Category

Inspirational

Inspirational, Travels

Back from South America and Inspiration

The above is an episode of Travel+Escapes’ original web series called “New Nomads” featuring blogs such as PlanetD.com and FoxNoMad.com! 

It’s been a few weeks since my last update but I am back from my trip to South America. Over the next month or two, I will be posting regular weekly posts about all the places I was fortunate enough to explore. Overall, I took over 8,000 RAW photos! So much so, that I just purchased a new 15TB Synology NAS unit to store my entire archive into (review coming soon).

The reason why I included a web episode of “New Nomads” here is because on my trip, I met so many of them! I met year-long backpackers from Austria and Sweden just to name a few. As a matter of fact, two of my friends from university are backpacking across the world as we speak. You can follow Ted and Jen at RoadMapsToHappiness.com. One thing that I really enjoy about traveling and especially this adventure is making new connections. I believe this is the first time I’ve ever been to places where I really could not fluently and directly communicate with the locals. However, what I found is that there is definitely more good than bad in this world. Pretty much everyone I encounter was friendly, helpful and kind. There was a lot of Spanglish, notepad writing and hand gestures going on, but at the end of the day, I was able to get around just fine.

South America is officially my 6th continent covered and only Antarctica remains. In a way, I can say that I’ve now travelled to all of the habitable continents on Earth. So, before the onslaught of my in-depth posts comes about, I will just give you a quick overview of the places I went to. The first stop was a long layover in Bogota, Colombia, then Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, then both Brazilian and Argentinian sides of Iguazu Falls, then to Cusco and Machu Picchu, Peru and then finally Lima, Peru.

I cannot wait to show all of your my photographs and tell you about my travels to South America!

Best,

SC

Inspirational, Photography

Steve McCurry and Pirelli Calendar

Steve McCurry is without a doubt one of my (if not the top) biggest inspirations in the photography world. He is primarily known for his work with National Geographic which he took the everlasting cover shot called “The Afghan Girl” in 1985. Since then, he’s been awarded many international prizes and also took some breath taking photos of 9/11.

Last year, he was asked to create the 2013 Pirelli calendar in the stunning Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (I will be traveling here early 2013!). Traditionally, Pirelli is known for it’s nude photos but Steve decided to break away from that and instead concentrate on featuring strong activist women who also happen to be very beautiful inside and out. I strongly urge you to watch the video embedded. Steve also doesn’t necessarily need to use the latest of photographic technology either as he is seen wielding the Nikon D3X, D2X and Hassleblad too.

Take care! I will be posting more info on my next big adventure as well as updates on my portfolio gallery!

film, Inspirational

My Top 10 Fav Films (as of June 17,2012)

1. Shawshank Redemption (1994)

2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

3. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

4. Blade Runner (1982)

5. Alien (1979)

6. Contact (1997)

7. The Village (2004)

8. Sunshine (2007)

9. The Time Machine (2002)

10. Lady in the Water (2006)

SC

Inspirational, Science & Medicine, Technology

Thoughts on Mining Space

So, you may have heard about this brand new startup called Planetary Resources in the news lately. And it’s the real deal! This organization is being led by some of the affluent billionaires in the world. Individuals such as Eric Anderson, Peter Diamandis, James Cameron and Google CEO Larry Page as well as many more will be out and about in space to harvest precious minerals from near by asteroids.

This venture is going to be revolutionary, it is the film Avatar coming into reality in the search for the conceptual “ubobtainium”. Essentially, Planetary Resources will be out hunting for things platinum and fresh water. Perhaps they can do to platinum what we’ve done with aluminum? Imagine all the breakthroughs in technology and science that could be achieved with vastly cheaper precious metals.

You can also bet that this high-cost mission will reap astronomical rewards for the team as well. Mashable states that all of the elements in certain asteroids could be worth 20 trillion dollars!

What do you guys think of this? Tweet me @SeanChin.

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