People would buy prints of that photo for their walls. Brilliant.

It's got kind of a creepy feel to it. I love how it's impossible to distinguish the sky from the water. Very impressive stuff.

[IMG][/IMG]
The charger on my Mac laptop has finally gone out due to the wearing away of the cable, as it always does because Apple cables are pure garbage. So here's some photos from my phone. Here's a pho stand in HCMC. It cost double what I was used to paying, but the quality of the beef was top notch and it was so damn good!




Eh, I dunno, most people like to buy interesting photos from where they live or somewhere that has some sort of personal relationship to them, not of some random fisherman in another country. I could be wrong though, but that's what I've noticed. I do appreciate the complement though!

Ty! Total whiteout from the fog does have that weird cinematographic vibe.

Just had a quick Google at this business. People buy prints of great photos.

This page could be of interest to you.

What's happening in the bottom pic Cardsharkk? Is that a person ... or is it a poster of Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Caribbean?

Cool photos!

Thanks, I'll look into this site.

It's a Rajasthani woman with her son on her lap looking out the window and her reflection in the window. But yea the women do have a bit of pirate look going with their headscarves, earings, rings, bangles, and henna tattoos. I was slightly infatuated with how they dressed. Some more photos:







All of these were taking outside of Jaisalmer. Fascinating part of the country. Impeccable fashion.

Oh goodness, of course it's the reflection of the mom with her son - woww, is Sam ever slowww


It used to be so much fun getting to hear how different people would play different spots with cards - with all the creativity, and all the different angles and stuff. And then it was fun to get to hear about all stuff people were able to do with their winnings, all the experiences they'd have because of poker.

Guess with online poker winding down, talking about spots isn't quite what it used to be - but it's nice that there's still the chance to hear about what people are doing because of poker, and besides poker. Over the years, even the smallest of us winners in the promo thread have been able to do stuff like treat ourselves to a nice meal or what have you with our mini-winnings. So then to see that someone's actually been able to afford to do stuff like travel is amazing!

It's especially cool that you're into photography, so there's cool photos to go along with your stories The fashion in India is truly gorgeous - with all the beautiful fabrics, and the jewelry. So different from the stuff they carry at the Gap down at the local mall


Nice stuff cardsharkk!!

Fascinating, what are they carrying on their head?

Here's a B&W photo from underneath the pier in Siargao, Philippines. It's known for being a surfers paradise and has this massive pier that stretches out into the ocean. Broke surfers sometimes just sleep out on the pier and then get up at sunrise to hit the waves. It was the first place I took surflessons/ever attempted surfing. Honestly, it didn't go that well!

Even with the lessons, as soon as I was off on my own I was a total disaster, constantly mistiming my paddling, misjudging the waves, and getting washed back to shore. Then having to paddle back out against the incoming waves smacking me in the face all the time. It kinda sucked. Then add in the sunburn, sore shoulders, and board rash. At some point I got washed away in a wave and my board hit some guy in the head and he told me that I was a hazard to all the other surfers and that I had to find somewhere else to surf, so that's kinda when I stopped. If I had to pick a sport that is the most difficult to learn for complete beginners, I'm going to go with surfing!

The pier leading back to land:


local dude surfing. The locals are friggen amazing. I was getting pwned by friggen 6 year olds.



Yeaaaa, I still make my money and fund all my travels playing poker, but I'm not sure it's going to last much longer. I'm kind of riding it till the bitter end b/c I like the freedom to travel aspect so much. But I do realize it's pretty much a dead end job and I've got to find something else before it gets too late. But being able to see more of the world than 99% of the population is something I won't regret.

Just water! There's always a crowd around the communal wells with the women filling up their big aluminum pots.

Wow had no idea you were funding all of this with poker winnings, good for you!

Water seems like an especially hard thing to carry on their head... like balancing those on their heads isn't difficult enough but to add something that sloshes around just wow.

surfing story: that's why I always just relax on the beach. Also because I'm incredibly lazy. I've heard that standing up on the board at all is incredibly difficult for a beginner but then it's much easier after that. Good for you for trying it.

pier shots are great as is the surfer action shot.

agreed, looks like it should be on the cover of National Geographic. in fact, I think that goes for a handful of these. thanks for the new background!

For the surfing I'm sure once you cross that initial threshold it gets much better. I never crossed it! That's why I like scuba diving, for the most part it's super chill under the water.

But yea for carrying water, they must be keeping their heads just super still to minimize the sloshing. I mean if you've been practicing your entire life I guess you'd get good at it, but damn, that's talent.

Thanks, background looks good! Thumbsup.jpg

Here's some more women carrying stuff on their heads! These were all taken in Malawi or Mozambique.

