Travels in Gorkhaland and Sikkim Part I

I guess with most trips you feel like you leave in a huff, but this time as I locked my door with the giant padlock and hurried off to find a rickshaw I felt particularly huffed. Maybe I left unprepared; I hadn't planned enough; hadn't packed enough. In fact, the only thing I had any idea about was the wedding, the entire reason for my trip to Calcutta.

My flight is delayed an hour. No, three hours now. I receive a call from the airline saying one hour again. The IndiGo rep. at the counter says its back to three hours…perfect! I can perform my preflight ritual: sitting on the floor of the airport bookstore and frantically writing phone numbers and directions out of their newest edition Lonely Planet into the front cover of To Kill A Mockingbird. At least now I know I have to go to Sudder St. in Calcutta to find 'cheap' bedding.

I fly through the first half of The DaVinci Code in the three hour flight and find myself waiting in line for a prepaid taxi still with my nose in the book. I look up to see a familiar face. For the second time in an Indian airport of a distant city of millions of people I run into the family I am meeting later in the week who are at the airport to pick up someone else. (This happened in Delhi two years ago as well).

The city is covered in an ever-present haze, particularly evident at night, glowing in the streetlights. The taxi driver drops me on what he says is Sudder St, but I soon find out he only got me close. I wander around in the fog asking for a guesthouse no one has heard of. Eventually I figure out I'm not on the right street.

"Two hundred fifty." The room is all right, but I've been told I can get much cheaper. "Full" "Full" "Three hundred thirty." Well, ok. I'll take 250. "Sorry mate, I got the last one." 330 then. "We're full now." 400, full. 500 is the last. Guh, ok 500 rupees. It's after midnight when I settle down into the single room with queen size bed.

I spend the next morning searching for a cheaper room, but the events of the night before repeat themselves. I settle for 350/- and immediately pass out on the bed. I wake by 3pm and hurry to start the errands I had planned to do that day. Taking a shinny metro and then rickety wooden busses. I arrive at the Nepal Consulate. In Wizard of Oz fashion, I little old man peaks through a giant metal door and tells me, "Go away. Come back tomorrow." I am not coming back tomorrow.



Keep Reading! More photos and story!

Travels in Gorkhaland and Sikkim Part II

It's cold. After playing guitar around the fire and chess with a guy from Israel named Amos I retire to my room. I haven't showered in a few days so I decide to take advantage of the hot water shower. Once under the steamy jets I didn't want to turn off the water. I could already feel my hair freezing while still showering. I jump into my freezing bed under two wool blankets and two bulky divans. I cannot get warm. I think I slept for an hour total through the night with my feet feeling like ice cubes. I got out of bed with a terrible headache and ate breakfast. Gul, an Israeli, invited me to check out a local monastery with him.

The walk up is intimidating. The monastery sits on top of the next peak over from the town. The road up looks like what you'd find on a Japanese Tapestry, with the path zigzagging up the mountain ahead of us, but we get to the top before we know it. The views are peaceful and incredible, the mountain falling away abruptly from where we sit. Gul and I sit and talk about the stupidity of wars and the possibility of religions living peacefully with each other as we listen to the wind blow through the Tibetan prayer flags.



More Stories and Pictures! After the jump -->

Muktangan School

This week I did another photoshoot for ATMA at a school called Muktangan. It is a groundbreaking school that serves as model for other schools to follow in new education theory. I shot all day and almost 800 frames. I was dead tired after the shoot from all the screaming kids. I got home and started to upload the files. Lightroom told me there were only about 350 images on my card, 200 of which were viewable. With a frantic call to Canon and use of the SanDisk File Recovery Software, all was fixed.

I am flying out this afternoon for Calcutta and will be hitting up Darjeeling and possibly Bangladesh or Nepal, not sure which. Will check in soon.






More Photos after the jump!

Rock Climbing Again! In India!

Before I even got to Bombay I started researching the climbing community. I found a climbing wall that is set just off of a school grounds in an area called Goregaon. The community at the wall is very active and dedicated, immediately accepting me and inviting me to join them regularly on their real rock adventures. Three weeks ago I went climbing in the Sanjay Ghandi National Park, which sits inside the limits of Mumbai Municipalities. It is an impressive park with large forests topping several 'mountains' that roll through it.

My friend Vinay invited me out to top rope some climbs with his friend Sharad, another photographer. It was good to be on real rock again, but I was terribly out of shape, having not really trained for climbing in over 5 months.



