Author Archives: Michael

Tianning Temple

Tianning temple

I spotted this round window and incredible yellow wall at Tianning Temple in Changzhou, China, and waited for someone to walk by. No one did. I waited longer. Still no one. There were plenty of other things in the area to shoot so I walked on but kept my eye on the round window. Finally, I noticed a monk headed in the right direction and I literally ran back to my spot with just enough time to fire off this one shot. It’s not perfect, but I’ll take it given the circumstances.

I’ve neglected to mention that our old house sold. In fact, it was one month and three days from our first meeting with the realtor to closing and receiving the check. I think that’s pretty amazing. Not only is our workload now reduced by only having to care for one property in one town, but we’re also finally able to do some much needed upgrading of our business equipment. Some new hard drives arrived today and I also completed the adoption of my brother’s Nikon D300 that accompanied me to China last month (In fact, I shot this photo with it). More is arriving tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Travel by the Pint

Travel by the Pint

I’ll take a break from posting photos from my trip to China today to announce the launch of a new project.

Travel by the Pint is a video podcast featuring interviews with brewmasters and brewpub owners from around the country. Local attractions are also spotlighted in each episode.

This project has been in the works for over a year and filming of the interviews began last May. The entire first season is shot and in production but we are oh-so-happy to finally be able to announce that our first episode is now available on the Travel by the Pint web site. The vidcast is also available through the iTunes store by individual download or as a free subscription.

Steve Mazylewski

Steve Mazylewski (above), the brewmaster at Hog Haus Brewing Company in Fayetteville, Arkansas, was kind enough to be our first interview and appears in the first episode along with a visit to the nearby Coleman Theatre in Miami, Oklahoma. The restored vaudeville theatre has previously appeared on this blog as well.

We’ve had a great time getting this project rolling and have lots of plans for its future. Please stop by the Travel by the Pint web site site and check it out. We hope you enjoy it. And — don’t forget — please drink responsibly.

Performance in Zhouzhuang

I attended an evening performance in Zhouzhuang, China, not really knowing what to expect. I’ve been to a lot of community shows that depict their history through dance and song before and I hate to say that most had done nothing to get my hopes up for this one. Upon arrival at the outdoor performance area set amidst the canals that flow through the old town, my hopes rose. When the show began with an Olympic-opening-ceremony-like extravaganza — I left my seat and headed for a side railing where I could shoot. The next hour (was it more?) was a rush of light and color — truly incredible. I recorded what I could, but it doesn’t do the show justice. Here is a quieter moment that is better able to be conveyed in a still image.

Dancer with umbrella

And thanks to my brother, Bruce, for the loan of his D300. The extra high ISO performance was greatly appreciated!

Water town

zhouzhuang, china

Canal boats being put away for the night in Zhouzhuang, China. This town is very popular with tourists for its historic area criss-crossed by canals. Walk the sidewalks and narrow streets or take a boat ride. If you’re lucky, you might see a wedding boat like this one go by:

wedding boat

Even thick with tourists, it’s hard to deny the beauty of this place.

fisherman

Rush hour

bicycles

It’s hard to grasp just how many people there are in China. Cities of 6 million are practically considered small towns. This is the morning rush in Suzhou. Bicycles and scooters zipping everywhere — challenging cars and buses. It’s quite a sight and a whole lot of fun to shoot.

China and back again

man with kite

I apologize for another gap in my posts but I’ve been in China for the past week and have been unable to access my blog server. As of 2:00 a.m. this morning, I’m back and have plenty of catching up to do — sleep and otherwise. I’ll let this shot of a kite-flier in Shanghai suffice for now but be sure there is more coming over the next few days.

Election night

road

I’ve been off the grid for awhile so let’s catch up…

I spent Tuesday night (election night) in a great little log cabin in northwest Arkansas. This was my driveway. Yes, there was a TV. No there was not an antenna or cable — just a DVD player. Happily, there was a wifi network at the nearby lodge so I spent some time down there, watching returns and downloading email. One of the emails I received was an application for a visa for an upcoming trip to China.

Backing up a little further… I had received an invitation to a press trip in China on Friday and was asked to provide some information. I emailed that off and waited for the visa application to be sent to me. Sunday, I left for Arkansas but I took my passport along — just in case I needed to reference my passport number while I was away. Lucky I did, because I needed to send my passport to LA along with the application. I also needed to send a passport-style photo. A photo that I did not possess. This was Tuesday night. The package needed to be in LA on Thursday.

Thanks to a PR person I was traveling with, I was able to get directions off of his GPS to the nearest Post Office in Harrison, AR, where I could get a passport photo taken. I figured I could mail the package from there, too. I had already picked up an overnight envelope and postage when I was in Fayetteville earlier on Tuesday.

But wait… I also have to print out the application that I had received by email so that I could fill it out and include it in my package. Again the PR folks came to the rescue, arranging for me to gain access to the lodge’s office early the next morning to use their printer. Sweet.

The next morning I printed the document and excused myself from the press trip to make a run east, over to Harrison. It was fortunate that I had driven on this trip and not flown as I had my own car. Once at the Post Office, I had my photo taken and assembled the rest of the package. As the postal worker filled out his paperwork, he said, “Okay. This is guaranteed to arrive by 3:00 on Saturday.”

Saturday?

Turns out Harrison doesn’t have an airport so their “overnight” packages have to be driven to Little Rock. Time for plan B. Where’s the nearest Post Office that CAN deliver a package overnight? Fayetteville. The same Post Office where I had purchased the postage. Well west of my beginning point on Wednesday morning.

A call to my press group to let them know what was up and it was off to Fayetteville. I dropped off the package and headed back east to catch up with my tour. I finally arrived at Eureka Springs around 1:45, fifteen minutes before the next item on the itinerary and about 7 hours after leaving the cabin that morning. Whew!

And the trip to China? It begins next Saturday. Just seven days away now.

And I forgot to mention that I did manage to hear the election results on an AM oldies station in the cabin Wednesday morning. Obama’s win was announced right after they played a Carpenters’ song.

For sale

exterior

For the last week or two, my daily routine has started around 3:00 am with office work, a 30 minute drive to the old house after sunrise, and painting and scrubbing the place until dark. Drive home, check emails, put out any fires that flared up during the day, and collapse into a coma-like state under a cat or two. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Yesterday we met with our realtor and signed the papers to officially put the house on the market. This was our first house, one that we’ve owned for more than 20 years. We’ve done a lot to it in that time. When we first saw it, it was carpeted in green shag and covered in shiny panelling with pink-painted trim. Acoustical tile was tacked to every ceiling — and some walls.

It’s been a great house for us but it’s time to move on. Now it’s some other family’s turn to make it their own. The house is 110 years old now and I feel we’ve left it with a good chance at 100 more.

parlor

entry

tin ceiling

mantle