What Not to Do as a Photographer's Assistant (2 of ...) - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

To make great images when traveling in unfamiliar turf is never easy.  Photographing in Iceland has its extra set of challenges, such as coldness (winter temperatures in summer months), heavy rain, and gusty wind.  As many have eloquently summed up, Iceland has got "unpredictable weather".  But, nothing compares to a unique challenge that I have at hand.

I thought I'd debut my series of Iceland stories with one of its icons, the Icelandic horses.

Approaching northwestern Iceland made me giddy as that part of the island has always been noted for its horsemanship.  I was looking forward to recreating a classic like this image made in Italy.  However, when my eyes finally met the viewfinder, this is what I got:         

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I could get upset.  But I have no one to blame but myself.  Since the last time I wrote about this issue with my assistante, I have not done anything other than laughing about it here.  And, I continued to have him along, without pay.

Well, moments do not repeat and horses don't stay in one place for long.  So I chose to rise above the situation and make the best images that I creatively and professionally could.

Do you want to see what turned out?  I mean, do you want to meet the Icelandic horses without the "blocked view"?  Raise your hand below in the Facebook comment box.    

I Fell In Love with the Peruvian Amazonia Trees - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

As humid as it felt at the time, it was the (beginning of) dry season in the Peruvian Amazonia.  Contrary to my previous conception, many deciduous trees were bare with no leaves left.  Trying to look through the branches to the sky gives an other-worldly (my client Sylvia loves to use this word when describing my work.  Haha...) feeling.  

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You English (-speaking) people may think of the word silhouette (剪影)。  I, on the other hand, see paper-cut (剪纸) in this image.

What do you think? 

Am I a Wild-Life Photographer? - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

I did not seek to become a wild-life photographer at the beginning of my career.  I knew I wouldn't have the patience, nor the tenacity.  However, life has an interesting way to teach one to never say never.*

My recent travels have brought me to places where I simply could not resist photographing.  I mean, without making a great image, how could you show off your encounter with this black bird, the yellow-hooded blackbird?  In fact, how would you even go about explaining that such a beauty exists, without expending one thousand words? ;-)  That's why, I chose the jump-first-question-later approach.  Aren't you glad I did?  

*My partner Wayne (as in a CPA firm, in my previous life) used to always say "never say never" and it stuck with me for all these years.  I feel that I should give him credit for how I don't ever say never, publicly. :D

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