Lion Hunting Strategy - National Geographic Video

NatGeoWiLd | January 07, 2011 | Alone, big cats aren't much of a match for their prey. But when they team up, lion prides pack a punch.

Posted at Hit the Road - See America and the World. Stay updated and subscribe, or follow me on Twitter.

Random Photo: North Dakota Postcard '01

I think we all should send a postcard in 2011. I used to more regularly. Here's one from my 2001 research trip of the US Great Plains for Lonely Planet -- sent to the LP staff in Oakland. Snippets on why the country's least-visited state deserved a longer look:

• The proud CVB in Fargo is shaped like a grain elevator, gives free cookies and neglects to put a single attraction on its Fargo tourist map.
• The capitol in Bismarck looks like a Stalinist school of dentistry.
• Kev, the chef at Cowboy Cafe in Medora, - a completely round man - will sit down and talk with you for hours. Says 'dang' a lot.
• There were more visitors at the world's largest holstein cow, at New Salem, than the state's great national park.
• Fargo's SkyWalk looks like an outtake from a Scorpions video.

Maxi Looks

I've seen a lot of maxi looks on the New York's streets during NYFW as well as from FW2011 runways. The looks are from casual to elegant to more fun and chic. I'm also in the moment for maxi look, can't wait to share my maxi looks here. For now, I'd love to share some of my favorites from NYFW fall/winter 2011 runway.

Jemery Laing FW2011

Prabal Gurung FW2011.

Jason Wu FW2011.

Alexander Wang FW2011.

Thank you everyone for visiting and comments! Wish you all a wonderful day! xoxo...Hanh :)

Cut25

I love the shoulders. I can fold them in or out for different looks of the shoulders.

This jacket reminds me so much of Rick Owens style; from the way it fits, the cut, and the mixing of materials...I also love the soft taupe color. It's perfect for changing to spring season.

Wearing: Cut25 jacket that I purchased from Intermix, Madewell t-shirt, Ground Zero zip trouser, The Woods necklace, Joomi Lim spikes necklace, Oliver Peoples sunglasses, Johnny Farad clutch.

Thank you everyone for visiting and comments! Wish you all a wonderful day!! xoxo...Hanh :)

Yellow

I purchased this yellow nail polish from Urban Outfitters last year and this was my first time to wear it. I kinda wanted to have some fun and I surely had fun with this nail color. My kids said it's weird and my husband thought I was jaundiced :)

I love that the sleeves are different. I have fun with this Marc Le Bihan dress. I can style it with a dress, leggings, Jeans or shorts...It is shorter in the back (doesn't show here). It can be a light weight jacket. It is an all seasons piece. I always love clothing that mixes textures and materials.

Marc Le Bihan dress, Rick Owens black sheer dress underneath, Joomi Lim spikes necklace, MMM clutch, and Balenciaga sandals.

Thank you for your visiting and have a wonderful weekend!! xoxo...Hanh :)

Sweet

• This is my first time to make Tiramisu, one of my favorite desserts. I really love the texture and the sweetness of it. At the end of your dinner, Tiramisu and a glass of rum is just a perfect ending for your meal. Yum!!! Hope you can do it (it's not hard) and enjoy!!!
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 lb. mascarpone cheese, softened
• 2 cups chilled heavy cream
• 1 Tbs. rum (optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 cups brewed espresso
• 5 egg whites
• 40 to 50 ladyfingers
• Cocoa powder for dusting

Directions:

In a mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water but not touching the water, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and thick ribbons fall from the whisk, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.

In a chilled large mixing bowl, whisk the cream until stiff peaks form. Add the vanilla and whisk until smooth.

In a clean mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. (When the whisk is lifted straight out of the bowl and inverted, the whites should hold their shape.)

With a rubber spatula, gently fold the mascarpone mixture into the cream until blended and smooth. Add about 1 cup egg whites and fold gently until blended. Add the remaining egg whites and fold gently until the mixture is smooth and blended.

