photography by wasim.

Tag: photography

From The Majesty Of Mother Nature To The Glory Of The Human Soul – A Mirrorless Camera Pacific Northwest Photo Trip – Part 6

Today is the day that the first part of this trip ends and the second part begins, and it switches gears a bit. While the connection to Mother Earth has been the primary focus for the past 7 days, the next several days focus on the connection to the beauty of the human emotion. If you follow me on Google+ or Facebook, you might recall a post about a month or so ago about a close friend – one of the strongest, purest, most beautiful warrior souls I’ve ever known was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She rushed into surgery soon thereafter and she began chemotherapy the very week we were up in Pacific Northwest. Seeing as how she was with her family just across the state in Spokane, Washington to begin her battle with the ‘big evil,’ I jumped on the opportunity to take the 7-hour Amtrak journey from Portland to spend a few days with her, as I haven’t seen her since my trip to Colorado last year, where she was living at the time.

So with a few hours to kill before the train I headed into downtown Portland for breakfast and a short walk before arriving at Union Station to board the train, one that took me on an incredibly stunning journey-by-rail across the states of Oregon and Washington. A particularly memorable moment was as the sun was setting on my side of the train, it was gently draping the face of the beautiful girl sitting across the aisle from me. After a bit of hesitation and looking back and forth – sun – her face – sun – her face – and before it got too creepy, I asked her if I could take a portrait. She smiled, said yes, and I was able to snap one I was happy with before the sun dropped behind the hills.

I arrived in Spokane close to midnight, where my friend’s father picked me up from the train station and drove us back to their house. She was already asleep, so I just peeked in, whispered hello for a few moments, and retired to the guest room. The next 3 days were an absolutely wonderful 72 hours spent together!! It started the next morning when I found myself in what might be the country’s largest organized garage sale – it was literally an entire neighborhood, perhaps 5 by 5 blocks, in which just about every single house was having a ‘rummage’ sale. And they do this ever year. The streets were full of people – this thing was a proper event!

After that, we headed to one of her favorite restaurants in town, PhoVan Vietnamese, before a quick drive-through tour of downtown Spokane, which included an incredibly informative educational session from my friend’s father, a Washington Water & Power veteran, of the dam and power plant that constitute the centerpiece of the city. The family then decided it would be a good idea to head up to their river house about an hour away along Priest River, Idaho, so, well, we packed up some food, grabbed the cat and dog, and off to the river house we go (I’ve always wanted to say that!). After soaking in the sunset in the backyard along the river, we went out for Mexican food, came back, popped in a movie and just chillaxed the evening away together.

The next morning, apparently they had scheduled me to get out on the 4-wheelers for a mini tour of the region. We rode through rain, hail, snow, sun, wind, and more rain for a solid 2 or 3 hours through the mountain ranges flanking Priest River and straddling the Canadian border. It was invigorating! Afterwards, we embarked on a little drive to a small town called Sandpoint for lunch before heading back into Spokane. Their entire family came over that evening, sister, brother-in-law, and nieces, for a home-cooked dinner, some drinks, and some laughs.

We spent the following day together, just me and her, just driving around, walking around, talking, catching up, and eventually grabbing a late lunch and smoothie before she dropped me off at the Spokane airport for my return flight to Los Angeles.

Those 72 hours were some of the most meaningful 72 hours I’ve spent with a friend in years. It’s when you’re put in a situation where mortality cannot be ignored that your guard is put down and all inhibitions are thrown out the window in order to embrace the beauty and valuable essence of the human animal…accept and embrace how vital it is to the survival of the healthy human psyche. It amazes me how certain situations can unearth a soft and vulnerable human side that so rarely seems to make its way to the surface in an otherwise hardened and mostly paranoid world we’ve managed to manifest over the past several generations.

The irony is, sensitive empathy is always there.

Just lurking.

Begging for and jumping at the first opportunity to show itself.

Here I am in a family’s home that I’ve never met before in my life, and I, with a name and background being quite an oddity in these parts, was completely embraced with warmth and trust and hospitality that, sadly, is so often dismissed as a lost commodity in our ‘modern’ day and age. It was all shoved aside, a minor detail in the bigger picture – the humanity that lies behind the subjective facade. To be accepted and embraced with such warmth and vigor was a beautiful thing and something I will never forget…rather, search for the first opportunity I can to pay it forward. Because of their daughter, this savory reality was realized.

