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!

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.