Light passing through a window blind seen through a champagne flute.

Happiness is a warm puppy. – Charles M. Schulz

Capturing lightning strikes in a photograph needs a lot of patience and luck. You need to be fast enough to press the shutter button at the right moment. Since the duration of a single strike is a zillion faster than any human reflex, it is pretty much a hit and miss thing. It took me more than a hundred frames before I was able to get decent one.  The idea is to keep your shutter open just before they strike. Did I mention you need to have a lot of  patience and luck?

Here’s how i took this shot…

- Mounted my camera (Canon EOS 50D w/ a Canon EF 100mm prime lens) on a tripod

- Put camera in Manual Mode with the following settings:

Arpeture:  f2.8

Shutter speed: 2 seconds

ISO: 100

(You have to consider the available ambient light and you have to remember that lightning strikes vary in intensity so just experiment with your settings until you get the right mix.)

- Put lens in Manual Focus Mode and focus at a distant point on the horizon so it’s set to infinity. In this photo I focused on the distant buildings.

(By locking lens in perfect infinity focus, the lightning will always be sharp and the camera won’t hunt if it’s pointed at an empty sky as it would if it were left in Auto Focus.)

- I used remote cable release in order to eliminate camera shake.

- Clicked away until I got a blog-worthy shot.

If anyone has some more tips on shooting lightning, please feel free to share them on the “Leave a Reply” portion below.

A rickshaw ride in Dhaka

This photo was taken during a stop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Rickshaws are one of the most famous sights in this city. It is virtually everywhere. Recent estimates peg the number of Dhaka rickshaws to almost half a million – making it the most popular mode of smog free transportation of the city’s more than 13 million people.

The rickshaw is the king of the Dhaka roads.

Stoked in ten seconds

Skimboarding (or Skiffle Boarding) is a boardsport  where a skimboard (a smaller, sleeker version of a surfboard) is used to ride on an incoming wave. Skimboarding is a sport similar to surfing. But unlike surfing, skimboarding begins on the beach, with the skimboarder running and dropping their board and jumping on it as quickly as possible. The momentum is  used to hydroplane or “skim” onto the thin wash of previous waves. The glide is short but it is enough to get you stoked.

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Boats are an important means of transportation in Bangladesh, a floodplain veined by hundreds of rivers, its tributaries and distributaries. The country is virtually all river delta. Traditional  boats or the so-called “country boats” are still popular and they provide practical and low-cost convenient transport in its extensive inland waterways. A huge variety of types are pervasive throughout the country. Wood is the most common material used for construction. The design has not changed much throughout generations except maybe for a few types with motorized conversion.

Rivers and boats are central to traditional Bengali culture and they have fascinated generations of Bengali artists and poets. During a trip to Bangladesh in July 2009, I was lucky to have seen the beauty of these indigenous boats in Meghna River. I was able to capture a lot of wonderful photos, some of which I am sharing here…

A contrast between old and new boats

Travelling along the Meghna river by boat

A floating market in Meghna river

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o O o

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in the water. - Loren Eiseley

o O o

I wish I can take credit for taking this photo. But then if I did, I would not be in it.

In February 2008, my friends and I joined a trip organized by our dive instructors. Destination- Padre Burgos (Sogod Bay), Southern Leyte, Philippines. The area is said to have some of the best and most intact dive sites because it is still not on the main tourist trail. We were told about the occasional sightings of whale sharks (rhincodon typus)  in Sogod Bay but there was really no guarantee that we will ever see one on that trip. I didn’t care about the dive sites. I just wanted to see a whale shark. It was the only reason I signed up for that trip. The rest of my friends were probably thinking about the same thing.

We set off early from a resort in Padre Burgos in search for our whale shark on our second diving day. We were told that encounters in that area were not as regular as compared to the previous weeks. But we were all determined and willing to spend the whole day to search for what we were there for. We came to party with the whale sharks. There was nothing that can stop us.

