The photograph itself doesn't interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality. Henri Cartier-Bresson

wind desert and snow

Air photography

This might be one of the most difficult types of photography there is. When looking out a window of a commercial airliner the space is limited and you’re at the mercy of weather, so if its uber cloudy you get clouds and more clouds, which can be interesting to photograph. I must confess my cloud photography attempts are quite futile. I’ve been quite lucky however to get some interesting images from an airplane.

So here is a collection, between deserts and snow-lands.

Fly on your Mitsu

In the wake of new drugs some have affected people in ways no one desired. Some Club Drugs even trace their origin in the early 20th century. The most potent are often subject to be mixed into strange names such as White Dragon, Peace and Pikachu.

The ones that are mostly affected are young girls, they go to a party and then they don’t remember anything. It sounds like a myth, however I was given the chance to talk to two, both forgot what happened after drinking something they thought it was juice, but it was no ordinary juice.

If you enter wikipedia, you can find some very interesting details about the “benefits” of some of theese drugs such as Methylenedioxymethamphetamine commonly know as Ecstasy.     A drug made by a Anton Köllisch in 1927. I’ll quote some of the beneficial effects:

A general and subjective alteration in consciousness
A strong sense of inner peace and self-acceptance
Diminished aggression, hostility, and jealousy
Diminished fear, anxiety, and insecurity
Extreme mood lift with accompanying euphoria
Feelings of empathy, compassion, and forgiveness towards others
Feelings of intimacy and even love for others
Feelings of insightfulness, introspection, and mental clarity
Improved self-confidence without the incidence of arrogance

So its all good?

Side effects:
Dizziness, lightheadedness, or vertigo
Mydriasis or pupil dilation
Xerostomia or dry mouth
Nausea and emesis or vomiting
Gastrointestinal disturbances such as diarrhea or constipation
Headache or migraine
Trismus or jaw clenching and/or bruxism or teeth grinding
Trembling or muscle tremors
Urinary retention or ischuria, caused by hyponatremia
Sexual dysfunction, consisting of erectile dysfunction and anorgasmia or inability to ejaculate
Anorexia or decreased appetite
Tachycardia or increased heart rate
Hypertension or increased blood pressure

Over dose effects:
Disorientation and/or confusion
Anxiety, paranoia, and/or panic attacks
Hypervigilance or increased sensitivity to perceptual stimuli, accompanied by significantly increased threat detection
Hypomania or full-blown mania
Derealization and/or depersonalization
Hallucinations and/or delusions
Thought disorder or disorganized thinking
Myoclonus or involuntary and intense muscle twitching
Hyperreflexia or overresponsive or overreactive reflexes
Tachypnoea or rapid breathing and/or dyspnea or shortness of breath
Palpitations or abnormal awareness of the beating of the heart
Angina pectoris or severe chest pain, as well as pulmonary hypertension (PH)
Cardiac arrhythmia or abnormal electical activity of the heart
Circulatory shock or cardiogenic shock
Vasculitis or destruction of blood vessels
Cardiotoxicity or damage to the heart

So now make yourself a map. This is a dangerous but popular drug such as LSD, which are mostly “Club Drugs”.

How do they get smuggled into the US?

First most are made by Dutch chemists which produce up to 90% of all the Ecstasy. They get over there by very simple means, such as UPS, DHL and even the postal service. Most of them are managed by Israeli Organized Crime groups, which recruit people from the US, Europe and Israel.

And its a very very profitable business.  The chemists have a cost of about $0.50 to $1.00 per tablet, when the street price in the US is being that from $25 to a staggering $45. According to the DEA.

So this Mitsubishi Drug is quite an old idea and keeps on selling.

Golden State’s paranoiac behavior

Lets take for instance what happens if someone gets caught selling cocaine in California.

First you get a pretty fine of what the merchandise would be worth $118.70 (a gram of pure cocaine), if you’re found carrying cocaine you get a $70 fine and subject of 2-3 years in prison. Makes me wonder if Schwarzenegger if concerned other than driving bikes without a license in taking cocaine. Seems to be a hollywood approved legislature.

But there is a more interesting one, that while most states take it as a misdemeanor, the sunny state of California will lock you up with a 1 year sentence in a county jail and or $1000.00. I’m talking about stalking, so don’t stalk in Cali its better to just sell cocaine, way cheaper. If you’re looking to stalk someone, do it in Kentucky or Texas, you won’t get thrown into jail.

Nature photography

This might be the most difficult area for photographers. Yes you can capture a lovely sunset on a nice beach. You can go to wonderful places and with only a click you can have a marvelous picture. But there is more to it.

First lets go into wildlife:

You might be thinking of national geographic or some other magazine where you get to see lions and zebras. But most of the fauna or some of it is never shown.

A wildlife photographer as I view it, should be as a documentary photographer. But with much much more patience. Skill here is made by practice, you can be a great observer but now comes how close can you get to the animals and be able to photograph them.