Photo credit: Sharad Chandra Khiyali
bouldering in Sanjay Ghandi National Park

Don't stop here! More Photos and more of the story! -->

Dharavi - Reality Cares

It finally happened. After the shoot getting postponed day after day, we set the schedule for Monday morning. I meet Vinay, my assistant, at the train station, then meet Eva on a bridge by Dharavi, the largest slum in Mumbai and India, and one of the largest in Asia. Spread out over 175 hectares, or 0.67 square miles, nearly 1 million people cram into this relatively small space making it one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the world.

I was asked to keep my camera in my bag for the majority of the 'tour' of the slums so that the people don't feel like a spectacle or caged animals. This is frustrating because there is a lot to photograph. When I saw this scene, I could not help but getting out my camera.









There's more to the story! More Photos! Keep reading -->

Recoil

One night on the train I thought I should make a short film. I visualized some shots and lighting, and when I got home at two in the morning I started filming. I filmed one more night and then started editing. This is what came out after a couple of days of editing. I am pleased with this experiment and would like to look into more video projects.


Recoil from D Scott Clark on Vimeo.

I don't know why it looks squished, Vimeo did that for some reason.

Couch Surfers

I have started hosting Couch Surfers at my apartment, and I decided to document each one if they agree. Here are the first two.

Jörn from Germany

 

Little bit of a mess up, but I like it.

Natalie from New Zealand

Broken Equipment, Blessings from Canon

The last few nights I've been filming a short film in my apartment, just experimenting with lighting and angles. I am excited to finish editing and see what it looks like all together. I am enjoying this venture into video and the learning process that comes along with it. Monday night I had my camera all set up for a shot and was doing some test runs before I did the actual shot. On my camera, 5DMarkII, you have press the "Set" button at the center of the scroll wheel to start and stop, as well as preview the video. I was previewing the last test before doing the actual shot and when I pressed in the button, it never came out. I tried tapping it, using gravity, finding something to suction it out - nothing worked. I called CanonUSA and they said I needed to send it in for repairs. If I were in the US, it would fully be covered under warranty, but Canon India doesn't have to honor my warranty.

I am only two train stops away from the Canon India Master Service Center, so yesterday I set out with a list of errands to do on my way: Buy bus tickets, pay internet bill, get pictures printed, etc. I was an hour and half into the errands and walking toward the station when I remembered...I didn't put my camera in my bag. I HATE when that happens. I had to walk back to the bus station, run after the bus I needed (everyone stares at the white guy sprinting down the road after the big red bus), run to my apartment and grab the camera, and run back to the bus stop to try and catch the bus on its return trip. By this point I am hot and sweaty. Running needlessly in Mumbai is not recommended.

The Customer Care Representative recognizes me immediately when I walk in the door. I have met him too many times before. He calls me over and asks, "What is it this time?" Well, I have a present for you. He takes the camera into the repair shop and asks me to wait to see if they can just pop the button back out. After a bit he calls me in to show me moisture inside the body. Apparently its not as water tight as it claims to be (I've had it in the rain several times). "It might need some repairs, it will take 3-4 days." Buh, I need the camera, but I have my 20D back up, so its standable. I'm packing up my stuff to leave and he comes bounding out..."The button just popped back out, we're putting it back together and will have it out in a second. I'm just going to charge you inspection fees." Awesome! Instead of $50 mandatory maintenance fee they charge me $4.25 inspection fee. I am thankful for this man helping me out. I do feel like having past working relationship with him before helped though.

The Dharavi slum school pictures were post-poned last friday and have not been rescheduled yet. I will post the update after they occur.

Another School Post full of Chillins

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going out of the big city to a small village area about two and half hours north by train. After a long bumpy bus ride I arrived at the school. The director of the school is an incredible woman named Patricia that took over operations about three years ago, but she has been involved with the school for a while. She had been sending children affected by HIV/AIDS to the school, but on closer inspection found it sub par. She started getting investment and government grants to build better facilities, from proper bathrooms to classrooms. The school houses about 500 at risk students who live on the campus. Some are orphans, some have parents that are constantly moving or can't support them, but some live in the surrounding areas. The children have a large garden where they grow vegetables and fruit, and they are in charge of landscaping the campus. Patricia made it sound like they didn't have to be told what to do, the kids wanted it to look nice. The students are taught in Marati, the local language, Hindi, and English. Many of the students excel and are sent on to good universities. The teachers are enthusiastic and the children seem to be very happy. They are well fed and healthy. I asked about organized sports and Patricia reported that a girl from the school just placed 6th in the state track and field meet, and the boys have the best cricket team in the area. I was very impressed by everything that I saw and would love to go back and spend more time with the kids.

