photography by wasim.

Tag: travel

3 Weeks In Sri Lanka – Part 4 : The Creature Comforts Of Colombo

It was over. The main reason I found myself in Sri Lanka was all over. Here we sit at the train station waiting for our ride back to Colombo, reflecting upon the events of the past two weeks, and quietly wondering how we’d say goodbye to each other. After all, we had become family over the past few weeks and bonds had certainly been formed. And here we were, in the middle of Sri Lanka, in a village that none of us may very well ever see again, and wondering if we’d ever even get to see each other again. But it was time. The train pulled up. We hopped on, and in tradition, they hopped on with us to help us with our bags and to bid farewell, including Pirinthika, who had never even left Jaffna before this trip, had never set foot on a train before, and the next 5 minutes would ensure that she’d never forget her first time.

As we were getting situated, the train suddenly began its departure without any sort of forewarning. They were all still on the train. While the others were able to jump off, Pirinthika stood in absolute fear straddling the open door as it began to move faster and faster. They were running alongside it on the outside telling her to jump, and I was standing right behind her, at first encouraging her, but then realizing that at this point, the train was moving much too fast and she would likely hurt herself. By now, a crowd had formed around us, and all of a sudden we heard the train begin to shriek before it came to an abrupt stop and jerked us all forward, knocking us out of place. A man came running up yelling “suicide!? suicide!?” They had thought that she was about to commit suicide by jumping out of the train as her arms straddled the open door and they had emergency stopped the train. While we were all stunned, and all the passengers had commenced in hanging their heads out the window to look over at us and see what was going on, it gave her a chance to get off safely. Before even giving us a chance to explain, the train immediately began its departure again, not even affording us a chance to say goodbye properly. It ended in a simple confused wave at each other. And honestly, that was perfect as we called each other right after it happened, laughing our asses off on each end.

Once we arrived back in Colombo, we checked back into the the same Airbnb rental we showed up to in (yes, it was that good…if you’re ever in Colombo, Sri Lanka, check it out), took our first hot shower in almost two weeks (and it was GLORIOUS!), and then ran right back out to indulge in the creature comforts of Colombo that we had not had the luxury of while in the North. This, of course, included drinks. Lots of drinks. We first met up with her friend from part 1 and picked up right where we left off – sandwiches and wine at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel before graduating to double scotch neats, deep intellectual emotional already forgotten what the heck were we talking about conversation, and billiards at the nearby Cheers Pub. Once the pub shut down, we had a tuk-tuk take us down to the beach where we all, including the driver, hazily splashed around the Indian Ocean (another one to check off the proverbial bucket list). Figured why not. It was a very intense past two weeks and we were letting off a bit of steam. Besides, this was our last night together. I had a ticket to board a train to Nuwara Eliya in the central region – the apex of the world’s tea plantations and production.

However, perhaps the final round of vodka-on-the-beach-at-3am part of the evening was unnecessary as I completely slept right through that train. Once I was up and tried to get another ticket for a train the next day, I was informed they were all sold out for the next 3 days. NOT good. This left me with two options – taking a tuk-tuk the 90-odd miles up a winding single lane mountain road (uh…NO!) or hiring a private driver (uh…suuuureee). So once that was set up, it was time to indulge in yet another fine day in Colombo.

We started with a lunch of fresh falafel and smoothies at the expat-friendly Barefoot. After lunch, while Pradeepa headed to her favorite salon to get her hair done did, I decided it was a perfect time to spend a few quality hours with my Samsung NX1 just walking around the streets of Colombo capturing a few street scenes. A woman and her Acupuncture & Surgery Dispensary. Tuk tuk drivers taking nap-breaks in the back of their vehicles. Tuk tuk drivers hanging their clothes out to dry on their vehicles. Vendors selling pastry items out of the back of a tuk-tuk! A collection of images of the bus attendants and drivers, who had a style and panache all their own (I spent a solid 20 minutes just at one bust stop as bus after bus pulled up, dropped off, picked up, and carried on…click this image below for a little slideshow).

