Live Hangout Tonight!

Time: Thursday 8 PM PT – Your World Time: http://goo.gl/IFwEf
Topic: We’ll start with how we pack photo stuff, particularly what we’ll be bringing for the Yosemite Google+ PhotoWalk! And then… we’ll let the conversation meander in a hangout-kinda-way…
Where? Watch my Google+ stream for the Live On Air YouTube player.

Camera City

And here is another crazy place from China!

Daily Photo – The Sound that of Clattering Wood in the Breeze

Upon entering the oldest part of this ancient town, I passed by these tiny shingles that hung in the air. They made a delightful sound as the wind went through them, and it kind of set the mood for the rest of the exploration.

This woman was holding an umbrella to shield the sun. It did get a little steamy from time to time… I wish I had one too!

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Nikon D3X, Travel

Join me Tuesday, Live on TWIT Photo

Tuesday at 1:30 PM PT I’ll be on live at Live.Twit.TV with Leo. The guest that day will be Dave Cross, so it should be a fun conversation!

Daily Photo – The Digital Aurora Borealis

There’s not many places where you can get a colorful sky in the middle of the night. China seems to be one of the best places to have these strange digital phenomenon.

This place is called “The Place.” It ranks right up there with some of the other awful names of Chinese locations. They should hire a poet or two so these places can sound more exotic. I’d be happier if it was called “Tomorrow Sky” or “The Sea of Matrix.”

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3X, Travel

Thursday Night Hangout

Join us on Thursday!

Time: Thursday 7 PM PT (Your World Time)
Where to watch: www.Vidcastnetwork.com
Topic: Gear Talk! The new Nikon Mirrorless and more… Note, I usually don’t talk about gear… I’m more into the art, but this next generation of cameras is interesting to me. And, I’ll have one of the great experts joining me, +Gordon Laing and some others too. We always open it up to the public too towards the end for Q&A and general hangout fun-nonsense and stuff…

People with personal agendas

This doesn’t happen here on the blog… all you guys are cool and don’t really do this sort of thing, but it happens a lot on Google+. See this thread about this topic.

Daily Photo – The Runner of Blades

More and more cities are giving me that feel of Blade Runner. It’s such a great movie… well, the first half is great. It drags a little after that. Okay okay I know that is blasphemy… just my opinion and everything. I know I should not say such a thing…

Anyway, this is a very trendy place in Beijing. There are many trendy places, all futuristic, all full of cool shopping and restaurants, all great for photography!

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Travel

New eBook – Square

We have a great new eBook – it’s beautiful, educational, and fun. I think you’ll get a lot out of it. Pop over to Flatbooks.com now to get a copy and download immediately!

Here’s what’s inside:

- Learn the history of the square format
- Learn to capture for square and edit with square in mind
- Tutorials for Cropping, Making Vertoramas, and adding borders to your images
- Read an interview case study with Matt Toynbee
- Learn about Holga lenses
- 50+ Pages

Other New Flatbooks Authors

There are so many things happening with Flatbooks.com that I can barely keep up! We have Ben Wilmore writing a new book which should be done pretty soon. Besides Ben, we have all kinds of people writing them now, like Lisa Bettany, Jessica Ambats, Jaime Ibarra, and several others.

And don’t forget about Ron Martinsen’s eBook on Printing, which is another new release.

Daily Photo – Girl Outside Restaurant

I normally don’t re-process photos. Most of you may know this about me. But, I went over to have a little session with Jaime Ibarra (at the same time I talked him into writing an eBook for us!), and I took a few photos with me to work on. This is one of them. He has a very interesting technique, and I thought this would be a good candidate.

I found this girl sitting outside of a restaurant. There’s a dead time around 3 to 4 PM… to late for lunch and too early for dinner. I suppose she worked in the restaurant and was just taking a break…

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3S, Travel

Controversial Car Photos

I asked an innocent question about cars… and I got way more responses than expected. See this crazy Google+ thread!

Daily Photo – The Canals of Lijiang at Night

There must be a hundred little canals spread here and there through the old town. There are so many opportunities for photos! This is what we call a target-rich environment.

This is the town I was in with Tom Anderson — every night we explored a new area. It was an amazing time… I can’t wait to go back some day!

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Nikon D3X, Travel

Facebook Subscribe

I also post photos over on Facebook, and now you can click the “Subscribe” button there. For those of you that already have – thanks! And thanks for all the shares on there… it is still one of the most viral things around.

Daily Photo – Little Girl in China

Chinese kids can be awfully cute. I don’t know why this is… maybe because they are just kinda different… I can’t put my finger on it. They kind of remind me of really cute pets… that is a strange thing to say, but maybe you know what I mean. Anyhoo, I’ve been processing with a few new techniques, and this is one of the results…

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3S, Travel

A raging Android and iPad/iPhone Discussion!

