High Dynamic Resolution (HDR) is the Marmite (or Vegemite, depending on where you live), of photography. There’s no real sitting on the fence with this stuff, you either love it – or, like me, would rather skewer your own eyes out with a monopod than look at a gallery of the stuff.

Photo: www.stuckincustoms.com

You know the type of photography I mean – those oversaturated blasts of hyper-reality that make you feel like someone spiked your vodka Martini and shoved you inside a kaleidoscope.

To break it down, High Dynamic Range allows a greater “dynamic range” of luminances (brightnesses) between the lightest and darkest sections of an image than is normal. This is usually achieved by capturing multiple photographs of the same image at different settings then merging them into one photo – a HDR photo.

Of course, as a photographer I appreciate the technical prowess and skill that goes into a HDR photograph – or at least used to go into it, before plug ins like Photomatix and in-camera HDR tools became freely available. Photographers like Trey Ratcliff, to give him credit, have been plugging away at this stuff for years, and know their onions from a technical point of view.

But like all art techniques that were once the realm of specialists and have grown popular and overused, HDR these days just feels like cheap novelty – the photographic equivalent of Auto Tune in rap, with roughly the same level of “cool” – to me – as a Mickey Mouse holographic wristwatch.

I know, many of you love and will defend HDR, and that’s good. Where would the world be without opinions? I’ll even be kind enough to leave you with this 85-image HDR gallery. Me? I’ll be in the kitchen, eating my Marmite sandwich.

What do you think of HDR? Tell us in the comments section below…

Photo: eonaxon

TWO SEMI-STRANGE things in the last couple days have occasioned me to think more about place than usual:

A. On a call with a group of travel marketing people, an executive said “position place” as in “there are ways we like to ‘position’ place” [doggy-style?]

B. One of my favorite writers posted a bizarre blog post that talked about a country music song and how the lyrics would lead you to think that the guy singing was from “the country, ” but then after researching the singer’s hometown (and posting statistics about education, jobs, median income there), his conclusion was “I’m way more hick than he is.”

Using these two examples (as well as several others that will follow), I’d like to examine some of the common ways people seem to look at place. It should be noted that I don’t look these ways in the context of “right or wrong” but more as reflections of people’s relationships with place that exist in certain points in time. I don’t think anyone looks at place in one of the forms below exclusively, but as a constantly changing and evolving mix.

14 WAYS OF LOOKING AT PLACE

We’ll begin with two main ways of looking at place, mythologizing and commodifying, and from there look at other ways, most of which are combinations of these two.

Mythologizing

Mythologizing place is looking at place as an abstraction. People mythologize place by (a) assigning some kind of abstraction [ex: virtue, nostalgia, chivalrousness, level of 'hickness' ] to it, or similarly (b) assigning some kind of abstraction or quality to themselves because of it (This is what the writer in example B above was doing).

Ex: “The South taught me how to be a gentleman.”

No, your parents did.

Mythologizing is the act of creating illusions about place. These illusions “exist” within the discrepancy between the concrete reality a person experiences in a place (examples: how long he/she has lived there, where he/she lives–downtown, suburbs, outlying areas, his/her role in the local economy, his/her community / friends) versus the “image” he or she has of the place.

Mythologizing often happens when people look back at where they grew up, or lived, or once traveled, and feel certain emotions that didn’t exist when they actually lived or traveled there.

Ex: “I’ve never been in a hotter place than a soccer field in North Georgia in the summer.”

No, actually it was much hotter when you were in Ecuador.

Commodifying [fundamental]

Commodifying (on a fundamental level) is reducing place into a singular context of resources in concrete reality. Examples would be looking at forests as “timber to be harvested” or rivers as “hydroelectric potential.”

Commodifying [common]

There exists however a much subtler and more pervasive form of commodifying where instead of concrete reality, the context of “resources” includes abstractions, associations, “appeal,” or “image.” This is how the marketing lady in the call above was looking at place–as an image which needed to be packaged a certain way, transformed into a product to be “positioned” in the market.

Most people seem to engage in this form of commodifying without ever thinking about it. For example, when I lived in Seattle, oftentimes I told people more or less “Seattle is good because you have easy access to the mountains.”

Here’s another example:

In one of Lola Akinmade’s blogs, a woman said: “I’ve just been back from The Gambia. . .Desperately poor country. Desperate. . .But they’ve got 500 species of birds!”

