the photography:
i'm still on my kick of dragging up older photos but let's be honest, if no one's seen the photos (except for the family and friends who were bombarded when we returned from our trip), then no one knows what they look like. on that note? here is more of hong kong from the summer of 2008.

photos are mostly from our tram ride up victoria peak, from hanging out on the observation deck at the top, and from our time consuming (and mentally stressful) descent down through the city. you'll notice that from the top of victoria, the skyscrapers play out before you in a stilt-like manor as if you could just leap out and jump from the top of one to another. it's really quite breath-taking for an american tourist as we have nothing even close to this type of geography-meshed-with-cityscape stateside. it's really remarkable. i liken hong kong's skyline to "if las vegas and manhattan had a baby and it was raised on fresh fish and old boats". that's fairly esoteric but quite an interesting thought nonetheless. oh well. i need more coffee.

one of hong kong's (and much of developed china can be lumped into this as well) powerful aesthetic visuals is the play and dichotomy between the new (buildings, materials, fancy cars, immense wealth) and the ancient (rickshaws, junk boats, 100 year old ferries, foot paths, peasant attire, straw brooms). it's a beautiful juxtaposition. i snuck in one night photo that i took from our last night in hong kong. it was a beautiful but cloudy night. we went out and enjoyed some sushi and drinks from a 30th floor restaurant in kowloon and at one point, the clouds lifted and i got my shot. pretty awesome. laser lights, all night.

photos again were with the 5D and my EF24-105mm f/4.0L USM. for this entire trip i was wearing either flip flops or my blue dock-siders. true story.

the music:
my dad and my brother turned me onto the Jayhawks back in 1994 or so. i was knee deep in understanding Uncle Tupelo, Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, and The Pietasters, all at the same time. confusion really doesn't even start to describe my mix tapes.

but confusion is what best describes my musical tastes since those early days. to me, the Jayhawks are the perfect conduit between what i grew up on (Beach Boys, Tim Hardin, Bob Dylan, Abba, The Beatles, The Kinks, Tom Waits, The Moody Blues, The Grateful Dead) to what i discovered on my (or with help from my brother) own (Operation Ivy, Minor Threat, Fugazi, Mudhoney, The Dead Milkmen, My Bloody Valentine, Wilco, The Tragically Hip, The Get-Up Kids). and whenever i hear Gary Lewis' voice, i just think of rolling along the hills of Vermont in my dad's pickup, tapping my knees, and loving the beautiful mixture of rock and folk. it's pretty blissful.

the photography:
one of the coolest things about hong kong is the open markets. fresh produce, souvenirs, antiques, metal, stones, jewelry, clothes, you name it, you can buy it. many of these open air markets (especially the fresh meats and fish markets) were closed during the SARS epidemic and hysteria of the early oughts. since then, a number of the markets have reopened and offered up their wares yet again. one of the most famous markets takes place at night. the Temple Street market roars into the darkness on the Kowloon peninsula with neon lights, strange and comforting food smells, and the constant chatter of tourists and locals alike. the whole experience made me feel like i was in the middle of the beginning of Blade Runner (sans downpour, flying cars, and edward james olmos...). it was fantastic. known these days for mostly souvenirs and t-shirts, there are still a number of quality vendors hawking more authentic wares such as antique chinese war propaganda, army hats, and bronze buddhas. and the food, oh my, the food. it's a pretty rad experience.

when i travel to new cities, new countries, and new continents, my favorite scenes to photograph are scenes that include unaware locals interacting with their environments. as a constant tourist (i really dig visiting new places), i try to capture with my camera, locals in the middle of everyday life. it's the photojournalist in me trying to break out. new york times cover, here i come...

also, you should still check it: Awkward in China, my sister-in-law's blog about living there. it's pretty fantastic, witty, and funny.

the hardest thing about photographing people in the dark without a tripod is ISO settings. people talk about gear via dollar amounts with the misconception that the more expensive a DSLR is, the better the photos are going to turn out. that would be utter bullshit. it's just another tool to manipulate buyers into spending more money than they should be. more megapixels?! only if you are going to be printing wall sized portraits for your next ad campaign. chances are you're just posting to your Flickr page (which i do fairly regularly i might add...).

PRO TIP: photos are going to be as good as the photographer taking them.

the only time more expensive gear is a must is when you are shooting images in varying places. high speed ISO is a must for sports photographers, quality low speed ISO is a must for photographers who shoot in low light. any time i can get rid of digital grain, i will spend extra money to do so. photos are with 5D and my EF24-105mm f/4.0L USM. love that combo.

the music:
i declare today to be, "Find your best cover on your iPod day"... .

so i went right for the jugular there. choices included but were not limited to: cowboy junkies - sweet jane, the pants - golgi apperatus, the pietasters - fiesta, rage against the machine - ghost of tom joad, reel big fish - gigantic, johnny cash - rusty cage, ted leo - since you been gone/maps, braid - alec eiffle, etc.

when you precede the beach boys cover with the songs, los angeles and i heard ramona sing, only to follow it up with fu manchu? i pick frank. mr. black, the stage is yours. rock me joey...

