Photography Archives

A Siem Reap Weekend Trip And Photography Tour

Matt — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 13:42:34 +0000

THIS POST WAS CREATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITHYOUR HOLIDAY EXPERTS FOR UNIQUE TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
kkday.com

My girlfriend and I were looking for a place to visit on a long weekend in early December. Being in Bangkok, we had lots of cool nearby options. When she told me she hadn’t been to Angkor Wat, I was like, “In that case, we definitely have to have to go.”

I’d been there once before (you can read about that trip here) and had been blown away.

Note: I’m in some places (like the title) I refer Angkor Wat for convenience because that’s what most people know it as, even though Angkor Wat is actually only one temple in the much larger city, which is called Angkor Thom (the great city).

Angkor Thom is one most impressive historical sites in the world. In its heyday (around the 9th to 15th century AD) to say it was the largest civilization in the world is an understatement. The city covered 1000 square kilometers making it bigger than modern-day Paris and several times larger than the next biggest city of the time (Tikal, Guatemala) and its temples and buildings used more stones than all the pyramids in Egypt.

December is also a pretty ideal time to visit because it’s both one of the driest and coolest months.

We were looking for a relaxing getaway, so we didn’t want to overbook ourselves with activities. So, we arranged this itinerary:

Day 1: Arrive in the afternoon, check in to the hotel, and relax.
Day 2: Full-day Angkor Wat photography tour from 5am to 6pm.
Day 3: Sunset cruise on Tonle Sap Lake from 4pm – 8pm

So, the first thing we did when arrived was check in to our hotel for some R&R.

Chilling Out At Tresor D’Angkor

I was very happy when we arrived at our hotel, the Tresor D’Angkor. It’s only 10 minutes from downtown Siem Reap, but the location is perfectly isolated from the busy city, quiet, and tranquil.

I’m not a hotel guy. To me, a room is a room, but the design of this resort really struck me. It reminded me of the Jetwing Hotels in Sri Lanka designed by Geoffrey Bawa, which are probably the most striking buildings I’ve ever seen. The Tresor D’Angkor was so similar in style and atmosphere to Bawa hotels that I asked several people whether or not it was intentional. Nobody on staff knew.

After a chill afternoon at the resort, we turned in early to get ready for our 5 am photography tour pickup.

Tresor D’Angkor Info

Address: ICF Rd, Phum Krous, Sangkat Svay Dangkum Siem Reap, Cambodia
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/NKhebUTpNDL2
Phone: +855 63-900-168
Email: assistant@tresordangkorsuite.com
Website: www.tresordangkorsuite.com

The Photography Tour: A Different Look At Angkor Wat

I was a bit concerned about this tour. We were committing to more than 12 hours with a tour guide who we hadn’t spoken to in advance. I really didn’t want to go and visit the usual photo spots — especially Angkor Wat at sunrise, which is usually a swarmed with a mob of tourists all jockeying for position to get the same iconic shot.

I wanted to explore lesser-known parts of the complex.

I was in luck. Our guide turned out to be awesome. His name was Kimleng Sang. He’s not only a great photographer who knows the area intimately, but he’s also a passionate photographer endlessly interested in finding new places to shoot and new ways to look at familiar ones.

The day was an excellent mix of off-the-path spots and must-see temples and buildings. Whether it was because of the places he took us, or angles and framings he pointed out, I owe most of my best photos to Kimleng’s help.

Here are few I couldn’t have gotten without him.

This one I definitely owe to Kimleng, because he took it for us.

This is a totally random spot not far from one of the main temples, that had no path to it and you’d never think to check out. Kimleng, however, insisted we visit it and told us we wouldn’t regret it. We didn’t.

Even after three trips to the famous Bayon Temple, I was never satisfied with my photos of it. Even standing right in front of this shot, Kimleng had to point it out and guide me to find the proper framing. I learned a lot from that guy.

Here are a few more of the photos I took that day.

Big thanks to our guide, Kimleng, who really made the day!

Want to try this tour?

You can book it on KKDay here. But, they have more than one photography tour guide. If you want the same guide who helped me get these shots make sure that you request Kimleng Sang. Tell them that Xpat Matt sent you!

VIEW THIS TOUR NOW

A Sunset Cruise On Tonle Sap Lake

We knew this was going to be a bit of a touristy activity, but after our long day exploring Angor Thom we wanted something relaxing. A 4-hour cruise and few beers sounded just right. We also booked this trip through KKDay.

We showed up at the pier to crowds of tourists piling onto big boats. We were super lucky, though, that our tour was on a small boat with only about 8 seats, and we were the only two passengers. I opened a beer, took out my camera, and snapped some photos as we cruised down the river.