One of my bros once described San Francisco as having “culture and surf.”

This all reflects how people tend to reduce place into a few resources which may not even be resources in concrete reality, and then evaluate place within this context.

As terrain

This way of looking at place is a specialized form of commodifying that’s prevalent among surfers, mountaineers, kayakers, snowboarders, and other people who “live for” exploring place. The world may be seen in the context of “terrain” to be ascended, descended, surfed.

As “Inspiration”

This ties in both with mythologizing and commodifying: Some people may look at place within the context of inspiration. These are often writers, photographers, poets, filmmakers, artists, and others who travel or move to places because they have a positive effect on their work.

As “Escape”

This is similar to “inspiration”: Some people look at place as a potential “escape” from whatever they are experiencing “at home.”

Symptomatic of Suburbanization

For many who grew up in situations where they watched (as I did) their hometowns transform from semi-rural areas into congested suburban sprawl, it is common to look at place in the context of suburbanization. Examples of this are “evaluating” place on the basis of local economy (“mom and pop” stores) vs. “big box” retailers, and being hypersensitive to signs of suburbanization (Ex: gated communities, McDonald’s) while traveling.

Symptomatic of Environmental Impact

Similarly, many people look at place within the context of environmental denigration vs “purity.”

As Isolation

Some people look at place on the basis of proximity to other people. One may live “way out there” or, conversely, “close to people.” Throughout history, this way of looking at place has been used for setting up prisons, such as the location of prison camps in isolated regions of South Dakota during WWII.

As “First World vs Third World”

Some people look at place on a spectrum of “First World” vs.”Third World.” Once I heard a retired lawyer in Sarasota Florida compare two neighboring countries in South America based entirely on the local people appearing to be “Indian” vs. “white.”

As “One”

Certain people at particular moments (ex: religious or ecstatic experiences possibly involving hallucinogens, or situations of extreme fear / joy, such as witnessing death, birth, or other situations like getting tubed in some monster wave in Tahiti) may transcend “looking at” place and momentarily “fully inhabit” or “become” place. In my own experiences I’ve found certain moments to cause me to feel as if I were “one” with where the experience was taking place.

As “some other way that most of us having grown up in ‘modern society’ probably cannot comprehend”

I feel like all of these ways of looking at place listed above leave out an important other possibility, which is looking at place when you’ve never known anything else besides that place. I’m thinking about people like Indians in the Amazon who’ve never had “contact” with the outside.

It seems like all of the ways of looking at place above imply a disconnection with place. We “look at” place “in terms of” different things–abstractions, commodities–when there’s a layer separating us from being fully “there.”

I can only imagine how it would feel if everything about a place–the plants, animals, terrain–and the people who live there with you (and who’d died there) all share the same context / reality.

Community Connection

What other ways do people look at place?
How has your ways of looking at place evolved / changed over time?

Character: When we watch a movie or read a book, we are engaged by the characters and the circumstances they find themselves in.

Think of yourself as a character in a good book.

• What would you like to know about the character?
• What are you doing and why?
• What do you hope to gain from your travel experience?

When you give the audience a look into how you are being affected they can better live vicariously through your trip.

Story Arch: Even simple travel footage benefits from being presented with a beginning, middle and end. Creatively organize your photos and video footage in an order that gives the footage movement

Cut the Fat: Look for moments when you or your subjects are actively engaged into what’s unfolding, and take out the rest. A good rule of thumb is if it doesn’t add to the story, take it out. People like digestible content; three minutes is a good goal for your video. If you have really engaging content, you may be able to grab their attention for five.

Be Consistent: If you have enough footage for several videos, create a style and be consistent. Decide on a title for your series and add some royalty free music. Using the same opening each time will create continuity for each of your videos.

Community Connection

Contemplate yourself as a better travel writer.

Brazil is different from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and its other neighbors. Besides the language differences between Spanish-speaking South America and Portuguese-speaking Brazil, a noticeable cultural divide exists.

Brazil, a place where batucada and jazz, beach and jungle, and bikinis and Jesus coexist peacefully, seems to lie on a planet of its own.

Here are some tips for every traveler who intends to spend any amount of time in this, the largest country in South America. In fact, let’s start with that simple fact…

It’s a big country!

