Skydiving is one of the most amazing feelings ever. I would much rather jump out of a plane than bungee jump. The rush of falling at 180mph for 60 seconds is incredible. You actually feel like your flying. I just went for the 2nd time in Byron Bay, Australia this week. I swear I could get addicted to this.

We jumped from 14,000ft which is the highest package literally, but worth the extra freefall time. If you pay extra, you can get a dedicated photographer that jumps out of the plane with you and shoots photos of your short lived journey to the earth. I was curious of how they do it, and I learned about a cool little piece of photography technology that is interesting to share. They use mouth trigger that they can fire the camera by biting down on it as they’re falling through the sky(see the pic below. He’s holding the mouth trigger in his left hand). The dSLR camera is mounted to the top of his helmet(unfortunately he had a garbage Samsung camera inside).

Unfortunately most of the images were terrible. Due to a couple reasons. His camera settings were wrong, and he was using a Samsung camera. If he was using a Canon and set it right, 90% of them wouldn’t have turned out blurry. At least I got a couple decent ones that I had to really doctor in PS.

How appropriate in seeing as we’re amidst the Thanksgiving holiday. I would say traveling the world, seeing and experiencing other cultures has been the thing that has most shape my perspective on life and realize how good we have it. It makes you really appreciate the small conveniences that we don’t even ever realize we have here in the states. Beyond that, the ability to make a living taking pictures if you break it down to what it actually is, is quite a hard to come by thing in and of itself. This doesn’t exist in the harder to reach parts of the world. The ability to do something that you love, be creative, and live is something in rare form. It definitely takes a certain type of person that can deal with the sacrifice of stability especially in the beginning years, but if you can stick through it you can do it. That combined with the opportunity of living where I live allows me to do what I love and make money, and for that I am truly thankful.

That said, I feel giving back to the world is something we all should practice, despite whatever your situation, and where ever you are. I’ve been in some of the most remote places around the world, and so many times, the most simplest people are so kind, they will give you the shirt off their back. Everyone has their own situation, own capacity, and own way they can give back and that is what is the most important. For some people it’s the gift of money, for some it’s the gift of talent, some people it’s the shirt off their back.

I’ve always felt compelled to give back with the talent of photography that I feel I’ve been gracefully given. For me, I’ve been fortunate to connect with my good friend Adam Braun a couple years ago. He founded one of the now, fastest growing charities started in the last five years: Pencils of Promise. It’s been amazing to be a part of, and to see how my photography has helped them to blow up to where they are now. When I met Adam, we connected on the philosophies of the non-profit world of running a non-profit as a business(Check out Adam’s “For Purpose” talk at the Google Zeitgeist conference). In the end, money is what facilitates the cause. You must create an engine that allows the cause to be done. That engine is largely dependent on visual communications that convey to the potential donors what that organization is doing. When I started working with Adam, Pencils of Promise was just him, and he had built one school with another on the way. Fast forward two years later and we just broke ground on our 50th school. Last week at the PoP Gala, it was so exciting to see us raise over $1M in one evening. You don’t have to always give your services for free and shouldn’t if it’s your only source of income, but that’s something I’ve chosen to do with PoP because I feel it’s my way of giving back. It’s all what you feel personally. (Some posts of work I’ve done with them. Laos: http://nonk.it/vuJ3fW Guatemala: http://nonk.it/k1H4jb Nicaragua: http://nonk.it/aiptev)

Another different give back opportunity I just had was in Tibet with the people we came across. We took people’s portrait with a Polaroid to give to them. It was amazing to see their faces light up when they received the picture. Many of the people having never seen a camera before. It was such a great opportunity to give back and hear their stories which leads me into the next part of this post.

I wanted to tell you about an opportunity to be able give back to the world in the realm of photography. It’s called Help Portrait, started by a good friend of mine, Jeremy Cowart. The project has grown to a global scale and is taking place on December 10th.

The basic premise is:
1: Find someone in need.
2: Take their portrait.
3: Print their portrait.
4: Deliver it to them.

I would encourage you all to get involved with Help Portrait this year, and if it’s not feasible or your cup of tea, find another way. Your way of giving back to the world and those in need.

For more information and how to get involved check out the Help Portrait website. http://help-portrait.com/

There comes a nice mystique when not researching the place you’re going before you go. I like going without expectations, which partially happened on this trip. One of the big reason’s I wanted to go to Tibet was the amazing travel portrait work of Phil Borges. I met him a while back and saw his book on the Tibetan Portrait, including the Dalai Lama. Since then, the Tibetan nomads were what appealed to me, and what I inspired me to want to shoot there.

