PixelatedImage Blog

Hello from Ha Noi, Viet Nam. Wish y’all were here.

If the calendar is to be believed I have two more days here before I begin the homeward journey via Seoul and San Francisco. I’ll later be doing some reports about the trip and the places I’ve been so I’ll keep this short. Just wanted to drop a line. We’re just back from Sapa, took the night train to the chinese border then a mini bus into the mountains to the “village of Sapa,” a place which has long lost its cool and is now filled to bursting with tourists and lovely montagnards now dependant on tourism and reduced to selling their wares in a sing-song “you buy from me?” voice that sounds dangerously close to whining. In all it was disappointing, and on top of that I battled a cold and then got desperately ill one evening. But the fog that rolled in was spectacular and, though it frustrated my efforts to do some nice mountainscapes, was fun in another way. Each place presents its own challenges, defies you to leave with your expectations intact and is another step on the journey to finding your photographic vision. I suspect if I had a week or two to linger in Sapa, to get well out of town and into the smaller villages, and time to wait for the light, Sapa and I would have got along so much better. As it is we’re not talking.

Hope y’all are well. See you again most likely in Vancouver when I start writing more frequently.

Have had a really lovely time here in Bangkok – spent the last two days with Gavin Gough and Matt Brandon, wandering, shooting a little, but mostly sitting around talking and conspiring to take over the world. The usual stuff. It’s refreshing to be with other photographers with no need to compete, no need even to go and shoot, but to sit, laugh, and talk philosophy or ethics, or tell blatant lies about – as Matt Brandon put it – how slow we can handhold a camera. These are the best times, as far as I am concerned, and there are no two photographers on the planet that I would rather spend an evening with.

On the way to dinner at Kuppa Restaurant. Matt showed me the Night Scene setting on the G9 – fantastic. Shot this at ISO 80, and it drags the shutter, rear curtain sync, all automatic. Sweet, night-shooting goodness was never so easy.

We also did some talking about the Thailand Lumen Dei tour and are now in the big push to finalize it. I really can’t wait for this one. If you have not considered the tour and want to spend some quality time with 3 passionate photographers with questionable sense of humour, this is the chance o’ a lifetime. Check it out HERE and get in touch if it interests you, but do it fast because it’s in May and time’s a’ flyin’.

Similarily, if you’re ever photographing Bangkok and only have a day or two, I can’t think of a better guide than Gavin. He’s got a formal one-day workshop too, check it out HERE.

In an surprising twist of fate I also managed to share a couple meals in Kathmandu with Bruce Percy, a photographer I linked to last month, a man whose work I admire tremendously. He ended up at my guest house in the Kat ahead of schedule and we had a wonderful time connecting. If you’ve not spent any time watching his podcasts, you’re short-changing yourself.

So now we’re en route to Hanoi and what is really the last leg of the trip. We have a couple days in Hanoi, then we’re off to Sapa by train for what will be a far too short 2 days/ 1 night before we’re back on the night train to Hanoi, one last day in Hanoi and then off to San Francisco via Seoul.

See you in Hanoi!

Hey y’all. Thanks so much for your patience, I know posts have been slow in coming. The good news is that the trip is going well. The pressure of the book was getting to me a little and I think that meant a slow start out of the gate creatively, but the images I’m shooting, even though I can’t show them to you, are solid. I shot one last night that I just love, so I’m leaving it here for you. Once the selects have been made and the book is to press then I’ll start sharing more of these images, bit for now y’all are going to just have to wait for the book. I continue to re-learn old lessons, mostly about my own creative space and how I work best, and I think these are all going to make the book stronger and more personal.

Next stop Bangkok for two days with Matt Brandon and Gaving Gough, then to Hanoi and Sapa. See you there.

The image above, shot at Bhouda Stupa in Kathmandu, was shot with a Canon 5D, iso 800, 1/100 @ /1.2 – for this kind of shot the Canon 85/1.2L is amazing, if not a little tougher to focus. This low-light stuff makes me wish I’d brought my 5D Mk2 on this trip. Anyone out there know if the Mk2 batteries are getting any more available?

Hello from Kathmandu!

I’m pleased to announce the winner of this last month’s giveaway. Regular commenter Dave T will have a brand new Acratech GV2 sent his way just as soon as we get the shipping details. It’s always a risk reviewing or recommending gear when you haven’t used it for an extended period but after the workout I’ve given it on this journey I continue to use and love my GV2. It’s precise, light, and rugged. On top of my Gitzo basalt G1298, the two form just about the perfect travel tripod. Congrats Dave. Stay tuned, I’ll be announcing next month’s giveaway just as soon as I can confirm the details.

All’s well in Kathmandu, though the electrical shortage is getting worse – most neighborhoods are down to 16 hours/day without power. Internet at the guest house is crawling right now, due to high demand during those few hours the power is on. Still, I thought I’d drop this postcard into the mail for you. Wish you were here!

On Friday we fly back to Bangkok for two days, including a couple historic meals – one of which with Gavin Gough, Matt Brandon, Jeffrey Chapman, and myself – should be a great deal of fun. Then on to Hanoi for 6 days, two of which will be spent in Sapa on the chinese border, then we begin the long journey home – 10 hours in Seoul, 36 hours in San Francisco, then back to Vancouver to count my airmiles, do my laundry, being post-production, and pack again for Bangladesh on the 12th.

