Saturday February 11, 2012

Boat in Feng Huang

Renting a House in the Caribbean

I’m looking to rent a house for my family for a few weeks in April.   Any suggestions?

Daily Photo – Boat in Feng Huang

It was a cool and calm afternoon in the ancient and impossible town of Feng Huang. It’s an old town, wreathed in many legends.

On the old river, you can occasionaly see a boat passing here and there. The boatsmen come in all shapes and sizes, but many wear the same hat and style. It is absolutely like a warp of time…

Limited Edition print available. Click here to see options.

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X, Travel

15 Comments »

Thursday September 22, 2011

Still waters in the old town

Are you a boat person?

I think certain people are boat people… they really are into boats and often think about being in a boat. I’m not one of them… I wonder if it has to do with coming from an ancestry of seafarers or something.

Daily Photo – Still waters in the old town

Feng Huang in the morning is very peaceful. It might even be one of those towns were a lot of people sleep late, since I didn’t see many in the morning.

It was at this very spot that I bruised my ribs pretty bad when I fell down. It was one of those slick mud-covered concrete areas that doesn’t look like a slick mud-covered concrete area. But once you step on, it’s way too late to do anything about it.

There’s nothing that knocks the wind out of you more than falling flat on your torso with a Nikon D3S between your ribs and the ground. I still wince when I think about it!

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X, Travel

29 Comments »

Wednesday August 17, 2011

Adorable Chinese Girl

Google+ Community Reminder

Looking for people to circle? See the Stuck In Customs community list!

Daily Photo – Adorable Chinese Girl

So, maybe the full title of this photo should be what I realized after I took the photo: “Adorable Chinese Girl OMG I Think She’s About To Pee On The Street”. But she didn’t. She was just in that position. And her pants are kinda funky. Or maybe those are leg-warmers or something. I don’t know… it’s all confusing. Her mom was right by her, sitting on a set and eating rice. She smiled at me, and was very excited when I was taking a photo. Or maybe she was laughing because she thought it was funny I was trying to take a photo while her daughter was about to go to the bathroom. I really can’t say!

But I did see lots of kids go to the bathroom in the street, on sidewalks, and this sort of thing. Not all the time, mind you, but they would just drop their business right there in the middle of a busy sidewalk.

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X, Travel

20 Comments »

Sunday July 10, 2011

Walking Across the Old Bridge

Your Favorite Cultural Clothes

What country/culture has your favorite clothes? Is it something exotic like ancient China, or modern like stylish India? Or maybe it’s something more tribal or more formal… I think most people tend to like stuff that is quite far away from where they live… and the further, the better and more exotic! But, I wondered what your favorite was…

Daily Photo – Walking Across the Old Bridge

While in China, one of the small towns I visited had several little low walking-bridges across the river. It was the sort of river that was too shallow for boats, but good for fishing and washing clothes.

This one was in a residential and commercial area. Many of the women wore colorful dresses and walked back and forth across… it all seemed very nice and peaceful so I grabbed an image.

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3S, Travel

13 Comments »

Thursday June 30, 2011

Night Settles In Feung Huang

Google + Invites

I’d love to invite the whole community here into Google+, and think I have a way. But, please, follow these rules otherwise things get messy.

Now, I handed out 10 invites yesterday, and I asked those 10 people to make a post on our StuckInCustoms Facebook Page once they were in. Then others could post below that and perhaps the first 10 or so (discretion and time of the inviter) can get in.

It was supposed to be simple, but it ended up in a bit of a cluster because everyone just wrote their own email address right on the wall, asking for an invite.

So, please follow these rules for an orderly pyramid invitation system for inviters and invitees.

1) Come to StuckInCustoms Facebook Page and see if you can find a thread that has remaining invitations. Put your email in that thread (not on the wall).

2) Accept your invite when it arrives, then return to the StuckInCustoms Facebook Page and pay it forward by saying, “I have 10-15 (whatever) invites for Google+ so leave your email below and I’ll get you in!”

3) To invite people in, create a new circle and fill it with email addresses that need access.

4) Share a post or photo with that circle, and it will ask you if you want to email people not in Google+. Say yes, and they will get an email invite!

And, if you are looking for me in Google+, here is My Google Profile.

Where do you keep your passport?

