We had the smoke season, with ugly dusty skies, no visibility and a barely breathable atmosphere.
We had the hot season, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees C (100+ F), cooled down for a few days during Songkran, the water festival.

Now we have the rainy season that’s slowly creeping in from the north of Thailand. Cooler temperatures, overcast skies, dramatic clouds and of course: Thunderstorms!

Tonight we had a beautiful (but short) lightning show in the sky over Doi Suthep mountain. I placed my tripod outside and shot about 50 shots ranging from 10 to 20 seconds to get lightning illuminated skies.

On a different note, if I haven’t been very active and haven’t posted much in the past few weeks, it’s because I was busy tying the knot with my lovely wife. We had a beautiful small wedding in a resort by the river in Chiang Mai, with some friends and family that flew all the way from the US and the UAE.

Luckily, we didn’t get any rain on that day!

Wedding and Thunderstorms in Chiang Mai ~ Thailand is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!

In the past 3 days, Chiang Mai rocked to the sound of splashing water, whether it’s being splashed on Buddha statues or being sprayed from a water pistol on passers-by from the back of a tuk-tuk. Nobody was spared.

Buckets of icy water from behind pickup trucks. Water gun fights between young Thai children and farangs. Everybody celebrated Songkran, the Thai New Year.

The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people and wash their “bad fortune” away. People paying visit to the temples collected some of the water after it had been poured over Buddha statues for cleansing and then used this “blessed” water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder.

The “gently pouring over the shoulder” soon evolved into probably the world’s most massive water fight with the younger generations. Since April is also the hottest month in Thailand, it was also a good way to relieve the heat.

While Songkran is celebrated all over Thailand (as well as neighboring South-East Asian countries), it is most famous in Chiang Mai thanks to the presence of a moat around the old city walls, which means endless water supply for 3 days.

Here are a few shots I’ve gathered in the last 3 years from celebrating Songkran from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

Sawatdee Pee Mai!

Madness on Khao San Road, the backpacker’s HQ in Bangkok, Thailand. Elephants were also brought for the massive 5-day party.
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Waiting to get drenched on Khao San road in Bangkok.
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Young and old, everyone joins the party and takes part of the water fight.
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This old lady took her job very seriously and splashed me after I finished taking her photo.
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The narrow street soon became crowded as music was blasting from every bar and people started dancing wherever they could stand.
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High pressure guns were also used to splash passers-by. This year (2012), the government decided to ban the use of high-pressure tools to avoid injury.
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Stalls selling empty buckets are installed along the moat in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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Easiest way to fill your bucket in Chiang Mai? Grab warm green water from the moat around the old city.
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If moat water is not enough for you, big blocks of ice are available to purchase and surprise passers-by with an icy cold shower.
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The roads along the moat in Chiang Mai become congested as people gather up to play with water.
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Unfortunately, a lot of road accidents happen too as people get drunk and start splashing speeding motorbikes.
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Water guns are the weapon of choice for young people participating in the water fight.
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Patiently waiting for trucks and tuk-tuks to pass by before drenching them.
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Young Thai filling up their truck with buckets of moat water before going on another round.
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People hire trucks and tuk-tuks to drive along the moat and enjoy the party.
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A tuk-tuk waiting for passengers to drive along the moat and join the festivities.
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Whether you are carrying a camera or not, you will get drenched. It’s part of the fun.
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Sawatdee Pii Mai, Happy New Year!
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If you liked the photos, you can check out the photo essay I did last year entitled the Children of Songkran.

And if you’re ever thinking of participating in this fun event or just visiting the country, do yourself a favor and check out these Bangkok deals to plan yourself a nice holiday.

Songkran, the Thai New Year ~ Thailand is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!

I’ve been missing the beautiful sunsets in Chiang Mai lately.. Not because I’m too busy to look outside my window, but because of the crazy smokey weather that’s been around for the past month.

