I have once mulled over Henri Cartier Bresson's quote saying that your first ten thousand photographs are your worst. He probably said that figuratively, although in the age of digital photography, that can't be any further from the truth. It's not impossible to take as much as ten thousand photos with a single memory card, now that we are talking gigabytes and terabytes storage. But I really think his words made a lot of sense. I took it that he meant one has to make a choice and use his camera to the fullest; that he has to practice his craft a lot, ten thousand folds, until his passion for it comes to fruition.I am still trying to get there. As my kids grow, so does my love for photography. I cannot say that I will someday leave an indelible mark to the world, as far as photography is concerned, but for now I am enjoying the journey. I have yet to take my best photograph, and I always keep that goal. I will probably never take it in this lifetime, my best photograph, but then at the moment that's exactly what keeps me going. These are a few photos of Sophia around March this year, playing with an old Advantix film camera outside our place. I love how the afternoon sun is just about to wane and throws a bit of golden glow on her head.

 

A break from my Cambodia uploads. Sometimes working on one particular photo album for a tad too long makes me feel sick and bored of it. I just feel the need to get away for maybe a day or a week. But then it's hard to find to find the time to jump back in and resume my processing. Time is really such a precious commodity, ain't it? Here are a few photos I took of  Sophia from around February which I rediscovered from my stash just recently. These were taken from the school lot adjacent to our place, where the gardener grows flowers and vegetables.

Sometime in May this year, a friend and I got on a plane to Siem Reap for a five day vacation. I left my kids behind in my husband's able hands. I've never been anywhere much, and I felt I really needed this breather, with just someone unencumbered by the demands of living a partly-slaving life with children, a spouse, and a day job. Whinnie is the best one there is. It was a good decision all in all. The place reminded me a lot of my Vietnam trip some ten years ago, ancient in its edifice and teeming with history. To me it doesn't matter if it's good or bad, or both. Every place is bound to have a past, and soon enough, a future. 

Siem Reap, a province in Cambodia, and gateway to the famed Angkor Wat temples, was as remote and exotic as I would want a place to be, with people just as gentle and almost untouched by the contraptions of a modern world. Here are some images I took of the place, but this is a work in progress,  and I need to find time to organize the hundreds of photos I've taken. I will keep adding images in the next few days. Needless to say, Cambodia is now etched in my mind, for life.

my travel and best bud, whilma

all smiles at the Angkor Wat entrance

អរគុណច្រើន. Thank you, Cambodia.