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Photograph © Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved
I've featured Chico Sanchez's work on a number of occasions (links below), and he's back on TTP with his SoundSlides slideshow on Mexican Bullfighting. The audio is well chosen, and weaven quite nicely into the slideshow with narrative, ambient sound, etc.

Although the subject matter may offend many who (in my view, justifiably) oppose this gruesome and cruel activity, there's also the consideration that it is a tradition, and part of Mexican history. The Spanish occupation of Mexico led to the rise of bullfighting which is locally known as la fiesta brava.

The justifications for this controversial tradition in some the slideshow's captions are rather puerile but whether we like it or not, it has been one of the most popular "sporting" events in Mexico for the last 400 years

Chico Sanchez is a freelance photographer based in Mexico City. Chico worked in Venezuela, collaborating with Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency, Agencia EFE, and freelances for various newspapers and magazines.

Previous posts of Chico Sanchez's slideshows are (here, here, and here).

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Photograph © Kalpesh Lathigra-All Rights Reserved
As previously noted in The Travel Photographer blog (see below for link), Kalpesh Lathigra is an enormously talented London-based freelance photographer, working for most of the United Kingdom's newspaper magazines, including the Sunday Times Magazine, and The Independent Magazine. His work ranges from photographic essays of the American Midwest to the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, as well as social issues related photography projects such as The Brides of Krishna, the widows in Vrindavan.

He has recently published a series of photographs titled Transmission on his website which portray women prostitutes (including some hijras, or eunuchs who dress and identify themselves as female) outside of their usual environment in Mumbai, India. Kalpesh chose to photograph his subjects, not in the brothels as many photographers have done, but in his studio.

In an accompanying article in the Independent, Kalpesh says: "They were really surprised that I wanted to take their photographs in the studio and not in a brothel, but I did it because I wanted to isolate the women visually in a direct way. The photographs are for me a way of breaking away from visual clichés – and more importantly, a way of breaking away from the taboos and stigma of HIV, which in India are still very prevalent."

Viewing these dignified portraits, I'm reminded of Sebastiao Salagado's "If you take a picture of a human that does not make him noble, there is no reason to take this picture. That is my way of seeing things."

Previous post on Kalpesh Lathigra (Link)

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Photograph © Altaf Qadri/AP-All Rights Reserved
The media is full of reports of the attacks on Mumbai's landmark hotels and others areas. This is the third day that militants and Indian security forces are battling, with reports of about 150 dead, and over 300 wounded. The majority of the casualties and wounded are Indians. The situation still appears confused, with continuous news of blasts and gunfire still being heard in areas.

Here's a slideshow of images by various photographers which appeared on the Washington Post's website. The one above is by Altaf Qadri, an AP photographer. I wonder what the blurry figure on the right of the photograph is doing....putting his life in danger in such a fashion.

(Registration may be required by The Washington Post, and some images are graphic).

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Image Courtesy Engadget
In the pursuit of fair and balanced reporting, here's a Nikon item. According to the Engadget website, Nikon has outed its yet to be formally announced DX3 DSLR. It's said that it will have a 24.5mp FX sensor, 5:4 and DX crops, 5fps at full resolution; DX crop shoots 10mp images at up to 7fps, ISO 100-1600, with an extendability of down to 50 and up to 6400 along with 16 bit EXPEED processor.

This Nikon model targets Canon's 1DS Mark III as its main competitor, but whether photographers will ditch their high-end Canons and lens investments in favor of the new Nikon is doubtful. We'll have to wait and see.

Price and delivery date are unknown.

Via BJP's 1854

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Saba is often referred to as the un-Caribbean island. Not for its lack of pristine water, spicy island cuisine, or colorful local population... but because absent are throngs of cruise ship passengers crowding stores to buy made-in-china wears stamped with Caribbean designs. Absent are beach vendors persuasively suggesting you MUST buy their wares. (One reason for this, is Saba has no beaches. Read on.) Absent are over-built mega all-inclusive hotels taking advantage of clients looking to drink themselves silly. Instead what you will find is a tranquil "rock" in the middle of the Caribbean Sea... a hotspot for world renowned artists looking for simple retreats, gourmet cuisine that competes on a first class scale due to the variety of visiting chefs in the high-season.

