Chiang Mai in June - In Pictures

**friscofrankie** · 30-06-2008, 12:24 AM

Originally Posted by SandMike

The Sony alpha range is a reincarnation and development from the Minolta film cameras, and has the same lens mount.

After buying the Sony I went home and did a lot of reading on the line of cameras. Normally I would do this research when it could do me some good. I don;t often buy things like this on impulse.

I was impressed enough with the cameras lineage and reviews to feel happy with my spur of the moment choice, even though I had set my sights on the Olympus E-410 DSLR as my entry into the DSLR arena. I bought my first SLR in 1980 when My then wife was pregnant with my son; an OM-10.

The OM-10 was Aperture priority auto only and I bought full completment of macro and telephoto lenses for it. Back then Zoom lenses were not quite as good as they are now. I'm sure I shot a few thousand rolls of film through that camera, it was my constant companion for a few years and eventually I ended up with an OM-1 and OM-2 in my bag as well. When shooting in any type of auto mode I am still partial to aperture priority.

The Sony is a decent camera I do have an issue with noise in shot using longer exposures. I'm trying to shoot in manual mode almost completely for practice and education Perhaps some of the shots would have come out better in fully auto of flash-less auto mode but so far when I have the opportunity to shoot several frames I am more satisfied with the ones that are shot manually.

My son and I took over 150 frames each on Doi Inthanon, we just took a short trip and went to the Mae Ya waterfall. it's a beautiful place, quite photogenic but It will take a couple more hours to collate, crop & resize the better shots. There are quite a few good ones; but after all, it's only a waterfall and could tend to get repetitious.

We got there mid-late afternoon, it was a bright, sunny day. The forest cover and afternoon sun made photography interesting. The falls were almost directly to the west of our position. Made of some interesting problems I did OK on some, I fucked up a few. I'll try to get them up before I crash, but I've been awake since yesterday afternoon and just might not make it till tomorrow.

Thanks for the feedback.

**chitown** · 30-06-2008, 12:29 AM

Great thread and fantastic photographs!!

Keep 'em coming!!!

**bustak** · 30-06-2008, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

I had been considering the purchase of a film type SLR camera to supplement my Fuji Digital.

Photo Bug near Tapea Gate is selling a used Rebel SLR. I'm not a BIG fan of that camera & they're selling it for a lot (I think over 4,500 baht). I advise you to buy one off of eBay.

I got a Canon AE-1 program for 3300 baht off of an eBay store in America. The post office is holding it hostage for 247 baht, I'll pick it up tomorrow morning & start taking pictures ASAP.

your wife deserves a green for this one:

**garye** · 30-06-2008, 01:46 AM

Wow
Really excellent photos with a lot of mood and atmosphere.
You capture the essence of old Chiang Mai and your comments about local Thai markets is spot on!
Thanks for sharing
Cheers

**jizzybloke** · 30-06-2008, 01:59 AM

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

we just took a short trip and went to the Mae Ya waterfall. it's a beautiful place,

I went there and took some photos too but none of them are much good.
If you do a thread and you don't mind i'll put a few in too but i only have a few that are useable.

**Marmite the Dog** · 30-06-2008, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by bustak

Photo Bug near Tapea Gate is selling a used Rebel SLR. I'm not a BIG fan of that camera & they're selling it for a lot (I think over 4,500 baht).

Not a bad price imo. I'd certainly consider buying it.

Originally Posted by bustak

I got a Canon AE-1 program for 3300 baht off of an eBay store in America. The post office is holding it hostage for 247 baht, I'll pick it up tomorrow morning & start taking pictures ASAP.

My local photographic shop sells old SLR bodies and lenses. If anyone is in Bangkok and wants to have a look-see, I'll be glad to take them there.

**PeterP** · 30-06-2008, 01:42 PM

Great to see your pictures - and glad you are overcoming your aversion to Sony - think Minolta, you will feel better. I've been shooting Minolta and now Sony 700 for 2-3 years now. Lot's of pictures on my web site:

**hillbilly** · 30-06-2008, 02:07 PM

These shots show why I enjoy Thailand so much!