The students keep everything they do very neat and orderly, even their shoes outside the classroom

The library is lacking in books and an organization system, but there is plenty of room in the newly renovated hall. The children love to check out what books they have. I finished "Gulliver's Travels" on the way to the school, so I donated it to them.
The school has the only chemistry/biology/physics lab in the area
I just loved the lighting on these bags coming from a skylight in the dorms





More photos after the break! Click -->

Chapter 1 - Diu, Gujarat, West India

October 23
I have lived in India now for four and half months and I had yet to travel far beyond the cities of Hyderabad and Bombay before spontaneously leaving over a week ago to join my friend in Ahmedabad. Stephen Keefauver came from Bloomington on the night of the 17th November, flying over a Bombay sky filled with fireworks. After a pretty quick tour of Bombay he headed off to Ahmedabad while I struggled to supply my apartment with working internet. Everything was finally installed on Thursday, so Friday I go to the tourist office in CST train station to buy a last minute ticket to Ahmedabad. Luckily I get on the train that leaves at 8:30pm and gets me to Ahmedabad around 5am.

October 24
Stephen meets me at the train station and we walk the kilometer and half or so to the Gujarat State Bus Station where we plan on taking a bus to the island of Diu. Stephen had already seen all of Ahmedabad, and I was not severely interested. We take a relaxing breakfast before loading on a bus that would torture us for the next 11 hours. The bus left at 8am and we are told we should arrive around 2pm. Sounds good. Stephen and I find comfortable enough seats by a window that opens all the way, but our knees stick squarely into the plastic backing of the seats in front of us. When the seats in front of us are occupied we find the fellows' heads right in front of our chins; the seat backs almost completely broken. We are completely trapped and uncomfortable but not the worst off - many are stuck standing. Around 2pm we ask how much longer. "Oh, about 4 hours." But you said…??? We arrive after 7pm in the most wretched of conditions, tired of being cramped up in that cage. Not only were we cramped, but a group of local boys badgered us the entire 11 hours. Miserable I was.

Read more after the break! Lots of Photos!

Chapter 2 - Bhuj, Gujarat, West

October 28
The seats are not broken - that is a major plus to this bus - and it is overnight so we get some amount of sleep, but it stops so often and the guys on the bus will not stop talking to us. They cannot believe that I cannot take Indian Chai (milk and tea) and every time we stop they again try to make me drink some. We finally reach Bhuj around 6:00am and stumble through the city trying to find our hotel. We ask people on every corner and they give us different directions, pointing this way and that. Eventually a woman tells us it's just down this little alley.

The City Guest House is much larger than I expected, three stories and built like a proper hotel with rooms overlooking a courtyard. We awake the workers sleeping on the floor of the office and they deliver us to our simple room on the first floor, then we sleep till sometime in the afternoon. We rent peddle bicycles and roam around the city, struggle up the road on the hill with a wall that resembles the Great Wall of China, and finally make it to the police station where we get permission to visit the outlying villages between Bhuj and Pakistan. I had the whole day been traveling around with my heavy backpack on full of photo gear, and I reached inside to pull out my camera. My lenses are there, my accessories, but no camera! I had forgotten that I took out my camera to repack the backpack and left the camera sitting on my bed. I carried all that weight all day for absolutely no reason!

Lots of photos! Read on -->

Cute Chillins

This week I started a project for an NGO that works on education for children who would otherwise wind up on the streets. This particular school works with special education. The day was frustrating sometimes, but over all it was good. Plus I didn't have any equipment failures!




Read More after the Jump --> A lot more photos!

Broken Chacos - Unthinkable

About a month ago I was playing cricket with some local kids in south Bombay. After a big hit I took off running and something snapped on my right Chaco. The outside heel riser had completely separated. I was is absolute awe that my indestructible Chacos broke.

Chaco asked me to send pictures for proof and to see if they will replace them. I hope they will, would be awfully nice of them.







I shot these on my floor with my Canon speedlite 430EX as the back light bouncing off my white wall and my 580EXII on board my camera either bouncing off the ceiling or as a fill, stopped down to 1/64th power.

Work!

