Angkor Wat was really more of a fortress than it was a temple.

There is a massive moat that encircles the complex.  I can only imagine how long it took peasants to dig a thousand years ago.  I also wonder how they all drank fresh water back then.  I know I couldn’t go more than 10 minutes walking around the area without needing a drink.  The massive heat, humidity, and standing water was a perfect recipe for cavalcade of bacteria to rise up and fight back.  I don’t suppose they all boiled their water.  Maybe everyone was just more hardy back then…  Luckily, when I was there, there were plenty of little children running around selling me bottled water.  Which, upon further reflection, I probably should not have drank.

I found this daunting chap while trekking to northern India. We stopped to rest on the long road to Agra at a fairly imposing little structure on the side of the road. I was curious to see if I could find a drink or maybe a bit of food.

As I approached, this guy stood out front. I was pretty sure he didn’t speak English. We regarded one another for a bit. I tried to survey the authenticity of his weapon and the his circumspect agility. He examined at my anachronistic garb and camera for a bit. Then I gave him the international symbol for, "Can I take a photo?" He stiffened proudly in a pose. I took a quick shot, nodded, then passed by to see what he was guarding within.

I think, as Americans, we are over-the-top interested in European train stations. I really enjoy them. I don’t know why… they just seem like really interesting places to be. This is part of the train station in Leipzig — the part after you get off the train and go into the shopping area.

Curiously, if you look at the large or original size, you can see taxi cabs driving through the inside of the mall. I do not have a full explanation for this.

Isn’t this just the perfect kind of place to take this sort of photo? I say it is! I almost don’t even know what to say about this place, and anything I say about it would only take away from it!

The only interesting thing about this is that I was in a tremendous hurry to take this shot and get to another destination. I think I had literally 45 seconds to take the shot. I prepared for it… got all the camera settings right, ran into what I felt was the perfect spot, ripped off some shots, then got right back on the road. Afterward, naturally, I was happy to see that everything worked out as expected.

One thing we always ask for, as part of the deal, is for the companies to send us a copy of the final product. So we get several of these kinds of things a week, and it is always cool! I get excited and giddy to see my work used in creative ways across many mediums. Here is one we recently got of a poetry book that used on of my Indonesian pics on the cover. I put the orig below, along with a few other shots from that temple.

I end up throwing all of this stuff into these giant boxes in my office. I don’t know what I will do with them! They just kinda pile up… I should have a giveaway some day! 🙂

You know, I was just realizing that I spent a nice part of last summer digging up dinosaurs with Jack Horner in the badlands of Montana, and I’ve hardly posted any photos!

Well, now we are starting to get a “bit” closer to the dinosaurs… Here we are, descending down through the sandstones of time into the belly of the beast. Just a few more feet down, and we are getting into the cretaceous. Getting from the top to the bottom is a little treacherous, but I find it helps to follow a smart paleontologist when trying to figure out the best way to traverse the mudstones.

Not too far from here, I picked up a hadrosaur vertebrae, which I now keep here on my desk at home, among a panoply of other 90 million year old dinosaur fossils that I was lucky enough to find.

I’ve said this to a few people while talking about this place, but I’m not sure anyone believes me. This is the slipperiest place in the world. It’s completely unbelievable. I don’t know how many people die here every year, but it’s gotta be a high number. The ice is already slick, but when the mist from the waterfall settles on top of it, there is some eerie superconductivity achieved and then all frictional bets are off.

I did slip down onto my back at one point. It was pretty jarring, since I put 99% of my effort into saving my camera! Thank goodness it was a flat part… because if it was slanted, there was only one direction I would have slid.

This is the Gulfoss waterfall in Iceland. It’s pretty intense… and I don’t really recommend getting too close in the winter, in case you could not sense the trepidation before…

I was barefoot like the rest of them.

The day must have been around 95 degrees and as stuffy as can be, but the cool marble seemed to keep me from being drenched in sweat. After a long walk, I had finally made it to the inner core of the Taj Mahal, around the main tomb structure where pilgrims from all over the country had gravitated. The faithful coiled in long lines and snaked their way around the complex, waiting patiently to reflect at the megamausoleum and communing with the god of their choice. How could a billion people be wrong?

When I travel, I actually always enjoy talking to Indians (or whoever) about their religion. Here is a little thing I do… I’m not sure it’s totally ethical since I say the same thing over and over, but I enjoy seeing people’s reaction as a probe a panoply of personalities. Inevitably, when I’m in a taxi or man-powered trike-mobile, there is some sort of deity that is jiggling about on the dashboard or handlebars. It can be anyone from Shiva to Brahma to Vishnu to Krishna to Ganesha and beyond.

So, I always ask, “Who is the god to whom you pay reverence?”

They respond quickly and directly, usually naming one from of the top ten from the pantheon of possibilities.

I respond back, in all seriousness, “Oh! He is a very powerful god!”

To this, they always turn to me and nod gravely.

My guide there was from no from one of the traditional Hindu sects — he was a Jain. The Jain don’t recognize the divine origins of the Vedas (made popular in the US from Oppenheimer’s re-quote after testing the Bomb), nor do they believe in any one supreme deity. They instead revere Tirthankaras who have raised themselves to divine perfection. So anyway, if you ever try out the little trick above, don’t bother with a Jain because they will just give you a funny look and a wobble of inconsequential solitude.

So if any of you get the chance to go, I recommend it.  The people are all nice as can be and very eager to engage in conversation about just about everything.  Or, of you’ve already been, then you know what I mean!

By the way, this comes from my new Lucis Tutorial.

These old tractors are always interesting to photograph. I don’t know why! I really have no penchant for tractors one way or another, but they have a nice feeling about them for some reason, especially with a pastoral scene in the background… like a cabin with smoke coming out of the chimney. And just in case that chimney runs out of firewood, there seems to be a bit extra right around here somewhere…. now where did I put that extra bolt of wood?

Thanks all of you that were able to come out to my talk last night. I hope it was entertaining for y’all! The good people at CapMac said there was a good crowd there with just over 100 people. There were some very interesting questions, and everyone seemed very nice and affable. We’ll have to do it again next time – thank you all for coming – sorry I could not meet all of you! 🙂

This, below, is the Fig Tree restaurant on the River Walk in San Antonio. If you’ve never been around there for a walk, I highly recommend it. It’s a very touristy thing to do, but, still, it’s cool. And if you like Mexican food (who doesn’t???), there are a million restaurants right there on the river.

It’s all great for people watching. I always like to watch couples walk by and play, secretly, "Do those two look like they belong together?" That probably sounds like a weird game to play, but I can’t help it!