Plus it's fun to play with new toys.

**klongmaster** · 30-06-2008, 03:10 PM

You do love the 'marathons' FF: I guess when you do sleep it's for a week!..

Great stuff here and excellent commentary as well...I always get the feeling that you are talking directly to me in your threads...

will look forward to the Inthanon pics as well... thanks for the effort...

**friscofrankie** · 30-06-2008, 07:41 PM

^Insomnia has me it a strangle hold, man. After 34 hours without sleep I fell into bed, and died. for two damn hours. Woke up hungry, had ptotatos, eggs and some home made bread. Read some more and couldn;t get back to sleep until 8:00 AM. This is has been the schedule now for about a week. Up until this latest bout I was riding my bicycle every day averaging about 12 - 15 kilometers in a half hour feeling real good. Waking up at 5:00 PM or later I don't feel much like going out on the thing. Things don't re-align themselves I may have to take a mid night ride, smoke six joints of Laotian weed and drink a bottle of Wild Turkey see if that helps. Drastic, I know; some times you just gotta do what you gotta do.

But Inthanon; I invited my son over for a home-made breakfast sausage & egg breakfast complete with gravy, hashed browns and freshly made sourdough toast. His current girl friend was up from BKK and he had planned to take her to Inthanon for a pleasant day trip after.

I said earlier that my last film SLR was bought in 2005, I lied. It was 2002. I went with my ex MIL on our (my son and I) last trip to the US to pick out a decent SLR for his Christmas present. I ended up buying my last film SLR and my first Fuji digital camera that day. he and I have been comparing photographs ever since. I think we have the largest collection of "dueling cameras" in existence.

I digress. After breakfast and an hour, or so, of conversation I get, "Dad. Can I borrow your camera?"

Now, when I bought the Fuji 5600 I gave him that first fuji I bought back in 2002. The Fuji 2800 is still a very good camera for a point & shoot, so I asked "Where's the fuckin camera I GAVE you?" as Dads are wont to do.

He conveniently "forogt" the thing at home and besides the 5600 had so many other bells and whistles he seems to forget it when ever he's headed out of town. Fuckin kids, right? So, reluctantly I let him have it for the day. The ol' lady kind of think of the old cam as her's now, so this earned me a few cold looks. Push come to shove, to placate the ol' man and his ol' lady we get an invite to some along. What the hell.

We finally headed out the door at about 12:30 - 13:00 (Sunday breakfast and the Frankie household not being an early-riser affair). I live in a family compound type thing with two homes and a few single room apartments. This old woman was sitting out near the car park weeding the flower bed; steals my vegetables and spends her days caring for the flowers and orchids in the compound She's the owner's mother, I think.

She's gotta be older'n dirt and walks around with her little bucket of garden tools bent over, as so many older Thai women are, she moves her little bucket ahead a couple feet then walks to catch up and moves the bucket, walks to catch up... Stay out of her way and DO NOT try to help. You have been warned.

We left her to her gardening and headed out for Inthanon.
After heading south through Hang Dong and San Patong we turned right to head up the mountain. We drove through Rice fields;

Not a lot of work going on this Sunday;

Doi Inthanon (ดอยอินทนนท) is Thailand's highest peak. About an hour south of Chiang mai, the park is worth a day or two of your time. Mountain is dotted with hilltribe villages, farms growing typically non-tropical vegetables and waterfalls. I rode down a couple years ago and we waved through the gate without paying a satang. This time we had to negotiate a fair entrance fee.

The Mae Sa waterfalls are off to the left as you begin to climb the mountain and have a separate gate. Entrance at this gate will gain you entrance though the main gate and they want 40 baht for Thai and 400 baht for foreigners, there is a 30 baht fee per vehicle. My son & I went up to the gate, he presented his Work Permit and I stood by showing my age.