Things are happening here in Mumbai along with the very unseasonal rains (people say they have never seen rain in November, and it is forecast to continue into next week!). I spent last weekend in Hyderabad visiting some friends and attending a wedding. I will just say that I am glad that I am not an Indian and will not have to endure my own Indian wedding. Not for me...

I am finishing up my visual journal from my trip with my friend Stephen around the state of Gujarat. There were some great adventures and some exciting photo opportunities.

Today I did some volunteer work for an NGO. My photographs of school children and teachers will be used in a calendar to sell to corporates to raise money for the NGO. It was fun and frustrating working with the children. Should be some good results. I played around with using my ring flash as a defused key light, which worked out very nicely with great prospects for future use. There should be some more work for the calendar in the next couple of weeks.

I am working with a friend who is an actor, doing some headshots and personality photos, as well as working on a stop-action project he is directing.

I have also stepped into the shoes of a graphic designer, working on a logo and design for a clothing company start up that has a focus on helping rescue women from the sex-slave trade in India and train them in skills so they can earn a living. I am excited to be involved in the project and hope to see it come to reality. I hopefully will have more information on that in coming months.

My broken photo equipment should be fully repaired and returned to me within another week, so I can go out and start doing some more portfolio work in nearby high-end hotels. Once I am happy with the work I have I will start presenting to architecture and interior design magazines.

I am excited to be doing work again. Not doing purposeful work for almost 4 and half months was draining on me. I will have photo updates soon! Cheers!

The Climbing Of Mt. Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia

I have uploaded a new video that tells the story of climbing Mt. Rinjani on the island of Lombok in Indonesia. I am enjoying working with video. I would like to develop it some more.

Climbing Mt. Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia from D Scott Clark on Vimeo.

Sketches

I have been wanting to draw more. I would like to try and draw something every day, but I fail daily. A few weeks ago I went to a village a few hours north of Mumbai with a friend. I was asked not to take photos so when I ventured out I sat and drew for a while. I was in a quite valley surrounded by small mountains. Children sat quietly around me while I drew, whispering to each other and looking over my shoulder. After I finished this I asked one of the boys if he wanted to draw something (asked is a stretch. I tried to motion to him to take my pen and draw), but he declined so I started drawing a portrait of him. When I tore it out, signed it, and had him sign his name on it, he ran and proudly showed it to his mother. I have to say I was actually proud of the portrait. I do miss drawing.

The edge of India

Right now I am in the city of Bhuj, about 100km from the border of Pakistan. I have been traveling with my friend Stephen for the past few days, which I will update when I get back about all of that. There has been some amazing sights and some frustrating equipment failures. Highlight...riding on the roof of a train from Una to Junaghadh. Awesome.

I have Internet!

This is exciting. Finally I can reach the world without leaving my apartment. It is what I have dreamed of and toiled for two months to attain! Let us hope it lasts.

I think I am going to Ahmedebad tomorrow by train to meet up with my friend Stephen. We might go to the beaches of Diu and then the city of Nasik. I am excited since I have not really gotten to travel around proper India much at all.

Chapter One: The Journey - Bali and Lombok, Indonesia

Here it is, the big update. Enjoy. Let me know what you think.

I spent two weeks in Indonesia. Here is my journal along with selected photos.

I am happy to get these up here, but frustrated doing it from a cyber cafe. Hopefully I will have the internet by the end of the week, fingers crossed.

Sept 16
I shouldn't be here, in Indonesia. It wasn't a "smart thing" to do, especially since I have no source of income. But hey, when invited to Indonesia to trek an active volcano, who can say no?

It took me a month to find and settle into my apartment in Mumbai. Looking back I do not know why it took so long, but now its done, the living room painted and the apartment mostly furnished to my liking (I only need to get a desk for my office and shelves for the kitchen). Just when its time to buckle down and start looking for work, I leave for a two week holiday in Indonesia. Ah well, it's good to get away and refocus.

I wait for my Egypt Air flight with only four other passengers. When they call for boarding we look around thinking, this can't be right? But once we get on board we see faces in most of the seats looking back at us.

Five hours I spend trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, interrupted only by bad American movies and a terrible in-flight meal. The Kuala Lumpur airport's architecture amazes me. It is spectacular, though strangely enough I had a hard time figuring out how toe capture it. I experience the same feeling I get when coming into any airport I am not familiar with: it just takes a bit to get your bearings. On the plane the crew had handed me a health information card, which I filled out, but as I wait in line at immigration it becomes apparent they did not give me an immigration card. I have to get out of line and fill out a card at a table
behind the lines. Two middle eastern guys intently watch me as I do this, and when I finish I ask if they need my pen. No, they need me to fill out their forms; they cannot read or speak English. They are from Iraq and are staying for one month, but do not have the address of where they are staying. Communication is difficult but I enjoy this sort of challenge. I fill out their forms and an elderly Indian man and his wife ask me to help them on their forms. I am able to use some of the Hindi I am learning to speak.

