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Entries in Bangkok (51)

Saxophone Blues Pub Revisited: Khun Chai

I was back down at the Saxophone Pub on Victory Monument Circle in Bangkok last Sunday night for a big blues show featuring my old friend, Khun Chai, perhaps one of the greatest blues guitar players on earth . . . and I do not exaggerate.  I sat in front with my good camera and f1.4 lens.  Magic.

 

I took 563 photos that night.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

 

Khun Chai has a great blues singer in his band . . . I cannot remember hearing a better version of "Wang Dang Doodle."

 

Chai's band is great in it's own right, but an incredible 15 year old sax player sat in . . . WOW! . . . this kid is FANTASTIC!

 

Khun Chai in action.

 

If you have never heard Khun Chai play the blues you are REALLY missing something special.

 

Saxophone has the perfect environment for listening to the blues . . .

 

Khun Chai singin' dem blues.

 

I hope I make friends in Scotland as cool as Khun Chai . . . but I don't think that is possible.

 

Until we meet again . . .

 

Play on, Khun Chai . . .  play on.

A Night On The Town: Saxophone Pub

My friend John Stiles is a blues fanatic like me.  He proposed we meet at the Saxophone Pub on Victory monument in Bangkok.  Traffic is bad, and parking hard to find around there . . . so a taxi is a must.

 

The taxi was clean and well equipped with traffic safety garlands, hanging talismans, and a dashboard Buddha.  I felt safe.

 

I rode the taxi to the nearest Sky Train station and road it to Victory Monument Station.

 

The area around Victory Monument Circle was bustling:  it is the start of the long Songkran week-end.  Many people congregate her to catch mini-vans to all parts of Thailand.

 

It was a wonderful, and hot (34c) evening to be out on a Bangkok sidewalk.  With new Sigma 35mm f1.4 low light lens on my trusty Canon 5D mark II camera, I could indulge my passion for photographing street vendor carts . . . like this one.

 

. . . and this forlorn street peddler cart operator.

 

A new shipment of display feet arrived just in time . .  for a photo. Thai streets are covered in street vendor tables of infinite interest.

 

I arrived at the Saxophone Pub early.  The opening act was an incredible acoustic folk singer. Forgive me for not knowing his name.

 

It didn't take long for the place to 'lively up' when the house band, Ped's Band, started rockin' . . .

 

These guys are good.

 

This guy is a fantastic blues guitar player . . . once he gets warmed up. 

 

He had the whole place in a blues swoon.

 

Good driving bass . . .

 

. . . a fine drummer . . .

 

. . . and a not-bad-at-all rhythm/second lead guitar played some pretty powerful interpretations of SRV and Hendrix classics.  Nice.

 

Saxophone Pub is thick with authentic atmosphere that a Hollywood set director could never duplicate.

 

Everybody who is anybody in the blues world of Thailand has played, or hopes to play, Saxophone.

 

It is nice to sit at a counter directly in front of the band.  What a scene!

 

A second band, The Emergency Band, came on at midnight.  They were very good . . . R&B . . .

 

. . . and rocked the place too.

 

My ears ringing with sweet blues and R&B, I finally gave up and left at around 1:30am and headed out into a deserted Victory Monument Circle to find a taxi home. 

New Lense Field Test: Sigma 35mm f1.4 DG HSM

Basil and I have been having that old photographer's conversation: What lens to buy next?

 

I was feeling like I had the complete set of lenses I needed . . . for the kind of photographs I take and for how I display them . . . until, that is, the new Sigma 35mm f1.4 came out!  I do a lot of night street shooting in Bangkok and around Southeast Asia, and my trusty Sigma 50mm f1.4 EX DG HSM had become my favorite (reviewed elsewhere on this site), but I found that, on a full frame Canon 5D mark II, it was sometimes too narrow in confined alleyways and dark night markets.  So . . . . I traded in my excellent Sigma 50mm f1.4 for the just released Sigma 35mm f1.4 DG HSM lens . . .  and boy, am I happy!  Very nice.

 

There was nothing wrong with the 50mm Sigma . . . . it almost never left my 5D . . . it is a fantastic lens . . . but I already like the 35mm better for this kind of street shooting.  It's Bangkok, so there is ALWAYS something to shoot, like this egg truck.

 

Very sharp indeed.  A 35mm is about as wide as you can have on your camera without distortions appearing.

 

Detail in dark/shaded areas is amazing.

 

I like walls.  Walls show their histories on their faces.  A 35mm lens in an alley is perfect for capturing this kind of thing without the barrel distortion of something wider.

 

Wall history.

 

A Bangkok alley in great detail and clarity.

 

A Bangkok alley straight from the camera (RAW), converted to a JPEG, reduced in size and posted without any PhotoShop inputs.

 

The Sigma 35mm f1.4 is not a macro lens, but you can close focus with good results.

 

Orchids are always candidates for close shooting.

 

White lobby orchids, Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok.

 

A wonderful, large, old, carved, lacquered elephant greets you at the Shangri-La Hotel.

 

The red Shangri-La elephant served as a good object to experiment on for depth of  field studies.

 

Very nice low light performance.  I couldn't be happier.

 

This is why you have an f1.4 lens: hand held shooting in a dark parking lot.  The detail in this photo at full resolution is incredible.

5 Minute Back Yard Study

Just a few minutes and a good lens is all you need for a good day.

 

I may go back and shoot this one with a tripod . . . . some additional depth of field could improve the feeling.

 

So fresh and sweet.

 

An intriguing tiny world.

Down By The River

Chaophrya River at Pakkret.

 

Mirrored Buddha.

 

A happy photographer.

 

On the river.

 

Yours truly.

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