Portraits

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:50:03 +0700

My Photoshelter Archive has been updated with a new gallery titled Portraits. No new images, just grouped all the “Asian” portraits in one gallery.
Enjoy the slide show!

Hoan Kiem Turtle

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:00:49 +0700

Early wakeup today with the idea to take some pictures. Unfortunately it started to rain as soon as arrived in Hoan Kiem Lake.
Anyway I was repaid of my efforts. I saw several people along the shore of the lake and immediately joined them and.....I saw it , the Hoan Kiem Turtle! First time in more than five years! Unfortunately I did not have my 200mm lens and the above image represent the best I can get today.
This is quite an unusual event. The Hoam Kiem Turtle, Rafetus leloii (Wikipedia), is a distinct species. Only one specimen is still existing and living in the Hanoi lake. For all Hanoians, Hoan Kiem’s turtle is a supernatural animal, and is a living treasure of the city. The appearance of the turtle is considered an exceptional event, and today I was there!
Some more images from my archive.

Myanmar, is there any hope?

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 16:13:14 +0700

During our second visit to Myanmar in September 2009 my wife and I could perceive a certain excitement from the burmese people since the time for the long-awaited elections, part of Myanmar junta's "roadmap to democracy", was coming. All the hope was for her, the so called “the lady”. That’s the nickname for the “house-locked” democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Even her name cannot be mentioned in public.
Few days ago the junta set the date. It will be November 7, but an election law that bars “the lady” from taking part in the race.
After reading these news I prepared an 8 min video with images and some clips taken with a DV camera using Apple iMovie.
A wide selection of image from Myanmar can be found HERE.

Children

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:32:16 +0700

Yesterday I add to prepare some images for a magazine submission. The theme is “Children” and all images have to be black and white only.
I re-edited with Apple Aperture twelve of my available photos from Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Philippines and included in a new gallery in Photoshelter. Click here to access the gallery or enjoy the slide show down here.

Vietnam Railway

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:07:49 +0700

Last week I was quite interested to learn that the National Assembly gave finally, after several rounds of discussion, the thumbs down to the proposed US$56-billion express railroad project connecting Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.
The interesting thing of all this story is that the proposed solution based on the Japanese so called “bullet train” is best suited to cover middle-distance spans (about 500 Km) and would probably never be competitive with air travel for 1,600 km between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City!!!
There is no doubt that the Vietnamese railways system, inherit from the French colonial era, need substantial upgrade. To give you an idea I enclose some images taken two weeks along the railway running in the city. Houses are built just few meters from the rail tracks that become part of the daily life.

Hello Hanoi!

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 17:53:27 +0700

Yes, Hello Hanoi! I am still here!!! I have been too quite in the last month. No inspiration and motivation, but this morning I prepared my camera bag I went out for a walk in Dong Da district and the usual old quarters.
The image above is not “photoshopped” as you may think, but a close up of a nice wall painting I discovered in Dong Da (actually not so far from my office!).
Some images from today down here and some more to come in the next days!

Website Modifications (Flash, but iPhone Friendly)

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:19:55 +0700

I spent few hours of today afternoon to refresh the website adding a new “Cover” as entry page and updating the old Welcome page. The new two flash banners have been created using BannerZest Pro from Aquafadas (available also for Windows). The interesting thing of the new release of BannerZest is the capability to create alternative non-flash banners that can be displayed also on the iPhone.
When in the Welcome page move your mouse above the images grid!
Also the various images flash galleries have been updated taking advantage of the new features introduced by Photoshelter. It is now possible to see the images on full screen and to share the gallery via email and they are also iPhone friendly!
Clicking on the image the corresponding image is opened in the Photoshelter Archive.

At the Market

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:45:06 +0700

Walking in the Hanoi markets is a visual and “olfactory“ experience.
There are covered markets and street markets. They sell wide range of products, and tend to be somewhat smelly, especially around the fresh meat and fish sections.
Hygienic conditions are very poor and, unfortunately, serious cases of intoxications happen from time to time. In Vietnam there is no strict control on the locally produced meat.
Yesterday I had walk in Don Xuan market, in the old quarters, and in the market located at the western end of Long Bien Bridge to get some fresh images.

