photography by wasim.

Tag: nx3000

Hoorah! The Samsung Imageloggers (Including Moi) Took Over Rangefinder Magazine.

So this Samsung Imagelogger journey has been an extremely unexpected ray of light that just keeps shining brighter as the months go on. In addition to the cameras and gear (as if that wasn’t enough), another huge benefit of this thing is the ridiculous exposure and opportunities we get. Some of us got to go to Photokina on Samsung’s behalf, some of us gave away free NX30s in Times Square a few months ago, some of us had our images used in promotional material and ads, some of us ended up on a safari. Well, this week, some of us had the humble pleasure of taking over a full special issue of Rangefinder Magazine, a pretty influential magazine in the photography industry. It’s the official magazine of WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) and one that is part of the The Photo Group network, the same group that puts on Photo Plus Expo each year in New York City (coming later this month coincidentally…). So here’s a digital version of the issue: http://tinyurl.com/mosgsaq

I won’t tell you what page I’m on to not-so-sneakily force you to flip through these other incredible photographer’s work.

Check out the feature on Laura Winslow and how she uses photography to document her children’s lives – those sunny funny bright images are impossible not to love.

Check out Rinzi Ruiz and how and why he uses his cameras to produce some of the most striking fine-art street photography in today’s modern landscape.

Check out husband and wife team Tim and Staci Landis’ beautifully unconventional pairing and the incredible photographic journey it has led them upon.

Check out how prolific photographer and host of the Candid Frame Podcast, Ibarionex Perello, used the compact nature of a mirrorless system to intimately capture a portion of the fantasy inducing Eiffel Tower standing in stark contrast to an impromptu political protest in Paris.

And finally, you’ll find my image “Family Time,” and the story behind it in there.

How they figured I should be squashed between these people, I’ll never know…but I’ll take it! Anyhow, it’s an incredible honor and I’m completely and utterly humbled to be amongst such an insanely inspiring group of people and can’t wait to see what the next year brings.

In the meantime, if you guys are planning on getting a new camera, call me crazy (I would have too a year ago today), but I can’t say enough about these Samsung cameras. Pretty much every image you’ve seen me post here or Google Plus or Instagram or Twitter since last November has been on one of their offerings, and quite honestly, it’s undoubtedly been the biggest year of growth for me in terms of photography.

The NX300

The NX30

The NXMini

The NX3000

and coming soon (but not soon enough hot damnit!)…the NX1:

Ok then, go shoot some stuff!

For more of my madness, take your pick:
Instagram: @wasimofnazareth
Ello: @wasimofnazareth
Twitter: @wasimofnazareth
Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

October 2, 2014
A Spontaneous Excursion Up Pacific Coast Highway – Part 4: From Big Sur To Barbeque

I woke up this morning a bit ragged. Today it was much harder to open the eyes, due in no small part to the fact that I was planning on making the drive back from Big Sur to Los Angeles. As I was unzipping my tent and cursing under my breath that I couldn’t at least indulge in a cup of coffee on my final morning here due to the fire ban, there comes my aunt, as if on cue, straight out of the bushes at the other end of the campground, holding bright sunny fresh to-go cups of coffee! Boom!

She had made her way into town to come back and make our day! I took it as a sign.

There was no way I was leaving today.

So once again, with coffee in hand, I marched my gotcha back to the Andrew Molera State Beach iron ranger at the entrance and paid for another night, the same way I have the last two days. Silly me thinking there was ever a chance I was leaving.

Today’s plan was to hit up Pfeiffer Beach (not to be confused with Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park or the infinitely more popular Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park, home of popular McWay Falls. “Yeah, there are a lot of Pfeiffers” the ranger told us as he tried to clear up our confusion). We winded our our way down Sycamore Canyon Road, parked in the lot, and meandered through the shady sandy Cyprus Grove to the stomping grounds of the famous Keyhole Rock.

While the scenery was as spectacular as I ever remembered it, it wasn’t exactly kid friendly at the moment. The surf was quite aggressive and the little ones had their hearts set on the tide pools at Point Lobos, which they hadn’t really stopped talking about since we left there the day before. So after about an hour or so, we decided to pack it up and head on up. I’d been here on many occasions before, and oddly enough, while I thought I’d personally take it a bit harder that we were leaving Pfeiffer Beach, I was surprised to find myself completely ok with it. New frontiers. New memories. However, what I couldn’t bring myself to do was take off without spending at least a few moments alone with a camera and Keyhole Rock. So they let me indulge for a bit, and then off we went.