After spending almost 3 hours traversing the waters of Sogod Bay, we finally had some good news. We got word from another boat just a click from us that they have spotted a whale shark. We headed to their location immediately. The whole group was suited up, with mask and fins in place and cameras in hand long before we got to the spot.  As we reached the site, all of us just jumped right into the water like a bunch of crazy divers! All 17 crazy divers! We scared the poor whale shark away and it descended slowly out of sight. The first encounter was close, but not quite.

Whale sharks are plankton eaters. The water was a bit gloomy and full of plankton and jellyfish on the surface that day so there was still a good chance it will approach the surface again because of the abundance of food. True enough it came back a few minutes later to feed. This time we were a bit more organized and we tried as much as we can to keep some distance so as not to scare the gentle giant away. It stayed with us longer this time. It was about 6 meters in length and much less than the size of a full-grown one. I was amazed at the large size of its gills, five pairs that extended across its lateral surface nearly the full width of its body. As I kept swimming with it, it opened its giant mouth, which was lined with small teeth- hundreds of rows of them.  Interestingly, these are not used for biting. The whale shark is one of the three living shark species that is a filter feeder.  It was swimming close to the surface of the water scooping up mouthfuls of plankton and jellyfish rich water.  Upon closing its mouth, the shark simultaneously opened its gill flaps, forcing the water out and trapping jellyfish, small krills and phytoplankton in the process.

Ranging from 40 cm. (smallest ever recorded) to 13.5 meters (largest ever recorded), whale sharks are the largest members of the cartilaginous fishes. Not only is the whale shark the largest shark, it is also the largest fish in the entire ocean. Yes, the whale shark is a fish, not a whale as what its name implies. The whale shark has and enormous mouth that can reach a width of 1.5 meters, but it’s not designed to bite off people (Whew!) unlike those of the Great White sharks.  Its mouth is at the very front of its head unlike other sharks, which have their mouths on the underside of the head.  It’s wide flat head has a rounded snout, small eyes, five large gill slits, two dorsal fins, and two pectoral fins.  Its tail has a top fin that is  larger than the lower fin. Yellowish markings on very thick dark gray skin best distinguish the whale sharks from other sharks.  According to some biologists this skin feature serves as a camouflage for the whale shark when it preys on shoals of fish.  The camouflage spots on its skin, especially concentrated on its head, resemble a shoal of fish, thus attracting approaching fishes instead of scaring them away.

A little later we encountered our second and third whale shark. One was a juvenile and the other one was larger than the first one we saw. They were just circling the area as they continued to feed while we were circling around them enjoying the spectacle. I got so close to the biggest one and looked at its small eyes, located on the front of its flattened head. It was looking at me! It was almost as if this magnificent animal acknowledged my presence. It was amazing, wonderful, beyond words – the most spiritual thing i have ever experienced.

After three hours in the water with the gentle giants, we were all beat but stoked. We decided to call it a day. Everyone in the boat was smiling. We came hoping to see at least one whale shark. The stars were all aligned, we saw three. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience; never have I been so close to such a majestic beast. It was simply magical. It was the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. And it dwells only in the water.

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Light can make or break a shot. It is the most essential thing that will transform a scene that you might not take a second look at to something that takes your breath away.

To illustrate my point, here are two photographs of the same scene taken just hours apart.

SUNOCO TERMINAL, MARCUS HOOK, PENNSYLVANIA without the lights

SUNOCO TERMINAL, MARCUS HOOK, PENNSYLVANIA with the lights

How light  can change a seemingly good snapshot into an awesome photograph is just amazing, isn’t it?

