The Digital Trekker News

Stuff to Shoot

2008-08-20T01:20:00.003-05:00

Went out with Grungmann again yesterday and shot the photowalk route. I think there will be plenty of fun stuff to shoot if people keep their eye peeled as my daddy used to say. Click on one of the images to go to a small gallery of the images above.

I sent out an email to all the registered participants yesterday, but I know many of you plan to come and walk with us as unregistered participants and that is great! So here is the same letter for you, just so you don't feel left out.

Greetings Fearless Walkers!

It’s shaping up to be quite a weekend. We will be having many more than the scheduled 50 walkers, (but only your 50 are getting the chance to win the city prize and the grand prize) but as they say, the more the merrier!

During the Walk…

Safety First! – Please be aware of your surroundings! Remember that there is real traffic on the other side of that lens and that you mustn’t get too distracted by what you are shooting and forget that. I don't want someone ending the day at the hospital!

Be Mindful of Your Gear – A large group of photographers can attract a lot of attention – some of it, not the good kind. Please be be mindful of your gear at all times. Again, just be aware of your surroundings!

Be Prepared for Walk-ups – As I said, the enthusiasm for this event has been very high so do not be surprised if unregistered walkers arrive to join our group. We want to share this experience with everyone so please, allow unregistered walkers to join in on the fun! Just be sure they understand that, as last-minute participants, they are not eligible to submit their photos for the prize. Only walkers that pre-registered for your walk will have that access to upload photos.

Play nice – Remember folks, this is a social event - A time to meet with fellow photographers and maybe gain some new perspectives. Take the time to share your knowledge with others. If someone shows up with a disposable camera, don’t laugh. Instead, why not take them under your wing? And if police or security guards stop you from photographing a building or something (hey, it happens) just nod politely and move on. The name of this game is, “Keeping it Social.”

Remember, It’s a Photo Walk, Not a Photo Parade – A photo walk is supposed to be a social event. Participants are encouraged to move and mingle at their own pace. You do not have to stay together and move as a group! The only thing that should be done as a group is the very beginning and the very end. As long as everyone reconvenes at the final meeting place (Kasim Mustafa) at the end, our walk will be a complete success!

What if it Rains? – Since this Penang, it could be raining during all or part of the walk. So, what if it is raining? We walk on - no rain day. We will just get very cool shots of Penang in the rain. If it looks like it might rain, bring an umbrella, a raincoat/jacket and of course, something to cover your camera and lens in case it rains. Sometimes, an extra shirt to cover the camera or lens doesn’t hurt. I’ve seen people use plastic too to cover their cameras.

After the Walk…

Remember to Upload – All walkers must upload their photos to our group’s Flickr Page by Midnight on Tuesday, August 26 if you want to be considered for both the city and grand prizes. Please Note: They’ve placed a Flickr link on our City page to better help you with this.

… and lastly, BE SAFE! – I really cannot stress to you how important it is to impart a message of safety to all you walkers. Photo walks are meant to celebrate the spirit of photography in a fun and social setting. Nothing would dampen this notion faster than the knowledge that a fellow Photographer got more than he/she bargained for in the process. Let’s keep it fun and safe folks so we can do this again sometime.

Here is an excellent post by Jeff Revell on just about everything you need to know when it comes to photo-walking HERE.

WHAT TO BRING:
Your camera. That’s the most important thing. Don’t forget it. Don’t have an SLR? That’s okay! Just bring whatever camera you have. Make sure your batteries are charged and you have enough memory.
Lenses - Bring 1 or 2 lenses… generally a wide and a zoom lens would be good so that you can cover a lot of things. It really depends on how you usually shoot, but as much as possible, I’d advise you to travel light.
Tripod - I leave this up to you. There might be some nice scenes around sunset so it’s good to have this. Don’t forget to bring your cable release if you will bring your tripod. Just make sure your tripod is light enough so you won’t be carrying something heavy.
Water - While I would recommend to bring a bottle of water during the walk, Georgetown has a lot of food stalls and restaurants, so you can easily buy a bottle of water there.