One at a time, submerge the ladyfingers into the 2 to 3 cups espresso. Lay enough ladyfingers on the bottom of a 6-quart glass or ceramic baking or serving dish to form 2 layers. Spread the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers until evenly covered over the top. Dust the tiramisù with cocoa powder to create a rich, dark topping. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 1 day before serving.

Terri Gold: Tribal India & Kham Exhibition

Terri Gold joined my Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™ last year, and will be showcasing a series of her photographs from tribal India and Kham that are painted with encaustic wax and oils. This is an intricate and creative process, which Terri describes here on her blog.

Terri is an award-winning photographer and artist based in New York City, and built an impressive reputation for her rituals, rites of passage, festivals, celebrations and portraits from all over the world.

The exhibition is at Keyes Art, 551 West 21st (4th floor), New York, from February 17th to March 8th.

It's well worth attending this exhibition to appreciate Terri's artistry, and her ability to capture the very essence of tribal India and Kham on such a creative medium...so mark your calendars!!!

And here's an insight into the installation process.

Subscribe to The Travel Photographer

Sharon Johnson-Tennant On Lenscratch

Photo © Sharon Johnson-Tennant-All Rights Reserved

Sharon Johnson-Tennant also joined my Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™ last year, and has just been featured by the LENSCRATCH photography blog, amongst others.

LENSCRATCH writes that Sharon discovered photography during her career as New York fashion designer, where visual inspirations came from exploring color, texture, and from through her travels around the world. This echoes what I wrote about Sharon's style in my blog post:

"Sharon's professional background in textile design and international fashion influences her photographic acuity to the point that during our trip, I frequently wondered at what she was photographing so intently in an isolated spot. Now I know what she saw and what I didn't. "

A photographer who can easily cross over from art to photojournalism to travel and back again is a photographer to watch.

Subscribe to The Travel Photographer

POV: The Part I Like In Travel Photography

The part I like a lot during my photo-expeditions/workshops is when I revisit an area or a village, and bring prints of the photographs I had previously made there. More often than not, the people remember me either before or after I hand out their photographs. It's a small way to give back to the community, and demonstrates to those who were willing (or unaware) subjects that I keep my promises when I tell them I'd be back with their portraits.

In Ahmedabad, I returned to the area of Ahmed Shah's mosque and his shrine, and found the keeper of the tombs as well as the woman who makes and sells paper flowers. They were thrilled with their photographs. It didn't stop one of them to cheekily but smilingly ask me for "baksheesh" but I laughed it off.

Photo © Kantilal Doobal- All Rights Reserved

In a tribal village close to Bhuj, I was very popular with a group of women and children as I handed out their pictures, and one woman was extremely proud to show off a picture of her in all her finery.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

It takes a little effort to find, edit and print these pictures before each trip, but it's well worth it. It goes a long way to gain the trust of the people I photograph and will photograph anew. There were some areas I didn't revisit this time, but I still carried some prints of those I had photographed, which I gave to either hotel keepers, fixers or locals I know will eventually pass them on to the rightful people.

Photo © Kantilal Doobal-All Rights Reserved

Subscribe to The Travel Photographer

Global Post: Ali Sanderson's Mekong River

Photo © Ali Sanderson- Courtesy Global Post-All Rights Reserved

Global Post periodically publishes a photo feature called Full Frame, which showcases some interesting work by emerging photographers. This one is on the Mekong River and is by Ali Sanderson, an Australian photographer from Australia who was based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She worked on productions with leading broadcasters such as National Geographic TV and Radio Free Asia.

In Phnom Penh, Ali, with three other Australian filmmakers, formed a film production company focusing on documentary films dealing with environmental and human rights issues. This led to projects commissioned by Radio Free Asia.

The Mekong is the 10th-longest river in the world, and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is 4,909 km (3,050 mi) and runs from the Tibetan Plateau through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Subscribe to The Travel Photographer

In Focus Does Lantern Festival

Photo © Jason Lee-Courtesy In Focus-All Rights Reserved

The new photo blog In Focus by Alan Taylor for The Atlantic featured about 33 photographs of the festivities on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. The Lantern Festival (known as Yuan Xiao Jie) was observed yesterday in China and wherever there are Chinese communities. It's the last day of the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities.

