Category Archives: photography

Day One in Chengdu, Continued…

Continuing the report on my first afternoon in Chengdu, China: after visiting the Jinli Ancient Street, it was time to see the modern side of the city. Chunxi Road offers an entirely different shopping experience with high-end brands and the most giant of all giant pandas, scaling one of the buildings:

Step into the shopping mall and ride a few escalators up to… maybe the fourth floor (?)… and you find yourself face-to-face with the panda:

Obviously a popular photo opp. Heading back down through the shopping center, I couldn’t help but check out the grocery store. Always one of my favorite things to see in any country, this one was extremely posh — but not so posh as to be too good to put everyone’s favorite stinky fruit, durian, on display front and center:

Hungry now, we were off for a “snack” at a local tea house. The “snack” was eventually deemed enough to suffice as dinner and it was time to head back to the hotel to prepare for the actual tourism festival events, which would start with a long bus ride first thing in the morning.

China’s Sichuan Province

Last month I was invited to attend the 2015 Sichuan International Cultural Tourism Festival held in Yibin, China. It was my second time in China, but my first in the province of Sichuan. With just enough time to send my passport off for a new 10-year visa, the next thing I knew I was packing up and heading off to explore a region I knew mostly the by the Americanized version of its cuisine.

I arrived on August 22nd after what I believe must have been very nearly 24 hours in the air, separated into three flights: KC to LA, LA to Beijing, and Beijing to Chengdu. It was about noon when I arrived at my hotel and, after a quick 20 minutes to shower and break out a little camera gear, I was back on the streets of Chengdu to do a little exploring.

The first stop was Wuhou Temple, the Memorial Temple of Marquis Wu (220 – 280).

In addition to cultural relics and historical artifacts, the temple complex includes beautiful gardens and a winding avenue through tall stands of bamboo.

Adjacent to the temple is Jinli Ancient Street, lined with shops, tea houses, restaurants and street food vendors:

Like a Chinese version of a State Fair, every food imaginable that could be put on a stick was being sold to lines of smiling visitors. Shops sold all kinds of local crafts and souvenirs including one stand specializing in shadow puppets:

This boy was demonstrating plastic toys that mimicked the famous mask-changing characters of Sichuan opera:

An eye-opening introduction to Chengdu and Sichuan Province, my first afternoon was just getting started. Next I’d check out some of the more modern architecture and high-end shopping options. Then an afternoon “snack” that turned out to be enough to count as dinner at a local tea house. All that, and more, in the posts to follow…

10×5 outtakes: Butcher Falls

I knew when we started the photography for the Kansas 10×5 book that I wanted to feature some locations that might surprise those with preconceptions of Kansas. Waterfalls are not something we’re known for, but we do have several nice examples. This one is Butcher Falls on Pool Creek in Chautauqua County. It was running pretty strong when I visited on June 7th last year. It was supposed to be my second falls of the day, but I couldn’t make it to the first one I’d planned to photograph in Bourbon County due to roads being flooded out. I shot one other waterfall later in the day in Elk County. That image did make it into the book but this one was eventually cut during the editing process. Still one of my favorite Kansas falls, and one I know I will photograph many, many more times.

Kansas 10×5 book

For the past few years, an idea had been brewing. That idea is now a book called “Kansas 10×5” and it’s available from my Blurb bookstore.

I’ve always loved hanging out with other photographers and shooting alongside them. There is something fascinating about how we each see the same things so differently. For years there has been a fluctuating group of local photographers I know that have taken day-trips or long weekends together, just to make photos and have fun. Some of us are professional, others just enthusiasts, but we’re all just shooting for the enjoyment of it and to see how we each approach the same subjects. In the past we’ve had blogs where we would share images or we would just email them around to the group. We talked about doing more — other projects — but we’re a bunch of busy people and it’s hard to make the time for an extensive project and have it fit everyone’s schedules.

When my friend Bhaskar Krishnamurthy moved to Kansas City, he and I also began talking about ways we could work together and ways that he could meet other local photographers. Everything began to come together and the idea of this book evolved.

Initially we wanted to have photographers from all over the country descend on Kansas for 10 days to shoot a book. Our attempts to find funding were less than spectacularly successful so we eventually pulled back to the idea of using more local photographers. Doug Stremel and Ferry Keizer had already been on board from the local photographer’s group I mentioned, and Doug suggested adding Earl Richardson to replace a couple of out-of-state photographers that couldn’t make it. I’d known Earl only by his work but when I met him one morning with Doug for breakfast, it was easy to see that he was a great fit.

