Bantus Thailand, Street Roda

On November 23, 2012, members of the local Capoeira club performed street Roda at Asiatique the Riverfront.

Capoeira is a Brazilian art form combining martial art, dance, music.

As a former member (back in college) I was invited to join in the action :)

Amphawa Floating Market & Lightroom 4

Amphawa Floating Market, located in the province of Samut Songkharn, west of Bangkok. It is a famous tourist destination during weekend for city dwellers to get out of Bangkok for a day. I went there and took the photographs on the 1st of October, 2011. Until now, I have kept the whole photo sets in archive and here is why.

One of the shot I wanted to take was from a bridge over the river going through floating market itself. The time was late in the afternoon ans I was staring directly at the sun to take the photo. What I did was to take 3 bracketed exposures and merge them in HDR program. I was shooting hand-held at 8 fps, but the results weren't quite good enough. All the shots were't aligned perfectly. So the HDR plan was a no-go. Here's one of the shot of the bracketed exposure with no exposure compensation.

The details in the sky and the market in the shades were lost and it didn't capture the feel of the time and place as I remembered it. The sun was blazing hot and the light would hit the corrugated metal roofs and reflected off them making the already quite harsh weather even more so. And the market along the river, while mostly in shades, was never dark. I could see all the people and all the bustling activities you would expect from a weekend market. The photograph shown here wasn't what I saw back then.

Enter Adobe Lightroom 4...

Since I started shooting RAW, I have only use the Canon Raw editing software. But recently I got to try Lightroom for my assignment (which you can read here and here), and I was AMAZED at the things I can do with my RAW files. Long story short, came across this file so I gave it a try, see what I can come up with. And here is the result.

Now I am one happy photographer!

It is an eye-opener what can be done with post-processing. The photo now looks a lot closer to what I remembered seeing on the bridge, the sun-baked rooftops and the busy shoppers hiding under the shade, away from the sun. Everything just looks more alive now, like a real market supposes to be.

When I take photographs I want to capture the scene as I see it. That means I do very little post-processing (tiny adjustment on exposure or contrast), or in this case a lot more post-processing. The point here is to overcome some technical limitation of my camera where the sensor cannot 'see' all the details or the dynamic range that my own eyes can see. In such a case, post-processing can help me achieve the final photograph that I want...the scene as I can see it with my own eyes.

Peace,
Thana

Full report on Assignment: Rooftop Marriage Proposal

Here's a first full report on my assignment. This is where I will be sharing and discussing some of the details of what happened on my assignment. Some of it might sounds generic, some a little technical...but I just want to share what I have learned from this experience and hopefully you might find some of this useful or entertaining. So, here we go.

Firework Photography on My Rooftop

Joining REDBUBBLE...again

Today I joined the website REDBUBBLE... for a second time. A website for artists to and share their creative works with the online audience and form a community and marketplace. Lots have changed to the place since I last visited a few years ago, a lot of new and exciting stuffs are offered there for both buyers and sellers. Speaking of which, this is what I have to offer here.

Peace & Love

A Lesser Known Side of Songkran

Think of Songkran and people will instinctively think of people wildly splashing of water in the street. Nothing's wrong with that. But here I want to show a lesser known aspect of this festival.

First off, Songkran is the new year celebration of Thailand and any other countries in the region that also celebrate this holiday. So the significance of this holiday goes far beyond the fun of water splashing. This is also the time of religious worship and tradition. It is also a chance for the younger generation to pay respect to the older generation, family members and teachers alike.

For this particular post I will skip the details of the things that took place and just let the photographs themselves tell the story.

Monks, Merit Making and University Life in Bangkok

I am a student at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. And last week my department of Physiology arranged to have Buddhists monks come over for the day to perform merit making for the staffs and student of the department.

Being in Thailand, this kind of thing is pretty common with Buddhism being the state religion. Myself being a Catholic, did not take part in this ceremony. Except for the photo-taking. But I have to say, being a non-Buddhist in a Buddhist country, there are many times that I miss out on things.

First Day of Photography in the New Year

First photography set on the first day of the new year. These decorations on the main road illustrate the life of His Majesty the King, his works, achievements and talents as a musician. This set is a simple series of photographs of ...photographs that tell a story of a great man.

Happy New Year!