Ok, that should just about cover everything. Please email us if you have any questions.

But remember: Above all, HAVE FUN!

See you Saturday at 5pm in front of the Kapitian Keling Mosque!

Kashmir Out - Ladakh In

2008-08-19T01:50:00.003-05:00

You might be wondering why I have not been blogging much this week. Well, I have been busy rewriting our Lumen Dei itinerary. Maybe you have been reading some of the news coming out of Kashmir over the past summer. Kashmir has been in it's normal turmoil and more.

Earlier this summer, the Kashmir state government gave a portion of Muslim land away to a Hindu shrine authority. This decision to give the land away was extremely controversial do to some old laws, and as a result it inflamed radicals on both sides and there was stone throwing and violent protests. We watched it then and during the summer the decision to give the land back was made and all seemed well.

Recently there has been another flare up as a group of Hindus had blocked the roadway into the Valley. The Jammu Srinagar road is the only road in and out of the valley to the rest of India, it is the Valley's life line. The situation then escalated and there have been riots, stone-throwing, shootings, and a city-wide curfew. As a protest to the closing of the road thousands of protesters took to the streets defying the curfew order. But when protesters clashed with police 13 people lost their lives. Obviously this is not the ideal climate into which to take a workshop, or in which to learn photography. David and I have been watching it closely, speaking often with our local contacts. This past week the decision was made to change things now rather than wait until later and hope the situation improves. We are committed to providing our participants an unforgettable experience, but we’re even more committed to making sure they are safe. So David and I have decided to move the tour from Srinagar to Ladakh, both are in Jammu-Kashmir State, but they have distinctly different cultural flavours. And, most importantly, Ladakh is as safe as you can get in India.

So this week I have logged a lot of time on SKYPE talking with contacts in Leh and working out a new itinerary. It is coming together and in fact, David and I are even more excited about this trip than the Srinagar one. So stay with me, I will keep you posted on our new adventure to the top of the world.

To give you an idea of what kind of things we will be seeing, I have put together a small slideshow of some older images of Ladakh HERE. I hope you enjoy them.

Tech vs Talent

2008-08-15T09:39:00.003-05:00

David Duchemin has been ranting for as long as I have known him about how gear heads mix up tech for talent, vision for glass. Many, many years ago I used to work as a camera sales man in Ronnie Marquin's Camera and Video, in Waco Texas. The store is long gone now, but I used to have these rich doctors and lawyers come in and say, they wanted to start taking pictures of their kids or they are just getting ready to leave on a cruse and they wanted a new camera for the trip. I would show then the AE1 or the OM1 and they would grunt and then ask for the A1. I would sell them a camera I would have killed for. I remember watching them walk out of the shop and thinking, this is just wrong. These guys are swatting mosquitoes with cannons (Canons?) They had far to much camera and for the most part no skill. But I wasn't running a workshop I was selling cameras and as much as it made me sad, no lets be honest, jealous, that they walked out with a camera I could have made sing and they would only make grunt, I had to let it go. I was making money for Ronnie. A costly camera doth not a photographer make.

I can't tell you how many times I have had people tell me "Wow, I bet you can really take good pictures with that camera!" I used to get my feelings hurt. I mean, come on, yeah - a nice camera and nice piece of glass can help a photographer a lot, but without talent it is just a black box, and believe me there are a lot of black boxes out there. I don't get those comments much now a days. These days what might be true is to say "Wow, what a nice digital camera, I bet you can take a lot of images and really hone down your craft!" Now that doesn't roll off the tongue like the other, but it is much more accurate. The only thing a nice camera did for most people years ago is make expensive screw ups. But now in the digital age, a nice DSLR will give the newbie a chance to excel and to be much better. It is still no replacement for talent, but it will allow the young photographer to shoot and experiment and at virtually no extra cost.

