Project 365, Day 102. Is that a banana or are you just happy to see me?

Ah, that joke never gets old.

Seriously though, geez, them are some fucking huge bananas! Those things are longer than my....well...they're really big...

Those are what we call wife-pleasers. What? Oh get your mind out of the gutter will you? Imagine how happy the wife would be to have a banana split made from one of those things. Shame on you.

I forgot to take a picture of the avocado that I bought. The pit inside was about the size of the avocados we get in the states. And was it tasty!

I dont know who the guy on the bike is, but that's my buddy Ahemn taking to him. He's the lab tech here in Takoradi and is always happy to pose for pictures!



Music today:
A Kind of Magic by Queen
Rock is Dead by Marylin Manson
Armageddon It by Def Leppard
Refugee by Tom Petty
Just Like Paradise by David Lee Roth

Project 365, Day 101. Playing with light.

So...

The clouds DO go leave here in Ghana. It's isn't gray all of the time. It must just seem that way because the rainy season is just about to start. Not looking forward to that in Sierra Leone, I must admit.

At any rate, the sun came out today! I went out to play with the warm afternoon light and got this shot. I'm not really sure what type of tree that is, it sort of looks like coconuts, but I dunno and I forgot to ask.



Music today:
Rock of Ages by Def Leppard
Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi
Fallen Angel by Poison

Ah... high speed internet, how I've missed you...

Project 365, Day 100! Live from Ghana!

Actually, it's Day 101.

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. However, I did get to shoot.

In fact, at the morning meeting, the doctor let the whole crew know that I am a photographer and if they want pictures taken, they had better come see me!

Which everyone did...

It's a good thing we didn't have patients to see, because everyone was tugging at my sleeve to shoot a picture of them next. I was able to get decent pictures of just about everyone, I think.

Yesterday morning was an interesting time. Our driver, Adams, wanted pictures of him in the ambulance, then one of the gents that checks the oxygen tank levels every morning wanted a shot of that, Edward the X-ray tech, wanted shots of his little part of the clinic and the various aspects of his job, then it was off to shoot Ahman, in the laboratory. I got a real nice shot of him looking through a microscope.

....Only to notice later, that there was no slide on the tray. Ooops. It's a nice shot, but it's pretty clear it was staged. Live and learn...

My toughest shots had to be of Edward. He works in a very dark area of the clinic shooting, developing and reading X-rays and his dark skin made it a bit of a challenge. If only I had brought a flash...

Even though he was my toughest customer, one of the shots I took just happen to be my favorite of the whole day.


Edward as he processes films in the darkroom.

I just like how that one turned out.

Check back later for today's post!

Pics O' The Week #15

So. Brian is in Ghana. This weekend I was in....Colorado Springs. It was a nice weekend, but doesn't quite compare in terms of interesting wildlife and scenery. There's not too much I can do about that.

We headed out for breakfast this morning to a little cafe in a little town west of the Springs a ways, where I figured I could at least get a couple of pictures for the day. Not a bad plan, but the icy wind was more than a match for my sweatshirt, so it was kind of a snap and run situation. They have a gazebo out on a little lake...

...and I did spy this odd fellow hanging out with the mallard ducks and Canada geese...

...but it's not exactly on par experience-wise with African lizards and the Ghana coast. Although, on the plus side, I didn't need a visa to get there.

Here's a little taste of home for my far away man....we missed you at breakfast, sweetie. Stay safe and come home when your work is done.

Project 365, Day 99. Random thoughts about Ghana.

Well, not just about Ghana, but the whole experience here.

Just random thoughts, no congruency to them and hey, a random picture to go with them!

Damn, it's hot and humid here. Did I mention it's humid? I haven't sweated this much since high school, wondering if I was going to graduate or not.

The sink in the kitchen seems to have two settings. Off and blast water everywhere.

The doctor has about the same motivation level as myself. I dig him.

Half a teaspoon of the dish washing detergent could probably last a medium sized restaurant a week without any problems. And it comes in half a liter bottle. Geez, you could probably wash ever cooking and eating implement in Africa with one bottle.

