Free Desktop Wallpaper for September 2009: Bhutan Tsechu

The free desktop wallpaper for September comes from Wangdue Phodrang Dzong in Bhutan and shows a scene from the annual tsechu (festival) that takes place there every autumn. September brings with it great excitement as I’ll be leading a group of ten photographers on an expedition to photograph in Bhutan this month. We hope to catch some of the autumn festivals and will certainly be doing our best to capture a little of the beauty that Bhutan offers.

There will be plenty of opportunities for our group to practice with slow shutter-speeds, this was shot at 1/15th of a second, and other challenges will include the low-light situations we’ll encounter inside temples and at each end of the day. What better way to spend two weeks than touring around Bhutan in search of colourful festivals in the company of a bus-load of enthusiastic photographers? Truly, I do have the very best job in the world.

This month’s desktop wallpaper highlights 23rd September, the date when the majority of our group will fly from Bangkok to Paro. Download the wallpaper appropriate to your screen size from the links at the foot of this post.

Thailand Photo Tours

I’m delighted to announce that I’m joining forces with one of Asia’s most well-respected travel companies. Diethelm Travel Thailand has recently been awarded the title of “Best Travel Agency” for the second consecutive year. I’ll be leading a series of photo tours and workshops for clients of Diethelm, the first of which takes place at the end of October 2009.

Diethelm Travel boasts perhaps the broadest range of contacts in the region and their knowledgeable staff have an impressive record at supplying clients with top-class tours. I’m really pleased to have found a company with such an impressive reputation to work with and am confident that photographers booked on a Diethelm Photo Tour will enjoy the very best itinerary and accommodation that they could wish for.

Here’s a couple of details to whet your appetite, the full details can be found on the Diethelm Travel web site.

1. Nocturnal tour of Wat Pho. This temple of the reclining Buddha usually closes at 4pm, which is very frustrating. Our tour will gain access to the temple grounds and the forty-six metre long reclining Buddha statue after dark. Fantastic!

2. After visiting Mahachai and Mae Klong, two of my favourite photographic destinations around Bangkok, we’ll take a long-tail boat ride up the Mae Klong river. Fabulous!

3. We’ll hike through “Hellfire Pass” until we reach our accommodation – a luxury tented camp on the banks of the Kwai river. Luxury!

4. Following a trip to Ayutthaya, which just happens to be a photographer’s dream as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site, we’ll enjoy a dinner cruise on a converted rice barge. Scrumptious!

You can obtain dates, a full itinerary and pricing from the Diethelm Travel Sales Department or contact me directly and let me know that you’re interested in joining this tour and I’ll make sure that your name is added to the list (and I’ll get you a discounted rate!).

What can you buy for $5?

David duChemin’s new e-book, “Ten Ways to Improve your Craft” is not a DIY guide for aspiring boat builders. David duChemin’s new e-book is all of the following:

• Excellent
• Great Value

What else do you need to know? It contains ten tips that will fire your creativity and a number of exercises that are sure to spark your imagination. There’s no need for me to wax lyrical about it. It’s only $5 (for now) and if you can tell me one other thing that you can buy for just $5 that will give you the same amount of encouragement then I’ll excuse you for not buying it. Otherwise, you and I might need to have words.

OK, I think that’s about a week’s worth of posts in one, which, frankly, is more than you deserve. A free desktop wallpaper, an opportunity to spend a night in close proximity to me in a luxury tent and a chance to buy one of the finest photographic e-books ever published by a Canadian. Don’t expect me to be able to top that for the rest of the week.

Desktop Wallpaper Downloads

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 6:05 am and is filed under My work, Workshops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.