Lone Longtail in Maya Bay

Phi Phi Leh, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 60 mm: ISO 400: 1/200 sec.: f/10

Tree on Maya Beach

Phi Phi Leh, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 30 mm: ISO 100: 1/400 sec.: f/4.5

Longtails in Maya Bay 2

Phi Phi Leh, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 38 mm: ISO 400: 1/125 sec.: f.9

I really like how this photo shows the magnitude of the cliffs surrounding the bay, but even this doesn't do it justice.  

Longtails at Maya Bay

 Phi Phi Leh, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 400: 1/400 sec.: f/11

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 400: 1/320 sec.: f/10

Loh Samah Bay

Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 400: 1/400 sec.: f/11

I had a real tough time with this one.  You walk from Maya Beach over to this bay, but there is only a small set of stairs going down to the water so you don't have a lot of room or time to make a really good photo.  As such, I just set my camera to aperature priority and trusted it to do the exposure job for me.  As you can see, it got the water perfectly, but completely washed out the sky.  It was sad because this was such a beautiful bay and all my photos were washed out.  I did what I could to try and minimize it in this photo.

Loh Samah Bay

Phi Phi Leh, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 25 mm: ISO 400: 1/320 sec.: f/10

Viking Cave

Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 400: 1/80 sec.: f/8

This spot had the most colorful water of anywhere we went.  I guess some people live in this cave and collect the swallow saliva from the nests and send it out to make bird's nest soup.

Phi Phi Leh Bay

Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 27 mm: ISO 400: 1/250 sec.: f/10

Here is another shot that shows just how shallow the water was.  This is actually where we got stuck. It also shows the only beach I remember in this bay.

Phi Phi Leh Bay

Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 35 mm: ISO 400: 1/400 sec.: f/11

3 Most Popular Posts

In honor of hitting 3,000 views, I thought I would post my 3 most popular posts based solely on the number of page views.  Unfortunately, a number of photos were tied for third, so here they are--the four photos tied for third.

Bogus Basin, Idaho 2005

Spanish Fork, Utah 2011

Royal Palace, Bangkok, Thailand 2012

Ayutthaya, Thailand 2012

I was not surprised by any of the photos that were tied for third.  The first two were not great shots, but they are two of the oldest posts so it makes sense they would have more views since they have been online for much longer.  The second two happen to be two of my favorites from Thailand.

Coming in at second:

Ayutthaya, Thailand 2012

I was really surprised by this one.  I really wasn't too excited about this shot, but I have received a lot of positive feedback on it.  I liked the symmetry and it came out much better once I converted it to black and white, but it still isn't one of my favorites.  

Coming in first, my most popular photo:

Tumalo Falls, Oregon 2012

This isn't my personal favorite photo, but I was pleased with how it came out and am not too surprised it has been my most popular post.  Perhaps the most surprising part is that I have photos from 17 different countries of some really fun stuff, but this shot from Oregon is the most popular.

Longtail in Shallow Waters

Phi Phi Leh Bay, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 400: 1/320 sec.: f/10

As you can see, much of the water in this bay was quite shallow with rocks all over.  It didn't work out too well for the speed boat as we got stuck on a rock and it took a bit of work to get us free.

Phi Phi Leh Bay

Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 400: 1/320 sec.: f/10

Blue Water

Phi Phi Leh Island, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 400: 1/200 sec.: f/10

Coming through the Fog

Snohomish, Washington

December 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 270 mm: ISO 800: 1/125 sec.: f/7.1

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 240 mm: ISO 800: 1/125 sec.: f/7.1

These were shot from my brother's back porch over Woods Creek outside of Monroe.  This happened about every morning we stayed there and it was my favorite scene to capture.

Bamboo Island 2

Bamboo Island, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 250: 1/500 sec.: f/11

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 46 mm: ISO 220: 1/500 sec.: f/11

In terms of pure beach, Bamboo Island was probably the most spectacular one we visited.  Long white beaches with clear water.  However, I tend to prefer the jagged cliffs over the pure beach so I can't say it was the most scenic beach.  We spent a half hour or so here and it was perfect!

