cdnvic

Lately I've been playing with aerial photography, this videos were shot using a GoPro HeroHD camera. I'm planning on upgrading to a Sony Nex 5N as soon as they come back in stock... well, I hope they are back in stock someday.
Let's see if I can embed Vimeo videos here...

Flying around Koh Phi Phi:



Koh Similan at sunset:

I'll be totally candid with you.  As a professional photographer working in Thailand for 10+ years I advise.. no I plead and beg.. my models to stay away from amatuer photographers.  If you somehow think you can pay a Thai girl of model quality baht 1000 to pose nude for an amatuer and to sign over their rights.. you're so far off base it's incredible and you really have no idea of the culture and how Thai's look at nude photography (specifically the model) or the stigma attached to farang photographers in general.   It takes years and years of a solid reputation before any model of merit will pose nude for you, or as much experience where you can convey to the woman in a short time the confidence to do so.

Do you know that once a model is known to have posed nude she will no longer be able to model for other jobs such as car shows, catalogs, malls, etc?  No reputable agency will knowingly touch her.   Thailand isn't the west, and even in the west once a model crosses that threshold it most often really affects their career.

The other poster was spot on with his question, "why not professional models?"  My guess is because professional models are expensive and their agencies are very strict with releases and what they allow you to do with the images.  You somehow think you can come here and pay a few santags to a local girl so you can sell them to a website or whatever your plans may be.  I do modeling workshops often, but they're strictly controlled and I refuse more clients than I accept.

Please look elsewhere.  Thailand doesn't need more "amatuer photographers" running around with their first entry level DSLR trying to pay a few baht to capture the local women nude like a monkey in the zoo..  If you want to build credibility as a glamour photographer that's something else altogether.. but that's not what you're asking.  And please don't get me wrong, I support amatuer photographers 100%, probably more than any other pro I know in Thailand.  I make things possible for them and show them things that only years of experience will allow.  But before I help them venture into an area that will possibly ruin a local girls life, or endanger their own, I make sure they understand the culture and have the right ethics so these things don't happen.  Two days in Thailand and every question you asked would have been more than apparent.

cdnvic, on 2012-05-26 11:13:15, said:

No discussing moderation issues please or I will have to report you and recommend a suspension.

Being an Aussie ...  

theblether, on 2012-05-26 04:34:17, said:

Does anyone have theblether's email address. I think naam's hacked his account.

A couple of off topic posts removed, for once a positive thread, lets keep it that way.

many of us have successful relationships with our thai partners, although mine isn't a woman 11years, 9 married, one child just turned 5, we have the same goals & the same dreams & he is the hardest working man I know, in terms of his work life & in caring for his son.

When I see friends husband drinking their money away down the pub several nights a week or spending most of their weekend free time playing footie or hanging out with their mates minus the family, it makes be appreciate how much the Mr enjoys being home with his family. Whenever I ask him if he wants to go spend time with a friends he say "for what, everything I want is here". Ok that also includes his guitars & computer but me & the boy are at the top of that list

For those of us happy in life....here is the thread to express it.

If you are content in life feel free to share.....thanks for all positive responses.

Must have commented to him how nicely his purse complimented his tatts and he misunderstood and took it the wrong way.

SantiSuk, on 2011-05-14 17:50:24, said:

In hindsight, it could have been:

Thai Nudist Group Enjoys Growing Members

cdnvic, on 2012-05-19 05:20:13, said:

I appreciate what you're trying to do here and that nitpicking might not be beneficial to the OP.  But the way some of this is worded could be misleading to others so please don't take offence that I'm expanding on your explanation a bit.  Depth of field really takes a lot of understanding, more than you can write in a post or a single article.  As you've pointed out, it's extremely important for composition as well.

1.  Depth of field is defined at the area of an image which is in focus as has been said, but the area consistently not understood is that DOF starts in the center of the focus point and extends inwards and outwards in both directions.   Many are under the impression it only extends outwards.  DOF is nothing more than the sum of a calculation of four variables.  These variables are:

Sensor Size:  The bigger the sensor the more shallow the DOF.

Aperture:  The bigger the aperture (the smaller the number) the more shallow the DOF.

Focal Range:  The bigger/longer the focal range (i.e. 200mm vs. 50mm) the more shallow the DOF.  Or in other words, your DOF will be much more shallow at 200mm than at 50mm.  Conversely the more wide your lens, say 16mm, will have much more DOF than 50mm provides.

