Photo of the Day

Woohoo! My photo of the Longyang Road Maglev Station is Photo of the Day at Shanghaiist.com:http://shanghaiist.com/2011/12/15/photo_of_the_day_longyang_road_magl.php

About taking photographs at markets

Unless people have obscure beliefs, which is not the case with the indigenous people here, we approach with the same respect that we would expect for ourselves. This means

1) Feel free to take shots of crowds and animals
2) Never stick the camera in someone's face as one would with, say a hummingbird.
3) When there is a purchase with a vendor, the relationship changes.
4) Never pay for photos.

Markets are difficult to photograph. But John has an awesome technique. He takes photos from the hip with a small point-and-shoot, making him inconspicuous if that is at all possible for us. No matter where we go around the world, we always stick out. :( It also helps that our camera has a wide angle lens; sometimes the woman next to the llama also gets in the frame.

I think our respect for people comes through. There is rarely any pushback.

Sometimes the woman next to the llama also gets in the frame.

Tibet Photo

A photo I took in Tibet in 2006 appears for about 3 seconds in this video: http://www.digitaldharma.com/. Look for it about 2/3rds of the way through.

The video is a "trailer" for a yet-to-be-produced documentary film.

Here's the photo:

It Pays to Travel?

Yes it can! Culture+Travel magazine paid me $100 for a one time use of this photo I took in Tenganan, Bali.



Which issue? I have no idea.

Here's the happy traveler with his check.

Our Canon Powershot S70 ... (updated)

... has become a paperweight. The lens barrel started to have trouble retracting and I got the dreaded E18 error code. After several days of intermittent troubles, it finally stopped working at all.

There were only 4 brands/models of compact digital camera available in Luang Prabang - all overpriced. So after some online research, we bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS70. Ho hum. No wide angle as we were used to, so it has taken a while to get familiar with it.