In any case, there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s going to make it through and destroy the core of this awful fucking disease, I know it, she knows it, we all know it, but the fact alone that she has to go through it plays testament to the fact that life isn’t exactly…well…fair. At the same time, I can’t help but simultaneously think…perhaps it’s people like her whom are challenged with this thing in order to provide hope to those that need to dig for deeper strength to destroy the vile gotcha…showing them that the power of the human spirit is truly a force to be reckoned with –

to help make a strong person stronger and a weak person strong.

With that, I’ll leave you with some images from those last few days of the trip. Thank you SO much to those who have followed along and joined me on this adventure. If you’ve missed the first several parts of this wondrous journey through the great Pacific Northwest, here they are:

Part 1 – To DSLR Or Not To DSLR? That Is The Question

Part 2 – Going Green. And Greener. And Greenest

Part 3 – Guided By The Youth (And All The Purty Colors)

Part 4 – Cheez Whizzed In Stumptown

Part 5 – Flanked By Firs And Braving The Bridge

And Lori, I love you! Now beat this thing and get back to Colorado where you belong!!

May 25, 2014
Flanked By Firs And Braving The Bridge – A Mirrorless Camera Pacific Northwest Photo Trip – Part 5

For the final couple of days, we returned to some of the same general areas we were at the first couple of days. This time it was raining fairly heavily and didn’t let up, so we took this opportunity to actually capture scenes with the pitter patter of the rain hitting the leaves of the trees on it’s way down, the drops dancing on the miniature tide pools and ponds surrounding the river. After a few hours playing around on the riverbank bordering Lucia Falls, we decided to head across that bridge you saw in the second post in this series near Moulton Falls, and we got on the other side of the river, which ended up just being another magical playground of various floras and faunas flanked by a grove of douglas firs.

We noticed that the sun was starting to peek out a bit, just in time for magic hour, and since we had wrapped what we needed here, got back on the road to see if we could find a meadow or somewhere we can play with the sunbeams we were being gifted. We started to run out of usable light just as we were coming up on an idyllic barn on a property off the road. We pulled in, hoping to ask the owners if we can play around for a bit, but couldn’t find anyone. I couldn’t help myself though, and jumped out of the car to play a bit with an oak tree in the middle of the field, but, before I can get anything usable off, a truck was pulling up to us and the proprietor jumped out.

I apologized, explained we were working on a project, he was cordial yet understandably wished we had asked permission. “What would you do if you found me randomly poking around in your backyard?” he asked. Without thinking, I responded with “Well, depends. Are you a photographer?” Before I could feel like too much of an ass, he responded with “sometimes, yes, I am.” Once I saw he had a sense of humor, I responded with “well, then I suppose I’d be OK with it.” He chuckled, gave us his card, and invited us to return anytime (granted we asked first…). Fair enough. Not a bad closing to what has been an incredibly ridiculous adventure.

What we’ve seen and what we’ve done is something that every person alive should be able to experience at some stage in their lives. Travel is always rewarding, especially when you find yourself in places you’ve never dreamed were real, and to think that this is less than a 3 hour flight away from home is beyond me. There is simply nothing like getting away from everything you know, letting go of control, and seeing where the journey decides to take you. In an age where it’s all too easy to get wrapped up in our own worlds and our own heads, this was just another necessary reminder that there is life outside of that, and, well, it’s quite wonderful.

Here are a few of my favorites from the last couple of days of this part of the trip, all of which were taken on the Samsung NX30.

And click here to read Part 6 – From The Majesty Of Mother Nature To The Glory Of The Human Soul

If you missed the first few parts, here are the links.

Part 1 – To DSLR Or Not To DSLR? That Is The Question

Part 2 – Going Green. And Greener. And Greenest

Part 3 – Guided By The Youth (And All The Purty Colors)

Part 4 – Cheez Whizzed In Stumptown

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

May 13, 2014
Cheez Whizzed In Stumptown – A Mirrorless Camera Pacific Northwest Photo Trip – Part 4

So we decided that day 4 was going to be our “takin’ it ‘easy for all them sinners” day (extra points if you get that reference…). After charging it pretty hard the past 3 days from sunup to well past sundown, we were understandable a bit groggy this morning so decided to sort of ease ourselves into the day and let the day play out on its own, especially since we had already got more footage than we expected in the can. We decided to play it close to home and started off by heading into the Forest Hills Park that spoons the city of Portland from the west side. For what we were looking for, it was perfect. It’s a popular hiking, biking, and walking haven for the city’s residents and the morning’s precipitation gave it a polished saturated gleen that we used to our advantage. We were able to capture a few shots we had on the checklist for the video portion, and I managed to snap a few more stills on my new trusty sidekick, the Samsung NX30.