I will close this bit of a rant with this story:

When Jack London had his portrait made by the noted San Francisco photographer Arnold Genthe, London began the encounter with effusive praise for the photographic art of his friend and fellow bohemian, Genthe. "you must have a wonderful camera...It must be the best camera in the world...You must show me your camera." Genthe then used his standard studio camera to make what has since become a classic picture of Jack London. When the sitting was finished, Genthe could not contain himself: "I have read your books, Jack, and I think they are important works of art. You must have a wonderful typewriter."
-photoquotes.com

Back from Bali.

2008-08-10T19:48:00.003-05:00

Back from Bali. Only two things to say about Bali. One, it was cool. I don't mean a really neat place to shoot and a fun place to hang out, it was that, but it was physically cool. I think the average temp was somewhere in the 75º f, it was sweet! Second, I was busy and meet a lot of people and did not take many pictures. I went to a conference where many NGOs gather and tried to sell my wares, so to speak. Now we wait...

Speaking of waiting, the wait is almost over, only 34 days till Lumen Dei. I am very excited and looking forward to getting back to India after a long absence. This are going a bit crazy in Kashmir these days, so we are watching it closely.

Just for fun, and the fact I have nothing else to post today, I leave you with these shots of my daughter Jessie.

Glimps of Bali

2008-08-06T03:15:00.004-05:00

What is a PhotoWalk?

2008-08-05T09:40:00.002-05:00

Fishing the Surf, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

Checking in from Bali. I am getting emails asking things like, are we going to all walk around in one group, can I come if I don't have a DSLR and more. So I thought I would pass on a very informative blog entry by Jeff Revell. Jeff has written a "A Guide to Photowalking". So check it out and give any feedback here if you'd like. I am able toget online more than I thought. See you soon.

Our PhotoWalk is Full!

2008-08-03T23:00:00.002-05:00

I am trilled to announce that the Penang Photowalk is now full. A big thanks goes out to Harimann as well as the great folks at FotoKrazy and PotoMalaysia forums for ensure we have a full walk. Can't wait to see you all on the 23rd!

August Wallpaper

2008-08-02T09:34:00.006-05:00

I am gone for a week to Bali, Indonesia. Trying to to drum up some business and network with some folks. Till then, keep spreading the word around about the Penang Lightroom 2 PhotoWalk. At last count we had 22 28 participants. Sign up soon, we can only take 50, space is limited.

In honor of the Penang PhotoWalk, I am posting this shot of the Floating Mosque here in Tanjung Bungah, Penang as this month's wallpaper. Click the image above and a full-sized (1680×1160) image will open in a new window. Right click it or ctr click (Mac) it should give you the option to save it and make it a desktop wallpaper. Enjoy.

Georgetown Lightroom 2 PhotoWalk

2008-08-01T00:56:00.005-05:00

I am excited to say, I will be hosting Scott Kelby’s Lightroom 2 PhotoWalk here in Georgetown. So if you are reading this and are living in and around Penang, join me and others as we walk the historic downtown district of Georgetown and August 23rd. Participation is limited to 50, so if you want in, sign up soon. More information, click HERE visit Scott Kelby’s Worldwide PhotoWalk. We will meet in front of the Kapitan Keling Mosque. Walk up Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, by the Chinese Temple and then up to St George's Church then back down through Little India and all meet at Karim Mustafa's for Teh Tarik.

The idea is to just have some fun and celebrate Scott's newest book release Lightroom 2. The best part will be gathering up to 50 photographers and all hanging out and shooting together. But an additional bonus is someone in the group will win a copy of Scott's book and be eligible for a grand prize worth big big bucks!! So sign up, space is limited. And we'll see you on Aug 23rd.