[popuppress id=”6324″]

As the evening began to draw, we made plans to meet with more of her local friends for dinner. We descended upon the Barracuda Seafood Grill, where a table adorned with a myriad of drool-worthy cuttlefish preparations waited for us on the sand, just mere feet from where the waves were breaking. The dinner conversation was dominated by talk of the evenings upcoming cricket match, the first game Sri Lanka was involved in in the World Cup of cricket. Since they were playing away, the locals wouldn’t be able to see the game until about 3am, and, if you know anything about cricket, the games can go on for hours, so wasn’t scheduled to be finished until about 10am. While the group tried to convince me to stay awake with them to watch the thing, well, no way was I going to let myself miss my ride out of Colombo two days in a row. They didn’t make it easy on me, but I was able to pull away to get back to the flat to take a nap for a few hours before the car was scheduled to pick me up in the morning.

It was time. It was time to journey solo. First stop? Nuwara Eliya in the Highlands. Tea country here I come…

Click here to read Part 5 : The Solo Journey Begins. First Stop: Nuwara Eliya – The Heart Of Tea Country

If additional digital procrastination is desired: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Ello: @wasimofnazareth Google+: +WasimMuklashy

And if you’ve missed the first 3 parts of this adventure, start with 3 Weeks In Sri Lanka – Part 1 : The Most Meaningful Work I’ve Ever Done

All images and videos for this series of blog posts were shot with a Samsung NX1.

If you support the kind of work I’m doing and the things I’m sharing, please consider ‘subscribing to me’ on Patreon.com. Yup, subscribing to ‘me.’ You can even set the price. Literally, $1 per month if you want. No joke, your little helps me a LOT.

April 2, 2015
Dreaming In 4K: My Imagination Leads Me To Hawaii With The Samsung NX500

So I had this crazy dream last weekend. A dream where I was sent to Hawaii to go whale watching off the shore of Kona with Chris Robinson, the Editor-In-Chief of Outdoor Photographer Magazine. A dream where I found myself taking a helicopter tour over the big island with Chris Gampat, founder of The Phoblographer, marveling over Hi’ilawe Falls, one of the United State’s tallest waterfalls, and where I imagined myself zip-lining through a rainforest canopy of Koa and sycamore trees with Videomaker’s Editor-In-Chief Mike Wilhelm and Big Picture Big Sound’s Editor-In-Chief Chris Boylan.

One where I saw myself discussing the personal project of Philip Ryan, an editor of Popular Photography Magazine over a glass of Oban 15, just after a 5-course dinner overlooking the Hawaiian sunset with HD Video Pro’s Editor Neil Matsumoto and Slashgear Executive Editor Chris Davies. In this same dream, I could have sworn I saw myself photographing a luau and discussing handheld photo technique next to a Hawaiian waterfall with Jack Neubart of Shutterbug Magazine just after chimping over images of those very same waterfalls with DP Review’s Magazine Editor Barney Britton.

I also saw myself meandering through a random Hawaiian village sipping on fresh Kona coffee with Imaging Resource’s Associate Editor William Brawley just after bouncing around the back of a old World War 2 military Pinzgauer Jeep as I went off-roading through a private guava forest with Sound & Picture’s Editor-In-Chief Daron James and Digital Trend’s Photography Editor Les Shu. One where I found myself running around an island with two Samsung Imagelogger comrade-in-arms, Fraction Magazine‘s Editor-In-Chief David Bram and Hawaiian expert and nature photographer Bob Kurtz. A dream in which we had our very own New York PR fashionista posing atop a jetty of lava rock as the sunset light rested upon her face.

And on this dream, a talented team of photographers and enthusiasts ready to cater to our every photographic whimsy, handing us various lenses and grips and flashes and batteries like they’re glasses of water, including photography industry legend Jay Kelbley, who apparently personally worked on original Ansel Adams negatives and prints and seemed to be nursing the much touted yet seemingly mythical Samsung 300mm f2.8 lens, and Charles Leone, the man, the myth, the PR legend from Allison & Partners, who has managed to cull together and keep this over-visually-stimulated group of trigger-happy shutterbugs in line throughout the whole thing. Not to mention Anthony Zirfas and Andrew Bieker, a team of technical gurus by our side at every step of the way to make sure all those bits and bytes and circuits and stuffs kept doing what they were supposed to.

