Digitalartist - A Photo a week

[jugend]

How do I pay for all the trips and everything ???
Why, with money of course. I simply rearrange my priorities. Seriously however, there are still some sponsors with global operations (like Petronas) who thinks it is in their interest to to fly their flag in those areas where they are eying oil and gas exploration and production rights...and they subsidize the cost of some of my excursions. For example, in the Sudan, where Petronas is establishing oil operations, we donated computers, sewing machines, water pumps, generators and medicines to several villages and schools on behalf of Petronas.

Man..I envied the kind of life you are living. For we live only once, let's savour the most out of this earth. And the best way to savour it is through travelling, and travelling with bike or 4x4, there should be no other words to describe it other than "IT MUST BE !@#%$ FUN".

 

[Digitalartist]

Last weekend I decided to explore my own backyard. I dumped my photo gear into the boot of my car, packed a tent, my camp bed and some clothes, and drove up to Kuantan and Trengganu.
This is the beach at Paka in Trengganu. It was mid afternoon with the sun directly overhead. The local fishemen had returned from a night out at sea earlier. Their boats were hauled clear out of the water. Very colourful and very pretty. If you come at the the time whern they have just returned, you can actually buy live flower crabs, Tiger Prawns and other fish directly from them at a fraction of the cost at the local market. You can then start your own fire on the beach and barbecue your own seafood. After a dip in the calm ocean, what could be better than that....

The Fisherfolk of Penarik may be fishermen, but like most people, they are quite house proud. Here Father and Son are repainting their humble hut a screaming saffron with yellow doors and pink windows.....

The wind at the beach at Batu Buruk is quite strong. Bisides kiting, this young man was trying to take off from the beach simply with the beach wind. Ohhhhh...wish I could do that again...

So come on, all you guys and gals from S'pore. Get in your car and drive up to Trengganu. Go right up to a little sea side village called Penarik. The buttered Tiger Prawns, buttered live flower crabs and foot long squids are dirt cheap and out of this world.....

 

[drakko]

I've done a bit of unconventional travelling by bike and by 4x4. I've done the Old Silk Road driving from Istanbul to Malaysia. I've done the Sahara Desert of Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. I've ridden my bike all the way from Kuala Lumpur to China and back, and I've also ridden through Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi. Late last year we completed a 60 days drive from London through Europe, Russia and China back home to Kuala Lumpur. I'll try and post a picture a week of some of the stuff I've seen and savoured.
Recently I drove a 4x4 with some like minded friends from Kuala Lumpur through Thailand, Laos China, Tibet, the Himalayas, and Nepal to India, and then we shipped our vehicles back to Malaysia from Chennai. That journey took more than two months and we camped and cooked our own food most of the time. We camped below the North Face of Everest and the Himalayas were truly beautiful. We all know that Mt Everest, the highest mountain in the world, was formed only 2 mil years ago, when the Indian sub-continent crashed against an unyielding Central Asian land mass. That is the geological reality. However, Tibetans believe that Mt. Everest, their sacred Mt. Qomolangma, is the Snow Goddess, or the Third Fairy. This is a picture of a Tibetan Pilgrim we spoke to in Lhasa. He told us a wonderful legend about Mt Everest. He said that the Himalayas was once an unending stretch of lush forest on a beautiful sea-coast. A haven for all kinds of flowers, birds, and animals, living harmoniously with humans. This was the legendary Shangri-la. Then suddenly an enormous Five Headed Demon came from the sea. It terrorized the tranquility of Shangri-la and frightened away all the animals. Fortunately, in answer to the prayers of Tibetans, God created Five Fairies from Five Clouds floating over Tibet, and sent them down to subdue the Five Headed Demon. With the Demon vanquished, Tibet became Shangri-La once again. The animals and humans were very grateful to the Five Fairies, and asked them to stay on in Tibet. They agreed, and the Five Fairies became Mt.Lhotse, Mt.Makalu, Mt.Qomolangma, Mt.Qowowuyang and Mt.Shisha Pangma, five of the greatest peaks in the Himalayas. Mt. Qomolangma, or Mt. Everest to you and I, was the Third Goddess, the highest mountain in the world...

great shot. i wish to learn from a pro like you!

 

[shadie]

The Sahara is the largest desert in the world, covering about 9 million sq km of North Africa. It stretches across Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Mali and Mauritania. Just in Libya alone, the Sahara is almost as large as India. It is stunningly beautiful in an intimidating sort of way, with bleached bones of dead camels seen in many places. The landscape comprises mainly dry hills, bare and loose rocks, dunes and shifting sands of various grain sizes. In Algeria and Morocco the Sahara is rocky. In Libya the sand grains are large and coarse while in Tunisia the sand is powdery like flour. The dunes and the colours are also different in different places and at different times of the day. The sky is beautifully blue. Absolutely clear with not a single wisp of clouds. With the sun directly overhead, the sand is slightly more yellow - like 18 carat gold I would think, as compared to 24 carat gold whenever the sun is lower. When driving over loose sand you have to drive fast - greater than 60 kph - and you have to reduce the air pressure in your tyres to as low as 18 psi and even to 12 psi to extract maximum grip and traction. If you stop, or slow down to below 40 kph, you will simply sink in the sand. It is the momentum of speeds greater than 60 kph and the soft tyres that allow you to move forward. Dust is everywhere, and a killer of photographic equipment.
I was fortunate enough to have crossed the Sahara Desert on a 60 days drive in a 4x4 starting from Khartoum in the Sudan and driving across the Sahara Desert of Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco... This picture was shot from the window of our speeding Toyota Landcruiser at dusk in the Tunisian Sahara..

i remember this photo ! it was featured in CHIP Photo - Video Malaysia. nice seeing u in clubsnap

 

[Digitalartist]

Havent posted pictures here for quite a while now. I was on the Crossing Bridges 3 trip to Vietnam and made friends with quite a few of Singaporeans from Club snap. Here's a few pictures from Vietnam.

