Phuket!

We are in Phnom Penh, Cambodia right now... but I'm trying to catch up on images from our time in Thailand! When we landed in Bangkok we weren't exactly sure what our plan was going to be. The tentative plan was to spend some time in Vietnam but the visa takes too long to get (3-5 days), so it would have wasted a lot of time.
We ended up opting to head down the the South of Thailand because during our last trip, we absolutely loved it... and we never got to visit Phuket. We found flights from Bangkok to Phuket round trip for about $115 each, we booked the tickets and flew down for 7 days.
We spent 5 days exploring the island of Phuket on a moto-scooter, and and 2 days north of Phuket exploring Khao Sak National Park, which is basically a giant rain forest with lots of cool animal life. Khao Sak photos are coming later... but here are a handful of images from beautiful Phuket!
Phuket is extremely touristy but we managed to find some cool beaches and bungalows tucked away from that craziness. Bethany spent a lot of time laying out on the beach frying in the sun, while I cruised around on the scooter finding fun things to photograph.

Here are the images!
Our awesome little bungalow at Ya Nui beach-

Longtail boats & full moon-

When you go to the beach at night and turn on a flashlight, you realize these hermit crabs are EVERYWHERE! They are so cute.

Misc nice beach photos that are going to make everyone in the US jealous in the middle of winter!

This guy sells grilled corn to tourists on the beach-

Sirinat National Park has some amazing tidepools with amazing creatures hidden in the rocks!

I tagged along with a local Thai family who were happy to show me how they hunt clams and fish for their dinner-

I love these cute crabs so much!

Beach landscapes at sunset-

This is a Tokay Gecko that I caught in our bungalow, they are such gorgeous little creatures! Feisty though too!

More beach landscapes-

This was my moto taxi driver who was a little camera shy :)

This is the home of a little crab who digs sand out of his hole, then rolls it up in little balls, and throws it outside. I have a video too, it's quite amazing to watch the little guys work!

You always see some interesting sights when at tropical beaches-

When I lay out in the sun with Bethany, I get bored really quick... so that boredom resulted in these images-

This was a really cool island that I trekked out to one morning at sunrise. I was neck deep in water, holding the camera bag above my head. :) There wasn't any sand at all... it was entirely dead pieces of reef and shells!

The airport strip is right on the beach, so you can stand there and watch the planes fly right over you. So cool!

Another sunset in paradise, with my best friend. :)

Let me know what you think about the images and if you have any favorites... I always appreciate comments! :)
Next up is photos from Khao Sak National Park, and then onto Phnom Penh, Cambodia where we are right now... so check back soon for more. :)

Bangkok Floating Market Photos

While in Bangkok we made a day trip out to the Floating Market which is one of the top things to do while in Bangkok. It's about a 3 hour bus trip outside the city, but totally worth it. It was so relaxing and almost mesmerizing sitting at a restaurant eating noodle soup and sipping on Thai Tea with milk, just watching the boat traffic slowly float on by. After that wonderful meal we shot some photos, then hired a boat to take us around through the canals. It costed about $4 for an hour (with some good negotiation skills... because they of course start the price at $10 or $15 just to try and see if they can get it out of the tourists), and we tipped her $1 too. Not a bad experience for 5 bucks.

Here are a few photos I shot throughout the day-
A couple long exposures I shot to try and show the movement. I used a polarizer with a 10-stop Neutral Density filter. Turned out cool!

Iced Thai Tea and Thai Coffee made fresh when ordered... they are both SOOO GOOD! And cheap, about 40 cents for one of those huge cups. I drank a few that day!

Cute girl-

There are so many boats with full on kitchen setups on the boat, and they'll make just about any kind of Thai food you want! So wonderful!

Adorable old boat ladies, trying to keep cool and protected from the sun-

Cruising through the canals at mach speed! Not really... I just made it look that way with a tripod and slow shutter speed. :)

My best friend and I, she also happens to be my wife... lucky me!! :) Remember to check out her blog too! She's ahead of me right now on photos... so it will be a spoiler for what is coming next...