At the end, we stopped at a floating restaurant where enterprising young kids who live on the lake would paddle over in makeshift boats (see the girl in the pail below) and charge tourists for photos with them or — on some occasions — with them and their pet snake.

The restaurant was, of course, a tourist trap with lots of knick-knacks on sale, and you could try exotic foods like snake and crocodile. I gave the crocodile a taste. It was pretty good; tender like chicken with a slightly fishy flavor.

One Other Thing

No trip to Siem Reap is complete without a stroll through pub street, which is a super touristy area with tons of restaurants, bars, and shops.

Fish foot massages are pretty common in Taiwan and I tried them many times. Noey had never tried one, so after dinner one night I took her to try.

I don’t take the best care of my feet. I run a lot — often barefoot on the beach. This makes them very dry and calloused. Turns out that’s something that the fish love because they swarmed my feet like crazy! I’d never seen anything like it. Check it out.

Have you been to Siem Reap? What would you recommend if you were only there for a few days?

The post A Siem Reap Weekend Trip And Photography Tour appeared first on XpatMatt.

Are Calgary and Kananaskis about to become a river surfing mecca?

Matt — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:48:40 +0000

“Your wetsuit has some holes in it.” Jacob Kelly told me. “So it’s going to be a little colder for you.”

It was May and we were standing on the banks of the Kananaskis River in the mountains between Calgary and Banff, Canada. The day before it had been snowing. I had finished photographing the surfers for Tourism Calgary and was about to try river surfing in the barely-above-freezing water.

That was not what I wanted to hear.

By the end of my hour-long surf session on the river wave the call The Mountain I was so fatigued that after falling and being swept downstream yet again I didn’t even bother to try and paddle upstream. I just got out of the river and started wobbily walking up the river bank.

I was completely spent, not from exertion, but from the frigid water.

I had new respect for Calgary’s river surfers. Not because of the ease with which they caught and slashed back and forth across the touchy wave on their ultra-short surfboards, but because they would spend whole days in the depths of the Canadian winter in the river, which is fed by glaciers.

Jacob Kelly showboating on the wave that I could barely stand up on.

Calgary, just an hour’s drive East of the Canadian Rockies, is an unlikely home to a passionate and growing tribe of river surfers. Among the most prominent are Neil Egsgard and Jacob Kelly of Surf Anywhere, a company that builds river surfing waves whose goal is to make Calgary the Mecca of river surfing.

As of now, there are two popular waves in the area: The Mountain in Kananaskis (about an hour’s drive from the city) and the 10th Street wave right beside the downtown core.

Surf Anywhere is the only company in the world that specializes in building river surfing waves (they’ve been doing it since 2008) and in the Calgary area they have a two unique opportunities.

First, the government is planning to rebuild a kayaking course that’s also on the Bow River in the city. If Surf Anywhere gets their way, they will be building even more waves within the city limits during the reconstruction.

The second opportunity is in Kananaskis. The Kananaskis River is controlled by a dam. This means two things. The flow is always consistent, which means consistent surfing. It also means that the river can be turned off like a faucet, and heavy machinery can be brought in to build waves, making it easier and cheaper to build waves than in a normal river.

Surf Anywhere wants to take advantage of this and plans to have 2 – 3 new waves of varying difficulty and size built by the end of this summer.

I couldn’t wait until then to visit so, although I plan to return, here’s what it was like during my 5-day visit in May.

Neil Egsgard working on river flow models for the new Kananaskis waves.

River Surfing in Kananaskis Country

If you want to go surfing in the Calgary area — unless you’re friends with one of the locals who know where to find the rest of the half-dozen waves in the area that are more-or-less secret spots — you’ll probably have to choose between The Mountain and the 10th Street wave.

The Mountain in Kananaskis is about a one-hour drive out of the city, but it is a markedly better wave than the 10th Street wave. It’s bigger and wider, which makes it both easier for a beginner to stand up on and more fun for an experienced surfer to play on.

Also — if Neil and Jacob at Surf Anywhere have their way — Kananaskis will have multiple features for all skill levels very soon, making it an even more accommodating spot to surf.

Neil thrashing The Mountain.

Neil again, looking kind of like a surfing Spiderman.

The Kananaskis River is also popular for canoeing and kayaking. Here are two canoers bombing over The Mountain.

Jacob doing his signature move, where he falls back in the wave and then suddenly jumps forward with an ollie-like pop.

Surfing in Downtown Calgary on the Bow River

Calgary’s 10th Street Wave is located right below the 10th Street Bridge on the downtown side of the river, which is walking distance from the city center. This is where most Calgarians first discover river surfing and learn to surf.