Mpix & NAPP

2008-07-30T10:49:00.004-05:00

Let me tell you about a membership that is actually worth paying for. Quite frankly, many of the photo societies are, as far as I am concerned, a waste of money. If you're like me, you don't have a surplus of cash to go around and yet you want to learn about photography, sharpen your skills and grow with the industry, right? I was a member of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), and never did figure out what I got out of it except over-priced insurance. Well, the best value for your money has got to be a membership with the NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). This is a group of professional users who have a background in photography and graphics and they want you to to be great at Photoshop. Sounds silly, but it's true. They really desire to share what they know. I guess it is the true spirit of Web 2.0. Seriously, these folks have made it a money making business to help us. And they do a darn fine job of it, I might add. For $99 a year you get a subscription to Photoshop User. (I was buying that before I joined anyway) That alone saves you money when you join. You get access to the NAPP website and numerous tutorials as well as forums with personal help. You get discounts off name brand items like Apple Computers and software and services like the Mpixs. Mpix is one of the finest photo processing labs out there. I have used them and can vouch for them personally.

Now speaking of Mpix, these guys are currently offering a discount on NAPP membership. Join before July 30th and NAPP will reduce the annual membership from $99 to $89. As an added gift, NAPP will send you The Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Beginners DVD featuring Dave Cross ($69.99 US value). This best-selling DVD will walk you through a full range of Photoshop® functions, tools and techniques. Very cool! Too bad I am already a member.

For more details follow the link HERE to Mpixs.

Out of the Box: Lightroom 2

2008-07-29T10:07:00.003-05:00

Well the big news around Camera World is Adobe's release of Lightroom 2. I must confess I was very excited about it and have been waiting with baited breath for this release. But today when it was release I went to the Adobe sight to purchase and download this fine software I was reminded that I now live in Asia and I must download it from an Asian site. Ok, no problem. Singapore was listed, that is close by. When I went to pay for it it asked for a Singapore billing address or my credit card. Hmmm, odd. Then I saw that my language preference was set to "Asian English." Another, hmmm. Seems that Adobe read my location and adjusted my language preference for me, sneaky. So once I switched it back to "US English" (is that what we speak in the Texas?) all was fine.

I was clued into the solution to my problem, as my buddy Gavin Gough seemed to be having the opposite problem in Bangkok. Read about it on his blog HERE. For some odd reason he can only buy it in England and only for the Pound price that is 60% more! By the way the Singapore price was $20+ USD more than in the US. Yikes!

All this is not to take away how great this product is. It is a must upgrade and you can find it HERE. I was in the middle of doing a video tutorial for Lexar using Lightroom 1.4 when the news of the release came out. Now I will wait and do it all over in version 2. By the way, according to Scott Kelby the final release of LR2 is much different than the Beta for version 2. Read what changes there are and about all the goodies HERE at Scott's blog.

Doctor of Light: Kah Kit Yoong

2008-07-27T10:47:00.002-05:00

Kah Kit Yoong
All photographs copyright Kah Kit Yoong

One of the most amazing landscape photographers to come down the pike in a long while is a friend from the Travel Photographers Network, Kah Kit Yoong. Kah Kit lives in Australia and only started shooting a few years back. The guy wields a Graduated Neutral Density filter like a weapon. He captures more light in an image that is humanly possible. Not only is he a great, and I am not using that term lightly, landscape photographer he is also pretty good at getting is name out on the net. Try Googling his name, the guy gets around! Anyway back to his photography. Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he has lived in Melbourne, Australia almost all his life. He is a doctor of internal medicine and got into photography after moving to Tasmania. Apparently Tasmania consists mostly of wilderness and national parks. Here is what he says about how he got into photography.

"My first thoughts about photography developed when visiting Cradle Mountain national park in 2005. A real city boy at the time, I learnt to appreciate the wilderness as something special, beyond humanity and the urban world. As I sat watching at dawn, the mountain perfectly reflected mirror-like in the still lake, I recognized the important effect of light on a landscape. My thoughts turned to photography as way to portray this light. Shortly after I bought my first camera."

