Photos and the Reasons Why

Flickr Link
Taken on April 16, 2010
Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 800

Musings
Well, after a week of downtime, I’ve got a lot of pictures. I’m sure I’ll be able to make it to the next vacation without having to drop into the archives at non-prescribed points. Since I missed a week and am no longer properly participating in a 365 project, I will no longer be putting the 45/365: prefix on posts. I will still be posting a new picture every day.

This photo is a pretty good representation of my past week. I booked my flights to Chiang Mai hoping that I’d have the opportunity to see something new and not be too entirely bored. I figured I’d have a lot of time to sit around and relax, post here about what was going on, and maybe even do some non-internet writing in my free time.

I was totally wrong. Turns out Christie was also going to Chiang Mai. I had some scheduling issues with my airline, so we ended up flying together. This involved a wonderful night at the top of a skyscraper in Bangkok. A few days later, I rearranged my flights again and it turned out we were flying to Koh Phi Phi, also together. Though this time we were not just together, but “together.”

This shot is representative of one of the most thrilling weeks of my life.

Technical Thoughts.
It’s very difficult to take one-hand-extended self portraits with a big DSLR. The camera just isn’t made to be held that way. It didn’t help that I was holding a couple grand worth of equipment with one hand at arms length over 8 inches of ocean water. A drop would have been a fatal mistake.

I looped the strap around my hand and held on tight. The sunrise was just to perfect to go without the classic sunrise kiss shot.

It still came out a little blurry, both from camera wobble and poor autofocus. The style of the shot means I can totally get away with it. I’m super happy about the lighting and I like the near-silhouette. There is nothing in any of that which needs razor sharp lines and crisp clean focus.

I knew I was going to make this shot into my Facebook profile while I was editing it, so I blew the colors way out to make a catchy thumbnail. As a result, the sunrise looks a bit ridiculous.

Flickr Link
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.