After spending five months in India I couldn’t help but post these.  I LOVE Indians, they always make me smile and laugh.

The tourism board in Hampi, India take their job serious!

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The most popular seat on the bus!

in Goa, India

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Cannibals are around you beware!

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I seriously couldn’t have even made this one up, thank god for photos!

in Mysore, India

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Guess people fondled the mustard so much they had to put a sign up

in Goa, India

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Singing… REALLY, two years for signing???

on some random train in India

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Wait, you don’t but you do, I’m confused?

in Goa, India

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Because when your to cheap to pay for full Chinese, try 3/4 instead!

on Bangalore, India

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Now come on, you can’t fine someone 200 cokes, that’s just silly!

on Goa, India

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Again with the bathrooms, man they take their shit serious!

in Jaisalmer, India

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Probably made and sold from “Mysore Bolt-Nut House” (see photo above)

in New Delhi, India

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I prefer my French medium/rare not fried.

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Oh look kids, a Peter Pan with a boom-box crossing!

in Goa, India

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As couldn’t tell from the damage on the sign could ya?

on Goa, India

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LOL LOL LOL LOL I love stereotypes LOL LOL LOL LOL

in Kanniyakumari, India

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Hey with a name like that, you know it’s the busiest street in town!

in Darjeeling, India

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Back in 2010, while in Ecuador, I went to Quilotoa many times.  I just really loved going there as it was close to Quito and I never got tired of the place.  If you don’t know what Quiltotoa looks like, click here, because it’s got one of the most amazing volcano lakes I’ve ever seen, plus one of the best hostels I’ve ever stayed at for the price (like $6 for a private room, plus meals cheap)!

The last time I went my best friend in Ecuador, Julio, invited me to go with him, his girlfriend and a few others… how could I say no?  We loaded up in his SUV, two hours behind the schedule meet up time (which is normal), grabbed a few drinks to take with us and headed out for the two hour drive there.  About half way there we stopped to take a piss break and stretch our legs.

I have no clue of the name of the small town we stopped in but like most in Ecuador it had a small square with a bunch of stores around it.  We got out just as it started to rain lightly and walked over to a store to get some cokes for our rum to drink later that night.  That’s when we seen the town drunk!

He was passed out stone-cold, sitting upright next to a store, head hanging and looked to have been out all night and just collapsed finally.  The ladies in the store were all gathered outside on the sidewalk looking at each other to as what to do with him.  I quickly grabbed my camera and shot a few photos of the guy passed out from across the street.  This caught the ladies attention and they all just started laughing.  Which was a relief for me because normally the local Indians don’t like their photos being taken.

Finally one of the ladies went and tried to wake him up, I just kept snapping photos and by this time had crossed the street some.  My friend asked them if they needed help but he was told “No thank you”.  They said a truck was coming to pick him up.  I got the impression they had done this many times before!

A minute later a truck come screeching up and stopped in front of the store.  The one girl was trying to get the drunker by the arms and lift him up and another by the legs.  Needless to say it wasn’t working so my two buddies went over and helped.

They got him loaded into the truck and was told later that the guy who picked him up was family and they do this for the guy at least once a week.

Uncle Lopez(?) dragged him to the back of the truck, threw him in the corner and that was that.  Everyone laughed and gave a big cheer in the end and not once did the guy mumble a pep, move or even fart!

Viva Ecuador and Good Times!

Sorry I haven’t updated much but since I got back to the USA I have been doing things non-blog wise.  I got back in May and I have been home in Licking, Missouri.  I took a flight from Medellin, Colombia to Miami, FL and got to meet up with 2Backpackers.com again.  Jason and Aracely picked me up at the airport and showed me Miami beach for the afternoon, instead of me having to wait six hours alone at the airport.  From there I caught a flight to St. Louis, MO where my father picked me up and drove me three hours home.

I haven’t been productive since being at home but that was kind of the point.  I just wanted to come home, chill a bit and figure some things out for the coming year.  One thing I wanted to do was just be home for summer for once.  It’s been almost 7 years since I have been in the USA during the summer time, as I was sick of coming home during the cold winter.  I had two major reasons for coming home when I did:  1) I wanted to see a baseball game!  I miss it and visiting from Thanksgiving to Christmas isn’t an ideal time to catch a baseball game.  2) I wanted to go on a float trip.  It’s been far to long since I have gotten into a canoe and got drunk for a day.  This is something I used to do a lot when younger and it’s one of the best things to do during the summer here in the Ozarks of Missouri.

