Jesse Estes Photography

Patagonia

2012-12-12T23:20:04Z

Patagonia is one of those places that I’ve wanted to visit for quite some time now, and I was finally able to make the journey to Argentina and Chile to see the beauty of this incredible place firsthand. The landscapes and mountain peaks are simply incredible, and although a bit challenging at times, it’s quite the paradise for photographers. It’s by far my favorite place that I have traveled.

Sunrise on Mt. Fitzroy – Patagonia

All of the things that I heard and read about from others, were true; including the notorious, un-predictable weather. Normally I don’t mention it, but these images did not come very easy; I encountered several days of VERY strong winds, drove hundreds of miles, camped in the snow, waited out a few big storms, and did a bunch of trekking. Due to the weather, I wasn’t able to see and photograph everything that I wished to, but I made memories that will last a lifetime. Some of the mountains were clouded in for days at a time, but I’m grateful for what I was able to experience.

Guanaco – Torres Del Paine, Chile

Initially, I was going to write about my day to day encounters of the journey, but that’s getting boring for me, and it’s something you really should just go experience for yourself if you are able to make it happen. I do recommend that you avoid shelling out thousands of dollars for one of the several “Epic Patagonia” photo tours available. Instead, just do some simple research online, buy a plane ticket, rent a car, and make your own adventure along the way. Spend the “EPIC” amount of extra money you saved, on some good photography books, some new gear, or another plane ticket. Most of these workshops and photo tours are a complete scam, and a huge waste of money in my opinion… (See my Bigtimers rant for more on this).

These tours/workshops remind me of the circus that happens on Mount Everest every year. These days anyone with some good luck, and $60,000, can pay for a guided trip to the summit. BUT with the help of several Sherpas, and guides making it as luxurious as possible, is that really an adventure? I don’t think so… To me, the adventure starts as soon as something goes wrong, or not as planned. That’s when the fun really begins, when you have to improvise and make things work…

Torres Del Paine – Fire damage

When I was in my mid 20′s, my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and my brother and I took care of her for 8 months as she slowly withered away. She was bed ridden for most of those 8 months, and she had a lot of regrets when she looked back on her life. One of the things that she wished for the most, was just to be able to take a walk outside again. She wanted to smell the fresh air, enjoy the warm afternoon sun, see the autumn colors, etc. She wanted the little things, that most of us, including myself, can sometimes easily take for granted. I learned a ton of lessons during those 8 long months, but the most valuable thing I learned along the way, was too live everyday to the fullest, and to try my best to enjoy the small things along the way.

Lago Peho – Torres del Paine, Chile

Contrary to what some people may believe, I travel because I love the adventure first and foremost. It’s not because I’m dying to make photos of places that others can not. Of course I also love to make photographs of these places, but it’s the sense of being on a journey far away from everyday life that grabs me, and draws me in the most; the chance to see new places, meet new people, try different foods, and just wander around endlessly exploring, is something I will never take for granted. I want to be able to sit in my rocker when I’m old and grey, and reminisce about all the great adventures I had, all the great people I met, and all the wonderful friends I made along the way. The photos are also nice to have, but they are just a material thing after all. The memories, on the other hand, will always stay with me; unless I happen to come down with Alzheimer someday…

Autumn – El Chalten, Argentina

Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

I read a quote recently that really gets it right. The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then, he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then, he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Torres Del Paine – Patagonia

Thanks for reading my random thoughts, and hopefully it didn’t come off like one big giant fortune cookie… I wish all of you the best adventures.

And here’s a tune…

Bikes of Guilin

2012-05-30T10:11:34Z

China is modernizing at a rapid pace in many ways, but the bicycle is far from dead. For many in China, pedal power is still the only source of transportation. When I arrived in the small village of Xingping, I was instantly attracted to all the really old bicycles that lined the streets.

Old Bike I – Guilin, China

Most of them were very rusty, and old, but still fully operational. I had never photographed something like bicycles before, but I was immediately drawn to the photogenic nature of these old rusted out relics.

Old Bike II – Guilin, China

The millennia-old Middle Kingdom can claim to have invented many things – fireworks, the umbrella, paper and the compass among them – but not the bicycle.

According to Amir Moghaddass Esfehani, a historian at the Technical Institute of Berlin, the Chinese first learned of bicycles from a customs official named Binchun who visited Paris in 1866 and wrote of Parisians riding vehicles made of “two wheels with a pipe in the middle.”