the photography:
two years ago this summer, my sister-in-law maeve, was living in china. that's right. china. she was spending her junior year abroad from college traveling, studying, and honing her chinese language skills. she was also fulfilling her own personal dream of constantly being the most awkward person in the room. picture this: 5'10" blond white girl amongst a dense asian population. she stuck out like a sore thumb. she even wrote a blog about it. check it: Awkward in China

now the reason i am telling you all about this is because just yesterday, maeve flew back to china for another 6 month stint. i'm so excited for her and i wish we could bring a new born baby (still in the womb but headed out shortly) with us to visit her. but alas... almost two years ago, cath and i spent a little under two weeks leapfrogging from shanghai, to beijing, to hong kong, and back to shanghai. it was an incredible journey with lots of stuff to see and experience. walking around the cities, seeing all the sights, hearing all the sounds, it was just an amazing experience. i could walk through the markets for the rest of my days, meeting merchants, haggling over squid heads (i never actually haggled over squid heads but i did witness it...), buying porcelain mao's, and eating smelly tofu. i could do it all day, every day.

so since maeve is headed back to china, and since i don't have a ton of time to take more photographs (as i am getting ready to welcome a new baby in about a month) i figure i could post a few sets of photos from our time in eastern asia. have i mentioned before that i would live in hong kong at the drop of a hat? all it would take was a good job offer and i would pack the family up in jiffy. i just don't really like the 14 hour plane ride... jeez. i am

this first set is from walking around the streets of hong kong. photos were shot with the 5D and my EF 24-105mm f/4.0L USM. it was the perfect camera and lens package to not seem too much like a tourist but to still get everything i needed out of a camera and a zoom. sigh. i miss exploring in asia. it was just simply magical.

the music:
i may have spoken the wonders that are 'the gentlemen' on this blog before but let me re-iterate for those non-believers, non-listeners, and never-heard-ofs... these four men from the boston region kick so much ass, it's not even funny. the gentlemen are a combination of two boston area (via upstate new york and connecticut) bands that have done their time in the eastern seaboard touring trenches. hardened living, hard drinking, fast women, and loud playing are the themes that run through their music.

they are just so damn good.

if any of these bands make it through your town, you need to be there. your life will never be the same:
the figgs
the gravel pit
the gentlemen

if all three play on the same bill? you can bet your sweet ass i'll be there.

the photography:

Portrait #34 is Shannon

holy crap it's been a while since i've posted one of these. if you think i went over board on the pictures... you should see the out takes. it was the toughest group of photos i have ever had to whittle down. jeeeeeez...

i first heard about miss shannon from a mutual friend via twitter. it was a mention here, a twitpic there, and before you know it, i was tracking her down for a chance to model for the the 50 Portraits Project. it's crazy how social media and the online world works with all the idea-megaphones (blogs), personal advertisements (facebook pages), and instant friend-of-a-friend connections (you may know so-and-so). the fact that i can connect with and follow like-minded people from all over the world and check out their content, view their video blogs, and read about their creative process' is mind blowing. like minded people should really band together. maybe that's exactly what i've been trying to accomplish with this project. maybe i'll call it my 50 Peeps Club when all is said and done...

shannon is one of those people that likes stuff that i like. shannon moonlights as a food/horror movie buff who writes and video blogs about the connections she makes between the two. her blog, Slash and Dine, and her videos pair recipes to fit bloody classics. when she's not enjoying her time in the kitchen (and her time with her BFF #33, Miss Bake and Destroy, she's styling hair and educating her fellow stylists at a high-end salon in chicago. judging from her personality, her outgoingness, and her overall demeanor, i'm guessing she has a lot of repeat clients who love her work (and that's without factoring in her expert skills as a stylist). let's all just agree that shannon is pretty flipping rad ok?!

currently, shannon really loves the color orange. the kitchen walls are covered in the most warming and comforting shade of orange. if given the chance, why not "go big" in the one room of the house that you spend the most amount of time in? any way you slice it (i have a lot of knife jokes...), it works smashingly. her design style and aesthetic shine through from the art work on the walls to the vintage chairs and table to the vases on the half wall. sigh... with all the natural light and spot-on layout, shannon could rent her kitchen to those photographers in need of a kitchen set. it's totally sweet.

as a side note, it turns out shannon has done some modeling in the past but really? that should surprise no one. this girl has style, style, and more style. it was a pleasure getting to know her and it was a breeze taking pictures as all i had to do was sit back and soak it all in. please make sure to check out her writing and videos at Slash and Dine and at Brutal Snack when you get the chance. as usual, the photos were with the trusty 5DMKII and the always present, 28mm f1.8. cheers.

the music:

if you choose to look beyond the skin-deep visuals of hard core and punk rock in america there is one music scene that sprouted some of the truest bands lyrically, the straightest bands ethically, and the most forward thinking bands musically. since the early 80's, the Washington D.C. hard core/punk scene has been the birthplace of many of the truly great underground/DIY bands of my generation: Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring, Youth Brigade, Government Issue, Fire Party, The Nation Of Ulysses, Jawbox, Q And Not U, Circus Lupus, and of course, Fugazi (just to name a few...).

Teen Idles is one of the first bands to break the DC scene wide open. this band is why Dischord Records started. this band is why it all came together. and they were pretty impressive. shannon's framed cover of Minor Threat's s/t record on the wall in her kitchen kick started my DC review on my iPod. it's pretty awesome to try to soak up an entire scene via the magic of digital music. looking back, the Teen Idles were raw and powerful, sloppy and trite. but they were just what the youth of DC needed. art needs a catalyst sometimes. in the early 80's, leaders like Reagan provided that riff. sigh. the kids on the streets today just aren't that interested in making a difference. that's a tough truth to swallow...