I finally got to do both!  I’m still not sure what 2013 has in store for me yet.  I had planned to apply for cruise ship work because it’s something I always wanted to do and see how I like it but I found out recently that I might qualify for some college money from my service time in the military.  I hadn’t planned on going back to school since I got my Bachelors of Science in Business but if the money is there I would.  If I go back to school though it’s going to be just for me, so I am currently looking into colleges with photography degrees as I am waiting on paper work to tell me how much money I will qualify for.  This isn’t a sure deal yet but I’m waiting to see and am looking forward to it.  So far, the schools I have narrowed it down to are in San Fransisco, Chicago and New York City.  My top pick would be The Academy of Art in San Fransisco but it will all determine on the money and that’s a BIG “if”.

I haven’t just been sitting around home all day though!  I actually traveled across the US some and seen stuff I haven’t yet.  America is freaking huge but for the first time in my life I actually want to see it and when a chance came up to go explore, I went.  Below is what I have been doing travel wise the last 7 months.

Note: all the photos below were taken with an iPhone 4s.  I’ve been playing around with it more and more when out and have even printed some shots as big as 5×7 that came out great!

I rented a 400mm lens to shoot a rodeo in my home town

Went to Aspen, CO for two weeks to cover a food and wine event.  I had some friends I made while in Colombia that live near there and they were the ones who talked me into going.  Aspen is for the super rich but you don’t have to be super rich to have fun there.

After Aspen my uncle picked me up in his RV and took me out to California.  We stopped in Utah at a rest stop to check things out on the RV and I found a few college kids teeing off golf balls into a canyon.  I had to ask if I could have a try because it looked way to fun not to.  Everyone should tee off into a huge canyon at least once in their life… you’ll feel like Tiger Woods, TRUST ME!

After staying in California for two weeks, my aunt and uncle drove me to Las Vegas to catch my flight back home.  We stopped off at Whiskey Pete’s Casino, on the border of California and Nevada, to see if they still had the car Bonny & Clyde got killed in (it was riddled with bullet holes from what I heard and yes that is something worth seeing and not weird in any way).  No luck though on seeing it, as I guess they had sold it… damn you Whiskey Pete!

While in Vegas I met up with Abby from the www.thejungleprincess.com and we hung out for 3 days, eating as much sushi as she would let me buy in exchange for her taking me to a show every night.  I finally got to see Penn & Teller and after the show I got a pic with him.  Being the dumb ass I am, he had his hair down, so I figured I’d put my down for the shot to.  Totally looked like a groupie waiting for my turn but have to say Penn is cool as hell.

Me with my hair down.  Yeah I know, the Jesus look is coming back in a big freaking way man!

Did a road trip to South Dakota and Wyoming with a friend for a week.  Never ever would I have thought it would be cool to see Mount Rushmore but have to admit it was actually pretty cool.  I found everything about the Black Hills just fascinating and would HIGHLY recommend everyone visit there at least once in their life time.  There is so much more to see then just Rushmore.

Friend called me on a Wednesday, said he had off till Saturday and he wanted to get out of town for a few days.  Said cool, lets got to Chicago and eat some deep dish pizza.  I bought train tickets for St. Louis to Chicago and the next day we took off.  Never been to Chicago before, LOVED it and it was my first train ride in the USA.  Hands down my new favorite way to travel in America.  No bull, cheap and free WiFi, plus a whole bar on one cart… why would anyone bother to fly after that (assuming time wasn’t a pressing issue)?

Finally seen Sue the T-rex at the The Field Museum in Chicago.  She is the most intact T-rex in the world.

Well there has been some major debate about this contest going around the travel blog community.  I might have spoke to loud on it and offended a few people but that is me, like it or leave it.  Anyways, the whole argument on the contest is that to enter you have to have a blog post with a link to the company who is hosting it.  That is a way for the company hosting the contest to game free links to rank higher in search results (say Google for example because the more people that link to their webpage the higher they will rank in searches, basic SEO 101).  Normally the company would have to pay for these links but since they are running a cheap contest, they will be getting the links at a fraction of the price.  So instead of paying bloggers $100-$250 for that link, they will get it for only $20.

