Essential Lighting Principles: Lighting in a Flash II
If you remember, yesterday we spent time discussing how we can learn about lighting from the renaissance artists of the 16th and 17th century. Their mastery of ‘chiaroscuro’ allowed them to add depth, volume and realism into their work like never before seen in paintings. This same relationship of light and shadow is how we [...]
EXPOSED: Piper MacKay Interview
Welcome to the new installment of EXPOSED. In this installment of the series we have something a little different! So far virtually all the photographers we have featured have concentrated solely on the people and the places they visit. Piper MacKay not only shoots the people and the places she visits but also the wildlife [...]
EXPOSED: James Morgan Interview
Welcome to the new installment of EXPOSED. For the second article of this week we have UK based documentary photojournalist and film maker James Morgan. James focuses his work on environmental and human rights issues and I believe him to be one of the best contemporary storytellers in the world. James is the epitome of dedication to [...]
EXPOSED: Tony Cece Interview
Welcome to the new installment of EXPOSED. This week we have humanitarian photographer Tony Cece. This week’s edition is a bit more image heavy compared to normal. I blame Tony for giving me too much choice and far too many beautiful images to choose from! Tony is an extremely talented photographer and video producer and [...]
Szechenyi Baths, Budapest
The world famous Szechenyi Baths in Budapest are the largest medicinal bath complex in Europe. Budapest is famous for it’s thermal baths and Szechenyi is certainly not a let down. Inside there are around 12 various baths of differences temperatures and depths along with steam rooms, saunas and plunge pools. I was lucky enough to be given [...]
St Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest: Good Friday Service
Today is the first day of the Easter weekend and in a country which has a population of over 7 million Christians (approx 75% population) it is a special time of the year. St Stephen’s Basilica is one of the largest and grandest churches in Budapest and so I spent around 10-15 mins trying to capture the incredible good Friday service. [...]
Budapest: The first few hours
I have been awake pretty much the last 16-17 hours as I write this blog post so please forgive me if it is error strewn! As many of you will be aware, today is the first of my 7 night stay in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. For years I have been mesmerized by the images of Budapest [...]
EXPOSED: Craig Ferguson Interview
Welcome to the new installment of EXPOSED. This week we have Taiwan based travel and cultural documentary photographer Craig Ferguson. Originally from Australia, Craig has been living in Taiwan since 2003 and has been successfully using Taipei as a base to explore the rest of Asia since then. His images are distributed through Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images and Corbis. ‘I’ve [...]
EXPOSED: James Oliver Stone Interview
Welcome to the new installment of EXPOSED. This week we have UK based humanitarian photographer James Oliver Stone. When I set out to start this interview series James was the one photographer I had in mind, he is currently balancing working in the head office for Plan International and still finds time to travel the world [...]
EXPOSED: Kimberley Coole Interview
Welcome to the new installment of EXPOSED. This week we have UK based travel photographer Kimberley Coole. Kimberley is one of my personal favourite travel photographers. She is also an unusual case in the travel photography field in that she makes nearly all of her living from selling stock images through Lonely Planet/Getty. “Currently based [...]
A Weekend in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
I have just returned from a short weekend trip to Newcastle-upon-Tyne with a group of friends from Leeds. Originally we had planned to spend the weekend taking photos of the cool modern architecture that is dispersed between the Victorian buildings that produce the perfect backdrop for this old vs modern paradox. Unfortunately the weather was [...]
Dragon’s Backbone Terraces, Dazhai: February Wallpaper
The image above was taken in the last few days of my visit to China in late August 2012. I spent 2 days in the village of Tiantouzhai, which is located high up on the Dragon’s Backbone rice terraces around Dazhai. The terraces around Dazhai and neighbouring towns of Ping’an and Longsheng were built over 500 years [...]
Travelling Light: Images on the Move Webinar
Manfrotto School of Excellence Webinar Wow it seems like I have been away from here for a very long time. Lets just say the last few months have been beyond hectic, not only did I have to contend with coming back to the UK after 5 months on the road but also two weeks later [...]
Through the Viewfinder: Cormorant Fisherman
Out of all the images that I shot during my 5 months in SE Asia the above shot of the cormorant fisherman has garnered the most interest from viewers. Due to the amount of questions I have received about this shot I decided that I would write the second post of my Through the Viewfinder blog series [...]
Guilin, Guangxi, China
Guilin Scenic Area, Guangxi Province The last 10 days of my time in Asia was spent in what is probably the most incredible landscape of my whole trip. The Guilin Scenic Area is world famous for the endless karst formations that line the Li and Yulong Rivers between the city of Guilin and the smaller [...]
Discovering Hanoi
Hanoi: Needle in a Haystack Hanoi is a city that typifies Asia dreamed of from afar, millions of motorbikes buzzing around the narrow streets of the Old Quarter, which itself typifies the way in which South East Asia is growing like a phoenix from the flames of European colonialism. French colonial architecture nestled between more modern hotels and [...]
H’mong Villagers, Sapa
An Unforgettable Weekend Sometimes when travelling you really do have to expect the unexpected. After taking the night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, I took a small minibus to the mountain town of Sapa in the north west corner of Vietnam. After getting off the minibus I realised that it my state of tiredness [...]
Hue – The Imperial City
Imperial City, Hue Hue city was the centre of the Nguyen dynasty during the 19th and 20th century. Hue is also a Unesco World Heritage site because of the numerous temples, palaces and tombs build during the Nguyen dynasty. The centre of the imperial city is the Citadel. The Citadel is based on the banks of the perfume [...]
Hoi An – Lantern Town
Okay so I think I may have just found my favourite place in Asia for shooting at night. Hoi An is a beautiful little town in Central Vietnam. Between the 15th and 19th century it was a bustling port town that saw traders from every corner of the globe. Now recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site, [...]
S-21 Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
Security Prison 21 (S-21) was created on April 17th 1975 with direct orders from Pol Pot, the leader of the ruthless Khmer Rouge. The prison was designed for detention, interrogation, torture, and the execution of prisoners. Originally a high school it was converted into the notorious prison when the Khmer banished the entire population to [...]
Battambang
Battambang is a flying stop on my short time in Cambodia, just two nights here before I shoot off to Phnom Penh. After taking one of the most random/crazy bus rides from Siem Reap, where we swapped vehicles 4 times I finally made it to Battambang. As I only had a short time here I [...]
3 Monks at Sunset, Angkor Wat
Taken looking the opposite way to my post from earlier. I was a little gutted as I shot this and it was underexposed and then the battery died in my camera. First time in 3 months I have not had a spare one charged. Anyway I have managed to edit this and I really like it [...]
Angkor Wat Sunset
Here is my shot from last night at Angkor Wat. If you have been to Angkor Wat you will know that this view is actually in an easterly direction so is more suited to sunrises rather than sunsets. However the sheer intensity of last night’s sunset meant that the beautiful light was visible in every [...]
Tomb Raider, Ta Prohm
After a 4am start for sunrise at Angkor Wat (pics to follow) I jumped on a tuk-tuk and took a tour of the Grand circuit of temples around Angkor. This takes in all of the big names and a few of the smaller ones too. The one temple that impressed me above all others was [...]