A week in Bangkok... lots of Photos!

I’m finally getting some time to work on my first week of photos from Bangkok! It’s so hard to keep up with my blog while on the road…. sorry! Some friends of ours from the Brooks days in Santa Barbara are in Bangkok working on The Blind Project, check it out... Chad, Anthony, and Liem started the project together and are doing amazing things to help out with the horrible issue of children being sold into the sex trade. Heavy stuff!
Those guys are going to be here for 3 months, and they rented a sweet apartment in the middle of Bangkok that they were so kind to offer us to stay at while they were traveling up in Northern Thailand. It was sooo nice to be in a different part of the city than KhaoSan Road. KhaoSan is the backpacker/travelers mecca of Bangkok. There are tourists flocking in by the thousands from all over the world. The streets are chocked full of everything you can and cannot imagine for sale, and you’re constantly harped at by touts looking to make a buck of anything and everything. Basically KhaoSan is fun to see, but miserable to stay at because it gets annoying really quickly. So it was soo nice to stay in the “Sathon” district of Bangkok where there are few tourists (if any) and you get to see some of the real Bangkok. Bethany and I did lots of exploring and we feel like we actually got to see a good part of the city. But in reality we didn’t see anything because this city is GIGANTIC and it would take a lifetime to see it all.
So here are some photos with little descriptions from the first week in Bangkok:

Night shots from the roof of our Hotel-

This dog was totally insane… the owners had trained it well to do tricks, it was so hyper! It looks like it was half bear cub too. Videos coming later…

One of the best ways to get around in Bangkok is by a boat taxi on the Chao Phraya River. Hop on, pay about 13 baht (30 cents) and choose your stop! Lots to see during the rides too-

Love the mailboxes… “other places”

Scrubbing down on his boat house-

Some snaps from a walk through a park-

On the boat taxi again-

This guy selling a bhudda shirt on Khao San Road was adorable. I think he should sell shirts with a photo of himself on it-

Building detail-

One evening I went out by myself just before sunset to shoot images while Bethany was napping. I love these images of a really busy intersection in the middle of Bangkok-

The Chao Phraya River runs through the middle of Bangkok, with lots of boat traffic, hotels, and buildings to add to the scene-

Soi cowboy, one of the main streets where tourists come to in Bangkok to pick up Thai prostitutes at the bars. They call them “sex tourists” and it’s extremely common, you see western white guys walking around with Thai women everywhere. It’s almost more common than seeing married and boyfriend/girlfriend couples who are traveling together-

Full moonrise over Bangkok, and it happened to be a Bhuddist holiday so we went to a temple where they where the Thai’s were celebrating in various ways-

Exploring the alleyways and streets of Bangkok you come across some random stuff! This was a performance with about a dozen actors who were soooo incredibly dressed up and had intense makeup. There was also a big band of instruments. A full on stage, amazing lighting… everything… and it was just in a random alleyway with about 15 people watching. So random! I have videos too that hopefully I’ll get around to posting someday.

That play was so loud you could hear it from a mile away, and through it all, this guy was snoozing away!

Taking a tuk-tuk ride back to the hotel… good times. :)

I hope these images inspire you to travel abroad… getting outside America is one of the best things you can ever experience. You’ll learn so much about other cultures, yourself, and also learn to appreciate home too. :)

BTW, all these images are shot with my Canon 5D mark II and it’s doing an incredible job. The files are so crisp, beautiful, and detailed at 100%, I can’t wait to make some huge prints from this camera!
I have A LOT more photos coming soon from the floating market, and beautiful Phuket too! (where we are now)

Phuket is pretty cool!

We've been in Phuket Thailand for a few days, and it's actually really enjoyable. A lot of Phuket is incredibly touristy... like tenfold of anywhere else I've ever seen! But we rented a motor-scooter and did some exploring, and managed to find a little beach bungalow place perched up on a hill, overlooking a beautiful ocean cove, and totally secluded from the touristy madness! It's called "Ya Nui Beach" and it's on the very south western side of the island.