The conversation went on for a good five minutes and when the gate keeper began to soften she points to me and asks basically"What about him?" I launched into a few minutes of how I've lived here for xx years and brought my son here to live with me and if he can get in for a thai price maybe I oughta get in for FREE!
The gate keeper laughed, and although hinted I might be lying, it was said in way to indicate there was no way I was old enough to be this guy's Dad. Had to let that one slide.

The four of us got in for the thai price but admonished not to use our tickets
to gain entry through the main gate as they had jobs to protect. No problem.

We drove up to the parking area, there were no other travelers present and you just knew the barbequed chicken and assorted tasty snacks were probably just a few hours beyond their prime. Stepping out of the truck we got our first glimpse of the falls:

The walk up to the falls was pleasant and easy;

With a few peaceful places to stop and take in the surroundings:

You walk under a canopy of bamboo, teak and assorted other Greenery with just enough bright light to create havoc with your light meter:

**friscofrankie** · 30-06-2008, 07:46 PM

Where I comne from you might see tress growing through rocks, here they just grow on 'em:

Eventually we come to the The Falls;

**friscofrankie** · 30-06-2008, 07:52 PM

I'll shut up;

**friscofrankie** · 30-06-2008, 07:54 PM

Me; being quiet:

**friscofrankie** · 30-06-2008, 07:57 PM

This one belongs up above somewhere:

**friscofrankie** · 30-06-2008, 07:59 PM

My son and I chased this damn butterfly like a couple of lunatics Each trying to get the best picture, with equal success I might add. It's my thread I'll post mine;

**friscofrankie** · 30-06-2008, 08:29 PM

The are nice, round, slippery rocks you can use to cross the stream in several places. While carrying my camera, bag & tripod I slipped smashed my goddam knee again and was relegated to teh south side of the stream. My son, had better success and got a few nice shots From both sides of the stream. Fuckin kids.

He seems to be turning Thai Damn near every picture had an image of me or his Girlfriend. Me, you really don;t wanna see. The Girlfriend? You can't handle the Girlfriend!
Here are some of his shots.

The effort to cross the stream Paid big dividends, in my opinion Best shot of the falls that day (did I happen to say anything about 'Fuckin kids?');

Aside from The butterflies there was little wildlife to be seen. This guy is striking in appearance though:

All-in all, a pleasant day we ended up leaving about 5:30 in the afternoon relaxed, with one of our party limping a bit. The challenges presented by the lighting were a good learning experience for me. I also learned to have confidence in shooting RAW pictures. I shot this day in JPEG & RAW and ended up throwing the JPEGs away. This will save me some space on the compact flash.

As you will see in the next series of shots I learned some lessons on shooting backlit subject and those in variegated lighting. Although the shot cimoing up are not perfect The series taught me quite a bit about trusting my eye and interpreting the light meter not living by it.

I was torn between posting this thread in the photography section or travelers section Travels won out, hope my discussion of the learning process ain't too damn boring.

Day or two and I'll post the pics from a couple weeks later when we head for a lesser known Sunday "walking street" that is more of a Thai flea market and Talat Mueang Mai in search of sausage (hog) casings. The market is tough to shoot. You spend your time dodging motorcycles, the teeming throng and the odd "Rot Ken" (รถเข็น) driver dealing with bright sunlit areas and deep shadows.

**Marmite the Dog** · 30-06-2008, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

I was torn between posting this thread in the photography section or travelers section Travels won out, hope my discussion of the learning process ain't too damn boring.

Just remember to keep that 'perfect shot' back for the competition.

Nice thread as well.

**kingwilly** · 30-06-2008, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

I

There was entertainment:
Sorry this one's a bit out of whack but had to get the kids checking watching behind the scenes:

I love this photo mate!

**kingwilly** · 30-06-2008, 10:17 PM

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

The Girlfriend? You can't handle the Girlfriend! Here are some of his shots.

I'm willing to give her a go...

**friscofrankie** · 30-06-2008, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by jizzybloke

jI went there and took some photos too but none of them are much good. If you do a thread and you don't mind i'll put a few in too but i only have a few that are useable.

