Uploads from Pathos Photos, tagged travel, with geodata

Inner Sanctum

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:53:02 -0800

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I was recently contacted by the Stanford yearbook people because they wanted to include my photos in their 2012 yearbook. The sad ending is that it did not work out. I was willing to work with them on the pricing but I think they wanted the pictures for free. Do you guys get this a lot, where someone asks to use your photos for a publication or commercial use and wants them for free? I am all about sharing, which is why all my photos are Creative Commons, non-commercial which means you can download them and use them for personal, non-commercial purposes as long as you attribute the photo to me and link back to my website. It actually does cost me time and money to make these photos available. Alas, all the nice folks at Stanford graduating this year will miss out on pictures such as this one from their beautiful campus.

Lady Everest Beckons

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:34:14 -0800

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Ever hear the expression, “Good from far, but far from good?” Mount Everest looks absolutely stunning from a safe distance, but I am sure she is more likely to kill you than to cuddle with you if you get too close. Consider yourself warned. I will just admire from afar until someone comes up with virtual reality tourism or a functional holodeck. You hear that engineers? Challenge extended …

Longsheng Farmer

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:38:38 -0800

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My trip to the Longsheng region of China was very short, but it left an impression on me. The small mountain town was covered in rain and fog more often than not and it made for some treacherous hiking. There is something about the struggle to achieve that makes it all the more worth it. I spent two full days hiking up and down the various mountains and catching fleeting glimpses of the beautiful rice terraces as the wind swept the fog aside for moments at a time.

One morning, I was making my way up one of the steep, narrow paths when I looked up and saw a donkey blocking the way. He was only a foot from my face and he was just staring at me. I made to pass on the right and he swung his head over and fixed one huge eye on me. Ok, he is definitely staring me down. I tried to explain that is was common courtesy for the person coming down the hill to back up and let the other pass, but he did not understand English. Fine, you stubborn donkey, I will move out of your way. When I turned around to make my way back down, I saw this rice farmer plowing the field. I liked the way he was looking out into the distance and how the the rain drops falling off his jacket were catching the light. If it hadn’t been for that stubborn donkey, I would have missed this cool moment.

Temple of Heaven

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:18:12 -0700

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I was only in Beijing for one morning before I had to catch my flight back home so I tried to make the most of it. I was ecstatic to finally see the famous Temple of Heaven, but the sky was a very flat gray so I got a little creative with the processing. Now it is the Temple of Heaven … in space! =P

Surreal Guilin

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:20:33 -0700

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I was hanging out on a sandbar in the middle of the Li River, waiting for sunset when this fisherman happened to pass by. The sky was a crazy shade of yellow and the clouds surrounding the sun made it seem like some sort of solar explosion. Neither the fireflies, nor the fisherman and his two trusty cormorants seemed concerned that the sky was on fire. It was such a surreal landscape with the huge Guilin mountains in the background that I felt some sort of displacement of consciousness. Experiences such as these are a constant reminder to me that traveling is always worth all the minor inconveniences.

Grace Cathedral

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:16:22 -0700

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I used to live in San Francisco many years ago, but I never really took advantage of it. I mainly spent my time working and planning my next prank on a particularly patient flat mate*, so I never got out to see the many unique sights around the city. I happened to live a block from Grace Cathedral so it was only because I walked by it each day on my way to work that I even noticed it. This was my little sanctuary away from the craziness of city life and I would spend hours there looking up at the impossibly high ceiling, stained glass windows, medieval architecture and intricately carved labyrinths. That may not sound too exciting but it beats driving around the city for hours in search of a parking spot.

* The poor flat mate was a nice software engineer from Hawaii. He would bring home these little cupcakes and put them in the fridge and late at night I would get hungry and slice the tops off of all of them and enjoy them with some milk. The next day he would find the leftover stumps ... hehe.

The Egg

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:52:57 -0700

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You have to hand it to the Chinese ... they know how to built ridiculously cool structures. This is the National Center for the Performing Arts (a.k.a. The Egg) situated in Beijing, near Tienanmen Square. I can just imagine how the planning meeting must have gone:

Chinese Official: We would like for you to design for us a hyper-modern structure of considerable proportions and extreme opulence.

Architect: How about a 12,000 square meter space egg surrounded by water?

Chinese Official: Will it be smooth, shiny and visible from space?

Architect: Yes, I think we can manage that.

Chinese Official: Deal!

I only got to walk around the perimeter, but The Egg is truly impressive not only in sheer size, but the amazing architecture and details. I can only imagine how beautiful it must be inside.

