Manila: Day One of the Scouting Trip

Red Santos met me at my hotel, the Grand Prix (see photo below) at around noon and we set out for Obando, a suburb about one and a half hours away from here to see and photograph Obando's famous Fertility Festival. (please note: if you're coming on the photo tour, don't worry, we'll be staying at the Hyatt down the street rather than the Grand Prix!).

Manila's traffic is legendary, so Red and I used a combination of cabs, taxis, moto-cabs and Jeepnies in an attempt to get to Obando as quicky as possible.

Red knows his way around town, and with his expert guidance, in no time, we were standing on the platform of Manila's intercity rail system. The ultra modern, comfortable, air conditioned cars are clean, economical and efficient.

photo by Red Santos

We took the rail system as far as we could and then caught a local Jeepnie for the last leg of our journey to Obando.

On the ride there, Red spoke to the locals, asking some specifics about the location and activities surrounding the Fertility Festival. One man in the Jeepnie was a wealth of information!

After about an hour and a half we arrived in Obando, and headed to the large church where the parade and mass takes place. Locals told us that there was a mass at 5:00 followed by a procession at 6:00. With time to kill Red and I wandered around making pictures in the area. We decided not to wait around until the procession, choosing rather, to visit one of Manila's largest flower markets.

With amazing color and a mix of fragrances, the flower market was fantastic! If we end up doing a photo tour in the Philippines, this will be on our list of shoots.

As the afternoon went on, my jetlag started kicking in, so Red grabbed a Jeepnie back home, and I, took a cab back to my hotel.

Quite an amazing first day here in Manila. This Philippines photo tour is looking like a good idea!

Stay tuned,

Karl

The Philippines, a new photo tour destination?

After 17 long hours I arrived in Manila, to a spectacular sunrise. The flight seemed long, especially with a refueling stop in Guam, but I had time to read parts of the Nikon D3s manual, which by the way, is like slogging through Tolstoy's War and Peace.

I'm here in the Philippines to evaluate the potential of offering a photo tour here. I've worked in the Philippines extensively for my NGO clients, and throughout my travels I have discovered that it's a place full of friendly people, great food, beautiful scenery and some very unexpected photo opportunities. Jim and I have been looking to expand our photo tour offerings into some of the less visited areas of the world and the Philippines seems like the perfect spot.

During the long flight here, I gathered some great information and recommendations about traveling in the Philippines from my seatmate Jay, and his friend Andre. Jay and Andre are Filipino businessmen, they were returning from a motorcycle tour through Chile and Peru. Both were a great source of information about overland travel in the Philippines due to the fact that being part of a Manila based motorcycle club, they have traversed much of the Philippine road network, including both paved and dirt roads.  We poured over maps and books and Andre and Jay filled me in on road conditions, travel distances and travel times.

I'm now sitting in my hotel lobby, unable to check in because it's only 8:00 am. I should try to get some sleep, but I'm to pumped up about getting out there to shoot some images. At noon, there's a Fertility Festival in Obando calling my new Nikons.

Take care, and stay with me...I'll try and provide a bit of info on my travels, along with a photo or two everyfew days.

Cheers,

Karl

RTFM

I'm not looking forward to tonight's long flight from LA to Manila. A coach seat isn't exactly what you'd call comfortable, especially with an expected fly-time of about 17 hours. But that doesn't have to be time wasted..not when I have a new "novel" to read!

With the arrival of the new Nikon D3s's, it's time for me to really familiarize myself with these new tools. Having shot Canon for the past 6 years, I'm actually looking forward to learning something new, and getting my hands back on some Nikons. If there's one thing Nikon excels at, it's ergonomics. Nothing feels quite as good in your hand as that sculpted Nikon grip and the way the shutter release button is canted at just the right angle to meet your finger. Ahhhhh!

Time to RTFM (read the * manual)....my gosh, it's three quarters of an inch thick and contains over 430 pages! Today's camera manuals are a whole different story from what we were used to seeing back in the film days.