Any list of off-the-beaten Caribbean must include Saba. If you are interested in visiting this incredibly unique island, let me know and I will put together a great package for you. Enjoy!

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Photograph © Van Nguyen/Courtesy NG-All Rights Reserved
The National Geographic's website just featured the winners of its International Photography Contest. Its categories were People, Places and Nature. However, to see all the submissions, one needs to download some program called Silverlight from Microsoft...which is not compatible with Power PC Macs. Too bad...and sort of shortsighted from National Geographic's deciders.

The above photograph is my favorite amongst those I could see on my treasured Power PC Mac. It combines a compassionate and candid moment by photographer Van Nguyen of a Vietnamese girl during a journey to America for medical treatment....she's probably a burn victim.

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I think a joke will lift our collective spirit on this Thanksgiving day. It's a bit long, but you'll get into it pretty quickly. Of course, it's a good thing the photographer is a Canon user...it wouldn't work otherwise. Thanks to Ralph Childs for relaying it to me.

The Smiths were unable to conceive children and decided to use a surrogate father to start their family. On the day the proxy father was to arrive, Mr. Smith kissed his wife goodbye and said, 'Well, I'm off now. The man should be here soon.'

Half an hour later, just by chance, a door-to-door baby photographer happened to ring the doorbell, hoping to make a sale.

'Good morning, Ma'am', he said, 'I've come to...'

'Oh, no need to explain,' Mrs. Smith cut in, embarrassed, 'I've been expecting you.'

'Have you really?' said the photographer. 'Well, that's good.Did you know babies are my specialty?'

'Well that's what my husband and I had hoped. Please come in and have a seat'.

After a moment she asked, blushing, 'Well, where do we start?'

'Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the bathtub, one on the couch, and perhaps a couple on the bed. And sometimes the living room floor is fun. You can really spread out there.'

'Bathtub, living room floor? No wonder it didn't work out for Harry and me!'

'Well, Ma'am, none of us can guarantee a good one every time. But if we try several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles, I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.'

'My, that's a lot!', gasped Mrs. Smith .

'Ma'am, in my line of work a man has to take his time. I'd love to be in and out in five minutes, but I'm sure you'd be disappointed with that.'

'Don't I know it,' said Mrs. Smith quietly

The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his baby pictures. 'This was done on the top of a bus,' he said.

'Oh, my word!' Mrs. Smith exclaimed, grasping at her throat.

And these twins turned out exceptionally well - when you consider their mother was so difficult to work with.'

'She was difficult?' asked Mrs. Smith .

'Yes, I'm afraid so. I finally had to take her to the park to get the job done right. People were crowding around four and five deep to get a good look'

'Four and five deep?' said Mrs. Smith , her eyes wide with amazement.

'Yes', the photographer replied. 'And for more than three hours, too. The mother was constantly squealing and yelling - I could hardly concentrate, and when darkness approached I had to rush my shots. Finally, when the squirrels began nibbling on my equipment, I just had to pack it all in.'

Mrs. Smith leaned forward. 'Do you mean they actually chewed on your, uh...equipment?'

'It's true, Ma'am, yes... Well, if you're ready, I'll set-up my tripod and we can get to work right away.'

'Tripod?'

'Oh yes, Ma'am. I need to use a tripod to rest my Canon on. It's much too big to be held in the hand very long.'

Mrs. Smith fainted.

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I've stumbled across the Social Documentary website, a new addition to documentary photography on the web, and which features documentary photography from around the world.

According to its self-description, Social Documentary welcomes "professional and amateur photographers, journalists, NGOs, students—anyone with a story to tell and a collection of good photographs" and who seek to create easy and affordable websites on SocialDocumentary.net.

Its secondary goal "is to create an online image bank of quality photographs documenting all aspects of the world created by an international collection of photographers. "

The Terms & Conditions are here, and, as usual with such ventures, make sure you read and accept these before deciding.

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Photograph © Yan Seiler-All Rights Reserved
Yan Seiler travels allows him to document the plight of people in several Asian countries, an experience that provides his work a strong humanitarian slant.

His biography on his website is sparse, but it appears the Swiss national’s interest in photography is very recent, and was kindled by the gift of an old film camera in 2004. He discovered his indisputable talents quite rapidly, bought a digital SLR and took a break from his office job to leave for Asia.

