Mee Raajje Show (a musical) : Tribute to Mohamed Hisham

Hello and welcome to the barefootpilot blog! Perhaps you are a returning visitor or maybe it is your first time to visit my online ramblings, in either case I thank you for taking the time to stop by!

I know it has been a few weeks from my last post and I am sorry about that. This past few weeks I have been so busy doing other things for the SophiePhoto side of our business that I haven't found the time to go through my thousands of photo's I have taken in the Maldives!
That being said I have made some selections for your viewing interest!

This time around I have concentrated on a local artist production that I was able to attend a month or so ago. My friend Reeman invited me and gave me great access to the stage to get some great photos!

I hope that I have the story right... as I understand it is a musical/dance which illustrates a tradition that involves the young men of a local island and how they would court their young woman through dance. As the production goes on it as if the young men find themselves so entranced with the music and dance they transcend the physical world and enter a spiritual one.

Please forgive and better yet update me if I have any of those details wrong!

Mee Raajje Show (a musical) : Tribute to Mohamed Hisham.

I have to tell you is was an amazing show. So much energy and colour!

I thought this post production treatment works to give you the sense of these old traditions.

I found myself transfixed with the looks dancers had on their faces and the way they moved as they danced.

As the drums beat louder the dance of the men becomes more and more vigorous!

One of the pretty Maldivian girls! They were so talented! The dance steps were similar to what you would see in an Indian movie though not completely. It had it's own unique Maldivian flavour to be sure!

Dance Dance Dance!

Such a fun thing to be apart of!

Thanks Reeman for bringing me along please look me up again for the next time, I will bring the camera again!

So no airplanes this time, maybe the next time!

All the best!

Rob
One of the many barefootpilots!

Last Post of 2010

Well another year has come and gone. It has been a good one for me and I hope the same is true for you and yours. If things weren't as you would have hoped this past year it is my wish to you that the next year will be filled with renewal.

As I look towards the future it truly seems bright to me. Although it is impossible to know how things will unfold I do believe that I and my family are truly in control of our destinies! It is my sincere wish that the same will be true for yours.

This will be my last post for 2010 and perhaps maybe for a few weeks as I head back home to rejoin my family. I do have full intention of posting while I am away from the Maldives's. I have many images I have yet to share!

I hope you will like the ones I have selected for this week!

MBC launching off the Westbound waterway at our seaplane base in Male.

It is a cool looking plane not to mention rugged! I love catching her face to face!

The boys are usually pretty happy to indulge my photographic fetish! On this day it was Mike Yorkston who brought her in close for a picture. Hand out the window flashing the universal hand signal!


The trusty cabin attendant ever the ready to hop off to tie the heel to the jetty!

I am so lucky to be able to catch these fleeting moments of the day down here! This one I got while staying at Chaaya Lagoon Hakuraa Huraa for the night.

A very low tide on this evening!
A lovely place with friendly staff. Always treated so well by these guys!

Morning sun breaking the clouds to cast it's golden light on the calm seas of the Baa Atoll.

Love it when the cloud builds and provides this kind of shot!

South Male Atoll looking North. The city of Male' is on the far horizon.

I have managed to get some pretty cool shots this year and if I was forced to pick a favorite this would be a top finisher for me!


I wish you all a happy new year!

Rob
One of the many barefoot pilots!

Sunrise, Sunset And The Glassy Water In Between!

Hello and welcome to my blog. A platform for my photographic images as well as pulpit, so to speak, for my ideas and observations about/of the world I live in.

This past week has been one of reflection for me which is coincidental with the Monsoon transition. The Maldives is in the midst of the Monsoonal shift. The winds have calmed to barely a breath and the seas have gone as flat as the surface of a mirror. Hence my comparison to my reflective mood and the changing of the the season here.

A few things were asked of me earlier this week that had me thinking for the rest of it! So I thought I would share with you my thoughts in the context of that conversation.

If you have read my profile you will see that I have taken on few things in my career to date, though I suppose I must admit I'm not all that specific in my profile. Suffice to say leaving an Airline job after 10 years of service of my own free will in order to get back to the hands and feet style of flying the Twin Otter can cause people to wonder about, perhaps even question my motivation.

