Travel Diary: Alor Archipelago, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia: Part 2
This is part 2 in the Alor series, so if you haven’t had a chance to look at those images, head here to check out part 1. Not that this is chronological, but go have a look there for more. In any event, Alor just kept delivering in not only photo opportunities, but just as an incredible place for me to be alive. Life seems to slow down for me whenever I’m here. The sounds of the ocean, the handshakes of the people I’ve met, the food… life becomes fairly uncomplicated and being present is the default rather than something I need to consciously tell myself to appreciate. It started to feel like a flow state, and I guess that’s all I can ever ask for…
This is part 2 in the Alor series, so if you haven’t had a chance to look at those images, head here to check out part 1. Not that this is chronological, but go have a look there for more. In any event, Alor just kept delivering in not only photo opportunities, but just as an incredible place for me to be alive. Life seems to slow down for me whenever I’m here. The sounds of the ocean, the handshakes of the people I’ve met, the food… life becomes fairly uncomplicated and being present is the default rather than something I need to consciously tell myself to appreciate. It started to feel like a flow state, and I guess that’s all I can ever ask for…
All of these on the Fuji x100v with the two little lens adapters. Also, I’d love to hear from you. I noticed in previous posts, the images were a bit bigger than some screens could show, so I’m trying this out. You can click on the images below for a larger look, but let me know your thoughts on how this looks compared to previous posts.
Travel Diary: Alor Archipelago, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia: Part 1
If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you’d know how special this place is for me. Alor sits to the far east of Indonesia and while I first started going here for diving (and still do, really) three years ago, I’ve come to appreciate everything above water maybe just as much as the incredible underwater vistas that initially drew me to this awe inspiring place. I only had maybe 30-40 minutes to shoot before hopping on the dive boat each day, but that allowed for morning strolls right when the light was getting good. I ventured out on some afternoons right at golden hour to see what I could find and had a couple of surface intervals on little local islands that provided for some amazing opportunities to meet some incredible craftspeople. That said, shooting wasnt my priority on this trip
If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you’d know how special this place is for me. Alor sits to the far east of Indonesia and while I first started going here for diving (and still do, really) three years ago, I’ve come to appreciate everything above water maybe just as much as the incredible underwater vistas that initially drew me to this awe inspiring place. I only had maybe 30-40 minutes to shoot before hopping on the dive boat each day, but that allowed for morning strolls right when the light was getting good. I ventured out on some afternoons right at golden hour to see what I could find and had a couple of surface intervals on little local islands that provided for some amazing opportunities to meet some incredible craftspeople. That said, shooting wasnt my priority on this trip, but even with the small windows where I could take some images, the opportunities were abundant. Right around the dive shop in Alor Kecil was my main area of shooting and after only a couple of days, I quickly noticed I was recognised as the hellos and handshakes started to emerge. I absolutely love this aspect of shooting when I travel. Using that magical little picture box as a way to break bread and meet new people is probably my favourite part of photography. It becomes not so much about taking photos for photos sake, but more of a record or documentation of all the amazing moments I get to share with people along the way.
For my fellow photo nerds, all of these were on my little Fuji x100v coupled with the two little 28mm and 50mm equivalent adapter lenses. It really is the perfect set up for quick and easy travel photography for what I love to shoot.
Travel Diary: Layover in Jakarta
On my way to Alor this year, I chose a different flight path in the hopes of a speedier arrival. I’m not sure if the net experience felt any shorter, but I’d never been to Jakarta before, so something new is good, right? With Jakarta’s traffic, I didn’t too much exploring outside of wandering around the area around where I stayed. It’s laughable at the gridlock at seemingly non peak hours. Is it just one long rush hour that you just grit your teeth and hope for the best? Not ideal and with more cars, it’s worse than Saigon. Never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but at least with the predominant mode of transport being motorbikes here, you can kind of get in where you fit in.
In any event, my primary concern was finding coffee, so off I went wandering the “scenic” route trying to find some interesting things to shoot along the way. As travel so often has it, the guardians of the universe delivered as I stumbled upon a little antique street on the way. Happy to browse and happily snap away, all of these images (save one) are from that stroll to coffee.
On my way to Alor this year, I chose a different flight path in the hopes of a speedier arrival. I’m not sure if the net experience felt any shorter, but I’d never been to Jakarta before, so something new is good, right? With Jakarta’s traffic, I didn’t do too much exploring outside of wandering around the area around where I stayed. Jakarta, your traffic is laughable, at seemingly non peak hours. Is it just one long rush hour that you just grit your teeth and hope for the best? Not ideal and with more cars, it’s worse than Saigon. Never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but at least with the predominant mode of transport being motorbikes here, you can kind of get in where you fit in.
In any event, my primary concern was finding coffee, so off I went wandering the “scenic” route trying to find some interesting things to shoot along the way. As travel so often has it, the guardians of the universe delivered as I stumbled upon a little antique street on the way. Happy to browse and happily snap away, all of these images (save one) are from that stroll to coffee.
