31 DAYS OF CREATIVE INSPIRATION :: Day 8 {Beijing Photo Walk}

This is the 7th post in a 31 Day series: Creative Inspiration. Check out all the posts here.

It is Saturday and I am tired! It has been a holiday this week in China so my husband and boys have been home all week. Therefore, today's post is going to be heavy on the photos and light on the words!

One thing I try to do is always carry my camera with me. My boys are used to asking me now to take photos of all kinds of random things. When I don't have my camera with me, they get frustrated! It is definitely a habit that works for our family as well as helping to improve my photography skills. I will talk about habit and creativity in a future 31 Days post.

Photo Walks are a fun way to practice your skills. There are no rules to a photo walk. You can make yourself a list of photo prompts to follow or find one online or you can do like I do and just grab your camera and go for a walk.

 

Since I almost always have my camera with me on our outings around the city,(we don't own a car so we often bike, walk or take the subway), I often use the opportunity as an excuse to turn it into an unofficial PHOTO WALK. 

I encourage you to give it a try the next time you are out and about with your family. It doesn't really matter if you are driving, walking or biking, there is always something fun or interesting to take a photo of, don't you think?

I hope you enjoy some of my favorite photos from our PHOTO WALKS over the past week at home for the National Holiday here in China.

Even if photography isn't your thing, I encourage you to see if you can't make some interesting images with your camera anyway. Perhaps you will find something inspiring for your next project - whatever that may be. You might find an interesting color combination, a fun texture or a new perspective on the world. And that is always a good thing! 

View from the 80th Floor.

After many attempts, Braden finally spots the Bird's Nest (National Stadium built for the 2008 Olympics) out the window.

 

The kids loved this tiny ketchup bottle. We took it home with us.

 

I love that he still loves Buzz.

 

So much building all over Beijing.

 

Sweet bread from Charme, a Singaporean restaurant.

 

A stop at the flower market for some flowers and a rosemary plant.

 

Being silly with the statues.

 

This sign hangs above the escalator in Carrefour (a Walmart-type store from France). And now we get great pleasure in referring to one another as "Knockhead" from time to time!

The kids are having lots of fun searching for FAIL photos. They are plentiful in Beijing. This is on the box of a yogurt maker - The company, ACA, stands for Appliance Company of America and it is located in China. Figure that one out! No wonder the hand mixer I bought from them started smoking after only a handful of uses. Though I never knew what the ACA stood for.

 

To the boys, these blocks were Minecraft, their favorite computer game, come to life! I wish I would have had them pose next to them.

I hope you enjoyed my photos. Now it's your turn to pick up your camera and start exploring your neighborhood.

Come back tomorrow when we will hopefully talk all about CREATING CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE TOPPERS WITH KIDS (I'm just trying to locate the photos). And Monday's topic is TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY - lots of eye candy to come!

 

31 Days of Creative INSPIRATION Series

Introduction

Day 1: Design Your Own Cupcake

Day 2: Storytelling Sunday

Day 3: Scrapbooking (Week in the Life Album)

Day 4: Everyday Photojournalism (Project 365/Project Life)

Day 5: Family Photo Fun - FAMILY x 12 BLOG HOP

Day 6: Links to Creatively Inspiring People (all writing a 31 Day series)

Day 7: Healthier (But Still Delicious) Cottage Pie

Day 8: Photo Walk

Other topics in the works for my 31 Days of Creative Inspiration Series: 

Photography - I answer the question, 'How do I know if I should buy a DSLR camera?', Find out who INSPIRES me; Photography Pet Peeves, Family Photo Fun ideas from around the web.

Recipes - my husband's delicious salsa, HealthIER (Yet Still Delicious) Recipes

Scrapbooking - My favorite mini album, 30 minute scrapbook challenge

more Cupcake Ideas, craft ideas...

AND LOTS, LOTS MORE (I'm posting for 31 Days straight, remember?!)

And to find more than 700 other blogs participating in the 31 Days series, go here. There is a huge variety of topics to choose from.

Comments

[Gayle]

I adore posts like this! So wonderful to take a wander through a new place through someone's photos :)

[MonicaB]

What glorious photos! I love the sun breaking through the sky scrappers. It's great that your kids ask for the camera, it something anyone any age can start to learn.