This was created after following the new video tutorial entitled “A World of Textures” that I recently put together. Included is also 100 textures, depending on the package you choose.

I would appreciate your vote for the 2008 Bloggies! I hope you vote for www.stuckincustoms.com in the "best photography of a weblog" category!

I found her walking with her hooded ilk around the back streets of Mumbai. Usually when I see a cadre of the enshrouded, they are accompanied by Muslim man that is glaring at almost everyone. This time there seemed to be no alpha around, so I asked her for her name. She looked at me and smiled (I think) and then looked furtively around to see if anyone was watching. I got the distinct impression that since I was a white oddity that actually spoke to her that she wanted to talk, but then thought better of it and made a slight bow before gliding away.

After I while I rubbed my House-like stubble since it has been a few days since I shaved. I asked him if he liked my beard. He gave a grunt in response which was either a laugh or a grunt of general disgust at the state of my beard.

Ahira’s dream is to go to a university and be a computer scientist or doctor or whatever her parents want.

Ahira is currently at the Batu Caves in Malaysia, just outside of Kuala Lumpur, walking up the hundreds of steps. She and her family are making the traditional Hindu pilgrimage to the peak, where she will light incense to Lord Murugan and other Hindu deities whose shrines lay at the top inside the cave network. While she talks to me telling me about doing whatever her parents want, her parents look on and nod approvingly.

This comes from my Portraits Portfolio here that you can see here.

(note: I added this to my Portraits portfolio that you can see more of here)

This is Sokhoun.

Sokhoun’s dream is to leave his Buddhist order and go to a university in Siem Reap, Cambodia, but it costs $700 a year and he thinks this dream may be "too crazy" because of the expense. He wants to get a bachelor’s degree so perhaps he can become a tour guide and save enough money to someday visit USA.

Sokhoun is currently a Theravada Buddist monk in Angkor Wat. He saw me laying on my back inside the quincunx taking photos one day and he invited me over to talk.

He told me about his history and what happened after the US pulled out of Vietnam. Pol Pot enslaved all his people to work in rice fields and convert the Angkor Wat reservior and surrounding land to huge agrarian Communist food machines. In the process, Pol Pot killed many members of his family and another 2 million Cambodians (about 1/3 of the population). Even after Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime was defeated in 1979, Sokhoun’s family still spent most of their lives escaping and running through the jungle to escape the Killing Fields.

However, Sokhoun is peaceful, and he is very happy to meet me. We sat in the ruins of Angkor Wat for about four hours talking. He said he always wanted an American friend.

"Do you have any Buddhist Monk friends, and would you like one?" he asks excitedly and shyly.

We made plans the next day for him to travel around the countryside of Cambodia so we could visit various temples together. I could not have had a better or more relaxed time with Sokhoun. We had many more interesting and fun discussions that I will mention in future posts/pics from the ruins of Cambodia. Also, we have agreed that I will select some interesting books for him to read that I am mailing to him now. We’ll start with The Fountainhead. Sokhoun is a voracious reader and the previous Communist regime did not allow books like this in the country and many of these patterns persist.

He secretly confided in me that perhaps when he leaves the Wat in three years that he would very much like to marry an American woman because they seem open, nice, and understanding. But he said this is a foolish dream and no American woman would want to marry him. I told him that was silly and I will try to hook him up. So wussup ladies? Send me your vitals so I can pimp you out monk-style!

I’m over in Malaysia for about two weeks working with our game studio here and I get really bored on the weekends. Air Asia is sort of like Southwest Airlines and I can fly about anywhere for $200. I’ve always wanted to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia, see the Killing Fields, and hopscotch around land mines, so I thought it would be a good opportunity. Besides, hotels and food and everything is so much cheaper there, why not?

People are always surprised that I travel so much, but it’s really not that big a deal or that hard… All you gotta do is get a couple cheapo tickets, do about an hour of focused planning, and then go off and have an adventure. I always think of that final Curb Your Enthusiasm show - the one with Larry David on HBO (the guy that created Seinfeld). Anyway, he is in the middle of this big death scene and he is on the bed in the hospital. He’s surrounded by his family, his wife, his best friend and agent, and a few other people. He gets very serious and he knows he is slipping away, so he decides to say something meaningful.

In his final life-moment, Larry says something like, “I guess I should have traveled more.” He struggles for breath and his voice is dry. “I would have liked to see more of Europe.” He looks off and, finally, his raspy voice says, “but I hate to pack.” And that is it.

I am in the Ukraine (it’s hard to tell from this picture) for work with a software partner there that has about 160 programmers, artists, animators, and other game-development disciplines. It just so happens that Oleg, CEO of this other company, is a famous photographer in the Ukraine. He has more photography equipment than Hefner and Flynt combined. He also has his own photography studio with enough lights to melt Chernobyl (strange segue to my story about Chernobyl).

