Photos and the Reasons Why

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Taken on November 29, 2009
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 800

I’ve been thinking that this is probably the nicest view I will ever have from my home. It’s pretty intensely beautiful on a regular basis.

I left work late last night and was driving home just as the sun was setting on the horizon. I watched some kids play in the beach while the restaurants set up their beach front tables. A group of Thais on vacation were lounging about sipping beers on the sidewalk as I turned off the beach road into my driveway.

Sure the road is broken and loaded with potholes and uneven speed bumps. Sure it’s too narrow to handle two directions of traffic along with the tour busses and other parked cars. Sure elephants occasionally make it difficult to drive faster than, well, an elephant walks. It is still a hell of a way to finish a long commute.

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Taken on March 31, 2010
Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.8
Aperture: f/4.2
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Location and Musings:
One of the disadvantages of living on the far side of the world is the difficulty of setting up a conference call. I needed to chat with a team in Oregon at 4pm their time, just before closing. That’s 6 am my time.

Since the Internet at my condo has become increasingly spotty and, well, worthless, I had to go into the office to take the phone call. A 45 minute commute, some time to take a shower and have breakfast, and I’m suddenly waking up very early in the morning.

The plus side of this arrangement was that I had an opportunity to catch the full moon before it set. It was a clear night and sunrise was maybe 20 minutes away. The light from said sunrise had just begun to make the sky a little more blue, so I grabbed my camera and set it up on a tripod.

I took this shot, then set the camera to take new shots every 3 minutes for the rest of the morning. Unfortunately, with the sunrise came fog. Before the moon even had an opportunity to fully set, all my camera was able to capture was a white mist.

Technical Thoughts:
I need a better tripod. My tripod is only large enough to reach over the railing of my balcony when the center post is cranked up. When it’s in the position, it’s quite unstable. Just the mirror actuating starts the thing vibrating, which makes for a less sharp photo. I don’t have a cable release, so I have to put my hand on the camera, which leads to more vibration. I think the photo came out passably sharp, with some extra post processing blurring on the moon to even it up a bit.

Otherwise I’m happy with the photo. I like the blues and the yellow of the reflection on the water. Some nice contrasting colors there. If you look closely, you can see some fairly significant currents in the water, which is always fun.

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Taken on January 16, 2010
Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Location and Musings:
This was one of the many symbols and statues that surround the big buddha on the hill in Pattaya. It is representative of the mixed bag of religion that appears here, as this is not a buddhist statue. I think it might be a hindu statue that has been absorbed into the new buddhist religion much in the way that judaism was absorbed into Christianity.

The markings on the hands are probably in some way related to the chi. Chi is a Chinese concept, so perhaps this statue is of Chinese origin and a much more modern addition to the thai belief structure. There wasn’t anything next to the statue to explain what it was, but I’m posting this image as brief explanation of what sorts of non-Buddhist imagery you can find in Thailand.

Technical Thoughts:
I’m happy with the soft shadows, despite the harsh midday light. I like the imposing size of the statue, but I’m not such a fan of the nasal upshot or the weird branch in the top left.

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Taken on December 4, 2009
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 400

A few months back I found an obscene amount of traffic between me and the grocery store, the place I had originally set as my pancake material gathering destination. Instead, my destination turned out to be the King’s Cup White Sand Beach Jetski World Cup.

There was quite a bit in the way of grandstands and TV cameras and such built up. This photo was taken during the freestyle competition. I love how the water trail provides excellent evidence of where the jetski came from. His expression and hair are perfect. As I mentioned earlier, in action photography you want to be sure you capture the player, the ball, and the goal. Here the player is the rider, the ball is the jetski, and the goal is the water, which you can see in the background. Having his path be evidence is icing on the cake.

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Taken on March 22, 2010
Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 1.3
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200

I took this photo while setting up an experiment that hasn’t yet panned out. The idea was to set the camera up on the tripod and use the interval timer function to take time lapse style photos of the sunrise or sunset and combine the photos in Photoshop. I have made a few mistakes so far that has led to unsatisfying results, but I’ll keep trying. The reality of the experiment means I get, at most, two attempts per day. Also, it is a bit harsh on the battery, so it may be a while before I finally get what I want.

I was actually surprised at how much I enjoy this photo. The half transparent reflection in the window is kind of fun. I posed a bit to get myself into a position I enjoyed, firing the shutter with my left hand.
You can see the horizon is lined with green lights, each one representing a fishing boat starting off a night’s work.