Do your self a real treat and check out his website HERE. Kah Kit, if you ever get back here to Malaysia give me a call and lets go shoot.

AIPO Dry Box

2008-07-25T04:24:00.004-05:00

I am now officially back online. After a lot of blood sweat and even some tears, we have internet in our home (and thus my office). So, I hope to get back up to speed and be a little more regular in blogging again. Please forgive the decreased number of entries. It has been many days of trips to Starbucks just to check email. Our new setup should prove a little more convenient.

A few people have emailed me in the past about how to take care of your photo gear in a wet, damp tropical region. Until now, I had no real answer as it was not a real concern of mine. When you travel and shoot for two weeks in Indonesia it isn't really a big deal. You stay in hotels that are air conditioned and thus dry. But living in Penang, the weather is warm and very humid (around 85% today) and no one lives with the AC on all the time. Not sure why, it must be too costly, so we don't do it either. So what to do now about a lot of costly camera gear in a place that is a mildew nightmare? Enter AIPO Dry Boxes. (no website for these folks. Go figure!)

AIPO Dry Box AP-68EX

This is a Taiwanese company that, until last week, I had never heard of. I dropped into my friendly local camera shop "Click n Snap" and asked them the same question I just asked you. Salesman Matthew Chuah pulls out a Dry Box. It is a really slick looking cabinet, all black enameled and glass. It is basically a thermidor for your camera and electronic equipment. Quite frankly, it is a pretty simple box in one way but rather complicated in another. So rather than sit here and try to write all the theory on how it manages temperature and humidity, I will pass on a nice review I found that does a much better job at explaining how this little black box works. You can access the sales description/review HERE. at Sha Shin Ki I took home the AIPO Dry Box AP-68EX. It is 15"X15" square and 20" tall. I bought mine for around $200 USD. The space is tight and I probably should have gotten a larger one, but they would have had to order it and that could have taken weeks. So to save on cost, I got the largest they had and it all fits in fine. In fact I have room for the new 5D that Canon may never release, sigh. It has two removable and adjustable shelves and thus gives you three areas to stack your equipment. I have my 5D body with the battery grip, most of my lenses including my 70- 200 2.8 on the bottom shelf. The in the middle shelf my H4 Zoom digital recorder, my 50mm 1.8, two Pocket Wizards and two flashes. On the top shelf there is not much room left so I have two WD Passport Drives and my Pocket Rocket full of CF cards just to be safe. I keep the relative humidity set at 43. I wish I could tell you where to purchase this in the States but with AC running in every home, I don't think there is a big need. So I hope this is the answer to the humidity problem. I'll let you know.

Vista Print vs Overnight Prints

2008-07-23T20:17:00.005-05:00

I made a great investment just before leaving the USA. I bought 500 business cards with a whole new look and my contact info for Penang. I had a buddy in Penang buy a sim chip for my phone so I could get a cell number before I left the States. In this way, I was able to have the number for my business cards. While David Duchemin was visiting me in Texas, I managed to get the guy to design a new card for me (thanks David!). I used two different printers to make the cards; Vista Print and Overnight Prints. Both are very good quality. Vista was cheaper, but not by much. Overnight Prints offered something that most printers charge an arm and a leg for: rounded corners. The rounded corners make a huge difference in the over all look of the card. It sets it apart from other cards and that is what you want on a crowded desk top. These companies give you all kinds of discounts and deals, so just get on thier mailing list and be ready for a flood of mail, but some great deals.