The new app Stuck On Earth accidentally set off a firestorm on Google+ the other day! See the article here. Here is a snippet of the beginning below:

Are Android people easier to anger than iOS people? (Or is it just me?)

So, yesterday, we announced +Stuck On Earth, and the first version is only iPad. Yes, we have plans to build Android, web, iPhone, etc in the future, but the kind of comments I got were often downright angry. !! It was so surprising.

I got comments like, “NO Android App available? Marketing Fail.” and “Android!!!!”

Now, maybe I am just too sensitive about this because it is my baby… and I’ve worked so hard on it and put so much love into it… I can barely stand the slightest critical comment. It eats right into my soul. I dunno… maybe some of you know what I mean.

Now, I can tell you with ontological certainty that making a quality app is HARD. It takes a long time and is expensive. Remember, by the way, this app is free. Ask +Kevin Rose about building apps. I’ve never met that guy, but I know he puts as much love into his work as I do…

When I gave a sneak peak a few weeks ago at the +Jason Calacanis LAUNCH event (where we were awarded Audience Winner! thx!), I was up there on stage by the eHarmony guy. Their app is equal in quality and polish to ours, and Jason speculated that it could have cost over $1 million, and I don’t doubt it!

Daily Photo – Painted Face in China

I was walking along outside the Forbidden City trying to find a special entrance, and I saw these guys sitting on a bench. It was so interesting and amusing… I dropped down on a knee to take a quick photo while things were perfectly strange. What do you think is going on in this photo?

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3S, Travel

Prints before redesign

My SmugMug site is going through a re-design, and it will be even easier to order prints. Currently, if you click through on an image, you can see there is a way to order various types of prints, but it is not as obvious as I’d like it to be.

We also have a more exclusive and limited set (only 50 printed ever) of our photos on metal. It’s the best quality and presentation, if you are looking for something more exclusive. There’s more info on that over in the Prints area of the website.

Daily Photo – Sunset from the Sky

As I was landing in Lijiang, China, I saw this sunset out the window.

I tried not to panic the other passengers as I quickly stood up and hauled my massive camera bag out of the overhead. I tried to be smooth as I ripped open the bag in a frenzied way. I tried not to be too loud as I grunted to pull out my giant camera and jam it into the window.

I was hoping this was a good indication of a nice week of photography in Lijiang — and it was!

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Nikon D3X, Travel

New Video – New Google Talk! Artists and the Internet

Okay, it seems the WRONG video was uploaded by my clever friends at Google! Those guys… hehe… the previous one had all the photos totally blown out and they looked horrible dot com. Anyway, here is the PROPER video… Enjoy

Daily Photo – Great Wall in Evening Light

When I was at the Great Wall that evening, I kept hiking along the old wall as the sun set. I also had a zoom lens (28-300mm) with me, so I was able to get in tight on far away structures and shapes. Not too long after I took this shot, I walked along several lengths of the wall to get to these ruins. I stood there for a long time listening to music and taking photos.

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Photography Tips

Fake Chinese Disneyworld video

Here’s a video I made while at this very strange place…

Daily Photo – Abandoned Chinese Disneyworld

So, outside of Beijing, to the north, is a huge abandoned Disneyland. It was partially built, and now just the husk of it just remains. While driving around, I could have sworn I saw the top of the spires of Cinderella’s castle, so I tried to figure out a way to get in closer. After I finally got inside, well, it was as awesome as an abandoned, fake Disneyland sounds!

The official name and location is the Wonderland Amusement Park Chenzhuang Village, Nankou Town, Changping district. 昌平区南口镇陈

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3X, Travel

China Daily Article

It’s a small world. My Aunt and Uncle are traveling through China now… and they opened the China Daily newspaper there to see this article about me! They were shocked…hehe…

Daily Photo – China Mysteries

This curious place was found in China…

Who can make up a good story about what is happening here? Any guesses as to what it really is while you’re at it?

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3X, Travel

You Use Klout?

I’m still confused by Klout; I keep getting emails that people are klouting me or something. Do you use it?

Daily Photo – Under the Factory

As I explored the abandoned airplane factories in this old section of Beijing, I went down into the basement level to see what I could find. There were all sorts of iron fixtures, strange knobs and wheels, semi-circular openings to kilns that had been bricked closed, and endless layers of peeling, scorched paint.

I wanted to go back to this whole area to explore more, but maybe next time. I think this will be a great area for the next PhotoWalk in Beijing!

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3X, Travel