HDR Imaging

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:10:09 +0700

High Dynamic Range Imaging is a technique that allow a greater dynamic range of luminance between the lightest and darkest areas (definition from Wikipedia!) by merging different images taken at different exposure settings.
I am not really into it, but it is definitely useful in various situations like sunset/sunrise and night photography.
The image above ,from my last trip to Philippines ,was obtained by merging the three images showed hereunder. As you can see also with the direct sunlight facing the camera the image is properly exposed (sky, sea and mainly the boat). The image was obtained using the HDR merging function in Photoshop, some “layer/masking works” and enhancing the resulting image with the Color Efex Pro plugin.
The other two images are other two cases where HDR is useful. For the Kaohsiung (Taiwan) cityscape the technique was useful to reduce the contrast between the sky and lights of the buildings.
The last image is a tall tetrameles nudiflora tree outside the famous Ta Prohm temple is Siem Reap (Cambodia). The bottom part of the tree was in a dark shadow while the branches were in direct sunlight.

Hanoi 1000

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 16:06:23 +0700

It was 1983 when my hometown (Udine) celebrated 1000 years. On 10-10-10 it will be the turn of Hanoi.
It was 1010 when King Ly Thai To decided to move the capital from Hoa Lu (100 km South of Hanoi) to the North. When his boat landed at Nhi Ha River (former name of the Red River), the king saw a large dragon-shaped cloud rising from the water. The king relied on that good omen and decided to settle the new capital in the place that he named Thanh Long (Ascending Dragon).
A nice initiative to celebrate this event is the Hanoi Dike Mural Project. The urban section of the concrete dike, protecting the city from floods, has been covered by colorful ceramic murals realized by different artists.

Invision Images

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:12:20 +0700

Short announcement.
Since few weeks my Myanmar and Bohol images are also represented by Invision Images, an independent photo agency located in Athens.

Jeepneys

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:28:16 +0700

If you go to the Philippines you will never forget that overloaded and colorful jeepneys! and if you don’t suffer of claustrophobia you should try to have a ride!
I do really like that vibrant colors and every time I go to Bohol I enjoy to take picture of them.
Jeepneys are the most common mean of transportation in the country. The first jeepneys appeared after the second WWII when the Filipinos had the idea to modify the jeeps left or sold by the Americans before leaving the country.
Modern jeepneys are now supplied by independent manufactures within the country.

Bohol and Aperture 3

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:20:15 +0700

Just back from two weeks holiday in Bohol (Philippines). I took not so many pictures, but some good ones!
Timing was quite good since Apple just released Aperture 3, the new version of their pro photo management, image editing and RAW photo conversion application.
I received it at my return on Monday and, beside some few bugs, I am positively impressed. With the addition of new features like presets and brushes Aperture is now a so powerful tools that no other photo editing softwares are required.
Some results are shown here!

Tet is here

Sat, 6 Feb 2010 16:51:06 +0700

Tet (Lunar New Year) is almost here. The Year of the Tiger will start on February 14, 2010. As every year traffic in Hanoi is more chaotic than usual and motorbikes carrying the traditional Kumquats trees, pink peach blossoms trees, apricot blossoms trees are everywhere.
This is the most important holiday in Vietnam and the city, after these frenetic days, will “switch off” for a week. It is traditional to spend these days in home with family and close friends.
It is a good occasion also for me (and the blog) to have a break. Leaving to the Philippines tomorrow!

Wandering around

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 20:46:56 +0700

Wonderful weather here in Hanoi in the last days! I took the chance to walk around with my camera. I believe Hanoi is still a “Photographer Paradise”. There is always the right shot waiting for you!
By the way, Tet, the lunar new year, is very close. I will post some pictures soon!

Safety First!

