The Bayon in Angkor Thom. 2006

This year will mark 8 years since I made the switch from film to digital. From the word go I’ve followed a policy of archiving everything and never deleting. That may see a little unnecessary and possibly overkill but it doesn’t cost much to store and you never know when an old file may prove useful, even if it’s only as an example of what not to do. As I write this, a 2TB hard drive can be had for about US$120 and that’s good for approximately 80 000 RAW files from my Canon 5D Mark II and even more if the files are from an older, lower megapixel camera. By making use of the cataloging and filtering power of Lightroom, it’s quite easy to manage all these images that are scattered throughout multiple drives.

While some images may never be able to be used – out of focus, wrong exposure, etc – others have potential but just need a little time. I like to occasionally take a random dive back into my older rejects from time to time, particularly when a new generation of software is released. Such was the case earlier this week when I found myself with a bit of spare time thanks to a weather delay. Lightroom 4 beta has been out for a couple of weeks and offers a number of improvements in the Develop module and I’ve been spending a bit of time with it. In fact, the last 3-4 shoots I’ve done have had all the processing done in LR4 rather than 3.

Life on the Lake. Tonle Sap, Cambodia 2006.

I fired up one of my archive drives that held photographs from my second visit to Cambodia from 2006 and added them to the new Lightroom. Scrolling through them in the grid view as small thumbnails, I randomly chose a selection of images to work on. They were all photographs that hadn’t been used before for various reasons, mostly because I’d been unable to pull the photograph that I knew was in them out of the RAW file. Running them through the Develop module with the 2012 process version in LR4 finally started bringing the potential out of these files. The photographs that were in my head when looking at these RAW files were now starting to appear on the screen in front of me.

Sitting Under Buddha. 2006

After adjusting the various sliders and a little work with brushes, things were looking good but weren’t quite there. Another version 4 was released recently and that was Nik Color Efex Pro 4. This operates as a plugin from Lightroom but in this instance I decided to go via Photoshop so that I could Color Efex 4 on a layer. Each photograph was opened and various adjustments made to suit the needs of each different image. On the Bayon photograph that leads this post, I masked the effect out on part of the image but for the others here, it was applied in full. I could have used the control points in Color Efex Pro 4 to achieve the same effect but it was a little quicker to just add a layer mask to the area I wanted to reduce the effect on.

In The Boat. 2006

The moral of the story? Delete nothing. You never know when a photo is just waiting for the correct engine to make it work.

February 2012 Desktop Calendar

Another month has rolled around and it’s once again time for a new desktop calendar. This month’s comes from Nepal and what was somewhat of an aborted morning of photography. We’d headed up to Nagarkot on the ridge above the Kathmandu Valley in order to get up and photograph the sunrise over the Himalayas. The Gods of weather weren’t really with us for the sunrise part of things though as a heavy cloud cover moved in and we didn’t get so much as a glimpse of either the sun or the snow-covered mountains. However, once you’ve gotten up before dark on a cold, misty morning and seen your photography plans disappear you’re only left with two choices. Either go back to bed or go for a walk and see what you can see. I took the latter and wandered off around the hillside, finding a narrow trail that led part way down towards a village below. Although the fog was still covering most things up high, there were patches of light shining underneath it briefly and this was the result.

As always, there are a variety of sizes for you to choose from. And below is the same image without the calendar which can be licensed, purchased as a fine art print and shared.

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Across the Chinese world, millions are this week celebrating the lunar new year. 2012 is the year of the dragon, believed to be the most auspicious sign in the Chinese zodiac. The festival marks a time for family reunion, fun, and prays for a successful and prosperous year. Whether it’s China, Taiwan, Singapore or other countries with a large population of Chinese, or smaller communities in countries where they are a minority, both the devout and the layman make pilgrimage to temples to light incense, leave offerings, seek knowledge of their fortunes and chant prayers for the new year.