The wave can be seen from a popular walking and biking path, the CTrain, and the 10th Street Bridge. I’ve only been there a few times, but each time about half-a-dozen people have stopped to ask about the wave and how to get started. (Pro Tip: Stop by on wave Wednesdays when Jacob brings extra gear for people to try.)

The wave’s high visibility is probably responsible for the growth of Calgary’s river-surfing community, which has expanded rapidly in recent years.

Although the 10th Street Wave isn’t the biggest or best, it’s convenient, which makes it the busiest wave around. If you are able to visit during working hours, you’ll usually find the wave empty and will have it all to yourself. It usually starts to get busy around 6pm after most people have finished work.

How awesome would it be to get to go surfing everyday after work?

I’m jealous Calgary. Very jealous.

The 10th Street Wave lineup on a normal evening.

Jason McQuade

Chillin at the 10th Street Wave.

Jacob Kelly

Local surfboard shaper Jason McQuade working on a new ride.

Check out the full gallery of river surfing photos here

Calgary Surf Culture

Surfing is a notoriously territorial sport. Personally, I prefer to avoid popular breaks frequented by both visitors and locals because the friction between them dampens the experience for me.

The vibe in Calgary is not like that at all. Yes, there is a bit of territorialism, but it only manifests itself in the few ‘secret’ waves around Calgary known only to the most dedicated river surfers (who spent their time scouring the local rivers to find them). Even then, some locations are kept secret partly for safety (either they’re too advanced or the inevitable ride downstream after falling is too dangerous for most surfers) or because they’re only accessible via privately-owned land.

But that’s where any territorialism ends.

The Calgary surf community is overwhelmingly friendly and supportive. This is Canada, after all.

The lineup is full of friendly banter, and you don’t need to be an amazing surfer to elicit cheers from the crowd. Every time a surfer shows a bit of progression — stands up for the first time or learns a new skill — clappings and ‘whoo-hooos’ erupt from the banks.

I was told by Jacob that this would happen. It happened to me twice during my trip: my first time standing up on The Mountain and my first time standing on the 10th Street Wave.

That’s how surfing is supposed to be.

The lineup at the 10th Street Wave.

Sunset at the 10th Street Wave

The one maneuver that can only be done on a river wave: an acid drop (throwing your board onto the wave and jumping on to it).

Calgary River Surfing Resources

Riversurfing.ca – The original river surfing online community, founded in Calgary .

Waveslayar Surfboards – Custom-shaped boards for river surfers made locally in Calgary by New Zealand transplant Jason McQuade.

Undercurrents – The only shop I could find offering river surfing rentals, but I haven’t tried them so I can’t speak to the quality or service.

Riverbreak – The international river surfing magazine, including a map of river waves around the world.

Surf Anywhere – For more information on the wave builders themselves.

Jacob on the 10th Street Wave at dusk.

Have you ever tried river surfing? How was it?

If you haven’t, would you?

Let me know in the comments!

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My Favorite Skiing and Snowboarding Photos

Matt — Mon, 12 May 2014 15:00:21 +0000

If you’ve followed my blog for any amount of time you know that I’m a passionate snowboarder. Each year I visit numerous resorts (one of the perks of writing the About.com Snowboarding Guide) and do a lot of skiing and snowboarding photography. Here are some of my favorite photos from the past few year in more-or-less chronological order.

This is my brother Ben. We grew up snowboarding together and now he teaches it for a living. He’s way better than I am.

These photos are from 2012 when we hiked our hometown ski hill in March. It was closed. It was the first time we rode together in more than a decade.

We built a jump and he did a backflip, which made me feel like I suck. Compared to most people I don’t. But compared to him, I do.

So I answered with a mute stiffy while simultaneously reinventing snowboarding fashion. How do you like that beige fleece vest?

He is so natural and graceful when he rides. It make me jealous — and pushes me to improve my riding.

This was taken the following year at Sierra at Tahoe during a snowboard tour. The hill has a serious park and some very ambitious local pros. I was humbled.

Sierra at Tahoe isn’t known for its terrain parks, but it also has some wicked sidecountry.

On that same trip we also got to visit Heavenly, famous for its views of Lake Tahoe.

There wasn’t much natural snow at the time, but there was a lot of man-made snow, which created some unique shots.

Heavenly is a good hill, but the view is the reason most people visit.

Sierra at Tahoe also has a pretty decent view of the lake.

When I visited Crested Butte I discovered possibly the most extreme ski area I’ve visited. The locals were awesome too.

Telluride, however, is another story.