I feature this SoundSlides slideshow titled The Outsiders of Yan's work amongst a community of lepers in India.

By way of background, leper colonies still remain around the world, in countries such as India, Japan, Egypt, Nepal and Vietnam. It is now commonly believed that many of those segregated into these communities were presumed to have leprosy, when they actually had syphilis. Leprosy is not highly infectious, as approximately 95% of people are immune and sufferers are no longer infectious after only a few days of treatment.

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Aruba's beaches are the ones copied on postcards sold worldwide. The perfect white sand, peaceful waves, and crystal clear water welcome hundreds of my clients every year. This is where I send my beach lovers who also require plenty of upmarket dining establishments. The beaches are long and welcoming, not small bays that house the beaches of many other Caribbean islands. You can't walk for miles because it is a small island - but you can walk until your legs are tired and you must stop to refuel with a cool beverage.

There are two main beaches, Eagle & Palm. This is Palm Beach:

And this is Eagle Beach:
Palm is where you will find the high rises like the Marriott, Hyatt, Westin, and Radisson. Eagle Beach is where you find the smaller, boutique hotels like the Manchebo and Bucuti.

And that upmarket cuisine I mentioned? Well, just so you know, I would visit Aruba just to eat. Many of the restaurants are simply that good. My favorites are Madame Janette, Gasparito, and Hosteria Da' Vittorio. Should you be in doubt, the island has a Gastronomic Association to set you on the right path to perfection.

There is plenty of shopping on the island and nightlife in downtown Oranjestad. It is easy to get there from any hotel... jump on the local bus, pay $1 and cruise on down. Safe and easy.

What some say Aruba might lack in true island culture, it certainly makes up for with its great beaches and supreme dining so don't wait, book your trip now! Here are few of the specials I found today:

Radisson Aruba - discounted rates and $100 food and beverage credit.

Renaissance Marina Hotel - 4th night free and 25% off local vendors.

Tamarijn Aruba - reduced rates.

Here's a little video from the Aruba Tourist Board:

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Canon EOS5DmkII, One night in Beijing. from Dan Chung on Vimeo

Here's a video filmed by the UK's The Guardian newspaper photographer Dan Chung entirely on a production Canon EOS5DmkII and adapted Nikon and Zeiss lenses using manual focus. The camera was purchased to use solely as a video camera with existing Nikon kit.

The film was shot an edited in about twelve hours directly after picking the camera up from a Beijing camera store and charging the battery.

What can I say? It's very impressive. It's reported that the Canon 5D Mark II will be shipped to US retailers starting November 25. It'll be interesting to see how well this camera does in this economic environment...will they fly off the shelves at B&H, Adorama, J&R. Amazon and the rest of the stores? There is significant pent-up demand for this model in particular, but the holiday shopping season is predicted to be dismal....time will tell.

via PDNPulse (Link)

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Photograph © AP / Bikas Das-All Rights Reserved
The Sacramento Bee website has recently joined the list of large-image blogs with its The Frame. Two of the others are the Boston Globe's The Big Picture and WSJ's Photo Journal.

The Frame has featured photographs of the Chhat festivities in India last week. Hindu devotees worship the sun god and fast all day for the improvement of their family and society during the festival.

Chhat is celebrated twice a year, once in summer (May-July), called the Chaiti Chhat, and once during October-November, six days after Deepawali, called the Kartik Chhat. The first day of Chhat begins with a ritual bathing (preferably in the Ganges River), followed by a period of abstinence by the worshipers. Photographs are by a number of photographers such as Altaf Qadri and Bikas Das among others.

I expect more large-image blogs will be imitated by many newspaper websites across the country. I don't know how these will be monetized other than through accompanying adverts, but they certainly are an excellent platform to show off work by deserving photographers.

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Photograph © Tom Hoops-All Rights Reserved
Tom Hoops' biography is sparse....very sparse. His website only says that he's a freelance photographer, based in Bangkok and available for worldwide assignments. That's it.

However, his work speaks for him. Mostly black & white, with a few in color, Hoops has a natural affinity for portraits...striking portraits. A few of his subjects display enormous magnetism, and his Heads gallery is a must-see on his website.