Anyways, I wanted to enter but didn’t think I’d win, as to many happy people submitted already but I had the post drafted up so I thought I would share it with you and at least let you see the shots I had picked for it.  I’m not linking to the contest because, basically screw them if they think they’ll get me for free!  Basically the contest was to pick 5 photos, each photo for a color they picked and post it.  Below are my 5 shots for: Blue, Green, Yellow, White and Red.  Enjoy!

BLUE - Varanasi, India

I took this one night while waiting for the ceremony on the Ganges River to start.  Half the people sit in boats and watch it from the river (you can see them in the background) while the rest sit on the bank while the priest perform it.  I was messing around, getting bored so thought I would take a walk around and see if I couldn’t get some good light at the magic hour just after the sun set.  This lone guy was in a boat and I almost fell into the dirty river trying to get this shot at that angle.  Seriously glad I got the shot and didn’t kill my camera or even worse get a parasite for life living in my body!

GREEN - Varanasi, India

This guy is what you’d call a fake sadhu.  I found it hard to get people photos in Varanasi because everyone wanted money (which is a turnoff for me) so I ended up standing back and shot from a distance while there.  I knew he was a fake but still wanted his portrait somehow.  Without a doubt I knew full well he’d demand money before I even lifted the camera and I didn’t want to make a scene about it, so I moved up on an overlook and was able to capture a shot of him alone like this.  I loved the teal green pallet he was sitting on contrasting with the colors of his body paint and clothes.  This photo says so much about India in one shot for me that it’s one of my favorites that I took while there.

YELLOW – Medellin, Colombia

One thing about Latin America is they have the best damn parades ever!  This one was from a set I shot of the “Feria de Las Flores” (Flower Parade) that happens every year in Medellin.  It’s a week long party and they finish with this parade on Saturday (see more photos here).  This group came charging down the street in their yellow coveralls, with green shirts and flowers donned on their head dancing.  Seriously, you’ll want to see the other photos of this to fully understand how fun and insane it is to watch this parade!

WHITE – Ferdonia, Colombia

Goats are officially to me, got to be the dumbest animals alive I think.  The parking garage where we parked the car had this goat tied up in the corner when we arrived.  I had made a mental note to see if I couldn’t get it’s photo when we came back to leave but when we got back the goat was gone.  Didn’t think much of it, until we started taking a few last minute shots of the group and the owner came up and asked if we would take his photo.  My friend Sebastian knew the owner and said yes.  He left and I was wondering where he was going.  Two minutes later he showed up with the goat and asked if we would take his picture!

We set the garage owner up on some steps with the goat next to him.  The owner told us it’s name was “Nieve” which translates as snow.  He started feeding the goat and this is when I realized how dumb/insane they are!  Click here to see the rest of the photos of “Snow the Mad Goat”!

RED – Dharamshala, India

One of the main reasons why I went to Dharamshala was because it’s where the Dalai Lama now lives.  I had two agendas, see him talk if possible and photograph as many monks as I could.  Well I ended up missing the Dalai Lama by a day (this was the reason why) but I did get to photograph a LOT of monks!

This little monk was one of the best models I have ever photographed hands down.  He was only about seven years old but the whole time I was photographing another monk, who was about 17, he kept telling him how to pose, where to look and was fixing his wardrobe… that I ended up  just sitting back and laughing!  The kid was good and when it was his turn to get photographed I didn’t even have to speak as he had studied everything I did with the monk prior and knew exactly what I wanted.  Was one of the best photo shoots I did while in India and this is bar far one of my favorite shots to-date!

While at the Angeles de Medellin foundation in Regalo De Dios in Medellin, Colombia I spent the day there taking some of the last photos I would shoot in Colombia.  At the end of the day, just before I was leaving I seen this kid ride his horse into the village to pick up some material from the hardware store.  I assume that maybe his father sent him down the hill to pick the items up.  Anyways, I didn’t think much of it, as it’s a common thing in this area and the only reason this kid caught my eye was when he got to the hardware store (which is right next to the Angeles de Medellin building) he stopped the horse next to a 3ft high concrete wall and used that as a step for getting down.  I thought that was rather clever and made a mental note to keep an eye out on this kid.