The people are really fucking nice here. Especially the folks that work here with me. I can't carry my own basket at the market.

I feel so...white. A tad out of place at times.

Every sink will splatter right at crotch level. Every time.

Carrying things with your hands is for schmucks apparently. Everyone carries stuff on their heads. It's quite impressive!

Tying your baby to your ass is the accepted form of carrying your brat.

My buddy Arthur J. Guinness is quite well represented here. Good on ye laddie!

Dogs are dogs the world over. They would rather play with a piece of garbage than any commercially made dog toy.

It's cloudy here all the time, I wonder if these people know the sky is actually blue rather than grey. It's like fricking Ireland or Scotland. (Except a lot fucking warmer!)

There are medications in my jump bag that even the doctor has never heard of. Ooookkkaaaayyy....I don't feel like an idiot now. And some of the doses of the medications I DO know? That patient better hope to Christ that the medication works right the first time. Cause there ain't gonna be a second dose.

New parents freak out when their kid gets a fever. Even here. Keep giving them fluids and Tylenol. It'll go away. I promise.

My air conditioner is the exact same unit I had in Afghanistan. Do contractors buy these damn things in bulk, or what?

The local beer is pretty tasty.

We must not be open on Sundays. The doc showed up this morning in swim trunks and a wife-beater. Yeah buddy!

They really could use a public trash can system and some city renovation programs here.

If I'm not mistaken, the clinic was constructed to not only withstand but repel an armed attack. Huh. Kinda brings bitching about health care to a new level when you argue with an AK-47 and a RPG.

My wife is really gonna want one of those red-headed lizards.

The security folks at the airport tried to hassle me for money. Way to keep that stereotype alive, gents.

If you can get a woman to look good in a photograph, you have just made a new best friend. I don't care where you are, this holds true.

I can get my favorite brand of English biscuits here! No Jaffa Cakes, but Digestives and Gingers! Yum!

Did I mention it's humid here? My trackpad on my laptop doesn't track too well with sweaty fingers.

Avocados are huge here and the beef sausage rocks! Also, milk is kept on the shelf at the market, not in the refrigerated section.

I'm glad I don't have to make a living as a fisherman here. Shit, that looks like it's a hard life.

There must be a nightclub pretty close by. There is a constant base booming from about 7PM till about midnight.

The vultures that infest the fish market aren't afraid of anyone or anything. Except puppies.

My body knows it's not in the states anymore, but I think my internal clock is trying to reset itself to Kabul time for some reason. It makes for an interesting sleep cycle not to mention when I get hungry.


That's about it for the moment. Time for the random picture. Then it's bedtime....I think. Maybe it's nap time. Or lay down and read time...

This picture is from the fish market in Sekondi. While very colorful, just the smell alone is enough to make you grateful for everything you have in your life.


Random music for tonight:
Cum On Feel The Noise by Quiet Riot
Cradle of Love by Billy Idol (Live)
Who Are You by The Who
It's Only Rock and Roll by The Rolling Stones
Drop Dead Legs by Van Halen
This Is The Life by Weird Al
Me Wise Magic by Van Halen
Viva Las Vegas by ZZ Top
You Make Loving Fun by Fleetwood Mac (Live)
Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith (Live)

Sigh...music to upload to... (I miss high speed internet...)
Barracuda by Heart
Hold Me Now by The Thompson Twins
All My Love by Led Zeppelin

Project 365, Day 98. Yes, No and NO!

I'm really kinda digging it here in Ghana.

The people seem to be really friendly, the work isn't overwhelming, the facilities are nice (awesome in fact) and there is a lot of stuff to take pictures of.

It's almost too much to mentally process. One of my drivers, Theo, took me on a tour of Takoradi yesterday. It reminds me a lot of Kabul. Not in a bad way, mind you. Open air markets, lots of colorful people wandering about and yes, it has that developing nation look to it. Unlike Kabul, everyone appears laid back and even though it looks poor, it appears there is enough to go around for everyone.