Focal Distance: The closer you are to the subject, the more shallow the DOF.  

These four variables determine your DOF.  There are DOF calculators you can buy and carry in the field, free ones for your computer, etc.. but mostly experience will quickly show you what you'll get for a given set of settings if you pay attention to your settings before and after the shoot.

2.  A "normal" lens, if there is such a thing, will be most sharp at F8.  Some lenses will change this to F5.6 or F11, either will serve you well.  Once you stop down to F11/16/32, you often are doing so unnecessarily where DOF is concerned (with the exception of anchor objects in wide angle photography, and macro work), but at the same time reducing the light so much you might be reaching a shutter speed which is insufficient for your focal length and bracing resulting in a blurred image.. or if you pump up your ISO to compensate then the further you deviate from your native ISO (100 for Canon and some Nikons, 200 for many Nikons, Fuji, etc) the more loss of detail and the more noise you'll be dealing with.  F8 to F11 is only one stop, or half as much light at F11 is hitting your sensor than at F8.. but F16 is half of that, and F32 half of that.. so you can see it would be easy to really hurt yourself on the light and resulting image quality, perhaps for much more DOF than you really desire.

3.  There are three types of 'distortion' we're normally concerned with where fstops are concerned:

a.  Light fall off: This isn't really distortion, but light falls off around the corners, more at wider apertures (lower numbers).

b.  Lens distortion:  This is the most common distortion people fail to notice, and is expressed as "barrel distortion" or "pin cushion distortion", barrel distortion being a function of shorter focal lengths and how the camera is orientated to the subject at these wider angles, and pincushion distortion being a function of longer focal lengths.   Normally the higher quality the lens the less lens distortion they exhibit, this is true for primes and zooms, with some focal lengths being next to impossible to totally eliminate distortion and still retain a practical size&weight factor.

c.  Perspective distortion:  This distortion is what most people notice, and shows up as tilted buildings, flat noses, etc.. and is a function of how we're holding the camera in relation to the subject.

Some articles I'm written on the subject might be useful to those trying to grasp DOF:

The Mighty 85mm -  Here we take a look at the preferred portait focal length lens and included are some good visuals of DOF.



Depth of Field:  A Useful Tool For Composition  -  The basics are explained.

What Depth of Field Can Do for Landscape Photography  -   This looks at a couple examples requiring a deeper depth of field.




Applying Depth of Field for Portraits  -  This is the area where most first start to notice DOF and want to control it, for portraits.




Playing With Depth of Field -  This puts the above articles in perspective and how to use DOF in general.




There are probably 200+ other articles where DOF is demonstrated and explained, because DOF is that important.  It's something you should understand backwards and forwards and something you should consider every time you choose a lens or look at a subject and form the composition in your mind.   Take it slow, try to grasp just the basics at first, and then go out and play with the four variables (most people have only one camera with one size sensor, so really only 3 variables), play with your variables with your different lenses..   Notice what the quality of bokeh (the out of focus area) looks like for the different lenses you own.  It's a huge subject which is easily made simple in small blocks of information.

Btw -  I wrote these articles years ago and will be rewriting them this year with the goal of improving the explanations and selecting more useful example images.  Any feedback to help me do this would be appreciated.

I've been with my husband for 7 years now, and he's the love of my life!  By far, the best partner I've ever had I wouldn't trade him for the world.  We've had ups and downs of course, but I think that was mostly me trying to figure out how to survive in Thailand!
And... we just found out there's going to be a new addition to our life soon!!  After 7 years of just the 2 of us against the world, it's going to be strange to have a little one around, but there is no one I'd rather make a family with than him

I've got a load of girlfriends in the same boat as me, so as much as there are some real wanke_rs out there (and I've witnessed many a failed relationship) there are a lot of great success stories too!

Personally dont find people getting done over funny. Stupid, naive, indulgent even, but not funny.

I also dont find it funny when im happily having coffee some place and another westerner whos been done over due to his bad decisions, decides to give me his tale of woe...and how he used to be down on western women but now he thinks differently and wont date a thai woman again..and blah blah blah.. (failing to realise it was more likely their choice in woman, not the nationality of the woman that was the problem...)

I dunno, maybe i look like i want to hear it.

Ive ended up finding out of the way coffee shops.

It is good news for Thailand to see the King well enough to travel a little bit.
Long live the King

Jing, me old fruit....you boys wouldnt have this problem now if you had stayed a colony, you would have only been paying tax on the tea...