2014, Day 206 - Zip

It's amazing how much freight we move.  Sometimes I wonder if we wouldn't be better off making more things locally instead of shipping the same stuff all over the world.  With globalization we lose our uniqueness, everything becomes a blur of sameness.  Ingenuity is sacrificed to efficiency and that is disappointing so to you I say, embrace your uniqueness, take a chance on something different and enjoy the experience.

Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 24-105/f4L IS
73mm, f8, 8 sec @ 200 ISO

2012, Day 260 - Like a bolt

Trains are what made this country possible, they connected one coast to the other and allowed greater expansion than the world had seen in generations.  Now they primarily move goods and materials but there is something nostalgia about train travel, maybe because it isn't a very common form of transportation anymore so it isn't something people commonly embark upon.  Air travel has lost its glamour but train travel still has a special feeling about it.

This was taken on my last-minute excursion and it was a fast moving passenger train so there was little time to set up the shot.  Still, I like the light trails, something about it reminds me of the Delorean from Back to the Future.

Canon 1D X, Canon 50/f1.2L
50mm, f8, 4 sec @ 320 ISO

2012, Day 187 - Evening bustle

The warm weather seems to be settling on the Pacific NW now and the forecast promises weather that is consistently warm and free of rain.  I am not a warm weather kind of person, it is part of the reason I fled from California to the coolness and rain of Portland ten years ago.  Still, having grown up in California, there is something that I love about cool summer evenings.  They provide respite from the heat of the day and the world looks so different as most of the city slumbers.  It also feels naughty being up so late and walking the dogs.  I love that calmness, the relative stillness of the late night.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
21mm, f8, 1/6 sec @ 640 ISO

2012, Day 34 - Like a flash

What a hectic day, it was filled with appointments and meeting up with great people but I am exhausted.  The day ended with a little photo adventure in one of Portland's industrial neighborhoods.  Brian Matiash kindly allowed me to use his Tilt/Shift lens and off we set.  Less than five minutes into our shoot we noticed a train coming an a snail's pace so we were able to prepare for it as part of our composition.  I like this shot in particular because the cars going by were partially open so you can see the structures beyond and I like the reflection off the train because it makes it look like it is jumping to warp speed.  Jeez, I am such a nerd...

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to get out there again.  I have one image in particular that I am anxious to share but it will have to wait until it is perfect :)

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 24/f3.5L Tilt/Shift
24mm, f8, 20 sec @ 320 ISO

2010, Day 363 - Point A to B

That's it, the end of my adventures in Thailand. This morning we were picked up by an slightly insane man who drove 90 kph through Bangkok to the freeways where he drove at 140 kph and managed to make a twenty minute drive out of what should have taken a half hour or more.

We flew from Bangkok's quite excellent and slightly mall-like Suvarnabhumi Airport to Tokyo Narita and then on to San Francisco where I took BART to Richmond and from there was driven back to my parent's house by my sister Laura and my mother. I will probably stay in California for a few days to recover from my jet-lag and celebrate New Years.


The end of the terminal at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.


The room of shame at Narita, also known as the "Smoking Lounge" with a built-in pixelation bar to protect the privacy of the afflicted.


BART, almost done with hours and hours of travel.