Back then, well-heeled Chinese generally got around in rickshaws or sedan chairs, both hauled by manpower. It was only after expatriate Americans and Europeans began cycling around Chinese cities that the fashion took off, Moghaddass wrote in his book, “The Bicycle and the Chinese People.”

A subject totally new to me, I had a hard time photographing the bicycles, but I couldn’t resist trying anyways. Here’s a few of the better images that I was able to make. I have a bunch more that just aren’t all that great…

Old Bike III – Guilin, China

Old Bike IV – Guilin, China

Old Bike V – Guilin, China

Old Bike VI – Guilin, China

Old Bike XII – Guilin, China

Old Bike XIII – Guilin, China

Thanks for having a look, and feel free to leave me any feedback that you may have!

SE Asia Slideshow

2011-12-21T14:39:48Z

This is a 7 minute slideshow that I made for a recent presentation that I gave to the Cascade Photo Club in Bend, OR. It contains images from me recent travels to SE Asia…

This is my first slideshow attempt, and it took me awhile to get it all sorted out. I will be trying some more of these in the future…

Bali Indonesia 2011

2013-01-01T04:54:39Z

After spending a couple of weeks in China, and a few days in Malaysia, I was glad to be back in Bali. I don’t know exactly why, but there is just something about Bali that makes it one of my favorite places on earth.

Elder – Bali Indonesia

I love the smell, the people, the food, the landscape, and just the culture in general. There are a lot of people in Bali, but everyone seems to get along just fine.

It was kite season this time of year, and Bali knows how to celebrate kite season in grand style; some of the kites were as big as a car. I watched about 8 kids launching one of these huge things at the beach one night, and it was quite the team effort, but they got it up in the air eventually. As you drive around the island, you see these huge kites everywhere in August.

The markets in Bali are a great place to capture everyday life and great portraits. There’s no other place that I have photographed people with such little resistance. The people are just very outgoing and never seem to mind the camera no matter how many times you photograph them. Helminadia took me around some of the markets in Ubud and I was overwhelmed to say the least. I think I filled up a 16GB card in just under an hour of moving around. I could spend all day in these markets without getting bored for sure.

My favorite food in Bali has got to be the fish Satay; they basically take minced up fish and spice it up with all kinds of spices and put it on the end of thick bamboo skewers. Then they roast them over a fire of coconut husks rather than charcoal. I also had my fair share of the roasted sweet corn as well. You can find both of these things at one of the many small shops that are scattered around the island. They are literally everywhere you go. The food is also very inexpensive.

Tegallalang Rice Terrace – Bali, Indonesia

I spent most of my time in and around the town of Ubud. It’s quite the artist hub, and full of local paintings, wood carvings, and just about anything else that you can think of. They have the famous Tegallalang rice terrace there that attracts quite a few tourists, and several Hindu temples and festivals within a small area. I enjoy hanging out in one of the several little restaurants that line the edge of the rice terrace. It’s a great place relax and drink a Bintang or 2 while waiting for the sunset. If the sunset looks good, you can make a short scramble down into the terrace and setup for some photos. If the light never gets good, then you just relax and order another beer…

Hindu Festival – Bali Indonesia

While heading to the beach one night, we came accross a huge caravan of people dressed in traditional Hindu clothing marching towards a temple for a festival that happens once every 10 years. We would photograph them for awhile, then drive up the road a little further and wait for them to come again. There were several road blocks setup on the busier road, and it was fun racing ahead an then waiting for them to show up again.

Flower field – Ubud, Bali

I spent most of my time just outside of Ubud, and the surrounding area is full of smaller rice fields, and several small flower fields. They grow the flowers for use in the many different Hindu traditions. The fields can be very photogenic in the right conditions, and while I tried a few times to capture it, I never really got the greatest conditions. The house where I stayed, was surrounded with flower and rice fields, and there were a few that were just a short walking distance away.

The problem with these fields? SNAKES! I’m not afraid of very many things, but snakes are one of the few things that I would rather not encounter, ever… Of course, Bali has some of the most poisonous snakes in the world including SE Asia’s most deadly, the Malayan Krait. I had heard about the snakes in Bali, and before going there I did some basic research on the internet to see how serious the problem was; it turns out that there had been 2 recent deaths from this Malayan Krait in Ubud alone. Even though this species is not all that common, every time I stepped foot into a rice or flower field, I was sure I was going to run into one. My basic strategy was to always let someone else go first, but it wouldn’t always work. Helminadia never wanted to go first

Mount Agung – Amed, Bali

I guess the individuals were playing with and provoking the snakes in both cases, but it was still enough to freak me out. The more common snakes are the green tree vipers, and 2 variations of King Cobra. The problem is that most of the anti-venom is not available in Bali, and if you get bitten, you either have to get somewhere that has it, or hope that they can get it very quickly. Anyways, enough about the snakes, I didn’t see any the whole time I was there. Apparently, Helminadia and others saw a huge one on the road one night on the drive back from the beach, but I was fast asleep and didn’t even notice.