Upon arrival in Manila, I'm meeting freelance Filipino journalist, Red Santos. We're heading  north of town to shoot the Obando Fertility Festival, so tonight will be my last chance to have an in-depth look and the D3s manual and make any last minor tweaks.

On Friday, I shot the D3s's in Los Angeles during an assignment for an old friend, Dan Tobin. Dan previously headed up the communications department at Education Development Center, an NGO with prorams world wide. Dan now runs Stenhouse Publishers and he needed photos of high school students reading, learning and interacting with teachers. One of the classrooms I was photographing in, lacked a window, so I shot most of it at ISOs over and above what I could have, with my 6 year old Canon Mark II's. Everything with the D3s's was great, except that I felt like the focus was a bit slow. I think I'm going to have a look at reducing the number of available focus points, and see if that speeds things up.

So, on the plane tonight, it looks like I'm going to get a chance to test the effectiveness of the D3s owners manual. Let's see if it is as potent as an Ambien and a Bud Light.

Sweet dreams all.

Ciao.

Karl

Reach Global

Today I would like to highlight one of my clients: Reach Global. I shot for Reach in India, documenting their activities and programs. Click here to visit their website

Reach designs life changing education on health, livelihoods and family finance and replicates its delivery in the world's poorest communities. They are an amazing group of dedicated individuals, out there making a difference. They are the quiet heroes that you probably have never heard of, so I'm introducing them to you. Have a look, I think you'll be quite impressed with the work that they are doing. Cheers, Karl

10 Questions

Heber Vega is a humanitarian worker and photographer. He's originally from Chile but now based in northern Iraq doing humanitarian work. Heber has a very informative blog and website. Currently, he's doing a series of interviews called "10 Questions", it's about photographers who shoot for NGOs (non-government humanitarian organizations).

He has interviewed several different photographers, and  last week interviewed me. He just posted the text and pictures on-line, this morning. If you would like to see the interviews and learn more about photographers who shoot for NGOs click here.

Have a great weekend.

Karl

The Nikons arrived, my Canons are for Sale

Well, as much as I hate to do it, I'm selling my Canons. It's been 6 years that I've worked with them, but it's time to let 'em go. These two workhorses have done an admirable job for me and I have enjoyed making images all around the world with them, but the new Nikons were expensive, and it's time to recoup whatever is left of my original investment of $12,852 in May of 2004.

So, without further ado, here is the technical info and some images of my "legendary" Canons. If you, or anyone you know needs these, I'll be auctioning them off with a starting bid for the whole system of just $3500 USD (plus shipping). Please note that I will not be selling individual components of this system, it goes as a package deal. If you're interested just send me an email with your bid and when I get back from my assignment in Ecuador on May 8th, (if there are any bids) I'll contact the winner. My email is karl@karlgrobl.com

In the case of a tie, I'll go with the person who's email came first. Please don't call my house, as my wife knows nothing about these cameras. I'm really hoping that by offering them up to you guys, my friends first, that the cameras will go to a good home....if nothing happens here, then they go to an Ebay auction and will probably end up being purchased by a re-seller who will clean them up, split up the set and sell the pieces individually for more.

The complete system includes the following:

2 Canon EOS 1D Mark II bodies
1 Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS Lens (USM)
1 Canonm EF 16-35 f/2.8L Lens (USM)
1 Canon EF 2x Extender II (mint condition..never used)
1 Canon Speedlight 580EX Flash
4 batteries Canon NIMH Battery Pack f/EOS 1D (they hold about 40% of their original longevity after a full charge). In other words, when I start a day with a fully charged battery and shoot 300-400 frames per camera, they would burn through one battery each.
All original boxes, lens cases, cables, software disks,1 like-new charger and 1 "thrashed" but repaired charger.
No lens caps, no straps, no UV filters (UV filters were always protecting the lenses but now I'm transferring those filters to my Nikons).

 click on image to enlarge, then click again to see full size

As you can see by the pictures in this link, the bodies and lenses are pretty "rough" on the outside, but they are in excellent working order. The lenses have no scratches on the front or rear elements. My buddy Ken Rockwell tested and reviewed the 70-200 after I dropped it a few years ago, see that review here . Ken commented... "Not only does this dropped lens still work, it's one of the best lenses I've tested for real-world use".