Every year, after the rainy season is over, farmers around Chiang Mai and neighboring countries (Burma, Laos and Cambodia) start burning fields to clear rice stubble and make room for new crops. There’s absolutely no control from any Government over this practice and sadly, the whole Northern area has to suffer from what is now called the “Smoke season” for a couple of months.

So instead of having beautiful skies like during this fiery sunset, or this chaotic stormy sky.. We have this:

Bring me back my beautiful skies please.

Missing beautiful sunsets in Chiang Mai ~ Thailand is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!

Photography is an endless learning process. A different processing technique, different light settings, different composition, I just seem to learn something new every week. Sometimes it’s not something new but a different inspiration, a different vision.

This is why, I very often go back through my archives, browse through my Lightroom catalog and rework on older photos with a different perspective.

I decided to check out some of the photos of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque I took in Abu Dhabi, UAE a year ago. Since it was shot in midday and most dominant colors were the white of the marble and the deep blue of the sky, I decided to try a black and white conversion, bringing up details and enhancing the contrast between light and shadow.

After a few hours of work, I was very pleased with the results, my favorite being the one featured above. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did working on them (click on the photos for a larger preview).

So which one is your favorite? Do you prefer the B&W version or the full colored Photo Essay I posted earlier? Share in the comments section!

Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Monochrome ~ UAE is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!

Yesterday night, Thailand celebrated Makha Bucha, an important Buddhist festival celebrated in South-East Asia on the full moon day of the third lunar month (which usually falls around end of February or beginning of March).

Makha Bucha commemorates two separate events that occurred on the same date 45 years apart, during the Buddha’s lifetime. The first event was the coming together of 1,250 monks to meet and be ordained by the Buddha, and the second event was the Buddha delivering his teachings shortly before his death, 45 years later.

During this highly ceremonial event, Thai people make merit by going to temples and engaging in Buddhist activities. In the evening, most important temples hold a candlelight procession called Wian Tian, circling 3 times around the ubosot or chedi (stupa).

I had an amazing experience walking in one of the temple grounds where they had this beautiful little pond with hundreds of floating candles. Unlike Wat Chedi Luang next door which had thousands of people gathered up to celebrate the event, this place was almost empty, with a hypnotizing Buddhist chant that grabbed your soul (click on the link to listen to it).

I leave you with a few more shots. Happy Holidays to all Buddhists.

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Prints are all available if you’d like to purchase one.

Makha Bucha night in Chiang Mai ~ Thailand is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!

Have you ever wondered how travel photographers create stunning images that tell stories about people’s lives? What goes on through their minds and how they end up choosing a few photos out of thousands?

If yes, then you should check out this new documentary and travel photography Ebook from Light Stalking. Rabari – Encounters with the nomadic tribe is written by Australian travel photographer Mitchell Kanashkevich who delivers us this 59-page Ebook packed with information about the Rabari, an Indian nomadic tribe of cattle herders.

Featuring 10 exceptional portraits, Rabari is not just about the photographic project focusing on people with a quickly changing culture, but also the ‘what‘, ‘how‘ and ‘why‘ of Mitchell’s decisions regarding the photos he took. The ebook contains background information, thoughts about the goals, subject, composition and Mitchell’s incredible use of lighting and post-processing. In a way, it’s a back story of the 10 images he chose to illustrate the culture, out of probably thousands of captured shots.

The book is organized in a very clean and logical way. Many photos illustrate his thinking process and the shots are followed by technical information, including diagrams of his lighting, position and camera settings.

Mitchell also talks about why he chose different poses to capture the mood, offering examples of different frames and ends up with presenting the his decisions concerning the post-processing in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Priced at $24.95, this is an ebook that has incredible value and offers tons of “a-ha!” moments to those starting in the field of documentary and travel photography. It takes you deep into a photographer’s mind to show you how to take engaging environmental portraits.

It’s just not enough to get thousands of shots during a trip, but it’s also important to know why and how to choose each shot to perfectly illustrate a story and how to improve them later during post-processing.  I definitely recommend it!

Click here and get it now!

