In Chiang Mai

Posted on 29th October 2018 in adventure, architecture

For the winter of 2017-2018 I went to Thailand to… I guess find the cheapest rent and learn about a new culture. Truth be told, I really just wanted to be on the land of our farm building, but as it was, going to Thailand was an incredibly beautiful experience that I would not change for the world.

I spent about 5 months in Thailand, and most of my time was in Chiang Mai. I arrived in Bangkok and immediately met up with my friend Donovan. He invited me to join him on a train trip up to Chiang Mai where he was going to see about work. Most people take the sleeper train over night, but it was sold out so we took the day train. I actually really liked it since we were able to watch the city as we rolled on by.

I came to know Chiang Mai quite well. The cafés I came across astounded me. The people I met blew me away with kindness and generosity. The landscape was as expected. And I had a scooter and motorcycle to cruise around on the whole time! I was, I guess, in heaven. My family is still now hearing stories I remember as we go about our daily, and each time the stories come to mind, I smile a deeply felt smile.

The next few posts will be devoted to the time I spent in Chiang Mai. Please say hello if you’d like to talk more about any of the photos and I will do my best to caption them.

Donovan renting a scooter

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comments: 0 » tags: chiang mai, thailand

Busy in Bangkok

Posted on 24th March 2018 in adventure, wandering

It seems like ages ago now when I was first in Bangkok. At the time, it was definitely a blur. I had just landed from Canada and in the process of trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was in Thailand. Do you know that feeling when you get to a new place by plane and realize that just the day before you were walking the streets of where you came from, likely a point a fair distance across the map from where you stand now? To regain my bearings, I usually try to lay low, just wandering the local streets trying to figure out where a good place to eat is.

I had a few friends in Bangkok that I met up with over the week I spent there, which is always good for me because they tend to have a list of things they want to do or see and I can just accompany with a smile. I left Bangkok in the same fashion, I had one friend, Alex, up there already for Loy Krathong, and another, Donovan, wanting to go up for work and to also catch Loy Krathong. When the latter asked me for the second time if I wanted to take the 12 hr train (turned into about 14 hrs) to catch the lantern festival (Loy Krathong), I decided to go on this journey.

So I ended up staying then in Bangkok for about 5 days. I wandered many streets and thoroughly enjoyed Chinatown. Such a busy area with vibrant storefronts and markets that I could walk through. I did a whole bunch of street photography with Donovan, since that’s his style of choice, which you’ll see soon in a photoblog of its own. Often, I’d find myself just wandering, wandering, wandering and running straight into a marvelously decorated temple or busy market. Each night, my sandals would come off, my dirty feet would be washed, and I’d collapse into my bed wondering how I’d get some relief from the humid and warm temperature I don’t think anybody ever can quite adjust to.

I resisted leaving because I didn’t feel I had explored the city as I had hoped. I think I’m learning that I never really feel like I’ve explored any place I’m at fully, and I think I’m ok with this. I think this is a great outlook for life to be on an adventure even in one’s own backyard.

Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

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comments: 0 » tags: bangkok, canal, chao phraya river, chinatown, chulalongkorn, phra nakhon, thailand, tuktuk, wat traimit

Mushrooming with Leiah Luz

Posted on 12th October 2017 in lifestyle, micro adventure, wandering

I asked Leiah Luz (previous posts, instagram, fb) if she would go on a Micro Adventure with me through North Vancouver, and she agreed. It was hard for me to really explain to her what I was interested in shooting, since it’s much different than a regular shoot. Leiah’s so rad though, she’s always been keen on shooting if she’s around, so she was pretty easy to convince I guess. At that time, I wasn’t calling them micro adventures, more a hang-out-session-afternoon-walkabout-thing. Like a romantic date filled with adventure. Instead of deliberating over clothing choice, we deliberate over where the most interesting location would be to adventure to.

Adventure was what we wanted, through the great outdoors. We wanted to stick to the West Coast theme, that much was clear, and wanted to try and capture all of the elements: earth, air, water, fire. We literally captured this by traveling on the Sea To Sky highway. Oh, and we found oyster mushrooms. I have been looking for them for a long time now, and we just stumbled upon a whole bag full of them without even trying. A good omen?

tech specs // Sony a7 / Super Multi Coated Takumar 28mm f3.5 / Super Takumar 55mm f1.8

Leiah Luz - Micro Adventures in North Vancouver - Ned Tobin Click here to read more.. »

comments: 0 » tags: fungii, leiah luz, mushrooms, north van, sea to sky, vancouver

Coast to Coast Part II

Posted on 26th September 2017 in adventure, nature

During the summer of 2017 my father and I traveled 20000 kms from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia and back again. The crossing itself is about 7000 km, and we spent a considerable amount of time driving around in Nova Scotia, too. My initial plan before I left this summer was to go from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia back to Vancouver Island and then back to Nova Scotia where I would move into our new house. Well, the second part of the journey across didn’t really happen since we ended up buying land without a house, so now I’m sitting here trying to decide what to do for the winter.

For the entire journey we stayed in Canada. Canada actually has quite beautiful roads – the trans-Canada for the most part has double lanes and smooth roads.

The order of these photographs are in the order that I took them, so you can kind of follow our path along as we went.

One of my challenges of this journey was to try and get some lifestyle photographs, which I really did fail at horribly. I am trying to train my eye to see casual settings to take photographs of, that I am a part of. I know it exists somewhere in remote triggering with my phone and setting the camera up on a tripod, but I still definitely haven’t come close to mastering that. Maybe I just need a sidekick with a camera…

Do you have any locations I should go to next spring when I’m doing the trip?

 

Canadian Rockies

Canadian Rockies

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comments: 0 » tags: alberta, canada, manitoba, nova scotia, prairies, rockies

Victorian Rose | Gidget Gravedigger

Posted on 8th June 2017 in fashion

Gidget Gravedigger (fb, ig, podcast) is a fascinating human. Her and her sister have a podcast where they talk all things horror films; clearly by her name, she’s a horror themed human. Sometimes when I talk to Gidget, she says she’s doing something like practicing her ‘horror makeup application…’ she has tarot reading nights, and she likes her bourbon sours.

I always reflect (maybe wince a bit) on whether or not I let people be their true selves when I’m shooting them. I really am trying to stay away from telling them to do things like: “Be a hipster,” “Wear those casual pants there,” or even: “Just do natural makeup,” when they’re clearly not a casual type of person. Some people are, which is totally awesome (cause that’s the way I lean), but some people just don’t get to excited about being casual.

Fortunately for me, Ms. Gravedigger also likes Victorian themed photoshoots in rose gardens – I think it was her who actually suggested we try and do something spooky in the rose gardens of Stanley Park, Vancouver while they were all just thorns, and not blooming. I’ll let you comment down below to approve if we nailed the spooky part, but we definitely got the look down.

tech specs // sony a7 / Super Takumar 55mm f1.8 / Helios 44-2 58mm / Jupiter 11A 135mm f4

Gidget Gravedigger victorian rose - Ned Tobin

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comments: 0 » tags: gidget gravedigger, stanley park, victorian
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