Grand Texture at Grand Staircase

During my every trip, I use to be really busy in the midday - enjoying great meal in the restaurant, hiking, scouting for sunset location, visiting museum, filling up the gas tank, etc.

What's about photography? Most people might thought midday is not the time due to the harsh light. I think midday is great for many subject, e.g. black and white, intimate landscape, etc. Midday is also great for capturing detail - texture and pattern. Texture and pattern are found in most of the landscape photography but they are rarely a primary subject. They are often overlooked by photographer. Nevertheless, they can be pleasing and appealing. It's also a good training on how we "see" the smaller world through the lens.

I shot this picture when I was passing through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Highway 12) during the midday. I love the texture in the background and how the tree coordinate harmoniously with it and forming a nice scene. 

This is a good article for further reading: Nature Photographers Online Magazine: Texture and Pattern in Nature

Enjoy your midday!

"Dissecting" the Coral Pink Sand Dunes

This picture taken at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah. This is one of my favorite, of course, with plenty of reasons...

1. Golden hour - at a low angle, the sun cast a magical, golden grow across the sand dunes. Did I tell you light is important?

2. Composition - if you think abstractly (imagine everything in their abstract form - shape, color, contrast, etc.), you will notice the picture is formed by five triangles of different size and configuration. The contrast formed by light shade significantly enhance the formation of abstract triangles. Imagine if the picture taken during mid-day - can you see still the imaginary triangles?

3. Sense of scale - the ATV in the background gives a sense of scale to the picture. Wow! the sand dunes is huge! Don't you think so?

4. Gestalt principle - despite the discontinuity of the ATV trail, you might imagine the ATV is moving across the sand dunes, from the bottom right of the picture to the top right.

5. Simplicity - golden sand dunes plus an ATV. Is it simple enough? Sometime, less is more:)

Thanks for reading! What do you think?

p.s. This picture also published as Picture of the Day (October 11, 2013) at TodaysPhoto.org:
http://www.todaysphoto.org/picture-of-the-day/coral-pink-sand-dunes-s-p/

The Birth of Logo

I always want a good-looking logo for my website (or my brand), but I am not the one who can do this job properly:P My sister, a talented graphic designer, did a great job in designing a logo. Just wanted to reveal her design - from the beginning stage to the final product. This is the initial design. I told her I want something simple, with my name and a graphic that can represent nature or landscape - tree, mountain or anything you can imagine.

I like the first one, but I want the "Kah-Wai Lin Photography" to be the same size as my logo, just like the second one. Perhaps a base for the tree too... And, two version - color and black & white. So, here is the revised version, plus some more designs.

Ok, when I saw the new design, I changed my mind. The third row seem to be my cup of tea. That's what I want! Perhaps a more simplified version? I removed the frame. This is the final design, and this is my brand!

What do you think? I would love to hear from you!

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park - often overlooked by photographers on their way to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Park, is nonetheless a must see destination. It is as stunning as many national parks in US. The ever-changing landscape and light on sand dunes are one of the most beautiful, dynamic, and inspirational place on earth.

There are many good reasons to visit Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It's located between Mount Carmel Junction and Kanab, south and west of US-89 in southwestern Utah. It is just 33 miles from Zion National Park, 75 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park and 88 miles from Grand Canyon National Park. Plus, there are plenty of photography opportunities at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park - the light is fantastic at dawn and dusk, while the mid-day is great for capturing small detail and abstract. You can even join one of the ATV tour!

There is a good tips on photographing sand dune, which I recommended to whom interested to visit and photographing sand dunes: http://www.shutterbug.com/content/locations-sand-dune-parks-tips-shifting-sands.

I learnt two things from this trip. First, never change lens in the middle of sand dunes. Second, for grand landscape - wait for the good light; otherwise, keep your eye sharp and look for small detail for abstract shot - there are plenty of great subject out there!

