Photo Expeditions and Workshops: Kanchanaburi

This is perhaps the time of year when we begin to take stock, to review what we’ve achieved in the preceding months and to begin planning for the year ahead. It’s very convenient that our time should be divided into such tidy blocks. Twelve months, fifty two weeks, three hundred and sixty five days; it’s just about the perfect amount of time for us to grasp, both in retrospect and when planning ahead.

A monk looks out of a window at a temple near Amphawa

My preparations for 2010 are well underway and I’ve been busy putting a host of exciting plans together for what promises to be another fun-packed and fulfilling photographic year. I spent much of last weekend inspecting potential venues and accommodation for forthcoming photo expeditions in Thailand. Regular visitors to this blog will recall that I’m collaborating with Diethelm Travel and will be leading a number of photo expeditions and workshops across South East Asia in 2010.

Diethelm have a long history as a successful, premier tour operator and their local infrastructure is second to none. Linking up with them brings with it the benefits of their tremendous experience in the region. Their local contacts are really impressive, from knowledgeable local guides to friendly and hospitable hotel owners. There’s a terrific network of experienced operators all across the region with whom Diethelm have long-established relationships. It’s a great resource and joining forces with them enables me to offer first-class photographic expeditions where all the logistics are managed by experienced professionals. I spent last weekend in Kanchanaburi with two Diethelm staff, a guide and a driver who have worked with the company for 17 and 15 years respectively. That’ll give you some idea of the depth of local knowledge that’s available to me now.

In December ’09, I’ll lead the first of a series of photo tours planned for Thailand. My visit to Kanchanaburi last weekend was the final part of my preparations and we’ve put together a really exciting itinerary. If I wasn’t already leading this trip, I’d sign up for it, that’s how exciting it is.

Ancient and modern live side-by-side in Bangkok

Here’s a brief introduction, taken from the Diethelm web site of the six-day tour. Actually, “tour” doesn’t even remotely do it justice, it’ll be a photographic “experience”:

“Our new photography tour presents a great opportunity for amateur and semi-professional photographers alike to improve on their techniques and bring back home unique and eye catching digital images. Accompanied by Gavin Gough, renowned professional British photographer and travel writer based in Bangkok, participants will have opportunities to discuss the technical aspects of photography, ensuring that they can use whatever equipment they have at their disposal to their advantage.

Starting in Bangkok, we will capture the illuminated grounds of Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha) during a nocturnal tour. Next morning, we explore the fascinating markets and street life around China town on foot, tour the colourful flower and vegetable wholesale market and in the afternoon, travel by chartered taxi boat through the canals of Thonburi. The following day we depart by private minivan to Mahachai, one of the biggest seafood piers in the Gulf of Thailand. Later that morning, we board the local train for a scenic one-hour ride to Mae Klong. The train passes right through the bustling fresh market, which again offers unique photo opportunities. In the afternoon, we travel by chartered long-tail boat along Mae Klong River and a network of canals, passing coconut and fruit orchards and rural dwellings. The lively evening weekend market presents plenty of photographic opportunities.

An early start on Day 4 brings us to an authentic floating market, that takes place according to the moon calendar and on weekends only. By van we continue to Kanchanaburi, where we board the train for a ride along the famous “Death Railway”. In the afternoon, we hike along the alignment of the original Burma-Thailand railway at Hellfire Pass, before we reach our final destination of the day, a luxury tented camp built along the Kwai River. Next morning, we take a chartered long-tail boat along the Kwai River to Sai Yoke National Park for captivating images of nature and a picturesque waterfall. Afternoon, we depart for Ayutthaya, the former capital of Siam. The glory of the Ayutthaya empire (1350-1767A.D.) is evident in the remains of temples such as Wat Phra Sri Sanphet and Wat Chai Wattanaram, which we will pass during a dinner cruise on a converted rice barge and also visit the next day during our photograpy tour of this UNESCO World Heritage site.”

I began to make a list of the highlights but then realised I was simply re-writing the itinerary. Everything’s a highlight! But here’s what I’m most excited about: very few of the places we’ll visit are on the typical tourist trail. For example, although we photograph at a floating market, it’s one that’s rarely seen by western visitors and certainly not the one where hordes of tourists descend from air-conditioned coaches each morning. Although we visit the glorious Wat Pho, we go at dusk, when we’ll have the impressive reclining Buddha all to ourselves – in perhaps the best light of the day. Genius! That’s been the great delight in organising this itinerary with a company boasting such a depth of local knowledge, we’ll get to see and photograph more of the real Thailand.

The arrival of the passenger train at Mae Klong market

The fishing port of Mahachai is a photographer’s delight and the improbable Mae Klong market is the one that divides regularly, like the parting of the Red Sea, to allow a passenger train to pass through the centre of it. As far as I know, it’s unique and I’m really looking forward to introducing our tour participants to all of these wonderful destinations. Our time in Kanchaburi promises to be a real adventure. We travel by train along a section of the infamous Thai-Burma railway and then by long-tail boat up the enchanting Kwai Noi river. I really enjoyed exploring these locations at the weekend and knew that we were in the right place when I awoke on Saturday morning to find a pair of elephants bathing in the river, right outside my window. I decided that every day really ought to begin with the discovery of a pair of elephants bathing in the river outside the window – well, it’s such a struggle to fit them in the bath.

I took some video clips and pictures, mostly for my own records and for planning purposes but thought you might enjoy seeing them, so there’s a short video compilation below. I especially enjoyed shooting the first few seconds of the video. Perched somewhat precariously on the prow of a long-tail boat, I dangled a 5D MKII from my fingertips, letting it hover just an inch above the water surface. No, it’s not a technique that I’ll be teaching to workshop participants but it did provide an interesting and unusual perspective of the journey up-stream. Some shots were taken at the gorgeous River Kwai Jungle Rafts, which are beautifully rustic and have the benefit of being located right in the middle of nowhere. Despite this, visitors can enjoy a massage at the end of a long day’s photography and dine by the light of hurricane lamps and a million stars. Bliss!

The first of these photographic expeditions is scheduled to begin on December 10th 2009. The price will be confirmed shortly but I can promise that it will represent great value for money. For now, you can add your name to the list of people interested in joining the workshop by completing the form below. Places will be offered on a strictly first-come, first served basis so if you’re interested in joining me for what promises to be a quite lovely photographic adventure then make your interest known today. Further tours are planned for the spring of 2010 and you should also watch this space for announcements of similarly exciting tours to Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Vietnam and Bhutan.

If you’re not already a subscriber to my occasional newsletter then this would also be a good time to sign-up.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 4:18 am and is filed under Workshops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.