My only gripe is that I won't be able to see the rest of the country. I hear there are very nice wildlife refuges in the north. The map shows not one but TWO butterfly reserves! That sounds intriguing!

Now, the picture of the day and an explination of today's title....



Yes, that is a lizard on a BBQ.

No, the BBQ isn't on/we didn't eat him (No lizards were harmed in the making of this blog post)

And....

NO Emily, I will NOT bring him home for you! You already have a dog, you don't need an African lizard too, yes, I know he's cute and that you'd take really, really, really, really good care of him. The answer is still no. No, your pouty face will not make me change my mind. Neither will crying. (Well, that might get me, but, no, I am still not bringing him home.)

He's a bit of a fickle fellow, sometimes he'll let me get pretty close and take pictures other times he's off like a shot. He does seem to like to pose for me though, he jumped up on the grill to see what I was up to. He also has a very interesting head bob thing that he does. It looks like he's doing push-ups.

Oh and yes, there will be more pictures from Ghana. I'll be putting them up on the website when I have them edited.

This post was technically for yesterday. It sounds like the doc and I might go to the beach later today, I think I'll do some long exposure shots of the ocean for today's post... Stay tuned!


Music for (editing and writing) today:
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
California Girls by David Lee Roth
Lords of Karma by Joe Satriani
Rock & Roll Ain't Noise Pollution by AC/DC
Dude Looks Like A Lady by Aerosmith

Music to upload to:
I Want A New Duck by Weird Al
Forever Man by Eric Clapton
Let Me Hear You Scream by Ozzy
Africa by Toto (HA!)

Project 365, Day 97. Up in the air....

Finally.

No, finally I'm working and in Africa, not finally a new blog post. I know everyone is enjoying the pictures as well as the commentary, but have you ever tried to keep a blog updated from 30,000 feet or western Africa?

I didn't think so. So quit yer bitching.

There's a photographer. I don't like her style. It's just not my thing. She's a big muckity-muck for Adobe who makes Lightroom and Photoshop, which are two of the editing programs I use and she's brilliant when it comes to that stuff. I just don't dig her photography.

But she travels a shitload. (Even more than I do) She had this idea to take pictures out of the plane window on her travels. Now, that I think is a great idea, I have seen some cool shit from the window of an airplane, clouds, sunsets, sunrises, major cities by night, things you just don't see on a regular basis.

She wrote a book about the topic along with her photos. She seems to have deviated away from her normal style, so it's actually not a bad read.

Honestly, I was disappointed to see someone had already done this, as I had had the same idea while I was working in Afghanistan. Of course, I was even more bummed to see who it was by, so it goes.






(As always, when I post more than one shot for the day, I leave it up to Emily to pick which will be the Shot of the Day.)

These were shot on the flight from Denver to Washington DC. It was almost midnight when we left DC and I try to be unconscious for as long as possible during overseas flights, so I missed the sunrise.

The big ol purple blotch in the second one is from the combination of my polarizer and the light refracting through the plane's double windows. I'm not quite smart enough to know how to fix that in post. I needed the filter to get the deep blue sky. The third one is pretty much straight from the camera, I liked the colors and how it turned out. Only did a bit of sharpening and noise reduction to it.

The windows in the plane from Accra to Takoradi were...not clean enough to shoot out of, and the cloud cover would not have permitted good shots anyway.

I just wish I'd started doing this sooner.

Music today:
Love in an Elevator by Aerosmith
Lay Down Sally by Eric Clapton
On Fire by Van Halen
Better Than You by Metallica
On Turning Away by Pink Floyd (Live)
I Want To Break Free by Queen
I'll Fall In Love Again by Sammy Hagar
Draw the Line by Aerosmith
Foolin' by Def Leppard
(From about here on out, the music was just playing while pics were uploading. The internet is ssssllooooowwww here. But what do you want? It's Ghana)
The Confessor by Joe Walsh
I Lost on Jeopardy by Weird Al
Highway to Hell by AC/DC (Live)
The Call of Ktulu by Metallica (Live)