Pondering the Imponderable - The Thinker

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:52:27 -0700

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I was in San Francisco late one night when I wondered up to the Legion of Honor hoping I could find some way to get in. I was shocked to find someone had cracked their tight security and managed to get into the courtyard. What baffled me was why on Earth he had taken his clothes off and decided to perch naked on the pedestal! I know this is San Francisco and people are all down with public nudity, but this guy had some guts. He was very deep in thought because he did not seem to hear me when I called out asking how he had gotten inside. I guess he had a bad day at the office and needed to think things through before he went home to his wife. Well, I hope he figured it out soon because it was way to cold and windy to be out naked.

Everest

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:25:15 -0700

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I was only a couple hours from Everest Base Camp when my driver suddenly stopped the car and motioned for me to get out. I looked around and surmised that this was probably not an ambush so I took my camera with me and climbed a nearby hill. When I got to the top, I was greeted by this view of Lady Everest. I took a few quick photos and got back in the car before I froze my nose off, not knowing how lucky I was to get this unusually clear shot of the peak.

In Transit

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:58:59 -0700

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Have you any idea how very long it takes to get to Lhasa from San Francisco? It takes, one forty-five minute 3:00am shuttle ride, a four hour wait at the airport, a two hour flight to Vancouver for a six hour layover before an eleven hour flight to Beijing, an hour in line waiting for a taxi, followed by an hour taxi ride into the city, one overnight stay, then another one hour long taxi ride back to the airport, three hours as you check in and go through customs, a four hour flight to Chengdu with a two hour connection, before you are back in the same exact plane you just evacuated, a two hour flight into the Lhasa airport and finally a one hour bus ride into the city. Somewhere along the line you loose track of all sense of time and space and you are weathered down into a state of placid servitude to the transportation authorities. Go to the left line, pass through those gates and sit there until you hear your flight being called. Yes sir.

If you are interested in squeezing some value from the experience, you can look at it as an exercise in patience and a test of your resolve to get to your location. Usually on one of these escapades, I am determined to get to my destination on the way there, but once I am there I just let events unfold and go with the flow. It usually works out well, with the exception of the few cases where I am being run out of town or I have to bribe some corrupt government official to stop harassing me for no legal reason. In this case I was just passing through the Chengdu airport, looking forward to coming home to my family. What a great feeling.

The Little Monk from Sera Monastery

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:15:06 -0700

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… I sometimes run out of creative titles for these pictures.

Have you heard of the famous “Monk Debates”? They are held in Sera Monastery and are both a form of verbal sparing as well as a method for teaching Monks about Buddhism. The basic premise is that one monk asks a questions and the other has a limited amount of time to answer. But it is more lively that than. The monk asking the questions makes martial art-like gestures while the monk sitting on the floor tries to retort before he gets a figurative karate chop to the head. The questions are all relating to the teachings of Buddha and I am sure they are really tough to answer, because this little monk kept making a can-you-repeat-the-question face. It was fun to watch these otherwise, peaceful dudes, let out some steam with all their crazy gestures and yelling.

… I feel your pain little monk, I wouldn’t know the answer to half those questions …

Bohemian

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:19:29 -0700

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It was my first day in Lhasa, Tibet and I was getting used to the altitude. My mind was a bit hazy as I walked through the Muslim quarter and made my way to the main square. I spent the day floating around and after the sun had set, I started to make my way back to my hotel when I looked up and saw this scene. It was a perfect Bohemian moment and I wondered what they must have been discussing in that interesting cafe. Was it politics, art or were they sharing philosophies on life? Either way, it was a perfect moment from my perspective.

Tibetan Prayer Flags

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:36:12 -0700

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I just got back from an eight day trip through Tibet and it was awesome! I am still waiting for the dust to settle before collecting my thoughts, but it is clear that there are no easy answers. I planned out the trip with the help of a local guide and when I arrived I was essentially escorted through the country at all times. There are strict rules to follow and a lot of paper work to fill out, but for anyone interested in visiting the Land of Snows, I highly recommend it.

This photo was taken on my way down from Lhasa to Everest Base Camp. This is just one of the many amazing natural beauties you will find sprinkled throughout the Tibetan Plateau. Although it looks more like a river, this is actually a lake. Yamdrok Yumtso is one of the three largest sacred lakes of Tibet and is said to me the transformation of a goddess into physical form. The lake water is an amazing emerald color (which unfortunately was hidden by the cloud cover in this photo.) This lake runs for many many miles and there are a lot of great vantage points, but I found this great place with the help of my guide.

