There’s something interesting about some of the buildings throughout China and here in Beijing, especially. They have some of the craziest and most interesting architecture in the world, and the vast majority of it comes from Western architects. The Chinese educational system has lacked an emphasis (in the past) on the creative arts, so there was a dearth of innovative architects for many generations. But some city planners decided to make statements by bringing in Western architects that were really able to experiment.
Here’s another one of the images from my 1000 Stories from 1000 Places NFT drop. It sold out in minutes, but they are now available to trade on OpenSea and X2Y2, etc so be sure to check them out.
This little taxi reminded me a bit of those crazy Burning Man cars! It parked here for just long enough for me to grab a photo. After it left, I realized that I think wanted a ride in it… but I was too busy getting lost in taking the photo to keep my wits about me.
Here’s a scene from Beijing from back in 2013. Sometimes the temptation is to not go out in less than average weather but as this shot shows, it can add a lot more interest to a scene.
Each time I’ve visited China one of the highlights has been to head out and wander randomly. On this day I found myself in some sort of park where there were little bits of cool architecture dotted around. I particularly loved the green and red mix under the sun as I passed by this building.
When I wasn’t getting arrested in Beijing, I spent some time exploring some of the taller buildings looking for interesting views. Here is a little chunk of the city that I found one night… not sure where it was… maybe I should look for clues in the image…
The Temple of Heaven is one of the most famous pilgrimage destinations for Chinese people who come to Beijing to visit structures upon the central axis. It was originally built in the 1400’s. I was invited by the Chinese government to come take special photos of their most important structures, so I was lucky enough to have the military let me into these places early while no one else was around. On this same trip, I was also arrested by the military for flying my drone over the “Forbidden City,” but that is a longer story that ended up with a hilarious ending. Obviously, I made it out of Chinese prison… one of my greatest accomplishments.
From the Worship collection on Foundation.
This is most of what the Great Wall of China looks like as nature reclaims itself. I took this with a drone while we slept in one of the old guard towers.
Hey awesome blog reader… you’ll probably be aware that I’ve been delving into the world of NFTs in the past few months. So far, it’s been both a success and an interesting adventure. That continues today with my 2nd drop on OpenSea. This set of NFTs is based around 50 of my favorite cities spanning all seven continents. There are a wide range of configurations (and prices) available and I’d love it if you’d check them out. If you thought an NFT mixed with physical art was odd last time then how about several NFTs, wrapped in an NFT… mixed with some Aave tokens which should appreciate over time??!
The first drop on OpenSea did better than expected and broke $100,000USD in the first three days. This second one already has a lot of interest as more and more collectors are getting into the NFT world. Jump on in! I’ll make a detailed video soon that talks more about what I’ve learned, mistakes I’ve made, some new ideas, and other interesting stuff from this wild wild west of cryptofun.
Also, if you’re an NFT curious artist, be sure to sign up for Passport where I’ve been sharing videos about my NFT experience so far. If you’re thinking about listing your own, you may find those helpful. Speaking of your own NFTs, I’m now starting to invest back into other projects so if you launch something cool tag me on Twitter and I’ll be sure to take a look. 🙂
Today’s photo has a little how-to if you are a Passport Sunday Member. If you are, then you’ll get this video in addition to hundreds of others.
The Making Of
In today’s video, you’ll see how I used HDR and LUTs to really make the wall stand out. Later, in Photoshop, I get rid of a lot of distractions… and as a bonus, you can hear about our harrowing night we spent inside one of those towers!
Here’s a pretty good perspective of the Great Wall in one of the more mountainous sections. How they built this, I have no idea. They say that there are tons of dead Chinese workers that are actually buried in the wall as they died from the harsh conditions. Somehow, knowing how China works (especially in the olden days), I would not be surprised by this at all.
