The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

Japan is a very beautiful country - especially in April! Many photos to follow . . . . when I have time.

Wonderful flower farm near Mt. Aso.  The tulips were ready to burst.

Out on the island flower garden . . . more natural beauty.

As if yellow had never been seen before!

A tiny, fleeting world.

Serene early Japanese Spring.

Soup cooked in paper over a live flame.

Nature.

Japanese aesthetics; always a scene.

Kenji, go arrange the peppers.  Ok, I will.

Secret rendezvous.

I just bought the new 27" iMac 3.25ghz computer and couldn't help but marvel at it's capabilities with photo processing. The Speed!  The SPEED!  I ran out with my Canon 40D and the wonderful Sigma 70mm macro lense for a few shots around the house. 

The garden is alive!

We think this little fellow walks around the house after we go to bed. Just look at that guilty expression on his face: he's been up to something!

Many beautiful flowers in the garden all year.

Tiny white flowers glow in the tropics of Thailand.

African Violets grow in our garden on their own.

Incredible large green leaves are iconic tropical images.

'Just' ground cover.

A garden scene -- traditional Koh Kred pottery jar.

My good friend Jeff Milligan and his wife Sharon joined me for a 1800 kilometres road trip around the small roads of Northern Thailand.  A wonderful experience.  Here are the first photos I have processed.  Many more to come. And captions to come as well.

Near the Lao boarder.

Friendly temple monkeys near Loei, Thailand.

Thailand! A more-or-less abandoned Wat (Buddhist Temple) in the countryside to the east of Khon Khen, in Northeastern Thailand.

This Wat was begun, the exterior completed, but the interior never begun.

So many wonderful flowers to photograph in Thailand.

Sunflower, near the Lao boarder

It seems like all Thai towns have a "Red Light District" - sad lonely places . . . like this one in Khon Khen city.

One block away in the same city one finds this beautiful temple/spirit house.

I am really enjoying my new Sigma 70mm Macro lens.

I love these small towns in Northern Thailand. This is Loei.

Loei is a very special little town.  They do not allow any international franchise businesses in the city.  The result is a wonderful old world feeling. You see something gone almost everywhere else: the local department store. The downtown is not dead.

Those engaged in the commerce of the "Wet Market" gather in downtown Loei around midnight.

Thai market towns at night are a strange delight! This is Sukhothai.

Oh, to be at home in this place . . . is to be at home in the world!

I sat here and had a bowl of delicious soup . . . and added my own chili soaked vinegar. Living large indeed!

So . . . what does it mean to be a Buddhist in Thailand?

A reclining Buddha in a cave.  There are always things to discover in Thailand.

The banks of the Mae Kong River, looking across to Laos.

Then Los Angeles:

  The 'boardwalk' in Malibu . . . lots of charm, lot of characters -- "Darkness at Noon".

This amazing spirit has been riding up and down the boardwalks from Venice to Santa Monica to Malibu beaches on his roller skates playing a battery-powered electric rock guitar since 1968 . . . .  when I saw him last!  He's still there!

Fun with death! Collect the whole set!  Only in Los Angeles!

I finally found the 'last lens I needed' for my camera bag.  I now have a lens for every situation I may encounter in my travels: the amazingly sharp Sigma 70mm DG Macro. I shot some test shots in my garden when I got home and they were stunning.  I remembered that I have more then 100 flowering tropical plants in the garden, so I have opened up a new section in the Travel Photo Bank called "My Garden Flowers & Leaves" -- check it out -- it will grow as I take new photos and go through my collection. A few samples:

Ah! Nature!

Yes, these orchids just grow outside on their own . . . . on the trunks of my palm trees.