A very close second, and possible tie for favorite places in Bali, is Amed. Amed Bali is not just one village but a string of smaller villages located on a 10km road in the Karangasem province. Amed Bali is mostly a quiet place with a stunning ocean view. Since this area is one of the best places to go to for scuba diving in Bali, travelers mainly come here to marvel at the diverse sea life.

Besides diving and snorkeling the main activity is just relaxing far away from the crowds in the south… This place was amazing, and it also had a Reggae Bar with local bands playing on the weekend. Amed is also famous for Salt and black sand beaches. Every morning we would witness the salt miners walking back and forth from the ocean with big containers of salt water slung over their shoulders. They would then process the water and somehow come up with the salt.

Sunset at Uluwatu – Bali, Indonesia

One place that I wanted to visit, but wasn’t able to on my last trip was Uluwatu. Uluwatu is probably the most famous surfing spot in Bali, but the cliffs are also very photogenic. I had heard horror stories about the very aggressive monkeys, but I still wanted to see the place for my self. I decided to brave the monkeys and head over there with Helminadia and Niar.

Monkey – Uluwatu, Bali

As soon as we pulled up I realized that this place was a major tourist attraction. It was the weekend, and the place was full of people. You can’t miss the signs that describe the monkey problem. The thing is, these monkeys have become very smart, and know how to deal with the tourists. They will steal anything that they can get their hands on, and the only way to get it back is if there happens to be a guide around with some food; they will trade whatever they steal for some food. I witnessed one guy stand up on a bench and in the process his flipflop came loose a bit. With a blink of an eye, the monkey had his flipflop. He foolishly tried to grab it from the monkey and almost got bitten.

Lake Batur – Bali, Indonesia

After that, I rolled with my tripod legs extended and ready for battle. I found that they really didn’t like the tripod and would walk way around me. Soon after that, I noticed Helminadia and Niar copying me, LOL. I have to say, it was a bit nerve wracking to photograph on the edge of these cliffs with crazy aggressive monkeys all over the place. I have heard that as it gets closer to sunset time, the monkeys don’t like people next to the cliffs for whatever reason, and they will start trying to scare people off. We were basically standing right on the edge of the cliff in order to get a composition without any intruding foreground elements.

After sunset, as we were walking along the cliffs, we heard quite the commotion up ahead on the trail. Sure enough there was a monkey on the cliff with someones small point and shoot camera. He was holding it hostage for some food, but the people didn’t have any food. They were trying to scare the monkey into giving it back, but I don’t think it was working. We hurried by with our tripods extended, and basically just got out of there. I don’t have a lot of experience with crazy monkeys, and was happy to just get back to the car without any encounters.

Another very photogenic spot in Bali, is Lake Batur. Lake Batur is the widest lake on the island and it lies down at the feet of Mount Batur and Mount Abang. It’s a very photogenic area, but I also found it to be very very dirty. I noticed several trash piles next to the lake or very close to the lake, and it seemed like a problem in general. It’s sad to see such a beautiful area littered with so much trash. This area is great for sunrise, either up above the lake, or down on the shoreline.

Last time I was here with Helminadia, we were lucky to get some really nice rays coming down on one of the local fisherman, and we were hoping to catch it again. After nearly giving up and heading home, we were not disappointed at the last minute by some rays of light breaking through the clouds.

I had an awesome time in Bali, and have to give special thanks to Helminadia, Niar, Rolland, Stan, Ernus, Edwin, and Made’ for making it all possible!

Malaysia 2011

2012-05-30T10:12:13Z

After sweating for 10 days in Guilin, we were off to Malaysia for a couple of days of much needed rest and then back to Bali. Malaysia was also pretty hot and humid, but nothing compared to what we had experienced in China. We chose to stay in the China Town area of Kuala Lumpur as I heard that the surrounding markets were very photogenic.

Fish Market – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Because of the short stay, we didn’t have time to venture into some of the incredible landscapes that Malaysia has to offer. I have seen some photos of some pretty amazing tea plantations and other mountainous areas in Malaysia, and when I have more time, I plan to do some exploring.