As per usual, the trusty little Fuji x100v was the kit of choice for this trip to keep it light and fast.
Travel Diary: Kuala Lumpur and Melaka, Malaysia
Another decision on a whim and another return back to a place I hadn’t been in years. Having not been to Kuala Lumpur outside of the airport in probably a decade, it was a nice little reacquaintance with the Malaysian capital. As per usual, I didn’t really have any agenda so lots of wandering and eating and snapping photos along the way. I also took a quick jaunt down to Melaka to check out some old colonial remnants which felt a bit like what I remembered of Georgetown in Penang except the addition of the most ridiculous bike taxis I’ve ever seen. A bit bizarro, but here we are.
Another decision on a whim and another return back to a place I hadn’t been in years. Having not been to Kuala Lumpur outside of the airport in probably a decade, it was a nice little reacquaintance with the Malaysian capital. As per usual, I didn’t really have any agenda so lots of wandering and eating and snapping photos along the way. I also took a quick jaunt down to Melaka to check out some old colonial remnants which felt a bit like what I remembered of Georgetown in Penang except the addition of the most ridiculous bike taxis I’ve ever seen. A bit bizarro, but here we are.
Kuala Lumpur got skipped over the years for other locations as I remembered it being mainly a shopping destination and I’m not that guy. I didn’t want to be that old man stuck in his opinions, though so I gave it another shot. It’s still kind of one of those destinations…. That said, it has enough good food and cool vibes these days that made it more than another shopping destination.
Wandering through the streets and alleys, the smells of the hawker stalls and tasty treats made it difficult to focus on shooting, but definitely made for some great street photography with the throngs of people gravitating to these altars of goodness.
All shot with the Fuji x100v with the 2 little lens adapters giving the equivalent of 28, 35, and 50mm in a tiny little package.
Kuala Lumpur
Melaka
Recent Work: Tolv
Over the course of the last 6 months, we’ve been shooting a whole gaggle of images for Tolv and we’re finally ready to release them out into the wild. As per usual, I kept things minimal with the lighting and tried to keep it looking like nice even sunlight while still maintaining enough directional light to give these gorgeous pieces some definition and let them shine in their form. We shot using my Sony kit with an Elinchrom lighting set up. Nothing too complicated - scrims, flags and a big ol’ softbox in some of them. Keep it simple. Keep scrolling down for some Behind the Scenes images that I’m going to try and start including in these posts. It’s a journey and takes a team to execute these images and it would be near impossible to get all of this done without such a dedicated group of like minded folks. I couldn’t begin to express the gratitude for having these incredible people surrounding me.
Over the course of the last 6 months, we’ve been shooting a whole gaggle of images for Tolv and we’re finally ready to release them out into the wild. As per usual, I kept things minimal with the lighting and tried to keep it looking like nice even sunlight while still maintaining enough directional light to give these gorgeous pieces some definition and let them shine in their form. We shot using my Sony kit with an Elinchrom lighting set up. Nothing too complicated - scrims, flags and a big ol’ softbox in some of them. Keep it simple. Keep scrolling down for some Behind the Scenes images that I’m going to try and start including in these posts. It’s a journey and takes a team to execute these images and it would be near impossible to get all of this done without such a dedicated group of like minded folks. I couldn’t begin to express the gratitude for having these incredible people surrounding me.
Behind the Scenes
Travel Diary: On the Road in Vietnam
Living overseas certainly has it’s advantages. New horizons, a diverse international group of friends, the constant sense of discovery, trying to make sense of the seemingly absurd. And then there’s the visits from friends back home. I get to put on my tour guide hat and share a bit of this incredible place with some of my favourite humans. My friend Evan came out a couple of months ago and it was his first trip to not only Vietnam, but to Asia, so I had to show him some of the good stuff. With only two weeks, we had to make some choices and with weather definitely being a factor, we chose to keep it simple, see some friends of mine and go exploring up north. We had a few days in Saigon to baptise him in fire with the frenetic energy and chaos of where I call home and then we headed off on the road to Central Vietnam, Hanoi and up into the northern mountains for a motorbike adventure.
Living overseas certainly has it’s advantages. New horizons, a diverse international group of friends, the constant sense of discovery, trying to make sense of the seemingly absurd. And then there’s the visits from friends back home. I get to put on my tour guide hat and share a bit of this incredible place with some of my favourite humans. My friend Evan came out a couple of months ago and it was his first trip to not only Vietnam, but to Asia, so I had to show him some of the good stuff. With only two weeks, we had to make some choices and with weather definitely being a factor, we chose to keep it simple, see some friends of mine and go exploring up north. We had a few days in Saigon to baptise him in fire with the frenetic energy and chaos of where I call home and then we headed off on the road to Central Vietnam, Hanoi and up into the northern mountains for a motorbike adventure.
Normally, my travel photography is absent of the people I travel with and I kind of do this out of respect for people’s privacy. That said, I think I’m going to start showing some more of these types of images. The people you travel with and sharing incredible places with them are often the best part of traveling so i want to start saving those memories too and having it a part of this whole travel diary.