Telluride is the place ski fantasies come from. It’s beautiful, historic, and the locals are some of the most passionate snow riders I’ve ever met.

Hiking the sidecountry is standard there.

The reason why is obvious.

Jackson Hole is another out-of-the-way place that attracts snow maniacs.

Wolf Creek Colorado is lesser-known area, but gets the most snow in Colorado.

When we visited 50 inches (or some ridiculous amount) of snow fell in a matter of a couple of days.

It was glorious.

Insane actually.

I can’t recall a time I’d ever seen that much fresh snow.

My guide, Steve, like all of the locals, was incredibly friendly and had moved there for his one love: powder.

It’s not hard to understand why he chose Wolf Creek.

Snowbird, the resort I visit the most in Utah, is often ranked among the best in the world.

Coming from Canada, I didn’t think that ski hills so far south could get more snow than ours. I was wrong.

Snowbird, statistically, is among the snowiest resorts in the world.

A rare capture of the seldom performed beer-slide on a spring day.

But really, Snowbird has big mountain terrain unlike any I’ve ever seen.

It’s epic.

A glorious playground.

Then I discovered Canyons. With 12 amazing hills within a 1-hour drive, it’s hard to get to all the hills near Salt Lake Ciity.

Canyons is enormous, but lesser-known, which means the trees are excellent for poaching.

It’s wonderful for families.

The longer I ride the more I realize that the turns you earn are the best ones.

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How to Edit Photos For Your Blog at Light Speed

Matt — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 21:04:05 +0000

Photo editing can be time consuming and onerous — especially when you’re in a rush to produce a large amount of content. But, there are some tricks you can use to automate most of the process.

I had a friend in Taiwan who was a club photographer. He’d have to shoot until 3 or 4am and then go home and edit 50 photos and send them to the client before morning, so he had to create an extremely efficient workflow. In this tutorial I will show you how he did it, and how I edit photos when I’m in a rush.

This process uses the Photoshop ‘batch’ and ‘action’ automation tools, as well as several automatic image correction tools. It isn’t perfect. It works better for some photos than for others, but it will improve the vast majority of photos extremely quickly and will also resize the photos to fit your blog perfectly.

If you don’t have Photoshop and can’t afford to sign up for the current version, you can download a free old version that Photoshop released with serial numbers last year.

**The install for Mac is actually for Power PC devices, so you’ll need Mac OS X v.10.2.8–v.10.3.8 or Rosetta to get it working.

Last, there is one caveat to the tutorial below: you must straighten and crop all photos before following the steps below for best results.

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My Favorite Travel Gear from this Summer

Matt — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 11:00:33 +0000

Sunrise at the Outdoor Retailer Open Air Demo

My Favorite Clothes of the Summer

While at the Winter Outdoor Retailer retailer conference I stumbled across a brand that I’d dreamt of for a long time — a brand that is socially conscious and makes outdoors clothes that are functional and packable, but that also look stylish when you’re out on the town. That brand is called Nau.

Shirt

In this photo, only my t-shirt is by Nau, but you can expect to see more from them on my gear updates in the future. This Nau Ayre t-shirt is a blend of organic cotton and Tencel, a quick-drying fibre. It’s lightweight, breathable, packable, and looks awesome.

Shorts

The shorts are the USA-made Osmium Point Six Pant.

My Outdoor Photography Gear

Hiking the hills above Salt Lake City. Photo by Emilie Warden

If you’ve been following my blog for any period of time, you know that I spend a lot of time outdoors taking photographs and compiling photoessays. I’m constantly on the lookout for new gear to help keep my cameras safe and creating the best images in a wide variety of environments.

Favorite Camera Bag

I’ve gone through a lot of camera bags in search of the ultimate outdoors bag for my gear. his year I’ve been using a 15L LowePro Flipside Sport, which is made specifically for outdoors photography. It carries a ton of gear, has a pocket specifically for a hydration system, comes with a rain cover, and, my favourite part, it rotates from your back to front on a waistband and then drops down and opens from the rear, effectively creating a table on which you can change cameras and lenses rather than putting your gear down in the dirt, mud, snow, or whatever other nastiness may be on the ground.

Hiking Shoes

I love shopping online for cheap outdoors gear. I picked up a sweet pair of Patagonia hiking shoes that I wear for all be the must extreme hikes (the were prefect for climbing to Angel’s Landing). I was fortunate enough to run into the folks from Boa closure systems, who added their patented closure system to the shoes, which actually makes the shoes lighter (when wet) and fit better. Now I’m loathing the day that I’ll have to replace them.

Main Camera Body

Nikon D90: I love this camera, but I’m hoping to upgrade to the D600 soon and relegate this one to backup body.