China Town – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

After about a 45 minute drive from the airport, we arrived in China Town. One of the first things I noticed, was a sign high up on a street pole that read “Reggae Bar” with a big arrow pointing down the busy street. That was confirmation that we had chosen the right area to spend a couple of relaxing days. We arrived just as the sun was going down, and after quickly checking in, it was off to get some good food.

I have to say, I like Chinese food, at least the Chinese food that I have eaten here in America. The food options in China were very less than desirable, and it was probably the part that I liked the least out of my whole stay there. If you ever end up in China, just a heads up; the food there is nothing like the Chinese food we are accustomed to. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, it’s just something that I could never get used to personally.

We didn’t have to wander very far from the hotel to find some good food. Less than a half a block away, we found a nice “steamboat” setup. I had never experienced this myself, but Helminadia says that it’s quite popular in Singapore and parts of Malaysia. It’s basically a cart on wheels with skewers of anything imaginable sitting on ice waiting to be cooked. You grab a tray, and just pick and chose whatever you feel like eating. Then you can have them BBQ the skewers, or you can cook them at yourself in a big pot of boiling water that’s built into the middle of the table.

Steamboat – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I preferred the BBQ style over the steam personally, but I tried my fair share of everything. The BBQ shrimps, and the fish ball, were my favorite along with the sweet corn.

Helminadia on the streets of KL

When you are finished, the skewers are color coded at the end, and the waiter will come by and add up your bill for you using the codes. I can’t recall exactly how much for the average skewer, but I can tell you that we took care of business at that place, leaving lots of empty sticks to be added up at the end.

I think I could do this steamboat everyday for a week and not get sick of it; especially after eating that Chinese food for 10 days. Did I mention that the food sucked in China? They even managed to make the worst fried rice I have ever tasted!

After getting full on some good food for a change, we went exploring the night market in China town for awhile, before heading to check out the Reggae Bar. The market basically sells any knock off item that you can imagine, but it seemed to specialize in handbags from Louis Vuitton, and coach. We bought a few things there but got bored pretty quickly and were off to drink some beers and listen to some Reggae.

Reggae Bar – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

As you enter the Reggae Bar, you can tell right away that it has been there for quite some time. It seems like everyone that visits, signs their names on the walls of the place. The place was very laid back, and it would be the hangout for the next couple of evenings. It seemed like Carlsbad was the beer of choice, but I ended up trying all sorts of Belgium beers that I was not accustomed to, and quickly realized why the Belgium’s were famous for their beer.

Meat Market – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The next morning, we got up early so that we could go photograph the market that was just a block from the hotel. Thy pretty much sold everything there, and the people were quite relaxed when it came to photographing them. It was much different than China in that regards. We wandered around the market and took our time to photograph all sorts of stuff. Then… we repeated the whole process for day 2, and caught a plane back to Bali where the temperature was perfect, and the food was even better.

I have a ton of photos from the markets in Malaysia, and while I prefer to photograph landscapes, these markets can also be quite fun if the people are nice and relaxed, like they were in Kuala Lumpur.

Guilin, China

2011-09-19T06:56:45Z

After a short 3 hour flight from Bali to Malaysia, it would take another 5 hour flight to reach China. Guilin has been on my list since the day I first saw Michael Anderson’s amazing images from the area. The topography of the area is marked by endless karst formations running along the Li river.

Li River – Guilin, China

Village Elder – Guilin, China

The whole area is very photogenic, and everywhere you go, you are surrounded by stunning landscapes and ancient culture. We did end up going during the hottest time of the year (August), and I don’t advise that for anyone else who plans on visiting the area. It was EXTREMELY hot and humid.We were greeted with a taste of the karst peaks as soon as we left the airport for the short 30 minute drive into Guilin City.

After getting settled in, and relaxing a bit, we were off to visit the very popular Reed Flute cave. There are caves all over this area, and some of the bigger ones are quite touristy. This one was no exception, and while it was nice, it’s not my ideal spot to be. They put a bunch of lights inside of the caves, and have light shows and such. While I was trying to make the photo below, some guy kept dipping his foot in the water causing ripples in the reflection.