I ask a security guard once I pass through security if there is somewhere I can wait for my flight that leaves in 12 hours. He points and says, "Fifth Floor." I find a bench facing a large window with padded seats that makes a surprisingly comfortable bed for the night. It is better than paying $50 for a room near the airport.

Sept 17


 View More Photos and Read More Stories After the Break! Click Here -->

Chapter 2: The Climb

Sept 19
In the morning we meet a driver from the Lombok Network Tours who takes us to the starting point of the trek, about 1,000 meters above sea level. The peak lumbers dauntingly above us at 3,726 meters, or 12,224 ft. We start up with little fanfare, walking through fields and forests. Above the forest we reach a seemingly never-ending savannah of swaying chest high red, yellow and green grass rolling in and out of ravines and canyons snaking their way up the mountain. Stationary lone trees give stark contrast to the constantly swaying sea of grass.




View More Photos and Read More Stories! Click Here -->

Chapter 3: Snorkeling

Sept 22


Six of us sit across from each other in a traditional boat barely wide enough for one person to sit staring over the side with his back touching one gunwale and his knees touching the bench on the opposite gunwale, but the boat reaches some twenty five feet long. Two outriggers keep the skinny craft stable in the mostly untame open waters. To our port side, Lombok's colorful and varied landscape flies by. Multicolored fishing boats line palm tree laden white beaches surrounded by steep and angular peaks, and frothy white spray rising from the azure sea against black rocky cliffs highlight the point. Our excitement builds as we near our first snorkeling location, Gilli Tarawang.

The beautiful white beach lined with seemingly wrongly placed deciduous trees and very still water inspires the remark, "If not for the blue blue water, I could mistake this for a beach somewhere along lake Michigan in the summer." Identically shaped boats with a multitude of color schemes break the monotony of the white sands, haphazardly run ashore and anchored in the sand. The passengers eagerly disembark and don mask and fin to discover what the lazy waves hide beneath there blue exterior.

The previous evening I had entered into conversation with a friendly Uzbekistani by the pool who traveled with his two brothers, both of which knew little English. I told him we were going snorkeling the next day and he asked to split the cost of the boat. We gladly agreed.

Not only did the brothers not speak English, neither of the two could swim. They comically paired their mask and fins with brightly colored life vest and made sure not to wander too far from land. They quickly tired and disappeared among the single row of shops and "warung", local restaurants, lining the beach behind the oddly placed deciduous trees.

Beneath the azure lining of the sea lies many colorful creations and coral formations, each continually moving with the vacillations of the current. I take my Canon Powershot G10 down with me, protected by a waterproof casing that took far too much effort and money to get to me in Mumbai. The pictures and video I attempt do not give the scene justice. Sometimes these mediums are not sufficient. Only the lens and optic nerves of the eye, anvil and hammer of the ear, and scent neurons of the nasal passages sufficient to capture, and the hindmost hippocampus are sufficient for the projecting of these memories.

View More Photos and Read More Stories After The Break! Click Here -->
--------------------------

Chapter 4: Kuta, Lombok

Sept 23
We have a lazy morning since we are not meeting our driver till 10am. With our breakfast of jam and toast momentarily satisfying our active appetites, we check out and jump into the waiting SUV outside the gate. Settled into our seats for the hour and half journey to Kuta we are surprised when the driver pulls off the road only after two minutes.

The temple is perched on a rocky point jutting into the sea. The weathered rock forms a cave directly underneath the structure, adorned with silly and scary statues. Locals of all ages dressed in traditional hats and clothes line the walkway, busy making little baskets from leaves that hold incense and are laid by doorways and in roads.

See, silly statues

You just have to laugh

View More Photos and Read More Stories After the Break! Click Here -->

Chapter 5: Traveling Alone Again. Ubud and Mt. Batur

Sept 25
We jump into a SUV we arranged with a local to take us to Mataram, the main city of Lombok and the location of the airport. The driver speaks no English and Kara has trouble communicating in Bahasa, but we make our way to the inn where we had made reservations then onto the airport to drop off Kim. Kara and Kim have an emotional goodbye, then Kara and I head off to explore Mataram; which by the way seems to have nothing really to offer.