Exploring Upper Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon is possible of the most famous, most visited and most photographed slot canyon in the world. Of course, with plenty of good reasons. It is located in the Navajo Nation near Page, Arizona. It's fantastic formation is caused by thousands years of sandstone erosion, primarily due to flash flooding and secondarily due to other processes, such as rainfalls. The light ray lit up the canyon through the narrow slots makes it one the most spectacular place on earth.

We visited to the Upper Antelope Canyon at the end of September. In order to visit the Antelope Canyon, you have to join the guided tour lead by the park office or one of the authorized guided tour company. We joined the 2.5 hours photographic tour lead by the Overland Canyon Tours. The extended tour allowed you to have more time to take photo inside the canyon, with the use of tripod allowed. If you want to photographed the Antelope Canyon, I strongly recommend you to join the photographic tour instead of the sightseeing tour. The canyon is always filled up by visitors (yes, I really mean filled up!) and you need more times to take good picture.

Not surprisingly, there are plenty of good photography tips online. To list a few here:

Digital Photography School: 10 Quick tips for Photographing Antelope Canyons

Fototripper: Antelope Canyon Photo Tips – Part 1 Scenics

Fototripper: Antelope Canyon Photo Tips – Part 2 Abstracts

Of course, I have a few handy tips as well:)

First, if you have two cameras - great! One with wide angle lens and one with telephoto lens. If not, use the widest angle lens you owned and never ever change the lens inside the canyon, you don't want the sand get inside the sensor. When we came out of the canyon, my clothes, bag, cameras are all cover with sand, and my gray hiking shoes turn into red!

Second, bracket all your shots! The high contrast inside the canyon might give you a really tough time during post-processing. I use manual blending to post-process almost all my pictures (I will talk about this in the future post). However, I don't recommend HDR, which give weird color to the resulting picture.

Third, take your time to explore the canyon. Someone might told you that everyone can take the best shot inside the canyon, without even looking at the viewfinder. I agree that the canyon is spectacular in all sense, but to create a good (or great) shot, you have to take time to search for nice composition - light, shape and pattern. And how to fit these elements in your frame is essential. So, take your time, you might find something interesting and unique!

I love Upper Antelope Canyon! This is a fantastic place and definitely one of the most beautiful place I have ever visited on earth. I will talk more about the trip in the upcoming post:) Stay tuned!

Hello World!

Dusk at Yavapai Point, Grand Canyon National Park

Hello World! My blog is finally up! I wanted to do this for some times but.... busy, no time... too many excuse! 

Perhaps a few sentences about myself - for the first post:) I am Kah-Wai Lin. I am from Malaysia and I live in Ukraine and Sweden for the past 10+ years (and a few more other countries for shorter term). In May 2012, I moved to US for a new job. I am currently a research scientist at Princeton University (yes, I have M.D. and Ph.D. degrees - not in photography). I shot since I was in high school, with a fully manual film SLR, and the hobby comes and goes when I was in medical school. When I was in Sweden, I worked as a part-time photographer in virtual reality tour and architectural interior. Now I am just a serious amateur photographer, a.k.a. cameraman:) 

My subjects of interest are very diverse - architectural interior, panorama, bird, nature, landscape and travel photography. Despite my broad interest, the two subjects that make me obsess for many years are church interior and nature. In the past few years, I have been photographing over 50 churches around the world, and the project continues. The beauty of church which is the mirror of human history and culture, have always amazed me, and motivate me to keep exploring the beauty of heavenly creation. Nature - one of the most beautiful thing created by God, has constantly amaze me and my mission as a photographer is to “capture” them and share it to the world. After visit to the National Park, my heart was immediately get captured. I want to visit them all!

I used to share my photos on Facebook, Flickr and photography forum. I always want a professional look website and I have been working on it for some times. Until recently, I switched to Smugmug and I love it! I guess I will keep it for a while until something better pop up:) For the blog, I would like to share my journey in photography and the wonderful experience of exploring our world.

I'd like to hear what you think about my website and blog - anything you like and dislike - design, content, photos, etc. Feel free to comment or email me at linkahwai@hotmail.com. I hope everyone enjoy my websites and photos! Thank you!