I recently slipped and fell on wet pavement while working in Hanoi...the body with the 16-35 lens hit the ground, but it's still working just fine. That story here.

Both bodies have over 160,000 shutter releases. One had a defective shutter which Canon replaced free of charge after about 40,000 and it's now at 126,051, the other shutter is at 162,611. These shutters are rated for 200,000, but often work well beyond those predictions. So, even if the shutters die at 200,000 frames, you still have a combined total of over 70,000 shots left, or the equivalent of 1,944 - 36 exposure rolls of film before taking them in to Canon to have new shutters installed.

I have tried to answer any and all possible questions here but if you need to know something else about the cameras, please email me rather than leaving a comment on the blog, as I won't be looking at comments nearly as often as checking my karl@karlgrobl.com email. And, again, I'm going to be in Ecuador until the 8th, so emails won't necessarily be replied to quickly either. Sorry.

Again, please don't call the house, my wife has no info on the cameras.

Anyway, I would love to see these bodies continue to be used, they would be great tools for someone who's on a budget, and  needs or wants a professional system. I was making a living, selling the images that I was shooting with these cameras just last month, perhaps you can too.

If you are new to this blog and you would like to know a bit more about me, here's a link to a recent interview I did about my work as a humanitarian photographer.

Cheers,

Karl
karl@karlgrobl.com

see more photos below, click on each image to expand

It’s official, I’m announcing retirement:

The retirement of the two Canon Mark II bodies and the 16-35 and 70-200 lenses that have served me so well over the last 6 years. These two workhorses have been the tools which have helped me earn a living. They have been by my side through thick & thin, and then some. I’ve lived with them and enjoyed them as friends. I’ve slept with my head resting on them during train rides across India, I’ve protected them from would-be robbers in Haiti, and hid them under beds in Kabul, Cotabato and Cali. I've been tossed out of Cuba with them when I couldn't convince immigration officials that I was a vacationing tourist who just happened to have worn-looking professional cameras. My Canons have been locked up with my PackSafe in countless five-dollar-a-night hotels around the globe. I’ve shot them, unprotected, in heavy downpours in East Timor and in the dust storms of Southern Sudan. I’ve made images of Rajasthani rickshaw drivers and watched their eyes light up as I showed them their picture on the screen. I’ve handed them to novice monks in Burma and watched in delight as they discovered, wide-eyed, about the magic of digital photography.

Although I have mishandled them, including one incident when I dropped my 70-200 nine feet down, off of an elephant, (that story here) and Ken Rockwell's review of the amazingly undamaged lens here), only once did these Cameras ever let me down; that was in Sri Lanka, back in 2006 while shooting one-year anniversary of the Tsunami when a shutter broke (story here).  

But alas, technology marches forward in this new age of building faster, lighter, better, sharper cameras every 6months. In “digital camera years” these Mark II bodies are dinosaurs. In order to serve my clients well, and provide them with the best images I can deliver, it’s time to replace them with upgraded technology. So, a few days ago I pulled the trigger and ordered two Nikon D3s’s from Adorama…..Nikon you gasp…yep, that’s right, Nikon. After much thought and a thorough analysis of the costs, I have decided to switch back to Nikon. You may remember my story in 2004 when I was robbed of my two trusted D1X’s while in a really bad neighborhood in Lima Peru (story here).  

The debate that many photographers have over Nikon vs Canon, is something that has never really interested me, and I’ve always said that which camera you’re using doesn’t make a difference (see my quote in the last paragraph here.

