Finally Editing Again

Art Model, @Kayci.Lee, ©2018 Terrell Neasley

"Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world."

~ Gustave Flaubert

Art Model, @Kayci.Lee, ©2018 Terrell Neasley

I'm grateful that I'm finally able to edit photos and work on a decent laptop. As I mentioned in the last blog post, I ordered the Gigabyte Aero 15X. Its beautiful, lightweight, fast, and I'm very happy with it. I've almost finished with customizing it to the way I like a laptop to work. I've got Adobe loaded on it, but I've only installed a single Plugin of the usual ones I normally work with. If I'm going to have anything, it's gotta be the Nik Collection that is now being distributed under DxO Labs, who took it over from Google. I still wonder if DxO Labs will really continue to develop this plugin or just roll it into their own PhotoLab editing software. They have already incorporated the Nik U-Point technology into PhotoLab. Nik is now available for $70.

Art Model, @Kayci.Lee, ©2018 Terrell Neasley

Of course, that also means I have a lot of edits to catch up on. I can tell you the feeling of 8 months worth of shots to even look through feels daunting and slightly overwhelming. At the same time though, there are some that I've eagerly been awaiting to get to work on. Namely, these shots you see here of @kayci.lee from January as she traveled with me from Nicaragua up to Guatemala. The horse ranch shoot was definitely my favorite time of her entire visit. It was quite remarkable to get her up on those Andalusian horses and get some shots. @kayci.lee 's efforts paid off handsomely to make that contact to get us access to that ranch.

Art Model, @Kayci.Lee, ©2018 Terrell Neasley

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

~ Mark Twain

Shooting on Nicaragua's Little Corn Island didn't work out as well as we had hoped. Despite being there during the peak of the dry season, somehow a weather phenomenon caused a deluge to drench us during our entire 5-day stay. Our clothes never dried out even a bit and actually began to mildew by the time we left. A few days in the hot El Salvadorean sun fixed that problem. These things happen and sometimes seemingly often. We stayed in 10 different hotels/hostels over almost 5 weeks. Something is bound to go wrong at some point. We ran into a 5 day storm during dry season. This is where they say you have to take the good with the bad. You can plan all you want but sometimes things are out of your control and you either roll with the punches or you'll spend your days frustrated and a great trip can end up fraught with mishaps because you're not flexible enough to maintain a good attitude. Plan as best you can and then just do your best. After that, deal with what's before you and make the best of things. The world is not obligated to be considerate of your itinerary.

Yes, we are watching Ice Age 3 in the last photo. You can't tell me you wouldn't have also taken that shot.

Art Model, @Kayci.Lee, ©2018 Terrell Neasley

Art Model, @Kayci.Lee, ©2018 Terrell Neasley

Getting Passionate About Coffee

Javier out with the coffee plants

"I have measured my life out in coffee spoons."

~ T.S. Eliot

I had no clue so much went into making a cup of coffee until my visit to Juayua in western El Salvador last month. It was my second visit to Hotel Anahuac but on this visit, I took a tour of a coffee farm after witnessing what was going on in the hotel between resident coffee roasters, Markus (IG @the_flyingbean) and Javier (IG @javi_magnap). Meeting those guys and getting educated on the "cold brew" process got me really interested in what they were into. 

Javier teaching about roasting coffee

I've had a semi-interest in several beverages that began when I worked at a Budweiser distribution company in Tennessee. I visited a Budweiser brewing plant in St. Louis and the immensity of the place was quite overwhelming. Later on in college, I did case studies in business classes on more beers and wines. I was far more attracted to the wines and the time and craftsmanship that went into it. These are centuries old practices that have been cultivated and improved upon over thousands of years. 

These guys in Juayua got me thinking about coffee differently. Its not just a job to Javier, a local of Juayua. Its a passion. To the surprise of his family, he gave up his work in pharmaceuticals to pursue his love as a coffee roaster. Markus, an Austrian is not even 25 yet, but has been traveling around the world pursuing his passion in coffee becoming an expert in the field as, opposed to simply an aficionado. I could identify and relate to this passion because I share the same thing with photography. Passion breeds respect, regardless of the chosen field. Javier and Markus take the growing and roasting of coffee into an art form no different than my own work.

"When life gives you lemons, trade them for coffee beans!"

Markus lectures on Chemex brewing

I was forced to look at my own relationship with coffee. Both my grandmother and her sister would give me coffee in the mornings starting maybe when I was between 5 and 7. It was either Folgers, Maxwell House, or Sanka instant. Either way, it was sweet with a ample serving of Carnation condensed milk. We got it served in cups with saucers. They taught me to drink it by pouring from the cup into the saucer and sipping it. That cooled it down much more quickly.