About 15min later, the kid didn’t disapoint me.  He came out of the hardware store and had a big white bag of material in his hands.  Then the owner comes out with a long pipe, I’d say about 20ft, and after the kid climbed back onto the horse, the owner handed the pipe to him.  I’m watching this and trying to figure out how this kid is going to carry that pipe while riding a horse and holding onto a bag at the same time.

Well if you haven’t heard, kids in Medellin get “knighted” early so they have special powers and skills.  If you don’t believe me, see the photos below, as you can’t say I didn’t tell you so!

Just before I left Colombia I was contacted by David Vélez about doing a short interview for the company he worked for, called Telemedellin.  I didn’t know anything about Telemedellin until I asked a few local friends on it and I found out it’s actually quite popular.  They’re an upbeat news agency based out of Medellin, Colombia and they feature a lot of human stories regularly.  David wanted to do a short video on me about the street photography I have been doing in Medellin.  Am I going to be on TV in Colombia finally that’s not an episode of “Locked Up Abroad: Dumbass Gringos Get Caught”?  I’m still working on the later!

I never actually met David while in Colombia.  Through a friend, who had a friend, who told me about a video he did, that I liked and wanted to know more on… I added him on Facebook hoping he’d accept (yes it’s ok to stalk when it comes to photography) as I had some questions on how he made the video.  To see the video I’m talking about, click here but I must warn you it’s full of dancing Colombian women lip-syncing to the tune of “Shocking Blue” by Venus.  HOT comes to mind when I think of it!  Side Note: the girl with the headphones on in the video is a friend of mine who told me about David.

So from 7-Degrees-of-Separation, David and I were introduced and that is how all this came about.  He simply asked if a TV crew could follow me around for a day and film me doing street photography in Medellin.  Easy enough I thought and quickly said yes.  He later told me though that he wouldn’t be there to film me but was sending a girl to do the interview.  My heart kind of sank a little because I was really keen on meeting up with him to talk about the work he does but David quickly reassured me that the girl, Camila, is cool and top-notch.  He neglected to tell me how stunning she was to, which was a nice surprise (hey I won’t lie)!

So I met up with Camila and the two camera guys at Santo Domingo metro stop where I did the first Help Portrait Project in Medellin last year.  I had another local friend who came with me to help, Carlos Restrepo (check out his website here) that helped me with the light.  We walked around for about 2hrs while I shot portraits and they filmed.  At the end we did the interview along my favorite little street in Medellin.  This is where I learned Camila’s real name, which is “One-Take-Camila!”  She asked me a few questions, at the end of a few I said, “Maybe I should try that again” to which she would always say “No problem, we got it!  Good job!”  The only thing she let me do over was the end part in the video.  I tried to do it all in Spanish but kept messing it up and after 8x she gave up and said “We got it!  Good job!” with a slight smile.

Below is the video and some of the photos I took that day. (if your an email subscriber and can’t see the video, click here to watch it)

A BIG thank you to Carlos for helping me, David for setting everything up, Camila for only letting me take one take, the TV crew from Telemedellin (those guys were way cool)… and the Paisa people! Miss you Colombia!!!

Marcos Kaseman, the founder of Angels de Medellin… acting crazy as ever!

Click on the photo to see more shots I took there!

Before I could leave Medellin I had to make one last stop off in my favorite place to shoot photographs in all of Colombia.  Angeles de Medellin was started by a gringo named “Marcos” Kaseman from the USA.  He’s been doing wonderful stuff in this poor barrio just outside of Medellin and am glad I met him while in Colombia.  If you want to read what I wrote about his project, click here, as that post I wrote explains all about this foundation.  If you ever want to volunteer there, just get into contact with Marcos and he’ll get you squared away. He’s always needing help so don’t be shy!

I first went to this barrio on the recommendation from a friend and I ended up helping to organize a photo-project their for a Christmas party that Marcos does every year for the village.  If it wasn’t for Marcos most of the kids in this poor neighborhood wouldn’t receive anything for a present.  It was then that I feel in love with the people there, especially the kids.  It was without-a-doubt the poorest community I visited in Colombia but also the safest.  I never felt scared or worried with camera out and was a BIG reason why I always enjoyed going their for photos.  The people might not have much but what little they do they are proud of and take pride in their community.