But the gallery I liked best is the Documentary one because Hoops displays his work on the annual Wai Kru (homage to the teacher) ceremony at Wat Bang Phra, a Buddhist monastery 25 miles west of Bangkok. It is here that thousands of laborers, taxi-drivers, truck drivers, mobsters, small time crooks arrive once a year at the temple to take part in ceremony known as wai kru. They receive new tattoos, refresh faded ones, and get high or drunk.

(Tom Hoops gallery via Penelope Gan's blog)

I'm very familar with Wat Bang Phra (or Phro) and its tattooing monks. I photographed the monks at the monastery, and have a blog post here.

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South India is one of the most visited destinations of the country. The superb sculptures, dance forms and the temples give evidence of the rich cultural heritage of South India. The tours around South India will help you discover the true spirit of this part of the country. You can visit various places, which are rich in scenic beauty, monuments, temples, beaches, wild life, hill stations and Ayurveda centers. You will find several places to visit during your South India tours.

Some of the major places, which you can visit during the South Indian tours are the following:

Bangalore

Bangalore, also known as the garden city of India, is known for its modern architectural edifices and historic buildings. Vidhana Soudh, which is beautiful post independence architecture, is located in Bangalore. This structure now houses the State legislature and Secretariat. The guided tour in Bangalore will take you to the Tipu Sultan Palace, which gives an insight into the Mughal lifestyle. This palace has now turned into a museum. The ISKCON temple is another impressive structure that shows the blend of Dravidian and modern architecture. Another important place which you can cover in Bangalore during the South India tours is Lal Bagh Garden.

Mysore

This city with rich heritage, grand palaces, beautifully laid pout gardens, impressive buildings and sacred temples has a quaint charm around it. Maharaj Palace, the Amba Villas Palace and Chamundi Hill are the major attraction of Mysore. Brindavan Gardens can not be missed during the visit to Mysore. The beautiful lush green garden with musical fountains is sure to enthrall you.

Nagarhole

Another important tourist destination, Nagarhole, is greatly frequented by the travelers. Kabini River is the major attraction. You can go for boating on this river and have a great time. You can book a jeep or van to go on a wildlife tour to the national park.

Conoor

Conoor is a popular getaway for the tourists. This romantic hill station in the Nilgiris, is marked with tea plantations. You can spend some time bird watching and visiting the botanical gardens.

Cochin

Visit this natural harbor city, which happens to be one of the most important places to visit during South Indian tour. Here, you can enjoy the scenic view of the rougher seas and the beauty of the natural harbor. The major attractions include Portuguese churches, Hindu temples and mosques. Chinese fishing nets are the major draw of this place.

Kerala

This city of scenic beauty, absolute serenity and peacefulness is the land of backwaters and swaying coconut trees. You can spend your small trip on the house boats that lay afloat on the waters of the lake. Kerala Ayurveda is also an important aspect of this city. There are various Ayurveda resorts which are worth visiting the tour.

Madurai

This historic city is also marked by the presence of Meenakshi Temple, Alagar Hills and Tirupara Kundran Rock Temple.

Mahabalipuram

This city of 1000 temples was the capital of the Pallavas. These temples have 124 existing shrines, which are dedicated to various deities. The paintings on the walls tell us about the rich cultural past. You can visit the temples of Ekambaswara, Kailasanatha, Sri Kamakshi and Varadarajaswamy. The rock temples and pagodas are tourists´ delight.

There are several other destinations, which are counted as major places to visit during the South Indian tour. Tanjore, Periyar, Kanchipuram are other major tourist destinations that are worth visiting.
Source:http://www.americanchronicle.com

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What if there was a site that scanned the items for sale on the Internet and logged them in a searchable database that you could browse and create perfect outfits for any occasion, say perhaps for your next Caribbean vacation? Well, meet Polyvore, a site that does just that. I've been having fun on this site for a few months now... here are a couple of my favorite Caribbean worthy creations. I was channeling lazy days wandering through Caribbean markets and leisurely dining seaside...
You can also upload pictures of the clothes you already have and use the service to try and find the missing link to making your outfits fabulous. I love it! Enjoy!

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If you are bored on your next Caribbean vacation, then what you do is this. Find 4 or more cutie-pie hermit crabs (or Soldier Crabs as they are called in the Caribbean) and set them to race. That's right, race. We have done this with our kids on occasion and couldn't resist a race in their honor on our recent adults only trip to the Bahamas.