Post away

**mickeylo** · 01-07-2008, 02:12 AM

nice pic.s really enjoyed them.....

**mikenot** · 01-07-2008, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

The effort to cross the stream Paid big dividends, in my opinion Best shot of the falls that day (did I happen to say anything about 'Fuckin kids?');

Thats the sort of shot to experiment with slower shutter speeds, to blur the flow of the water (assuming you have a tripod handy !)

**DrAndy** · 01-07-2008, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

Day or two and I'll post the pics from a couple weeks later when we head for a lesser known Sunday "walking street" that is more of a Thai flea market .

Can't wait FF

great pics, keep experimenting

the only decent camera I have is a film thingy, a Canon A1 and also an AE1, with several Canon lenses

excellent but the film is a pain

maybe I will sell it

**friscofrankie** · 01-07-2008, 08:30 PM

Yeah here I was, looking for a film camera, I've got three rolls of undeveloped slide film from five years ago.

Although the noise thing is bad n shots over a half second (yeah I've shot longer exposures hand held) for the most part digital is nice. The ability to change ASA, er, ISO speed from frame to frame instead of being stuck in one speed for 36 shots. The main place I'll be displaying pictures is on one of my websites, no need to scan.

We've got the freshman class heading up Doi Suthep this weekend, the wat behind me has a rocket festival going on and tomorrow morning there will be roackets from all over Chiang mai. behind the wat they've got this game going with drinking and guys loadng rocket motors with dry propellant. they then stuff the propellant ina steel rocket shaped carriage and launch it up an inclined cable. Folks bet on how far it close it comes to teh top without touching. I went out and got a few shots

There is always something going on in ChiangMai worth a few photos. A fully charged battery is al that's required. (fuckin spare battery is 5k though). I've got to pick up a spare battery and flash and a decent bag to carry my assortment of goodies so I've not only got a toy but something to spend more money on! Oughta keep me interested for a few more months. I really want to get some fixed length lenses ait larger aperture too. and then there's this...

I've got about 75 pics of the market to go through and resize opening and editing raw files is a bit slower. Maybe 4 GB RAM for my machine...

**friscofrankie** · 02-07-2008, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by mikenot

to blur the flow of the water (assuming you have a tripod handy !)

That shot was from the north side of the stream and this is where I fell and fucked up my already fucked up knee. I agree it would have been perfect for that blured water thing (this is why I had all that gear as I tried to jump from slippery sloper to wet rock. I did take a couple of shots of lower rapids on a slow shutter speed with the tripod and got a few to give me the "Furry Water" blurred effect, they aren;t worht posting as the rapids were small and the amount of whit water in them are not sufficient enough to emphasize the effect.

With this camera I am constantly skirting my own limitations. So much is comeing back from the days when I would shoot three rolls of film a day, but I need more practice. The possibilities using the newer technologies in digital format give you such a broad palate to paint with. There are some new snags along the way as well but I am truly enjoying the experience.

I went out to a Rocket festival this morning. I filled my Card in a few hours and am back home way too soon. There was this moment when I contemplated taking my laptop so I could dump the pics and stay longer. I fucked up. I opted for leaving it home. Plainly, I am a lazy bastard as this si the reason I bought the thing in the first place. I am loathe to take the laptop and camera out as we will get a nice downpour sme time during the day. Found a nice back-pack that is weather "resistant" and designed to carry a laptop, a coup0le of camera bodies and more than a few lenses. Gee, even more things to spend money on.
Boys and their toys, eh?

I got the market pics uploaded, I had Three large chaangs and a few ribs for breakfast, though. I'll get weekend two of "June in Chiang Mai" posted in a few minutes. Weekend three? Guess I didn't so much cant remember can't find any pic on my machine. Weekend four is a night bazaar - talat Ahnuson thing Migh t be worth a few posts. Then there this rocket festival. It overlaps but I think it deserves a "Chiang Mai in July" thread of its own...

Right back with more pics, after I scrape the mud off my toes.

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