Since everyone was pretty hungry, and Nepenthe was soooo close…we had to do it!! If you haven’t been to Nepenthe in Big Sur, it consists of two open-air restaurants and the Phoenix gift shop, all of which have some of the most breath-taking birds-eye views of the Big Sur coastline. At the very least, stop for a drink. And if you can’t get a table at the top level restaurant, do NOT hesitate to walk one level below to Cafe Kevah. The views are even arguably better, less obstructed, and the food just as good (and cheaper…).

After lunch, it was time to head back north on Pacific Coast Highway, back to Point Lobos State Reserve. There was a whole cliffside we had yet to explore, so while the kids found their way back to the familiar tide pools with the aunt and cousin, myself and Stephen Chiang decided to explore the path along bluff and we were exposed to a slice of this park and coastline we weren’t privy to the first time we were here a few days ago. And thank GOD we did. This could easily be one of the top 3 highlights of the trip.

Towards the southernmost reaches of the park, along the coast, lies China Cove, apparently, as we found out quickly, a very popular attraction, for as we walked up the steps and turned the corner to reveal it, there stood 3 artists, each in front of their respective easels, each quietly offering their interpretation of the gorgeous scene that stood in front of them.

It was mesmerizing.

I couldn’t help myself but to sit and watch and, of course, eventually ask them if I could photograph them while they worked. Karin Leonard, Kenneth Cadwallader, and Michele de Braganca. After a little while, we decided to continue on a bit further, and after exploring the final reaches of the trail, turned back, and found our way back to China Cove. While the other two painters had packed up and left, one, Karin Leonard, remained. And we remained with her. As one of my cousin’s children was an artist, Stephen brought her back, where she sat with her sketchpad on the bench behind Karin, each of them offering their respective perceptions in tandem. A beautiful moment.

Life making art watching art.

As the sun set, and we bid our farewells, it was time, yet again, to stuff our faces.

We were within miles of Carmel-By-The-Sea (the small cobblestone seaside hamlet that Clint Eastwood once acted mayor to), and even though we were stinky and smelly and beachy and 3-days-of-camping-y, and Carmel is quite a ‘high-flootin’ town as my cousin so aptly put it, we said screw it, why not! We’re gonna make it ours tonight. So we did. We marched our flip-floppin’ sandy feet on in to Les St. Tropez, authoritatively commanddeered the center seating arrangement, and treated ourselves to some French cuisine, pasta, and arugula garnished pizzas before sleepily heading on back to camp for our final evening (this time for real…).

We. Crashed. Immediately.

The next morning, we woke up, packed up, and, aching to squeeze as many minutes as possible out of the trip, stopped for a final view at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, where the McWay Falls trickled down the California coastal hillside, making it’s way from the furthest reaches of the Redwoods in the inland forests and finding respite in the great Pacific.

It was time to get back into the cars and head on back down for not only did we have a lot of ground to cover, but we wanted to go full circle and make one more stop back where this all started.

Morro Bay State Park.

One last look at the rock.

One last frolic along the bay.

One last stroll on the wooden footpath alongside the estuary.

We reluctantly hit the road, and as the sun began to set, found ourselves at Los Alamos, California, a sleepy western town about 5 hours down the coast. It was to be our last supper together, and we decided to do it in style. BARBEQUE!! We laughed, we joked, we indulged, we broke bread, we gorged on Charlie’s Place delicious special-secret-homemade barbecue sauce and milk shakes. Yup, milk shakes.

And, finally, we declared this trip a complete success.

Thanks so much for following along our journey. Truly hope you enjoyed it. And if you haven’t already, wholeheartedly hope you get to make it yourself one day.

Below are the images from this, the final part of the trip, all of which were taken on Samsung NX3000 and NX30 mirrorless cameras. And in case you missed the first three parts of the story:

Part 1: Morro Bay Part 2: Big Sur Part 3: More Big Sur

And to purchase a print, or the original painting, of “Misty Afternoon China Cove,” the stunning final product of Karin Leonard’s efforts that day, click here to check it out.

For more of my madness, including additional images and edits from this very trip: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Twitter: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

And last but certainly not least, be sure to find and follow Stephen Chiang at Instagram.com/stephenrx7. I’m telling you, his shots are great and the kids are insanely adorable.

