Writing a Letter in Aceh

This is another photo from a few years ago. I was sent to Aceh soon after the terrible tsunami hit to take photos of kids for a book called, "Letters From Aceh". I delivered letters from kids in Jakarta, and gave them to the kids in Aceh to read. They then wrote letters back to the kids in Jakarta describing their horror stories from the Tsunami. It was an amazing experience for me, and I was so impressed by these kids and the ordeal they went through. Most every kid I met had lost a family member and sometimes their entire families...yet, they maintained their dignity and composure so well...totally different from the West where people complain and blame...good lessons could be learned from these kids.

E-Books From Stuck in Customs

I just bought Trey Ratcliff's new e-book on his digital workflow. I thought I already knew everything there was to know about Adobe's Lightroom, and I have my own workflow habits that I follow myself. However, after reading Trey's ebook, I learned a few things...in fact, I will be changing a few of my habits and follow Trey's methods more closely.

If you are interested in taking a look, CLICK HERE!!

The best thing about e-books is the price...sure beats the prices at the big book stores, and you can read them on your ipad (if you are lucky enough to own one).

E-books are cool. I am going to have to try this out myself.

Small Business

In Jakarta, there are millions of people trying to squeak out a living selling snacks, sodas...whatever. Just find a place on the street, set up your little "toko", and give it a wait....someone will come around and buy something from you...

A Stroll By The Lake

I remember taking this photo a few years ago. It was the last photo of the day. There were two large male elephants cruising this little beach. After I took the photo, they both went over to the tree on the right, and shook it. I couldn't believe such a large tree could be shaken like that. Those elephants have amazing power.

Sitting Alone

You know, sometimes you don't even have to see a face to tell a story...

Hangin By The Ropes

I love catching people in mid-thought...and then later wonder what they were thinking about...

Crane Operator

Got this in a little late tonight...

I went with a buddy of mine to North Jakarta to see a photo exhibition...really good!!

The only thing wrong with going North is the trip back home. I got stuck in traffic, and it took me over three hours to get home tonight. Don't come to Jakarta if you don't like traffic...arrrrrgh!!

Any way, onto today's photo...taken in Jakarta...I just liked the guy's smile ear to ear...wonder what he is laughing about...ya think he likes his job?

Black n White Comparison

I posted the photo (on the left) in the comments of Steve Huff's blog after Steve had requested people send in photos that were converted to black n white using Nik's Silver Effex Pro...

One guy commented that he thought it looked "dismal" and wanted to see what the conversion would have looked like before the HDR processing had taken place...without the "illustration look" as he put it...

What do you think?

I wrote back saying that I thought this photo was actually the perfect candidate for HDR with the extreme dynamic range in the photo ranging from the bright sky to the dark side streets...If you expose for the street, the sky is blown out (as shown below), but if you expose for the sky, the action at street level is all blacked out...therefore, expose for both, and combine...your typical HDR...

Skywatch Friday - The Perfect Beach

Happy Friday!!

This was one of my very first published photos...I call it, "The Perfect Beach"...

Have a great weekend, and be sure to check out skies from around the world HERE..

An Elephant Walks Through Our Camp

We had just set up our camp site, and I had sat down to relax and read my book. A few minutes later, a large elephant appeared in the woods walking right towards our camp. The elephant walked right past us, rubbed his head against a tree, and then walked right through the camp site next to us forcing the people to jump into their cars. In the first photo, it is difficult to see how large the elephant really is...but in the second photo, you can see just how big that guy really was...whoa...what an experience!!

Santorini Steps

Hey, if you get the chance, you gotta read the guest spot from Jeremy Cowart on Scott Kelby's site...it is a very good read for photographers...here is the LINK...I became an instant fan of Jeremy after reading his post...

Today's photo is from one of my favorite places on this planet...Santorini. This is an older photo that I re-worked to make it more painterly like...

