Another New Video Soon!

I just finished editing together a cool video interview I did with Alfie Goodrich here in Japan a few days ago. He has borrowed an awesome medium-format digital camera, and I asked him a bunch of questions about it. I think you will enjoy learning a little about the camera, about Alfie, and about his photography!

Daily Photo – Sleeping Snow Monkeys

This was not an easy place to find!

I’ve always wanted to come see the wild snow monkeys… and so I just decided to make it happen this trip. Way up in the mountains of Japan, near Nagano, there is a troop of several dozen wild snow monkeys that roam all around a set of mountains. I didn’t know if I’d be lucky enough to catch them or not… some say it is hard, and some people say it is easy. But you never really know! I set out to do my best and see what I could find.

Towards the very top of the cold mountain, there is a hot spring that churns out super-heated water that smells of sulfur. It fills this little pool and the monkeys come down during the day to lounge about, play, rest, eat, and all kinds of other wonderful things.

I spent two days on this mountainside.  In the evening, I slept on the floor of a nearby ryokan, which is a traditional Japanese inn.  There are about 30+ more stories about things that happened here, including eating crunchy crickets, but I will leave those to accompany future photos.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Nikon D3S, Travel

Update! I got to spend a whole afternoon with Hans!

To get that full story, see “Hans Zimmer in His Studio.”

First Round – Hi Res Versions Now Avail

When I first got to Hans Zimmer’s Lair, I posted a few photos, but only one had the hi-res link. I know sometimes people like to click through to see the huge size and check out all the details.

Now, you can click through all of them here below. To see the full size, click on the photo, and then click on the “O” for “Original size” at the top of the SmugMug page. It’s a little hard to see there – it’s right beside the “X Large” text at the top.

Daily Photo – Hans Zimmer’s Studio

It takes me a long time to process these photos, as you guys know by now. This is good and bad… One side-benefit of the “good” is that it allows me to leave many open threads and story-lines that are continued for months and years on end (much like Lost, where certain bits get lost forever). For example, I know everyone is waiting to hear about the dead body I saw in Indonesia… people love dead body stories. But you have to wait for the next Indonesia street shot for that! Hehe…

Today, I have three more photos from the studio.

The first is his massive bank of monitors that almost circumnavigate his keyboard. His team blanked out all the monitors so I could not capture his next secret project (which is not nearly as cool as his secret project with me, which is, indeed, so secret that Hans does not even know about it yet).

The second photo is of his grand piano where I assume his plans many of his compositions. He had a very cute photo there of his son, like any good dad. I normally don’t re-arrange scenes, but I did move that photo to protect the privacy of the family.

The third photo is the serpentine wiring system that keeps all the electrons flowing in the right directions. Seeing this, I’ll no longer fret the next time I need to go re-wire my home stereo.

Filed under the categories: California, LA, Nikon D3X, Travel

Tokyo HDR Workshop and upcoming HDR DVD

Thanks again to my new friends from the HDR Workshop here in Tokyo over the weekend.  I had a great time and enjoyed getting to know everyone!

I hope you all are enjoying your new secret access to the special part of the site!  Hmmm what could that be?

All of the inside scoop that I shared with them will be available on the upcoming HDR DVD.  Be sure to pop over to that link and sign up so you can get the latest info.  I’ll be sure to include special bonus info on this secret part of the website as well…

Daily Photo – Parking in Tokyo

During the workshop, Alfie found a cool spot for us all to visit. They had a bunch of beautiful cars parked under a bridge, and these were prime suspects for a bit of HDR treatment!

Look at the license plate on that car! Cool – Number 7. I wonder how you get car number 7 in all of Tokyo. There was some discussion that these beautiful low-number cars were often mafia vehicles. I don’t know if I believe that, but it certainly sounds cool!

Filed under the categories: Japan, Tokyo, Travel

Thanks John P!

John P from One Man’s Blog recommended that I go try to get some proper shots of Arlington Cemetery… so, you have him to thank for these photos. Thank him by visiting his blog… he’s got a whole potpourri of goodies on there; I’m sure you’ll find something you like!

OpenCamp Dallas

Speaking of John P – he’s putting together a mega-blogging conference in Dallas called Open Camp. I recommend it! Whether you have a small blog or a big blog… for fun or for money… I think you will learn a lot, meet interesting people, and have a good time!