These little guys were so adorable and so well behaved!

But they weren't too into the race. The prizes we were offering must not have been enticing enough...
Yea! The Gold Medalist winner!

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In contrast to my previous Photographers & Recession, today's POV post strikes a happier note, and here's why:

I was emailed last night by a potential buyer looking for a travel/documentary photographer (he'll remain anonymous to respect his privacy) who, among his many travels, photographed in Tibet. It seems the buyer wanted to buy his photographs of Tibet, searched the net for them, and found a post on The Travel Photographer's blog featuring his work, website, etc.

I was asked for this photographer's email (I don't know why the buyer didn't see it on his website), so I provided it with great alacrity, and hopefully the deal will be done soon.

This is certainly not the first time (or the last) that I've been contacted for information on photographers who appear on this blog...some from buyers, some publishers...many ask me the whereabouts of certain photographers....for some I know and for others I don't...but I always try to help. In many cases, my posts on photographers appear on top of the Google search pages, so buyers, collectors and publishers try The Travel Photographer's blog first.

I'm gratified that The Travel Photographer's blog serves such a purpose. When I started it, this never crossed my mind, so it's doubly gratifying.

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Photograph © Enrico Martino-All Rights Reserved
After considerable thought, the gallery on Enrico Martino's website that I liked the best is titled "A Matriarchy in the Land of Machos...it's the photographer's ode to the tehuanas, the beautiful women of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico. These women wear beautifully colored dresses and when they dance, they have the male spectators eating out of their hands. Such are the tehuanas , the ancient soul of Mexico; the reason why Frida Khalo wore their traditional dresses, and why Diego Rivera immortalized them with his murals.

Enrico Martino is an Italian photojournalist living and working in Turin. He started his career as a photojournalist, publishing stories in various publications and magazines such as Epoca, Espresso, Elle, Marie-Claire, and Rutas del Mundo, to name but a few. He specializes in travel and cultural assignments, and has directed his talented eye on Latin America, with particular emphasis on Mexico.

His website is replete with extraordinarily interesting galleries. Among Enrico's recent work are Holy Cora Week (Judea Cora), Panama, Tangiers, The Dancing Gods of Kathakali (I struggled a lot not to feature this gallery!), and among his archives, I found Antigua in Guatemala and the best of all, The Living Stones (Orient's Christians).

A word of advice: give yourself the time to explore all of Enrico's galleries. They'll open up new worlds and if you're a travel photographer with my sort of mindset, you'll find fresh directions in his work

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Photograph © Marco di Lauro-All Rights Reserved
Canon's Behind The Lens features Italian photographer Marco di Lauro. He's a photographer since 1993, and has been shooting for Getty Images since 2002 after working as a freelancer for The Associated Press. He covered conflicts in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Africa and The Balkans, and recently returned from a two month embed with British paratroopers in Afghanistan.

Although the article on Marco is essentially a promo piece for Canon's products, I was struck by this quote:

"I prefer to use short lenses than the longer EF70-200mm f/1.4L USM I have in my bag, they are more suitable for the type of photography I do and they really fit my personality. I use the EF35mm f/1.4L USM for at least 80% of the pictures I take - I need to be close to the subjects I photograph. Some photographers are really good long lens photographers; I am not. I need to feel the breath of the subject I photograph, I need to feel what I feel, I need to go through his emotions and, if he is suffering, I need to suffer with him."

Not that I'm remotely close of being a conflict photographer, but it's uncanny how this quote describes my style of photographing as well (minus the "suffering" bit, which is not what I'm involved with). I started off my travel photography by using, virtually exclusively, the 70-200mm f/2.8 for my photographs. I don't know whether it was an initial unwillingness to approach the subject(s) and engage or whether it was my visual preference at the time, but I found that over the ensuing years, I used it less and less. It's a great lens, but I much prefer shorter lenses...and while I haven't yet mastered my new 24mm 1.4L lens as much as I would like, I know that it -and the other short zooms in my kit- provides me with the ability of getting really close to my subjects.


Marco di Lauro: Between Duty and Downtime

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Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
The United States stocks crashed to five-and-a-half year lows yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 427 points, the S&P 500 losing 52 points and the Nasdaq Composite falling 52 points. At opening today, the Dow dropped another 150 points to get to a low of 7850.

