Langkawi Archives - Bon Touriste

For those of us who are getting married in, oh, 10 days, here are some nice, tranquil photos to get us through the rest of the week. I’m thinking a set of nice, summery, island pictures of boats lapping against the shore, of children playing in the water, of sandy stretches of beach….of everything and anything that doesn’t have to do with arranging seat cards, printing out menus, collecting picture frames, and generally keeping each other sane 🙂 (And yes, this miss is getting married next week!!!)

Here, then, is my stab at photographing the quintessentially gorgeous Langkawi islands. Langkawi, whose more famously known island twin, Phuket, is right across the bay, is located in the northwestern region of Malaysia in the Andaman Sea. Because it’s lesser-known to tourists than its Thai neighbor, these 99 small islands have been able to preserve their natural habitats and celebrate the biodiversity of the area in ways that make me wonder what our visits here might be doing to its delicate ecosystem. In fact, UNESCO awarded Langkawi the coveted Global Geopark status in 1999 (Malaysia would become the first southeast Asia country to receive the prestigious honor). It’s a stunning island chain–as you’ll soon see 🙂

Since I was working primarily with beach shots and outdoor scenes, I focused on brightness and contrast this week. I’ve been seeing a lot of nature photography utilizing the, well, what’s the technical word here…washed-out? look, as in here, from one of my favorite photography travel blogs: http://www.entouriste.com/french-riviera-road-trip/ In the spirit of bright days and calm colors, then, I played around with the brightness and contrast levels in Lightroom–and that’s it. As I get ready to pack up for my destination wedding in lovely San Diego this weekend, enjoy the pictures and wish me luck!