If you ever, in the midst of this economic crisis, find yourself wondering:
1. what would look great on that blank wall or holiday greeting card?
2. how can I support poor broke solbeam?
You now have a few dozen options:
If anything is purchased, I’ll turn it around and invest in a proper account on imagekind.com that allows me to upload more than 20 photos. A vicious cycle! 
a lot of sky
I’m moving to a yurt for the weekend; where a lot of sky and silence will provide the slate for composition; where I’ll chose my colors from the crayon box of aspens; where I’ll study change underneath the mentorship of Fall. Wish my words luck, that they may fall on this page with an inch of that grace.
167 new photos freshly uploaded to the Dolpa (Upper & Lower), Nepal Album…
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*sol bows her “namaste” and gratitude to World Nomads Travel Insurance, ThinkHost and Merc for their ever-supporting roles in the realization of her dream.
It was an exhausting search, but for all those other seekers out there, it’s the KATHMANDU GUEST HOUSE (in Thamel) that has the best internet connection in town.
It still took me hours to upload, but at least we finally have something to show for it…
The *new* Nepal Photo Album is now open.
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*sol bows her “namaste” and gratitude to World Nomads Travel Insurance, ThinkHost and Merc for their ever-supporting roles in the realization of her dream.
While my bags are packed (flying to Nepal today) my thoughts are not. I’ve actually two flights, the final landing me in Lukla, where the biggest mountains in the world grow. I’ll be high in the clouds for the week, but back down with journaled reflections soon enough. Thanks for your patience. New photos are now in the Visions of India Album…
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*sol bows her “namaste” and gratitude to World Nomads Travel Insurance, ThinkHost and Merc for their ever-supporting roles in the realization of her dream.
I’m back from the Himalayas and scouting the nearest wireless internet cafe in Delhi from which I can upload my similarly towering piles of photos.
Putting my students on a plane and posting here are my most immediate tasks; stay tuned.
This is the doorstep to the house where I live.
The house used to be owned by the King of Nepal.
This is the stray dog, Muchachito, that guards my doorstep. He was named by Spanish speaking tourists that adopted him from the streets and took care of him as a puppy. I feed him cream crackers every evening. He salivates every time he sees me.
This is a cow strolling past my door. There is a constant stream of tourists, worshipers, stray dogs, motorcycles and cows that pass by my door. The worshipers leave flowers and candles and do pujas (prayers) in front of the gate. The tourists take pictures.
This is Lolark Kund, the sacred pool outside my house. Lolark Kund literally means the ‘tank of the trembling Sun,’ “denoting the wavering image of the Sun God, Surya, in the water of the tank.” Revelers ring bells in the temples to announce to the Gods their arrival. The bells ring from 4 in the morning till 12 at night. Often they chant mantras and beat drums as well.
This is an alley that I walk leading me to the ghats (stairs) that line the Ganga-ji.
This is Lord Ganesha taking his afternoon nap behind a locked door in the same alley. It’s 104 degrees in Varanasi today. The gods, along with the locals, take afternoon naps.
This is a Goat feasting on flower malas left over from puja ceremonies along the Ganga. The goats wear sweater vests in the winter and sleep on the stairs in the summer.
This is a God (that I don’t recognize) nestled in the trunk of a tree. Varanasi is claimed to be, “the oldest continually inhabitated city on Earth.”
These are the stairs I climb down (near Tulsi Ghat) to get to the Ganga-ji.
These are two goats that I watched spar on the ghats while chatting with a small boy selling sweets.
These are bathers paying respect via puja (prayer) in the Ganga-ji river.
This is Lord Shiva’s vehicle, the bull, looking toward the door of one of a thousand riverfront temples.
This is Agam-ji. I regularly stop in his shop, near Assi Ghat, to drink chai and hear stories while watching him work (in this case, on my new pendant). The pendant says, in Hindi script, “srijan” which means, “creativity” on one side, and “Kavita” which is my Indian name and means, “poem”, on the other.
This is a painted bicycle rickshaw. They are all painted.
And this is Papu in his barber stand along the river. He studies English in his breaks between customers.
It takes me 6 minutes to walk from my house to Papu’s barber shop.
Sorry friends for my absence; between my sicknesses (minor) and those of my students, I’ve hardly found a free moment. I did just upload some photos from a quick walk around town yesterday. Take a stroll with me. The words are right around the corner.
A friend recently told me over tea, “So I’d decided along with everyone else to stop researching cameras and computers and just buy whatever you do…”
Both off and online, I get a lot of questions on my camera kit (as it has evolved significantly over the last seven years, from a Sony digicam that used floppy disks for memory (!!!) to my current Cannon kit) and so here’s my update as of 2/1/08.
And I want to start off by noting that my latest investments in lenses actually necessitate that I take this passion professional (in order to afford the cost of my terrible addition to such an expensive hobby). I am afraid for the fact that I’m carrying my savings on my back and still searching online forums for help on affordable insurance for a meager stack of gear (compared to the REAL professionals), so if anyone has any advice, please post it below.
Back to the point: here’s my camera bag and the contents of it. I have linked all images and descriptions to B& H Video because it’s where I have consistently found the best prices, reviews and most professional service (as of 2/1/08):
(Please note that all the pictures I’ve taken in the last four months have been with the 70-200 f/4L and the lens that came with in the kit with the Rebel Xti body. The other two lenses were delivered to me by UPS two days ago and images will, of course, be posted soon.)
THE BAG (which I’ve used and is proved and TRUE):
Lowepro SlingShot 200 AW Camera Bag
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi (a.k.a. 400D) 10.1 Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera Body
THE LENSES:
Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Autofocus Lens
Canon Zoom Super Wide Angle EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR
Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens
THE STOCK HOSTING SITE & ALBUM
In a first attempt to accrue the funds necessary for me to pursue this costly passion, I’ve now also begun to upload photos to the PhotoShelter Collection:
My PhotoShelter Portfolio is small, but images have to be accepted and it’s, at the least, “a process.”
“The newly launched PhotoShelter Collection enables photographers of all levels to benefit from a worldwide image-selling marketplace that returns commercial and creative independence back into the hands of the artist. For commercial photo buyers, The PhotoShelter Collection aims to offer the freshest editorialized collection of imagery online.” - PhotoShelter.com
THE PHOTOGRAPHY COMMUNITY:
And finally, I’ve found the professional photography community at LightStalkers.org to be full of kind and patient mentors with heaps of tips and expertise to share.
RESOURCES & READS:
And if you want some clear leads on how to move forward with your own budding photo passion, I found Bryan Peterson’s books to be some of the best and especially helpful in clearing up my questions and helping me expand the boundaries my own creativity:
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Okay. I’m out of breath.
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*sol bows her “namaste” and gratitude to World Nomads Travel Insurance, ThinkHost and Merc for their ever-supporting roles in the realization of her dream.