September 26, 2014
A Spontaneous Excursion Up Pacific Coast Highway – Part 3: More Big Sur

The next few days in Big Sur were nothing short of magical. We woke up the following morning, our first in Big Sur, and figured the most logical thing to do would be to hit the beach. And, well, who are we to argue logic? The universe led us down the 3/4 or so mile hiking path from the campsite, through a covered canopy of trees that straddles the Big Sur River, all the way down to the quaint cove that makes up Andrew Molera State Beach. We spent several hours here sunning, swimming, playing, fighting off the seagulls that boldly flew off with half our food, and watching the surfers slowly but surely converge at Molera Point as they anticipated the swells from Hurricane Marie, the category 4 that had hit Baja California earlier that day, to come ashore any moment. And boy did they! We watched surfer after surfer catch wave after wave that ranged from 3 feet breaks all the way up to what seemed like at least 8 or 10 feet for the more advanced.

We headed back into camp mid-afternoon, some rested, some napped, some ate. Myself and Stephen, we had USB battery bricks and phones to charge, and some business to handle, so we headed into town (and when I say town, I say this very generously, for ‘town’ consists of a grocery store, a restaurant, and a gas station). We took a seat at an outdoor table at the Big Sur River Inn, had some fresh coffee, and got down to business. We charged up our power bricks, and headed back to Molera, hiked back into camp just in time for a campfire and dinner. And that’s when we got a reality check from this fantasy world.

The rangers came up to us to inform us that as of 3 hours ago, the higher ups have outright banned campfires and even camp stoves until further notice. The reason? Drought. The California drought has gotten so bad and so serious, and the land so brittle and dry, that not only did they had to ban campfires and camp stoves 3 days before the famously busy Labor Day weekend, but they also increased the fine from $500 to $5000 to hammer home that this was no joke. If this state doesn’t get some much needed precipitation relief in the coming months, the ban could very well go through all of next year.

In any case, we figured since it was our last campfire, we’d go out with a bang…”S’MORESSSS!!”

The following day, we decided to head up the coast to Point Lobos State Reserve. In all the years of my coming to Big Sur, I’ve never stepped foot in here, and I was stupid not to. This place was incredible. We walked through a Cypress grove, we went geocaching at the old whaler’s cabin, and we hiked around the point, soaking in views of the famous coast. Perhaps the highlight of this part was the tide pools that dotted the rugged coastline. The closer we got to them, the more magical they became…we saw regular crabs, hermit crabs, a dizzying myriad of shells and sea urchins. It was beautiful.

As we sensed the sun begin to set, we figured it’d be a good time to head back to camp, eat some dinner and perhaps try to catch the sunset on the coast back at our beach, Andrew Molera State Beach. We were able to get back in time to feed the belly, but, the clouds started rolling in, so unfortunately, our sunset that evening was hidden from view. Which was alright. We marinated around the lantern, told some stories, had some scotch, and called it a night…figured since I was planning on leaving the next morning, I should get a good night’s sleep for the long drive back.

Below are the images from this part of the trip, all of which were taken on Samsung NX3000 and NX30 mirrorless cameras.

Click here for the final installment of this trip, Part 4: From Big Sur To Barbeque.

And if you want to start from the beginning, click here for Part 1: Morro Bay

And for more of my madness, including additional images and edits from this very trip: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Twitter: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

September 23, 2014
A Spontaneous Excursion Up Pacific Coast Highway – Part 2: Big Sur

So after the kayak melee in Morro Bay, it was time for Stephen Chiang, the photographer I was assisting, and I to drive up north to San Francisco for the job the next morning. Put two photographers in a car, give them the choice between A. a straight and direct, but boring route, and B. a windy, curvy, 2-hours-longer scenic route through Big Sur, and, well, you can guess which one they’re going to choose 11 times out of 10. So up the curvy Pacific Coast Highway we went, absolutely one of the most beautiful and scenic drives in the country. As we made our way through Cayucos, then Cambria, we stopped for lunch before PCH opened up along the Pacific Ocean for good from the lowlands of San Simeon (best known for Hearst Castle), all the way up the jagged picture-perfect sparsely populated Central California coastline to and through the majesty that is Big Sur. We pulled over and admired for a while, excited at the fact that just 24 hours from now, we’ll be back here to spend the rest of the week making the tough decisions of frolicking around the grand vistas overlooking the Pacific, or splashing around in this, the largest of the world’s 5 oceans.