After that, we headed into downtown Portland for a much needed cup o’ coffee at the award-winning Stumptown Coffee Roasters, and, well, it was pretty apparent that whatever award it was…was well-deserved. An absolutely perfect cappuccino and a vegan Peanut Butter bar sidekick that came highly recommended by the staff, on a barstool at the window, looking out on Portland’s rainy Southwest Stark Street. Yup, that’ll do. We took the opportunity to lazily talk over the shotlist and a tentative game plan for the next few days before walking over to 10th and Washington, one side of a half block that is essentially a mobile food cart mall. I meandered a bit checking out the myriad of culinary offerings but once I noticed “we use real Cheez Whiz” on the ‘Steak Your Claim’ Philly Cheesesteak cart, I was sold.

Since we knew last couple of days were going to be just as full as the first few, we figured this was a good time to call it day and head back to home base and begin editing and sorting through some of the stuff from earlier in the week and, other than a few portrait snaps of our host’s insanely adorable daughter (can you blame me!?), that was that. I mean, after a Cheez Whiz drenched Philly Cheesesteak…well…there isn’t going to be much more physical movement going on…and we were SOOOO okay with that.

Click here to read the next post, “Part 5 – Flanked by Firs and Braving The Bridge.”

And if you missed the first three, CLICK HERE to start at the beginning…

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

May 6, 2014
Guided By The Youth (And All The Purty Colors) – A Mirrorless Camera Pacific Northwest Photo Trip – Part 3

The second complete day of this thing was a bit of a lesson in just going with the flow and seeing where it takes you, even if it means thwarting your original vision and plans, especially when conditions that are beyond your control dictate those decisions.

The plan was to hook up with local photography phenom Lijah Hanley, the guy I mentioned in the last post (you MUST check out this guy’s work, and while you do, trip out on the fact that he’s still only 18…). The idea was he was going to take us to a hillside covered in cherry blossoms that was overlooking Mount Hood that he had scouted for us the week before. We had visions of pink petals falling with a snowy mountain top in the distance dancing through our heads. However, once we got there, what were ripe blossoms a week before, had already gone and morphed into white flower buds under a very gloomy sky, rendering the scene flat and unusable for our purposes. However, one innate skill photographers seem to have is relishing in improvisation, and even at age 18, Lijah led us on a journey to another location not too far away.

Since these were essentially his stomping grounds, we had Lijah take the lead and the backup destination he led us to was a field of balsam root, a variety of sunflowers, that apparently only bloom for a few weeks out of the year, so in this sense, we got lucky. We found ourselves wandering across acres of sunflower and wildflower laden hillside, capturing the very shots we needed for the project (and, of course, a few stills of my own…). After a couple of hours, we were approached by the owner of the property. Unbenownst to us, we were trespassing. (Oops. We thought that fence was to keep the elk out!) But thankfully, no one came chasing us with a shotgun, he simply expressed his wish that we ask next time, and then asked if we’d be kind enough to send him a few pictures. I snapped a quick portrait, and he was on his way. While the property owner was completely ok with us continuing to wander on his hillside, we were ready to move onto the next location, so packed up our gear and headed out as well.

After inhaling a damn tasty pepperoni and jalapeño pie at Andrew’s Pizza in Hood River, Oregon, the next stop Lijah led us to was Horsetail & Ponytail Falls along the Columbia River Gorge, essentially the borderline between Washington and Oregon. This was, not surprisingly, insanely gorgeous. Prime Pacific Northwest rainforest, replete with ferns and moss and waterfalls and pools and rivers and streams and slugs, was staring us right in the face. And it was overwhelming. Anything that was filmed in ‘The Shire,’ could EASILY have taken place in this lush chunk of Oregon country. Every single shade of green imaginable existed here, and as soon as we saw the destination Lijah was leading us to, we knew we weren’t going anywhere else today – Ponytail Falls – a waterfall that cascades over a cave that allowed you to walk behind the fall, in front of the fall, alongside the fall. The trail horseshoed around the backend of it, providing both shelter and an awesome view from the backend of a waterfall that few get to see or experience. And we certainly relished in it. Below are some of the images from this part of the journey.

If you’re ready for part 4, “Cheez Whizzed In Stumptown,” click HERE.

And if you missed the first few parts of this adventure and would like to catch up, here are the links:

Part 1 – A Pacific Northwest Photo Trip : To DSLR Or Not To DSLR? That Is The Question.

Part 2: A Pacific Northwest Photo Trip : Going Green. And Greener. And Greenest. (And Mirrorless).