So it was only right, that the last photos I took in Colombia would be at Angeles de Medellin in Regalo De Dios.  The shots I got that day were mostly just kids and truth be told I was happy with that.  You can’t go up this mountain and not see all the kids that Marcos has helped over the years.  They’re so much fun to hang out with and always smiling… I will miss them all but will forever have their photos to remember them by.

How cool is this kid?  Seriously when I seen him standing along this building I asked if he’d let me take his photo.  He wasn’t that serious as in the photo and happily said “si!”  Love, love this shot because he looks so old, yet so young at the same time… which I think a lot of the kids who grow up poor do at times.

(LEFT) After I finished up for the day this girl walked up and asked why I didn’t take her photo and if I would.  I’m glad I did as she was beautiful.  (RIGHT) This little one was funny.  I put her on a concrete wall for her pose and told her to act natural… this was what I got.

I tried a group shot of the kids that started following us and told them to act wild for the camera.  Colombian kids are fun!

This little girl came out with her pet turtle and asked if she could be photographed with it.  Said sure and found out later it’s an endangered species.  Not sure what kind it was but Colombian kids have done this before when out shooting and it’s always stuff you’d never think of (one being a boa snake in a small poor village).

This little boy was sitting outside his house doing nothing.  We asked if we could take his picture and he just kind of nodded ok.  His oldest sister came out and gave us the final approval but I couldn’t get her to pose though.

This girl was a sweet heart and she stayed with us the whole day as we walked around shooting photos.

These two little ones were in a house that their mother was cooking arepas in.  Long and better story about the mom I’ll write later on but the little boy was a ham for the camera and the little girl sat in her chair while her mom cooked and never moved or made a different expression the whole time I was taking photos.

The two kids above have been abandoned by their mother who works as a prostitute.  Their grandmother takes care of them now in the village along with several other kids but was told she is an alcoholic.  Sad because these kids were so fun and I hate to think of the hardships they will endure later in life because of their poor upbringings.

It’s been almost nine months since I did my last “Taxicab Confession” post.  The first one was in Jodhpur, India and it got such a GREAT response from readers that I thought I would do another one while in Colombia.  Everyone said the same thing… “WE WANT MORE!”

I started this post back in October but the photos I had from that day I lost on a hard-drive that got stolen.  So I couldn’t use any of those interviews for this series.  Was a shame because one guy told me how he got a call for a pick-up at a house in Envigado (same area where Pablo Escobar used to live).  He said a guy walked up to his window when he arrived and told him to pop the trunk.  He did and the man threw something in, shut the trunk, walked around to his window and tossed him a $100 USD bill.  He told him to get rid of the body!  Yeah I know, crazy huh and so I just had to ask him what he did with the body.  He said he drove straight to the police station and told them what happened, that was it.  Hard to top that story and it kills me I lost the photo of that guy but that’s life.

So before I left out in April I took a day to start over and see what I could get.  As expected I got lots of guns, drugs and sexy women stories that were a far cry different from the confessions in India.  Read below to see what the Paisa taxi drivers had to say about the strange and crazy stuff that happens to them while working the streets of Medellin, Colombia!

“I once picked up a married couple one evening.  They were both drunk but the lady started to throw-up in the back seat so I stopped to kick them out.  The husband got mad and started kicking my taxi and we fought!  He threw a rock into my windshield then called the police on me.  When the police came they said it was their fault and made the man pay for my windshield, which was $480,000 COP ($267 USD) ”

• Rents his taxi per-day at $73,000 COP ($40.55 USD)
• Years Driving: 9 years
• Biggest Tip: $20,000 COP ($11.11 USD)

Pet Peeve: “I hate gringos and black guys from the coast because they slam the taxi door when they get out!”

“One time I picked up an old nun who was really short.  She was so short that I didn’t see her in the back in my mirror and I forgot she was in the taxi.  I seen someone standing on the street waving for a taxi so I pulled over and he got in the front seat.  I realized then that I already had a fare but lucky for me they were going to the same place and was able to charge them a separate rate!”

• Owns his own taxi
• Years Driving: 4 years
• Biggest Payday: $213,000 COP ($118.33 USD)

Taxi Tip: “I enjoy picking up gringos, they tip the best!  If they don’t speak any Spanish that is ok for me.  All they have to do is write down the address and I will find it if it’s in Medellin.”

“I picked up 3 guys once and something was different about them.  They kept talking in code to each other and on the cell phone… I realized then that they were paramilitary!  They didn’t do anything to me but I was very nervous the whole ride.”