That said, my expectations upon traveling there were very different than what we found. I think a lot was due to the areas we were in. None the less, we shifted directions into something that I found even more interesting. The Tibetan Buddhist Pilgrimage. It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before first hand. The animation above is the 57 year old Buddhist monk, Lubsang Shlrep doing his prostration pilgrimage from his hometown Yunan. The prostration as you can see is three steps, hands up in pray form over your head, down to the chest, to the stomach, then the whole body on the ground forehead touching, back up to your feet, and over again. Lubsang had been doing this every day for 1 year, 3 months, and one day the day that we met him. He sleeps on the side of the road in a plastic bag, and carries his belongings in a hand pull cart on wheels. He pulls the cart 150 meters or so, then goes back to where he left off and does his prostration. Over and Over again. The end destination is Lhasa, the Buddhist holy city. It’s about 2000K from his home town, and he covers about 5K per day. Witnessing this event for the first time completely blew my mind, as I’m sure it does if you’re reading this information for the first time.

The journey continues with Jeff Holt, our guide Lumbum, and “driver”. Mind you, you can’t go anywhere in Tibet as a tourist without a tour guide. You have to have one to even get permits to get into the country. One one of the other highlights of the trip was camping with a group of people on their pilgrimage at 1 year, 5 months, 1 day. They were a friendly bunch, and very welcoming to us. They had some kids in the group that just walked along with them, then the youngest pilgrim doing the prostration was 20 years old, all the way up to 36. Camping with them was an amazing way to experience, even for an evening what they’ve experienced for roughly 516 days. They’ve even gone that long without a shower! Living like this quite puts things into perspective. This crew of people were mostly comprised of Monks and Nuns on their journey from Amdo. Dena, is a young nun that’s in charge of taking care of the kids in the group, and staying ahead at the camp sites to cook the meals for the rest of the group. Even though she doesn’t do the prostration, she is still considered on her pilgrimage but serving in a different way. The ones doing the prostration have calluses on their hands and their foreheads from the repetitious motions. They are geared up with aprons, hand paddles, gloves, and sometimes tire rubber attached to the toes of their shoes. We hung out with them by the campfire that evening. Being a white American, my homie Jeff Holt turned out to be a big deal and a few of the younger gen kids wanted photos with him.

The second highlight of the trip was the next night staying at a famous monastery that was at about 15,000ft in elevation. You really feel it up there, especially if you’re walking up stairs for about 3-5 steps. The temperature was about 15ºF outside, and probably 16º inside our room. The view was pretty incredible. The next morning at sunrise, we hiked up to see the Sky Burial, yet another crazy thing to see. People from all over bring their loved ones’ bodies to the monastery to be buried in the sky there. Essentially, the monk brings the body out of a box, starts cutting off the skin, and when they’re ready, the hundreds of vultures hovering around get welcomed to devour the body in a matter of 10-15 minutes leaving only the bones left. They then cut up the bones and either feed them to the birds or burn them. Being sky buried here at this monastery means you’re guaranteed to be re-incarnated to a human body in exactly 49 days. I wish I could have taken photos, but they were strictly not allowed. In fact, we got kicked out and ended up having to watch from way up on the hill.

Upon our return to Lhasa, we stopped to say hi to our friend Lubsang as he was probably about 25k further down the road from where we saw him before. The rest of the time in Lhasa, we shot some portraits of the different people that have made their pilgrimage to the holy city. The people watching around the Barkhor is fascinating. Buddhism manifested at it’s fullest.

All in all, it was a great trip. Tibet is one of the most interesting countries I’ve been to due to the religion that dominates it. The prostration as interesting as it is, is very difficult to capture it’s entirety in one single image because it looks so bizarre. You can learn more about how I shoot travel work in my book, Photo Trekking.

Many thanks to our guide, Lumbum. Check out his site if you ever venture to Tibet: Tibetanshamantour.com

Lubsang Shlrep

16,500ft

Lhasa, The Buddhist Holy City

Another last minute trip to a place I’ve always wanted to go. Israel. My new friends I met in Spain a month ago, extended an invitation to come and cruise the holy land and I couldn’t say no. I must say, it’s one place that was pretty close to how I pictured it, and met my expectations. The people were quite friendly. My director friend Omri Cohen has always wanted me to come for a visit when he was there, and this time it just worked out. My friend Matan played a pretty good tour guide from biking around the city to photo trekking excursions to the Dead Sea, the desert, and Jerusalem. He also introduced me to some fantastic restaurants. All in all it was a fantastic trip. One place I would like to revisit.