Here was the cost breakdown:

Overnight Prints:
250 double sided business cards
Rounded corners.
Side 1 is Glossy Finish.
Side 2 is not.
Item Cost : $34.95
Shipping :$14.77 (UPS 30-Day Select)
Discount : ($10.00) I found a coupon on the net somewhere.
Total price : $39.72

Vista Print:
250 double sided business cards
Item Cost : $7.99
Color Back Side $6.49
Glossy Finish $4.99
Total $19.47
Product Total Before Discounts: $42.97
Product Total After Discounts: $19.47
Shipping & Processing (Slow 21 Days): $5.72
Total: $25.19

A couple of Shots

2008-07-21T19:44:00.002-05:00

Last week I was able to get out with "Grungemann" AKA Hariman, his real name. He wasn't feeling the best so we just jumped on my scooter and went about a half mile up the road at mid day (Not a great time to shoot landscapes!) and shot a few snaps of the local life.

Floating Mosque, Tanjung Bungah, Penang Island, Malaysia

My buddy, Hariman.

A local fisherman.

In The News

2008-07-15T19:34:00.003-05:00

I am sorry it has been so long in posting. I have been up to my gills in setting up house, getting insurance and finding transportation. I should have a phone line with in 7 days with significant internet speed, or so they tell me. It had better be for price I am paying. I am looking forward to meeting with Grungeman with week. We are going out for some Teh Tarek and shoot some photos together.

I am in the news this week so I thought I would do a little honking of my own horn today. Check out an interview done with me by a new website on India and travel called duniyagolhai.com (the world is round). Here is a short excerpt:

2. How in your opinion traveling influences the art of photography?

MB:I think traveling has had a significant influence in photography over the past 10 to 15 years. The fact that people can travel more, longer and further is a huge factor. People are going places today that were once thought only accessible by National Geographic Photographers or highly funded adventurists. It used to be that a unique image was good enough, now very little is unique so an image has to be exceptional. It needs to tell a story, communicate the vision of the photographer.There are a lot fewer barriers today for a traveling photographer than 15 years ago.Almost everyone has a digital camera and a photo lab in their computer. All these things have had a huge impact on photography today....

3. Your documentation of Kashmir is unique in capturing the soul of the place rather than the oft-reported violence. What motivated you to present the humane side of the place?

MB:There are so many photographers covering the conflict in Kashmir and doing a much better job than I could. I look at the work of Ami Vitale and am moved to tears. Her work is amazing, so why should I cover what is already being done so exceptionally well? I have always felt I wanted to show a compassionate side of the Kashmiri and Gujjar people. I am from the US and over the past few years since 911, many people in the West have developed a negative view of Muslims.....

Visit the link HERE to read the whole of the interview.

I received word that the fine people at the Indian Himalayan Club published a book review on my book "Kashmir, the Mystery". Below is an excerpt from the review.

Kãshmir: The Mystery, published by Tara Press, New Delhi, with photographs by Matt Brandon and text by Marryam H. Reshii, is a fabulous and insightful collection of photographs that brings out the beauty and ethos of Kashmir in its entirety.

The photographer's intimate connection with the land and its inhabitants, both human and animal, is very obvious from the type and quality of photographs, and Marryam Reshii's authoritative text complements the photographs and provides a window into Kashmiriyat---the Kashmiri culture and society. Concentrating on the Kashmir Valley only, making it unique, this splendid book fills a big lacuna in the set of existing books on Kashmir.

For the full review go HERE and look for the Himalayan Club e-letter, vol. 13, July 2008.

A Day of Shooting

2008-07-08T19:23:00.006-05:00

Yesterday (MY time), I had the change to finally get out and shoot. To be real honest, I was a bit disappointed. Maybe with myself, maybe with the area I shot, I am not quite sure which. The day before Alou and I were in George Town (Is this city spelled with one word or two, I see it every way?) looking for furniture for the house. I kept seeing great images. So, yesterday afternoon I grabbed my camera and took Jessie out and we went to take some pictures. Out of the handful of people I try to take a snap of, most asked me not to, very suppressing. I will say this, they all were Chinese. So maybe this makes a difference. Mr. Goh and Mr. Tan could not understand why people cared and were eager to have their photo's taken. So HERE are a few images from the first day of real shooting in Penang.