In Taipei’s Wanhua district lies Longshan Temple, one of the oldest and most important in Taiwan. Thousands pour into the temple daily, braving the rain and cold, to place their wishes and receive blessings for the new year. Below is a gallery of photographs showing some of the color and faces that can be seen in the ritual.

The streets of Kathmandu and its surrounding towns abound with opportunities for street portrait photography. Faces with character can be seen everywhere, the lines and expression suggesting a million different stories to be told. Life is open and direct with daily activities taking place in public in a completely non self-conscious way. There’s no need to rush, no need for haste. Time takes on a new meaning as the ancient is blended with the modern in ways rarely seen elsewhere. A walk through the streets will always reward the respectful photographer with experiences and images that are unique yet common, personal but also public. Kathmandu truly is a photographer’s paradise.

Small Waterfall in Yangmingshan

Yesterday gave us a very rare sunny winter’s morning in Taipei so I decided to head to a waterfall in Yangmingshan National Park that I’d read about but never been to. After a 20-30 minute uphill walk along a road (complete with a sighting of the Google Street View car), I reached the trail head and headed in. I was only planning to do half the hike mentioned in my Yangmingshan hikng guide, being only interested in the promised waterfall. I veered right at the fork in the path like the guide book told me and according to the directions, it should have been a walk into the denser part of the valley and the waterfall. The first dilemma came when I reached a second fork that wasn’t mentioned in the hiking guide. One direction looked like it headed towards some houses on the road above, the other seemed to head toward the river valley. So I followed the likely looking path only to quickly find out that it soon ended at an abandoned and overgrown farmhouse. Backtrack time. Taking the other fork, I headed up and after another small wrong turn, found my way to the correct path.

Most of the way, the path was a narrow ledge – maybe a foot wide at most – next to a fairly steep vertical drop. It wasn’t particularly difficult to follow but it did require concentration and attention. Finally I reached the first, smaller waterfall which is seen in the photograph above. Fortunately (from a photography perspective) it was a bit wider here, giving me enough space to set up my tripod and get a few pictures. There were really only 2 angles that were possible, so it was a pretty quick shoot. Continuing on, scrambling up a muddy, slippery path and then along an even narrower ledge, I came across a blockage in the path with my goal in sight. I could see the waterfall and also see another hiker on the other side of the obstacle. He advised me to back up and look for a smaller dirt path to my left that would allow me to bypass the blockage. Finally I was in. Only to discover that it really wasn’t worth it. In the areas that it was possible to access, there really wasn’t much of a view and there was so much spray in the air that the shots I did take mostly have visible water drops on them. It would be a good location for macro photography but that’s not really my thing. It took a fair bit of effort to get into the location and when I got there, I wasn’t impressed with what I found.

Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.

As I arrived back home and went to import the photos, I noticed that Adobe had just made available a public beta of Lightroom 4. I downloaded it and the shot above was processed in it. There are a few new features that I like. In this photo, I made use of the ability to locally adjust the white balance via the adjustment brush, as well as some better shadow control. For sake of comparison, below is the same shot processed in Lightroom 3.6.

Processed in Lightroom 3.6

The Keeper of the Lamps. Bodhnath, Nepal 2011.

Head along some of the access roads to the Bodhnath Stupa, particularly on the north-eastern side, and you’ll come across tables full of butter lamps. Traditionally made with clarified yak butter, these lamps represent the illumination of wisdom and help to calm the mind and aid meditation. While on pilgrimage or when visiting temples, Tibetans will typically light a large number of lamps. With a small donation to the custodian, the pilgrim is free to light the lamps. Bodhnath is not the only place to find these but in the Kathmandu area at least, it’s probably where you’ll see the most activity around them. With Losar (Tibetan New Year) fast approaching, the Tibetan areas of Nepal will become frantic with activity and energy as pilgrims descend upon the sacred sites and lighting butter lamps will be one of the rituals undertaken.

The image above was shot at f2.8, 1/80 ISO1000 at 70mm.

