunny and warm) when anything seemed possible...

龍 Lóng Dragon

Cantonese: Gung hei faat coi - Congratulations and Be Prosperous !

According to wikipedia:
The Dragon (simplified Chinese: 龙; traditional Chinese: 龍), is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and Mongolian zodiac related to the Chinese calendar and Mongolian calendar, and the only animal that is legendary. The Year of the Dragon is associated with the earthly branch symbol 辰 and is considered the luckiest year in the Chinese Zodiac.[1]

Since my lunar symbol is the dragon, he lives with me in my office and is hanging out on my desk durin the Chinese New Year celebrations. Here in the Bay Area we have many Asians who celebrate CNY with much enthusiasm. Maybe this year we will go to the parade in San Francisco.

I admit it - I'm infatuated with my "nifty fifty" 50mm f1.4 lens; the extremely limited depth of focus sometimes makes ordinary things look so different. I think the frond of this plant was moving slightly in the mid-day breeze, which had the effect of only a tiny portion of the image being in focus.

At the risk of boring the crap out of my contacts, I'm leaving the lens on for the rest of the month.... Bear with me :)

The bright red leaves of this tree really stand out now that most other trees are barren. I'm always on the lookout for something during my lunch time walks with the camera and 50mm lens dangling around my neck ...

At the beginning of our Eastern Mediterranean cruise, the Guidecca Canal in Venice was lined with yachts of every size. The one on the right must be the equivalent of a 10,000 sq ft home !

The 68th annual Venice Film Festival was underway in Venice at the time. Presumably it attracts the hyper-rich who motor in on their yachts to screen the newest films.....

www.labiennale.org/en/cinema