By the way, if anyone knows how to embed a slimbox gallery like the one I used here, into a blog please email me and let me know how to do it. But until then, if you want to view the photos from yesterday click the image above and travel to the gallery.

The FujiSuper Six Selected

2008-07-06T20:35:00.003-05:00

Saturday I received this email from Atin Sharma, of Jindal Photo Limited. Jindal Photo represents Fijifilm in India.

Dear Mr.Brandon,

It gives me immense pleasure to inform you that you have
been selected as one of our Fujifilm Supersix Photographer for the year 2009.
The other shortlisted photographers are Mr.Balan Madhwan, Mr.Somesh
Goyal, Mr.Mahesh Nair, Mr.Prabir Purkayastha and Mr.Soumitra Dutta.

Welcome on board.

Thanks & Regards
Atin Sharma
Asst.Manager (PR & Advertising)
Jindal Photo Limited

So, 8 images will be selected from the 20 I sent them, all landscapes, and they will tour Indian and two will go on a Fujifilm calendar for 2009.

Got a Home!

2008-07-02T02:25:00.004-05:00

Well, we got a house today. It is the "mirror" version of the bungalow we were looking at earlier this week. In other words, the same house only flipped. Confused? Me too. So here are some images. We move in a week from Friday.

Click on this pano to see the full kitchen.

G9

2008-07-01T04:42:00.003-05:00

Just a real quick post of a couple of shots with my G9 and to update you on things. We move out of the noisy room and now we have a room without AC and ants. Life is great. We think we got the house by the see, we will know tomorrow. Hotel life is getting really old!

Parasailing outside our hotel.

Jessie on the city bus as we go off looking for houses.

A backwards look into the city bus.

Wallpaper for July.

2008-06-29T04:33:00.003-05:00

Well, I had high hopes at getting you a wallpaper from Penang for your desktop. But I have been way too busy setting up home, ... a better way of putting it, trying to find a home. Today I met with a friend here in the city, he let me use his scooter for the next few weeks. But the catch was I needed to drive out to his house to get it. His house was on the southern part of the island. No problem, except I have no clue how to get around here yet. So I took my trusty GPS cell phone and once I got the scooter I mounted it on the speedometer. That was fine till about halfway home when it vibrated off and fell with the phone onto the highway. Not one of my better ideas. Live and learn. I was able to pullover run back and pick up the phone before any car or bike ran over it. Lucky for me. As I said, not one of my better ideas.

I will post this image for you from my journey. It was taken last week in at Pier 39 in San Francisco. If I get another more appropriate (read; Penang-ish) image I will post it for you. Just right clicking and save it and make it a desktop wallpaper. Enjoy.

House Hunting

2008-06-27T04:09:00.001-05:00

"Ok - now how do we get all these bags up to our room?!"

The internet here at the hotel is SLOOOOOW. So I am posting this over email to the blog.

The first few days have been great. We happened to meet a Dutch couple Jess and Elisabeth checking out of the hotel that we were checking into. In fact we got their room. As we talked we found out we were in the same situation, they too are looking for a long term residence. They in turn introduced us to an other couple, Ray and Delia, she is Malaysian Chinese and he is an American from Colorado. Ray and Delia have been in Penang since February. Delia has taken time out to show us her neighborhood and many of the homes for rent on this side of the island. She has been a huge help in calling all her friends and asking around for homes for rent, driving us around. We also meet an Indian man who runs a small shot in the place we are staying. He also has made many calls on our behalf. So we are off to a good start.

Jesse, Elisabeth, Ray, Delia, Jessie and Alou

Today we saw "bungalow" (read; house rather than a duplex or an apartment) set just off the beach. It is within 5 minutes of Jessie's school by car, so it is very close. It has AC, many places do not, it has built in closets in each room, many places do not, it has a laundry room with a washing machine and the kitchen has a refrigerator, gas stove and an electric over as well as many more cupboards. Now if I can just get the owners to comedown in price to meet my budget. Apparently it is owned by a multinational firm and has been empty since january, so if they want to rent it we are very willing to accommodate them.