• Rents his taxi per-day at $65,000 COP ($36.11 USD)
• Years Driving: 10 years
• Biggest Tip: only $2,000-$3,000 COP ($1.67 USD)

5-0 Run In: “I got pulled over by a female police officer once.  She wanted to see my documents (drivers license) but I had left them at home in a different pair of pants.  She gave me a ticket because I didn’t have them and it cost me $250,000 COP ($138.89 USD)!”

“I was driving one night in a bad neighborhood and I drove right through a gang fight on the street without knowing it.  When I realized what the sounds were I speed through as fast as I could.  When I made it out I seen 4 bullet holes in the windshield but luckily none get me.”

• Rents his taxi per-day at $70,000 COP ($38.89 USD)
• Years Driving: 20 years

I Heart Japan: “A Japanese tourist once took me out to eat lunch, then gave me a $50,000 ($27.76 USD) tip.  I really like Japanese tourist, they are so nice!”

“One night I picked up a travesti (ladyboy) that was drunk.  He got in the backseat and I took off.  I looked back in the mirror a few minutes later and he was getting naked.  I pulled the taxi over and kicked him out naked on the street next to a commercial building with lots of people around.”

• Rents his taxi per-day at $60,000 COP ($33.33 USD)
• Years Driving: 18 years
• Biggest Tip: $20,000 COP ($11.11 USD)

Lawyers Suck: “The only time someone didn’t pay me was a drunk lawyer.  He said he didn’t have the $14,000 COP and I didn’t feel like fighting with him over it, I didn’t make a scene on it and let him go.”

“Once a 42 year-old lady gave me a taxi for free.  I asked why she would do that and she said I don’t owe her any money but when she wants sex she would call me.   Finally after 5 months I told her no more because I was tired of her calling me all the time.  She sold the taxi and ended up giving me half the money.  She still tries to call me to this day but I don’t answer her because I know she was married.  Her husband was a rich man but a bad lover!”

• Rents his taxi per-day at $80,000 COP ($44.44 USD)
• Years Driving: 18 years
• Biggest Tip: $50 USD.  An American didn’t have any pesos with him so he gave me $50 and told me to keep the change!

Guerrilla not Gorilla: “I picked up three men from the bus terminal one night.  We started driving and next thing I know I was waking up on the street.  They were guerrillas and they hit me on the back of the head and knocked me out.  They stole my taxi.”

“I picked up a prostitute once who tried to drug me with Scopolamine (a common drug in Colombia that is colorless, odorless, and tasteless that can be put into a drink or blown into ones face).  I didn’t smell anything but my hands started tingling and I started to get dizzy.  I pulled the taxi over as quickly as I could and kicked her out.  I called my sister for help and she came to find me.  When she found me I was sleeping in my taxi.”

• Rents his taxi per-day at $68,000 COP ($37.78 USD)
• Years Driving: 20 years

Kids Will Be Kids: “I stopped at a red light one night and 4 boys, ages between 12-16 years old, walked up and put a gun in my face.  They stole my money, glasses and clothes.  I was left naked in my taxi!”

“I picked up a prostitute who wanted to have sex with me in the backseat.  I told her I was a good Christian and don’t want that.  She was drunk and wanting to make some money on a slow night.”

• Owns his own taxi
• Years Driving: 5 years
• Biggest Payday: $200,000 COP ($111.11 USD)
• Avg Payday: $150,000 COP ($83.33 USD)

Taxi Tip: “It’s safer to call a taxi to your place then to get one off the street.  If something happens the police can call the headquarters and see who drove to your location for pick-up.”

“I picked up a women at a hotel once (it was an hourly hotel).  When driving I noticed a car was following my taxi.  When I stopped to let the lady out, the car stopped behind me and a man got out and started yelling at the lady.  They were fighting when I pulled off as I found out it was her husband and he wanted to know why she was at a hotel!”

• Owns his own taxi
• Years Driving: 1 year
• Biggest Payday: $200,000 COP ($111.11 USD)
• Avg Payday: $160,000 COP ($88.89 USD)

Cops Make The Best Drivers: “I’m a retired police officer with 21 years.  I just drive the taxi for extra money now and to keep busy.  I never have any issue with getting tickets because I tell them who I am and they tell me to be safe and leave me alone.”

