【推荐1】Beautiful Britain Photo Competition

What represents the beauty of Britain for you? Is it rolling green hills and hidden valleys of the countryside? Here’s your chance to capture it in a photo! The competition will be judged by professional photographer James Eckersley. The judge’s decision is final and winners will be informed by email or post.

You must own the rights to the photograph you submit for entry. You must be able to supply a high-resolution copy of the photograph suitable for print publication. Competition is open to residents of the UK, aged 18 or over, except Reader’s Digest employees and any associated partners or attached companies. There is no cash alternative and prizes are not transferable. Multiple entries will be accepted. Winners must agree to publication of their winning photograph, along with their name. The winning entries will be published in our July issue, with the top winner gracing the back cover. Contributions become world copyright of Vivat Direct Ltd (t/a Reader’s Digest). Your information will only be used in accordance with our privacy policy. Entry implies acceptance of these rules. For more details, tips and guides, visit readersdigest.co.uk/inspire/photo-competition

【推荐2】Many people think that you need to travel great distances and go on expensive trips to create beautiful photos. If you consider macro photography, which is capturing (捕捉) tiny details, an entirely new world may open for you right in your own backyard. This is what I decided to do to challenge myself recently! I chose a relatively small area in my neighborhood to revisit over a couple of days, but the only rules I gave myself were not to photograph anything above the knees.

Using a 50 mm macro lens (微距镜头) on a traditional DSLR camera, I walked around looking for different opportunities. I also often use two extension (伸缩) tubes, which help me get ever closer to my subject matter and increase the magnification (放大率). In the evening light, the high contrast helps you see small things like jumping grasshoppers or other insects flying around, but during the day it can be more challenging. To find good subject matter, I like to crawl (爬) around and look at the world from a lizard or snake’s point of view. It adds significantly more drama, improves the image. It also has the power to transform a beautiful subject into a beautiful piece of art.

I really also pay attention to the background elements, not just the subject matter, especially with wildflowers. How in focus the background is, or how out of focus it is, can change an image. I like to shoot with a fully blurred (模糊的) background, called bokeh, though sometimes increasing depth of field and not having total blurriness can be beneficial to the composition, too.

You also don’t need a special camera set up to do this. Using a smartphone, you can easily use tools like portrait mode, to help blur the background. Some apps also allow for a greater level of control with depth of field and close-up photography. It’s less about the camera you use, and more all about how you use it!

【推荐3】The earliest discovered cave paintings date back to the Upper Paleolithic (旧石器) period. We might expect that they would be simply made, but the cave paintings of Spain and southern France show a high degree of skill. So do the cave paintings in southern Africa. Some of those appear to have been painted as much as 28,000 years ago, which suggests that painting in Africa is as old as painting in Europe. The early Australians may have painted on the walls of rock shelters at least 30,000 years ago.

The researchers identified three principal locations of paintings in the caves of western Europe: in obviously inhabited rock shelters and cave entrances; in galleries near the inhabited areas of caves; and in the inner reaches of caves, whose difficulty of access has been interpreted as a sign that magical-religious activities were performed there.

The subjects of the paintings are mostly animals. The paintings rest on bare walls, with no decoration. Perhaps, like many contemporary peoples, Upper Paleolithic men believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, and if that were their belief, it might explain why human figures are rarely found in cave art. Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting.

The particular symbolic significance of the cave paintings in southwestern France is more clearly revealed by the results of a study. The data suggest that the animals in the cave paintings were mostly the ones that the painters preferred for meat. For example, wild cattle and horses are found more often than we would expect by chance, probably because they were larger and heavier (meatier) than other animals in the environment. In addition, the paintings mostly draw animals that the painters may have feared the most because of their size, speed, natural weapons such as horns. That is, mammoths (猛犸) are drawn more often than deer.

【推荐1】Where To Go On Spring Break, Based On Your Zodiac Sign (星座)

Spring break is just around the corner. It's time to get your travel plans in order. Here is a simple guide that tells you exactly where to go on spring break this year, all based on your zodiac sign.

Pisces, You Love To Be By The Water

Go to Pisces—the water! You can simply sit, relax, and enjoy the salty air and some delicious Mediterranean food. Elafonisos, an island off the coast of Greece with unbelievable beaches, is your ideal destination. The population is small, but it gets very crowded during the summer months, so spring is your best opportunity to take it all in.

Taurus, Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico Will Be Your Jam

Yes, Truth or Consequences is the real name of this ridiculously affordable spa town.

Indulge in your love of all things luxury by simply spending a few days being pampered. Rooms at Blackstone Hot Springs begin at a very reasonable $ 85 a night. That's relaxing in and of itself.

Gemini, Nairobi Literally Has It All

Gemini, when it comes to planning a trip, you often have a difficult time choosing between a city and some wildlife. Well, if you head to capital city Nairobi, Kenya, you won't have to decide. Along with a rich nightlife, you can head to Nairobi National Park, a breeding ground for black rhinos that also happens to be known as Africa's safari capital.

Plan Your Way To Paris, Virgo

You run a tight ship, Virgo, but the gorgeous city of Paris will have enough history and art to keep you walking and shopping until your heart's content. Sit back and delight in the delectable cuisine for which “the city of lights” is known.

