The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

Every February I, and another three faculty members from the Internatonal School Bangkok, organize a community service project during a Global Citizens Week.  This year we took 34 high school students to Baan Rachawadee School to restore and paint school rooms and facilities.

We buy high quality materials and spend the time and effort to pepare the suraces to insure a "15-year paint job."

There is a canal (khlong) behind my house that has its own ecosystem. 

The other morning I spotted a large, 1.5 meter, Monitor lizard sunning itself on my garden wall . . . and happened to have my trusty Canon 5D Mark II camera and the great Canon L-series II 70-200mm lens on it.  What luck!

Wildlife photography from my loving room!

What a great opportunity to finally photograph this Monitor lizard I have been stalking for several years.  I ran up stairs and added the 2X extender onto my long lens and ran back downstairs for a closer shot . . . but it (he? she?) was gone.  Darn!  I'll keep my camra gear in the living room from now on . . . I might also get a chance to photograph the 2.5 meter long Python that also lives in the khlong that likes to eat the local cats.

I was sitting inside watching golf on the television when it dawned on me, "Why am I sitting inside watching golf on the television?" I have been noticing a wasp's hole near where I park every day and have been saying to myself, "Self, you should mount that excellent Sigma 70mm macro lens on your camera and see if you can't capture that dangerous rascal one of these days."  I have been saying that for weeks . . . so . . . no time like the present.

Taking a photo of wasps is not a very smart thing to do, really.  You are so scared of getting stung that most of your shots are blurred because of the shaking camera.  In addition, wasps are shy creatures:  I waited way too long in scorching heat and melting humidity and all I got was this this little guy peeping out of his wasp hole at me for 15 minutes.  Oh well . . . . there's plenty more in the garden to look at this beautiful morning.

There had been a heavy rain last night (like EVERY night for the past two weeks), and there was still a lot of moisture on everything . . .

It's fun walking around in the garden with a macro lens!  My Sigma DG 70mm f2.8 Macro lens is about as good as it gets for this kind of close-up work.

A very tiny world magnified inside this single drop!

The light was clear and very low . . . and passed through these red fronds.  The dew drops were on the back side of these!  Amazing!

Deep in the undergrowth . . . little gems.

There was so much to see this morning!  I lost my breath when I saw this.

Deep down at the bottom of the garden little magnifying lenses point out additional detail.  Wonderful.

A single dew drop crowns this magnificent red bud-with-a-flowing-bud.

It didn't take long for the sun to dry off the dew from these red flowers.  It was 90+ degrees and humidity 90%+ as well.

The rains blew a lot of leaves off the trees . . . at first I thought it looked messy . . . but then I looked closer!

I love the sparkle of this pink leaf.

A sensuous palm frond, vaguely human.

With all the rain we have been having over the past several months, everything is growing like crazy.

Not only is everything growing like crazy, it is growing everywhere!  The variety of plant life growing on this garden path stone is incredible.

An old dead tree stump had new lichens growing on it.  WOW! What planet did this come from?

Another strange lichen.  I wish I had some extension tubes for my macro set-up . . . guess I'll go to the camera shop this afternoon!

This is about the maximum magnification I can get without an extension tube on my macro lens.  This is at 100%, no crop.

Our star fruit (Carambola) tree is starting to drop fruit.  Pretty tasty, but a strange texture . . . .

Snail Love . . . . mating at the bottom of the garden!

Oh!  So that's where the Chinese stone garden lantern went!

I noticed this flowing  thorn bush before I went into the house . . . and noticed that I hadn't noticed how beautiful the stalks were!

Back at my favorite blues club, Saxophone, at Victory Monument Circle, Bangkok. I had a good time with my old students (from 15 years ago!), Mark and Eddie.

If you are ever in or around the Charoen Krung Road area of Bangkok (near the Shangri-La and Oriental hotels), pop in the Harmonique Restaurant . . . one of the most visually interesting restaurant in the world . . . and very good traditional Thai food.  Bring your camera!

The Harmonique is located down a dark alley, literally . . .

. . . but a look in the front window will reveal a warm and welcoming enironment.

You'll be spiritually safe within, as the space over the front door has the complete set of spirit chasers in place.

The entry way in seems like something out of a 19th Century novel.

The restaurant is actually a 19th century Chinese family home, converted to a restaurant in the 1950s,  with all the original architectural details intact to this day.

The lighting creates an extraordinary ambiance.

There are tables in small inner rooms, and some in an open air courtyard.  We sat inside a lovely room, as there was a light rain falling.

The view from the inside looking out is just as interesting and complex.

The spaces are decorated with an abundance of interesting old Thai arts and crafts.

Some arrangements were absolutely amazing . . .

. . . and some were very humorous.

I find the live electrical wires interesting . . . it is worth a walk around to study the details of this old Thai house.

I discovered these restaurant awards.

An old family friend, Khun V, acted as the perfect host. We were out on the town with a visiting friend from Hong Kong, Vicky

We had a wonderful meal . . . a nine dish set of traditional Thai delicacies . . .

. . . I loved these . . .

. . . and these were delicious.

My wife enjoyed the coconut ice cream with mango slabs. 

We paid up at the front (reasonable cost) and headed out into the alley.

We were greeted by a friendly Thai tuk-tuk tout, but we had driven.

I enjoyed the walk down the dark alley to our car: a chance to test the low light capability of my new Sigma 50mm f1.4 lens.  WOW!

Our little reptilian friends work day and night to keep the mosquito population down.  Thanks little buddy!

Although this alley might seem a little spooky at night (it wasn't), by day it is full of kindergartners from this charming old school.

I glanced over and looked down a walking path and saw this golden Buddhist chedi buried in the urban mesh of a Bangkok night; a fantastic vision.  This is one of the things I love about Bangkok: the things you see are always surprising.

The free vinyl stickers of the Big Cola advertisers make for good home repair material.

We made it to our car at the end of the alley.  A good time was had by all.  There are always people out and about in Bangkok at all hours of the day and night.  Civic culture to be enjoyed, and witnessed.