Leaving Bangkok today for Kuala Lumpur then on to Amsterdam. Bangkok was an exciting place to be with all manner of visual stimuli ready and waiting to be soaked in. The food was great and the shopping was unique to say the least. Apparently the Silom district in Bangkok is the knock-off capitol of the world; from fake Rolex’s to fake Versace sunglasses pretty much any type of designer product imaginable can be had. The street vendors are pretty intense, jumping out shouting their sales pitch every time you pass by. The streets are lined with these little carts and booths selling all sorts of random items. The air is pretty bad; the whole city is enveloped in a thick veil of smog and it shows on the grimy walls and sidewalks. The juxtaposition of ultra modern western forms, decaying, dilapidated structures and traditionally ornate Thai shrines and monuments made for a very unique backdrop. We didn’t have as much time to explore the city as I would have liked, but the few days we did get to spend there were packed full of interesting things to see and do.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s installment, lot’s of pics from a place called Patong. Feel free to comment on this post
Very nice!
How did you shot the photo at the top (with the bikers)?
Nice pictures anyway, see you in Stockholm 🙂
Is it just the air there or are you affecting a yellow filter over everything?
They look very nice.
Hey are these lomo shots or are you putting a filter on them?
They look awesome anyways man, you look like you’re having a blast!
It should be noted how the filter he commonly uses allows for premium saturation and color contrast without causing the photos to be blown out and extremely grainy-a problem I’ve run into before. In my opinion, his filter gives almost a kind of “1960s National Geographic” look and feel – which gives a kind of candid authenticity to his photos.
I love the pic of the guy singing into the little amp. The pedal say ‘rock’. Wondering where I can get a ‘rock’ pedal. I bet it rocks!
As always…nice stuff!
These photos are amazing(ly beautiful).
Thank you for sharing them!
Have fun…
I especially like the photo of all the people on motorbikes/mopeds and the child sleeping on the windowledge to escape the heat indoors.
There’s so many people just making things on the street there too! I would like to go there myself sometime soon.
These photos are very well composed, love the angles and colors. So lucky to be traveling about! Enjoy it Mr. Hansen! – Chris Mena, a fan 😉
ha…you’re practically following the same path i just took. made a brief stop in narita and then to kuala lumpur (my photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/idonahue/collections/72157603444676787/) it’s great seeing these places through someone else’s eyes. have fun in malaysia!
Splendid photos! The color saturation is amazing. So beautiful. I wholly agree with Scott Strickland above when he says that your photos have kind of a “1960s National Geographic” look and feel to them. Can’t wait to see more!
Great shots! The colour work is very unique. Seems like it should be garish but ends up being evocative.
That is so great about the Photoshop’ RAW plugin.
You can turn, basically dull pictures, in to green, yellow or blue masterpieces 🙂
Of course you can do it many other ways (as it goes with Adobe’s stuff) but the RAW plugin (for raw shots) is really great at it.
So take a raw picture of your grandma and crank the thing up into the green or yellow.
It give the picture a mood, an instant story and it’s is easy and cheap as well!
i’ve been to thailand twice in the last two years and seen that guy both times. walks down those crazy streets drinking singha is amazing. thanks for the flics.
that guy, being the dude with the mic
I loved the pics Scott, thanks for sharing! I lived in Thailand for 2 years, one of which was spent exclusively in Bangkok. Should you have a chance to visit the North, East, or South, in the future, you’ll be in for a real treat. Less pollution, beautiful surroundings, amazing cuisine, and surrounded by the nicest people in the world. You did a great job of capturing a sampling of life in Bangkok. I’m excited to see some snapshots from Patong!
Nice shots! I went through Thailand on my way to Australia and honestly hated bangkok, mind you coming from mid winter Alberta I just wanted to see a beach and relax. Bangkok was so full on, the Thai sales people where annoying to say the least, we left Bangkok within 2 days to get to Koh Samoi,
wow, amazing pics. I was in bangkok almost two weeks back and am missing it terribly!
I am in Singapore, though you really did not miss much by skipping it! Malaysia is awesome too.
you’re sharpening…..
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww
🙂
Phil-
sorry, haven’t used a sharpen filter on any of these. you may be seeing some artifacts form the nikon D-lighting which can produce some haloing effects . these are all rough takes just for the blog and I will be re-processing them all proper when I get home and have more time….sans-halos.
everyone else, thanks! These aren’t RAW actually, just hi rez jpeg and all the filtering was done in photoshop. I was definitely going for that 60’s nat geo vibe , glad it came off that way. I am not using a lomo, just a nikon d80 but then using PS to “lomoize” them. as much as I love film and the organic unpredictability that comes with it, I am really sick of waiting so long and hoping the shots came out ( I lost last summer’s amsterdam trip to a faulty lomo and didn’t realize until I got home and the shots were all dark). I wanted this trip to be about immediacy, I wanted the ability to post right away and really shape the style of the post processing and the selection of shots on the fly, while I was still in the place I took them. too often I get home and lose the vibe I had at the time I took the shots and it shows in the shots I end up picking and the way I process them.
thanks again everyone for following along, the patong shots should post up really soon along with the long overdue tsukiji fish market shots (which have been taking me forever to wade through, I took a lot that morning).
Great pics!
I like the way you “lomoize” them (as you say). They remind me a lot of “chungking express”, the movie by Wong Kar-Wai.
I feel like i’m there, thank you for that.
wow ! this serial of picts is amazing… it lets us fell the ambiance in Bangkok – remind me vietnam.
#12 is a rocker!
where excactly are you going in Amsterdam?
I live in Holland and have been there only about 3 times or so!…it’s kinda sad. I am curious at your pictures!
Greetings,
Leggoz
nice scott! hope you are having a good trip.
ah.
its the one of you (or your brother) that looks like it has been sharpened. but i guess its just an optical illusion….
(not that there’s anything WRONG with sharpening. it just reminds of wedding photographers….)
Scott your photos are amaziiiiiiiiiiiing !
i love the photos and love the filter. Do you use a standard one in something like lightroom or am i insulting you suggesting that you use a filter, while you work hard in photoshop?
forget my comment, i read yours just now
The “rock” guy singing in to the little amp is on khao san road in Bangkok right? He’s been there for years and years. Would love to read some tutorials on how to get that ‘60’s nat geo effect in PS.
i love the aerial motor bike shot and the color treatments too!
sister vietnam motor bike photos:
http://flickr.com/photos/middle-child/2191737503/in/set-72157603710954990/
http://flickr.com/photos/middle-child/2194803384/in/set-72157603710954990/
I love the x-pro kind of effect on your shots, do you shoot film or use digital filters?
Hi Scott, these very nice pictures:) I’m living in Bangkok & i really love your
site…Thank You.
work work i want work
Umm… this is very quite useful…
thanks you
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Hotel at Thailand