Sick of Digital Photography
Fujifilm Yellow
Yes, it’s true. Digital photography begins to wear thin for me. My beautiful, shiny Nikon D3 with it’s 1 megapixel LCD, it’s massive, crystal clear viewfinder, ultra-fast, ultra-accurate autofocus, blah blah blah… It became boring. Read more »
Ratatat #1
I know it’s been far too long since I’ve posted anything. Let it suffice to say I’ve been extremely busy, and unfortunately none of that busy time has been spent taking photos. However, I got out this weekend for Loretofest, an all afternoon/night music festival put on by Loreto, a locally based charity organization. Several bands played, some of which I liked very much, some of which I did not. My favorite of the evening was the main act, Ratatat, from New York City. Read more »
Back From Alaska
Looking West from Sugar Loaf Mountain
Hey! I’m back! A couple of people were wondering if I had fallen off the edge of the Earth. Well, I didn’t, obviously… but I did go there! For those of you who don’t know, I went back to the United States for a long overdue visit with my family. My grandmother turned 90 years young in August, and the Catlett family had a reunion party to celebrate. Read more »
Panning On A Rainy Day
Flowers In The Wet
The weather in Saigon has been absolute crap. I know, I know, I bitch about the weather on my blog a lot. But what else is a photographer supposed to bitch about? I could complain about moire and jpeg artifacts, but most of you normal people out there wouldn’t know what the hell I’m talking about.
On top of the bad weather, my life has been boring. I haven’t left town since Lao New Year, and I haven’t been shooting stuff I like. No fun. No excitement. Blah.
So, the other day it was pouring rain, and I was staring blankly at my monitor for like the 5000th hour in a row, with some drool rolling down my chin, and I decided that I didn’t care about anything else except going out and getting some FUN shots. And what could be more fun than panning in the rain? Read more »
Lao New Year Madness
Young women getting drenched with yellow-colored water
Last month I went to Luang Prabang in Laos for the Lao New Year celebrations. I was there for about one week and did lots of work. Most of it has already been posted on the Laos Photo Library, but I’m going to start posting more of my Laos stuff in galleries on this site.
This new gallery showcases the insane street celebrations that take place during Lao New Year. During the New Year festivities, Lao people traditionally wash the Buddha images housed in the local temples, and also have ceremonies where they wash their elders’ hands in a show of respect. In the modern interpretation, young people crowd onto the streets to toss water at each other, throw talcum powder in people’s faces, and smear kettle grease all over their friends. The whole thing is quite chaotic and a bit stressful for a photographer who doesn’t particularly want to get water, handfuls of white powder, or grease and soot on/in his camera.
I really wanted to capture the sense of constant movement, the streams of water flying through the air, and the general sense of friendly mayhem. In order to do this I used slow shutter speeds for much of my work, and I’m rather pleased with the results I got. I hope you enjoy this set, it’s one of my favorites!
Doorways of Vietnam
Doorways of Vietnam Gallery
Here’s a new set of photos that I took while traveling around Vietnam. A collection of doorways, windows, and other things I found on and around old houses and pagodas in Laos and Vietnam.
New Years and Doorways
A girl covered in white powder and coloring during the Lao New Year celebrations
A couple of weeks back I went to Luang Prabang in Laos for the Lao New Year celebrations. If you’ve ever heard of Songkran in Thailand, it’s really similar to that. Traditionally all the Buddha statues and furnishings would be taken out of the temples and washed by the community during ceremonies and parades. Young people would also wash their elders hands in a symbolic show of respect. Read more »