So I've always had my coffee sweet with cream. If there was no sugar, I wasn't drinking it. The only exception to this was during some days during my military career where we were so cold, to get anything hot in our bodies was much welcomed and we were grateful for it. Not so with anytime other than that. Markus' passion made me rethink that notion as he, still being a young man, preferred his coffee black and maybe warm, as opposed to pipping hot. He explained that this allowed him to better appreciate the flavors of whatever coffee he was tasting.

Markus demonstrates techniques of Chemex brewing

And, of courser there are several different ways of brewing coffee. I first found out about a french press from Art Model, Melissa (miss her btw). During one of our shooting breaks she offered coffee and she familiarized me with the french press for the first time. Javier introduced me to the Chemex and the V60. Markus taught me about cold brew that can take up to 12 hours! And until now, I never really knew what espresso was. These guys ensured the water was a specific temperature, used a timer, and used circular pours to ensure even extraction of flavor. I'm telling you. It reminded me of being in the darkroom. Only instead of manipulating light over silver halide grains on photo paper to make images, these guys were manipulating water over coffee grains to get complex flavors. 

Javier took us to the farm where he works and roasted some new coffee for us and let us compare that taste with coffee that was a few days older. My taste buds are not so trained to detect the minute subtitles from such a comparison. Javier roasted the coffee beans according to a specific roasting profile that he designed depending on which ever type of coffee bean he was roasting. Watching masters at work is always fascinating whether you are roasting coffee or laying brick. 

Picking out inferior beans

I won't make it back down there before the coffee season ends. When the rain starts, the coffee season stops. But I'll be back down there to see Javier again and get some more insight into his passion. In the meantime, I'm going to continue my own exploration in coffee. I think its going to be the French Press for me. Check my Instagram, @PhotoAnthems for a few vids!

Midway Through...

Art Model, Covenant, El Salvador, Unedited, iPhone 6 Plus, Copyright 2015 Terrell Neasley

"Sometimes all you can do is all you can do."

~ Art Model, Covenant

Present location? El Salvador. Or more precisely, I'm at La Tortuga Verde in El Cuco, El Salvador. I've got another couple days here and then it's off to Nicaragua, or more precisely, La Tortuga Booluda in Leon, Nicaragua. [Actually, by the time of posting, I'm already in Leon.]

So we are probably mid-way through on this adventure. The mist that has been hindering some of my projects here has caught up with me in El Sal and after two months of travel, the rainy season is about to get under way here. I seriously want to challenge myself to improvise and return stateside with work that rivals my initial vision. I can't say I'm there just yet though I have accumulate a bunch of marvelous shots...just not the shots that I feel rival my initial vision. So, I'm working on that.

Last week, we held up at a really nice spot in Juayua (pronounced "WHY-YOU-AH) called Hotel Anahuac. Well, while shooting Art Model, Covenant in some waterfalls there, I took a nasty slip and cut my right hand wide open just below the first knuckle of my thumb. Of seven waterfalls we were to visit, this incident happens just after the second one. That just about ended my shooting until I got the bleeding under control and kept my thumb compressed against my hand til the last waterfall, where I risked burning off a few more shots. Apparently, the thumb is quite an essential digit when it comes to holding things. I count myself fortunate that I didn't drop my camera in the water, but I still got some shots.

Doc stitched me up!

Thanks Doc!

So after 2 more hours of hiking, I made it back and went to see a doctor at the local public health clinic. Doc had me sewn up in no time and they didn't charge a thing. I got stitches, waited a week and then took my knife and some scissors and took them out. Now I just gotta take care not to open the blasted thing up again. Its not easy NOT using your thumb...especially on your dominant hand. Keeping it clean and infection free has been the utmost priority. I wash it every day because this spot is right on a Pacific coast beach. Sand can be a pain in the butt in a wound and is notorious for carrying infection when trapped under a bandage and left unchecked. So between the regular cleaning and my antibiotic, I think I'm doing well.

Art Model, Covenant, Unedited, Copyright 2015 Terrell Neasley

I've still been shooting Art Model, Covenant on a regular basis. This being her first time out of country, she's thrilled at the thought of being naked in a foreign land and doesn't a problem shooting anywhere I get a hankering to point my camera. This is an excellent proposition because not everywhere I need to shoot is private. We've had the occasional spectator of course, but we've also had tour guests and guides privy to our endeavors. Covenant has a nice way of letting them know what we're doing and so far nobody has objected to a woman coming up and asking if its okay if she has her boobs out or takes off her clothes.