Enjoy your trips, my friends!

【推荐1】How can having a childlike view of the world help the environment? Danish eco-artist Thomas Dambo combines a talent for recycling with a fairy-tale imagination to bring people worldwide closer to nature.

For the “Guardians of the Seeds” exhibition, Danish eco-artist Thomas Dambo built five trolls from discarded wood materials, which were appointed by Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (CMBG) for its splendid riverside woodland.

The exhibition composed of the five trolls aims to give visitors an emotional connection with nature that will encourage them to become keepers of it. For the exhibition, Thomas came up with a story that a family of trolls hid 10 golden seeds to protect the old forest. Using a map that's provided, visitors follow clues to find where the seeds are hidden.

Besides using carefully selected recycling materials to produce his works, to challenge himself creatively, the artist allowed for a degree of production on-site. He gave a skinny troll named Birk a beard made from the roots of fallen trees. The fur of another troll Roskva is made from bark. Also, Gro, sitting with her eyes closed in a yoga pose, has a tongue made out of a nearby deserted planter.

“Thomas wants people to interact with them,” says Gretchen, president of CMBG. “He wants it to be a journey of discovery where you're walking along and all of a sudden this big magical being appears in front of you. These are friendly, happy trolls. They're not scary, mean trolls.”

Thomas hopes that “Guardians of the Seeds” gives viewers the same joy he gets from an occupation that he compares to a hobby. He says too many people lose their playfulness in their adult life. The key quality of his work is just its playfulness. One of his trolls sits on a real car on a hillside, appearing to cheerfully ride it. He wants to reactivate a childlike imagination in adults so they begin to see trash as objects that can be repurposed in practical and even picturesque ways. And he loves to entertain kids, too.

Nowadays, Mr. Dambo gets a kick out of seeking waste everywhere, hoping to find more stuff he could refashion into something amazing.

【推荐2】Evelyn Glennie is a unique musician. She is a percussionist (打击乐手) who plays with classical orchestras. When she performs, she hits the gongs, snare drums, vibraphones, timbales, cymbals, conga drums, bells, and bass drums that are in front of her. Although classical musicians usually wear formal clothes in concert, Glennie performs in bare feet. What really sets her apart, though, is that she is a musician who cannot hear. Glennie has been almost totally deaf since she was 12 years old. Despite being deaf, she has become the first solo star to play her type of percussion instruments in classical music.

Glennie was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. At the age of eight, she started taking piano lessons. She found that she preferred the drums, so she began to concentrate on other percussion instruments. Her doctors were never able to find out why she started to lose her hearing. By the time Glennie was 12, most of her hearing was gone. Glennie stayed in her school and learned to read lips. She also continued her music lessons. She learned how to play percussion instruments by using her sense of touch. She learned to feel the difference between high and low notes. She became very sensitive to the vibrations created by different sounds. Glennie took off her shoes to make it easier for her to feel the vibrations made by her instruments.

Glennie was very talented. At 16 she was accepted to the Royal Academy of Music in London, England. She was the music school’s first solo percussion student, graduating when she was 19. To build her career, she performed anywhere she could. There was very little solo music written for her instruments, so she asked for percussion music to be written for her. She then performed the new pieces in her solo concerts. Glennie attracted attention by performing in radio and television concerts. One 1988 concert was recorded live and made into a CD. This recording earned Glennie her first Grammy Award for a classical music performance.

Today Glennie performs all around the world. In addition to classical orchestras, she plays with folk musicians and rock stars. She has written music for movies, television shows, and commercials. Every year more new compositions are written for Glennie to perform. She has even taken up a new instrument: the bagpipes. Glennie considers herself a pioneer in music, not because she is deaf but because she has become a solo percussion star in classical music.

【推荐3】Have you heard of Robert Bateman? He worked late the evening of March 31,1992. He studied his painting of three lions. Bateman decided to add some finishing touches. As he turned away from the canvas, he smiled, imagining the reaction of his staff the next morning. What an April Fools’ joke! The next day, when his assistants came to the studio, they were shocked. What had the famous artist done to his masterpiece? The lions had bat ears!

World-famous wildlife artist Robert Bateman lives in British Columbia, Canada. On working days, he might be found hiking on the mountain, sketching birds and animals. Bateman spends his days observing, studying, and painting wildlife.

As a boy, Bateman explored the woods and fields around his home in Toronto, Ontario. By the 1970s, he was well-known for his realistic paintings of the natural world.

When he’s not in the woods or mountains, Bateman can be found at home in front of his easel (画架). He still gets a thrill out of seeing an eagle. Sometimes, Bateman does not even have to leave home to find an eagle. They come to him. Eagles rest on a dead tree that Bateman “planted” in rock in front of his house.

Bateman’s most exciting place to find subjects to paint is in Africa. “Every day in Africa is thrilling,” he says. “There are places in Africa that look like the Garden of Eden (伊甸园).”

As for the bat ears on the lions, Bateman painted them on with watercolor paints. After everyone had a good laugh, he simply washed the ears away.