Central Vietnam welcomed us with impeccable weather up until the day we left and we thought we were lucky to leave while we were ahead only to be greeted with Hanoi’s trademarked wall of grey as we touched down in the northern capital. That being said, there’s something about Hanoi and its old charm that kind of goes hand in hand with the overcast. After a quick stop over, we headed up to Sapa to make it our base for a northern motorbike trip up to Muong Hum and the surrounding little villages. Some questionable roads guided us through the fog and drizzle to the little outpost of Muong Hum. The skies cleared just as we were rolling into town, and it was such a sight for sore eyes (and asses) after the hours of jarring travel to get there. While the rice paddies weren’t electric green like in the post cards, the rugged landscape of Northern Vietnam never fails to deliver. Smooth winding roads led us through villages and epic mountain passes back down to Lao Cai on the Vietnam-Chinese border on our way back to Sapa. As we had our morning coffee on the river over looking the border, we chatted about how clutch it was that the weather cleared for our ride. I think the gods heard us. No less than maybe 10 minutes later, the heavens opened up and that 30km motorbike trip back up the mountain into Sapa was a cold and wet one. A bit grim, honestly. Apparently, these same gods have a sense of humour because the rain stopped just as we were pulling back into Sapa. Cheeky ones they are. No blue skies for the weary, however,, but some wildly Blade Runner-esque fog made for some incredible scenes as the sun went down and the neon lights cast their glow across the city.
Because the weather up north was less than ideal, l opted to lean into the mood and shoot loads of black and white seeing as there was a distinct lack of colour in the environment anyways. Everything here was shot on the trusty little Fuji x100v with the two little adapter lenses (28 and 50mm equivalent). My favourite images are probably the ones at the end so make sure you scroll all the way down!
Hoi An
Hanoi
Sapa and Muong Hum
The Journey
Saigon Punk Chronicles : Soi Dau Lang Warm up
Another chapter in the Chronicles. As the scene in Saigon keeps expanding, more venues are beginning to host punk and hardcore shows, and this was the first one at Cafe Stagiaires in District 2. With multiple floors, this venue is able to host a show while having a completely different vibe on the rooftop. Think open air laidback cocktail vibes, And then think about a DIY punk show blasting on the floor just beneath. Endlessly amusing to watch those different worlds collide. Definitely saw a few interesting looks as the suited, booted and cocktail dresses passed by kids losing their shit to breakdown after breakdown.
Another chapter in the Chronicles. As the scene in Saigon keeps expanding, more venues are beginning to host punk and hardcore shows, and this was the first one at Le Cafe Des Stagiaires in District 2. With multiple floors, this venue is able to have a show on one floor while having a completely different vibe on the rooftop. Think open air laidback cocktail vibes....And then think about a DIY punk show blasting on the floor just beneath. Endlessly amusing to watch those different worlds collide. Definitely saw a few interesting looks as the suited, booted and cocktail dresses passed by kids losing their shit to breakdown after breakdown.
On the lineup were Under Pressure, Empathize, HappyCo, and Hypertension. A good mix of heavy metallic hardcore with some mathy finger tappin’ shenanigans alongside some more post hardcore vibes between the mix of bands. It’s nice to see styles start to branch out within the whole DIY scene here and it’s just going to get better and better. Big ups to Ethos Collective, stay tuned for some fun news on this whole scenario.
Travel Diary: Bangkok - Part 2
After waxing on perhaps excessively in Part 1 on the origins of my photography journey, I’ll keep it a bit more succinct here. Wandering through the streets of Bangkok with a fresh perspective after all those years stirred up feelings of familiarity right next those of utter novelty. That notion of confluence - the brackish waters of old mixing with new, juxtapositions of the traditional colliding with the ultra-modern, familiar scenes intermingling with the altogether novel, the mundane blending with the weird. These places have a gravitational pull, always drawing me in. Transitions and the interplay between two seemingly opposing forces, that dance between the odd couple… It’s where the most interesting things happen. Influences ebb and flow back and forth, reshaping each other into a new voice and aesthetic. A new noise.
After waxing on perhaps excessively in Part 1 on the origins of my photography journey, I’ll keep it a bit more succinct here. Wandering through the streets of Bangkok with a fresh perspective after all those years stirred up feelings of familiarity right next those of utter novelty. That notion of confluence - the brackish waters of old mixing with new, juxtapositions of the traditional colliding with the ultra-modern, familiar scenes intermingling with the altogether novel, the mundane blending with the weird. These places have a gravitational pull, always drawing me in. Transitions and the interplay between two seemingly opposing forces, that dance between the odd couple… It’s where the most interesting things happen. Influences ebb and flow back and forth, reshaping each other into a new voice and aesthetic. A new noise.
For the photographers, these were all shot on the Fuji x100v as per usual for my travel stuff these days. I’m interested in how this confluence influences your work? Does it at all? Where do you find inspiration and the good stuff? Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts! For more of these types of images, head on over to my socials down below.