A young Taiwanese couple watch the sun set behind Mt Guanyin, Taipei, Taiwan.

We’re in the middle of the coldest spell of winter so far here in Taipei. Low temperatures, high humidity, gray skies and days of rain. Not exactly my favorite weather conditions. I’m definitely a summer person and I really wish it would come back. Still, I’ve arranged some talent and found a couple of assistants for some personal work over the weekend that winter is tailor-made for so it’s not all bad.

I shot these at the end of last summer. Nothing special to them at all – camera on a tripod and a 3 stop soft graduated neutral density filter used. The location was a new one to me though. I’d often seen it from below but had never made the time to trek up to the viewpoint. I’m glad I did and there are plenty more trails to walk in the immediate vicinity of this spot that I’ll be headign back to as soon as the weather cooperates. Here’s a few more photographs from the same day.

Mountain bikers prepare to descend the technical and dangerouns Battelship Rock in Taipei.

A Taiwanese man takes a photograph of the colorful sunset from a viewpoint hihg above Taipei.

Asian tourists at Battleship Rock, Taipei, Taiwan.

Taiwanese relax on a late afternooon at a scenic viewpoint above Taipei city while waiting for the sun to set

The Source

Yangmingshan National Park in Taipei is known for its hot springs and fumaroles. A lot of the spring water is then piped away, bound for the numerous hot spring resorts in the area. Before the water enters this piped area, it offers scenes similar to the one above.

Face the other direction though and it’s not so pretty. Story of life really.

Piped away. f5.6 1/100 sec, ISO100, 70mm

January 2012 Calendar

Happy New Year.

A new year means a new month which means a new desktop calendar. January’s photograph is one I created a few days ago at a beach a short distance from my apartment. It was pretty cold down there but on the plus side, I had the beach completely to myself and the conditions were right for some black and white landscape photography.

As always, select the size(s) you want and save them to your computer.

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For anyone interested in the photograph without the calendar, whether as a fine art print or to license for any purpose, click on the image below and follow the steps.

As we come to the end of a very busy and exciting year, it’s time to look back over some favorite photos and photography moments from the past twelve months. Throughout 2011 I shot somewhere around 25 000 images, logged 8 flights, 3 magazine covers, a couple of award mentions, fulfilled a dream or two and met a bunch of great people. All in all, I can say that it was a great year.

Before I get into things, I’ll quickly take this opportunity to remind you about the recently announced China workshop I’ll be leading with John Batdorff, in Guiln next May.

The year kicked off with a visit to the Greenpeace flagship boat, Rainbow Warrior. I had had a couple of meetings with Greenpeace, Taiwan in late 2010 to discuss doing some work for them and the first opportunity proved to be the arrival of the boat. We headed down to Keelung Harbor to see it arrive, then were invited on board for a tour by the captain. I also had the opportunity to make a short video interview with him.

Almost straight after that I headed off for a week on assignment for Monocle magazine shooting part of a travel feature on Taiwan for an upcoming supplement. From rural, coastal scenes in Eastern Taiwan to a couple of days shooting in high-end luxury resorts, it was a whirlwind week of interviews, food and travel. Along the way I was able to photograph a traditional Chinese cultural dance in Taipei’s Confucius Temple. Due to the 100th birthday of Taiwan they were staging some special early morning performances of the ritual that is usually only seen once a year.

Taiwan had one of its longest, coldest and wettest winters on record and most of the first couple of months featured gray, rainy days. Not exactly inspiring weather so I didn’t do a lot shooting outdoors. Spent some time in the studio which is not really my favorite type of photography. Just before the sakura (cherry blossom) season kicked off, we did get a rare blue sky day and Selina and I headed up to the Tian Yuan temple to see if there were any early blossoms about. If the weather is good, this is one of the most colorful times of year but the season started late this year and there wasn’t much to see. I did manage to find one decent angle that allowed me to capture the flowers, temple and sky in the same shot.