The Associated Press solemnly announced that Japan, Hong Kong and European countries including Germany and Italy are officially in recession and the U.S. and Britain would be joining them soon. In my estimate, we're already there.

We have recently read that newspapers and magazines are reducing their costs to a degree not seen before in the industry....and some are already stopping their print editions, relying only on their online presence.

I've said it many times before, but it's worth repeating as often as a Buddhist mantra: if photographers do not diversify and use the new technological products now available, they'll end up not working nor selling their work. Whether you're a travel or editorial photographer, embrace multimedia, use it and become proficient in producing cutting edge work. That's the only way to stay ahead and to hopefully offer something that will be different. I predict that photo editors and similar buyers will rely more and more on Flickr images (or similar), because they won't have the budgets to pay working photographers.

The next 3-4 years will be rough....even rougher than we think.

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Photograph © Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times-All Rights Reserved
Here's a multimedia feature published on the Los Angeles Time's website titled Cementario Del Norte (I think it should be spelled Cementerio), a cemetery in the north of Manila. About 50,000 poverty-striken Filipinos consider this cemetery as their home, and have converted the burial site into a village of the living.

The photography and audio of the slideshow is by Luis Sinco.

Historians say that both living and the dead have populated the cemetery since it opened in 1884, since it needed caretakers to guard valuables often sealed with the dead inside the mausoleums.

The accompanying article by John M. Glionna is worth a read as it explains the circumstances and the current lifestyle of the unusual community that makes this cemetery its home. For instance:

"In one exclusive area, paid caretakers of the grave site of the family of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo -- an immense pyramid flanked by marble sphinxes -- enjoy air conditioning, cable television and a washer and dryer."

There is another similar community in Cairo dwarfing any other, where nearly a million people live in its City of the Dead...a 6 kilometers-long area called Al Arafa which is -and has been- Cairo's main cemetery for over 700 years.

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Photograph © Gemma Thorpe-All Rights Reserved
Gemma Thorpe is a British freelance documentary photographer currently based in Beijing, who specializes in social and environmental issues. Having studied Geography at Sheffield University before turning to photography full-time, Gemma initially studying at Leeds College of Art and Design and then in 2007 for an MA in International Photojournalism and Documentary Photography, completed in Dalian, NE China.

She has exhibited in the United Kingdom and in China, and has published work in the UK and Europe. Her website has a number of galleries, most of which are of China but I was drawn to two of her projects: Shamanism in Korea and Footsteps In The Gobi.

The latter is a Soundslides feature of Emma's photograph made while crossing the Gobi desert, retracing the travels of Mildred Cable who was the first Englishwoman to cross the desert. From 1923 to 1936, Mildred and two friends, sisters Francesca and Eva French, traveled back and forth across the route that has become known as the Silk Road.

The Gobi Desert is the largest desert region in Asia, and covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. It's also the 6th largest desert in the world, and is the location of several important cities along the legendary Silk Road.

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WHO - Almond Resorts
WHAT - Save 50% off you All-inclusive Caribbean Vacation

WHEN - Book between November 17 & December 19, 2008 for travel between December 1-20, 2009 and January 3 to February 9, 2009

Almond Causarina Resort

Almond Beach Village

Almond Beach Club & Spa

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Photograph © Brent Stirton/Courtesy The New Yorker
For some reason, the New Yorker magazine's website decided to feature an audio slideshow titled Tea & Wallaby, in which some photographers describe memorable meals they've had whilst working in the field. John Stanmeyer talks of chai, Rena Effendi of a gruesome-looking sheep stew, Carolyn Drake of pears in Uigur-land and Stephanie Sinclair of her favorite eating place in Beirut.

Just to add my two cents' worth to this mix:

On a self-assignment in Chhattisgarh (central India), I ate red ant chutney which is a delicacy favored by the indigenous Adivasi of the region. The red ants carry a sort of venom, and when prepared into a chutney, it adds a “je ne sais quoi” sting to one’s palate. It wasn’t bad…it had just added different kind of “zing” to the meal. The tiny critters were somewhat crunchy as well.