But first, we had the task of finding dinner and a place to rest our heads for the night in San Francisco for the job in the morning, so we crossed over the famous Bixby bridge, rolled past Monterey and Carmel, made a pit stop in San Jose for my first experience with Yakitori at Gaku Yakitori in San Jose (I ate sea urchin!!! Anthony Bourdain would be proud!). There we used Airbnb.com, found ourselves a place to stay for the night, so after dinner, rolled into San Francisco around midnight. We woke up the next morning to fresh coffee from our host, who just so happened to be the photo editor for Via Magazine, an edition of the Automobile Club publications covering the western states, so, well, naturally, we all immediately clicked. (BTW kind Airbnb host, if you’re reading this, I have a feeling you’ll be hearing from us…)

The work day went suspiciously smoothly. It was a corporate headshot job, and we were in by 10am, out by 3pm. We didn’t even bother to stay in the city, opting to immediately get out, back along the coast, stopped in Pacifica at a roadside fresh produce stand for some snacks and supplies, and proceeded on down to Big Sur, where we were to meet my cousin, my aunt, and the family for dinner at Andrew Molera State Beach campground, our home for the next few days.

Luck would so have it (yes, all luck, no planning or rushing to break down the equipment and get out of the city by a certain hour of course), that we made it back to the infamous Bixby Bridge in time to find a few vantage points to get some solid sunset shots. What are the chances?

We pulled along the side of the road at Rocky Point Restaurant, managed to get a few good shots and angles, not a difficult task in a location like this, but something still told us that we should continue on. So we did, and about a mile further down the PCH, we found a small turnout to park alongside what seemed to be a candidate for a perfect overlook. We took a trail along the bluff (extremely careful to avoid the poison oak that seemed to be in full bloom), which ended at the edge of an abandoned property that we didn’t realize until we were already on it. The boarded up house and remains of an old firepit gave it away. But when we turned around, there was no way we were backing off right away.

This.

View.

Was.

Perfect.

We spent the next 15 to 20 minutes capturing the last rays of sunlight over the Pacific and shining onto the coastline hugging the Bixby Bridge, turned towards each other with a knowing “that’s why we do this” smile, and walked back to the car.

Hungry.

We finally pulled up to Andrew Molera State Park, hiked through a 1/2 mile tree canopy into our campsite where the rest of the family was waiting, burgers already grilling, beers already poppin,’ and hence began our stay in Big Sur.

Check out the gallery of images from that day and evening below, taken on Samsung NX3000 and NX30 mirrorless cameras.

Click here for the next part, Part 3: More Big Sur

And if you missed it, here’s Part 1: Morro Bay

And for more of my madness, including additional images and edits from this very trip:
Instagram: @wasimofnazareth
Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth
Ello: www.Ello.co/WasimOfNazareth

September 7, 2014
A Spontaneous Excursion Up Pacific Coast Highway – Part 1: Morro Bay

It began as a work trip. Well, sort of. I’m finding more and more and more these days I’ll fish for any excuse to leave Los Angeles…just the thought alone gets me excited. So when Stephen Chiang, a photographer friend that I occasionally assist mentioned he needed an assistant for a gig in San Francisco, I jumped at it. When he mentioned it would begin with a night of camping in Morro Bay State Park, and end with 4 nights of camping in Big Sur, that wasn’t just the icing on the cake, that WAS the cake.

We hit the road on the Sunday before Labor Day, caravanning with his family (his wife, who happens to be my cousin, their kids, and my aunt), got to Morro Bay, took a walk along the shore for the first sunset of the trip, and then headed down to the village for a seafood dinner at The Galley. Afterwards, we headed back to camp, lit the campfire, shared some scotch and stories, and crashed.

The next day was an adventurous and activity filled one. It also ended up being the first time I’ve ever entered and operated a kayak. My cousin and one of her kids hopped on a paddle board, her husband and the other kid hopped on another paddle board, and my aunt and I jumped into the kayak – both rookies mind you, and it was immediately apparent. It took a few twists, turns, and devising a system to coordinate our left from our right, but eventually, we got the hang of the bugger…for now.

We made it across the bay to peninsula on the western side of the bay that ran along the Pacific coast towards the icon of the town, Morro Rock. The sandbar was about a half mile wide and covered with sand dunes that we traverse to get to the beach side. We spent a couple hours in the sun, had a packed lunch, and then made our way back over the sand dunes to our ‘transportation.’