It’s easy to forget that Brazil occupies a large chunk of real estate, with the majority of the population and the tourist hotspots concentrated along the coast.

You won’t be able to “do” Brazil in just a few weeks (though it’s certainly possible to “do” some Brazilians in that time span).

Unless you have a lifetime to travel the country, you’ll always miss somewhere interesting. It’s always a challenge to decide which places to visit and which to skip, no matter where you travel, but in a country as large as Brazil you must think about distances. Assume that you’ll visit, at most, two places per week.

Keep in mind, though, that…

Photo by de Paula FJ

Bus travel isn’t perfect.

Don’t assume that buses will take you everywhere you want to go and don’t assume they’ll be on time. Be open-minded towards alternatives like vans (usually called “kombi”), private cars (called “lotação”, a sort of long distance taxi), and motorcycle taxis.

In places where rivers are more common than asphalt, you’ll need to consider boats of all shapes and sizes. Keep in mind that long distance buses often skip over the most interesting places you could visit, while overnight buses are often the target of crime, giving you two good reasons to avoid these long, overnight trips. Opt for shorter legs.

In spite of these long distances, you should definitely…

Leave the southeast.

Visiting the Iguaçu Falls, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro is the equivalent of going to Niagara Falls, New York City, and Miami: everyone and their mother visits these places.

Don’t get me wrong; all these locales are worthy of a visit. But it’s logical that large cities and popular tourist attractions are not the place to meet the “natives”, since locals are usually too busy to concern themselves with you, one in a long line of foreign visitors.

The “heart” of the country lies elsewhere; strive to find it.

Start by trying to…

Photo by babasteve

Skip the hostels.

Though this piece of advice could apply to anyone who wants to get away from the hordes of backpackers in any country, there is another reason to avoid hostels in Brazil.

This appealing option is called a “pousada”, cozy and affordable accommodations usually run by families. Pousadas give you a real chance to connect with the locals, while avoiding loud hostels and expensive hotels.

Don’t pay attention to fancy things like signs, though. I have stayed in some great family-run pousadas that depended exclusively on word of mouth. I’d wake up the next morning to a clean load of laundry, a fantastic breakfast, and a tab smaller than the price of a hostel bed.

Wherever you choose to stay, you must…

Protect yourself.

And no, I’m not just talking about condoms, though I am talking about sex.

The advice here is quite simple: don’t take new love interests to your hotel, hostel or pousada. Brazilians don’t take them home; they go to motels, and so should you. Even if it means an extra expense, at least your belongings will be safe, and he/she/they won’t be able to track you down the next day.

Think of it as part of the Brazilian cultural experience: pay for the three hours and enjoy the motel room sex. And though a casual sexual experience is relatively easy to find in Brazil, a more meaningful relationship with the locals requires that you…

Photo by bossa67

Learn some Portuguese.

Don’t assume that the average Brazilian knows English.

Only two types of Brazilians do: those who have attended the best schools due to their privileged financial situation, and those who work in the tourist industry. Of course, that second category includes all types of people, including some who are earning a decent living (like waiters and tour guides) and some shady characters you’ll want to avoid (like prostitutes and scammers).

In addition, don’t think that your high school or college-level Spanish will be enough.

Portuguese, though relatively similar to Spanish, sounds very different when uttered from the mouth of a Brazilian. Unless you are a native speaker of one of the romance languages, the recommendation is clear: try to learn some Portuguese. It will be the most valuable tool in your arsenal, more so than a guidebook, especially if you wish to interact with the locals (in ways that do not involve you getting ripped off).

Another way to avoid the touts, the thieves and the hookers is to…

Avoid urban beaches.

Except for Copacabana and Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro and, perhaps, Barra in Salvador, you shouldn’t budget time in your itinerary for city beaches. After all, the urbanized coastlines of Natal and Fortaleza and Recife pale in comparison to the charming, nearby towns of Praia da Pipa and Canoa Quebrada and Porto de Galinhas, respectively.

And these are but three examples; the same applies to every coastal capital between Uruguay and the mouth of the Amazon River. Unless you consider gawking at prostitutes an interesting cultural experience… unless you enjoy being the target of hawkers… you don’t have much to gain from metropolitan beaches.

Of course, to visit any beach you need to…

Get some sandals.

