two10eleven | Brook Sarver » Lazy Photographer

Our first Visitors and Foto Friday

Brook — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:58:57 +0000

We finally had our first visitors come and see us in Thailand! After over a year here, a family friend from my home church and the Midwest regional director for our denomination decided to extend their trip to Asia by a few days in order to come see what all our fuss about Thailand was all about. And, while Sara and I were admittedly a bit nervous, they had a great time! We are so thankful for the time they were able to spend with us, encourage us, and even bring us goodies from our sending church back in Indiana!

It was a whirlwind of a few days. Jetlagged and confused, our guests pushed through and by the end they were already talking about when they may be able to come back next! It’s been so long since Sara and I have looked at Thailand with “fresh eyes”, so it was a ton of fun to experience those first-responses once again after we first experienced Thailand 5 years ago.

One thing that our guests were able to bring from home was a box of camera equipment that didn’t make the trip over when we moved here last July. There just wasn’t the space for it then. But our friends gladly brought what they could fit in their spare suitcase space. Since then I’ve been charging batteries, brushing up on my camera 101′s, etc. But even before playing around with my new toys, I was able to pull a few shots out during the time when our friends were here.

…Which brings me to this next Foto Friday… Both were taken from our visit to the Grand Palace in Bangkok. We even got to take a river taxi to get there, which Sara and I haven’t done since I swallowed a mouthful of disgusting Chao Phraya water those 5 years ago on a similar boat ride. Anyways, here’s what I could salvage from the day trip. And now that I’ve got more gear to grab my attention, let’s all hope for more Foto Fridays to come! (click on the images to see them at higher resolution)

Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand.

Wat Phra Kaew. Thailand's home to the Emerald Buddha. Bangkok.

Leave a Comment (or just come visit us… or a Skype call would do)!

Foto Friday, meet the Lazy Photographer

Brook — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:08:26 +0000

I’ve talked off and on on this blog, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr about how I really enjoy photography but seldom take the time anymore to just go out and shoot photos for an afternoon and see what I can come up with. I used to do this a lot and loved it. I enjoy being outside, fighting the mid-day sun, and seeing what me and my camera and produce. I also really enjoy the post-processing aspect of digital photography. In fact, if this whole missionary thing doesn’t work out (joking) I don’t think I would mind a job where I push pixels behind a desk all day producing digital media and art.

Anyways, despite being the Lazy Photographer for quite some time now, I’ve decided to get back on the wagon. If nothing else, I know it is something I will enjoy at the time, even if I don’t feel like that particular day. Recently I’ve had friends give me a hard time about how I should shoot more often.

So, let me introduce to you my new series, Foto Friday. This will be similar to Sara‘s well known weekly food series Tasty Tuesday, only I’ll try to make it a point to get out, shoot photos, and post them up here. Sometimes they will be photos having to do specifically with Thailand and Thai culture while other times they may just be something I happen across or an idea for a photo that I want to produce. Either way, I’ll post it up here. I’d like to commit to doing this every week, but we all know how good I am at making blog commitments and FAILING! So, I’ll start with at least once a month on Friday, and as I remember how the ride the photography horse I’m attempting to climb back onto, hopefully they’ll be more often.

Today I start. I finished up my Thai lessons this morning, grabbed my camera and motorbike, and went in search for something to point and click at. It was nearly noon (which is the WORST time to take photos) and flippin’ hot out. I went to a local Buddhist temple but everyone but me was smart enough to be inside during that part of the day. So, I continued driving until I came to a street corner that had some decent flowering bushes and trees. I spent about 20 minutes fighting the breeze as I rocked my Macro lens, getting sun burnt all the while. I shot probably 60 different photos and in the end only kept about 3 of them.

Yep. Here is today’s first edition of Foto Friday from this Lazy Photographer…

Click the image above to be taken to Flickr to see the other images I uploaded today!

The lazy creative…

Brook — Mon, 17 May 2010 05:54:45 +0000

It’s interesting how one piece of art, one simple piece of someone else’s creativity can bring back memories of what it was once like to be creative myself. I got that feeling again this week when I came across this short video of still images taken of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.

(Definitely worth clicking-through to watch in HD)

Many of you may know that I used to really get into Photography. This video makes me want to get back into it. And I think I will…

lazy photographer :: a recent photowalk

Brook — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:35:08 +0000

I haven’t really gotten back into the swing of making photos since coming to Thailand. It’s quite sad really. I love photography and it is a great stress reliever for me. Recently, though, a friend came into town and him and I went out for a photowalk through Lopburi’s fresh market and ruins.

Here are a few of my favorites:

There are several more that I haven’t posted here but will invite you to see at our Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsarver

So my question for you now is, what do you do to relieve stress?

a picture is worth a thousand words (and feelings)

Brook — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:56:29 +0000

There are a few things lately that really miss from home. The first two months here have gone by amazingly fast and we are loving most of it.

I took some time to edit a few photos that I had taken back in June when we were in Colorado. As many of you know, photography is a great stress reliever for me. Sadly, we were/ are so busy I hadn’t had a chance to even pull the photos off of the camera until now!

I like these images on top of that mountain in Colorado. I like them because I remember how beautiful it was. I like them because I remember how stinkin’ cold it was at the very top. I like them because they remind me of a shared experience I had with my wife (I mean, come on, coming from Indiana Sara and I haven’t spent a whole lot of time on mountain tops!). I like them because I remember how little I felt standing in those trees as the bold, cold wind surrounded us.

I like these images for many reasons. I also miss home from time-to-time when I see photos from times past and even those happening now. I have sisters who are at their Homecoming football games of their Senior year in High School. I have a brother about to his first child with his new wife who also just bought their first house. I have a father who has season tickets to Purdue football and faithfully goes and cheers them on despite having now lost 5 games in a row! (Boiler Up!)

Just as we have a lot going on day in and day out here in Thailand, we miss the things we are missing from home. I miss that cold breeze form the mountain top… I miss thinking creatively about our Christmas services at Olive Branch… I miss Fall with family and friends… And most days I miss knowing what to expect for that day…

God has done some amazing things in our lives to get us to this point! I mean, come on, we’re 6,000 miles from home and working on learning a language that doesn’t have a western script alphabet! That’s crazy!

There are these days though where hot apple cider, casseroles, being chilled to the bone, family, friends, and knowing what to expect for tomorrow sounds like the best vacation in the world!

I guess we really do underestimate what we have until it is gone…

a shout out for digital photography school

Brook — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 04:36:09 +0000

We’re home from vacation and, let me tell you, IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

arguments aren't that simple

More on that later tonight or tomorrow, but for now I’ll boast a bit on some old photography work I did while in Thailand. You may have seen this photo before. It’s made it onto purchased prints a few times, it’s a book cover for a Polish psychology book (my first ever image used for a book cover) and now it’s been showcased again on the Digital Photography School website in their latest article: 10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography.

It’s really quite a good article. Go check it out… Also, why is it that it had to snow as soon as we hit Indiana on our drive home from our Caribbean vacation?