High up on a ridge we saw a cluster of prayer flags flapping furiously in the wind. Prayer Flags are supposed to be hung in clean, high up places where there is a lot of wind so that each time the wind flaps the flag, the owner will receive the merit of the mantra written on it. It is a beautiful custom and these flags can be found all over Tibet. Some mountains are so densely covered with them that from a distance, they look like spider webs. It was a great experience to be able to travel across such a rich landscape.

Waiting for You

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:58:59 -0700

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This is another shot of Oakland’s ultra-modern Cathedral of Christ the Light. I spent a good hour here roaming around with complete freedom and I was just about to leave when I saw this guy standing at one end of the church, waiting for his wife to come meet him. It all seemed very romantic and the futuristic dome gave the scene a cool feel. I love this church.

Pod

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:06:15 -0700

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If you were the San Francisco Academy of Science, what would you like to have on your roof? A space-age, rolling green pasture dotted with portholes, perhaps? It certainly targets your key demographics: cows, pirates and space aliens ... and space cows, or pirates in space. The thing is, I didn't see any of those patrons when I was there. Maybe I went on the wrong day.

Dante's Gates of Hell

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:23:59 -0700

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Rodin, Rodin, you were a very talented and creepy man. I wonder if we would have been friends had we lived in the same time? But, I heard you were a bit harsh with Camille Claudel because you were jealous of her talents ... that was not cool. Either way, you made some great pieces of art, and my particular favorite is La Porte de l'Enfer also know as The Gates of Hell. I found this particular depiction of Dante's "Inferno" at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center.

When you see it from a distance it looks intriguing, and as you get closer and you start to make out more of the details and you get a deep gripping sense that something profound is being conveyed and before you know it you are caught in the sheer gravity of the scene. At first you are horrified at the wretched bronze portrayals of the human state, but there is something appealing that keeps you staring. It takes a few moments of quiet contemplation, but there is a bit of an inflection point when it ceases to frighten you and then becomes a thing of beauty. It is hard to explain unless you have stood in front of it, but that is why I chose to process the picture in a way that would make it look like some sort of discarded relic that you would find in a forgotten corner of heaven.

Caution: Do not listen to "Summer Overture" by Clint Mansell & Kronos Quartet while looking at this photo ... way too eerie.

The Underground Lake

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:36:13 -0700

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There is a series of cave systems that run under the huge mountains of Guilin in southern China. Reed Flute Cave is one of the more famous ones so I made a slight detour to go check it out. Like most places in China, there were a good number of tourists around so I quietly waited for them to pass so that I could have the place to myself and take pictures. The problem was that they would turn off the lights as soon as the tourists passed by so I was often left in the middle of a huge underground chamber with nothing but my cat eyes to guide me to safety. It was a little bit eerie, but all together awesome! I would point my camera at the ceiling and leave the shutter open for minutes at a time to collect all the faint light reflecting off some distant stalactite.

I finally made my way to the largest chamber where a mini lake made a perfect reflection of the alien-looking rock formation on the other end. As I was waiting for my camera to gather all the light, my mind started to wonder what was lying deep in this ancient underground lake. As I kept staring at the dark water, listening to the single drops of water sliding off the stalactites and delicately swan-diving into the lake, I started to feel a hypnotic pull to walk into the lake. Lucky for me I was traveling with my guide, Bart, who tripped over something, made a loud noise and brought me back to the present moment … and that is why you hire a guide, ladies and gentlemen. They can keep you from taking a dip in scary underground lakes.

Palace Gateway

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:33:44 -0800

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There is something regal about Stanford's campus. Every time I visit, I feel like a country bumpkin who managed to sneak into the palace by hiding in the hay cart. I keep waiting for the palace guards to decent upon me and throw me in the dungeon. Well, until that day comes, I am happy to roam around and take pictures of this beautiful campus.

Impression, Bamboo Forest – Novena

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 01:02:56 -0700

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This collection of photographs was the result of a happy mistake while walking through the Hakone Garden’s bamboo forest in Saratoga. I was messing around with my camera on manual mode, trying different angles and motions when I noticed the resulting images resembled impressionist paintings. I liked how the bamboo forest was implied though color, light and movement, so I sat there for a while and tried different things until I got the look I wanted. All of these photographs are single shots with very minor adjustments in Photoshop.

Impression, Bamboo Forest – Octava

nobody@flickr.com (Pathos Photos) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:46:51 -0700

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