Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make Your Choices!

Dear All Bloggers:

One of the most helpful things for a photographer is to get some feedback. If you are willing, would you look at the images on my blog and let me know which photo you like the best and why? If you are having trouble posting a comment, just send me an email. I am a feedback junkie so please be brutally honest.

I am wanting to "define" myself and my photography work and it helps tremendously to know the impact of my photos on the viewer...a little like a dance.

This IS the last blog. I promise. I look forward to your feedback and to reconnecting when I return.

Thanks, Linda

Class Complete, Celebration Tonight, Touring Tomorrow

"The meaning of the place reveals the next step in my soul's journey. No trip is insignificant. Every time I am given a destination for travel, I am handed an opportunity to learn more about the meaning of my life. " Joseph Dispenza, "The Way of the Traveler"

Dear Bloggers:

This will be my final blog. We finished our class today and will celebrate at the River House http://www.supatrariverhouse.net/AboutUs.htm with a farewell dinner, slide show, and a final boat ride on the river.

Tomorrow I will meet my guide, Tong for some touring and shopping...and of course some final photos!

Attached are several photos from Soi Cowboy and Patpong as well as some food shots I have taken along the way.

Thank you all for being my virtual travel partners! Will have a quick time movie of the images from the class to share with you sometime in the future...only if you are interested. Time to start planning the next adventure!

Let me close with this quote:

" The pleasure of leaving home, care-free, with no concern but to enjoy, has also as a pendant the pleasure of coming back to the old hearthstone, the home to which, however traveled, the heart still fondly returns, ignoring the burden of its anxieties and cares. " Herman Melville, "Traveling" in the Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces

Thanks again, Linda

Back to Bangkok for a Little Sanuk!

Dear Bloggers:


Arrived back in Bangkok yesterday after a 3 hour bus ride. We tood pictures of young men on horses last night as they road along the beach. After arriving back in Bangkok, we took a boat to the Oriental Hotel (http://www.mandarinoriental.com/Bangkok/) and had a wonderful Thai lunch. We were then given the assignment for the day of : "Sanuk", which means to go have fun. A colleague and myself went to Soi Cowboy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soi_Cowboy and Papong (http://patpongnightlife.com/)...both are considered red light districts in Bangkok. Lots of opportunity to take interesting pictures. No one had the stomach for the Thai Boxing Matches! We also were given the assignment of a self portrait...how we wake up in the morning.



Tomorrow I will hook up with a guide named Tong for several days. We will be going to the Grand Palace, the Klongs, and several shrines as I try to take in all I can before boarding the plan for the US at 10:30 Friday night.



I am off to class so will add my photographic posts when I return to this update this entry. I will also add some photos of the incredible food we have been eating during the trip. Please check back later today for some final photos and a wrap up.


Thanks, Linda

Winding Down with an Ocean Room and Thai Massage

Dear Bloggers:

Today we started at a civil time of 9AM. Started the day with a walk on the beach, monk spottings, and horses on the beach at dawn. We edited and processed our images of Chinese New Year and the Floating Market. I have shared a few with you in the blog.

This is a beautiful resort and it is clear the protests at the airport recently have impacted travel to Thailand. The resort is very calm. Tonight we will do a photo shoot on the beach at the "Golden Hour" (Hour before sunset) with several models. We will practice fill flash.

We leave tomorrow morning at 9AM and head back to the Shangri-La for lunch at the Oriental Hotel.

I am keeping this blog short today or I will be late for my Thai massage! Thanks for checking in..I feel like you have been on this trip all along!

Linda

On the Road Again - River Ride, Floating Market, Ceramic Factory, and Chinese New Year

Dear Bloggers:



Well, we spent one nite at the Fishermans Resort and Spa and then edited and reviewed our photos from the Floating Market (http://www.bangkok.com/beyond-the-city/damnoensaduak.html) and River Ride the day before. We took in the ceramics factory and Chinese New Year Celebration today and then traveled to our next destination - Veranda Resort and Spa for TWO nights. Tomorrow we have several hours free and I am ready for a Thai Massage! This body of mine is definitely feeling the discomfort of many miles of walking, many hours of bus riding, and several boat rides on VERY hard seats.



The images I am posting today include abstracts from a wonderful ceramics factory and several from what life is like on the river. I hope to have some images from the floating market and Chinese New Year for tomorrow's post. Tomorrow we will learn more about fill-flash and raw processing.



We had a wonderful dinner at the Veranda Resort and Spa tonight(http://www.mixhotel.com/view/HuaHin/Veranda%20resort%20and%20spa-2.html ). We dined on grilled seafood and lots of Thai side dishes and sauces. We dined outside next to the infinity pool on one side and the ocean on the other.



I think I might even get a good night's sleep tonight since class doesn't start until 9...I am beginning to think there is some logic to the scheduling...work them hard and reward them at the end for work well done!



Keep your comments comming! The workshop ends on Wednesday evening with a farewell dinner. I will remain in Thailand on Thursday and then leave at 10:30 PM on Friday night, the 30th. I have found a guide named Tong who will be my escort for Thursday and Friday. Plan to do a cruise of the Klongs and visit the Grand Palace. We will also do some shopping.



Hope you are enjoying my images. Please feel free to provide feedback. Will be in touch!

Buses, Ferries, and Trains Oh My!

Dear Bloggers:

Today was a day of travel, photo shoots, great food, and a new location for the night.

I am posting my photos from last night - the puppet show at the Joe Louis Theater and the photo's from the Fishing Pier.

Our day started early by boarding a bus to the Fishing Pier mentioned on my travel schedule to the left. It was quite a site, not to mention the fish smells. The boats came in, unloaded their fish, were sorted, stacked, put on ice, and hauled away. You will get a glimpse of the pier from my photo's...it was fascinating to watch. The thing that struck me is how welcoming, again, the Thai and Burmese people were to having us present.

After the Fishing Pier we boarded a train to experience the case of the disappearing railway tracks. If you are curious about what I mean...check out this website:http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php/2008/02/05/maeklong-market-railway-video?blog=5
After witnessing the "disappearing railway tracks" we were off the our new location to check in and have lunch. We edited and reviewed our images and then headed off for an evening market and photo shoot. We returned for dinner and then called it a day.

Tomorrow we head out early again and will be staying at another location by the ocean nearly an hour away. We start the day with a visit to the floating market and end the day with a Chinese New Year's Celebration.

Keep those blogger comments and postings coming...Linda