Selamat Tinggal *

OK.  I’m off to Malaysia.  I’ll send photos, but unfortunately, I cannot send flavors over the internet — we’ll just have to await that technological innovation!

First of all Report Cards!

I just finished writing everyone’s report card for NBCDES.  And I have to say it was a real pleasure looking back at everything folks have created and shared since the end of November. 

Things have picked up a lot due to the efforts of a core of great community members — and those of you who have not benefited yet by your membership in the group are warmly invited to join in.  Yeah.  Just hit the flickr link here and go to YDIP12!

Next:  Malaysia

From a photographic standpoint, sure I’ve formatted my memory cards, cleaned my lenses and sensor, laundered my microfibre lense cloths— but much more interesting has been assembling my themes and prescriptions.

I cannot remember where I got this habit, but it has been a nice one to form: whenever I take a significant trip with my camera — whether overseas or in the mountains — I try to determine some themes and prescriptions to pursue.  It adds an extra element of fun to the photography.

Here are some of the themes I have set for this upcoming trip:

• market oddities
• Islamic beauty: women + mosque interiors & exteriors

Two of the prescriptions I’ve set for myself include capturing

• architectural photos with HDR in mind: esp dramatic backlighting
• environmental portraits of matriarchs and patriarchs

Of course these ideas don’t mean I won’t point my camera at anything that stands still (or moves). I mention all of that in case the approach might resonate with someone else the way it did for me when I heard of it.

Last on this topic, I bought a netbook specifically to keep up with the marking for you folks in the course.  (That’s what I told my wife and I am sticking by that story).  The vagaries of the road, however, will probably mean I will not be able to check daily — I’d guess every three days or so.  But I’ll keep up the dialogue!

* selamat tinggal is the Malay farewell you use when you are leaving and the person you are speaking to is staying.

 Thanks to an idea from Lisa Babcock, I've had great 

fun using flash to capture water droplets. 

Wonderful way to pass a few hours on a dreary winter day.