We trekked up more than a thousand slippery rocky steps, in the dark, up Ham Rong mountain to have dinner at a Dzao Village. The dinner wasn't to my taste at all, but the dance performance staged by their dance group was really great. A few of our Crossing Bridges participants left their hearts up on Ham Rong mountain. This picture was shot handheld with the 1DsM2 using available light at ISO 1600. No perceptible noise....only the thumping in my frail heart.....

The Dzao or Dao or Zao are one of about 20 ethnic minority hill people of Vietnam. They are noted for their elaborate dressing which feature intricate weaving often decorated with coins and beads. The weight of the coins a Dzao woman wears is supposedly an indicator of her wealth. Dzao women sometimes shave their heads bald. Those that dont, shave a patch just above their foreheads. The rest of the hair is then and tied up into a distinctive red turban. Dzaos are animists and worship the spirits of their ancestors. Their rituals include the sacrifice of animals. Here's a Dzao woman I shot outside Sapa.

Its not always a bed of roses, and life is really hard in the mountains of Sapa. In contrast with the beautiful people, we also saw many montagnards whose faces reflect their hardship. This H'mong woman will probably have a lot to tell about how the Hill people have been persecuted over the years. When the French colonised Vietnam, they recruited thousands of Hill people to help them fight their battles. When the French were defeated the Vietnamese lowland people punished those who fought with the French. And when the Americans came, the cycle was repeated, as this time the Communists enlisted the help of the Hill people to help beat the Americans. Recently when China attacked North Vietnam, the Hill people again suffered. They live a semi-nomadic life planting dry padi and crops (even opium) in slash and burn farming. This has caused some environmental damage, and today the Vietnamese authorities are trying to encourage the Hill people to give up their nomadic lifestyle and help farm the lowlands. There is much distrust, and many hill tribes still cling tight to the way of life of their ancestors....which is why life is so hard for them....

One of the most interesting places, photographically speaking, are the many rural markets outside Sapa. I shot this picture of a H'mong at rural market near Quang Phu Cau. She's weaving a basket which she will sell at the market to get cash to purchase supplies..

My apologies for cluttering the bandwidth here. But if you want to see a few more pictures from Sapa, click HERE

Warmest regards to all those Singaporeans who were with us on Crossing Bridges 3. My problem is what to do with the thousands of images I shot on that memorable trip....


Yusuf

 

[Digitalartist]

The H'mongs are one of the largest ethnic groups in Vietnam numbering about half a million. They live in the mountainous areas in the far north of Vietnam. They are animists and worship spirits. There are several sub groups of H'mongs and because the women of each sub-group wear colourful dresses which are subtly different between tribes, they are grouped according to their dresses as either the Black H'mong, the White H'mong, the Red, the Green and the Flower Hmong. Their dresses are extremely colourful. This pretty H'mong lady I met on the road out of Sapa is wearing a large chain-link necklace made of silver, huge silver earrings and lots of silver bracelets as well....

Sapa is a delightful little town in North Vietnam, very close to the Chinese border. It is a former hill station built by the French. Sapa is often covered in clouds, and when the sun breaks through, you can see spectacular views of cascading rice terraces in the valleys surrounding Sapa, and mountain peaks which are the highest in Vietnam. In winter, some of these peaks have snow on them. These valleys and hills are home to several Hill tribes people who come into Sapa to buy, sell and trade. History has not been kind to Sapa. Over the years Sapa has seen wars fought with the French, the Americans and most recently in 1979 with China. Here's a view of Sapa town from the balcony of our Crossing Bridges Hotel...

It was hig noon. Not the best time for photography, but ideal for infrared photography. The camera used to shoot this was a Canon 20D permanently modified for infrared by placing an infrared filter directly over the digital sensor. It gives a rather different perspective and its like a Volksvagen - you either love it or you hate it.

Ta Ann Valley near Sapa, is at it's prettiest when the sun is near horizontal at dusk and at dawn. In natural light parts of the valley kissed by the sun is golden yellow. The play of shadow and light makes the whole valley look like a painting. Its truly amazing. But what would it look like in infrared? If you have dabbled with an infrared filter at the front of your lens, you'll know that composition is mostly a hit and miss affair. But what if the infrared filter is placed directly over the sensor of a digital camera and you get to focus, compose and shoot like as if there is no dark infrared filter at the front? Well, I played around with a camera that has been near infrared-modified and this is the result. A ghostly surreal view of Ta Ann Valley. Not many will appreciate this sort of work but a photograph is really the photographer's view of what he sees. And you may not necessarily like what he sees....

 

[glensky]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :lovegrin:

 

[Hexlord]

Wow.. nice series and explanation

 

[drumma]

the last pic is really awesome!