Hi. I'm Michael Robert Powell - a perpetual traveler from New Zealand who lives out of a backpack. Since 1988, I've been without fixed plans, working & traveling across the world (since age 21). I've explored 100+ countries & territories and continue this crazed, minimalist, global-nomadic existence in pursuit of knowledge, fun, and freedom ...
My travel blog: the candy trail ... Backpacking Travel Adventures to Amazing Places
Driven by the desire to see the beauty of the world – landscapes, monuments, nature, different cultures – I travel the planet, continuously ...</strong>
And I like to photograph my travels, to express my joy and record memories; and to share with people this passion in images of our world. (I seek the positive, mostly - I'll leave the grim stuff for the news media; that's not the world I experience too often).
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I have been taking photographs of my travels since the first day (1988) but my output and interest really switched on in 2001 with the purchase of my first digital camera and some photo-editing software.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">While I'm a traveler that likes to take pictures … I don’t hunt for images or go out of my way to make the best shot like a professional travel photographer will; no, I simply act on spontaneity and photograph whatever I come across and in whatever light, as I travel across the day. To enjoy traveling freely, is my main goal.</p>
<h3><strong>I draw with the camera and paint with the computer.</strong></h3>
<blockquote><em>Sometimes I leave my color images as shot, other times I convert them to Black & white. Other times I oversaturate colors, or mix them up way too surreal. Still other impulses have them cut up – reborn within a collage or montage to make new art. But however I “produce” my travel images, I am always going for my take on the scene. And sometimes, that has nothing to do with the purist conventions of travel photography. I make my own reality; this is how I see the world …</em></blockquote>
<h3><strong>Art Exhibitions</strong></h3>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2006 | solo – <a title="Check out the Exhibition - here" href="http://www.travel-images.thecandytrail.com/art/exhibition-1#h323bdb1b" target="_self">Journeys Across The Planet; Travels Inside My Head</a> | Thistle Hall, Wellington, N.Z.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2006 | group – Wellington Art Box | Auckland, New Zealand</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2010-11 | group exhibition for 18 months @ <a title="Check out the Exhibition - here" href="http://www.thecandytrail.com/destination-x-art-exhibition/" target="_self">Destination X</a> | Museum of World Culture, Gothenburg, Sweden</p>
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Destination X art exhibition - Sweden"]<img title="Destination X" src="http://www.michaelrobertpowell.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/destination-x-art-exhibitio.jpg" alt="Destination X art exhibition - Sweden" width="600" height="399" />[/caption]
<h3>Global Travel Imaging Gear</h3>
<strong>Cameras</strong>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">1988: point-&-shot film camera (I forget the model)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">1989-1994: Nikon 401 SLR w/ Nikkor 35-70mm & 70-210mm lenses | 1990: Sigma 24mm lens</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">1994-2001 Nikon EM SLR w/ Tamron 28-200mm & Sigma 24mm lenses</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2001-2010: Sony PCR100 DV camcorder w/ 1 mp camera <strong>(first digital kit)</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2001: Samsung point-&-shoot (film)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2002-2003: Sony Cybershot - 4 mp</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2003-2007: Sony Cybershot - 5 mp (w/ video)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2007-____: Nikon D80 DSLR - 10 mp w/ Nikkor VR 18-200mm & Sigma 10-20mm lenses</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2009-2011: Canon SD770 IS ELPH - 10 mp (w/ video)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2011-_____: Sony Cybershot HX100 - 16 mp (w/ HD video)</p>
<strong>Laptops</strong>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">1994-2000: Compact w/ Windows 3.1</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2000-2002: Dell (United Nations item) w/ Windows 98</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2001-2004: Sony Vaio w/ XP [ + 30GB ext. HDD ]</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2004-2006: Asus w/ XP [ + 200GB ext. HDD ]</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2006-____: Asus M5 w/ XP [ + 250GB ext. HDD | 2x-320GB ext. HDD | 2011: 1000GB ext. HDD ]</p>
Yes, I really need a new computer ...
