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A lot of temples in Japan are built on a traditional format, involving lots of wood and ribbed roof tiles and the usual thing you see in photos. Every so often, though, you find one that’s . . . different. Like this one, where the roof is carved to look like a giant turtle, with Kannon riding its back and a bunch of children looking up at her adoringly. This is the head of that turtle, and it’s really just . . . odd, man. 🙂

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I’ve had a soft spot for sailing ever since I went on a trip with my family and some family friends to the British Virgin Islands. We chartered a 40′ sloop and went sailing around for about a week, I think, and I’ve never forgiven myself for being nine at the time and not appreciating it the way I would now. 😛 Anyway, this photo was taken off the coast of O’ahu, and really, it’s all about the light.

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Redevelopment in the main market square of Kraków turned into a massive archaeological dig which was eventually conserved as an underground museum. This knife is one of a huge number of items on display. Although ordinarily I consider reflections in the glass to be a flaw in a museum photo, in this case I liked the starry effect it creates around the knife.

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You can’t take photographs inside most of Westminster Abbey, and the exterior is hard to capture because of the sheer size. But on my research trip for Midnight Never Come I gave it the old college try. This is the north entrance, where you purchase admission and audio guides, and I have an odd fondness for the patchwork appearance of the stone — not to mention a general love of Gothic architecture in the first place.

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A friend took me on a day trip to Yosemite National Park in late spring, when there was still snow here and there, but it was warm enough not to freeze your fingers off. It was my first visit to a major national park, and, well, see for yourself: absolutely stunning. (Also, this is a splendid example of what Lightroom can do, because the picture as it actually came out of my camera had the sky badly washed out for some reason. The intense blue you see here is much closer to what my eye saw at the time.)

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Sravanabelagola is a fair hike to get to: not only do you have to climb the hill (which is fairly steep), but you have to do it barefoot. And even in October, the stone was quite warm. But the view from the top was absolutely splendid, and dotted with various shrines, buildings, columns, and more.

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When I went to the Museum of London to research With Fate Conspire, I discovered they have a charming little mockup of a Victorian city street, including this penny-farthing leaning in a corner. It’s just about the only bit of that mockup I managed to get a decent photograph of — the light there was not forgiving to photographers without tripods . . . .

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Near the end of our time in Paris, we spent an afternoon at the Chateau de Vincennes, which is a castle in the Parisian suburbs. The donjon closed at 4 or 5, but the area as a whole stayed open, so my husband sat on a bench to write postcards while I prowled around and took Yet More Pictures. I’m glad I did: the light became beautifully dramatic, silhouetting the castle against the bright clouds behind.

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The first day we were in Krakow, we wandered around the Stare Miasto taking pictures of everything there. My last day in Krakow, I wandered around the Stare Miasto taking pictures of everything again . . . because this time it had snowed, just enough to frost everything in a bit of fluffy whiteness. I had liked this lion (at the base of the Town Hall Tower) the first time I saw him, but he was even more charming in the snow.