So like I said, here for a few more days and then we'll ferry around to Nica. Ferry? Yes, ferry. Its 6 to 7 hours by bus at a cost of about $45. Its Two and a HALF hours by boat for $75. I'm doing the boat for $30 more bucks. Actually, we do have to take another bus after that for about an hour to Leon, but I can handle that. [It was 2 and a half hours to Leon and there was no bus at the port, so we ended up taking a shuttle who had recently dropped off a group for $40. He wanted $60.] Three days in Leon, and then we're off on a flight back to the Caribbean coast of Nica to Big Corn Island and then a half hour boat ride to Little Corn for a week's stay at Farm Peace and Love. Hippy? Well, more like Hippy-sounding. Far as I know, we'll be by ourselves on the Northeast corner of the island in a little cottage. By mid-May, we have no clue.

Art Model, Covenant, El Salvador Unedited,
Copyright 2015 Terrell Neasley

There are currently no exact plans, reservations, deadlines, or anything beyond mid-May. I know we want to make our way down back to my old stopping grounds in San Juan del Sur. If you recall, I almost got myself killed there a year ago scouting a coastline of cliffs and let the tide get high on me before I could make it all the way back. But there are some other stops I'd like to make as well. I didn't get to make it to Granada or Isla de Ometepe in the South, nor Esteli or Somoto Canyon in the North. So the precarious situation I find myself in now is to decide how long I want to spend in Nicaragua.

With funds getting tight, the temptation is to spend these last two months in Nica, rather than head on down to Costa Rica and Panama where things are more expensive. Money definitely goes further in Nica. In addition to that, its usually cheaper to fly out of Managua, Nicaragua, than from either of the airports in Costa Rica or Panama. So the thought is to come back and finish CR and Panama later this year, and THEN proceed on further South into Columbia and down western South America to Argentina.

Art Model, Covenant,  Belize Unedited, Copyright 2015 Terrell Neasley

Another option is to take a break from Latin America and visit Southeast Asia. I really have no idea. All I know is that I suck at video. Like that transition? That was another one of my objectives here...get used to and do better video. I do learn from my mistakes though. Recently, I tried shooting with a more narrow the field of view. After an hour and a half of footage, I think I got my subject in the frame maybe 40% of the time. That's working with the GoPro. The Sony mirrorless don't have that issue since I can see what I'm shooting on the back of the LCD screen. I can even use the wireless feature on my Sony Action Cam to see my perspective on my iPhone. I guess I should have picked up the LCD back for the GoPro, but those things use up battery even faster than it already does. So yeah...more work to be done there. No worries. Not giving up.

BTW, its been almost 2 weeks since the cut on my hand. All's well and healing just fine. No more bandages, but still sensitive. I should be good to go in the next week or so. Next stop...Little Corn Island and Farm Peace and Love!

Three Objectives for Central America

Art Model, Covenant ©2015 Terrell Neasley, A7MkII

"I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship."

~ Louisa May Alcott

Some of what I'll be doing for all this time that I'll be spending down in Central America will obviously focus on taking fine art photos, portraiture, and street work. This is what I usually end up coming back with the most. But I'll also be doing a few other things while I'm away, as well. I'll have a lot of down time to catch up on reading and also doing some writing. But here are some other goals and objectives (among several) that I'll share with you right now.

Art Model, Covenant ©2015 Terrell Neasley

You always know I always strive to be a better photographer and teacher, so lets start there. If you didn't already suspect or know me, I shoot nudes. That's not all I shoot, but its a definitely a passion of mine. I want to begin there. I want to do a better job of it. Yes. Believe it or not, I have more to learn in that genre. Many of you will probably believe the greater fact is that I ADMIT to needing to learn more. I do not know, as of yet HOW I will approach this objective. I can do my own study and research, but I think I will learn best by consulting with some mentors like Dave Rudin or Dave Levingston. Should I take a class of some sort? Maybe do a workshop that has a direct focus on photographing the nude? Something I have thought of doing for years has been to visit Prague. I find that many photographic artists from just east of Germany and on into Russia have been inspirations to me. I find them to be more in tune with my style or of a such that I aspire to.

In addition to that, I need to make a more concerted effort to actually do more of something with my art nude work. I have terabytes of work that no one has really seen. You've probably only seen maybe a tenth of all the work I've done with Panda. Some of my best work with Emma was never made available for about 8 months before anyone saw it. Kristi C has been a most prolific model for me over the last year. Again, most of it unseen. So big, big focus towards exhibition and a consistent venue to show my art nude work will be a major focus upon my return. I'll likely come out of hiatus on photo competitions and do some of those again, but that's an aside. Exhibition will be a more primary focus when I get back. My work needs to be on walls. This is why I do it...nudes or otherwise. I make my stuff to be viewed in person upon a physical medium.

Art Model, Covenant ©2015 Terrell Neasley

"You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over."