Papuan Eyes

Who says you can't take a good portrait with a fisheye lens?

We were in a market in the highlands of West Papua. These kids were fascinated with our cameras...I don't think you see too many professional SLR's in remote areas of Papua, so it was no wonder they were intrigued. I would show them their photo after, and they would laugh and laugh, and then beg me to take more...

Must Have Been a BIG Storm

First thing in my mind when I saw this huge tree just off the beach was,
"How the hell did this tree get here?"

It must have been an incredible storm to knock this tree down, and then drag out into the water...

A Mystical Morning at Borobudur

No doubt about it, Borobudur in the early morning IS a mystical place...very peaceful...the sun slowly rises above the volcanoes, and the golden light hitting the bells mixed with the fog below is something special to witness...

Skywatch Friday - Palms at Dusk

Happy Friday!!

Wow, this week flew by...

This photo was taken near Sumatra. That "golden" sun only lasted about a minute and then disappeared...I had to set up my tripod in a hurry to catch that perfect light...

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

Istanbul Crowd

Istanbul is probably one of my favorite cities...

This street is near Taksim Square...I couldn't believe the number of people...

Standing Cool

I usually don't repeat photos on this blog, but I am in a real hurry tonight to get to a "going away" party for one of my best friends...so, I just hunted for a photo that I posted a long time ago that I liked that I thought you wouldn't mind seeing again...a new photo tomorrow, I promise!!

A Unique Place

This was a tough place to get a photo. To reach this spot, you have to dive into a raging current that is strong enough to rip your mask right off your face. Then, like superman flying through the water, you have to maneuver yourself to the entrance of a small underwater cave. Once you duck into the cave, you are free from the current. Exploring the cave is fun...you rise to the top, and you surface in the middle of a limestone hill with cliff and trees surrounding you 360 degrees. There are small underwater passages inside this little secluded oasis that are teaming with these unusual fish (I don't know the name of these fish)...it was very dark, so I set my camera and strobes to fire in rear curtain and had to hold my camera in a very awkward position to capture the trees and cliff just above the surface and the fish...

A pretty unique place underwater...

Flat Iron in Black n White

Converting an HDR photo into Black n White can produce really cool photos...
I was in NY this past Christmas, and it was REALLY cold...especially for a guy who lives in the tropics...but one of my goals was to get a photo of the Flat Iron Building in NYC...

Happy Mother's Day

I wished MY Mom a Happy Mother's Day on my family blog...but I want to also wish my wife, Tika a Happy Mother's Day as she is the mother of my two girls, and a great mother she is...

Skywatch Friday - Old Boat Launch

Happy Friday!!

Wow, this week flew by...gotta love Fridays...

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

Have a Great Weekend!!

Interesting Place To Read The Paper

No comment, really...what can I say?

Borobudur

One of the main attractions to see in Indonesia is the famous Hindu temple, Borobudur. It might not be as grand as Angkor Wat in Cambodia, but it is a very impressive place. Hit the temple early, though if you go there...if you miss the sunrise, and go later, you will be greeted by hordes of post card sellers relentlessly following you around. If you go for the sunrise, you will have an hour of complete silence and no crowds...the place is amazing at that hour...it is painful to have to get up that early, but well worth it...

Contemplating Life

This photo is appropriate as I have been contemplating a great deal lately about my camera equipment...I know that is probably the furthest thing from this guy's mind, but it has been the center of my thoughts the past few days...I am, once again, thinking about the Leica M9...I just can't get that camera out of my mind. I am headed to Italy in July with Tika, and would love to take that trip armed with a new Leica camera vs. lugging around my three tons of Nikon equipment like my other trips...ah, but the money....always the money...

Central - Singapore

If you ever visit Singapore, be sure to go to the river front....have a burger and cold beer at Brewerks...and then take a walk along the river...bring your tripod and get lots of photos of the mecca of colors...

Komoro Man

Can't be good for the lungs...