Christmas in Bangkok 2011

In Bangkok, people take Christmas celebration very seriously. At least for a country where Buddhism is the state religion with over 90% of the population belonging to that faith. The Christmas period is not even a national holiday. But that does not stop us from celebrating Christmas and putting together impressive decorations in public. Most of us may not celebrate it for religious reasons, but we really get into the whole festive mood and Christmas spirit.

On the surface, it is very obvious there is a commercial angle for doing this. But personally I don't mind (much). Whatever get the people in a festive and joyous mood is a good thing. At least once a year, everybody should have a good excuse to celebrate and have a good time together.

Here's some of the pictures from all over the city.

Father's Day 2011

December 5, 2011. The King's Birthday, as well as Father's Day in Thailand. Very similar to the Queen's Birthday and Mother's Day, major celebration is guaranteed. With massive crowd and the streets lighted up the night, firework and candles light and floating lamps, I tried to capture the sense of place and the event that took place on that jubilant night as the people of Thailand gathered to celebrate our King's birthday.

Here's the photos.

Long Live the King.

Hua Lumphong Train Station

The Central Station of Bangkok, Hua Lumphong Train Station is at the heart of Bangkok inner city near Chinatown. From there, you can practically go to any corners of Thailand by train. I consider this to be another icon of Bangkok. Probably a lesser known icon to foreigners, but a no-less important icon of the city.

Bangkok prepares for flood...and I shot from the hip

Many parts of Thailand are now flooded. Bangkok is next as excess flood water can not be contained out of the capital. Here are some of the example of how the people in the city prepare for the inevitable. Small business, offices and homes literally build a castle of sand(bags) in front of their entrances to keep water out. Other method includes building concrete walls and some even use both. These photos were taken when walking on the street in my neighborhood. I shot from the hip as I simple walked past these places. Others photos were taken the old-fashion way.  

As I write this post, Bangkok is still (relatively) dry. But things can be very different by tomorrow.

Best wishes to everyone suffering from the flood and everyone who have been helping out.

Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn

The Temple of Dawn, Wat Arun, is one of the most famous and iconic temple in Bangkok. The full name of the temple is Wat Arunratchawararam Ratchaworamahawihan (วัดอรุณราชวรารามราชวรมหาวิหาร). Located on the bank of the river, this temple is easily accessible by ferry (highly recommended for sight-seeing and avoiding the city's traffic). As the name suggests, the temple is open to visitors early in the morning, the best time of the day to see the temple.

My first visit to the temple was a few years ago. Here are some of the photos for your viewing pleasure.

Ayutthaya, and the on-going flood

Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Siam (now Thailand). As of this writing the historic city is now flooded. As weeks of heavy rains caused the river to overflow, the threat of damage to numerous temple ruins and historical sites concerns me deeply. Before this incident I had a chance to visit Ayutthaya, and the city still had a very strong sense of history that resonated with the people of Thailand. That trip made me very proud to be a citizen of Thailand.

Here are some of the photos from the trip, taken at a happier time. Hope the flood will be over soon.

Concept BMW car and why you should always have a camera with you.

This post is a bit random and unexpected. Then again seeing a new concept car in a shopping mall in the heart of Bangkok is quite random and unexpected. It's a good thing I got my back up camera in my bag. Otherwise I would have missed this opportunity for some Sunday afternoon photography.

I'm not a car enthusiast and I don't know much about cars in general. But I like this one in particular. It's a BMW concept car, "Vision Efficient Dynamics". I'm a sucker for new and futuristic technologies!

So, always remember to have a camera with you. You never know what unexpected surprise life will bring you.

Enjoy the photos!

First post: Mother's Day 2011

What better way to start a new photo blog with a set of photos from Thailand's Mother's day from August 12th 2011. My sentiments here are two folds. Firstly, it is the day itself and what it signifies. The day celebrates mothers and motherhood and the wonder of bringing a new life into this world. For this alone I think this photo set is perfect to start off my new photo blog.

Another reason is that day was the first day I started using my new camera, Canon EOS 7D. I didn't plan for this, but a new camera for a new blog...I kinda like the idea.

In Thailand, Mother's day is celebrated on the 12th of August, which is the Queen's birthday. These photos were taken on Ratchadamnoen road where lightings and decorations such as these can be expected.