Oleg and I talk a lot about photography. I’m more into landscapes and unique finds. He’s more into male/female models and having them do things with props and scenes and shaving cream. He invited me to his studio and Saturday and said, “We get models, zerefore we take some pictures.” I had never worked in a studio like his before, so I gave him a big thumbs up.

We showed up at his studio early and spent an eternity as he showed me every light, every strobe, every remote control, and another eternity looking at aperture and lighting and then having a 250-pound Ukrainian man sit in a chair to get the lighting right… Instead of posting a picture of the 250-pound Ukrainian man, I decided to put up this one of the model.

I only speak a few words of Russian, so I let Oleg do all the talking. We snapped away for a while and I got some interesting shots. I have a bunch more that I will post in coming weeks/months.

Amin’s dream is to drive a Ferrari. He jokes, and then becomes suddenly serious with a haunting, dark Persian stare before uttering his real dream: that one day our race is “human being”, our religion is “humanity” and our nationality is “citizen of the world.” Amin thinks deeply, and then laughs and says, “Well maybe if I was driving a Ferrari now I would be thinking of this crap!”

Amin is currently working at John Galt Games after being recommended by his fellow Iranian programmer, Ali, who shares the flowing locks of Sayid from Lost and the comic stylings of Cicak Man himself. Amin has recently passed the killer gauntlet programmer test of Hafiz (our lead tech brain) with a score of 85. Nobody has ever scored this high, except for Hafiz himself, who resides with the demigods of C++ in his own heavenly sphere of programming and peace.

This comes from my Portrait Series here.

Here is another shot I took from nearby, of a few Islamic schoolchildren:

Aru is currently selling hand-carved Teak wood sculptures in the floating market about two hours outside of Bangkok. He is alert and alive, gladly tracing the markings on his body, explaining to me what they mean.

This shot of Aru comes from my “Portraits Portfolio“, where I try to take the opportunity to get to know some of these interesting-looking people.

This was taken in the floating market, where things got just a touch crowded towards the middle of the day. It could have been hotter in that boat, but I don’t know how.

Brenna’s dream is to live in the wiles of Australia and own her own stylist studio while running a photography gallery on the side.

Brenna is currently working as a barista in a not-well-known chain called Starbucks, saving up to go to cosmotology school. She loves animals and is lamenting that her shoes might be made of leather.

This is from my Portraits Set that you can see here.

Ulaf is currently operating a windmill in Haarlem. He takes his time when showing me how it works, telling me in great detail how the oak cogs were carved. He doesn’t get many visitors and he is excited that I want to know about all the machinery.

(this comes from my Portraits series)

Eva is currently in Amsterdam on a dinner cruise with her boyfriend. She wants to get married and have a little girl. Her boyfriend smiles and nods.

(this is from my Portraits portfolio on Flickr)

This is Ahmed.

Ahmed’s dream is to see Israel wiped off the face of the map. With dark eyes, he stares out across a sea of men yelling “Praise Allah”.

Ahmed is currently attending a Hezbollah rally in Paris, holding a poster of a burned Palastinian child.

—

This comes from a series of portraits I have in a set over on Flickr:

This is Vespucci.

Vespucci’s dream is to find his son and tell him important things. He twists his head quickly at me with a lost and quizzical look, and then he returns to a thoughtful gaze.

Vespucci is currently homeless and cannot remember where his son is.

—

This is Skye.

Skye’s dream, she says with a stalwart demeanor, is to be a successful dermatologist.

Skye is currently modeling in Milan during summer break from medical school.

—

This is Paola.

Paola’s dream, she pauses, she can’t remember them any more.

Paula is currently poses as the Statue of Liberty on the Spaccanapoli in Naples.

—

This is Claudio.

Claudio’s dream is to help people and to seek the truth. He squints at the crucifix in the basilica.

Claudio is currently living out his dream and has peace.

—

This is Maurizio.

Maurizio’s dream is to captain a boat in the bay of Naples and to protect the habitat around Pospitillo and the Amalfi Coast. When he shakes hands, his grip is of old rope.

Maurizio is currently living out his dream.

—

This is Astia.

Astia’s dream was to see her son to rule the Roman Empire.

Astia died never seeing it happen.

—

This is Manea.

Manea’s dream is to go back to Romania and find his mother. He smiles inside his beard, looking upward.

Manea is currently homeless and thinks his mother may be dead, or worse, she may not remember him.

—

This is Maria.

Maria dreams of being a songwriter and singer. She often looks down and nods her head, thinking about deep waves.

Maria is currently teaching scuba diving in Naples and writes songs at night.