We’ve had a gorgeous run of beautiful weather during the day – and an unbelievable full moon at night. There’s a string of houses along Point White that all have gorgeous waterfront views of Mt. Rainier, and only one spot along the road where a photographer can peep in between the hedges. This is it.
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This is one of my favorite photos. I took it in 2002 with my first ever digital camera, the Canon S30, which I still have (but haven’t used in eons). But what I like about this photo is the visual cacophony of the subway station. I wish I had done a video clip – these [...]
Mustagh Ata, the “Father of Ice Mountains,” towers nearly 25,000 ft above sea level. Further north, there is no higher mountain on earth (with the exception of its twin summit, Kongur). The Kirghiz muslims called it “Hazrat-i-Musa” and believed that white camels bore Mohammed’s body to heaven by ascending its staircase slopes. It is situated [...]
I had a short layover in Seoul, having arrived at 7am on the red-eye from Saigon and flying out at 7 in the evening. So I took the train into the city and wandered around. These shots were taken at Dongdaemon Market, Myeung Dong fashion area, and around Seoul Station.
Our office here is just behind “Wedding Dress Street.” This particular shop caught my eye and I spent part of an evening waiting for the red-eye to Seoul, shooting people in the area…
This is one of my favorite photos of all time. It was taken by a close friend of mine, Anthony Willoughby, on our expedition to Mustagh Ata, in a small town called Tashkurgan, high up on the Pamir Plateau in western China just near the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. “Pamir” means “Roof of the World” [...]
I spent the weekend in Las Vegas. On business. I promise. Armed with only my iPhone, I was determined not to take any photos of people gambling or acting stupid. Here’s what I came up with. One person acting stupid, and eight other snap shots.
This reminds me of the ‘peaceful’ days when we weren’t all running around staring into our Smart Phones. in China, there was no trash because there was nothing to throw away, and no packaging either. Life was simple.
Moscow, October 1978. Any store with a line, people jumped into it first and asked what was being sold later.
The flight from Saigon back to Seattle is brutal. It’s an overnight flight to Tokyo, then an 8-hour layover before another overnight flight on to Seattle. Rather than sitting in the comfy executive lounge at Narita, I decided to jump a train and spend a few hours walking around the city. In a daze.
But [...]
A study of people outside the venerable Wing On department store on Shanghai’s Nanjing East Road – formerly named “Bubbling Well Road” during the British occupation of this quarter of the city.
Every once in a blue moon, we get three moons. I was fortunate to capture them from the top of the Space Needle. Maybe it was the champagne?
Summer came late to the Pacific Northwest – the warmest day of the year came in September. This was a nice vantage point, the top of the Space Needle at dusk…
Annual Labor Day celebration up here in the Pac Northwest…
It’s not just about music, but that’s how it started…
…for example, the water fountain…
I’ve just put up a new page of scans from “Old China” – that is, slides taken over 30 years ago. Here’s the link: http://www.qamera.com/places/old-china/ and here are a few photos from the “old day”…
A few short notes about scanning with the V700.
First of all, it’s a great scanner. I did the research and it’s the best flatbed scanner out there, and – according to the salesman at the Pro Photo Supply in Portland, it’s the reason why the Nikon film scanners were discontinued.
I bought it for [...]
It has to be very cold for nobody to be in the Forbidden City. It also helps if it was 30 years ago.
We spent the weekend at the family compound for the the annual “summer clean-up”. Here are a few photos from the weekend.
These folks were crowded around a window display of Japanese watches. Just normal watches.
Nanking Rd., Shanghai, 1979.
Scanned from Kodachrome 64 on an Epson V700 using Silverfast.
Continuing in my series of “old China” pictures, this one was taken in 1979 on a Sunday morning outing to the Great Wall. Suddenly our taxi coughed and sputtered. The driver simply stopped it smack dab in the middle of the highway. People came from all over not so much to help, but to gawk at the [...]
This isn’t my best picture, but it is an early one – circa 1979 or 1980. It was the first commercial billboard in Beijing – I know, because I set it up with the first-ever advertising company in China, McCann-Jardine. There were billboards before – the one before this exclaimed “We Have Friends All Over [...]
The Barn House Boys – Joe and Jermonne – host one of the premiere “vintage” markets in the country once each summer, in the “back yard” of their enchanting farm house in rural Battle Ground, Washington. People come from all over to see, buy, eat, drink, listen, play – and [...]
I love the internet. Got a $250 room for $55. This mansion, in the middle of the French concession of Shanghai, belonged to I.M. Pei’s father in the 1930′s and was recently converted into a boutique hotel. The only thing that was not completely 1930′s art deco was a modern toilet that did everything except [...]
I don’t get out during the days much, except on weekends. So most of my photos tend to be around “night street” life – which, in this city, is pretty much always in motion…
My favorite thing to do is just park myself on a street corner, listen to the cacophony, and watch the motorcycles stream by like schools of fish – hoping that the overhead power lines will not collapse onto my head…
This is how you advertise in Saigon – go around with [...]
Twice a year, Bainbridge has a very special event – an old-fashioned vintage style flea market held at the historic Seabold Community Hall on the north end of the island.
Liz Le Dorze, who founded “Seabold Vintage Market” in 2009, keeps it intentionally small with just 4-6 additional local vendors in [...]
The last in my series of yoga animals. I promise. Xena did, however, appear earlier on Qamera, and the second photo here is a reprint…
I just love the views in this town. I’m sure if you live there, you gradually get used to them. But I don’t. So I can’t.
Saigon, Tokyo, Seattle, Sedona – in two days. Ooops, I forgot to take a photo in Seattle,which was covered in snow. I’m here to watch some films at the festival, and shoot some photos for a book.
The red eye from Saigon arrived at 7:00am, and I had about seven hours before the connecting flight was to leave for Seattle. The weather was beautiful. So I ditched the airport and took the train in to my favorite part of Tokyo, Shibuya – “crowded valley” – popularized by the film “Lost in Translation. Those Japanese [...]
Ho Van Hue – the main street near our office here in Saigon – is filled with wedding dress boutiques. Paradoxically, it also has a more-then-average number of casket shops. Still, from one person’s viewpoint, you’re never too young to start wishing….
More photos in my Vietnam Gallery…
There’s something about the garish neon, the smoke, and the piety of prayer. I’m not sure what, but there’s something…
Usually the flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong arcs out over the Aleutians and down acrosss Kamchatka, but our “circle route” was much higher. Should have known. We dropped right over Siberia and into Beijing for a quick refuel before heading on to Hong Kong and then Saigon. Just an iPhone snap.