I suppose the photos can be nice if you are into that kind of photography. I do have to admit, I enjoyed the nice cool environment inside of the cave, even if it was just for a short time

Reed Flute Cave – Guilin, China

After the cave visit, we went to another very popular location along the river that was shrouded with tourists and a bunch of power lines cutting through the scene. The next morning we would photograph from a hill above the city, and then get out of the touristy Guilin City and off to Yangshuo to photograph in some remote villages and such. I really liked it in Yangshuo, but my favorite place would be our next stop in a small village called Xingping.

Yangshuo village dog

Cormorant Fisherman – Guilin, China

Xingping was incredible for photography, and although it is seeing more and more tourists these days, it seemed like they would mostly just arrive around midday in the big buses and be gone by evening. We stayed here for a few days, and were able to capture some great portraits in and around the small village. This is also where we photographed the famous Cormorant fisherman along the Li river.

Li River fishing

Wikipedia: “Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing method in which fishermen use trained cormorants to fish in rivers. Historically, cormorant fishing has taken place in Japan and China from around 960 AD. and recorded from other places throughout the world.

To control the birds, the fishermen tie a snare near the base of the bird’s throat. This prevents the birds from swallowing larger fish, which are held in their throat, but the birds can swallow smaller fish. When a cormorant has caught a fish in its throat, the fisherman brings the bird back to the boat and has the bird spit the fish up. Though cormorant fishing once was a successful industry, its primary use today is to serve the tourism industry.” It’s quite the tourist attraction in the area, but most of the fishing is done with nets nowadays.

It was nice to get a chance to photograph the fishermen, but we were not in the best spot along the river to work; there was a lot of boat traffic that basically killed any chance for a nice reflection, and the riverbank did not have a lot of room to work with. We were still able to make a few nice images there though….

After a few days in Xingping, we headed off to the Longji Rice fields. The terraced fields are built along the slope winding from the riverside up to the mountain top. The coiling line that starts from the mountain foot up to the mountain top divides the mountain into layers of water glittering in the sun in spring, layers of green rice shoots in summer, layers of golden rice in fall, and layers of silvery frost in winter. The terraced fields were mostly built during the Ming Dynasty, about 500 years ago.

Longji Rice Terrace – Guilin, China

We arrived when it was very green with rice… After a few more days in China, Helminadia and I would head to Malaysia for a bit and then back to Bali. I have several more images from China that I need to edit, and I will probably write another blog about it at some point, but this is a small taste of what it was like there…

Kawah Ijen 2011

2011-09-02T07:13:49Z

After spending a few days at Mount Bromo, we were off to Kawah Ijen for the second time. This place is amazing and the ruggedness of the landscape combined with the sulfur mining, offers unlimited photo opportunities. During my first trip there last year, I got a nice feel for the place, but it was a quick 1 day trip and not enough time to really explore. This time we would have a few days to really check it out.

Kawah Ijen – East Java, Indonesia

After photographing Bromo at sunrise, we started the long and crazy drive over to Kawah Ijen. The last stretch of road hasn’t been maintained for quite some time, and it’s very steep and rocky. I’m amazed at how well our driver handled the road with just a small van. He obviously had a ton of experience in such conditions, and while I was waiting for a tire to blow out, he just took it slow and easy. We stayed at a large coffee plantation that was also very interesting. It consisted of a little community of workers that lived there as well as the plantation itself. We were quite tired and had to wake up early in the morning to photograph the famous “blue fire” of Ijen, so we didn’t really explore the plantation on the first day and opted to crash out early.

Blue fire – Kawah Ijen, Indonesia

We woke up at 1:30am and started the 40 minute drive. It had been raining hard in the area for a few days, causing a lot of sulfur smoke, and limiting the photographic opportunities. On our drive in, it was raining lightly and we started to wonder how it would be up there at the crater. We put on our rain jackets and started the 45 minute hike. This hike is not long, but it does have some steep sections. Some people would call this trekking, but really, it’s just a short walk that takes a little effort. About 10 minutes into the hike, we encountered a young girl that obviously couldn’t handle the first steep area. She was laid out on the trail being nursed by her friends. Helminadia is also a nurse, and was trying to help her, but in the end I think she could have just been trying to get some attention from her boyfriend, who knows. We would encounter another girl in a similar situation up towards the top of the trail; these folks obviously weren’t in the best physical shape, and were paying the price…

Helminadia – East Java, Indonesia

Lucky for us the rain was light, and intermittent the whole morning. As we got closer to the crater rim, we started to cough because of the sulfur smoke in the air. I didn’t experience this the first time I was there. When we started down into the crater, it was obvious that we would encounter a lot of sulfur smoke. We had masks, but I find them to be a pain to deal with. We did use some plastic covers for our cameras though. After my last trip, I read a story about a reporter that had a 5d2 and a couple of lenses ruined by the sulfur smoke. Apparently the smoke/dust is really bad on electronics. I didn’t know this the fist time around and was shooting while big clouds of sulfur smoke blew directly into me with no camera protection… After reading that article, I feel lucky that I didn’t ruin any of my equipment.