In this dream, I woke up each morning, opened up two sliding glass doors to nothing other than lush Hawaiian gardens with volcano rock paths leading to open cabanas lining a flawless Kona Kilauea beach. All this whilst fondeling a new 4K camera that magically appeared in my hands just as I began to drift away into the REM phase.

Basically, this was a dream in which I was completely in my element: hardcore geeking out with photography and imaging nerds in a hardcore playground for photography and imaging nerds: Hawaii.

The craziest part of the dream? In playing testament to the wonders of modern physics, I somehow…some way…woke up from it with a memory card full of images in a brand new Samsung NX500, essentially a Samsung NX1 in a sexy brown retro-styled body.

Take THAT Inception!

The images I pulled off that bugger might be some of the first to come from the Samsung NX500. Check ’em in the gallery below. Just be sure not to pinch yourself. And please, for the love of God, don’t pinch me. That part can be very very painful…

And as an added bonus, here’s a bit of 4K footage shot on the Samsung NX500. Make sure to choose the 4K resolution setting from that little gear symbol icon thingy in the bottom right of the video:

For more of the psychotica: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Ello: @wasimofnazareth Google+: +WasimMuklashy

March 19, 2015
A Slice Of Sri Lanka For Your Mobile Phone

So I just threw one of the images I made in Sri Lanka on my mobile phone as the background. Kinda dug it. Figured I’d share it. If you want the thing, click here to download a high resolution 2400-pixel version that should fit any phone or tablet you so feel fit.
This was shot on a Samsung NX1 as the sun was setting behind the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka last month. The temple houses the relic of the tooth of Buddha. “Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a UNESCO world heritage site mainly due to the temple.” [via Wikipedia]

If you missed yesterday’s post, I began with the back story of how and why I found myself in Sri Lanka. Here’s the link:

3 Weeks In Sri Lanka – Part 1: The Most Meaningful Work I’ve Ever Done.

And for more stuffymajigathings:
Instagram: @wasimofnazareth
Ello: @wasimofnazareth
Google+: +WasimMuklashy

March 12, 2015
3 Weeks In Sri Lanka – Part 1 : The Most Meaningful Work I’ve Ever Done

It was the most meaningful and rewarding work I’ve ever done.

Bold statement for a man well into his thirties? Perhaps. But I’ll start from the beginning. I received an email from a friend that simply said “What are you doing the first two weeks of February.” Mind you, this was closing in on the last week of January. 48 hours later, a round trip ticket to Colombo, Sri Lanka in my name arrived in my email box.

This friend is Sri Lankan. While she works as a producer in Los Angeles, most notably as head of production for YOMYOMF, Justin Lin of ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise fame’s network, and runs Jeeva Productions, her own production company, creating advertising and publicity campaigns for clients including TheTruth.com and Bedsider.org, Pradeepa Jeeva has made it a point every year to return to her home country to work on some social project to help out the impoverished nation, especially the Northern Province, which was hit extremely hard by a bloody and brutal 30-year civil war that came to an end just 6 years ago. To this day, they are still finding mass graves from the brutal onslaughts brought about by the fighting, and the UN is currently debating when to release its findings in a detailed human rights abuses report. Not to mention, in the middle of all this, the country was hit by the now infamous 2004 tsunami that ravaged the coastal cities throughout the nation. Not surprisingly, amongst the chaos of mother nature and the unforgiving nature of war, the region’s infrastructure was destroyed, and not the least of which being the education system.

The project she flew me out for was based specifically around this.

My first 24 hours in Sri Lanka were spent tuk-tuk’ing around Colombo, the capital city, as I tried to fight jet-lag, a battle I’ve never quite struggled with to this degree before. It might have something to do with the fact that the 16 hour leg of the flight from Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi found me squashed in between two people that decided to use my shoulder to prop their heads, leaving me no opportunity for relaxation, let alone sleep. I felt like I was a zombie lurking in a dream for most of my first two days while Pradeepa led me through a hazy tour of town that included my first (of what would be very very many uniquely decorated and equally terrifying) tuk-tuk rides (which I’d quickly realize is the lifeblood of this country – people eat in them, sleep in them, serve food out of them, work in them, and they are the primary source of transportation throughout the island…a terrifying fact on your first one, but something you get quite used to, and, eventually, fond of).