Some of that motivation came from the fact both my wife and I were working for the same company which spent , if memory serves, two years in bankruptcy protection not so long ago. Add to that the many changes in corporate culture along with the inter mixing of union politics we felt that we no longer controlled our own destiny. In fact we both left our positions to take on new and interesting challenges. I think that our lives are the better for it. My wife is now a successful photographer and with her support I have found my calling in the aviation world.

As for the flying side of it I have followed a winding path to the aircraft I fly now. I am so addicted to the this Twin Otter I drive now that the lure of it keeps drawing me back. The aircraft is fantastic.

My evolution as a photographer is also timed with my passion of flying the DHC 6. As time goes on I know that this plane will transport me to even more unique opportunities to capture images. Some that very few people will ever have the chance to get, well that is with out spending a ton of cash!

Another question I was thinking about is "what inspired you to become a pilot?" You know I honestly don't know of any other desire I have had in my life other than to be a pilot and at the age of 42 that passion has not diminished one bit. I think that the early inspiration and most certainly ever present one is that I feel I am walking in my fathers footsteps. Truth be told probably the greatest influence on me.

I do not remember a time where I was not proud to say my father is a pilot. I remember as young boy having arguments with other kids who wouldn't believe me when my I would tell them my dad was a pilot.That made me proud after all to think your dad had a job that seemed unbelievable to your friends! When we lived in Charlottetown , P.E.I my dad would,from time to time, land his helicopter across the street on the river side and pick me up to go flying for the day, how special is that! I remember those days as vividly as remember the birth of my two son's!

Perhaps in some ways the writing on the wall in terms of my career at the airlines the day that security procedures changed to no longer allow most people into the jump seat, including family members . I have to admit I was devastated at the thought of not being able to take my boys to work with me! Just for the record my boys have been flying with me in the Twin Otter, perhaps the proudest I have ever been while flying an airplane!

Well I hope that my text hasn't gone on to long for you! This past week I managed to capture some images I have been waiting for. The glassy water and cloudless sky's of the lull period between the Western and Eastern Monsoon.

I hope that I effectively captured and presented them here for you. To see them in the moment is absolutely breathtaking and to me further evidence to me that the life I have chosen to live is one that I can be proud of!

I now present you the Sunrise, Sunset and the Glassy Water in between!

Early morning and the sun is just peaking above the horizon in the East.I love this one for the perspective it gives! Barely a hint of cloud!

As the planet continues it methodical rotation the morning comes to life. The only thing that interrupts the silence ,that is before the Twin Otter's engines roar to life, is the sound of the fish jumping around the airplane.

With no clouds to block it the sun soon appears in all its glory!

One last shot before I have to do what is that I get paid for!

It as absolutely amazing to me when I see this vast Ocean go completely calm. There is the hint of swell still but almost inappreciable!

Calm water equals easy landings right? Not the case and in fact these conditions can be the most challenging.

This is because without the advantage of a ripple on the water that a good breeze provides there is a tremendous amount of surface tension which makes it seem as if the floats are glued to the water on take off. The landings are demanding due to the fact it is very difficult to judge your height above the water when it looks like glass, especially with the clarity of the water here in the Maldives.

When you do it right though it is pretty cool because at times you don't even feel the floats touch the water and with people from Italy on board that leads to a round of applause! Love those Italians!

I promise you I did not photoshop the clouds out! I can't tell you how happy I was to have got this one. I also can't tell you of hand how many I took, love the digital age!

As the days winds down the sun follows its pattern and dips towards the Western horizon.

Barefoot and on top of the wing for this one!

Here is a sunset on a cloudless night at the Conrad.

Same place, different night and the clouds. I like both shots but its dramatic difference!

As you can see!

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you liked the images and my ramblings! Hey there family back home only two more weeks and I am in your loving arms once again!

Ciao!

Rob
One of the many barefoot pilots!

Just the One!

Well it seems that this weekend has had me quite preoccupied with things other than blog posting!

I have had a few of my images selected to be published in and ad in the in flight magazine of Air Sri Lanka, quite proud of that! So that has taken some time away from me.

I am also working on other some other things so I really didn't find the time to do a dedicated post!

That being said I have one image to present that I took early one morning. I hope you like it and I promise more to come!

Rob
One of the many barefoot pilots!