Loy Krathong

I'm in Chiang Mai Thailand for the Loy Krathong festival. During the festival, thousands of people release paper lanterns with candles inside that float un into the night sky like little hot air balloons. The lanterns are blessed by Buddhist priests and are supposed to carry your wishes to the heavens. They are released all over the area, but the biggest event is at the Mae Jo University about 15 miles from the city. It was packed literally elbow to elbow with thousands of revelers. Lots of people were releasing the lanterns throughout the evening, but the big release was truly amazing with thousands rising together. When they get to an altitude of several hundred feet, they look like little campfires in the sky. I wasn't able to shoot it with the RED because it was just too crowded and chaotic, but I did shoot some DSLR video and stills. Here's a sample clip:

Fiji Shark Video Now Online

Last month, while on a project in Fiji, I had the pleasure of doing 10 truly amazing shark dives out of Pacific Harbour (you can see my prior blog post on my website, www.FishTalesFilms.com, for more details). I was diving with Beqa Adventure Divers. They bill themselves as a conservation organization that runs a dive operation. I can say that they live up to that credo because they are all about protecting the area's shark population. They were instrumental in setting up the Shark Reef Marine Reserve where the dive takes place and securing full protection from fishing in the area. They set up the reserve in 2004 and have been actively protecting the area since then.

This short film is made with some of the footage from those 10 dives. Shot on RED. Hope you enjoy. I will definitely go back.
In addition to being available for viewing on www.FishTalesFilms.com in the "Shot on RED" section, you can also see it on Vimeo at: https://vimeo.com/78733380

This part of the description is an optional bit of shark evangelism which you may also want to read:
I know that some divers object to shark feeding because they think that it's "not natural", but here are a few reasons why it's a good idea when done correctly:
1. It increases awareness. Some people don't know how much they love sharks until they see one up close and personal. Remember, we only protect what we love, and we only love what we understand.
2. It gives the sharks some subtle incentive to remain in a protected region. These sharks are not dependent on the feeding. It's just a tasty little snack to them and they aren't getting it every day. An 8 ft Bull Shark can (and does) go anywhere it wants to. But the feeding is an encouragement to hang around in the general vicinity, which also happens to be the safest place for them.
3. Sharks REALLY need some advocates. The shark fin fleets are pillaging the world's shark populations. It is estimated that they are slaughtering over 100 million sharks a year, just for their fins, just to add some texture to a soup that has become a status symbol in Asia. If this doesn't stop really soon, the populations will crash to the point that they cannot recover. I'd hate to see these magnificent creatures that achieved evolutionary perfection 65 million years ago disappear from the seas in my lifetime.

Kudos to Beqa Adventure Divers for putting a dent in a really big problem. You guys ROCK!

Ubud Royal Cremation Ceremony

I had the opportunity to go up to Ubud for a couple days to attend the Cremation Ceremony for a prominent member of the Ubud Royal Family. These ceremonies are very rare events and only happen when a very high ranking person passes away. There are only certain days in Bali's Hindu religious calendar that are appropriate for such important cremations. Normally, the ceremonies take weeks or months to prepare, but in this case, Tjokorda Istri Sri Tjandrawati died just a couple weeks ago in Singapore. The family decided to hold the ceremony November 1, the day before Kunigan and a most auspicious day for the ceremony. Otherwise, the ceremony would have to wait until February. It's quite amazing that they were able to complete the extensive arrangements in such a short time. An 80 foot tall Balé had to be constructed to transport the body the 1 Km from the Ubud Palace to the Puri Agung Ubud temple cremation grounds. A Lembu (bull statue) also needed to be built to hold the body during the actual cremation. Thousands of people from Ubud and the surrounding villages worked to bring this event about in such a short time. Here are some stills that I pulled from my RED footage.


This is the Badé that transports the body to the cremation grounds. It is 80 feet tall (25M) and so wide that it barely fits down the main road of Ubud. The ramp is used to take the casket up to its resting place for traveling to the temple.


This is the Lembu. It precedes the Balé and the casket is transferred into it at the temple for the actual cremation. This whole structure burns with the casket and body inside.


Moving this is all done by manpower. There are dozens of men to move the structures. They do have some rudimentary wheels in the center, but it's muscles that make it go. In the background, you can see the Badé following.


They move in short spurts. A section of street is cleared out, then a mad dash moves forward a bit and then a stop to rest.


The Badé just barely fits in some places. It took out more than a few rood tiles signs and wires on the way.


At the temple grounds, another ramp allows the casket to unloaded from the Badé and brought down to be transferred to the Lembu.


Of course there are many hours of offerings and ceremonies before the actual cremation.


This is NOT the big Lembu of the Royal Cremation. It is a smaller one for another cremation that was taking place earlier in the day. On a special holy day such as the day before Kuningan, many cremations take place at temples throughout Bali.