Jerusalem, a city of rich history is a fascinating place as it is the holy land of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I never realized the intensity that results from the intersection of these religions all in one place. So much hatred between the different religious believers. The same stone structures and buildings have different significances based on which religion you believe in. So many pe0ple fighting over who is right and who is wrong. Interesting to observe.

The western wall was the most the most fascinating piece of Jerusalem. The one wall left that the Jews pray to after the temple was destroyed. As you can see in the photos, there are some interesting ceremonies going on.

This new project is fresh of the plane. I just returned from Guatemala where I photographed for my favorite charity, Pencils of Promise.

Pencils of Promise is a charity that I’ve been working with for the last couple of years. When it was just beginning, I met the founder, Adam Braun, through a friend and we connected in our perspectives on life, work, and business. PoP is an organization that builds sustainable schools for kids in developing countries, and I very much believe in the cause. The biggest thing I admire about Adam is his passion for the work on the ground, but also his vision in running a charity like a business. Because of that, PoP has been a huge success. My first trip with him was to Laos in December of 2009, where he had just finished the first PoP school. Fast forward a year and a half later, and we’ve expanded into Latin America(Nicaragua & Guatemala) and just broke ground on PoP’s 39th school. I like being involved with a charity/founder that truly appreciates good photography, and is on a fast track to impact a lot of people. The work I shoot for PoP is directly in line with my personal travel work, something I really enjoy.

Besides the beautiful landscapes that we visited, I really enjoy visiting the schools and villages. We participated in and shot the opening ceremony for PoP’s first school in Guatemala. The community were very thankful and emotional. The kids were great to interact with. The biggest reward is being able to give back to the world in a way that’s not necessarily monetary. It definitely helps raise money for the org, but it’s great to be able to use my talents for the good of humanity. It also helps keep you grounded to travel and see how people live in not so fortunate circumstances. It’s so exciting to be a part of such a fast growing charity.

On another note, I talk about working with charities in my travel photography book, Photo Trekking. Learn how to win a signed copy here: http://nonk.it/jZ5NCc

If you’d like to check out the Pencils of Promise movement, or get involved visit their website. http://www.pencilsofpromise.org/

WELCOME SUMMER GIVEAWAY!! The days are getting longer, the sun is getting hotter, and we have a special summer treat for you!

These next two weeks you have the chance to WIN a signed copy of my book, Photo Trekking. Simply click through to the Photo Trekking fan page, “Like” it, and leave us a comment on why you’d love to win! Sounds easy enough, right?

We’ll announce the winner Tuesday, June 28th, 2011. Join in the fun ! We look forward to hearing from you.

Hey All, You’ve probably already seen the post for the Make Better Pictures & Show the Right People talk that I’m doing in Portland next week. Check it out if you haven’t. http://nonk.it/MBPSMP

Also, we are going to raffle off some prizes. We will be giving out 3 signed copies of Photo Trekking. The top prize winner will get the book and a 30 minute consult with me.

Neeehow! Shanghai was such a great experience, especially thanks to my friend Dan who introduced me to some pretty cool peeps in the ad agency world of Shanghai and showed me around town. We hit the ground running, dinners, house parties, and new friends. I always prefer to travel to places where I know people because you get to see a totally different side of a city. I stayed in a little botique hotel in the French Concession called Gallery Suites, and was pretty much in the mix of the coolest area with all the art galleries, shops, boutiques, etc. The FC is older colonial style buildings, and very cool. The taxi’s are cheap, starting at $2, and typically hit $4, maybe $6 if you go across town. Makes it really easy to get around town, the trick is to get someone to write your destination in Chinese and you’re usually good to go. The city itself was modern world meets chaotic developing world. I borrowed a friends bike for a spin around the French Concession, and soon realized that I felt it easier and safer to weave in and out of traffic in New York City. There are so many people on bikes, moped, cars etc, and they all come at you from every direct direction. No flow. People on mopeds will head straight down your lane right at you then veer off at the last second. Nutty experience.

