Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Rocks On The Beach

Not sure if there is another place that is quite like this place...I had a great time walking around taking photos of rocks...

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Wow, The Eyes....The Eyes

I caught this little Komoro boy at just the right moment...mere seconds after I took the shot, he turned around to play with his friends, and his expression turned from the one I caught below to a big, wide smile.

The ability to capture a moment in a split second of time, and in that moment, a story or an emotion is revealed...THAT is the beauty of photography!! In this photo, the eyes hold both the story and emotion, and it is up to the viewer to interpret both...

Monday, March 29, 2010

Temporarilly Grounded

We hired a boat captain for the day, and he took us to several small islands off of Sumatra...each one was uninhabited...He wasn't going to stop at this island, but when I saw this old boat on the beach with the big rocks in the background, I knew I had to get a photo....so we stopped on this small island which turned out to be one of my favorites of the day...

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Tika and Kayla Walk The Plank

I usually save my family photos for my family blog (link to the right)...but I couldn't resist this photo of my wife (Tika) and my daughter (Kayla) on this pristine beach...

Friday, March 26, 2010

Belitung

I just got back from a three-day visit to Belitung (an island off of Sumatra). It was only a 45 minute flight from Jakarta. Wow, what a place...incredible beaches, and these huge rocks all over the place...we had a great time exploring the beaches and islands off shore. There were virtually no other tourists around, so we had the beaches and islands all to ourselves!!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Another Planet Is Underwater

First off, yes, I did mess around with this photo...the colors, that is...not to say the colors of these Yellow Tail Snappers are not gorgeous as they were, but I wanted a more "artsy" look to the photograph, so why not??

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Giraffe Looks

This was one of the biggest giraffe's I had ever seen...he was wandering alone along the river in Botswana...wow, what a sight to see...

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Early Morning At Mount Merapi

There are many live volcanoes in Indonesia. Mount Merapi is one of my favorites. A couple of years ago, scientists said that it was going to blow, and it would be a BIG one...so, I flew down to take some photos. The big blow never came, however...but, it is still gurgling, and I am sure one day, it will just go!! In the meantime, it sure is your classic cone shaped volcano, and great for photos...

Monday, March 22, 2010

Ion Mall

I get to Singapore at least a couple of times per year. It is nice to get out of the chaos of Jakarta, and visit a place where everything seems to work and everything is clean and organized...my wife likes to go to Singapore to shop...this is the newest mall in Singapore, and one of the most expensive buildings in Singapore...very cool architecture!!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Inside The Aya Sophya

Photos do not do justice to this amazing church...I wish there were some way to capture the entire inside. I was limited to what my fisheye lens could capture. I was also not allowed to bring my tripod into the church, so I had to hand-hold all my photos I took inside. That made for some tricky exposures...This is a three shot HDR...

Friday, March 19, 2010

Skywatch Friday - Storm Over Tanah Lot - Bali

Happy Friday!!

Be sure to visit all the other great skies from around the world HERE...

Have a great weekend!!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Hangin' Near The Docks

A little slice of life...the beauty of photography is capturing a moment in time that will never be the same again...

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

No Arms And A Sailboat ?

Ever see those paintings hanging in fancy galleries that look like some little kid just splattered paint all over a piece of canvas? And then you see art "experts" looking over the mess and trying to interpret the piece of art? That's kinda how I felt when I saw this sculpture... A dude with no arms with an extended leg holding a sailboat...what is the meaning? How does one interpret this? Ya got me...but, I like the photo...cool colors...

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Graffiti Appears

Ya, I know, Graffiti is not a good thing, and should not be encouraged....but photographically speaking, my eye is always attracted to walls with Graffiti...I guess I just like the grunge kind of look...I was actually thinking of walking around the city of Jakarta and taking photos of all the Graffiti I see everywhere in this city...there are actually some very creative drawings. That might be a cool project...

Sunday, March 14, 2010

The Empty Space Where There Is No Space

Imagine if you could sell road space in Hong Kong...There is no space left...just gotta go up and up...developers must look at this cross walk, and shake their heads...

