Off the Grid

I have broken free of the binding chains that are modern technology. Well, for a few days at least. My handphone: a Sony Ericsson S700i – hasn’t been working properly for 9 months, and I finally decided to fix it. In April of 2005 I decided I wanted a handphone with a decent camera, and the nicest screen I could find. I thought that if I were to stumble upon someone interested in seeing my photographs, I could whip outRead more

Leap of Faith

Taken in a kampung, a small village built on stilts over a swamp in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. These children, for the most part, seemed to be enjoying life like any others, despite the abject poverty they’re surrounded with. I love this photo; there’s just so much going on, so many thoughts, so many details. It certainly won’t appeal to everyone, but it represents an important part of Jakarta’s culture, and the vibrance of youth in this nation. It cannotRead more

"Image Manipulation" by Vikas Malhotra

I feel this is such an important topic and a very thorough response by Vikas, and therefore would like to offer his comment within its own post. IMAGE MANIPULATION A very interesting discussion but of course, one done to death on various forums worldwide. Have also responded to these points earlier and am happy to respond to them again. Lets first see what Image Manipulations were done in the past, prior to the advent of the digital era and howRead more

A Good Photograph: Manipulation or Skill?

I’ve decided to respond to Indcoup’s comment in a new post, so that this may be an open discussion for all to participate in. Regarding the photos I posted the other day, he said: “I’m just getting into DSLR photography myself and am rapidly coming to the conclusion that to take good shots, you have to be a good image manipulator as well. Into photoshop, learn how to oversaturate colors and adjust levels and you can do wonders. Not sayingRead more

Vacation in My Mind

If you’ve noticed, I’ve strayed from the world of prose lately, posting only photos. Reason: We had a 9 day break for the Muslim holiday, Idul Fitri. Only, um, I didn’t go a.n.y.w.h.e.r.e. ADUH! I did manage to really concentrate on ways to improve my photography. Am I a geek? Probably. I lived on the ‘net self-educating as much as I could. More about that later (tomorrow maybe). A few days I went around taking pics in the kampung (village)Read more

javajive Blog's Four Year Anniversary

Well, it’s been quite a ride. Four years ago, I first started laying down my thoughts, photos, and ramblings with digital ink on this blog. October 2002 was a completely different time for me. I had only been in Indonesia a few months, and everything still held that glistening sheen of wonderment and interest. The Bali bombing (first one) had just happened, the mess in Iraq had not yet begun, bird flu was basically unheard of, and the hearts ofRead more