Travel & Humanitarian Photos
It’s been a busy day preparing for our Penang Thaipusam Photo Workshop but it’s shaping up to be a colourful week. Here’s a shot from an on-location test that Matt Brandon and I struggled through this afternoon. Cyndi at the Campbell House Hotel library, Penang, Malaysia 1/125 sec at f/1.2 and ISO100, 85mm Canon EF-L [...]
I have a new photographic hero. Well, new to me but his work is anything but recent. Gyula Halász, or Brassaï as he was better known, was born in 1899 and is best known for his photographs of Paris, taken in the 1930s. The images are wonderful and capture something of the essence of Paris [...]
The lovely people at Outdoor Photography magazine are featuring the Travel Photography genre in their February edition. Experienced pro photographers Ann & Steve Toon introduce readers to the delights of African wildlife photography whilst Landscape photographer’s favourite David Noton teaches us how to take great landscape shots. My own contribution is a discussion on how [...]
Glossy. Elegant. Colourful. Eye-catching. Beautifully designed. Stylish. Appealing and downright handsome. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, these are all words and phrases that are frequently used by admirers to describe my choice of attire. Coincidentally, these are also the words and phrases that sprung to mind when the very first print edition of the [...]
It’s the final day of the year and, perhaps inevitably, time to reflect. Like me, you might have experienced the trials and tribulations, frustrations and disappointments that must form a part of every year. These are unavoidable, inescapable and no year can pass without bringing us its challenges and potential obstacles. However, the greater the [...]
There are times when we face “low light” conditions and there are times when we face the challenge of “Err, excuse me, who turned the lights off?”. On this occasion, at the wonderful Fresh and Green Academy in Addis Ababa, these three girls were sitting in a dark corner of a classroom, lit by the [...]
Two things guaranteed to make me happy: 1. The company of friends 2. Great light Yesterday’s visit to the Worldwide Orphans Academy in Addis Ababa yielded both – in spades. I met up again with the spirited kids at the WWO, they make friends faster than you can say “My name is…”. At around 5:30pm [...]
Today has been one of mixed emotions. The exuberance, energy and enthusiasm of the children we have met has left me smiling broadly and it’s humbling to spend time with kids who don’t have much in a material sense yet who’s default state seems to be excited, grinning, cheeky, cheerfulness. We spent time at schools [...]
My second day in Addis Ababa and I already feel like I’ve been here for a week. I’ve seen so much already. Here’s a small selection of images of some new friends. Firstly, the delightful Bethy, who has captured our hearts and inspired us in ways that I cannot even begin to describe. My friends [...]
I have just enough time to share a small selection of images from my first afternoon in Ethiopia. Today wasn’t a real work day but even after the long journey to Addis Ababa from Bangkok via Delhi, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to join Aaron and Bill, representatives from “a child’s right” on their visit [...]
It’s always a pleasure to spend a few minutes chatting with Matt Brandon, even more so when we’re talking about our plans for the Thaipusam Photo Workshop, which we’re hosting in Penang, Malaysia in February, 2012. For those participants who have already registered and for anyone who’s interested to learn about our plans for this [...]
Q: What do these two good looking photographers have in common? Erika Brunner | Peter BergmeierA: They’re both winners of great new X-Rite colour calibration gear, as announced in this recent blog post. They’re also both very talented photographers and you could do worse than spend the next ten minutes having a browse through their [...]
My November Newsletter, with news of workshops, journal extracts and published photo features, is out now and subscribers will have received a copy in their Inbox. If you haven’t received a copy but would like to subscribe to future editions, you can register your details on my newsletter page. In the meantime, you can read [...]
(A Journal extract) There’s a bruise on the inside of my right leg which is slowly turning purple. Each day it grows more colourful and increasingly tender. Let nobody say that I don’t suffer for my art. The bruise is the result of numerous unsuccessful attempts to kick-start this beautiful but tortuously heavy 30 year-old [...]
Further to my earlier post, below. I’m excited, delighted and just about tickled pink to add the lovely people at X-Rite to our growing list of Thaipusam Photo Workshop sponsors. Not only are the X-Rite staff all wildly attractive, witty and intelligent, they are the people responsible for ensuring that photographers the world over are [...]
I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be joining forces once again with my good friend; hat-wearing, pipe-smoking, photographer extraordinaire, Matt Brandon for what promises to be a memorable photographic workshop. We are inviting intrepid photographers to join us to photograph the spectacle of the Thaipusam Festival in Penang, Malaysia in February 2012. In the past, Matt [...]
The nice people at Prestige Magazine have published an article in this month’s edition featuring a day on one of my Bangkok Photography Workshops. Writer Debbie Oakes tells of her search for a more memorable and unique travel souvenir than the typical “sculpted tin-can tuk-tuks or eau de toilette hand-carved soaps“. She introduces her quest, rather [...]
I’m reaching the end of what has been a satisfyingly productive and entertaining week so thought I’d brew up a pot of bergamot-infused Darjeeling tea and take a moment to reflect. A memorable week The week started memorably enough when I witnessed what I’m still describing as a minor miracle when relating the experience to [...]
Wayan is over sixty-five years of age and lives on the Indonesian island of Bali. Nobody is entirely sure of his exact age, even Wayan himself is vague about it. Counting birthdays obviously hasn’t been a priority for him. He’s worked all his life in a rural community and has raised a family. In recent [...]
I’ve enjoyed wall-to-wall photo workshops in Bangkok over the weekend and the trend continues next week. I’ve photographed with enthusiastic clients at the colourful Pak Khlong Talaat (Flower Market), in the early-morning light in Chinatown, the small and aromatic fishing town of Mahachai, the enchantingly bizarre Mae Khlong market – where the train chugs through [...]
I’ve been on holiday. Oh, yes, I’ve been having a break filled with the sort of traditional, English things that define “holiday” to a person of my background and vintage. I’ve spent a couple of weeks in deepest, darkest Dorset – which is neither “deep” nor “dark” to be honest, but I enjoy the alliteration. [...]
The last two weeks have been a real treat. Not only have we been photographing in one of the most enchanting locations in South-East Asia, we’ve had the pleasure of the company of some enormously talented, wildly enthusiastic and impressively dedicated photographers. Participants at the 2011 Angkor Photo Workshop respond spontaneously to news that I’ll [...]
Having a great time on the Angkor Photo Workshop 2011 with Karl Grobl and Marco Ryan. This trip has been such a great success, we’ve already agreed to make it the “First Annual” Angkor Photo Workshop. If it was me, and it is me, I’d declare my interest for the 2012 Angkor Photo Workshop now [...]
You may remember the image below from a previous blog post. I photographed the Peacock Dancer in one of the cloisters at Angkor Wat just a few weeks ago and so was delighted to have an opportunity to revisit the same location with some of the Peacock Dancer’s friends. With my fellow instructors at the [...]