I thought I'd get back on the B&W train. I rarely make photos in B&W because most of the time I like the aspect of photorealism I guess, and I kind of despise the certain type of artistic pretentiousness that some people who only shoot in B&W seem to have. But I will say certain photos do look better this way, especially contrasty shots taken in the middle of the day with harsh light or shots taken in atmospheric/foggy conditions with low color saturation, like the boatman above.

Here's a shot I liked from downtown Chicago of a girl running through the waterfall tower thingy in Millenium Park. I really wanted to play up the contrasts in this one, so I though B&W was a good choice.

Amazing Pics! So glad I stumbled onto your blog, thanks for sharing!

Some black and white photos from the urban monstrosity that is Chongqing, China. A massive city of concrete. Ugly highrises spread in every direction. In retrospect I never did take a good photo that captures that feeling, but this was back when I still kind of sucked at taking photos. Plus it's always seems to be cloudy and gray here, so another good fit for b&w.

Thanks, I'm glad you're liking it, many more to come!

Sorry for being lazy, more photos! Here's one of the Chicago skyline shot from down on the rocks before Belmont Harbor. Interestingly enough, in all of my travels abroad I have never had anything of major value stolen from me. Not even once, and I'm pretty liberal about leaving my stuff out in hostels and stuff. While taking this shot I left my shoulder back up on the edge of the walkway, so it wouldn't get wet, probably 5 feet away from where I set up my tripod for this photo. As I was crouched down and messing around with my camera someone managed to swipe the bag, along with the $700 lens that was in it. Caught me totally off guard. So sadly, this photo will always make me think of that.

Here's another one from Sydney, I think. I like how the kids were all pretty evenly spread out on the little walkways. The girl on the right adds a nice bit of action to it.

Gotta keep up my pace here, so here's a few from China. This first one is a dude smoking a dope ass pipe in Chengdu. He was selling the pipes and tobacco too and was certainly showing off here. Pretty badass though.

This next one is another from Yangshuo, China, with all those cool karst formations everywhere. This from a viewpoint on the bridge over the river around dusk, when the stream of boatmen slowed to a trickle. I was also at the viewpoint at the same time a chinese tour bus pulled up and I saw a few people sneakily taking photos of me, so I invited them over to take photos with me, and then it turned into a line of like 20 people to take photos with the white guy, ha.



And one more from the old town in Chengdu.

Here is a shot taken at the iconic Ubein bridge in Mandalay, Myanmar. It's over a kilometer long and according to wiki it is the longest and oldest teakwood bridge in the world. As with so many spots in Myanmar, it's great for photography.

This is another photo near taken on the other side of the lake, with the Ubein bridge in the background. Scenes like this make you wonder sometimes what decade you're in.



A girl in the market

Just a normal day near Mt. Bromo, Java, Indonesia

very cool blog, enjoying the photos and the little stories behind them

Here's some photos from a pretty unique festival, known as Thaipusam. It's a Hindu festival, mostly celebrated by those in Tamil Nadu or with Tamil descent, in celebration of the god of war Murugan. These photos were taken in Penang, Malaysia, which has a very strong Tamil community. The concept of a debt bondage is the main theme (or so it seems to me) and many men carry out various acts of devotions by carrying a kavadi, which is basically some sort of physical burden... which is usually some sort of piercing, and you see guys with spears through their cheeks, tongue, etc. Some carry what kind of looks like an altar above them suspended only by hooks in their skin. It's pretty wild. I didn't even know it was going on when I got to Penang, but once I found out I wasn't gonna miss out. I got there at 5am to see how it all started...





This guy basically had his whole body pierced to hold up this thing.



Some cheek piercings





Thanks man, I'll keep em coming

Here's a kind of abstract, nightmarish type photo. It's from the sulfur mines of Iwa in East Java, Indonesia. Mining sulfur is not the ideal job.

Here's a game of Sepak Takraw, which is basically volleyball using your head, feet, knees, and chest to get the ball back over the net. It's popular in SE Asia. This particular photo was taken on the island of Flores in Indonesia.

Wuaw great stuff. Very motivating, to get out and go somewhere to.

Thanks CB, get out there!

Sorry been slacking lately, been chilling out on the Cambodian islands for the last few days.

Here's some photos of the city of Varanasi, India. It's situated on the Ganges river, which is believed to be sacred, and known to be severely polluted. The river is estimated to serve about 500 million people in total.



The river is said to personify the goddess Ganga, and bathing in it can cleanse past sins. It is also said to liberate on from the cycle of life and death (for reincarnation?). Many people are cremated along the shores and floated off down the river. If you ever feel the need to see a charred corpse, this is the place! They get very angry if you try and take photos though. Anyway here's a woman bathing at sunrise



And a fire ceremony: