SHIMWORLD FEATURE: JASON LEE
June 21, 2007 by Jan Shim
© 2007 Jason Lee
An entrepreneur in the motorsports business in Japan and a seasoned traveller, Jason Lee is currently touring the USA with his Canon EOS 30D and he emailed me this photograph along with a note exclusively for SW. I look forward to his gallery on his return to Japan.
Not knowing about this until this unique spot until shown photos from a family who recently moved to the US, our last day in Yellowstone park was rushed in order to make it down to Lake Powell in Arizona before noon the next day.
Just getting into photography, I grew more and more excited about visiting what is renowned as one of the greatest photographic hot spots and the grizzlies and other wildlife shot the day before were quickly forgotten.
The long drive and little rest were well worth it. It is only around midday that the sun shines through the cracks into the cavity creating the “beams of light” as seen in the photograph. Being the day before the solstice, the sun shone all the way to the canyon floor - probably only to be bettered by the day after when crowds of professional photographers will be taking in the visual spectacle the sunlight creates.
Although slightly out of the way from “conventional” US trips from LA, both upper and lower canyons located in Navajo Tribal Park are extremely rewarding.
Wow! What a superb photo of a great location.
US have a lot of places for great landscape photos. I will one day visit the place when they don’t treat us like criminals and force us to fingerprint all 10 fingers just to get a US visa.
Funny you should say that, Roland. Just this week I am supposed to be visiting Holland with my wife as she’s there for business. She’s a Brunei citizen so her passage is straightforward. Me being a Permanent Resident (don’t ask, long story) needed a visa. “Fine,” I thought, making the mistake of assuming, “that shouldn’t be too difficult!” To cut a another long story, the passport photo requirement was nothing I’ve ever encountered before, a procedure that left me wondering long after I’ve submitted my application, the logic of require such precise measurements of my forehead line to the top of the photo and I won’t even start to talk about the ear bit.
To think after going through this, someone said going to the USA for a Brunei Permanent Resident (don’t ask, long story) is more complicated than Holland or Europe for that matter. All in all, I take this as a personal experience and a chance to get to know the Dutch consulate who was a great help throughout the application and he expressed his disappointment the trip could not happen for me. A week has passed since the travel deadline and I’m picking my wife up from the airport and I still have not received news of my visa!
Australia, on the other hand, respects the value photographers bring to their country. I lived in Australia for 4 years between 1988-1991 as a student and had been back to visit other states I hadn’t been before. It was only a couple year ago that I made another visit to Western Australia (then and now a Professional Photographer as stated in my travel document) .. and got a four year multiple visit Visa no questions asked (well, plenty of answers already given on the form). Goes to show just how much Australia values tourism or visitors who contribute to their tourism revenue and advertising!
I think I’ll wait till I become a Brunei Citizen (don’t ask, long story) before contemplating another European or American travel destination. There are many more interesting places and people within my country yet to be discovered. Please visit Brunei Darussalam if you haven’t previously. If meeting me for a cup of coffee isn’t a good enough reason, there are many more that may be more convincing!
Check out our official Brunei Tourism website http://www.tourismbrunei.com/ and also an important client’s site for all your inbound needs http://www.freme.com/
See you when I see you!
Jan
Hi Jan,
Perhaps you should think about emigrating to Hong Kong and get a HKSAR passport instead. Visa free travel to most European countires
You can’t be serious! Is that a real photo? It absolutely made my brain stutter!