My decision to “upgrade” is based on the improvement in picture quality at high ISO’s which I believe to be the most significant advancement in recent years, and my decision to switch from Canon to Nikon is based mostly on economic reasons....Let me explain: The way I see it, at this time, Nikon offers a full frame pro body with high ISO capability for $5000 while Canon’s full frame Mark IIIs is $6,115 and lacks high the newer, cleaner, high ISO settings. Since I have to buy two bodies, the math is simple. I can get 2 Nikon bodies, the 2 new lenses I need (the17-35 f2.8 and the new 70-200 f2.8), one extra battery and a flash (SB-400) for $14,609, while with Canon, it would cost me $12,229 for 2 full-frame 1Ds Mark III  bodies, (old technology with max 1600 ISO), plus another $2499 for the new improved 70-200 2.8, for a total of $14,729 . (Replacing the 16-35 2.8 would add another $1,520, but of course, I could just keep using my existing 16-35, 2.8).

Perhaps some would say, “but you can get the 5D Mark II for $2,500”…..I know, I know, but I need the toughness of professional bodies which can withstand the rigors and abuse that I will be subjecting them to, as well as ergonomics that don’t allow dials to be accidentally rotated when bumped (this is a problem I see with the command dial on the 5D Mark II). And then there was the option to get the new Canon Mark IV but I really wanted to get back to a full frame, for the little bit of extra wideness rather than stay with the 1.3 crop factor.

So; soon, I’ll be shooting Nikon again. Frankly, I’m looking forward to something new. Change is good, that’s one of the reasons I love my job so much…whether it’s traveling to a new country, covering a new story or in this case, getting new camera gear; change offers me an opportunity to learn something new.

Sure, I’ll have to get used to lenses that mount and zoom in the reverse direction, and yes, I’ll have to read an owner’s manual the size of an encyclopedia, but hell, why not, I need something to do on my next 16 hour trans-pacific flight.

As for the future of my 2 “gently” used, near “mint condition” Canons (ha ha), I’ll be selling those in order to help defer the cost of the new Nikons. So, if you know someone who might be interested in buying them, let me know, I’ll give them a great deal.

Cheers,

Karl

Model Release?

I get a ton of questions regarding model releases, and to tell you the truth, I rarely if ever get them because most of the images I create are for editorial use. That being said, there are occasions when I want or need to obtain a model release.

Woman, Wad Shamam,  Sudan (no, I did not get a model release)

It's always a pain digging through the camera bag (which is usually back at the hotel, or in the vehicle, too far away to get at) for a paper copy of a model release. So, when I learned from my friend Matt Brandon (The Digital Trekker) about Easy Release, available as an iPhone App, I went ahead and grabbed it for $9.99. It's an amazing tool which just eliminated another piece of paper that I had to worry about carrying around. Wow, every time I am away for a few months I come back and something newer, faster, easier has come along!

Easy Release works like this...you download it onto your iphone or ipod touch, fill in the "photographer details" and next time you need to get a release you follow the on-screen instructions, and have the subject of your photo sign right on the screen of your iPhone. When it's all done, you email yourself, and the model a copy (including a PDF with a photo if you like) and you're done!

Moro Islamic Liberation Front Fighters, Cotabato, Mindanao, The Philippines 2009

(no, I did not get a model release)

Be advised, it does take a bit of time to fill in all the information using the tiny screen on your iphone, as you stand there, in the field with the model, but in the long run, having a digital copy makes a lot of sense, and the time and effort is probably worth it.

Here's the link to the App Store page for Easy Release

Below please find and exerpt from the American Society of Media Photographers about model releases. (full tutorial here)

"A release is a written agreement between you and the person you are photographing, or the person who owns the property you are photographing. The purpose of the release is to protect you from any future lawsuits the person might file for claims such as defamation and invasion of privacy.

