Day 159 (August 17) - The Black Dog

Most dogs in Thailand live on the border between stray and pet. Theravada Buddhism forbids the killing of any living thing, so euthanasia is not practiced and populations go unchecked except by hunger and misadventure. It's common to keep a dog in the street that you feed sometimes to protect your house, but not common to keep a dog indoors.

And the dogs fight with each other, and sometimes attack people as well.

I thought this dog was beautiful as I approached to take a picture, and I still do. It's a difficult, heartbreaking sight, but it's not possible to help all the dogs.

Still, this one has lovely eyes. I hope she's doing okay.

One Year

I've had my DSLR (Canon xsi) for almost exactly a year now. In some ways, it's gone really fast. In other ways, I can't believe that a whole year has passed. I certainly don't feel older, or even all that different.

But some things certainly have changed. Last August I was in California, I had just finished teaching at a really intense ESL summer camp and I was gearing up for my imminent move to Thailand. Plus, I had a bunch of new fun photo equipment to play with that I still didn't really know how to use.

Now I live in Thailand, I teach children, I'm coming to understand basic Thai, and I've seen and photographed some of the most beautiful places in the world. Plus I've been attempting to post a photo a day for almost six months. And I've learned a lot in so doing. Not all necessarily photo related.

This photo was shot in Alameda, close to sunset I believe. It was a beautiful, clear evening, warmer than average with the feel of summer still in the air. We were walking along the beach with one of Evan's friends.

There were tons of pelicans out in the water and I was doing my best to capture them with my new 55-250 lens racked all the way out to 250mm. I sort of knew about shutter speed and aperture and ISO, but not enough to know that my shutter speed wasn't quite fast enough for a sharp image, and that I should really have gotten closer to the birds instead of zooming in. So the image isn't quite sharp and it's backlit to boot.

But I love that sailboat in the top corner, and the way the light is turning it yellow. And this photo makes me nostalgic for the Bay Area, and the crisp evening air, the ability to walk along the shore in the evening. Like Mexican food, good pizza, the ability to communicate with strangers, and public transportation that gets you pretty close to where you want to go, I miss California sea air, and the moderate range of temperatures.

I may post a few more photos from a year ago in the next couple of months. I'm enjoying the contrast, and the memories.



I can't wait until we're back in a couple months and I can go scouting for pelicans again. I'd love to shoot them properly.

Day 157 (August 15) - Portrait

Yesterday we went to Nakhon Pathom, a town about a half an hour from our little hamlet of SamPhran to hang out with some of the Thai teachers we work with at school. We started out by looking at the palace where the Thai princess lived last year (not sure where she's living now). The grounds were really beautiful, lots of green with fountains and statues. It was nice to be in a park again, as there really aren't any near where we live.

Then we had dinner at a food stall near the large temple there and witnessed some 'flying ice cream.' A very talented Thai gentleman is better with his ice cream scoop than most are with a baseball and can accurately hurl the ice cream about 20 feet into your cup. A little overwhelming while it flies toward you, but impressive. And delicious.

Next up was some drinks and karaoke, as well as a reggae bar. It was one of the best nights out I've had in quite a while!

Anyway, this is one of the Australian teachers at our school, posing on the grounds of the palace. If I could retake this shot, I'd try to separate her from the tree a little more, and get closer. I cropped the shot, the uncropped version is below. I just felt like it was hard to see her beautiful face and great smile in the uncropped one.

Day 156 (August 14) - Bug

A cool bug one of the teachers found at school today. I didn't go any closer than this; it looked pretty fierce.

Day 155 (August 13) - Black and White

Playing with Black and White conversions today, feedback from those more experienced with B&W would be appreciated, as I'm a babe in the woods when it comes to doing without color. I tried to keep a clean look for them, but maybe the blacks are too black?

I am having trouble deciding which I like better for the second image (from yesterday's post). I love the color one (as I said) but I think maybe this simplifies the message in a way that might be needed.

What do you think? Don't hold your punches. Praise is great, but you don't learn anything from it.

Day 154 (August 12) - Say It One More Time?

I know I say this about all my photos, but I really love this one. The expression on her face, the framing by the shoulders, how you can only see one eye of the kids on either side of her . . . I'm in love.

Until I take the next shot that I like even more. I'm fickle that way.