I’ll drop you another postcard before I get home.

Last day in Cairo. The city has grown on me and I’m sorry to be leaving. Have had a great time here. The shooting, particularily for photographers who love portraits, has been very hard, but as some of you so sagaciously pointed out, the hard lessons are the good ones. Even if I seem to need to re-learn them over and over again. Or perhaps it’s more like I’m learning them in layers – they look similar each time but a little harder each go around, and a little deeper and more permanent.

Last night we sailed on the Nile at sunset. Today at sunset we wandered the City of the Dead. Tomorrow at sunset we’ll be flying out, back to FRA, then over-nighting in BKK en route to KTM. See you in Kathmandu.

I haven’t forgotten the Acratech GV2 Giveaway, so tune in next week when I announce the winner. If you haven’t entered yet, now’s your chance.

Wish you were here.  The tea and sheesha at El Fishawi is almost enough to keep me sidelined from shooting all day, but I just discovered my hotel has a wifi connection so felt obliged to go shoot something just for you.

Photographically it feels like Cairo is handing my ass to me on a platter. It’s a huge city and today in coptic Cairo I saw some nice old churches but nothing that caught my attention enough to make me raise my camera. But I’m learning lessons again, like how I shoot and why, and I’m learning to shoot the images I want to shoot, not the ones I feel I ought to, if that makes any sense. I’ve been at this over twenty years and I still have the ghosts of my heroes whispering to me, and I think “hey, you should shoot that – Sam Abell would” or something similar. And the thing is, I’m not Sam Abell or Steve McCurry.

Part of what I love most about this is the exchange, the relational element, the moments when a smile turns into chai and a moment turns into a real experience. Actual experience, actual relationship, even for a few minutes, those are the ones I live for  and I’m getting less and less satisfied with the counterfeits. The result is less images at the end of the day and I’m having a heck of a time coming to grips with that. Used to be I could go out and shoot 20 frames I loved. That number is getting much, much smaller. I know it’s a good thing, that my images are (usually) getting better, but measured against old standards fewer great frames feels more like failure than moving forward.

On top of that I find Northern Africa much harder to shoot in. Lots of visually interesting stuff that captivates me but it’s all much more intimidating to me. When people don’t want their photograph made here, they REALLY don’t want it made. I totally respect that, but it wears on a guy. The flip side – when they relent or even ask to have their portrait shot, it’s often a wonderful exchange, full of talk and gestures, tea, and genuine hospitality.

Phew, sorry for the confession, but people keep telling me my transparency helps somehow and my scarce blogging time on this gig has made me feel like I’m missing y’all.

Jut back into Toronto from 6 days in Havana. Now at the airport awaiting a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt and on to Cairo for the next 6-day leg of the journey. Havana was wonderful, great weather and lovely people, but after shooting so much in places like India it seemed sparse with people and many of those I ran into seemed a little tired of people asking for a photo. But in between the frustrations were some genuinely good moments and ironic as it is – since I’m writing a book on all this – is how much it felt like going back to school for me. Learned a lot. Shot some old cars and textured walls, some wonderful personalities and nice architecture. Also had some mojitos and a couple cigars. I only have a moment to write this postcard and drop it in the mail, but wanted to let you all know I’m alive and shooting and all’s well. I’ll check in with you in a week.

So far so good. Yesterday leaving Vancouver was beautiful. Days like these it’s a pleasure to get up early and fly.

Happy New year. I trust 2009 will be a year of peace for you all.

I leave tomorrow for a month around the world. Exciting for me, bummer for you – this blog is about to get pretty quiet. I am going to try to post at least once from each destination, keep y’all posted on things, but if you’ve done any travel at all you know that internet access is not always fast, or easy. But there’s a pay-off. This trip is the final step in gathering the resources for my book. If it all goes to plan you could be holding that book in your hot little hands at the end of May.

Here’s the itinerary in simple form – Vancouver – Toronto – Havana, 6 days – Toronto – Frankfurt – Cairo, 6 days – Frankfurt – Bangkok – Kathmandu, 5 days – Bangkok, 2 days and dinner with Matt Brandon, Gavin Gough, and Jeffrey Chapman – Hanoi, 6 days – Seoul, 8 hours – San Francisco, 1 day  – Vancouver, landing around 3pm on February 3rd. 33 days, 32 nights, 7 countries, 13 flights. Airmiles coming out my wazoo.  Yeehaa.

So, I doubt I’ll post from Havana, but will do what I can to post at least once from Cairo, Kathmandu, Hanoi, and any other chance I get a break and am not too sick of staring at the laptop. I’ll do what I can to send a postcard when possible, promise.

When I get home I have 10 days to recover and deal with post-production before I need to be on planes again – this time to Tokyo and Bangkok en route to Dhaka for a week in Bangladesh for World Vision. And then I come home and finish the book.

Don’t forget to get in on the Acratech GV2 Giveaway – I’ll be doing the draw from Kathmandu somewhere around the 20th of January.

Click the map to embiggen it.