We got lucky to have the full moon overhead with the blue fire, but the light rain made it a little difficult for long exposures.

While down there photographing in the dark before sunrise, we suddenly heard some big explosions that startled everyone including our guide that has worked and lived in the area for more than 15 years. It turns out that the party of 10 or so people with the girl that was laid out on the trail, decided to celebrate someones birthday by launching a bunch of fireworks. This is very disrespectful to the local people and the miners, they have spiritual beliefs about the area… The rockets continued for about 5 minutes, and it was clear that nothing like this had ever happened before. Our guide quickly went up the steep rugged trail and scolded the people sharply about their misconduct. By the time we made it back up there for sunrise, those people had left. They were probably pretty embarrassed and got quite an earful from some of the miners from what I heard.

Miner – Kawah Ijen, Indonesia

After sunrise, we continued to make portraits of some of the local workers, and slowly made our way back down to the van. After having some of the best fried bananas and noodle soup that I have ever eaten, we headed back to the coffee plantation to search out a waterfall that we had heard about the day before. After a short search, we finally found the waterfall. It was controlled by a pack of 5 young children that charged us a fee to take us down the short trail. There were 3 girls and 2 boys, and the girls were clearly in charge here and took control of the money. They all took their job very seriously though, and the boys were even sweeping the leaves off of the stairs as we were going down. I planned to make a photo of them, but after we started photographing the waterfall, they quickly got bored and were off to spend their money.

The waterfall was decent, but the better vantages seemed like they would be from below, and the morning sunlight was already getting very bright and hitting the top of the water. We made a few photos and decided to head back and get some rest before doing it all over again.

East Java Waterfall

Our friend built a fire to keep warm while waiting for sunrise

After a few days here at Ijen, it was back to Bali, and then off to China for a couple of weeks.

Mount Bromo 2011

2011-09-02T07:42:53Z

Mount Bromo was smoking quite a bit when I was there in November of 2010, and just a week after my visit, it had a full eruption and a few more in 2011 that changed the whole area quite a bit. The last eruption was in March, 2011. You can read about my first trip to Bromo here and the series of eruptions on wikipedia.

The first thing I noticed upon my return, was the large amount of ash on the ground and in the air. After talking to some of the local people, it seems that it has been constantly spitting ash since the eruption last year. Sometimes there is so much ash in the air that you can’t even see the volcano at all.

Mount Bromo – 2011

On my last trip to the area, we took a steep jeep ride and parked right at the viewpoint, but this trip would be different. The first day we were there, we found out that the road to the main viewpoint had been destroyed, and was in the process of being rebuilt. This means that it’s a much more difficult journey up the main trekking path to reach the nice views. The parking lot shooters will be disappointed to hear this news, as you actually have to work a bit for the image now. We left our rooms at 3:30am and hiked for maybe an hour to get a nice vantage. It wasn’t a really gnarly hike, but it was steep for sure. There hadn’t been any fog in the area for over a week, but on our first morning there, we got lucky to have some nice thick fog lingering below.

Helminadia – Bromo 2011

The fog burned off pretty quickly though, and we decided to head down and get some breakfast before exploring some other new areas down below. Here is a photo that I took of Helminadia on the way down.

After breakfast we took the jeep to the area behind the view that you see here and into some remote villages. After a pretty dusty and bouncy ride, we came upon some pretty nice views over there. We were lucky enough to get some low hovering clouds cover, that made it easier to capture some mid-day images. This area is much less traveled by tourists, and we didn’t run into anyone else over there other than the local people. We hung out here for most of the day sort of killing time so that we could photograph in the sand dunes on the way out at sunset. Here’s a couple of photos from that side.

Bromo Savannah

Mount Seneru

It turns out that we spent a little too much time back in this area, and had to make a dash for the sand dunes on the back side of Mount Bromo. We got to the good area just as the light was starting to fade a bit, and really had to scramble for some comps. Luckily, the area was full of nice compositions, and we didn’t have to go far.

Ash Dunes, Mount Bromo

The next day we decided to photograph the sunrise from a different angle and then we were off to spend a few days in the Kawah Ijen area of East Java.