So we settled on the five of us and 10 days. The ratio of 10×5 made sense (2-1), as it is basically the same proportion as the state itself, which measures 400 miles by 200 miles. So the 10×5 name explained the 10 days + 5 photographers, the shape of the state, and even led to the development of the grid for the layout of the book. It’s a 12″ square hard-cover so, when opened, it is 24″ x 12″ — the same 2-1 ratio as the state.

But to get to the point, we ended up with what I think is a really fun book. Five guys’ impressions of a state that they either grew up in or found later in life and now call home. Each made their own path for the most part, but we all met on one night to photograph the Symphony in the Flint Hills event together.

I want to thank Bhaskar, Ferry, Doug and Earl for their participation and cooperation on this book. It was a project that was great fun for me, and I hope you check out the preview on Blurb and enjoy it as well. Over the coming days, I’ll post a some out-takes of mine from the book, and maybe a few behind the scenes stories. Stay tuned…

Old Cowtown Museum, Wichita, KS

Last week I attended a meeting of the Central States Chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers. That’s not unusual for me — I attend a fair amount of SATW functions — but this time things were a bit different because we were meeting in my home state of Kansas. It was a lot of fun hanging out in places I have known since I was a kid with a bunch of people that I’m normally with in much more exotic locations like Fiji, Thailand, Iceland, Egypt, etc.

One stop during the tours that were a part of this gathering was the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita. I’ve tread the wooden sidewalks here many, many times but it was different this time, seeing the familiar with others who had not seen it before.

I’ll follow this post up with more featuring other stops that our group made in Wichita and up through the Kansas Flint Hills to Manhattan, ending with a stunning final night at the Symphony in the Flint Hills near Strong City.

Stock photography report: Germany

I do my best to keep on top of all of my stock photography sales, but every agency reports a little differently. I recently received a quarterly report from one agency covering the period of November 2014 through January 2015. As I entered the images into my tracking report, I noticed a larger number than usual were shot in Germany. That same day, I spotted two sales of Germany images on my Alamy account — which I can check online daily.

You never know how much to read into these reports, but I do like to look for trends of which country’s images seem to be most in demand at any given time. These past few months have been the best for my Germany images by far. I look forward to seeing if the trend continues.

The images I’m featuring here are not necessarily the ones that were on this report, but it seemed like a good excuse to dig back into my files from Germany and share a few favorites. Above are two from Leipzig, and here are some teacups on display in the Grassi Museum — also in Leipzig:

And a couple from beautiful Dresden:

Biking and Hiking in Phoenix

One more series from last month’s shoot in Phoenix, Arizona. Here are a few hiking/biking shots. Special thanks to good folks at Arizona Outback Adventures and Visit Phoenix for pulling everything together and being such great travel companions. You all are the best!

150421azoutdoor03_sotc

150421azoutdoor06_sotc

The Grand Canyon

I consider myself to be fairly well-traveled — especially within the United States — but, even so, there are a few top-tier destinations that have eluded me for no good reason. The Grand Canyon has been one of those until last month. It had become almost embarrassing to admit that I had never seen it but now I can put those days behind me.

Statistics show that the average visitor spends very little time in the park — like as little as an hour, with maybe only a few minutes at an actual overlook. While I didn’t spend a huge amount of time there either, I did beat the average and actually got to see the canyon from the air, from the perspective a trail, and I photographed both a sunset and sunrise from the rim. Not bad for a first visit, but I’d happily return for much, much more. I feel I barely scratched the surface, and that is probably an overstatement.

Sunset:

Sunrise:

Mondrian Bike

I’ve been woefully neglect in my posting here on the ol’ blog, but it’s not for lack of shooting. I’ve accumulated plenty of images over the last few weeks that will provide all kinds of fodder for the blog, I just need to kick myself back into the habit of posting. Sorry! There really is more on the way — and soon. Until then, here’s a colorful bike I saw at the uber-cool Graduate Hotel in Tempe, AZ a couple of weeks ago. Am I the only one it reminds of Mondrian?

Northeast Kansas

I took advantage of a warm(ish) day yesterday to scout around northeastern Kansas and make some photos with Doug Stremel. The “breeze” picked up as the day wore on and our 55-degree day ended up closer to freezing with a wind that could knock you down in an instant. At least we got some images — and were finally able to revisit a remote church we stumbled across on an earlier trip back in April of 2011.