The Oxford Canal ran through the small village where I lived in England. Whenever it wasn’t raining (and often when it was) I would wander down to the towpath that ran parallel to the canal, flip a coin to decide if I was going upstream or down, then spend an hour or so ambling along the waterway. I loved being there in the early mornings, when the water was glassy-calm and the narrowboat pilots were still too busy savoring their bacon baps and morning cuppas to cast off their lines and motor toward destinations unknown. Here are a few of my favorite reflections from those peaceful morning strolls (click on any image to see the full size version).

Who’d expect to see a teepee in England?

Narrowboats on a foggy morning.

Like water off a duck’s back

The photo below is a bit of an optical illusion. With the exception of the portion of grassy bank in the bottom left corner, everything else is a reflection on the surface of the canal. What appears to be the sun rising over a foggy mountain is actually the sun peeking out from behind a cloud. There is a false shoreline through the middle of the photo, created by the reflection of a jet’s contrail. The skeletal tree limbs are also nothing but a reflection, although the top portion appears solid enough to be the actual tree (if you’re not convinced, notice there is no symmetry between the top and bottom half).

This post is part of The Daily Post‘s Weekly Photo Challenge.

Tōdai-ji, the Eastern Great Temple, in Nara, Japan, houses the world’s largest bronze statue of Daibutsu. The statue is protected by an enormous wooden structure, the Daibutsuden, or Great Buddha Hall. A hole has been carved through one of the massive wooden pillars that support the roof of the hall; the opening has the same dimensions as the nostril of the Buddha statue. Visitors of all ages find great joy in trying to squeeze themselves through the replica of Buddha’s nostril.

The Great Buddha, 49.1 feet tall

Buddha’s nose measures 1.6 feet

Find more interpretations of “inside” at The Daily Post.

The photo challenge issued this week by the Daily Post stems from last week’s instructional post regarding three-picture stories. In short, the idea is to capture a scene from three different vantage points, giving the audience a broad overview, then a closer look at some relationship within the scene, before homing in on a more intimate perspective on a key element. I’ve pulled three photographs that I took of Daibutsu, the Great Buddha, in Kamakura, Japan. Click on any image below to view it full-sized.

Shapes

Hexagons in the facade of Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavik, Iceland

Circles and squares in the ceiling of Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium

Olympic rings folded beneath Tower Bridge, London, England

Guinness Factory, Dublin, Ireland

Lines

Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik, Iceland

Doorway detail, Keswick, England

Former railroad bridge, Keswick, England

“Poured Lines” by Ian Davenport, under railway bridge at Southwark Street, London, England

Textures

Emu feathers, Cotswolds Wildlife Park, UK

Bamboo wall, Keukenhof Gardens, near Lisse, the Netherlands

Mossy tree, near Keswick, UK

Patterns

Brick sidewalk, Vollendam, the Netherlands

Shadows of Stonehenge, England

Carved wood panel at Broughton Castle, near Banbury, UK

Bricks and stained glass, Brugge, Belgium

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Here’s a selection of photos I’ve taken in my travels this year that work with the latest Weekly Photo Challenge from The Daily Post.