~ Richard Branson

Let's see...what else? Oh yeah...again, photographically speaking, I want to do better teaching. I'm limiting myself to 10 students a year, doing one-on-one, two-week courses. I used to conduct workshops when I first came to Vegas with my Las Vegas Art Models Group. A max attendance would be 12 photogs. Now I teach one-on-one and I want to do it better. The goal is to make it more fun, better information, and less taxing on myself. I just did two students back to back this month. I don't know how teachers do it every day like that...ALL friggin' year!! My friend, Howard suggested doing tours where I take people on some of my travel excursions. I can see that. I've already been asking family and friends to come visit me for a few days while I'm away. Meet me in El Salvador or Lake Atitlan in Guatemala for a few days. We can do some photowalks or just chill with me sippin' Cuba Libres. I need more and better teaching props. Some concepts I have in my head simply don't exist! I need to find somebody to fabricate some of this stuff for me. I don't want to rely on videos to make my point. Hands on physical props would serve a better purpose. So yes, I want to contemplate how I will do this.

Art Model, Covenant ©2015 Terrell Neasley

Video! That's another one. I want to get as good with vids and I am with photowork. I have the A7s, which is excellent for video work. I'll need to get the Atomos Shogun external output monitor/harddrive to do 4K work, since you can't shoot 4K straight to the SD card. But for the time being, 1080p should suffice just nicely. Editing video will also be a key factor, which means I'll also need to bump my subscription to Adobe CC 2014 back to the full version. I downgraded it last Nov to just the Photoshop/Lightroom version. I'll need Adobe Premier Pro back again, in particular. I should also dust off my audio gear. I'll take with me a shotgun mic and maybe my Zoom H4n external audio recorder. My goal is to just make short clips, starting with time-lapse, some slow motion work, and then just build from there. So we'll see. 

Travel Plans - Back to Central America

Art Model, Leslie ©2013 Terrell Neasley

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."

~ Lao Tzu

Its about that time again. As most travelers know, its hard to stay OFF the road for any given time. I think my mother has always hated my tendency to keep staying further and further away from home. I grew up with woods behind my house in Terrell, Texas. Yes...Same name. No, I wasn't named after the city I grew up in. As I were... I've always been an explorer at heart and its tough to not wonder whats around the bend, over that hill, around that corner, or beyond that horizon. I'd wander further and further back into those woods and explore more ground and become familiar with the area. Sometimes I'd use the excuse that I was hunting. I'd take a gun but never come back with any game. I moved away from home just after high school and lived on the other side of the tracks, but still in Terrell. Then I moved closer to Dallas. Two years after graduating high school, I found myself enlisted in the Army and assigned to my first duty station in Germany. I had hardly been 200 miles away from home at any given time. Now I was on the other side of the Atlantic in Europe.

Art Model, Leslie
©2013 Terrell Neasley

Art Model, Leslie
©2013 Terrell Neasley

Its gonna be back to Central America around the first part of the year. This is the plan anyways. The goal is to hit every country, starting up north in either Flores, Guatemala (and then traveling across into Belize), or just heading straight to Belize City and beginning my exploration there. Having been down that way before, I have the majority of this trip planned out, but El Salvador and Honduras in particular still elude me in terms of what I wish to do there. I'll be spending the majority of time in Guatemala and Nicaragua. I still have to make plans for Costa Rica and Panama, but I don't see that being a difficult task. Mainly, I just need to get a general plan secured just to have better cost estimates. Nothing will be written in stone or have schedules and deadlines, or strict itineraries. I like to travel slow, get to know a place, and leave when I wish. If I like a place, I want to be able to stay longer. If I don't, then I'm out sooner than expected. I'll have to schedule a flight in advance while in Nicaragua, but only by a week or so. As I get down to Managua, I'll fly over to Little Corn Island for a spell and then return to Managua to continue my trip.

So I could definitely use some suggestions as to El Salvador and Honduras. And any other spots any of you might know of in Central America that would be appealing. So far, I'm weighing options on the Caribbean Islands off the coast of Honduras and maybe its capital city. Part of the fun though, might be in just waiting til I get there and just checking things out and not finalizing plans til a week or two away. Or maybe be like some friend travelers I've meet on the trail who just show up! I'm not as great as Heather Rae Murphy with planning these things. And I usually have to budget more than what I estimate I'll need. So I'll probably never do a blog post on saving money on these trips. I can do better with sharing with you my mistakes though which can be just as equally beneficial to you. And trust me, that can add up to a lot of friggin' information.

Art Model, Leslie ©2013 Terrell Neasley

But back to the matter at hand, I'd like to get all this worked out by the end of this month, which doesn't leave me much time. But if I recall correctly, it was this time last year was when I decided on an extended stay in Nicaragua. So maybe I'm right on schedule. I'm very much looking forward to this. What's next after this trip you ask. I'll push on to South America, of course. Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia! The western and southern coastal countries in South America interest me most. Here's another tid bit for you. If you don't already have it, download Google Earth. Just zoom in and have a bird's eye view look around. Its a good start.