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 Citadella: April Wallpaper
This image was shot from the Budapest Citadella viewpoint. The Citadella is one of the highest points in Buda and looks over the whole of Budapest. “The fortress was built in 1851 by Julius Jacob von Haynau, a commander of the Habsburg Monarchy, and designed by Emánuel Zita and Ferenc Kasselik, after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. It [...]
A Snowy Night in Budapest
As a photographer in Budapest you are well and truly spoilt. During the day time the city is one of the most beautiful in Europe but as soon as the sun goes down, Budapest comes alive. The two images in this post where shot last night just as the snow had finally broken after two [...]
Budapest Central Market Hall
Budapest central market hall was designed and built by Gustav Eiffel (more famous for that tower in Paris) in 1896 as a celebration of 1000 years of Hungary. It is the largest indoor market in Hungary and houses a mixture of stalls. Most of the the ground floor is covered with stalls selling vegetables fruit, cured meats, spices [...]
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 [...]
Independent Travel: How to Plan Your Trip
For first time travellers planning a long trip can seem like an almost impossible task. Trying to get everything to fit together may seem more difficult than a complex algebraic problem but by following some simple steps it doesn’t have to be. No matter how mentally prepared you feel, if you don’t have at least [...]
10 Low Cost Travel Photography Essentials
When travelling I like to keep my gear concise, lightweight and durable. Here is a list of ten low-cost simple items that I would deem essential for my travel photography gear in no particular order: 1) WD Nomad Case – One of the toughest decisions for travel photographers to make is how they plan to back-up [...]
Ethics in Photography
Ethics, Dignity and Respect Maintaining an ethical approach in my work is something I have always tried to achieve. It is a problem that, when travelling especially, you come across on a regular basis. As you travel closer to tourist destinations, you begin to see many people who appear to regard locals as more of [...]
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 [...]
China Itinerary: The Backpacking Photographer Series
China – North Guangxi Province This is actually the final and shortest leg of my journey, ironically it is in the largest country in Asia, China. China has always held a position of intrigue and mystery for me and after seeing the incredible images coming from the area around Guilin I decided to add it [...]
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, [...]
Ho Chi Minh City
I am currently trying desperately to catch up with myself on these blog posts. I have omitted the Mekong Delta images for now and will upload when I have managed to edit them. In the meanwhile I have some images from Ho Chi Minh City. I spent the majority of my time in Ho Chi [...]
Vietnam Itinerary: The Backpacking Photographer Series
So it’s coming to that time, Vietnam is my penultimate country and I actually only have just 4 weeks left. I can’t believe that I am 80% of the way through my trip already. Sitting at home you may be thinking that 4 weeks is a very long time but when you have been on [...]
Last Few Days in Cambodia: Phnom Penh and Kampot
So I realise that I am so far behind with my blog posts, I have been on a pretty hectic schedule between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh city so rather than do it over 4-5 posts I am going to do it over 2. The first of which will be on the last few [...]
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 [...]
Tonlé Sap
[RANT] TIP: If you only ever listen to this one piece of advice on my blog and never listen to anything else again make sure you never go on a tour of the floating villages at Tonlé Sap, Siem Reap. The ‘floating village’ is the biggest tourist scam I have encountered in my 3 months in Asia [...]
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 [...]