When you travel, where do you secure your passport? Now, I’ve taken to keeping it in my front pocket of my jeans or cargo shorts. I’ve stopped leaving it in the room after it was stolen in China (from a very respectable hotel). I used to sometimes keep it in a safe, but that is kind of a pain… so, front pocket for me. The back pocket is too dangerous because it can easily be picked. And I can’t bring myself to wear one of those things around my neck like I’m a 6 year old traveling alone on an airplane.

Daily Photo – Night Settles In Feung Huang

There is a general poetic peace when it begins to go dark outside and the town comes alight with shopkeepers and villagers come out to turn on the lights. If you look around, you can see them popping on, one at a time, like little fireflies coming out to play for the evening.

This area is no different, and it’s made even more magical by the little river that flows through the middle of it all. And then you are faced with all these nice decisions… where to eat? where to drink? where to find an inn for the night?

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X

40 Comments »

Monday June 27, 2011

The Old Waterwheel

Part 3 of the Student Interview

And the African Queen of never-ending-turns-interview ends with this segment…

Daily Photo – The Old Waterwheel

Right after I arrived in Feng Huang, I went down by the river to walk up and down both sides… and I was drawn to this old waterwheel right away. It was all so quaint… here were old Chinese women washing clothes in the river, and it was all right out of a movie. I only got to spend a few days here… after seeing how wonderful everything was, it’s on my list to revisit some day…. I hope it stays like this.

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Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X

27 Comments »

Tuesday May 31, 2011

The Deep Indigo Night

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Join me Live on Video on Mostly Photo Today!

Come to Live.TWIT.tv today at 1 PM PT (4 PM ET). We’ll be talking about photography and stuff, and more stuff like that.

Previous Videos

On the Videos page here on the site, I try to remember to link or embed previous videos, interviews, and all that sort of thing. Pop on over there, and you can see the previous episode of Mostly Photo that I was on where we talked about the following:

  • How to share your photos online (I give some philosophical advice in addition to logistical, practical advise)
  • Pricing your images and selling prints
  • Getting inspiration from other online photographers
  • SmugMug and how I use them  (see my full SmugMug Review here)

Thanks Om Malik and Mashable!

The new 100 Cameras in 1 with export-to-Instagram got some good press yesterday. Thank you to GigaOm and Mashable (and many others!) for the coverage.

Daily Photo – The Deep Indigo Night

Usually once it gets dark outside, I give it another half hour or so before I go restaurant-hunting. I like experimenting with new food while processing a few photos… It’s one of the greatest things… I usually have a table all by myself, and I get quite a large one so I can lay out all my stuff. I order all sorts of quirky foods, and I have a diet that would make Walter from Fringe happy.

But this night, there was so much strange ambient light that I decided to shoot for a few more hours. I worked my way up and down the waterside to find interesting sights. In these situations, I usually try to have at least one of my exposures be 30 seconds. That means the other four exposures are 15s, 8s, 4s, and 2s. That makes a good 59 seconds per session. I usually have my earphones on and I keep one finger on the tripod so I can feel the shutter click. I can tell immediately if my settings are off by the vibrations.

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Travel

21 Comments »

Tuesday April 12, 2011

Young Girl in Basket

Have you heard of Larry Kagan?

This guy is awesome! He presented at EG with me, and he was in my little grouping of artists. It’s hard to explain the kind of art he does… but here is a little video and you can learn more about him and his work.

Daily Photo – Young Girl in Basket

The main river that runs through Feng Huang and is criss-crossed by many bridges and walkways. To get up to them, there are long stone stairways that switchback up the sides.

In the mornings, women go down to the river with their children to wash clothes. As they go back and forth to get more loads, sometimes they put the babies into the baskets on the way up again.

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3S, Travel

20 Comments »

Monday February 14, 2011

Austin PhotoWalk at SXSW

The Big Austin PhotoWalk – Don’t miss it!

Come join us at SXSW for great night of fun photography. All skill levels are invited! Join the Plancast event and/or the Facebook Event.  We’ll be meeting at the gorgeous and famous Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin, which has always been very nice to me in the past… so they get a big thumbs up in my book.

  • All skill levels invited – from beginner to beyond
  • Great prizes for you!  My friend Jack Hollingsworth is coordinating all of this, so more news to come
  • Is it your first PhotoWalk?  Don’t be scared!  Come along with whatever camera you wish.  There will be all kinds of coaches and other nice photographers to help you out.

We recently had an amazing PhotoWalk in London – check that one out and you can see a video, photos, and more.