Crocodylus Moreletti

Animal, Crocodylus Moreletii (swamp crocodile)

Once I was in the jungle trying to photograph a crocodile, it was about 2m, the pictures where so damn lame, believe me, I was like, noo!! Then I was trying to photograph a rare heron, but the light was just terrible.

NOTE: The jungle lacks in light what it has in fauna… Be sure to take a flash with you.

Landscape photography.

Now here the first step is location, location and location. The other is finding an original composition of a place some other photographer might of gone. Try to be original. Start by checking out most magazines about it.

NOTE: here use all the light you can, wide angle lenses are very much the main use. But sometimes you can get a wonderful result with a telephoto lens.

Andes

The Andes, taken from “Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego”, Argentine side.

Lago escondido

Lago Escondido, (Argentina) Now I took this picture from a tree. So climb up to look for good places to photograph.

Square and reflect

Girls sitting on a window

A man hiding something inside his shirt

Living on a Reflection

Point and shoot tips

Photography tips street shots for the point and shoot.

Most people use a point and shoot camera, which is ok. You can still get excellent results, all you need is a light box. Even if you’re using an old camera.

big cameras don’t give necessarily good pictures, a good eye and practice do.

Tips to shoot (candid photography) or even nature:

don’t be afraid of people
act as you never took the picture
don’t hold the camera far far away from your face (you are noticeable)
use the automatics of the camera to your advantage
shoot at your waist line
GET CLOSE
don’t use the zoom in the camera, move your feet!

one sample image of what you can get with a point and shoot:

walking in the deps of the rain forest 2005

In order to give the right tip

I’ll need to know which is the area of photography you like best.

I’ll be doing an article about each of them, but will give stronger emphasis on the one with most votes.

Street Photography Tips

The first thing when you photograph people on the street is concealment. You should not be inflicting on someone. How? First be fast, don’t show a camera on the face of someone. Unless you’re doing portraiture and ask the person first to take their picture. Else, find a scene in the city or town where you live and something everyone does every day.

Tips:

Be fast
Be original
Capture the moment
DO not show yourself (concealment)
Move your feet

What’s street photography? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_photography)

Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions, and other settings.

Some pictures:

Fotografía

El interés principal del hombre, no es su gloria. Su propia existencia es lo que lo conmueve. La historia de otro ser humano, su diario vivir. Las expresiones que hay en ello. Todo esto se refleja, se vive se toma, pasa inadvertido ante la gran mayoría.

Por provocar una emoción propia estamos dispuestos, algunos, a ver en otros nuestros propios sentimientos. Una emoción que rara vez sentimos, que nos llena o nos tumba. Siempre que la podamos ver nos lleva a otro entendimiento de la vida. Tanto en la tragedia como en la felicidad.
Al tratar capturar emociones, perderlas en el tiempo, volverlas inmortales; tratar de volverlas inmortales. El trabajo de un fotógrafo documental es ese. Tratar de dar a conocer la vida de un ser humano o de otros, a través de su lente.

Intentaré esto, pues me llena. No de alegría de tristeza, sino, de asombro. Tal cual, veo en las expresiones más comunes algo que quiero contar.  Llegará el día en que mis piernas crucen los desiertos en busca de otra experiencia.

Por el momento, veo, la vida dentro de mi ciudad, como un ente que no pertenece a ella. El sentirse parte de algo o ser parte de un grupo, no lleva necesariamente al crecimiento personal.
Mi experiencia como fotógrafo es limitada, tan solo he hecho el intento de serlo durante los últimos tres años.

Mis logros comerciales son un chiste. Sin embargo, las expresiones, las vistas de la naturaleza que he sido tan dichoso de poder tenerlas como recuerdo, las experimento por un visor. Muchas veces, ni siquiera por el visor, tan solo por el obturador de mi cámara.

He observado y analizado el trabajo de varios fotógrafos. Cada imagen me inspira a seguir este camino. Por muy competitivo que sea. Prefiero sentir la urgencia de tomar mi cámara y con ella crear una visión personal. De un mundo que todos compartimos. Del cual todos tenemos el mismo interés, nosotros mismos como seres humanos.

Por eso mi interés en la guerra, pues tan solo he leído y nunca he ido. Tomo en cuenta las grandes imágenes de artistas del campo. De quienes si lo han vivido y han muerto en ello.
En el frente de la naturaleza he visto escenas que pocos han podido ver en una vida. Mi mente me llama a rescatar juramentos de otra época. Especialmente uno en particular, ver a un tigre caminar frente a mi, regresar a ese lugar y con una cámara tomar una serie que me diga como es que vive un animal que me dejó sin aliento.

Supongo que todo tiene su tiempo y su manera de ser. Me entreno para lograr ser un mejor fotógrafo con cada imagen, con cada vez que suelto el obturador. No se trata de tener el mejor equipo, sino de tener el mejor ojo y de volverse uno con el arte de capturar las emociones más simples y a la vez más complejas con una sola imagen en un grupo de instantes, grabados en luz.