My mid-year resolution is to be more active on my blog but since my last post – that I can’t believe was over 2 years ago I have barely had time to sit down and write anything worth reading.
2014 was a blur. We started the year with a Burma photo tour. This has always been one of my favorite destinations and the move towards democracy is certainly to be welcomed but now that it is on everyone’s bucket list it has pushed prices up astronomically. Accommodation is scarce and hotel operators are able to command premium rates for lest than premium accommodation.
The major attractions are still surprisingly free of tourists if you plan properly. Most tours appear to have rigid itineraries and all tour groups follow the same itinerary. One hour the place is crawling with visitors, the next it’s deserted. I plan around this and we usually have the the place to ourselves.
Dawn commute over the U Bein Bridge in Mandalay and not a tourist in sight.
How ever many times I return t a place I come up with new material and even in the most uninspiring destinations there is always something new to shoot. In Burma it’s just a feast of opportunities. This was my fourth visit and I made some of my best photographs ever. Light changes, seasons change and perhaps most important of all, mood changes. You have to get in the right head space to really see a place. Some days it just doesn’t happen. There are days when the muse fails to descend. Other days there are images everywhere you look.
Monks on their early morning arms walk through Mandalay.
Part of the secret is to place yourself where you expect the action to be. These monks take the same route everyday so it was just a matter of hanging out until they came walking along. I ran with then shooting as I went until I found the best background. It was barely light so the slow shutter speed I had to use let me get a feeling of movement through a slight blur by panning with the monks. You need to practice this technique to perfect it but once you have it down it works every time.
A novice monk at a festival in Bagan.
I love working with people and festivals are great for this. Every tourist that comes to Burma visits Bagan but once again this was at dawn and few tourists were around.
Surreal stupas at an ancient site by Inle Lake.
Two women carrying loads of wood made this shot. I used to try to avoid including people whenever possible but now I go out of my way not to do that. This kind of photograph almost always results from serendipity. If these women hadn’t appeared it would have been a far less interesting shot.
Kayan woman by Inle Lake.
It can be only too easy to be exploitive when taking photographs of people. How often do you see tourists barging in to take photographs of ethnic peoples as though they were animals in a zoo? No attempt is made at communicating or spending time with them. Just click the shutter and move on.