The other staple food that ranks high on my “avoid” list is injera; the spongy, sour flat bread of Ethiopia. Its period of fermentation gives injera a sour taste, which may well be an acquired thing. I tried to acquire the taste while on a photo-trip to Ethiopia but found it was impossibly unpalatable.

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I'm frequently referred to web galleries of travel photographers such as the one of Jasmine Debels, a Belgian photographer, whose India photo gallery is prefaced by a quote by Mahatma Ghandi essentially saying that happiness is in the eye of its beholder....how true.

Most of Jasmine's Travel portfolio is of India, although one or two of her photographs seem to be of Burma and Bhutan. Her biography is unfortunately sparse, but she does say that she likes to travel around the world ( and who doesn't?) and wanted to share her photographs. She seems to have recently exhibited her photographs, and lists these in Flemish.

As an aside, there was quite a large number of Belgian tourists in Bhutan and amongst them a noticeable number of keen photographers.

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DxO Mark proclaims that it's a website for people who are passionate about image quality. It's still in beta version, and it "features the first database of objective digital camera image quality measurements entirely accessible via the internet."

In addition to the Image Quality Database itself, the website proposes its new DxOMark Sensor scale, which allows it to rank digital camera with a single number for photographers to evaluate and compare models.

Certainly an interesting concept, and quite useful for buyers when confronted with the myriad of camera choices. Being interested in the new Canon 5D Mark II, I'll be keen to have a look at DxO Mark's measurements when these are published.

DxO Mark's Canon Database

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Photograph © Richard Daniels-All Rights Reserved
Richard Daniels is a British photographer who studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute in Australia, and is currently working out of Bangkok. He has exhibited his work at the National Museum Bangkok and participated in the International Photography Best of Show 2008 curated by Bill Hunt of Hasted Hunt (NY). His photographs were also recently published in the Lucie Awards Book, and in Through Our Eyes (Thailand Close Up).

I encourage you to visit all of Richard's galleries, although my favorite is of his recent Buddha Factory.

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Alec Soth's recent post Advice to Young Photographers on Magnum's blog is extremely useful, and I think it's certainly a must-read for many emerging and established photographers. Not only does it include Alec's own advice to image-makers, but also sensible advice from about 35 other Magnum photographers ranging from Abbas to Alex Majoli, from Constantine Manos to Paolo Pellegrin, and from Olivia Arthur to Susan Meiselas. Some of the advice is obvious, but others are witty and thought provoking.

Perhaps it's Abbas's advice of wearing good shoes that takes the fillip. Whether it does or doesn't, it certainly gave me the excuse to show my photograph of a tsechu dancer during the Wangdue festival in Bhutan. This amiable fellow may never be a photographer...look closely, and you'll see that his dancing shoes are so well-worn that they almost have no soles!

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Photograph © Johan Spanner-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times features a multimedia slideshow titled A Scramble for Tin in Congo ably narrated by Lydia Polgreen and with Johan Spanner's photographs. The main scene is in Bisie, a tin-rush village of about 10,000 people who mine the tin in terrible conditions, and whose output enriches renegade Congolese army troops.

One cannot help by looking at the harrowing photographs and, most of all, by reading the accompanying article (by Polgreen) of recalling Joseph Conrad's “the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience,” in describing what was happening in the Congo during the early 1900s, which was then considered by King Leopold II of Belgium (a monstrous criminal if there was ever one) as his personal fiefdom. Also joining the fray was Mobutu Sese Seko who looted his own country (then called Zaire) to such an extent that African kelptocracy is synonymous with his name.

(Registration may be required by the NYT)

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The Golden Triangle Tours takes you through the popular tourist destinations in North India and Rajasthan. Rajasthan is a popular tourist destination and is visited by thousands of tourists from all over the world. By undertaking this tour, you can get a feel of the rich tradition and culture and also the scenic beauty of north and western India.

New Delhi

New Delhi is a popular spot in the itinerary of the tour. It is the capital city of India and is the seat of the Indian parliament. It is a major tourist destination and a well known commercial hub. One can undertake sightseeing tours to the points of interests in the city like Red Fort, Old Fort, Jama Masjid, Raj Ghat and other tourist spots. Delhi is one of the oldest cities in the world and as such there are numerous ancient specimens dating back to ages.

You can also go for shopping in the old Chandni Chowk Market and buy a wide range of handicrafts and local artifacts. Have a taste of a wide range of delicious local and Mughlai dishes in the dining zones.

