I have visited Vietnam a numerous number of times over the past two years and once again, I’m amazed by the endless photography opportunities that come my way whenever I do. I have also grown pretty fond of their coffee and brought home four huge bags of coffee powder along with the accessories needed to prepare it this trip.
During this trip I checked out a couple of places several hours away from Ho Chi Minh City. The places include the White Sand Dunes, Ke Ga Lighthouse, Mekong River Delta and a couple of fishing villages. It was like a little adventure for myself to break away from the endless number of weddings that I had been shooting over the past few months.
The adventure wasn’t painless though. Instead of hiring a diver, I decided to take the local bus to save some money as well as to enjoy the Vietnamese experience. It worked out fine mostly. However, on the way to the nearest hotel to Ke Ga Lighthouse, I alighted at the wrong place and had to walk several kilometers with my hard cover roller luggage and camera bag. What was worst was that I had a superb torchlight, which I seldom got to use, and for some reason, forgot to bring it during this trip. I landed up having to rely on my iPhone for light. I eventually found a place to stay though not the correct place.
The following day, still eager to get my shot of the lighthouse, I embarked on my journey around 3 am in the morning. I decided to head there by cycling and managed to rent a bicycle, which turned out to be the most uncomfortable one, I had ever used. The seat, gear and brake (left) were all spoilt and the price I had to pay for it was definitely a rip of for that crap. After lot of cycling I found what I was looking for and managed to get my shot. The things I do for photography…
Well, that's just one of my many adventures. Do check out the following link to see the rest of the images: Travel Photography, Vietnam
For those of you who love my works and would like to learn how I do it, I will be conducting a unique Travel Photography Workshop with Sony Digital Workshop, Singapore this coming June. Seats are limited so check it out and sign up if you are interested.
For more on other overseas photography workshops: Cambodia Photography Adventure 2011
I just got back from a short trip to Taiwan and can’t wait to go back again next year. The food was great and so was the company. My only regret was I didn’t take as many leisure shots as I would have loved to. Despite the busy schedule, I had to make sure I had enough time for at least one shot, the Taipei 101 World Financial Center. How could anyone visit Taipei without checking out this mega structure? Taipei 101 was the tallest building from 2004 to 2010 when Burj Dubai was opened. It was quite an amazing sight!
One of the things I noticed while I was in Taiwan was that every single one stood on one side of elevators allowing people to walk up and down the other side if they were in a hurry. Also, when queuing for trains, people actually queued up perfectly and allowed people to come out before heading in. This isn’t something I experience back in Singapore although it’s improving through the years.
Finding my way around was easy. People were mostly very friendly and went out of the way to help if you needed something. At no point did I feel it was dangerous while I was in Taiwan. It’s definitely a great place to hang out for finger food and shopping all the way to the night.
More images of Taiwan: Travel Photography, Taiwan!
Although my trip to India was for the purpose of covering a wedding, I always make it a point to travel around whenever I can. I started my journey in Bengaluru followed by Belur and Mysore and back to Bengaluru.
I didn’t feel that I was very successful with landscape shoots during this trip. The visibility was a little bad throughout my trip and most of my land/cityscape pictures couldn’t match up with what I got during my previous trips to Vietnam and Cambodia. As a result, I found that I did a lot more street photography than I usually would.
That being said, photography opportunities were still plenty. By the end of my trip, I could not bare to see another temple. There are so many of them. I also missed out on some great opportunities for photos, as I didn't carry a lens longer than 85 mm during this trip. I would have preferred to use a 70-200 for some of the shoots. Actually, just two of the many places I visited; Melkote temple from the bottom of the hill and Maharaj's palace from a hill far away.
Some of the interesting things I found out during the trip (based on the locals I spoke to):
- Most cars are silver or white because everyone knows they are going to get scratches. It's harder to see the damage for those colors.
- Only the driver of a motorcycle needs to wear a helmet.
- Nightlife ends at 12 am. Its a law!
- Cricket is such a big thing here. Some clubs even have their music turned downed so that people can watch and listen to a game that is happening via a projector.
- Most locals have distillation devices at home to purify the tap water, as it is not drinkable. Don't try it! I have left a towel under one of my hotel taps, which was leaking to mute the sound of the water dripping. I was surprise to see that the towel was brown the following morning.
I can’t wait to go back to India again to explore Delhi as well as capture the spirits of some of the festivals. One of the festivals that sounded really awesome is Holi, which I just missed. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be really messy and I’ll probably have to find a solution to protecting my camera.
Anyway, here are some pictures from my trip to South India:
During my last post, I didn’t have enough time to share about my wonderful experience in Central Vietnam as I had tons of pictures to clear before flying off again. I still have lots of pictures to clear but that’s not the point. It was incredible!
One of the places that I found really interesting was Phong Nha Cave which was North of Hue. It was really out of the way and it took me about 8 hours to get there by car. Of course, I stopped a couple of times to capture the beautiful landscapes along the way. My biggest surprise was that colored lightings had been installed in the caves. Really colorful ones! In a way, I didn’t like it as it didn’t look natural but it was really pretty. I felt a little dumb as I came equipped with lights just in case I had to do light painting to light up the place.
I also visited Bhang Na hills where I got a chance to sit in the world longest cable car ride. The view was great but it was difficult to take any good pictures from the cable car as its almost completely enclosed. The clarity of the glass wasn’t very good. I took a risk with my DSLR by sticking it out of a small opening just to take a picture of the view during the ride. I had to stretch out quite far to avoid capturing the cabin as well.
Enough talk! Here are some of the pictures my adventure:
I will upload more to my gallery under “people and places” when I have the time so don’t forget to check it out.
I’m back! The last time I visited Siem Reap was about 2 years ago. Quite a lot has changed since then. Firstly, there are more people asking for one dollar at the tourist sites :D Also, much of the temples are under going restorations.
The weather was great (mostly cloudy) throughout the trip! March is the dry season for Cambodia. This allowed us to shoot non-stop from day to night. I’m happy to say that all the participants had tons of fun while they expanded their knowledge in wide range of photography techniques! In fact one of them had commented that it was "hardcore" and just the way he liked it. Of course it’s hard-core! That’s my middle name!
For those who missed it, don't worry. There is a possibility that I’ll be doing another one in the near future. Maybe Japan? Taiwan? Where would you like to go? Add me on twitter and facebook if you would like to be updated on future workshops.
Here are some pictures from the photography workshop conducted by me:
For more pictures from Cambodia, click here: Travel Photography, Cambodia
If you would like a workshop customized for you and your friends or your organization, kindly drop me an email.
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