I have been experimenting this week. I bought a new stitching software and have been playing with that. I tried some vertical panoramas, and it turned out very nice and a tried a 27 pic stitch and I was quite amazed how well that turned out.

What I am trying to do this week if the weather allows me, is do some star trails. It seem very hard though and will take a lot of trial and error. I will let you know how I go.

I last went to Yangshao with mu Mummy and Daddy, we all loved it there and had fantastic time. This time I went with Keri and little Fergus, we had a different experience this time because of the Bub but it was equally enjoyable. I thoroughly recommend who is planning on visiting, to stay at the Yangshao Mountain Retreat. The staff were fantastic, facilities were very good and the views excellent. Anyway thats the plug.
Unfortunately I didn’t get as many good pics as I did last time. This was due to a couple of things, the hazy skies and my lazy attitude. Heres a couple of pics of  Yangshao. There are loads of rice paddies and a fun city centre.

Last summer I took my parents to Yangshao in China. Its an amazing place and Keri and I have decided to go back there with little Fergus. When we were there the first time my Dad and I went up in a hot air balloon, it was amazing and I took  lots of great pictures from up there. Afterwards we we got down from the trip we were talking to some expats who lived in the area, they were saying that we were crazy for going with that company as they were cowboys etc. He mentioned that they have had all sorts of accidents and near misses. I have thought nothing off it until I read the news this morning and since we are heading back there on Saturday I was pretty shocked when I read the following article.

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/tourists-killed-in-hot-air-balloon-crash-3077810

I went to Shenzen again the other day and hated it immediately. I just happened to ask a Shenzen shark about knock off tripods ( I stupidly sent mine back to NZ where it is now lost in storage). He then proceeded to hassle me non-stop. I thought I might as well offer him a ridiculous amount for a monopod, which I know will break and be rubbish, he agreed and now I have a monopod that was cheap but will break very soon. I will post the first pic taken with my new knock off shortly. Meanwhile here is the latest pic of wee Fergus.

I was in the lucky position to have another day of school due to someone not paying the power and water bills, so I took the opportunity to have little day out with the family. I had a chance to play with my camera for the first time in ages, Fergus got to sleep and chunder in new places and Keri got to ride rollercoasters by herself. So a great day by everyone.

Here is a pic of the Nicobar Pigeon we spotted.

Well, just had some big news! School has been shut down for a week due to swine flu, don’t panic though. You can’t catch it by reading this post ! Its a pretty stink start to the year but I will try to make the most of it by getting some shots of little Fergus before he gets too big. Check back here next week to see if I have pulled my finger out.

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