But don’t assume that flip flops belong exclusively on the sand.

Brazilians have made wearing flip flops an everyday routine, even though it might seem excessively casual in the eyes of other cultures. The mere variety of sandals for sale in Brazil speaks to this fact.

Wearing tennis shoes with shorts will immediately make you stand out as a foreigner. Men especially should try to avoid shoes unless planning a hike or a fancy evening out on the town. Flip flops are the norm, so head into any store and grab a pair of the local havaianas.

Of course, wearing sandals with socks is a stereotypical gringo ritual. But there is another common fashion faux pas that will teach foreigners that…

Photo by O Pirata

Futebol is king.

Travelers should not wear the replica shirts of local clubs unless they are able to hold their own in a conversation.

It’s a simple fact: though Brazil is the largest Catholic country in the world, church takes a back seat to futebol on Sundays (and, in fact, all week). Brazilians love to talk about futebol, and any related paraphernalia is a lure for meeting strangers. It’s a fun way to get to know the locals, but they’ll quickly know to move on if you can’t converse about the nation’s favorite topic.

Naturally, once you’re done “making friends”, you’ll need to…

Stay in touch.

No gringo should travel in Brazil without an MSN Messenger account and/or an Orkut profile. Though you may be used to Facebook and MySpace, Brazilians have fallen in love with a different networking website.

Most Brazilians you meet age 35 and younger will probably have one or the other… or both. If you want to stay in touch with the people you meet, you’ll want to have accounts as well.

Simply e-mailing the people you meet is not a good strategy. I have learned, through almost two years of experience, that Brazilians are notoriously bad at keeping in touch via email.

These tips by no means cover every situation you encounter, but with these in mind you’ll be better prepared to handle yourself when Brazil presents you with a challenge. And, believe me, it will.

Community Connection:
Headed to Brazil? Beyond these tips, you might also want to check out the 10 Best Venues and Shows in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

There are plenty of travel risks worth taking.

The most valuable risk is the decision to travel in the first place, to open yourself up to the world and challenge your most basic assumptions about how best to live.

But although the act of travel is fundamentally safe, there are some risks that travelers should avoid. Certain activities are indeed dangerous, while others simply lack the reward to justify the risk.

Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or a bright-eyed backpacker, here are ten travel risks that aren’t worth taking.

Going Barefoot

Last month I was reclining on a pristine white sand beach, desperately trying to get my student’s foot to stop spurting blood.

We were 3 hours from the Cambodian mainland, but even in this isolated paradise there was a broken bottle hidden in the sand.

Going barefoot anywhere is asking for injury, and cuts on the feet are especially prone to serious infection. Don’t go barefoot. Wear all-purpose sandals like Keens, Chacos, or Tevas at all times.

Making a Big Commitment Too Soon

Surfing the internet at 3 am, you find a brand new mongoose rehabilitation program in Angola. Since reading Kipling’s short story about Rikitikitavi in the Jungle Book, it’s been your dream to work with endangered mongeese. Yippee!

To reserve your spot, you need to make a deposit and sign a contract committing to one year in Angola…but hold your horses.

Before committing to any volunteer program, group tour or overseas job, take the time to do some serious research. Due diligence early on could save you a lot of angst and money in the long run.

The best strategy is often to travel independently until you find a program that you can assess first-hand before making a commitment.

Otherwise you might find yourself paying 43 times the average Angolan salary to breastfeed orphaned mongeese – and those little buggers have sharp teeth.

Riding Motor-Bikes

There’s a reason your travel insurance policy doesn’t cover motor-bike accidents: the two wheeled menaces are freaking dangerous.

A friend of mine once worked in an emergency room. After two weeks on the job, he sold his motorcycle. “There were just too many people coming in with crushed skulls, road rash and broken legs,” he said.

If you do ride a motor-bike, be sure to wear a helmet and watch out for the muffler, which can leave a nasty burn on your inner calf.

Photo by andydoro

Buying Illegal Drugs

So you’ve never seen the inside of a foreign prison? Good. Keep it that way.

Buying illegal drugs when you don’t know who you’re dealing with or what you’re getting is an enormous risk.

Soft drugs like marijuana are pretty harmless, but actually buying drugs means dealing with sketchy hustlers who have no qualms about making a few extra dollars by turning you in to the police or selling you adulterated product.