]]> http://siomaiphoto.com/2010/01/17/light/feed/ 8 SiomaiPhoto siomaiphoto_marcushook1 siomaiphoto_marcushook2 http://siomaiphoto.com/2009/12/29/a-minke-whale-encounter/ http://siomaiphoto.com/2009/12/29/a-minke-whale-encounter/#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:33:23 +0000 ShuiNiu http://siomaiphoto.wordpress.com/?p=253 ]]> One drizzly morning during our long voyage to Australia, somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I heard some strange noise coming from the water. At first I thought it was only the waves. I looked at the open sea from the port side and it was relatively calm. I thought that thud and splash sound could not have come from the waves. I thought it was some dolphins. But dolphins are not that big to have created that loud splash in the water. I got intrigued by it so I decided to go out on the main deck even if it was raining to check out where the noise was coming from. I went to the starboard side, lo and behold, a MINKE WHALE was following us! We were steaming at around 18 knots and the spectacle of a whale keeping up with our speed is just awesome! I stood there and watched. It was jaw dropping. I managed to whisper “wow”. And then I froze…

Thirty minutes later it was still there! I thought this whale wanted to have its photo taken so I rushed back to my cabin and grabbed my camera. My cabin was four floors from the main deck but it felt like I was back only in four steps. As soon as I switched my camera on, I just clicked away…

Minke Whale, also known as piked whale, small, nimble whale that leaps clear of the water like a dolphin and shows curiosity by venturing close to ships. Plentiful in numbers, experts estimate there are currently about 500,000 minke whales worldwide.

Minke whales live in polar, temperate, and tropical oceans worldwide, although they prefer cooler seas to tropical regions. They are separated into three populations: one in the North Atlantic, a second in the North Pacific, and a third in the southern hemisphere. Most spend summers in polar waters feeding and winters in warmer waters, where they breed. Typically travelling alone or in pairs, minke whales enter bays, lagoons, and shallow coastal waters. They also congregate in larger groups to feed, particularly in spring or summer when food is plentiful.

An adult ranges in length from 7 to 10 m (23 to 33 ft) and weighs 5 to 10 tons. The body of a minke whale is slender and streamlined, with a bullet-like, pointed head and a backward-curving dorsal fin. The minke whale’s sleek, smooth-skinned body, slim flippers, and pointed flukes (tail lobes) produce its distinctive pikelike appearance.

Minke whales vary in color. Their backs can be black, brown, or dark gray, and their bellies may be white, pale gray, or pale brown. The upper side of their flippers may have a white band. These whales are fast swimmers, and they normally dive for 3 to 8 minutes, but they can stay underwater for as long as 20 minutes. Their blows, or exhaled spurts of water, are frequent and fairly low, reaching about 2 to 3 m (about 7 to 10 ft) high.

Minke whales belong to the group of whales that have no teeth, which are called baleen whales. Baleen whales swallow large mouthfuls of seawater and use their baleen—bony, sievelike plates hanging from the upper jaw—to strain out small organisms to eat. Minkes eat a variety of foods, including krill—small, shrimplike crustaceans—and various fish.

Females typically give birth to a single calf about 10 to 11 months after mating. Newborn calves weigh 350 to 450 kg (770 to 990 lb) and nurse for approximately six months, or until their baleen is sufficiently formed to enable them to feed themselves.

Commercial whalers began targeting minke whales in the 20th century after whalers had depleted populations of larger whales. The population of minke whales subsequently began to decline, and they were included among protected species in the 1986 international ban on commercial whaling. Even so, Inuits (native peoples of the arctic) have been allowed to take a limited number of minke whales each year for subsistence (life-sustaining) and cultural purposes. In 1993, without international permission, Norway began whaling again. Some Norwegian scientists claim that current populations of minke whales are large enough that limited whaling will not endanger them. In 1997 Norwegian whalers harvested about 500 minke whales. In addition to being hunted, these whales frequently become entangled in both coastal and offshore fishing nets. Water pollution and climate change present environmental threats to their survival as well.

Scientific classification: The minke whale is a member of the rorqual family, Balaenopteridae, in the order Cetacea, suborder Mysticeti. It is classified as Balaenoptera acutorstrata.