Early morning Bromo Porter

We got a little extra sleep on this morning, but still started hiking about 4am. The hike wasn’t all that far, but we were feeling lazy after the rather steep hike the day before. After watching a few scooters zooming by, and seeing all kinds of them waiting to give us a ride, we finally broke down and paid the small amount to get to the viewpoint while it was still dark. This allowed for some night images with a full moon setting. The local people are quite resourceful, and setup small “shops” all around the viewpoint. You can get coffee, noodles, water, and a variety of other things while you are waiting for the sun to rise.

When we first arrived, there was hardly anyone there, but it didn’t take long for the flocks of people to come from the surrounding areas to watch the sunrise. We quickly decided to move further up to avoid the crowd.

The sunrise on the second day didn’t come with the nice fog that we got the first day, but the mountain was really kicking up a lot of ash, and just as the sun crested over the hills behind us, the ash and smoke got very saturated. It was quite a site to witness in person, and something I had never seen before. After shooting sunrise, it was back to the pad for some breakfast and a quick shower before heading off to Ijen.

Mount Bromo – Ash

All in all, it was a pretty nice trip to Mount Bromo, and we had a great time there for sure. Our poor cameras really suffered from the ash though. During the sunrise on the second day, as I was changing lenses, I could hear the ash grinding in between the camera and the lens. Pretty bad dust spots in a lot of our images, but the bulb blower seemed to fix most of the major issues.

Bigtimers

2011-09-02T16:58:36Z

For those that don’t know, I got my first DSLR in 2006, and got hooked on photography right away. I don’t claim to be a “professional photographer” by any means. I’m completely self taught, haven’t taken any workshops, and learned everything I know from books, the internet, and simple trial and error. I’m still learning, and feel like I will always be learning something new in regards to photography.

BIGTIMER profile

Along the way, I have asked for help on a few forums where the “professionals” hang out, but I rarely get any valuable information. It seems that these “professional photographers” tend to be very competitive, and secretive about technique, and processing. They are usually busy trying to sell workshops and such, and very rarely will they offer you any of their secrets for free on the forums. That’s just how it is, and it’s probably not going to change any time soon. I get quite a few e-mails with photography questions, and even though it may take me awhile, I always respond in some way or another. Even if it’s just to pass on a link to something helpful; that usually takes me less than 30 seconds, and unless it’s something very hard to find on the internet, I sometimes wonder why people don’t just google the topic themselves.

This brings me to the title of this post; BIGTIMERS. Bigtimers are a certain breed of self appointed professional photographers that really get on my nerves these days. They are not true professionals in their field by any means. They sell a few prints here and there, have a fancy website, offer workshops, and carry around the latest $1500 tripod. These parking lot shooters don’t get out much, because they are too busy working their real jobs that actually pay the bills. The photos they do make are usually from one of their recent workshops, where they should have been teaching something instead of photographing. They spend their free time looking for attention on photo sharing sites such as flickr, instead of participating in critique forums where they can actually improve their craft. Sites like flickr help them to build up their false egos, and they would much rather get a pat on the back by some beginners, than have their photos ripped apart by professionals that know what they are talking about.

What is the definition of a professional photographer? Anyone can be a self titled professional photographer, and charge you for workshops and processing techniques, but that doesn’t automatically qualify them to teach anything. A professional photographer is a photographer who earns 100% of his income from photography. This is the definition required for entrance into the Nikon and Canon factory support organizations for example. 95% of these bigtimers don’t fall into this definition at all. These people think that just because they offer workshops, or have been photographing for 10-20 years, it automatically qualifies them to label themselves as a “professional photographer”. It doesn’t matter if they have been taking the same boring, crappy photos for 20 years, they somehow think the time spent entitles them to be labeled a “professional”. The term “professional photographer” gets thrown around so much these days that it’s hard to even take it serious. The term alone, certainly doesn’t define the quality of the images coming from a lot of these folks.

Just because someone has been painting for 20 years, does not mean that they are a professional painter. If they haven’t improved greatly over that 20 year period, then maybe they haven’t studied the art well enough? Maybe they shouldn’t teach painting either. With that said, I do realize that there are some people that are very natural at certain art forms, and that surely gives them a head start, but don’t think that these folks don’t also work to fine tune their work. Photographers like Ansel Adams, and Galen Rowel were gifted for sure, but that alone is not what got them to the levels they reached; they were also constantly fine tuning their techniques, and visions.

