Monkey Business Continued

Hello world,

Staying in the spirit of monkeys, our close genetic cousins, today we look at a different species of these magnificent animals. 

 (Indonesia, taken with a Nikon D300)

Till later world. 

Cycling Around the World

Hello world,

Today we set out to journey across the wold on bicycles. First stop, the old capital city of Siam, Ayutthaya. Here, we rest our bikes as we wander around these charred temples and buildings.

(Taken with a Nikon D300)

Moving onto Indonesia we let these boys relax on our bikes as they laugh, talk and pose like superstars. 

(Taken with a Nikon D300)

From Indonesia we pedal on to India, Bombay. As we walk around the city, we see these  rather rusty old bikes ...

(Taken with a Nikon D300)

To be able to present ourselves in the public, we paint our bikes a bright, happy red colour. The colour representing this vibrant, ever awake city. A hero.

(Taken with a Nikon D300)

Cycling on, we decide to repaint our bikes blue. We lean our newly coloured bikes against a wall of an old bulding, while we get some food before our next long journey...

(Taken with a Nikon D300)

After a very long and tiring journey across Asia and Europe, we end up in the great city of Warsaw. This capital of Poland is home to the old and the new architecture. 

(Taken with a Nikon D300)

Leaving our bikes by a lamppost, we go ahead and explore Warsaw's "Old Town". Rebuilt after the war, the "Old Town" is home to great old buildings with cafes and restaurants lining up the streets.

(Taken with a Nikon D300)

Leaving this city behind, we set out on our bikes West, to Berlin. 

(Taken with a Lomo LC-A+)

As we reach Berlin, we set our bikes aside by a tree as we watch these Navy men walk past. Tired from our journey across the continents, we have one last place to reach. The World's End. 

(Taken with a Diana F+)

We finish our  journey at the world's end... London, Camden to be more preceice. Let us sit down for a beer or two and tell our tales of temples, burned cities and wonders of the world. 

Till later world. 

"Let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel"

Hello world,

For those of you who have ever wondered what the coitus of two gigantic lizards looks like, here is a photo of two Comodo Dragons goining at it:

(Indonesia 2008) 

Till later world. 

Gasping for air

Hello world,

Today we visit the Mangrove trees in Indonesia. Letting roots grow upwards from beneath the water, these trees have worked out a perfect way to respire in the hard climate.

(Indonesia 2008)

Till later world. 

Dragonfly Aperture Fun

For today, something light. Insect light.

During the past December break I have been playing around with Aperture 3. This is a program for Macs with which you can edit, retouch and organize your photos, among many other features.  Seeing as I had a lot of time on my hands, I decided to get the feel of it simply by experimenting one night. So, here is what I ended up with: three different interpretation of the majestic dragonfly. 

On my trip around the islands of Indonesia in 2008, I got a little bit, well bored, with the tour guide’s tales and wandered off. Then there it was. A handsome, elegant dragonfly. 

Personally, dragonflies creep me out a little when they fly. They look like tiny little helicopters, but at the same time, they are one of the most beautiful insects.  

This is the original photo. 

(Taken in Indonesia using the Nikon D300)

Just by playing around, with no real knowledge or experience, I managed to create three different photos using one master picture.

Till later world. 

People

Funny creatures, people. Seemingly different across flats in the same building, countries and continents, but really, when you look at the person, and not their culture, way of life, religion, all are pretty much the same. Driven by emotions, laugh when happy, cry when sad. Slaves to their inner urges and needs.

Now personally I can’t say I am a big fan of people in the general sense of the word. I find most people irritating and things they say mostly pointless. However, I absolutely love observing them in their day-to-day tasks. Now and again, you get a person who really inspires and perhaps even changes your look on life.

Taking pictures of people is not an easy job. You need to get the aperture just right, and all other technical shenanigans. The toughest part though is getting the person ‘right’ themselves. Portraying what the person wants us, the photographers, to portray.

For today, I have dug up some of my favorite photos (isn’t it strange that I don’t particularly like people but my favorite photos are that of people?) A small island in Indonesia, a little boy sitting on a wooden terrace-like structure, waving. Waving to strangers passing by and every now and again saying “hello”. This really is one of my favorite photos. Not in the technical sense, but rather the good, warm memory that it brings back to me.

(Taken in 2008 using a Nikon D300)

Here are two more shots taken of children on that same island. A young student, who was playing with her classmates and turned around for that short second to see who all those weird people were, and a little kid sitting on the stairs nibbling away on some sweets.

(Both photos taken in 2008 with a Nikon D300)

Moving away from Indonesia to Thailand, to a floating market to be more precise. Floating markets are the perfect blend of colors, attractions and business (I will write a full entry about them in the near future, but for now let us concentrate on the people). Just to quickly put you in the scene, this floating market consisted of a water labyrinth lined with water-level shops selling shoes, masks, and other ‘souvenirs’. Sitting in a canoe like boat, you are tempted by smells and sights of all sorts of food, which is sold by ‘chefs’ on other boats like yours.

This lady was taking a break on the side of the canal, a break from selling the amazing banana fritters.

(Taken in 2011, Thailand, using the Nikon D300)

And now to finish off two of my favorite ‘people’ photos. One digital like the others, the second analogue

This digital photo of a woman, a captain of the boat was also taken in Thailand on the floating market. I don’t know whether it is because I have always loved ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ or something else, but this lady looked to me like a pirate queen. She was the captain of captains. Proud, beautiful and agile, this lady was everything. She had it all.  

 (“The Pirate Queen” taken with Nikon D300)

However with analogue you sometimes just do not know what you will get. One night in Bangkok (“and the world’s your oyster”), I was just fooling around, snapping random photos of my sister just for fun. When I got the film developed and my photos printed (I am yet to learn the skill of film development) I stopped at this photo. Now I don’t know what it is about the photo, the celestial-like appearance of the white hair, the soft, enchanting light in the middle of the frame, or the expression on the face, but all I know is that I really like this photo.

(Bangkok, taken with Lomo LC-A+) 

All in all, people may be irritating at times, say unnecessary things and get in your way, but really, they are seriously interesting creatures. 

Hope you all enjoyed it!

Till later world.