<strong>MORE SOON </strong>
My travel blog: the candy trail ... Backpacking Travel Adventures to Amazing Places
Driven by the desire to see the beauty of the world – landscapes, monuments, nature, different cultures – I travel the planet, continuously ...</strong>
And I like to photograph my travels, to express my joy and record memories; and to share with people this passion in images of our world. (I seek the positive, mostly - I'll leave the grim stuff for the news media; that's not the world I experience too often).
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I have been taking photographs of my travels since the first day (1988) but my output and interest really switched on in 2001 with the purchase of my first digital camera and some photo-editing software.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">While I'm a traveler that likes to take pictures … I don’t hunt for images or go out of my way to make the best shot like a professional travel photographer will; no, I simply act on spontaneity and photograph whatever I come across and in whatever light, as I travel across the day. To enjoy traveling freely, is my main goal.</p>
<h3><strong>I draw with the camera and paint with the computer.</strong></h3>
<blockquote><em>Sometimes I leave my color images as shot, other times I convert them to Black & white. Other times I oversaturate colors, or mix them up way too surreal. Still other impulses have them cut up – reborn within a collage or montage to make new art. But however I “produce” my travel images, I am always going for my take on the scene. And sometimes, that has nothing to do with the purist conventions of travel photography. I make my own reality; this is how I see the world …</em></blockquote>
<h3><strong>Art Exhibitions</strong></h3>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2006 | solo – <a title="Check out the Exhibition - here" href="http://www.travel-images.thecandytrail.com/art/exhibition-1#h323bdb1b" target="_self">Journeys Across The Planet; Travels Inside My Head</a> | Thistle Hall, Wellington, N.Z.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2006 | group – Wellington Art Box | Auckland, New Zealand</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2010-11 | group exhibition for 18 months @ <a title="Check out the Exhibition - here" href="http://www.thecandytrail.com/destination-x-art-exhibition/" target="_self">Destination X</a> | Museum of World Culture, Gothenburg, Sweden</p>
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Destination X art exhibition - Sweden"]<img title="Destination X" src="http://www.michaelrobertpowell.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/destination-x-art-exhibitio.jpg" alt="Destination X art exhibition - Sweden" width="600" height="399" />[/caption]
<h3>Global Travel Imaging Gear</h3>
<strong>Cameras</strong>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">1988: point-&-shot film camera (I forget the model)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">1989-1994: Nikon 401 SLR w/ Nikkor 35-70mm & 70-210mm lenses | 1990: Sigma 24mm lens</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">1994-2001 Nikon EM SLR w/ Tamron 28-200mm & Sigma 24mm lenses</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2001-2010: Sony PCR100 DV camcorder w/ 1 mp camera <strong>(first digital kit)</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2001: Samsung point-&-shoot (film)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2002-2003: Sony Cybershot - 4 mp</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2003-2007: Sony Cybershot - 5 mp (w/ video)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2007-____: Nikon D80 DSLR - 10 mp w/ Nikkor VR 18-200mm & Sigma 10-20mm lenses</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2009-2011: Canon SD770 IS ELPH - 10 mp (w/ video)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2011-_____: Sony Cybershot HX100 - 16 mp (w/ HD video)</p>
<strong>Laptops</strong>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">1994-2000: Compact w/ Windows 3.1</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2000-2002: Dell (United Nations item) w/ Windows 98</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2001-2004: Sony Vaio w/ XP [ + 30GB ext. HDD ]</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2004-2006: Asus w/ XP [ + 200GB ext. HDD ]</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2006-____: Asus M5 w/ XP [ + 250GB ext. HDD | 2x-320GB ext. HDD | 2011: 1000GB ext. HDD ]</p>
Yes, I really need a new computer ...
<strong>MORE SOON </strong>
© the candy trail ... | Michael Robert Powell