Photography has really blown up over the last 5 years, and these days it’s easy for one to learn quickly with the advances of digital cameras. The competition is stiff, and the folks that are making a living with photography, are not doing it with mediocre images. There are plenty of novice, amateur photographers doing workshops these days. Most of these folks are not even qualified in my opinion. The reason they are selling workshops? Because it’s the easiest way for them to make money as a photographer. Most of them can’t sell or license prints, because their work just simply isn’t good enough. There are REAL professionals out there that have waaaaay better images for sale. They can’t pitch their work to a professional marketing director, because these marketing guys are trained, and they can easily spot these bigtimers coming from a mile away. Every once in awhile one of these bigtimers will get lucky and score a deal by pricing their images way lower than they should be, not even realizing the affect it has on all the REAL professionals out there trying to make a living. They don’t mind giving their work away for little to nothing, because 95% of them don’t depend on photography for their income anyway.

You may be asking yourself why I even care about these bigtimers, and why they get on my nerves so much. I don’t compete with them for business, and I’m not a professional photographer. I know the old saying, “fake it till you make it”, and that’s exactly what these folks are doing. I simply can’t stand their false egos, and arrogance, when I run into them on the internet, or in the real world.

They remind me of a teacher I had in college. He was teaching a somewhat advanced course on computer server security and firewalls; a topic that I had studied on my own for quite some time, and considered myself fairly knowledgeable. To make a long story short, he shouldn’t have been teaching the course, and I felt like I was getting ripped off. To make matters worse for himself, instead of admitting when he didn’t know something, he would try to talk his way out of it. More of a communications expert than a computer security expert. I spent the whole term embarrassing him in front of the class, and I’m pretty sure that he will never forget me.

I’m generally very friendly with people while out photographing, and it amazes me how many of these arrogant bigtimers that I run into all over the place. Some of them will barely respond to a friendly greeting. Some of them never stop talking about gear and how professional they are. Some of them are eager to give you their business cards, and talk about their upcoming workshops. I could easily call out a few bigtimers as examples, but they are easy enough to spot for yourselves. I’ve learned to mostly just ignore them altogether these days, unless I’m bored and feel like pushing their buttons for some free entertainment. I felt like ranting though, and this one has been brewing for quite some time, so there you have it. Thanks for making it through my random, unorganized thoughts…

Which camera?

2011-06-25T17:38:48Z

Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc. Does it really even matter? When I see an excellent photo somewhere, the last thing that comes to my mind, is what camera was used to make the photo. I’m a photographer, and I don’t even care; I’m sure the average viewer could care less what camera was used to make the image.

Pelican Brewing, OR – Iphone

I know there are a lot of bigtimers out there that like to show off their giant expensive cameras and lenses, but in reality, it’s just equipment and has little to do with the impact your images have on viewers. Some of these folks even go through the trouble to list every piece of equipment they used to make a photo. Do you think that their $1500 “Really Right Stuff” tripod setup helped to make the image that much better? Highly unlikely. They could have just purchased a ticket, and returned home with some unique images and lifetime memories, like David duChemin mentioned in a recent blog post.

The images below were made in 2006 with a small Canon SD550 point and shoot. I barely knew what I was doing technically at the time, but I had read a bunch of stuff on the internet about composition before leaving on my trip to Tanzania, Africa. I just came across the photo this evening while looking back at some of my first photos, and decided to edit it.

Tanzania Africa

Don’t get me wrong, I like gear just as much as the average photographer, and I would like to have one of those “Really Right Stuff” tripod setups, but the setup I have now works just fine for me. I would prefer to travel instead, but that’s just me. It’s better to spend your energy on your photography, than lusting over the latest piece of equipment. Equipment is just a small piece of the picture, and it’s not a guarantee that you will automatically make stunning images.

Tanzania, Africa – Canon point and shoot

I often receive several variations of comments like this on my photos: “This is a stunning image, I wish I had that camera so I could make images like this!” These types of comments really irritate me, and these folks are very confused.

I got my start in photography when I inherited a Nikon 5700 from my father. It wasn’t the most expensive or technically advanced camera, but it had manual controls that allowed me to learn how aperture, and shutter speed affected images. I could see the results right away and make changes. That’s all I needed in order to learn the basics, and I used it for about a year before I bought my first DSLR. These days, I have a little Canon point and shoot S90 that is fully capable of making some cool images with the right person behind it.

Anyhow, thanks for listening. This is part of a new series of rants I will be posting from time to time…