Gambling in Casinos

Never mind the fact that casino gambling is a great way to lose money.

Especially in poor countries, casinos are nasty places. Profits are funneled to the gangster elite, sexual slavery flourishes, and locals who struggle to get by are treated to the sight of high-rollers throwing around $100 chips.

Have some respect for the locals and for yourself, and don’t patronize casinos.

Photo by Idol

Booking Tight Connections

Eager to get to Angola, you go online to book transportation. An American Airlines flight from New York to Lisbon gets in at 4 pm, which gives you plenty of time to catch the 8 pm Angola Air flight to Luanda, via Dakar, Nairobi and Capetown.

Isn’t it amazing how easy world travel has become in the age of intercontinental flights?

Well, yes, but getting from New York to Angola without any mishaps along the way is never a sure thing.

What happens when your flight to Lisbon is delayed just long enough for you to miss your Dakar connection? You could easily get stranded and lose a lot of money.

When booking overseas travel, especially when switching between airlines, it’s important to leave plenty of time to cover unexpected delays. Why not give yourself a few days to explore Lisbon before jetting off to Angola? The mongeese will survive without you.

Flaunting Wealth

Traipsing the streets of a foreign city with an iPhone in your hand, a fancy watch on your wrist and a healthy bulge in your back pocket is obnoxious and stupid. One of the most valuable lessons travel teaches is humility, and you’ll find it easier to interact with the locals if you dress and act modestly.

As a foreign tourist, you’re already a target for scam artists and thieves – don’t give the bad guys any extra incentive to rob you by flaunting the bling.

Photo by cambiodefractal

Getting Wasted

I’m all for having a few drinks while traveling, but there’s a big difference between getting buzzed and getting wasted. Weaving down a dark street in a sketchy part of town late at night after drinking too much alcohol will make you an easy target.

Trusting Tourist Touts

In general, you should trust the locals. Keeping an open mind and taking people at their word will often lead to warm friendships and memorable travel experiences.

One important exception are the tourist touts, people who make a living by ripping off naïve travelers. Touts are people too, and there’s no need to get rude with them, but remember that they’re desperate to make a buck however they can and don’t have your best interests in mind.

A good rule of thumb is that the sooner someone calls you “my friend” the more they will try to scam you.

Not Buying Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is a necessity. You need travel insurance. If you get sick or injured, if your things are stolen, if you need to cancel your trip or if you need an evacuation, it’s essential to have an insurance company backing you up.

Travel insurance is cheap and easy to get. There’s no excuse not to buy a policy. If you’re traveling and don’t have insurance, you should get coverage right now – it takes less than 15 minutes.

I get my travel insurance through World Nomads, an affordable and reliable provider. If you haven’t bought a policy yet, follow this link to check out your options.

Safe Travels!

Ruta 40. Patagonia. Photo by Robert Paetz

News

Many of our readers keep up with articles at the Notebook via RSS subscription and so haven’t visited the actual site in quite a while. If you haven’t, check it out. We have a beautiful new theme crafted by Karen Mackenzie.

On a side note, huge thanks go to Arun Kale. Up until now we’ve based the Notebook on his fantastic magazine-style theme for WordPress, The Morning After. Props also go to Christina Lannen for the wonderful work she did customizing the theme.

New Features

Take a moment to explore the new home page. You’ll find updated Contributors’ Guidelines. Whether you’re already a regular contributor or if you’re just thinking about pitching us a story, it’s worth a look.

We also have a newly formatted Subscription page. We’re asking subscribers of our old feed to please switch over to our new feed here.

The Matador Blog Network

The revamp of the Traveler’s Notebook comes in conjunction with the launch of our new Matador Blog Network. In the navigation bar below the header, you’ll find several tabs. “Trip Ideas” will take you to our new site, Matador Trips, which offer stories that “start where the guidebooks end, and lead you straight to powder stashes, secret beaches and sacred mountain peaks.”

A second tab, “Spirit,” takes you to Brave New Traveler, which has been consistently publishing some of the most thought-provoking travel essays and info since 2006.

Finally, the tab “Community” takes you to our home site, Matador, where you can join one of the most vibrant communities of travelers and bloggers in the world today.

We hope you continue enjoying the Traveler’s Notebook, and look forward to hearing from you.