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:58:00 +0700

.................or “Safety Fist” as I read in a construction site banner now so far from my home.
Well, it is funny, but give an idea of the “importance” that, unfortunately, the Vietnamese give to this issue. Hanoi, and surrounding is a “huge construction site” and it is practically impossible to find workers equipped with working clothes, safety shoes and any other kind of protection as required.
The law is there, but nobody follows it. People need to work and construction companies do not invest in safety equipment.
Why writing this today? I just learnt that in the neighbor building two worked lost their life while repairing the AC units. The AC exploded, no safety equipment, a fall of almost 50m.

One year....12 Images

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:10:43 +0700

Another year is gone! I selected 12 images from 2009, each taken on each month of the year.
Maybe I could put together a nice calendar!
No more to say....just....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Smile......it’s Christmas!

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:10:39 +0700

It is Christmas again.....but the warm feeling and the excitements typical of the western world are miles away..
Except for the Christmas trees and decorations of five stars hotels and office buildings, everything is like an ordinary day. Christmas is a working day here in Vietnam except for foreign organizations (offices, banks) that more and more every year started to close.
Walking around Hanoi in this days there is no substantial difference except for the Santa Claus hats and dresses sold like carnival costumes, sometimes mixed with local items.
Nevertheless Vietnam remains the second Catholic country in South-East Asia (10% of the population) and mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve in few churches.
Hereafter there are few images taken in the last days depicting what I just described you but.....what give a more warm feeling are these smiling masks above!

Hanoi old quarters on ASIAN Geographic Magazine

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:31:31 +0700

This image taken in the Hanoi old quarters has been included in the latest issue of the ASIAN Geographic Magazine, the Photo Annual 2009, titled “My Asia - Portrait edition”.
For who is not familiar, ASIAN Geographic is a geographic magazine, published in Singapore, that focuses on stories about Asia. It contains articles on geography, culture, heritage, society, environment, exploration, conservation and art.
It is normally available around Asia, but, unfortunately, I was not able to find in Hanoi yet. Luckily they recently introduced the possibility to purchase copy online, even if I would prefer to enjoy reading it on my sofa!!!!

Back in the Cold......

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:35:00 +0700

After a short break in Europe, I am back in Hanoi. In the last week Vietnam has been affected by cold air coming down from China and temperature dropped to generally unusual values in particular for this time of year, similar to those I had in Europe! We had a series of windy days with 10-12C early in the morning!
Of course this creates a big discomfort for the Hanoians, in particular for the elders, considering that the majority does not own any heater.
This morning I had a short walk downtown around Hoan Kiam lake and the old quarters with my camera trying to capture some significant image to show how people is living this situation.

Presentation at FUORIROTTA 2009

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 12:34:23 +0700

Fuorirotta (in English sounds like "off the beaten track") is a three-day travel event hold every year in Udine, my hometown, featuring exhibitions, lectures, film screenings and cultural initiatives dedicated to travel.
The initiative, organized by the cultural association VicinoLontano, encourages cross-cultural travel and provides an opportunity to exchange experiences with travel enthusiasts and professionals. This year boasts also the presence of Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet.
I will give (or try to) give my contribution to the event with a photographic presentation and discussion about Hanoi. Details are shown in the flyer above.
Well, it is in italian...anyway I believe only my italian friends are, hopefully, able to attend!
I will take this occasion to fly to Europe and stay there for some days!

Something different...Butterflies

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:22:40 +0700

Yes, something different this week...Not my usual photography...
Well, during my recent trip to Myanmar I visited the hill-town of Pying U Lwin, 70 km from Mandalay, a British colonial era resort. The town boasts a beautiful botanical garden, originally built by British botanists in 1915, that features 500 species of trees and flowers.
What really excited me was the countless butterflies.....I love these images and I hope you do also!

New Website Look

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:09:10 +0700

It was about time to refresh the look of the website and the logo.
I feel it looks more neat and elegant and better integrated with my Photoshelter Archive. Like the old one, it has been created using the super user friendly iWeb from Apple.
Maybe for many people,it is too basic, but, in my opinion, with some little works and some add-ons/widgets you can get good results.
For the image shows, I embedded the the Photoshelter Flash galleries. In this way images are directly linked to my Photoshelter Archive.
The blog pages have been slightly revamped with the new logo. RSS feed, should, hopefully still work.
So click on the following link (or the logo on the top of the page)

ENTER SITE

Monks

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 21:51:56 +0700

I am still working in editing the images from last trip to Myanmar. Too many images and too busy!
Meanwhile I would like (once again) to anticipate some of them. In all my trips in S-E Asia subjects that I always love to shoot are the monks.
Maybe because I find them quite exotic and usually quite easy to approach. Very often I leave them offers for their monastery and students.
In this page I want to share some portraits, and an image from the evening prayer taken in monastery in Mandalay.
I go back to editing now......