Friday, March 12, 2010

Skywatch Friday - Painterly Skies in Lombok

Happy Friday!!

Always fun to participate in Skywatch Friday...my photo today is from Lombok...

Please be sure to visit all the other beautiful skies from around the world HERE...

Have a great weekend...and hope you drop by more often...

Thursday, March 11, 2010

My Kind of Pub

When I go to a new city, I love to take my camera and just go for a walk...I guess a "Photowalk" is today's catch phrase...so, that is what I did when I went to Hong Kong. I just took the subway to "Central", and got out and started walking. I ran into that famous escalator that is supposed to be the longest in the world....it goes uphill into some old parts of town. I got off about half-way, and started walking down through the narrow streets...there were markets, pubs, street sellers, restaurants, shops, and old buildings...it was just dripping with character...it was hard to keep my camera down...I wanted to take a photo on every corner.

Finally, I ran into this little pub in Soho...they had some very tasty beer that we can't get in Jakarta, so I stopped for a nice cold glass and sat just behind the lady in red...between sips, I got up to take this photo...the people standing around asked me if they should get out of the way...I told them, "of course not, just stay where you are and look natural"...and they did. I love little places like this...it is just my style!!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The Old Bridge in Hoi An

Hoi An was one of the few places in Vietnam not bombed during the war. This bridge is over 400 years old, and many of the buildings are very old as well. I love old buildings...sure make for good photographs...

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

It's All About Textures and Colors

As you probably know, I am always looking for good textures and color to photograph. I sure found some in this window of an old abandoned house in Vietnam...

Believe it or not, I did not add any texture or color to this photo...you can see why this window caught my eye...

Monday, March 08, 2010

Down By The River

One of the reasons I am really considering getting the new Leica M9 is the stealthiness of the camera. These two ladies saw my big SLR pointed at them, and immediately hid their faces. With the much smaller Leica, I probably could have gotten a nice photo of their faces...in the end, I decided to just back up and catch more of the scene instead of a close-up on them...a better photograph in the end, don't ya think?

Sunday, March 07, 2010

The "Nest" and The "Cube" in One Shot

It was so cold the night I was out taking photos in Beijing, that I could only stay out for about 10 minutes. I thought my tripod would freeze to my hands...so, I just ran from building to building hoping to warm up....didn't really help. This is the last shot I took before retreating to the nice warm van where my friends were waiting for me...

Friday, March 05, 2010

Skywatch Friday - Stormy Clouds Over My House

Happy Friday!!

I have been away from Skywatch Friday for about a month, so it is nice to be back!

It is rainy season now in Indonesia, and I just love dark stormy skies...when I got home the other night, these big dark clouds were looming over my house, so I had to get my tripod out and get a photo...

Be sure to check out all the other great skies from around the world HERE...

Thursday, March 04, 2010

A Restaurant in Hoi An

The buildings in Hoi An just blew me away...I love old buildings, and this is one of my favorites...

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Hong Kong Again

I hope this photo is not too large for your screen...but I like my photos BIG!!

I obviously did some post-processing with this photo. When I start working on a photo, I usually don't know what I am going to end up with. Sometimes I don't like what I end up with and just scrap it all together. With this photo, I didn't really like what I was starting with, but ended up with something that I thought really looked cool. It is a five-shot HDR, and I did some major work on it in Photoshop to get this final look...

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

The "Seedy" Side of Hong Kong

The great thing about Hong Kong is that you can walk just about anywhere you like without the fear of being robbed, knifed, or murdered...can you imagine walking down a street like this in the middle of Detroit? I don't think so....but in Hong Kong, no problem...

Monday, March 01, 2010

Balloons Anyone?

You could see this guy a half mile away walking down the street...hard to miss those balloons towering over a guy...I must have gotten a hundred shots of him, but motorcycles or people would always jump in my way...he finally sat down on a small bench, and I just had to wait till the street was clear in front of me before I finally grabbed this shot...