Recuperations, Inspirations and Jubilations
Tickety Boo Firstly, many thanks for all the kind wishes and “get well” messages that you’ve sent over the last week. It’s been immensely cheering and I’m in no doubt that the cumulative effect of so many positive thoughts must have been restorative. So much so that I have been able to tunnel out of [...]
Stoned. But not in a good way.
Onion soup. Half a banana. I’ve always thought that following a detox regime would be beneficial but never had the self-discipline to do so. Until this week. Towards the end of a photo workshop last week I started feeling a pain in my side. It refused to subside and I thought I might not be [...]
More clouds over Bangkok
Sadly the metaphoric clouds hanging over Bangkok today aren’t nearly as light and fluffy as these, taken from my balcony first thing this morning. Troops and protesters clashed overnight and the BBC is reporting that tear gas and bullets were used. Many people have been injured and there is talk of the battle moving towards [...]
Bangkok Photo School: Open for business
I mentioned at the end of 2008 that I’ve been working on a number of exciting projects for ’09 and I’m pleased to be able to announce the first of those already. What a great start to the year! I’m launching a series of photographic classes under the umbrella of the Bangkok Photo School. I [...]
Travel Photographer of the Year 2008
The winners of the 2008 Travel Photographer of the Year competition have been announced and my hearty congratulations go to Canada’s Darwin Wiggett who wins a trip to Everest and a Linhof large-format panoramic camera as well as some other tantalising prizes. I had a couple of portfolios shortlisted, one of which is Commended in [...]
Independent User Review: Canon EOS 5D MKII
My good friend and fellow professional photographer Barry Mann is the proud new owner of a Canon EOS 5D MKII and has kindly given his first impressions of the new camera. Barry runs a commercial and low-level aerial photography business in the UK and is also an accomplished travel photographer in his spare time (check [...]
Lumen Dei: Thailand 2009
I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be teaming up with the incomparable David duChemin and Matt Brandon next year for what promises to be a very special photo workshop. Regular readers will already be very familiar with Matt’s and David’s work and will understand why I’m excited at the prospect of working with them. They [...]
A postcard from Bangkok
Jack Kurtz has asked about the situation in Bangkok and I’ve had a number of e-mails asking what it’s like in the city at present, which are appreciated. However, before I talk about Bangkok, I awoke to shocking and saddening news from Mumbai this morning. I had tuned in to the BBC World News channel [...]
Photos: Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) training centre
Muay Thai is Thailand’s national sport and no visit to the country would be complete without some experience of the sport. As a spectator I mean. There’s going to be trouble if bus-loads of tourists start climbing out of their air-conditioned coaches and climbing into a Muay Thai boxing-ring. Having said that, the training centre [...]
Review: Think Tank Skin Set, Belt & Harness
This is a long overdue review of the Think Tank Skin Set with accompanying Steroid Belt and Pixel Racing Harness. Let me start by saying that I’m not sponsored by Think Tank Photo so you should have no fears about my review being in any way biased. However, I should declare that I was supplied [...]
Home again, home again…
Back home in my Bangkok apartment after a tiring but hassle-free return trip from Bhutan, I’m ignoring the mountain of unopened post, turning a blind-eye to the growing list of unread e-mails and closing the door on the exploding suitcase of unwashed laundry in favour of a quick flick through the photos I’ve taken over [...]
Pictures & ideas flourish at the flower market
I met up with Mike Robson this morning and we spent a few hours wandering around Bangkok’s fruit and flower market, taking pictures and pausing occasionally for a cuppa and a chat about photography in general and photo tours and workshops in particular. Mike’s an ex-Marketing guru and a terrific source of ideas, all of [...]
Return from Ayutthaya
The more observant amongst you will have noticed that I’m alternating between the Lonely Planet spelling of “Ayuthaya” and the more common spelling of “Ayutthaya”. I usually stick with the Lonely Planet spelling of place names just for consistency but in the case of Ayutthaya the double-t option is more commonly seen. There’s something more [...]
Return to Ayuthaya II
Whilst I wouldn’t claim that this is my most creative or unusual interpretation of the Buddha Head in the Bodhi Tree, I thought you might like to see it whilst I’m working on something more “outside the box”. The Photoshop Merge function is extremely clever. Can you see the joins? Talking of Photoshop, Check out [...]
Return to Ayuthaya
My first visit to Ayuthaya was in 2003 when I photographed this Buddha statue head that, whether by accident or design, has become embedded in the side of a tree. Thinking back, I remember that it was actually quite a tricky thing to photograph in anything other than a very straightforward way. Although I’ve added [...]