The return trip was not NEARLY as easy as we had anticipated. No matter what we did, all we could manage was to spin around in circles while the undercurrent pulled us further and further away from the direction we were trying to go in. Apparently the tide has dropped and we were trying to kayak through 12” deep water. Well, needless to say…that didn’t work out too well. We ended up spinning around in place while the current was pulling us in the wrong direction almost snapping the paddles as we dug them into the sand to try to stay put. No bueno. I’m partly embarrassed to admit we ended up holding onto the back of my cousin’s paddle-board as she towed us in…

And since I feel compelled to find a way to make you forget about that last sentence and focus on something else, here are a few images from that first day in Morro Bay, all of which were taken with a Samsung NX3000 mirrorless camera…

If you’re ready for Part 2: Big Sur, click here.

Finally, for more of my madness:
Instagram: @wasimofnazareth
Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy
Ello: www.Ello.co/WasimOfNazareth

September 2, 2014
I’ve Finally Assembled My Perfect Hiking And Backpacking Camera Kit

If you’ve ever gone on an extended hike or backpacking trip, you know that every single ounce of weight counts. An extra strip of beef jerky may not seem like a lot sitting in your pocket at home, but you WILL notice and feel every single gram of it as the sun-scorched miles move beneath your boots. So when you’re packing for such a trip, weight and consideration and bare essentials are a constantly compromised necessity, and, obviously, for photographers, food and clean socks come in a distant second to camera gear. Lucky for us photographers, the new breed of mirrorless systems has changed EVERYTHING. Gone are the days of having to trudge 10-15 pounds of DSLR gear and lenses to get solid professional high-quality images. Now you can make top-shelf images AND pack an entire bag of beef jerky.
As I prepared to pack for a 5-day, 45-mile backpacking excursion into the Sierras, I was absolutely thrilled at how much lighter my pack already was since last year’s adventures through 3 National Parks, and especially the year before that, when I lugged around that same full Nikon D7000 kit through 22, 104-degree Grand Canyon miles on the way into Havasupai, Arizona. Ouch. Ouch. OUCH! While, unfortunately, this month’s Sierra backpacking trip got cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances in the group, I still thought it’d be valuable to share what I had already packed and was prepared to take.

First, here’s the bulk of the Nikon D7000 kit that I had with me both for the Havasupai trip and for the National Park trip. Basically, the kit I’ve been used to traveling with:

Nikon D7000 Body (APSC CMOS Sensor): 1 lb, 8 oz.

Nikkor 18-200 Lens: 1 lb, 4 oz.

Nikkor 35mm Lens: 7 oz.

Tokina 11-16mm Lens: 1.2 lbs

Manfrotto 190xb Tripod with Manfrotto 486RC2 Ballhead: 5 pounds

Filters, Filter Holders, Extra batteries, USB charging brick: 1 pound

TOTAL: 10.5 LBS.

Now, for comparison’s sakes, here’s what I had packed this time:

Samsung NX30 Body (APSC CMOS Sensor): .8 pound

Samsung NX3000 Body (APSC CMOS Sensor): .5 pound

Samsung 18-200mm lens: 1.27 pounds

Samsung 12-24mm lens: 7.3 oz

Dolica TX570B150SL Travel Tripod: 2.5 pounds

Filters, filter holders, extra batteries, USB charging brick: 10 oz.

TOTAL: 6.1 LBS.

And here they are side by side, with the respective lenses mirroring each other. Look at the size differences alone in the Samsung kit on the bottom row versus the Nikon kit on the top row, especially in the lenses and the bodies:

So as you can see, that is not only literally a savings of almost half the weight, but it also includes AN EXTRA CAMERA BODY. Heck, both camera bodies together weighed less than the single DSLR. Granted, the tripod alone also saved me 2.5 pounds on it’s own. So yeah, needless to say, between this revelation, and my recent mirrorless-only trip to the Pacific Northwest, my DSLR traveling days are well behind me. Add the benefit of bright OLED displays and Wifi capabilities on the Samsung NX30 and Samsung NX300, allowing me to use my phone as a trigger or high res monitor as well, and there’s really no reason left to go back.

Adapt or die…or, at the very best, adapt or suffer through a bad back…orrrrr better yet…suffer through that bad back by packing an extra 4 pounds of jerky!

Mmmm…jerky…

For more of my madness:
Instagram: @wasimofnazareth
Twitter: @wasimofnazareth
Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

August 19, 2014