The side of the "bungalow" with the sea in the back.

The Kitchen in the "bungalow"

Jet-lag has officially set in. The experts say drink plenty of water and stay out in the sun as much as possible. So we will see if they are right. As I write this, I have been up for about an hour already and it is now 4:30 am. Yawn!

On The Road

2008-06-23T07:54:00.007-05:00

I will update this entry as we go throughout the trip - if I can.

SFO: 5:48 am

Just found out that United for a limited time s offering all Red Carpet members 24 hrs free Wifi. This is if you are a Red Carpet member, traveling Business or First or international. Apparently it is good all over the US at least.

Our check in was at 3:30 am today, it is now 5:49 am and it all went pretty painless considering we ended up traveling with 10 bags!! We only had to pay for one extra bag. In theory we had them checked all the way through to Penang. Lets see.

The Red Carpet Club in SFO.

Monterey 7:10 am

We were the only people on our small aircraft. Never had that happen before. Everyone seems surprised we are flying to LAX via Monterey. I think it is because it was the only routing that United had we could uses the rewards miles we are flying on. Just heard on the lobby TV that George Carlin died.

Alou & Jess in our "private" Embraer 190

LAX 10:40 am

We arrived into LAX to be greeted with many delays and cancellations. It doesn't seem to effect us. Apparently there is bad weather on the East coast. Everyone around us seems to be angry and in a hurry.

We realized into the trip that United did not give us Economy Plus seating on the LAX-HKG-SIN legs. But, after some waiting in a line (a long line) we finally got our Economy Plus seats. So we are happy. Everything else seems to be going well so far.

11:35 am

We will be boarding soon. Just shot this fun image of Jessie on SKYPE with her bff Emma.

HKG 6:46 pm (3:47 am PDT)

Uneventful flight. Arrived with littler or no trouble. We were able to spread out to some degree as the flight was not full. We had some turbulace coming into HKG left over winds from the typhoon from the Philippines. Once we arrived here in Hong Kong they told us there is a typhoon with "3" strength winds now and by tonight it is expected to be a "force 8" winds. Not sure what all that means, but it don't sound good and it sound bumpy!

Singapore 7:25 am

We had an uneventful flight from Hong Kong to Singapore. After arriving we got our boarding passes for the Penang floght. We were confronted with some startling news. Singapore Airline does not consider the Penang flight a code share. So they were going to make us pay for extra liggage and extra wieght! Ouch! This could have proved costly. But after explaining several times that we had checked with United on three differant occations and they assured us that our luggage was fine all the way through to Penang and after talking with a Duty Manager all charges were waved! Thabnk you Jesus! We then we got a room at a hotel in the airport and sleept well. This morning we got up... got to go our flight is leavinng....later

Penang 11:35 am

Made it to Penang. Great weather! Not too hot. Arrived at our hotel the Sri Sayang only to find out that with all the emailing back and forth with them they forgot to tell us one small thing...no check-in till 2 pm! So we are sitting in the lobby grocery store waiting till 2 pm to get our rooms. I must say, this hotel doesn't look to inviting. My wife seems to be having some sort of cold or allergies. We will keep you posted. But all-in-all it was an easy trip.

I will post some more photos after I find my USB connector. I lost it on the flight from HKG, thus no more images.

A day at the Golden Gate.

2008-06-21T14:13:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the first time I had a chance to shoot since I have been in the bay area. We made a day of it with the family at the Golden Gate bridge. Click HERE to see the images in higher resolution and HERE to see the Panorama of the Golden Gate bridge. This was eight photos stitched together. I have never seen SFO so clear as it was this day, it was also very hot, 96º.

India's Fuji Super Six 2009

2008-06-19T23:26:00.004-05:00

Check out the Fuji Super Six HERE. For a look at the Fuji Super Six 2008 photographers visit HERE.