the mother of all dui checkpoints
The road into my Mother’s neighborhood is the last road before the Salt River recreation area. Two popular activities in the area are tubing on the Salt River and boating on Saguaro Lake, especially on Memorial Day weekend. Bright blue skies, temperatures in the mid 90′s (34C) ,cool lake and river water, refreshments, perhaps some …..
guys playing takraw and a lady playing badminton
A combination of volley ball, futbol, and gymnastics, takraw is a popular game in Southeast Asia. It’s really athletic – guys get all tweaked out. In Bangkok it’s easy to find a pick up game most evenings. Last winter when I was staying near Soi Suanplu a group of guys gathered most evenings in the …..
songkran 2013 at silom road, bangkok
It’s my 2nd 2013 New Years celebration in Bangkok this year – Songkran, the Thai new year. A tradition of pouring small amounts of water onto elder family member’s hands has morphed into full on water dousings. Certain areas in Bangkok are designated for wet celebrations. I spent an hour or so on Silom Road …..
pictures while picking up dinner
I’ve been living in Bangkok since mid August and have neglected my website for some time. I haven’t made too many photographs either. I’m living in a renovated shophouse in a very traditional Bangkok neighborhood. Although I’m living in a nice modern space t’s very different than your typical high rise condo. Some day I’ll …..
two nights on Koh Yao Noi and one night in Phuket Town
A quick escape from Bangkok – two nights in Koh Yao Noi and a night in Phuket Town. It was mostly about sleeping, eating seafood, and a visit to my cousin’s place on Koh Yao.
not your typical morning at the market
You won’t experience this at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza farmer’s market, your local Safeway, or Whole Foods. I fell asleep really early last night and as a result I woke up very early today. Feeling well rested, I decided to grab a camera and visit Klong Toey market, which I’ve written about in the …..
red shirt rally – may 19, 2012
There was a large rally in Bangkok yesterday, marking the two year anniversary to the end of the spring 2010 demonstration/occupation. Upwards of 45,000 people participated in the Ratchaprasong shopping district in central Bangkok. Personally, I’m not too familiar with the history of Thai politics and government, so I don’t have an informed opinion on …..
songkran 2012
Songkran, the Thai new year, is celebrated from the 13th to the 15th of April (at least in Bangkok). It’s known for large celebrations with lots of water and white face paste. But there is more traditional beyond the popular water celebrations and the same new year is celebrated throughout southeast Asia, but in different …..
people running @ lumpini park
People running – different shapes, sizes, suits, shoes and colors. My achilles has been preventing me from running most days but I still go down to the park for a morning or evening walk, camera in hand.
ice flows and mountains from 39,000 feet – the Okhotsk sea and Kamchatka peninsula
During a flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong I woke up from a nap and this is what I saw. Then I thought to shoot a few pictures. The ice flows reminded me of weather satellite imagery. Afterwards I turned on the flight map to see where I was – over the Okhotsk sea …..
you never know – Rohatyn, Ukraine
Sometimes a great time happens when you least expect it. Rohatyn is a small town about five miles away from Cherche, the tiny village where my ancestors are from. There are two hotels in town, about ten rooms each, inexpensive, and nice enough. I splurged and stayed at the fancier place, about twenty five dollars …..
Santa Barbara (СИХІВ/Suhiv) Ukraine
During a recent visit to Lviv, Ukraine I mentioned that I wanted to wander around a Soviet era housing complex when someone suggested that I visit “Santa Barbara”. When I heard the name I knew I had to go. Its official name is СИХІВ, which is pronounced as Suhiv, but it also has the …..
the Beatles weren’t kidding
Late one afternoon last August, I ventured out to Prospect Svobody in Lviv, Ukraine to photograph the older guys playing chess and having political debate. But I ended up photographing young ladies walking around the place. The Beatles weren’t kidding when they wrote the song titled Back in the U.S.S.R.. During my recent visit to …..
Lviv, Bangkok, and in between – from my phone
I left my house early August and returned last Monday – three months away from Oakland. Minus an unplanned return trip to Arizona in October, I spent my time around Lviv, Ukraine and Bangkok, Thailand. I visited Lviv to spend time in the village my father’s parents came from. I’m impressed by how people in …..
Affected by the floods
There have been flood warnings for the entire Thonburi district of Bangkok for a week or more – the Thai government predicted the entire district would be submerged in a meter of water. Although there is significant flooding in the district, a lot of it is dry. A good friend of mine lives in the …..
Riding with Bangkok fire and rescue
Expecting normal Bangkok, Thailand traffic, I took a motorbike taxi over to the Grand Palace side of the Pinklao bridge yesterday. The motorbike wasn’t necessary since the normal afternoon Bangkok traffic was no where to be found. I planned to walk around some of the areas I did two days earlier but ended up catching …..
Bangkok, Thailand Flooding – Oct 30, 2011
Other than sandbags all over the place, fewer people around, and very light traffic, everything in central Bangkok seems normal. Venture out a few miles and it is a different world. Many people are living in knee deep, waist deep, and chest deep water. I spent the past couple of days exploring some of the …..
cock fighting in isaan – flash slideshow
Cock fighting in rural Isaan, northeastern Thailand. Shot October 2010 in a small town named Pla Pak and a very small village named Nong Tao, both in Nakhon Phanom province.
cock fighting in rural northeast thailand – isaan
People in northeast Thailand or Isaan wake up very early. During my visits I’m up at or before sunrise and not by choice. The neighbors keep their rooster steps away from where I sleep and I’m convinced that it is the rooster that wakes up all other roosters in the village. Shortly after sunrise every …..
squid fishing in the andaman sea – not the deadliest catch: episode 2
Each night the lights of squid fishing boats line the horizon of the Andaman sea. I assumed the boats were part of a fleet that formed a line and trolled nets through the water. I was totally wrong. Most boats are individually owned. They don’t form a line – it just appears that way …..
squid fishing in the andaman sea, thailand – flash slideshow
A flash slideshow from a night on a squid fishing boat based in Klong Muang, Thailand. We spent a night on the boat, photographing the action somewhere between Krabi and Phuket, out towards Ko Phi Phi.
american windsurfing tour/awt day 3 – waddell creek, california
A few pictures from day 3 of the American Windsurfing Tour/AWT at Waddell Creek California, just north of Davenport and about thirty minutes north of Santa Cruz. I stopped by for a couple of hours early in the day – not a big wave day at Waddell but these guys sure know how to make …..
waddell creek day two – american windsurfing tour
May 6, 2011 – Day two of the American Windsurfing Tour at Waddell Creek, California – just north of Davenport and about 30 minutes north of Santa Cruz. I stopped by the AWT Waddell for a couple of hours today and shot a few photographs. Most the images are of Francisco Goya, who has a …..
Cherche, Ukraine – September 2010
My father’s parents and some of his sibblings come from a small village named Cherche in western Ukraine. Small enough to not appear on most maps, Cherche is a few kilometers from Rohatyn which is about eighty kilometers southeast of Lviv, a small city. My grandparents immigrated to the U.S. around 1920. I visited …..