I’ve gotten some questions – wondering if I am going too. I do not know yet! My schedule is up in the air… But I do have it penciled in and would like to make it happen.

Daily Photo – The Endless Rows of Arlington Cemetery

Not too far from the capitol in DC is the sprawling expanse of Arlington Cemetery. It is a very somber place… It was just my son and I, walking around for quite a while together. I think it all made an impression on him.

We stayed so long into the evening — we were the last ones there! Except for the security guards, who walked with us as we were leaving, since they locked up behind us. It was nice, however — they took their time and let me set up for a few final shots with the tripod as the light was falling behind the storm clouds.

Filed under the categories: Nikon D3X, Travel, Washington DC

Processing Photos Out of Order

Some of you that have heard me talk have heard my discussions of why you should process photos out of chronological order. I was reminded of this because of these Cambodia photos, like the one below.

Boiled down, here are some reasons:
1) It is silly to feel “overwhelmed” by processing one group of photos before you can process the next.
2) If you process them all right away, then you will not know all the processing tricks you will learn in the next few years
3) There is a lot of excitement in going back to revisit places you have been… it keeps all memories in a constant tumble-dry.

Daily Photo – Under the Ancient Skies

Sometimes, an HDR image of a cool place can come out a little boring, even in an interesting place such as this.  So, often times I will run the image through a black and white treatment (see my Silver Efex Pro Review).  That tool is a lot of fun and can help take a boring photo and make it more interesting.

As I begin the processing, I sometimes discover a photo is more about shape, line, and contrast than it is about color, light, and saturation.  It’s all still there, in all it’s HDR glory, but the emphasis has had a bit of a correction.

Filed under the categories: Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel

More Adventures in Hans Zimmer’s Studio Coming Soon

Watch this space for three more photos from Hans’ amazing studio coming up soon.  I’ve had a chance to process more photos, and I’ll be releasing them very soon!

You can see the first set of photos here in “The Secret Lair of Hans Zimmer“.

New Print Available – Hindu Ascent

There is a new Limited Edition Numbered Print available.  It is called “Hindu Ascent”.  This was taken as this old woman, who has never cut her hair, ascended hundreds of steps on her daily pilgrimage to a Hindu shrine.

Daily Photo – The Purple Portal

When I was in Agra, I wandered around the streets surrounding the Taj Mahal for a few hours.  The textures and details everywhere are an absolute field-day for photographers!  There is so much to see and capture…  it was totally overwhelming trying to grab all of that, while still thinking about getting into the Taj Mahal for another full slate of shooting!

So many of the little homes here are richly painted in every possible shade in the most interesting textures and shapes.  This is one of many little snaps I got while walking around.

Filed under the categories: Agra, India, Nikon D3X, Travel

Previous Shot from Nearby

I did a post a few months ago called “Dale Chihuly is My Kinda Guy” (follow link for pic), which was shot only a few hundred meters from this place. That’s one of the many cool things about Vegas. Just a few more steps away and you are in a completely different place!

Daily Photo – The Consumer Tube

This is one of the new shopping areas in Las Vegas inside the City Center. At the time I shot this, the mall had just opened and many of the stores had not yet been completed… but the architecture was all in place and it was impressive from so many angles.

While I was there, I saw another dude with a tripod setup. I like seeing other photographers around with tripods… I always give them a brotherly nod of approval.

Filed under the categories: Las Vegas, Nevada, Nikon D3X, Travel

Your Favorite Podcasts?

What are some of your favorite podcasts? I’m curious! I have several that I get on a regular basis. On the video side, I get TED Talks, Diggnation, This Week in Tech, Geekbrief TV, and Macbreak Weekly. On the audio side, I get some things from the BBC, This Week in Photography, and the Economist.

Best TED Talks

Speaking of the TED stuff above, I’ve assembled a collection of the Best TED Talks, at least in my opinion.  There are many more — I just have not had time to link them up yet!

Daily Photo – The Incredible Apple Store

I think it would be cool to be an architect that could design these kind of things. These guys are really talented — I love seeing their crazy concepts come into being. As opposed to concept cars, which never make it into production, even the most outlandish buildings seem possible.

This is one of the Apple Stores in New York City. The entire thing is a dreamy glass cube with a floating white Apple logo right in the middle. The actual store is underground.

I have a policy about getting help at the Apple store. When in doubt, talk to the guy with the beard.

Filed under the categories: New York, New York City, Nikon D3X, Travel

Photoshop Tools

I’m in the middle of my weekend workshop here in Tokyo and we are having a great time. People flew in from Hong Kong and Shanghai for the event – cool! I gave everyone a bunch of homework… we will see how they do!

During the class, I’ve been showing people some of my other tools that I use regularly. In case you do not have them, I suggest you check out the:

• Nik Review – A really fun and easy set of tools.
• OnOne Plugin Review – A rich set of products that has a very deep toolbox!

Daily Photo – Mozart’s Coffee in Austin

This is one of my favorite places in Austin!  Like many other are coffee shops, it’s one of those spots that techies go to be alone, together.  If you know what I mean.

It’s full of Macbook laptops, coffee, coffee-related products, and sweet sweet Web 2.0 geeks.  It used to be uncool to be a geek… but now it is quite socially acceptable.  The ironic thing is that geeks gave up the concept of social acceptability a long time ago… so we are all somewhat aloof to this newfound status.

Filed under the categories: Austin, Nikon D3X, Texas, Travel

iPad Wallpapers on MacBreak Weekly

I heard via email and some tweets that Leo Laporte mentioned that my iPad Wallpapers on his show – that is cool! Thanks Leo! The only problem is that every time he does that, my servers crash for a little bit… We are working on a new server setup solution around here that should be a lot reliable (and help the page load faster!).

Daily Photo – Under the Cherry Blossoms

I spent a while one evening in the older Gion district of Kyoto. Everything was in full bloom and there were all kinds of interesting people and things to see. It was a bit like a perfect little Japanese fairy-land. When the breeze came along, the blossoms would fall loose and flutter down like pink soft snow. I saw this couple sitting on a small stone wall beside a little stream under some cherry trees…

I did my best to blend into the background as I slyly slid inwards with my D3S. This was shot at ISO 3200, and you can see how little noise/grain there is in the exposure.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3S, Travel

The Nikon D3S Review

The last time I made a short video like this, I put it on the Nikon D3S Review page.  I’ll be sure to put this one on too.  It’s a pretty good indication of how cool this camera is… and the sorts of things you can do with it.

I must say, it’s quite nice to be able to grab little moments here and there between photos.  There is something that is very nice about video where you can get a few things you just can’t with a photo.  It’s not better or worse… just different.  It has taken me a little while to get used to — the idea that I can just take video any time without having to carry around another video camera.

Of course, you don’t need a D3S to do this… you can do it with a Nikon D90 and a lot of other new mid-range cameras nowadays.

Daily Surprise – The Kyoto Cherry Blossom Bloom

I’ve always wanted to come to Kyoto when the cherry blossoms are blooming, so this is really exciting.  Everything is even more beautiful than I imagined… there are thousands and thousands of these trees here that have a soft pink that is impossible to describe.  I’m not sure the video below can do it justice… we’ll have to wait until I have time to process some of the photos to see if I can make it as real as it is when I am here.

I flew into Osaka, found the bus to Kyoto, arrived, checked in, dumped my stuff in my room, then blew out into the streets with all my gear.   It was dusk when I left, so I decided to record 24 hours worth of video from one dusk until the next, grabbing little moments here and there.  All of it was shot with my D3S, which I now carry around with my D3X — I have my little system fully described (and on video) on the Photo Bag page.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Travel

The World in HDR, now on the Kindle

I found out that my HDR Book is now on the Kindle. That is kinda cool! Although, frankly, in all honesty, I would recommend you get it on the iPad rather than the Kindle when it is available. It will just look so much better in color. Anyway, I thought you guys would like to know that little update… I have no date yet on the iPad version. I did talk to my editor on the phone, and everything is moving forward!

Daily Photo – The Artist’s Palette in Rotorua

Isn’t this spot awesome? I did not expect all this geothermal activity in New Zealand — it was just as impressive as Yellowstone.

This area of the north island is called Rotorua. This, specifically is the Champagne Pool at the Artist’s Palette at the Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland. The term “Wonderland” always makes me think of a cheap attraction on the side of the road where you can buy rubber snakes after the kids have had a great time and the parents are bored out of their skulls. But this Wonderland really was a Wonderland for all ages! I made a few videos here as well… I need to get around to editing these things together for y’all!

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D3X, Rotorua, Topaz Adjust, Travel