Oh, and for those of you keeping tabs…another day goes by in which that Nikon kit wasn’t even thought of. This Samsung NX30 continues to kick butt!

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

May 2, 2014
Going Green. And Greener. And Greenest. – A Mirrorless Camera Pacific Northwest Photo Trip – Part 2

So this was the first full day of this thing, and the weather forecast told us it was going to be 100% chance of rain. Not exactly what we wanted to hear, but, well, that part of things we can’t control. We headed out to our first location anyway to see what would happen, and the fact that it was hailing and there was ice induced accidents on the side of the road were not encouraging signs. However, once we turned off the main highway onto Lucia Falls Road towards Moulton Falls, our first destination, divine intervention stepped in and it started to clear up. Literally, the clouds parted, and the sun began to shine. And best of all, during moments that we wanted softer light, thin layers of clouds began to cover the UV and created what was essentially a diffuser across the sky, providing a soft light that helped saturate the greens even further thanks to the morning’s rain.

We spent a solid 3 or 4 hours at Moulton Falls, just at the bank of the river, admiring, shooting, and trying to capture the flowing water, the incredibly vibrant moss covered rocks and tree branches, and the details therein. We could have spent all day here, but per a recommendation from Lijah Hanley, the insanely talented 18 year old photographer we hooked up with out here in Oregon, we decided to head over to an old mill to try our luck for the rest of the afternoon and whatever light we had left. Figured if it didn’t work out, it was only about 30 minutes from where we were so we could always head back once we knew better.

But…as luck would have it…this place was an absolute goldmine! As soon as we got out of the car, we looked at each other and immediately knew…we were not going anywhere for the rest of the day. This was definitely going to be our home. I helped set him up for the video, and he jumped into his zone, I grabbed my gear, and I got into my zone, and we were each in our own little groove for the next 4 hours. This was a playground. The Cedar Creek Grist Mill. Couldn’t think of a more picturesque setting to close out the first day. I have never seen so many different shades of green in one place…heck, I didn’t even know that many existed! Anyhow, I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed making them.

Oh yes, and I must say…after my first proper full day of shooting, under several lighting conditions and situations, from rain to fog to sun to shade, across multiple locations, not a single time did I think to myself, “I wish I had my Nikon DSLR kit.” This Samsung NX30 is performing beautifully . As a matter of fact, due in large part to shedding several pounds of weight, It’s actually seemed to be conducive to freeing me up for more creativity. I truly thought it was going to be a lot tougher than it actually was.

Anyhow, the next part in this image adventure coming soon, and if you missed it, click here to read part 1, “To DSLR Or Not To DSLR? That Is The Question.”

And click here when you’re ready for Part 3 – “Guided By The Youth (And All The Purty Colors)”

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

April 29, 2014
Photofocus Does It Again – Notch Up Another Point For The Samsung NX300

I’m absolutely humbled to have my second Featured Image on the Photofocus homepage. This is crazy. Thanks to Melissa Niu, Scott Bourne, Richard Harrington and the entire Photofocus team for this ridiculous honor. Words cannot express how appreciative I am. Had to share that.
Meanwhile, Part 2 of the Mirrorless Camera Pacific Northwest Photo Trip coming up soon. I’ll be sitting on a train for 7 hours today from Portland to Spokane, so that should give me plenty of time to wrap that bugger up. If you missed Part 1, “To DSLR Or Not To DSLR, That Is The Question,” just click the title there to the left. And considering both those Photofocus featured images were shot on the Samsung NX300 for their Imagelogger program, that provides just another point on the board for mirrorless. The rest of this trip ought settle that score once and for all. And if you missed the first image Photofocus featured, check it out by clicking here.

April 25, 2014
To DSLR Or Not To DSLR? That Is The Question – A Mirrorless Camera Pacific Northwest Photo Trip – Part 1

So when he called and said he needed a ‘wingman’ for a video and photography project, I was already in. When he said he’d pay me, I lost my frickin’ mind…literally…the gig I’ve been dreaming about for…well…ever. Yes. Done. Let’s go. Can’t talk too much about the project just yet, but essentially, the man behind bringing the world’s best magicians to the forefront, Murphy’s Magic’s Director of New Product Development Jason Brumbalow, who I also worked with at VectorMount for GoPro, was recruiting me to go help and guide him through making a series of nature videos and photographs in the Pacific Northwest for a personal project. I was humbled and I was immediately in.