Daily Photo – In Old China

I was nursing my cracked ribs at this point after my clumsy slip down by the boats. But I had a bit of that post-accident adrenaline that numbed it enough to keep shooting a bit. Also, I think I was a bit loopy because of the pain, but that can make for good artistic endeavors, I think. When I remember walking around this area, it’s all a bit more foggy than some of my other experiences, which are more crystal-clear. In some ways, I almost feel like I didn’t take these photos, even though I know I did. It’s strange thinking about it now.

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X, Travel

29 Comments »

Sunday February 6, 2011

Time Frozen in the Ancient Village

Bad Internet Marketing

Because of the popularity of this blog, I get these emails just about every day. It is so crazy… I want any potential “internet marketers” that are reading this site to know that I don’t do paid-blog posts or any of that nonsense.

Companies send me FREE STUFF all the time. You should see my studio – I’ve got piles and piles of crappy stuff… everything from camera equipment to gadgets. I always tell people ahead of time that I only review it if I actually like it. This is because I am super-busy… and people are too busy to read 1000 reviews… so I just stick with the best stuff.

So, of the hundreds of things I have to review, I usually do only about one every two months. Don’t get your hopes up, marketers… and certainly don’t send me lame emails like this one I got a few days ago:

One of our major clients are currently working on making their website more visible in a particular Google search and we have indicated your site as a potential partner in this venture.

What we would like from you is a banner on the homepage and/or an article in the form of a blog post, product review or something similar. Our content is bespoke, tailored for your site and written by one of our professional in-house copy writers; we always ensure that content is relevant to both the client and the hosting site.

Daily Photo – Time Frozen in the Ancient Village

I feel like I’m in a hurry to take photos of all these ancient places before they become homogenized. I worry that in 10 years that every place will look like a typical street corner in Plano, Texas. Know what I mean? There’s nothing horrible about having a Home Depot and an Applebee’s within every five mile pod of super-structure, but it can lose a bit of charm after a while.

This is a famous old village in China where the legend tells of two phoenixes hovered endlessly, transfixed by the beauty they saw below. It’s located in the western part of central China’s Hunan Province. It’s called Feng Huang Cheng (“feng huang” being the Chinese name for the phoenix), and I’m happy I got to spend a few days wandering around its mysterious bits. This is a good overview of the city, and I’ll have many more from the insides coming soon enough.

BTW, if you are wondering how I made this… you may be interested in the textures tutorial.

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X, Travel

13 Comments »

Saturday January 8, 2011

Boats in Ancient China

Daily Photo – Boats in Ancient China

This is the spot where I cracked a rib. I’ll tell that story in a moment… This is the ancient village of Feng Huang in distant southern China. I hired a local driver to get me there, and the ride was longer than most plane trips! And a lot less comfortable… Anyway, after arriving, I had a wonderful time exploring. One morning, the old town was covered with thick fog. And it’s that still, wet, timeless fog of China. When you are looking at it, you become convinced it will just never go away. I worked my way down one of the banks to an area where the local rivermen keep the boats to grab this shot. The morning was wet, obviously, and that was the downfall of my mishap. I stepped down onto what looked like damp, dirty concrete. I’ve done this a thousand times. I was carrying my D3X with 14-24mm lens on a tripod on my left hand and holding my D3S with 50mm 1.4 prime in my right hand. It turned out that I was stepping onto that super-slick wet clay. It was razor-thin and slicker than ice. I didn’t stand a chance. I fell right down, both cameras slamming into the ground. The D3X hit extra hard because the tripod gave it some painful torque. I landed on the D3S, it’s body caving in one of ribs… right in the middle of the man-nipple area. It was too bad because I’ve always treasured that area. I made reference to the injury when I was still unsure about it in this Part 2 China Interview.

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X, Travel

22 Comments »

Saturday December 4, 2010

Beautiful Feng Huang at night

Daily Photo – Beautiful Feng Huang at night

This was a beautiful and relaxing night for me.

I strolled up and down the banks of this old river-town. All the houses up on stilts were so charming… the little boats motoring around… old ladies still washing clothes deep into the night… young lovers skipping along the opposite bank while I set up for shots…

After a few hours of shooting, I stopped at a small family-run restaurant that overlooked the river. I pulled out my sketch pad and started drawing the scene around me for a few hours while the nice mom inside brought me all kinds of mysterious hot foods, teas, and little cookies. It was a very peaceful and nice night…

Filed under the categories: China, Feng Huang, Nikon D3X, Travel

17 Comments »

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