My new friend Ryan, and AD at Wieden Kennedy SH introduced me to their experience Shanghai iPhone app, which helped guide me around a little. Some cool eats, shops, things to do etc, with Taxi Cards built right in so you just show the cab driver. We all hit a few parties Saturday night, but namely one at a cool surfer/skater shop called Source, where they featured this really amazing artist, Steve Gorrow who is also the creative director of Insight clothing. Here’s a little recap of the party from Source’s blog. I really loved his work. Sunday we went to a little water town an hour out of SH, which was lovely. See the pics below.

Checked out the Bund, SH’s skyline as you can see from the above photo on Monday, quite a nice view. Then saw the “light tunnel” which is overly cheesy which makes it quite amusing. Headed over to old town which is obviously overly touristy, but fun none the less. The old Chinese buildings are a great sight. Used the WKSH app to get myself to this amazing little hole in the wall Shanghai Dumpling joint; Ling Long Fang, which have to be the best I’ve ever had, along with the wanton soup, amazing. Pulled off a little fashion shoot around the small old style streets, did a bunch of agency meetings wednesday, and peaced out to Hong Kong thursday, then Taiwan Friday. It’s been non-stop.

It’s been a good trip, and one of my favorites is a few Mandrin words that sound like hip hop slang. Quite funny.
Booyao = I don’t want
jegga = this
negga = that

I just got back from a nice little week down in Nicaragua shooting for the charity that I’m involved with, Pencils of Promise. They build schools and further education for kids. The organization was founded by Adam Braun, an brilliant and passionate individual I had the pleasure of going to Laos with last December. He’s the type of guy you will talk to for 5 minutes leave the conversation fired up and wanting to change the world. When we met last year we both resonated in our life mantras of travel, helping people, and business. Most Non-Profits fail because the founder’s don’t have enough business skills to match their passion. Adam has both which really got me fired up about what he’s doing. PoP has grown insanely at least 300% in this last year, and is continuing to do so. The PoP team is killin’ it and the movement is contagious! (Mad props to ya’ll!)

Pencils Of Promise’s killer new website was done by Agency Net, who just did Jay-Z’s new Hits Collection site. Mad Props.

I rolled down with my new homie, Hoolie G, the COO of PoP. We had some great adventures visiting a couple of the current PoP schools and sites for future PoP schools. It’s exciting to be a part of a group of Do Gooders, and to photograph the children that PoP is and will be helping further their educations. We met some great locals on the ground with the partner organization, who were so kind and hospitable to us. After the 5 day shoot, Hoolie and I trekked it over to Leon, a small colonial Nicaraguan town for a little R&R, and some volcano sandboarding. (We even practiced our Ninja skills at the top of the mountain. See photo at bottom of post.)

Want to join the movement and help these kids get an education? http://www.pencilsofpromise.org/join-the-movement

A few of my fave shots in this post, but you can see the whole photo story here: http://bit.ly/PoP_Nicaragua

The girl in center of this photo is a Seeds of Learning Scholar who is attending a Pencils Of Promise school in El Blandon, Nicaragua. Her family lives on the fringe of a landfill and scavenges trash to survive. Thanks to the PoP Movement she’s in school instead…

This is Dimas, the head mason for Pencils Of Promise ’s collaboration projects with SOL in Nicaragua, in front of the Agua Fria school. In addition to teaching the community hard construction skills, he’s showing them how to plant crops – he owns his own farm with mangos, avocados, coffee, and… tilapia!!!

Some of the kids of Agua Fria walk up hill barefoot to school on the rocks.

Wheel Barrow Wars..

The view of San Ramone:

El Jefe:

The Ring Leader

Jorlgene

Crouching Onken, Hidden Hoolie

A little behind the scenes, we found a bat in my bed…

Well, She doesn’t really smoke that much, but she did for this little shoot. I’m not much of a fan of smoke itself, but I love the way it looks on film. When I decided to go to Prague a few weeks ago, I figured I should shoot something while I was there, so I looked for a model and made it happen. I found Loli who was kind enough to stay a couple extra days to shoot. I’ve been pushing myself to shoot film for my personal work these days because it is a different approach and a different feel. The more I shoot, the more I realize how much more analog it really is, and I love it. Some people may think it’s a fad to shoot film, but I don’t think so. Maybe our world has become so digital we are reverting to the roots. I wanted to do something classic black and white because a city it fits so well in Prague. I used my Contax G2 with Kodak T-Max 400 and a couple rolls of Kodak 400NC.

Check out the full story here: http://www.nickonken.com/Stories/LoliSmokes_Prague/