Here is a photo of our bungalow. It costs about $25 a night, which is usually a lot more than we'd typically spend, but totally worth it... especially when you think about what kind of place $25 would buy you in America. :)

I'm hoping to work on lots of photos today and post them later, so check back soon!

Onto the South of Thailand...

We've had a great time in Bangkok, now we're heading down to South Thailand to check out some parts we haven't been to yet. Last trip we went way down south almost to the Malaysia border and it was really awesome down there. This time we're flying to Phuket, then hopefully getting out of Phuket ASAP (we don't like the mega-touristy stuff) and heading to a National Park or two. We'll see what happens!

I'm not doing a stellar job of updating my blog with pics and stories like I hoped I would, sorry! Time is so precious when you're traveling and I always feel like I'm wasting it when I'm sitting on the computer.

I'm heading to bed, we have to wake up to head to the airport in a couple hours. I am SOOO sleep deprived right now. Averaged about 3 hours a night for the past week or two, and probably won't catch up on sleep until I get home again. I hate sleeping! :)

Here is a quick pic of Bethany and I catchin a ride home on a Tuk-Tuk after a long day of exploring, eating, and shooting.
ISO 6400 on the Canon 5d Mark2... I'm loving that camera! We have 2 now... I bought another the day before we left because I knew we'd both fight over it if we only had one. Just trying to put our marriage first here guys. :)

Hood River - Portland - Seattle - Tokyo - BANGKOK!

We're in Bangkok and LOVING IT already! Long day(s) of travel. From home (Hood River) we drove to Portland, flew to Seattle, flew to Tokyo, then flew to Bangkok. All in all about 24 hours of travel, but the time changes and everything really mess you up, so everything is quite a blur. We landed last night in Bangkok at about midnight, then took a taxi into the middle of town, and I did some shooting from the top of our hotel till 4:30AM... then slept till 7AM. Wasn't tired at all... and still am not, but that is what jetlag does to you. It's strange.

So now it's 9AM Saturday morning in Bangkok and we're showered, about to meet up with our friends who are here... and looking forward to what the day will bring! :)

A few photos-
United planes that go international are sooo HUGE!

What I look like about 20 hours into flights with absolutely no sleep the night before because I was busy packing...

After a cup of coffee and a shower, we were both feeling great this morning... on the roof of our hotel in Bangkok. :)

Off to Thailand

Well I was hoping to have more time to post about a trip we've been planning for a while now... but it's 5AM, we need to go to the airport in a couple hours and I've been at the office all day & night without a wink of sleep. Now I need to go home and start packing my clothes and camera/computer gear...

Next post will be from Thailand... :)

A pic from our last time in Thailand-

Mount Hood, Highway 35 Time Lapse Video

My blog has a lot of Mount Hood on it lately! Sorry if it's getting a little monotonous...

I was up shooting star trails a couple weeks ago on Mt. Hood and had fun shooting all night long exposures and camping out in my car from 3-6AM. I was shooting mostly film, but a little digital too. Haven't processed the film yet, so I have no idea how it went!
When it got dark I realized that the lights from Mt Hood Meadows ski resort made it impossible to do long exposures, so I had to wait until they turned them off at around 10:30PM. So I set up my Canon 5D with a 16mm lens and shot a time lapse of the cars cruising by on highway 35 to kill some time. One 10 second exposure every 20 seconds or so, for a few hours. I left the camera there while I drove to Government Camp and got some food to kill time. :)
There is lots going on with the cars driving by, the stars moving, planes flying though the sky, and even snow cats grooming at the ski area (in the beginning its the wormlike looking lights).

For some reason when I embed the video the quality gets really bad, so just click on the image below to watch it. Make sure the HD is on and also I recommend clicking the arrows on the bottom right to see it full screen. Sorry about the music cutting out so suddenly, I don't know how to edit sound yet!

Click the image for time lapse