Also, if you’ve never checked Mitchell Kanashkevich’s work, head out to his website and check out his amazing work, or have a look at one of his other books like “Journey through Java” at Craft & Vision ($5).

Rabari – Encounters with the Nomadic Tribe by Mitchell Kanashkevich (Ebook Review) is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!

**Click on image for a bigger view**

The Great Blasket Island is the main and biggest Island of the Blasket Isles facing the Kerry County in the South-West of Ireland.

The island was inhabited in the past with about 150 people living in 30 basic cottages but has been abandoned since 1953 when the last residents left and never returned back due to safety reasons during harsh weather. It took a 5km (3miles) crossing to the mainland, followed by a 19km (12miles) walk to the nearest doctor. You can see on the photo the abandoned village in the horizon.

The island life was a constant hardship and struggle. The Islanders, who formed the most westerly settlement in Ireland, survived mainly on fishing, a few ridges of potatoes, and a patch of oats, cows and sheep on a very poor and sandy land.

I took this shot from the shore while trekking around the Ring of Dingle. The weather was particularly clear as it’s very common that the island cannot be seen due to fog.

The island is now being turned into a National Park and there’s a daily ferry from Dingle and Dunquin. I feel it also stands as a proof of Men’s failure to tame any land they want.

The Great Blasket Island ~ Ireland is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!

I don’t drive. I walk, even very long distances.

And sometimes I wonder how it can be possible to put yourself in such situations where your car, in the middle of Chiang Mai (which means you can’t drive too fast), hits a curb that’s fairly high and ends up in the middle of the moat surrounding the Old City.

I didn’t really witness the accident but I photographed the whole process  of dragging the car to the edge and lifting it out of the moat with a pickup-crane. The whole scene, of course, attracted hundreds of tourists and locals quietly watching the three men working in the water. I was also quite surprised to notice that no policemen even tried to keep the crowd outside a security perimeter around the accident. I was actually standing right under the crane, next to the operator.

As far as I heard, the woman driving the car is fine (but terribly embarrassed).

Here are a few more shots of the scene.

Drive safe everyone!

A Car in the Moat ~ Thailand is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!

Even though in our time we build tall skyscrapers, trying to compensate our lack of creativity with phallic towers, I feel much more amazed by the amount of work and detail put into the Middle-Age’s Gothic architecture. How can you not feel dwarfed in front of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, still standing strong since 1345, whereas our towers barely can make it a century without rusting and crumbling?

A few facts about the Notre Dame:

• It took a 182 years to complete the construction of the cathedral, which was then badly damaged during the French Revolution.
• The towers are 69 meters tall (226ft).
• The rosace (circular window on the photo) has a diameter of 13 meters (42.6ft)
• Above the portal is the Gallery of Kings with 28 statues of Judean Kings.
• The cathedral is home of an important relic: the Crown of Thorns, which is presented to the public every first Friday of the month.

Have you ever been to the Notre-Dame de Paris in France?

Notre-Dame Cathedral ~ France is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!

Every once in a while, I go back through my archives to check out some photos and spend some time editing again.

Photography is an endless learning process. Every week I learn something new. A new lighting technique, a different way to edit photos, a new idea.. It just doesn’t end. There is no mastering, there is just learning more.

Lately I have been trying different techniques to process my photos and so far I’m pleased with the results. Of course the more I learn, the longer I spend time editing. This particular shot took me more than 30 minutes.  Just to make it clear, this is not HDR.

Of course, some will tell me that it’s too much time spent in front of a computer and that I should focus on getting the shot right in camera. Well, I did get the shot right. But photography isn’t just about getting a shot right, copying a scene. It’s a creative process, it’s my own vision and interpretation of the scene. It’s art.

I truly enjoy editing photos and turning them the way I want them to be. Some people try HDR, some convert to B&W, some refuse to retouch their shots. Fine with me!

It’s just worth reminding that there’s no such thing as “being a purist“.

Fiery Sunset II ~ Thailand is a post from: Canvas of Light ~ Travel Photography. Click to check for more!