Attack!

Whew! Watch out.

Death Railway

A view of the famous Death Railway in in Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

The River Kwai

A view of the River Kwai near Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

Sunset

Everyone loves a good sunset picture. This one was just spectacular.

Another Landscape

Another picture from Koh Chang. I apologize if you're getting sick of them. I took this early in the morning at a cove called Long beach. It was beautiful, with only one guesthouse, and very relaxed feeling.

Leaf or Bug?

Thailand has some really cool insects in Thailand. This is some sort of leafy bug that was hanging out on the wall outside our guesthouse. It didn't seem upset when I started taking pictures of it.

Lifesaver

From the ferry to Koh Chang, I liked the colors of this, and the contrast between the roundness of the lifesaver and the straight lines of the bars and the screen.

Setting Off

A dawn view of the pier at Sapparod. Maybe this image is a little too simple, but I like the clean lines of it.

Hermit Crab

This hermit crab decided to visit our table on Koh Chang. The light wasn't good enough for a super sharp shot, but I liked this one enough to post.

No Internet

I have no more internet, folks. It's tough.

So I've taken advantage of Blogger's scheduling feature, and you should still find a new picture here every day, but they won't be taken on the same day any more, just due to technical difficulties and whatnot. Evan and I start off on our two month Asia and Europe travel adventure in just a few days, and I'll be posting some pictures from that as I can.

I've really appreciated all the wonderful comments recently, I'm sorry I won't be able to comment on all your lovely blogs until the end of November when our travels end back in California, but I'll try to make up for it then.

Until then, all the best!

A Bird

I wish I knew what kind of bird this is, but I have no clue. I took this around dawn, while we were waiting to take the ferry to Koh Chang.

Day 185 (September 12) - Landscape

Another shot from Koh Chang this weekend. This was completely luck. I was in the back of a truck, barreling along on a very bumpy dirt road, and one of the other passengers told me that this beautiful vista was about to appear. However, I didn't think I was going to get a clear shot since there were trees lining the road. There was about a second with no trees in the way, I squeezed off a shot and hoped it wasn't blurry, and this was the result!

Not perfect compositionally, but a lucky shot all the same. As Rick Sammon says, 'The harder I work, the luckier I get.' Guess I better keep working!

Day 184 (September 11) - Fungus

I was tickled to see this pretty little mushroom growing off a tree trunk this weekend on Koh Chang, one of the islands not too far south of Bangkok.

It was tough to get the contrast quite right so that you could see all the details in the top of the mushroom, I may work with it again a bit later, but I wanted to at least get something up on the blog since it's been so long.

Momentary Lull and Photo Critique Sites

I'll be out of town for the weekend, and without internet. Posts will resume Monday.



And, while I'm away, check out some great critique sites. I love hearing other people's photos critiqued, I learn so much from it.

Zack Arias does a great job on his blog. Here are all of his critique episodes (beware, his videos are about a half hour to an hour in length). His are more portfolio reviews, so don't expect to see him go really in depth on one photo. Still, I learned a lot from watching these.

Craig Tanner at The Mindful Eye does some excellent one photo critiques here. You have to register to watch them, but it's free and I I love how he talks about color interactions, intention, emotion, and a host of other things. There's also info on post processing, and some assignments to get your creative juices flowing. One of my favorite photography websites.

David duChemin who recently published the book Within the Frame (which is getting rave reviews, but I haven't read it yet) has a video podcast where he critiques one to two images in about 10 to 15 minutes. Here's the link. There are 15 episodes so far, with more on the way.

That's it, have a great weekend!

Day 181 (September 8) - Citrus

Some pomelo pieces I shot using my trusty flashlight, some kleenex to act as a diffuser, and a couple of white pieces of paper as reflectors. I'm not in love with the results, but it was fun experimenting with the light.

A Little Over A Year Ago

I captured this bee among the lavender in Berkeley, California, on a warm summer afternoon. With my Leica D-Lux 3, which takes pretty good pictures (at ISO 100, in raw) for a point and shoot.

I like the colors of this, that I was still brave enough to shoot on an angle for no apparent reason, and the fact that I can almost smell the lavender from here, half a world away.

Day 179 (September 6) - Glamor Shot

Okay, so I know there are way too many cat pictures on this blog. But what can I do? She's such a poser.

