What Light

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I’m a few million words in the hole. Check out my Flickr page and you’ll see that I’ve posted more than 3,000 photos in the last nine months, a figure that represents about 25 percent of all the pictures I’ve taken. All this time with my finger poised on the shutter has turned me into an amateur photographer with aspirations. I landed in Sydney armed with a compact Canon PowerShot, a tourist happy to take snapshots. With my newfound aspirations, I now lug around a Canon 400D with an 18-200mm Sigma lens, approaching photography more as an art than a pastime.

Take a look at some of my early shots - strict compositions, level horizons and subjects in crisp focus. The more pictures I took, however, the more I felt constrained by my own rigidity. So I've started to experiment. I feel like a hack, but I think my photography has improved.

I’ve reached the point, perhaps evident in the pictures I’ve posted recently, where I’m more interested in pushing myself as a photographer, in capturing more than a snapshot, in taking risks, blurring images, shooting into the sun, going abstract. It's all about the light. Taking a great photo seems one of the most difficult tasks in the world, a combination of skill, timing and plain dumb luck.

Anyway, while picture is worth a thousand words, it should also be able to speak for itself. Therefore, I offer some of my favorite photos of Tokyo, unadorned by lengthy exposition. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Festival, Shinjuku

Tokyo Tower

Meiji-jingu, Yoyogi

Maman and Mori Tower, Roppongi Hills

Rapper, Shibuya

Wonder Wheel, Odaiba

Ghibli Museum, Mitaka

Graffiti, Kichijoji

Taxis, Omotesando

Girl at Senso-ji, Asakusa

Packaged Fish, Ueno

Goth, Harajuku

More than 200 additional images from Tokyo, here and here.

The Best of Southeast Asia

I took a few thousand photographs between June 14 and July 23, between my arrival in Southern Thailand and the last few, frustrating days in Vietnam. Of those thousands of photos I uploads about 1,100 to Flickr. And now, I've whittled down those eleven hundred to 120 photographs in two manageable photosets. If you're looking for quick and easy vacation pics, you've come to the right place. I'll even call you and narrate each slideshow in a detail-laden monotone, only two or three hours for each one. If that's what you're looking for, of course. I've also included a link to my previous Southeast Asia set, the Best of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Go on, take a look. Do it for the cowboy, the Buddhist and the monkey god.

Best of Thailand and Laos

Best of Cambodia and Vietnam

Best of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia

2,000 Photos!

Today I uploaded my 2,000th picture to Flickr! The shots are mostly from this trip, but do include pictures from Ireland and New York City. Still, 2,000 is a milestone to celebrate. Just be happy I haven't posted all 6,000 photos I've taken since landing in Sydney in early February.

Number 2,000 is of a beautiful elephant I encountered in a town on the Mae Kok River in Northern Thailand. The elephants are there to transport tourists into the hills. They are working animals and probably not entirely happy. I bought a bag of bananas and sugar cane and fed them to this beast. I think he appreciated every bite.

Thai Elephant

Lazy Sunday

I've been quite the slacker since climbing Mount Kinabalu, first recuperating in Kota Kinabalu and then whiling away a few days in Penang, an island off the northwest coast of Malaysia, with a stack of paperbacks ("The Quiet American," a few Lee Child mysteries) and DVDs ("Star Wars," "The Quiet American," "Old Joy," "10 Items or Less"). After four months on the road, a little downtime is a good thing.

It's Hot! Time for an Iced Coffee. Mmmmm....
It's now a lazy Sunday in Georgetown, the capital city of the state of Penang, the streets are quiet and I'm in my hotel room planning my next move. I have been looking forward to visiting Thailand for a long time. I will leave Malaysia on Tuesday morning and head to the Andaman Coast. Where I end up depends on the weather - the rainy season has arrived. I plan to work my way up the coast, skirting the tourist mecca of Phuket while hitting islands and beaches, then passing through Bangkok en route to trekking in the north. Anyone with knowledge of Thailand is encouraged to send along recommendations and suggestions.

I feel like I've completed another chapter, that I've wrapped up the second leg of this trip and am ready for more. The first leg was nine weeks in Australia. Over the last eight weeks I've toured Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. The next leg, call it my summer swing, will take me through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. I plan on continuing this crazy adventure into the fall with visits to China and Japan, though I remain flexible and plans could change. In each country I've experienced ups and downs, made friends and come to know more about myself. There's nothing like travel to challenge, enlighten and entertain. I know this will end someday, but for now I'm riding it with everything I've got.

I've created a new Flickr photoset of highlights from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. These are my favrote pictures from the past two months, a mix of travelogue, people and places. Enjoy!

Hey! Check out the Photoset!

Images of Singapore

My photographs from Singapore are not just about food, despite what you may have read on Packmonkey. I have posted 150 images from the last two weeks. Here are some of my non-edible favorites:

Men in Glass

Orchids

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Tekka Centre Shrine

Vivo City Date

Shuang Lin Monastary Door