Jaipur

The next stop of the tour is at Jaipur. Also known as the Pink City, Jaipur is known for its rich culture and heritage. The city consists of beautiful forts, castles and other religious and historical monuments. Jaipur is also famous for handicrafts. You can buy a wide range of handicrafts and local artifacts from the local markets and shops at affordable rates.

Jaipur is a major tourist destination and is home to a number of tourist attractions like the Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar, Jaigarh Fort and Amber Palace. All these places are well known for their grand architecture and intricate carvings. You can enjoy elephant ride to ascend the Jaigarh Fort and also get a feel of the local culture by watching folk dances and music.

Fatehpur Sikri

While traveling to Agra from Jaipur, stop at Fatehpur Sikri en route. Fatehpur Sikri was built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the late 16th century and is home to beautiful palaces and mosques with grand Mughal architecture.

Agra

Agra is a major place of interest in the itinerary of Golden Triangle tours. Agra, the land of the famous Taj Mahal ranks among the popular tourist destinations in India. The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and is an epitome of love.

You can also visit the Agra Fort which is a masterpiece of Mughal architecture. You can also buy plenty of beautiful handicrafts and local artifacts in the old bazaars, markets and shops. The local dining hubs are also well known for serving mouth watering local and Mughlai delicacies.

From Agra return back to Delhi and spend the rest of the day shopping in the markets and tasting mouth watering Mughlai delicacies in the dining hubs. New Delhi is well connected with various parts of the country and you can avail of a wide range of transport modes to reach your own destination.
source:http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/80968

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Listen up ladies, plenty of you ask me to design guy-loving trips for your special someone... well, this post is for you! On two days of our trip, Mr. Sangster was lucky enough to enjoy top-notch deep sea fishing. Remind you, Mr. Sangster has visited 70 countries, participated on winning teams in Caribbean Marlin Tournaments, and fished the world over - but not the Pacific Coast of Mexico. And oh boy, was he in for a treat! Big fish make big splash:

After only a few hours on the boat...

All the hard work paid off! The day's catch was a 320lb Blue Marlin and an 80lb Sailfish: (Ask me about the 620lb rare Black Marlin Julie's husband caught on their last trip!)

What happens to the catch, might you ask? The captain and his team sell them at the fish market and keep the profits. Who took our men on this fabulous trip? The Captain, Mr. Alfredo Vargas. And is he available to take your husband out to sea too? Why yes, check out his website here.

And here is the fabulous Captain with his granddaughter Diana, the following day when we took the boat to Ixtapa Island - a private island about a mile off the coast of Ixtapa:

On the approach and the kids were excited:
Brace yourselves, the following is very rare indeed. So, as we approached Ixtapa Island, we saw from a distance what we thought were flying fish. As we moved closer, we decided they were sting rays - and even closer, the final observation was telling, they were Manta Rays. And they were jumping. 20-30 of them, in an orchestrated performance that is sure to top even the prized water show at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. There was no noise, except for the rhythmic splash as they landed back in the water. It was unreal. We slowly moved closer and looked over the edge of the boat, there must have been 50+ rays swimming in the clear water with a few sea turtles in the mix. It was science up close and personal and something our kids will not soon forget:
Finally, we landed and enjoyed the pristine beach and clear water. Jules & I snorkeled over coral reefs and brightly colored fish, dodged a few Barracuda looking things that turned out to be needle fish. The kids rented water bikes and rode "the banana". All this while the Captain arranged for the kitchen on the island to cook us up a feast...
We started with this... Mexican style ceviche with fresh Bonita Fish - less than 1 hour old:

And then the real deal, a bounty of lobster tails and snapper grilled two ways served with rice, guacamole, and fresh tortillas. Heaven. And our friendly El Capitan ready to enjoy. Such a delight!
We explored much of the island, walking to the beach on the other side where the guys had been snorkeling earlier. The beach was just as lovely:
We stepped into the water. And then we looked down. And swimming around our ankles were an abundance of Parrot Fish, Angel Fish, and school-master Snapper. The kids had a ball with the harmless fish. And Julie & I shared knowing glances of the guilt of taking our kids out of school for this trip erasing because this experience was more then they could ever learn in the classroom: