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friscofrankie

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.

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Marmite the Dog

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

Nice thread as well.

kingwilly

I love this photo mate!

kingwilly

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

friscofrankie

Post away

mickeylo

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

mikenot

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

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

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

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.

friscofrankie

I've been trying to get into the habit of taking my camera with me everywhere I go. The other day we headed out to the Grocery store for a few odds 'n ends, there was this Kodak moment with two dogs, a pickup truck and an unsuspecting Shopper. No Camera. You lose an opportunity, you learn a lesson. Who takes their camera to the dentist? Friscofrankie does.

It was an impromptu call. The retaining wires on my new partial were tearing a bleeding chasm in my upper lip Took the tech a five minutes to fix, they're pretty good about whisking me into a back room and back out the door again.

We had planned a day at the larger retail/wholesale vegetable market downtown.

Chiang Mai is a pretty cool town and the city fathers have been thoughtful enough to place Large trees near the more empty intersection so the poor peopl on motorcycles don't have to wait in the sun:


On the way to the market we passed through a weekend market of another sort. This market is located along Rattana Kosin (รัตนโกสินทร์) road and on Bumrungrat (บำรุงราษฎร์) road which is closed to traffic between Rattana Kosin and Keow Narawat (แก้วนวรัฐ) roads. This weekend market is not a tourist walking street, but more like what we would call a "flea market" back in the USA. People selling handicrafts from their home used tools, motorcycles and what ever junk they may have accumulated through the years.

Looking east along the Rattana Kosin stretch:


We got amulet salesmen, of course.
Some are fancy with their displays:


Others, more business-like:


"Antiques?"


"Restored" motorcycles:


Can you say "Hasselblad?"


Remember lemonade stands from when you were a kid?


It a small market with a few good deals easy to cover in a half hour or so:


When going just about anywhere in Chiang Mai, you are never far from the next foreigner, This is what makes the area so convenient with all the good western food restaurants. But if you've ever spent much time in the old city you sometimes tier of the Disneyland atmosphere and enjoy getting out away from the tourist spots. There is nothing about this market that calls to the tourist Unless the tourist is maybe in the market for used power tools or some Toy Army men in vivid colors:

friscofrankie

Ah! we were on our way to the market to check availability os sheep & hog casings. The market, called Talat MuaengMai (ตลาดเมืองใหม่), is a flurry activity at any time of the day or night. Going home from the bars at 4:00 AM I'll ride through vendors selling 10 kilo bags of cabbage for 45 baht and local small farmers selling their fresh vegetables from the back of a pick up.
Fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, meat, poultry and seafood by the bagful or hte truckload can be had here at the best prices in town. Kitchen equipment, packaged goods are available as well. I once bought a couple dozen cases of Sunglass copies here to sell back in the states.

Talat Mueang Mai is a rambling area not far from the US consulate. To give it some rough boundaries, it is north of Wichayanon rd, east of Meaung Samut Rd, and filter north up to about Wang Sing Kham Soi 1. It is border on the east by The Ping River, the road running along the river is Wang Sing Kham.

This is a thriving Asian market where smels can assault, or soothe, your tortured senses, depending on where you are. The meat and fish areas are best dealt with quickly. Along the alleyways in the market you'll find just about anything you'd need to whip up a tasty snack or gourmet meal Plenty of colors to please the eye:


These guys are available for hire to carry your purchases to your truck ot car. Most restaurateurs in Chiang Mai know about Talat Mueang Mai and this is where they buy their produce so these guys stay pretty busy.


You certainly don't need to own a restaurant or grocery store to enjoy shopping here and as with any market in Thailand this is place to socialize as well as supply your kitchen:

friscofrankie

Large truck loads of vegetables herbs, spices fruit make their way here everyday. Some set up a sort of camp and settle in a for a day or two, however long it take to sellout, before going back to do it again.
There are two larger covered warehouse type affairs for thes folks to set up shop in and the activity no, chaos, surrounding these two buildings is infectious. I always get pumped up when visiting here, buying more than I can ever eat before it goes bad, but I am learning to be more realistic.

Entering the more modern of the two covered areas:


Inside; Bedlam:




Fresh lettuce, ten baht a kilo. Buy one or buy ten:


Fresh Chilies anyone?
I have bought as little as 100 grams here:


No hard sell here the price is right and the vendor unconcerned:


if Norman Rockwell were Thai:

friscofrankie

Back out in the street the sun burns yur eyes for a minute or two, I turn south.
I liked this stall:


This Guy thinks he's gonna be famous as I take his picture:
Either that or he's happy to have a customer:


What? Do don't wanna banana?

This is the south end of the main artery that run north/south through the hear of the market. exiting the street we are in front of the US consulate. I tried to get a picture but was chased off by a bunch of angry lookin Thai security Guards. Where's the fuckin Marines?

friscofrankie

It's thirty or forty meters to the River frontage road and then about 100 meters north to get back to the Market area. Bodies of ater whether in mothin or static are always worth a picture or two:


The guardians of the market:


like I said, "or two:"


We walk along the river headed north this begins to become Fresh fruit area Assorted fruits warehouses full of pineapples and bananas an alleyway dedicated to oranges, I've bought good juicing oranges for 40 baht per ten kilo bag here, the prices have skyrocketed to 70 - 80 baht now.
This usually signals the end of our walk through the market, we turn into the soi and head for our car parked on the west side, no too late to pick up a few bags oif fresh fruit:


THe way in is the way out:


A pleasant and successful day we found our hog casings although they do not have sheep casings, the supplier has two grades of hog casings teh higher grade just being of a closer size tolerance. We walked out with a kiol of avacado for 20 baht all perfectly ripe and ready to eat, a kilo of Mangosteen, some Rambutan and fresh long gan.

I always enjoy this market and could spend several days photographing it and never really do it justice. But I'll go back and keep trying.

DaveRobin

I live in CM and these are good shots. If I were stupid enough to return to my home country, images like this would force an outbreak of meloncoly and a need to return.

Tao

Epic thread, mate. An enjoyable read (with great pics)

sabang

Really enjoyed that- thanks Frankie.

dirtydog