While we were in Langkawi, each of us had our own pool for our rooms. How cool is that? We would always have arguments… like he said, why don’t you come to my pool. And I was like no way man. I’m not getting in your filthy pool. Get your skinny ass over to my pool and get it all dirty with your dirty dirty body and then Tane was like, okay.
One day, we jumped out on a boat to go through the archipelago to visit some floating markets. These places are totally unique and they sell a wide variety of things, only half of which I can identify. Some of the veggies and fruits and stuff look a little sketchy, so they are definitely the sorts of things you need to prep and cook well when you get home.
Welcome to a very different Machine Elf creation! All my latest ones seem to be my favorite, but this one definitely gives a new perspective on the cinematic quality and storytelling of fractals. This creation was incredibly complex and took about a month for the visuals and another month for the music from Joshua Ryan. We’ve been collaborating on this one forever and now it is finally ready for release!
This creation explores how incredible complexity and the fabric of the universe could possibly be boiled down to a few combined fractal equations. I’ve always been fascinated by the fabric of the reality around us. Maybe it’s just math, or a higher order of mathematical formulas that collide with different sorts of energies. It’s really hard to say, eh? All these Machine Elf creations explore different facets from the same jewel of the reality that is being built around us all the time.
To see all the Machine Elf videos on YouTube, check out the Machine Elf playlist.
Also, we’ve put a few of these Machine Elf creations in 360 for a cool VR app called TRIPP. If you have an Oculus Quest, Go, Rift or Playstation VR you can download TRIPP which features guiding experiences to make you happier, calmer and more focused. Grab that here.
For more Machine Elf creations, including physical installations, check out the website: https://the-machine-elf.com/
What an amazing place to watch the sunset. Malaysia is a brutally hot and humid place, so any chance for a swim is welcome. This is the pool there at the Ritz-Carlton and, even better, we jumped in the pool right after a fun cocktail-making class. Some of those bartenders seem to have such a good time. I think it would be an awesome job, but I don’t think I could do it and keep all the drink recipes straight in my mind…
While we were on the tour across Asia, we ended up in Langkawi at the Ritz-Carlton where they put on a sunset mixology class for us. Man, bartenders really get into all this mixology stuff, and I have no idea what the heck is going on. They explain these esoteric mixes with such authority… I have no idea if it is total BS or if there is actually something to it. I think it’s probably a lot like healers or people like this… there are a lot of charlatans, but there are actually a few people that know what they are doing. I think this was one of those occasions!
We’re doing one of these a week here on the blog and they are a mix of some stories from my life which I hope will inspire you and post-processing tips. Here’s Episode 3 for ya!
I’ve been to a few of these different floating markets, but I’ve never seen them from above until this time that I visited Langkawi. Our concierge at the Ritz-Carlton there got us a boat to use for the day. This floating market was much better than my last one near Bangkok. I remember I was there and it must have been 120 degrees with no wind. I got stuck in a boat traffic jam for about three hours, trying to jam-float my way through the market. It was quite miserable, actually! So, this one in Langkawi was about one million times better!
Pop on into the Presets Area of our Store and check out the latest Festival Presets for Lightroom and Luminar!
Hey, you just can’t go wrong with drone shots while Tane is topless, can you? It’s kind of a guaranteed photo. A lot of times, at night, I would just hover outside of Tane’s window, hoping to catch him on a midnight run to the bathroom. This plan never worked, and it may have played a small role in him recently quitting the company.
Here’s a very cool thing I found on the internet by chance! It’s a place that sells these cool mini-art toy-things (not sure what to call them), where they have suspended ferrofluids inside glass. Ferrofluids refer to iron-based fluids. You can then use magnets to do all kids of crazy things… I’m going to buy one or two, but I haven’t decided which ones yet! Go see for yourself at
Concept Zero.
This was one of our favorite haunts while staying at the Ritz-Carlton resort there. This is called The Beach Grill. It’s all open-air, and right by the ocean. Obviously, there was a lot of Malaysian food choices, all great if you like Malaysian food (which I do). One thing that always gets me about Malaysians is how much they like their food. And when they are not eating food, they are talking about food! It kind of reminds me of Austin (which I also like), where Austonians sit around and talk about how awesome Austin is.
You can read my full X1D Review here on the site, but just now I am adding this video to it as well. It shows some of my first impressions with the camera. Note that in the time since I made this video, I now shoot with the Sony a lot more. You can see my Sony A7rIII Review here as well.
Langkawi delivered a great sunset every night! This is something I remember distinctly from my first trip there about ten years ago. In my ongoing quest to ATTEMPT to take photos with people in them, I saw this a great opportunity on the edge of the infinity pool. There was just this window of about 30 seconds when the close-up water and the distant ocean were the exact same color.
Just when I was getting started in photography, I used to spend a lot of time in Langkawi. I loved it, and I still do. Yes, my style has shifted a bit since then, and this is a pretty stark example of it. I took this one evening right before a huge rainstorm hit the beach. A classic from… drumroll… 2007! Did I take this on a Nikon? I think so… D70 if I recall!
We ended the first part of our 80 Stays here in Langkawi, Malaysia. The Ritz-Carlton pool there was ridiculous. Even more enticing, it was right by a bar. I was at great odds because I could not decide if I wanted to get in the pool, or take a photo of my friend @LauraKTroy (she does Marketing and Social Media stuff for the RC) while she was enjoying it! Truth be told, I enjoy taking photos of infinity pools at sunset just as much as actually being in the pool. Call me crazy.