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Taken on January 16, 2010
Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 500

This photo was taken at the “buddha on the hill” monument in Pattaya. It’s a half religious half tourist attraction between me and town. As you walk up to the buddha, the road is lined with people who sell birds in cages which you are supposed to release for good luck. The birds then return to the people with the cages, who feed and then sell them again.

Cats crawl around underneath the buddha looking for any birds that land too soon, or who are released too carelessly. Meanwhile some people pray underneath the statue, or make offerings to the buddha representing their date of birth, one buddha stance for each day of the week plus one extra for Wednesday. I’ll go into which image is for which day of the week later, probably spending an appropriate week on the matter.

I did a few edits to this photo, trying to figure out what I like the most. I ended up desaturating the reds and yellows on the cage in order to de-emphasize that and allow your eyes to follow the open door over to the bird. Ideally viewers will follow the arms up to the cage, then over to the bird. Theoretically people will identify with the unseen cage holder and with the bird, depending on which will appeal to them the most intensely.

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Taken on January 18, 2010
Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

One of the interesting things about living in the tropics is that the length of the day doesn’t dramatically change. The winter has about 11 hours of daylight and the summer approaches 13 whereas Portland, Oregon ranges from 9 to 15 and a half hours of daylight.

The small change means that almost constantly throughout the year I drive to work as the sun rises and drive home as the sun sets. It’s a far cry better than driving to work in the dark and driving home in the dark, although I do miss the extremely long summer days you get in the north.

The best part, perhaps, is the beauty that the sunrise affords. I took this shot on my way to work by simply pulling off the road into the field and snapping a few shots before continuing. I think I pushed the colors a bit too hard in post processing, and the framing and shooting was rushed and the horizon line is not at a good level. I was on my way to work after all.

Still, It’s a Thai sunrise over tapioca fields with a few scattered palm trees providing extra tropical feel.

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Taken on March 19, 2010
Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/4.2
Focal Length: 36 mm
ISO Speed: 200

I took this photo of tonight’s sunset because it reflects some thoughts I’ve been exploring recently regarding how much I take this view for granted.

I still remember the first time I came up here. I could hardly believe that such a view existed. It barely passed into my understand that I could live in such a place. Still, I made an offer and signed a one year lease. 9 months later, here I am, bored by it.

Most evenings I give the sunset a passing glance before shutting it out, so the light doesn’t bother me. It ranges in beauty, for breathlessly beautiful, to somewhat average. Occasionally there isn’t much sunset to speak of, obscured by clouds. The photo in this picture is from an average sunset. There are just a couple of clouds in the sky and the colors are typically orange and blue.

I’ve found myself ready to move out. I’m looking forward to the end of my lease in June so I can go find another place. I have my complaints about this place, but I can’t reasonably expect that I won’t have similar complaints about the next. I think I’m just bored, ready for change.

That is what is so interesting. It’s amazing what becomes routine and uninteresting when it isn’t a struggle. I have come to expect a level of service and I become frustrated when I don’t get it, yet that level of service is so far and above beyond what I actually need. It makes me feel like such a spoiled brat to dislike a place with sunsets like this. A place with security who salutes me every time I pass. A place with a swimming pool I’ve never entered, a place that is almost absurd in it’s extravagance. I can go down to the empty gym and use the free treadmills and free weights and be frustrated by the state of things, but this is free. This is included. This is part of it all.

Who am I to be bored of it?

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Taken on March 13, 2010
This photo was HDR’d from 9 images, so no EXIF data.

I took this because of a challenge I read online regarding a “cool tomato photo.” In the original phrase, cool was regarding the photo rather than the tomato, so I decided to try my hand, though changing the sentence so the tomato was cool, rather than photo.

This is a type of photograph I want to spend more time doing. This photo itself needs some real work, mostly in the lighting department. I tried to hide the lack of lights by combining multiple photos at different exposures, but it didn’t help a whole lot. The tomatoes are still dark and everything is still dominated by the sun.

I do like trying to tell a sort of absurd story with the tomatoes. It’s unclear exactly what is happening here, but with the sun, sunglasses, and sliced tomato it appears that the sunglass wearing cool tomato is either a pervert or a murderer. In any case, it’s a not-boring photograph and taking studio shots gives me a lot more control and allows for more planning than street, animal, and found photography.