I promise, I'll try to cut down on the number of cat pictures in the next week, okay?

Day 178 (September 5) - High

Another sky shot, this time taken with the Lensbaby at f/2.

Day 177 (September 4) - Trio

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll recognize these flowers,they grow in my yard. Pure luck allowed me to catch the insect in mid-flight on his way to have intimate relations with the flower. (That's what they do, right? The birds and the bees? Maybe I'm misremembering.)

Theoretically, triads are stronger photographically speaking than pairs. Odd numbers in general are thought to be better (more interesting) than even numbers. Your eye is supposed to search for the missing item to complete the image. I can't totally vouch for this, but it feels true.

In recent news, one of my photos was chosen to be put up today on Shutter Sisters. The one word project for September is 'play.' I submitted one photo (because I don't have that many that really capture play) and it was put up today. Here's the link if you want to see it. Check out the rest of their site as well, it's got some really beautiful posts and thoughts about all things photography. (Though, as you may have guessed, it is geared a bit towards the fairer sex. )

And by the way, Happy Birthday Evan!

Day 176 (September 3) - The Sky's the Limit

The sky here is always so beautiful. This shot doesn't do it justice. Every day I try to think about how to incorporate more sky into my photos, but there's a lot of clutter around. Most of my photos with sky I'm not happy with.

So here's one with almost all sky, and it soothes my hunger for sky just a bit. Thanks to all of you for understanding.

Day 175 (September 2) - Rain on the Leaves

A view out the window of our bedroom during a light rain today.

September Desktop Calendar

Okay, so Photoshop and I aren't exactly bosom buddies. But we are getting to know each other a bit, which is why I thought making a desktop calendar should be a walk in the park. Two hours later, it's finished (and I'll be a lot faster next time), but I'm thinking my PS skills could use a bit of practice.

Anyway, enjoy.

Here is a link for the 4x3 (Standard) Monitors.
Here for 16 by 10 (Widescreen) Monitors.
And here for 16 by 9 (True Widescreen) Monitors.

Many thanks to Evan, who helped me out with monitor sizes, and figuring out how to get this to work.

And yes, I know September started yesterday. But if I let details like that worry me, I'd be up all night.

Day 174 (September 1) - Kiwis

Now that I have a little bit more free time on my hands I decided to set up a shot, instead of my usual 'just shoot what's in front of you' style.

I sliced up a kiwi, got a white background, used another piece of white as a reflector, and then a small flashlight to provide some sparkle on the slices of kiwi themselves. Yes, totally ghetto. I currently have no external flash or studio lighting system. But you have to work with what you've got. The only slight issue is that the flashlight was a little warmer in temperature than the ambient daylight, but I think I'm okay with what that does to the photo. No, it's not all totally pure white, but that's okay.

Let me know what you think. I've never shot food before, but I'm thinking it might be something I could work on in the next month.

Some Links for You

A few quick links here, photography related and not photography related.

Not Photography Related
-An excellent article on why you should be cool to the pizza delivery boy here.

-A pretty cool website that I've kind of been keeping quiet on, which gives away something new every day, all you have to do to enter is answer a question. The Bright Side Project is lots of fun (although maybe tailored a bit more to the ladies than the gentlemen).

- A nectarine galette that looks incredibly easy to make and absolutely delicious. Given our lack of nectarines here in Southeast Asia, I would like someone in Produce Heaven (that would be the Bay Area, California) to make it for me and report back. I know you all have some delicious nectarines or peaches right about now that would be perfect for this. Mom, are you reading? I'm talking to you.

-An absolutely stunning blog post over at This Is Yellow. Don't question me, just go read it. She's got an amazing way with words.

Photography Related
-Rick Sammon's 10 Key Factors to a Good Photograph is, as he says, short and sweet, but it's also a good reminder to think about all of these before pushing the shutter button.

-David duChemin just came out with a new eBook called 10. It costs $5 if you buy it before October 1st, and I just got my copy. I haven't read it yet, but I'm excited to. His blog at Pixelated Image is excellent as well, and totally free. It focuses a little on the technical aspects of photography, but mostly it's about inspiration and thinking about photography in more fulfilling ways, less about money and more about vision.

Okay, don't want to totally inundate you, so that's about it for today. I'll probably share some more links with you next week as well, this could become a weekly thing now that my Google Reader addiction has hit its peak.