Bamboo Island

Bamboo Island, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 27 mm: ISO 360: 1/500 sec.: f/11

Our first stop on the speed boat tour was Bamboo Island.  An uninhabited picture of paradise with white sand beaches and clear blue/green water.

Andaman Sea

Ao Nang, Thailand

November 23, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 100 mm: ISO 180: 1/500 sec.: f/11

In the morning we went to Ao Nang to start our speed boat tour of the Phi Phi Islands.  This was taken from the back of our speed boat soon after leaving Ao Nang.  I loved our the rock cliffs popped against the blue sea and sky.

Longtail in the Bay

Railey, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 25 mm: ISO 400: 1/250 sec.: f/10

Desert Storm Clearing

Nye County, Nevada

December 18, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 38 mm: ISO 360: 1/500 sec.: f/11

Among the Mangroves

Railey East, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 60 mm: ISO 400: 1/250 sec.: f/10

Railey East

Railey, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 50 mm: ISO 100: 1/30 sec.: f/18

The Bay

Railey West, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 400: 1/500 sec.: f/11

As you will see, I had a bit of time shoot on the West side (the least appealing part).  They told us the last boat to Railey left at 5:00 so we headed over about 4:00 wanting to not cram on the last boats.  What they failed to mention was the only boats left to Krabi at 5:00 so we were stuck waiting around forever.  They also kept us hanging around without spending time exploring much because they made it seem like we could go as soon as enough people were there to fill a boat.  Such was not the case.  Rather, they waited until everyone from the boat we came over on was there so the same driver took the same people.  It was all rather absurd and very inefficient, but I guess you have to play by their rules.

Longtails at Railey East

Railey, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 21 mm: ISO 400: 1/400 sec.: f/11

Chinese Birdcage

Railey, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 46 mm: ISO 400: 1/100 sec.: f/9

Walking back to the East side of the Island, I found this fun little bird cage.

Railey West

Railey, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 20 mm: ISO 360: 1/500 sec.: f/11

We enjoyed a nice (and very reasonable) lunch on the beach on the East side of Railey before taking a swim.  The beach was very enjoyable, but had more people because this is where the speed-boat tours stop.  Even with that, it paled in comparison to what you would see at a beach in California.  The water was nice, but had a lot of sea lice--meaning you would get little stabs of pain, almost like a light bee sting, every few minutes.  While that was annoying, it wasn't bad enough to ruin the swimming in beautiful water surrounded by majestic cliffs.

Railey Viewpoint

Railey, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 400: 1/400 sec.: f/11

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 360: 1/500 sec.: f/11

On the walk from the east side of Railey to Phra Nang, there is a little sign that says Lagoon/Viewpoint on the side of a rocky cliff and a rope.  Of course, I left my pregnant wife behind and started climbing up.  With no shoes and carrying my camera, the climb ended up being much harder than I thought as much of it was climbing up rocks (hands and feet) with the assistance of a slick, mud-covered rope.  At the top, I was rewarded with this amazing view.  You can see the beach on the East side of Railey and the bay on the west  side.  I would highly recommend this climb to anyone, just be ready for an afternoon activity rather than a quick detour.

Phra Nang Beach

Railey, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 280: 1/500 sec.: f/11

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 30 mm: ISO 400: 1/400 sec.: f/11

Desert Storm

Nye County, Nevada

December 18, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 65 mm: ISO 100: 1/50 sec.: f/22

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 185 mm: ISO 100: 1/40 sec.: f/20

I have a case out in Pahrump and I was driving back when this awesome storm started rolling through.  Luckily I had my camera in the car and was able to stop a couple times to capture the massive cloud wall.

The classic shot

Phra Nang Beach, Railey, Thailand

November 22, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 60 mm: ISO 400: 1/250 sec.: f/10

If you do a google search for Phi Phi Islands or Railey Beach or Southern Thailand, you will likely see many images similar to this one.  While I like to find new shots to take at each location, I am not above making the iconic photo because I think there is a reason a shot becomes so popular--it's a good shot to make!