“I picked up a street collector (basically a bum who collects trash out of bins to recycle) and the man gave me a $200,000 COP ($111.11 USD) tip!  I didn’t know this before but we were talking and I told him about my personal problems at the moment with money for my family.  When he gave me the money he told me that a rich man gave him $500,000 and he gave me the $200,000 because he said he didn’t need it as much as I did and wanted to share the wealth.”

• Rents his taxi per-day at $69,000 COP ($38.33 USD)
• Years Driving: 5 years

3 Is a Crowd: “Three men got into my taxi and told me to drive outside the city.  After 20 minutes one guy pulled out a gun and made me pull over.  They kicked me out and stole my taxi.”

“I picked up a women from Costa Rica who wanted to go to the metro.  I lived in Costa Rica for 2 years so we talked a lot about her country and I gave her my taxi card with my number on it.  When she got out she forgot to pay me.  She called me later that night and said she forgot and was sorry.  She paid me and did the right thing.”

• Owns his own taxi
• Years Driving: 10 years

Americans are Rich: “An American man gave me $15 USD once because he didn’t know where to go and I helped him out.  I didn’t even give him a ride as he was on the street and just told him how to find the place.  Was easy money!”

“I picked up five people from a bank once.  We drove down the road and at the first stop light we were waiting for the light to change.  Two men on motorbikes came up to my window and told me to turn off the taxi and there would be no problem.  They had guns and robbed the five people in my taxi, which they had a lot of money.  Somehow in the confusion an envelope fell and got left in my floor in the back.  I found it later and it had over $200,000 COP ($111+ USD) in it!”

• Owns his own taxi
• Years Driving: 12 years

Sometimes A Tip Isn’t Money: “I once had two girls get in one night and they started kissing each other in the back.  Then one lifted the other girls shirt up and was kissing her breast!  I didn’t say anything but I did adjust the mirror for a better look!”

If you want more and haven’t read the original post I wrote when in India, click on the photo below!

I meet Valeria through a travel friend here in Medellin.  He’s been gone for a while now but he had asked me if I would submit some photos for his new online magazine for the upcoming issue.  I said sure but I didn’t have a lot of content because I had two hard drives crash and one stolen since being in Colombia (long story).  He said ok to it only being photos of Medellin but had a request for certain photos.  One photo being a shot, framed landscape, of a true Paisa chica.  We talked and came up with the idea to use his old girlfriend for the shot.

I got a hold of Valeria and she was excited to do a photo session with me but we needed to agree on a date and location for it.  She suggested we go to her farm (in Spanish called a “finca”) just outside of Medellin.  When I got there it was more like a resort then any farm ever could be.  It had a paintball course, a soccer field, fruit orchard, huge swimming pool with jacuzzi and a pavilion BBQ area.  The house could sleep 40+ people easily, had a 4 car garage and the best part were all the animals walking around on the property (birds, dogs to large turtles).

A friend, Oscar, went with me to help assist and we couldn’t of had a better day for weather.  We spent from 11am to 7pm shooting different shots in different outfits for her.  I just needed one good photo for the magazine and anything after that was just for fun to see what else we could get with the light set  Below is what we captured that day.

Photo Credit: Oscar Zamora

Photo Credit: Oscar Zamora

Photo Credit: Oscar Zamora

I’m not a fan of spot coloring but I thought why not on this photo since it’s not a serious one and is just for fun.  This parrot was insane for the chips we were eating.  He also wanted some of my beer but sorry about his luck it just wasn’t in the deck of cards!

If you wan to see more photos from this session, check out my Facebook Fanpage for more!

I often get people that ask me how I get the shots that I do when traveling.  Honestly it’s nothing fancy and usually just involves a flash inside a softbox.  When I first started out doing photography one thing I did was devour photography websites for set-up shots (and I still do this, as you never stop learning).  It’s one thing to see a photo but it’s even better if you can understand how it was made.  Not always easy with photoshop and other tools out there these days but a set-up shot can explain so much in just one visual picture.

So below you’ll find the finished product and the set-up shot of how I captured it with details about the shutter speed, aperture exc.  If you want to see the original photos larger (plus others) with a description about each photo, click “Street Photography: 4 Paisas & a Gringo, Plus One Mad Goat.”

This photo is straight out of the camera with no post-edits