Second Camera Body

Nikon D80: Which I will hopefully soon retire to the position of backup-backup camera. Interested in this camera? Make me an offer!

Lenses

I shoot with all Nikkor lenses. I usually carry a 20mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.8, 18-105mm f/3.5 – 5.6, and 100 – 300mm f/4.5 – 5.6.

Video and Underwater

I recently upgraded to a GoPro Hero 3 silver edition. It’s fantastic. The images are beautiful and the underwater capabilities are much better than the previous models.

My Mobile Office

Working hard on Oahu, Hawaii. Photo by Emilie Warden

Both of my jobs are remote, so I frequently work on the road. My mobile office is pretty much just a 13″ Macbook Pro (though I’m planning to upgrade soon).

Last year I also picked up an Eagle’s Nest Outfitters Reactor hammock. It packs small and light, and can be put up in about ten seconds using the company’s Slap Strap.

What’s your favorite gear for travel and work? Have any suggestions for how I can improve my collection?

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I Need a Backup Camera. Should I Buy a Canon Powershot G12 or a Panasonic Lumix LX5?

Matt — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:26:34 +0000

I don’t take pictures often enough. The problem, I have realized, is that whenever I do I have to take my big clunky DSLR, and camera bag with lenses and such, and make a big ordeal out of it. I need a good quality point-and-shoot that I can carry around on a daily basis.

The Canon Powershot has a reputation for being the point-and-shoot for professionals.

However, during my research, I learned that it has a new competitor: the Panasonic Lumix LX5 . With a lens manufactured by Lica, this camera is hard to ignore.

The main differences that I can see are these:

The LX5 has a 24 – 90mm vs. the 28 – 120 on the G12.

The LX5 has a maximum aperture of 2.0 – 3.3 vs. 2.8 – 4.5 of the G12.

The LX5 shoots 2.5 frames per second vs. the 1.5 fps on the G12.

The LX5 costs around $420 vs. the G12 at $480.

A full side-by-side technical comparison can be found here.

Help me out here. What do you think I should buy? Please let me know in this poll, or in the comments section.

Thanks for your help!

~Matt

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Photo: 360 Degree Panorama of Kootenay Lake

Matt — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:39:47 +0000

The other day I paddled a kayak out into the middle of Kootenay Lake to shoot this 360 degree panorama.

[nggallery id=45]

<=== Click the thumbnail to see the full-size photo!

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16 Photos of the Vancouver Canucks Riots

Matt — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:01:51 +0000

When Vancouver lost the Stanley Cup playoffs fans took to the streets and started flipping and burning cars and looting department stores. If you need photos, a story, or an interview about the riots contact me via email, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

You may also want to:

See more pictures in my Flickr photostream.

Read my first-hand account of the riot on the Huffington Post.

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Update!

See the girl in orange smash a cop car with a piece of wood and then light it on fire in this video. That starts at 6:57. She has already been identified numerous times in the comments on the video (and the title of it).

I’m also in the video a few time around 4:48, 6:03, 6:15, and 6:32, but just for a few seconds each time.

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Red Bull Illume 2010 Exhibition Headed to Denver, Colorado

Matt — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:56:34 +0000

Every year Red Bull holds a contest called the Red Bull Illume Image Quest seeking the best action and adventure sports photographs in the world in ten categories. This years winners can be viewed on the NatGeo website here.

An exhibition of this year’s top fifty photos has been making its way around the world in the past months, and has visited many major cities, but none so fitting perhaps as what is arguably America’s most famous outdoors adventure city, Denver, Colorado. The exhibition will show every night from 8:30pm – 11pm at the Denver Performing Arts Complex in Denver, Colorado from June 3-12.

The price is right: free. You can bet that it will be packed. Below are a few of my favorite photos that didn’t make it into the top ten.

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The Best of My Borneo Wildlife Photography: Pygmy Elephants, Orangutans, and Proboscis Monkeys

Matt — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:24:18 +0000

Last month I went to Borneo to photograph the island’s most exotic endangered species: pygmy elephants, orangutans, and proboscis monkeys. All are found only on the island of Borneo (except the orangoutang, which is also found on the island of Sumatra) and all are classified as endangered. Heavy rain prevented me from shooting on all but three days of my trip, but I made the most of the time that I had. Here some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Please allow this page some time to load, as there are a lot of high-quality images on it.

These photographs (and many more not published here) are for sale. The photos on this page are all royalty free. I also have more images that my be purchased exclusively. For prices or a catalog of samples contact me.

Pygmy Elephants
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Proboscis Monkeys
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Orangutans
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