One of the highlights of March was discovering the location of another pod-style abandoned resort development. I’ve long had an interest in this kind of abandoned structure photography and it appears that many others do too – my most licensed / sold photographs are from a now-demolished development, so finding a new site was exciting. It’s not as atmospheric as the San-zhr pods were yet still offers up some photographic treats.

April was mostly assignment work photographing and writing an article on surfing in Taiwan, covering an anti-nuclear demonstration and shooting the initial images for a story on yoga that ultimately didn’t end up running. During times between the work-related images I was able to experiment a bit with some artistic long exposure photography that was captured with the intention of being worked over in post-processing. I ended up with a couple of images that I was happy with, especially in that they represented a change from what I normally shoot.

As the weather warmed up I found myself shooting editorial work on traditional puppetry, taking a trip out to a village known for its pottery, making my first visit to one of Northern Taiwan’s tourist hot spots, shooting a series for a local gym and testing new flash triggers for the team at Phottix. In order to put the triggers through their paces, I set up a shoot featuring a model clad in a traditional Chinese qipao and we headed to a couple of Taipei’s older temples to get some portraits and see how the triggers worked in a real world situation. The answer to that was flawlessly. Here’s a photograph from the session.

One of my favorite local festivals took place in June, the Taipei City God festival. This kicks off with a week or so of performances of traditional Taiwanese and Chinese opera which is always a joy to photograph although some people may want to wear earplugs for it. Quiet it ain’t. I started off with a few backstage images but spent most of the 4 days I was there concentrating on the performance itself as well as the audience. However it was the backstage work that resonated the most, with the image below being selected as an editors pick in the National Geographic Traveler photo contest.

Often as a working photographer you find yourself on location with nothing to do but wait until whatever or whoever it is you’re assigned to shoot is ready. Such was the case with my chosen favorite of this month. I was out shooting two assignments and had a few hours in between them. I found myself in one of the older areas of Taipei so decided to venture into the Longshan temple partly to get a few photos and partly to escape the rain.

August in Taiwan means Ghost Month, when the spirits come out to play for four weeks. It features lots of ritual, burning of offerings, parades and sacrifice, and is a joy for a travel and cultural photographer. Suffice to say, most of the month was spent engaged in photography related to the festival although I also took the time to visit the annual tattoo festival which is always a fun experience, especially for someone like me who has no tattoos.

This year September brought what was probably the best weather of the year for photography. Clear blue skies, gorgeous sunsets and comfortable temperatures. I was able to spend a few evenings out shooting from some new locations which is always nice, especially after you hike uphill and find yourself with a great viewpoint.

The good weather didn’t last however, and the annual Scott Kelby Photowalk that I led took place in absolutely atrocious weather. As leader, I had to head out to the location in case anyone turned up but most people wisely decided to stay home. Two did turn up though, and as the rain eased off for a short time, we decided to make the most of it and got in 30 minutes or so of photography. The funny thing was that I shot what may be my favorite shot of the year during this. I’d had an intention to photograph something specific during this years photowalk and the weather actually may have made it slightly easier to do so. I was very happy to see that Scott Kelby later selected it for mention in his leader’s gallery.

October also saw me off to Nepal for a couple of weeks for a mixture of NGO assignments, personal work and vacation. At this stage, I’m still sitting on most of the photographs from that trip, although you can see a few highlights scattered throughout this blog and in my winter 2011 newsletter. Of the personal work I have processed, the photograph below is one of my favorites.

November and December have seen me shoot a lot of corporate work. I’m not sure why as it’s not something I usually concentrate on but I had 4 different assignments in a very short space of time. For each of them I did know the people involved beforehand so that may have had something to do with why I got offered the jobs. In addition to this, a lot of planning and research has been going into the 2012 China workshop as well as pre-production for a promo shoot that’s scheduled for early January. I did manage to get in a little bit of beach photography before the weather changed – the last 2 months have been rainy almost every day.

So that just about wraps up my year. Happy Holidays everyone.