A model release says the person being photographed has given consent to be photographed and to the use of the images you capture. It doesn’t just apply to professional models or situations where people know they are posing for photos. You should seek to get a signed model release any time that your photos contain recognizable images of people, unless you are certain that you will never want to use them for anything other than editorial purposes.

A property release says that the owner of a certain property, such as a pet or a building, has given you consent to take and use images of the property. You don’t need one for public property, such as government buildings (although you may run into problems just from photographing them, for security reasons). But for images of private property — and particularly of objects that are closely identified with specific people — you are safer if you get a release.

The releases you obtain should be saved forever and should be linked in some way with the photographs to which they relate. You can expect to be asked to produce them whenever you license an image, and you will need them if you ever have to defend yourself in court."

Coke, Color and Cops

Coca-Cola, or "nectar of the gods" as I call it, is the one thing that you can usually find, no matter where you are in the world. Zambuanga, Mindanao, the Philippines was no exception. I liked the combination of texture, color and shape in this scene, which I noticed on the side of the shop were I had just purchased a cold Coke.

I'm always on the lookout for great color combinations, and this mixture of blue with a dash of red caught my eye. The image was shot from the back window of the vehicle I was traveling in while stopped at a stoplight in Koronadal, Mindanao, the Philippines. Waiting for the boy to notice me as he peered out of the garage, I squeezed off a frame at the very moment our eyes met.

Cops are usually the guys you want to be friendly with, especially in dicey areas. While in Cotabato, Mindanao, the Philippines, I got to know the policeman who was in charge of the checkpoint on a bridge on the outskirts of town. On the day that I left, I asked to make his photo, he happily complied.

Back in San Diego

I can't believe that it's been over three months since my early January departure for Sri Lanka to cover a story about post-war peacebuilding for the Asia Foundation . That assignment, followed by other NGO jobs, and my work leading 2 back-to-back photo tours in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia as well as a new photo tour to Vietnam, has kept me pretty busy.

I'll be home for a while, catching up on correspondence, re-supplying, recharging and enjoying the comforts and conveniences of San Diego.

It's always nice to come back and see some of the mail that has accumulated, including publications that have come in, from clients who have used some of the images that I shot for them.(below EductionDevelopmentCenter's use of an image I shot for them in East Timor)

It's also my opportunity to catch up on reading and get inspired...mostly by my magazine subscriptions including NPPA and National Geographic.

Once I dig out from under tons of correspondence and catch up on phone calls, I'll have a surprise announcement for you gear-heads, so please stay tuned, and as always, thanks for following the blog.

Cheers, Karl

Participant's Images

Now that the Vietnam Trip is finished, I would like to showcase some of the participant's images. Everyone captured some truly amazing photos. It's always exciting to see how each person "saw" a particular scene.

This outstanding image shot by Steve Chan was made during out boat trip on Halong Bay in the Gulf of Tonkin, north Vietnam

Vietnam Tour & Angkor Wat extension finished!

 Well folks, it was a great trip...our first, annual Vietnam photo tour! I know everyone who came along had a great time and I hope that all of you following the blog enjoyed all the updates and images. Now I would like to point you to a blog written by Anientra Hamper (daughter of Robbie Hamper, who's been on almost all of my tours, and a few of Jim's). Anietra was a first tim Jim Cline tour guest. She's a news anchor for 10 TV in Ohio. If you have a moment, have a look at what a real writer can do with a blog! I was blown away by her descriptions of the tour. Here's the link Enjoy!

Photo Tour Extension to Angkor Wat Cambodia:

We have arrived in Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat. It's been a non stop photo shoot!

No time to write anything, but I wanted to share a few images.

Cheers, Karl 

Apsara Dancer and Huge heads at Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom Above, 

Below: Tour guests Steve and John exploring Beng Mealea temple.

Kompong Kleang fishing village on the Tonle Sap Lake

Mother with children Kompong Kleang

Kids having fun playing with my cameras.

 Sunset Angkor Wat