Vietnam :: Hanoi & Ha Long Bay PhotosHanoi, Vietnam

I've recently just signed up for Photoshelter again, they had a 30-day Free offer I couldn't refuse! 

I've started to upload my archive there, with hopes of getting some better exposure, sales, and SEO online.  My trip to Vietnam earlier this year was first on the list for this upload.  Below are a couple galleries from the start of the trip.


Hanoi

Hanoi - Vietnam - Images by Alex Evans

Ha Long Bay

Halong Bay - Vietnam - Images by Alex Evans

A Long Hiatus

A long hiatus from this blog...over a year!!  But I'm back and have resolved to get some regular posting in.

I've recently revisted my ambitions of becoming a pro photographer.  While, at this rate the going has been very slow, I'm excited at the possibility of growing my knowledge and skills as a photographer.  And if it takes a while, if ever, to reach that label "PRO" then so be it.

I haven't been shooting nearly as much as I should be, but I think that's the case with most photographers.  Makes me think of the book title from Chase Jarvis I cam across the other day "The Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography".  I haven't read the book, but inspiring none the less.

A few Photos from 2009:

Vancouver Skyline, Float Plane Overhead

Prince Rupert, British Columbia

Peyto Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta

More Vancouver Photos: Jericho Beach to the Sea Wall

UPDATE: I've now actually moved to Vancouver and have started a blog with daily posts here - Vancouver Daily Photo
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It's interesting that after all the editing, I only chose one colour image and the rest are black and white.  These first three images are from Jericho Beach Park south of downtown Vancouver.  The remaining two images are from a walk around the Sea Wall at Stanley Park.

 

 

 

 

I wanted to get quite a contrast and silhouette in this photo, so I cranked up the dark and light to near max in post production.  Although there is much more detail in the original photo, I really like how the blown out areas and over-dark areas work in this image.

Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver

Vancouver Panorama

I recently grabbed this shot from a series of 7 shots in Vancouver.  I've stitched them together with Hugin, and have been quite impressed with the seamless stitching it produces.

I always find it difficult to appreciate a big panoramic image on the screen, since you have to scroll along at any decent resolution.  The image will definately look better in a separate window (click image).

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UPDATE: I've now actually moved to Vancouver and have started a blog with daily posts here - Vancouver Daily Photo

Theme: Interesting Rock Textures and Formations

After submitting this first image below to a local competition here in Calgary through the Foothills Camera Club, I thought I'd hunt around for some other interesting rock formations in my catalog.  After a bit of searching, I've found these three.

Garganta Del Diablo (Devil's Throat),  Valles Calchaquies, Chile

SD700 IS, 1/60 sec, f/2.8

Mystic Beach, Vancouver Island, Canada

D80, 1/60 sec, f/4.0, ISO100

Atacama Desert, Bolivia

SD700 IS, 1/200 sec, f/5.6

Wintry Calgary Nights

Another couple nights shooting in Calgary with cold fingers and toes. Lugging around a tripod, and some patience brought me these shots. A few different locations, all in the NW of Calgary.

Nikon D80, 20 sec, f/13.0, ISO100

Nikon D80, 30 sec, f/16.0, ISO100

Nikon D80, 30 sec, f/22.0, ISO100

Nikon D80, 18 sec, f/6.7, ISO100

Calgary At Night

One of the joys of living in Calgary is the cold winter and short
daylight hours...wait that doesn't sound right. But it does get
darker earlier this time of year which makes it easier to capture some
night photography right after work - if you're willing to brave the
cold. I tried my hand at some night shots of the city from Nose Hill
park, although the wind picked up a so my tripod was shaking a bit
during exposures.

This last photo took my 18mm up to 55mm over 4 seconds in a zoom burst.

Getting Back to Morocco

I'm finally getting my files more organized and have migrated to Lightroom 2.0 for this process. This process has many many steps, especially when going back to files originally on film. I'll be creating more detailed posts on my digital asset management (DAM) process, but during one of these steps I went back to 2003 for a while, organizing my photos from Morocco. Below are a few favorites.

Around the World in Black & White

I've been using Picasa for a while now, but only now have I used the portable slideshow function. The site makes it pretty easy to present a number of photos for viewing in any website. Below are a number of photos from some of my travels. All in black and white (hence the title of this post), and all geotagged - although you'll have to venture over to the Picasa Web Albums site to see them on a map.

Salt Harvesting in Bolivia

The salt flats in Bolvia stretch for miles, and only a small portion is actually used for salt harvesting. None of the salt leaves Bolivia and is only used for local consumption. It is first scraped into piles (top left), then brought outside the oven (bottom left) to dry a bit more before going to the oven area (top right).

Abstract Patterns

I tend to take a lot of pictures of patterns - sometimes inadvertently, sometimes on purpose.  And when I say 'Abstract' in this sense it's not to such a degree that the actual subject is illegible, just not the main focus of the photo if you're looking at it a certain way.

 

Picture Descriptions:

Door Rivets (Rabat, Morocco)

Wooden Chairs (Sharon Temple, Ontario)

Cafe Tables (Salamanca, Spain)

 

 

Vacouver Island in Black & White

Some of these pictures might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Vancouver Island, or the town of Sidney to be specific.  I had the opportunity to be in Sydney for a couple weeks through my day job and tried to get a bit of different viewpoint on the world around this sleepy little town by Victoria.  All these images were taken in colour, but after sorting through a few of them, I thought these ones looked good, if not better in black and white.

 

Sailboats (Sidney, BC)

Rusty Old Car (Sidney, BC)

Padlock (Sidney, BC)

Old Cheetah Tank Tread (Sidney, BC)

 

 

Theme: Night Photography

We'll start this photo blog off by including my heading picture within the theme: Night Photography. I've been into night photography for a while and the shots above were taken several years apart, from 2002 to 2008. The only one taken with a digital SLR (Nikon D80) is the lightning photo.

Lightning Photo (Calgary, Alberta) - This turned out to be at the right place at the right time, with the storm far enough away not to get any rain, a nice vantage point north of Calgary's Downtown, and a tiny tripod (no idea) for shutter speeds up to 30 seconds.

Mary-Go-Round (Leeds, UK) - Taken with a point and shoot, one of the favorite parts of this photo for me is the 1.50 price still visible in the centre.

Night Market (Marrakech, Morocco) - All I can say about this picture is that I think this is the stall that made me sick for the next week on that trip.

Plaza Mayor (Salamanca, Spain) - One of my favorite and earliest night shots, leaning against a column with my point and shoot, it turned out pretty well - showing the movement of the people.