Sept 26
Kara wakes up and leaves by five a.m.; I groggily give her a goodbye hug and she is gone and I return to sleep. I wake up on my own around seven. One of the benefits of going to bed around nine or ten every night for two weeks is I start waking up at six and seven on my own.

I eat my "breakfast" of a piece of toast already spread with orange jam waiting outside my door and find an ojek, motorbike transport, to take me to the gathering point for bemos, the local van transports, heading to the Lembar harbor where I will catch the ferry back to Bali. I had agreed on a price with a certain driver the night before and after strapping my backpack to the roof, get in expecting to go soon. An elderly woman already inside looks like she's been waiting for some time. I sit and journal until I realize we're still not going anywhere, and its been an hour and half and the bemo is completely full. I am not sure what the driver is expecting. Finally, the doors close and the engine roars and we take off, stopping to cram even more locals in and drop others along the way.

View More Photos and Read More Stories After the Break! Click Here -->

Chapter 6: Nusa Lembongan

Sept 28
The hot water thermos and tea always await my waking just outside my door on the porch with bamboo chairs and a hammock hanging from the posts at the Jungut Inn. I let my tea seep as I enjoy swinging in the hammock while reading about Ishmael and Ahab chasing an infamous white whale through the southern oceans. One of the workers delivers my breakfast of a banana pancake and informs me I will have to pay the owner of the bike for the damage I caused. I inquire of how much expecting something around $100 and planning to offer a fair $50 for only cosmetic damage. He returns and says the owner wants 150,000 rupiah, $15. I am fine with that.

A white van waits for me outside the guesthouse filled with other westerners heading to various destinations at 9:30. Of course I am late reporting and everyone watches me struggling to carry my over laden packs, limping from my foot and wincing from my arm. The van drops me off at Sanur beach where the public boat embarks for the island of Nusa Lembongan. I wade up to my mid thigh in the calm sea and lift myself aboard the vessel, a larger version of the boat we took to the Gilli Islands off Lombok.

View More Photos and Read More Stories After the Break! Click Here --> 

Chapter 7:Heading Home

Sept 30
I wake up and look at my watch. 5:55 A. M. Thank you God for the wake up call. I start packing and hear my 6am wake up, a worker knocking on my door at yelling in at me. I take my packed bags and have a seat at the abandoned restaurant over looking the beach shining in the early morning light. Surfers bob up and down in the distance. My entire time sitting I only see one take a wave for a ride. At seven the workers come out and I order breakfast. A man selling tickets to the public boat comes by and says we can get on at 8am.

Emma on the boat crossing back to Bali.

View More Photos and Read More Stories After the Break! Click Here --> 

Bali and Lombok

I am back from my two week holiday in Bali and Lombok, Indonesia. It was a great time but its good to be back in good ol' hotn sweaty mumbai. I will have a full update for you soon, journaling my experiences.

India Rule #247

Just because you see the sign for the business you want to visit the next day does not mean that said sign will be there when you go back the next day.

I walked up and down the street looking for this gym. I asked people and they pointed me in all the wrong directions. Finally the following day I see the tattered remains of the sign I had seen earlier.

Forgive me

It's been a while. I really don't have a great excuse for why I have not updated in almost a month except I have not had reliable internet. I am still fighting with companies to get a connection in my apartment. On the other hand the positive side of not having internet is I've almost got my living room painted. I doubt that would have happened had I had internet. I will give more detailed updates soon. I am doing well. I am leaving for Bali, Indonesia next Wednesday and will be back October 1st. I just got a waterproof case for my Canon G10 camera...excited to use it in Indonesia.

Cheers.

Cynthia

I have been wanting to play around with a fashion shoot for a long time. As soon as I met Cynthia a while back I asked her if I could use her for a photoshoot. We scheduled to shoot this past Saturday without have a definitely plan. I had some ideas but had a hard time vocalizing them to her. We met up in the afternoon at a shopping center. She had brought some traditional clothes, but I wanted something quite a bit more edgy. So we went shopping. I picked out a dress thingy that we both liked and eventually made it back to my place where I had planned to use a beautiful white wall as the backdrop.

Sounds of the Nations

This shoot was a lot of fun despite the destruction of equipment involved. Many of these images are too small to see on here. They can be seen larger on my Behance Network portfolio.