Borobudur Temple and the Moon

On the island of Java in Indonesia, is one of the largest Buddhist temples in the world. Borobudur Temple is just outside the city of Yogyakarta and a stone's throw from the active volcano of Mt. Merapi. A stone's throw, assuming it was the volcano doing the throwing.

At over 1100 years old, Borobudur is from the same time period as the other Buddhist sites of Angkor in Cambodia and Bagan in Myanmar. It had been one of my goals to visit them all. I had visited Angkor multiple times and spent nearly three weeks at Bagan in the last five years and finally in 2007, I made it to Borobudur.

Firelit family portrait with a little flash

Group family shots don't have to be boring. Here's a fun example of my sis and family hanging out in their backyard on a summer evening.

Fire is always fun to shoot, so I jumped at the chance to get some shots when my sister lit up the fire pit and busted out the skewers. (I also enjoy marshmallows on occasion!)

Studio in the Garden

This praying mantis was hanging around the garden of my little bungalow in Bali. It was late evening so I decided to get out some flashes and get a few "portraits".

I had picked up a Nikon D300 a few months ago so I could start using the iTTL Creative Lighting System. (CLS). For the non-photo-geek, that means I can shoot with multiple wireless (infrared) Nikon flashes which I can control individually from the camera itself.

I've often used off camera flash but I have always used them manually, meaning that I physically set the power on each flash and make adjustments to eventually get it right. For each power adjustment, I had to walk over to the flash and make the change.

More shots and the lighting setup below.

Beach Cottage and Small Flash

There are some really interesting little hotels in Indonesia. I was staying in this cool little A-frame cottage just a few steps away from turquoise waters of the Gili Islands. It was a great little room with a beautiful outdoor bathroom (Bali style).

Cyclo Driver in Phnom Penh

I was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia shooting various assignments. I was instructed to photograph various aspects on the cyclo drivers that pedal people and goods all over the dusty capital city.

I had this idea for a shot that could be a good opening spread for the story and I just needed to bring all the elements together. I set out with a motorbike

Angkor Wat and small flash.

Angkor Wat in Cambodia is one of my favorite places in the world. The 1100-year-old temples are the jungle ravaged remains of the mighty Khmer Empire. I have been lucky enough to visit Angkor more than two dozen times and it seems I always find something new.

This shot of the apsara relief in the central gallery of Angkor Wat is a good one to demonstrate the need for off-camera flash. It was early morning

Fire Dancer on the Beach

This is a good example of how many complex shots come together. You have a plan then everything changes and you have to improvise and get creative.

This is a shot of Christina fire dancing on a beach in Mexico. I had intended to photograph her much earlier in the evening. I wanted the sky to have some nice evening blue to complement the orange fire, but we missed the window.

More shots below

Handheld Flash Underwater

It doesn’t take long to discover the limits of having a strobe mounted on a fixed arm. The first time I went diving with a Nikonos V and 105 Substrobe, I did like most people and mounted the strobe on the arm and base plate blah, blah, blah. It made sense, it was part of a kit and that’s how it looked in the manual. Good job.

I found a huge moray eel back in a dark crevice and was futilely trying to angle my camera / strobe in such a way to throw light on the eel. It wasn’t going to happen.