Hanoi....a book

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:13:01 +0700

Some of you already noticed it on my Facebook profile.... I recently prepared a book containing what I believe my best and most representatives images of Hanoi.
It is all black and white except for the red Vietnamese flag on the cover page.
Prepared using Apple Aperture + Adobe Photoshop and Indesign, the book can be previewed and also ordered on the well known Print of Demand services provided by Blurb.

Mandalay and around....

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:54:59 +0700

Mandalay is definitely my favorite destination in Myanmar....Quite different from Yangon: no traffic, no pollution.
The city was country's last royal capital, but unfortunately the royal compound was destroyed during WWII. The military government rebuilt the palace, but, unfortunately, the site is not fascinating!
Only a small part of the palace complex was saved, the so-called Golden Palace Monastery where the last king lived just before is death.
The real “gems” of Mandalay are actually outside the city doors:
• Amarapura with the world’s longest teak bridge
• The ancient city of Inwa, capital of the Burmese kingdom for 400 years
• Sagaing, home of hundreds stupas and monasteries
• The ancient city of Mingun
• Paleik archeological site with more than 300 stupas

Inle Lake

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:51:59 +0700

The second stop in my recent trip to Myanmar was Inle Lake.
It is definitely one of most common touristic destination in Myanmar. The area is inhabited by the Intha people. One of the peculiarity of the Intha people is the unusual way of rowing their flat-bottomed boats. They stand at the stern on one leg while they use the other one for rowing.
The Intha are really hard workers. They grow vegetables and fruit on floating islands supported by bamboo poles fixed on the bottom of the lake!
The religion is, of course, Buddhism. More than 1,000 stupas can be counted around Inle lake.
It seems like a paradise but downside is that, being a very touristic destination, you are obsessed by insisting vendors approaching the boat!
Anyway this is something you have to accept. Everybody has to find their way for living....

Walking in Yangon

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:21:26 +0700

With a population of 5 million people Yangon is a very exotic and multiethnic city. The first thing you notice is that there is no architectural style. It is a series of decrepit buildings mixed with old British colonial buildings, recently restored., and golden stupas.
Despite this wandering in the markets and small alleys to explore the street life it is a great experience! Streets are packed of street vendors, smiling children, safron-robed monks and longyi (traditional dress) clothed men and women. There are chinese, indian and burmese ethnics! Buddhist, muslims and hindus! I really enjoyed to walk with my favorite street lens (50 mm)!!
At late afternoon it is a must to visit the Shwedagon Pagoda, the Myanmar national monument, wait for the sunset and the lights to be switched on.
This is the best moment to enjoy, in my opinion, the 100m tall golden dome with its 20 carat diamonds on the top! If you are lucky you can see it shining!

Myanmar

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 21:14:13 +0700

I am just back from a ten days trip in Myanmar. I visited the country for the first time in September 2007 just few days before the well known demonstrations in Yangon. I did not notice any significant change except but I can feel the big hope the people is having for the “promised” democratic election that should take place sometime in 2010.
This time I visited Yangon, Inle Lake, and Mandalay and returned back home with 1,500 images. I just picked up some of them here.
Much more coming soon!!

Tainan

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:26:05 +0700

I would like to share some more images from my recent trip to Taiwan, this time from the city of Tainan.
Tainan is the oldest city of the country and it is considered the starting point of Taiwan modern history. The city boasts traditional temples, relics, rituals and ceremonies unmatched by any other city in Taiwan.
Image above and first image down are from the Confucius temple, the first of the country. The second image down is taken at the Matsu temple and the last one from the “official” god of war temple.
Other images from Taiwan are available here.