The blurb accompanying the photographs informs us that it's the most important annual celebration in China, and welcomes the Year of the Rabbit...which is a year of caution and calm.

Calm and caution? I guess the Arab nations revolting for their freedom are unconcerned with the Year of the Rabbit!!

I sense In Focus will soon be one of the favored destinations for those of us who appreciate photojournalism at its best...especially as I just noticed that it offers two choices for its image size: 1024 or 1280 pixels! Nice touch...very nice touch!

Subscribe to The Travel Photographer

POYi: Adrees Latif: First Place Freelance

Photo © Adrees Latif/Reuters

I'm gratified that one of the photographs that I deemed to be outstanding last November , has just won its photographer first place in the 2011 POYi's Freelance category.

Adrees Latif, a Pakistani photographer with Reuters, has been awarded Photographer of the Year Freelance/Agency with his excellent photograph made during relief supplies being delivered to flooded villages in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab in Pakistan.

I'm also really "chuffed" that the work of non-Western photojournalists/photographers are recognized in such a manner. Recognition has been long in coming for such professionals, but it's here now, and it was about time. As I've suggested in a previous blog post, I am still disappointed at the absence (or paucity) of imagery by local indigenous photographers being featured by the international press in the events such as the Egyptian uprising, the Tunisian revolt and the ongoing events in Bahrain. This has to change.

And while I'm am chagrined that photojournalists are blogging about being roughed up by thugs in Cairo and elsewhere, I'd remind them that it's not about them...so get a grip, fellas...and stop moaning about how you lost some hard drives, how someone stole your satellite phone or whether you had a black eye...you were in a "war" zone, where people were/are making history. Your images may too.

Subscribe to The Travel Photographer

Mawled El-Nabi or The Prophet's Birthday

Photo © Tauseef Mustafa/AFP -Al Rights Reserved

Mawled el-Nabi was celebrated in Muslim countries a few days ago, and it observes the birth of Prophet Muhammad, which occurs during the third month of the Islamic calendar. Islamic scholars are divided on whether observing the Prophet's birthday is necessary or even permissible in Islam. Some see it as a praiseworthy event, while others view it as an improper innovation and forbid its celebration.

It's observed and celebrated in most Muslim countries, and where there are large Muslim communities, with the notable exception of Saudi Arabia, where it is not an official public holiday. Saudi Arabia practices an austere form of Islam, in contrast to Kashmir where these photographs are from.

Photo © Farooq Khan/EPA-All Rights Reserved

Kashmiri Muslims congregate at the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar where a relic, said to be a hair from the Prophet's beard, is displayed on the occasion of Mawled el-Nabi.

This reminds me that whilst in Diu (South Gujarat) on my In Search of the Sufis of Gujarat Photo Expedition™ a few weeks ago, I visited a Sufi dargah where a relic of Prophet Muhammad was kept in a receptacle, covered with a green "ghelaph", but under lock and key. I was told that it would be shown during the celebration of his birth.

For those who are interested in stuff like that, Diu (it being an ex-Portuguese enclave) is the only place in Gujarat where alcohol is sold openly. And the elderly Muslim man who courteously showed me the wall receptacle where the relic was kept, spoke fluent Portuguese, having emigrated from Mozambique many decades ago.

Subscribe to The Travel Photographer

TIME Magazine: Egyptian Youth

It's not often that I'm in agreement with TIME magazine's cover choices, but I am with this one. The photograph is of Egyptian activists in Cairo who made history, and is by Finlay MacKay, a Scottish photographer.

The uprisings in the Arab Middle East are defining moments for the youth of these countries...while some mistaken pundits in the West are still trying to define the uprisings as having Islamic (or even Islamist) connotations, these are the same old tired cliches we've heard over and over again since September 11, 2001.

These are the faces of Egypt...look at them carefully. These are its future.

Subscribe to The Travel Photographer