Next stop? A poolside beer and club sandwich at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel because “Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but for the next 12 days you’re going to be eating nothing but Sri Lanka food, so might as well get this while you can,” mojitos at the historic Galle Face Hotel pool bar straddling the Indian Ocean, picking up linen pants and a shirt at the local mall (because the airlines lost my luggage and figured if I was going to be frolicking around Colombo, Sri Lanka, might as well do it in style), brazenly swerving through traffic to get to the rombutan stand on the other side of the street (if you don’t know the fruit…Google it…trust me…worth it!), buttery sushi and sashimi in a private room at Nihonbashi, one of the cosmopolitan city’s premier Japanese food joints, and Scotch neats at the Sky Lounge, overlooking the city, the ocean, and the Sri Lankan capital’s skyline. Yes, we were living it up, and I had nooooooo problem with that, but I would soon understand why she was so intent on “getting it while we can.” As Deepa so eloquently put it, “The next 2 weeks are going to be drastically different.”

The day that I arrived marked less than two weeks that the universally detested President of old was ousted and replaced by a new President that everyone seemed to have hope would bring things back together. He placed a self-imposed ultimatum to begin progress in all sectors of government, including unifying the country’s spirit and split populations as well as instituting constitutional reforms based on an executive cabinet responsible to parliament within 100 days of taking office. One of the first things he did was double the budget for education from an obscenely insulting 6% to a slightly more respectable 12%. Not a bad start.

The even better news here was that $20,000 was allocated by the Ministry of Education to helping build a small studio in a town called Vavuniya in the central Northern Province. The purpose of this studio was to begin recording educational videos based on the country’s curriculum. The idea behind this purpose was to help spread education in a more accessible, interesting, and interactive way to students that have been stifled by an uninterested educational system at best. The reason behind the idea behind the purpose for this studio was that the education system needed a boost – the children needed to be interested – the perpetual cycle of memorize and regurgitate outdated information had been well past tired. A key figure behind the reason behind the idea behind this purpose was one Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam.

Ethirveerasingam came to fame in Sri Lanka in the mid-1950s when he became the first Sri Lankan to compete in the Olympics in 1952 and 1956, and the first Sri Lankan to medal in the Asian Games, winning gold in 1958. He is a native to the Northern Province and has made it his life’s work to reform the education system to break that perpetual cycle that was was more adept at creating fighters and laborers than educated children with a wide-open and limitless future. He was so dedicated that he found himself literally hopping through trenches to collect information from schools during the height of the war.

This was the man we’d be traveling to meet the next morning.

And that is where the next part of story, 3 Weeks In Sri Lanka – Part 2 : Jaffna And The Northern Province , picks up.

Until then, here are a few images from that first hazy jet-lagged half-day in Colombo.

For more thingamastuffs: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Ello: @wasimofnazareth Google+: +WasimMuklashy

All images and videos for this series of blog posts were shot with a Samsung NX1.

If you support the kind of work I’m doing and the things I’m sharing, please consider ‘subscribing to me’ on Patreon.com. Yup, subscribing to ‘me.’ You can even set the price. Literally, $1 per month if you want. No joke, your little helps me a LOT.

March 11, 2015
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 Monday Motivational Kick In The Yahoo – September 22, 2014

“A Smooth Sea Never Made A Skillful Sailor.” -English Proverb
**
There it is – This Week’s Motivational Kick In The Yahoo!
**
Ahoy!

September 22, 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
The Giving Lens’ Colby Brown Goes To The Philippines – Shows Why He’s The Real Deal

Figured in light of Colby Brown’s impromptu brave decision to head down to the Philippines to help with the aftermath of this month’s insanely devastating typhoon, this was a good time to re-share this. It’s an article I wrote about his philanthropic photographic organization, The Giving Lens. It originally appeared on Kotori Magazine, but his dedication to using his craft and his heart to lead his humanitarian-heavy path is freshly demonstrated with his recent move, so it seemed a good time to rehash it for those that may have missed it. (more…)

November 24, 2013