My biggest decision was whether or not I was going to be taking my DSLR with me. Why was this a big decision? Well, I’ve never taken any sort of extended trip, let alone a trip designed for photography and videography, without the DSLR. And even a short 2 years ago, I wouldn’t have even considered it. But after playing with these mirrorless systems thanks to Samsung including me in their Imagelogger program, well, the decision became…real. And when it came down to it, I figured, one, these things are definitely capable, and two, if anything, it would add a bit of a challenge and excitement to what was already shaping up to be an epic journey.

Thanks to that program, they recently sent out their new NX30 body, and just last week, a surprise package that included a 30mm/f2, a 10mm fisheye, and a 50-200mm lens showed up at my door. I took that as a sign. So I went with the Samsung NX30. And I left the Nikon kit behind (*gasp*)!

Anyhow, figured I’d post here to take you along the journey the best I could. Here are a few images taken from Day 1. We flew into Portland at about10am, and were picked up by Jeremy, our host for the week, and Jason’s good friend. From the airport, he took us for a bite at one of his local haunts, Produce Row, where the taste and flavor absolutely matched the presentation. From banger plates to corned beef gruyere sandwiches, somehow it all landed on our table. Once were crawled out from under the coma, he took us to the house, we settled in, and then he dropped the keys to the truck in our hands and off we went!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon scouting the surrounding areas to see what were in for. Umm…in a word…perfect. Our first location was Moulton Falls, and literally, it was the first place we pulled off on the side of the road on the east fork of the Lewis river, a tributary that leads into the Columbia River, and it was immediately apparent it was the first location we’d set up at the next day. We then headed downstream just a tad further to the Lucia Falls, also on the Lewis river. At this point, the rain started up and the sunlight began to disappear, so we figured it was as good a time as any to head back to home base to work out our game plan for the week.

Some of the best pictures of the trip are in part 2 of this series, “Going Green And Greener And Greenest”…trust me, they’re worth it!!

(Oh, and yes, please excuse the vertigo…I went a little crazy with the new fisheye on day 1…all apologies…I’ve never had a fisheye before. I promise it tapers down in the coming days)

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

April 23, 2014
Apparently I’ll Be Adding ‘Historian’ To The Resume…

So just thought I’d share…this was kinda groovy. One of the homes I shot a few weeks ago for www.ShootingLA.com was apparently of some historical significance. It was built in 1954, and the residents, who have lived in it ever since, were a husband wife team, Albert and Gloria Martin, who not only designed the home, but literally built much of it with their very own hands. Anywho, click here to see the whole piece, the rest of the pictures, and the structure’s history, courtesy Kate of www.RetroRenovation.com. Pretty sweet stuffs…

March 15, 2014
The Samsung NX30 – The One Time Less Zeros Puts A Smile On My Face.

A lot of you already know that I’ve been playing with the mirrorless cameras lately as one of Samsung’s Official Imageloggers. They started out by sending me the gorgeous brown leather skinned NX300 and a myriad of lenses to play with and I’ve had a lot of fun with those buggers for sure. Well, in this next stage of the program, they’ve sent out the brand new NX30, and I couldn’t be more excited! As much as I love the NX300, the one thing that my old-fashioned mind couldn’t quite get past was not having a viewfinder, so, well, that alone sold me. This one might actually get me to finally Ditch The DSLR after all! Can’t wait to share some images from this fine feller, can’t imaging it’s going to take me too long…but in the meantime, check after the break, I’ve thrown together a quick gallery of some of my favorites from the NX300 over the past few months. I have a feeling the Samsung NX30 is going to prompt a post like this soon as well. Enjoy.

March 12, 2014
You Don’t Need Psychedelics To See All The Purty Colors…Just Innovate!

Ok, these are kinda crazy…does anyone remember the Hypercolor shirts from back in the day? You know, those shirts that when you pressed on them, they changed color with the body heat and pressure? No? Maybe? Yes? McFly?!?? WTF am I talking about? Anyway, for the 80s T&C, Gotcha, Maui & Sons crowd, here’s a throwback with a twist…Innovate Clothing!
Innovate has taken Hypercolor to another level (you’ve got to figure that one was due!). Same sort of idea, but with these, you don’t even have to touch them. Basically there are patterns and designs printed on the shirt themselves in some sort of special secret ink that’s sensitive to sunlight, so when you’re indoors, you see one thing, but once you get outdoors, you see colors and patters and shapes that vividly and magically appear onto the shirts. Pretty neat stuff.

Anywho, they hit me up to do a product line photo shoot for their new site a few weeks ago, and it just went live. Figured I’d share…

Now go on n’ git’ one (or six)

Innovate Clothing!

February 28, 2014