January 03, 2013

Mekong River people - part 2

January 03, 2013/ Gary Tyson

A few days ago I blogged with some images from the Mekong River people along the Phnom Penh waterways. The experience I had was so good I couldn't resist returning a few days later. A typical scene of family life on the boats at dusk

This time I won't say too much about the experience, rather I just show the images from spending just 30 minutes on a few small boats. The original part 1 experience and images can be found here.

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/blog/2012/12/river/

The light is great on the river around sunset, so it seems to me the perfect way to end a day in Phnom Penh by exploring the waterways on a small boat, keeping away from the noise of tuk tuk horns and hustle and bustle and just taking in the sunset and sound of paddles and splashing water....a perfect day.

This time i just had one lens, the 24mm on the Leica M9P, as i was worried that changing lenses on the small boats was going to end in tears...therefore 1 lens it was, and I hope I managed to capture the scenes OK with just one focal length this time.

My chauffeur for the evening, a charming character

I got the impression that everything was about 'family' with this group of people, great to see

Kids with faces like movie stars

Great light welcomed us every time we went on the river

Grandmother and grandaughter

A youngster pops her head out to see who the stranger is

2 of my travel companions, Trevor (left) and Stephen (right). this photo by Steve Porte

Me and Stephen Patterson were the two who risked the small boats and I'm happy to say we returned to our bigger vessel later on with all our gear still dry...so mission accomplished :-)

If you wish to see other images and blog posts from this trip and other Cambodia trips you can see a selection by clicking here.

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December 27, 2012

Golden hour on the Mekong River

December 27, 2012/ Gary Tyson

I was sitting drinking a coffee by the riverside, and I noticed the light was getting interesting so decided I needed to take advantage of this by grabbing a boat and going out to photograph the small fishing boats I had seen around. The view from the riverside was serene (apart from the eyesore of the new Sokha hotel they are building across the river that seemed to manage to get itself into most of my shots somehow...grrr... Mekong river people. This small boat is their workplace, as well as their family home

My initial idea was to take some sunset shots with the city backdrop of the small boats from the bigger boat, however, as nice as these shots can be, knowing myself, this wasn't going to satisfy my craving for close up action...so after a few minutes sailing around, I asked the skipper to approach a small boat and see if I could get aboard to utilise the 24mm lens to get 'amongst' my subjects.

Another small boat approached to see what I was up to

My only concern with doing all this was if the camera dropped into the river....I had lost an M9 last year due to rain damage in Hong Kong...so the thought of the Leica going for a swim in the Mekong river was not a good thought....however, the picture is far more important than the gear (apart from the fact that I would never have got the SD card back anyway if it had fell in!)....so I decided to take the risk and cautiously climbed over and onto the small raft to join the welcoming family on their boat with the M9P, a 24mm and 35mm.

You can see from these pics by Steve Porte that boarding with expensive gear could easily go wrong

They didn't speak any English, nevertheless we managed to somehow communicate and they were quite happy for me to hang out on their boat for 45 minutes and shoot a small snippet of their life.

The light was great, as were the subjects

Another BTS shot of me working above, taken by Steve Porte

A proud Captain on his ship

Silhouettes are standard shots in this light

Black and white worked well in this light

Both husband and wife took equal turns rowing, fishing and looking after their kids

Fishing the Mekong with the Sokha hotel complex behind

River kids...(who can't swim....could be dangerous in the Mekong...it has a very strong current)

Could have done with an even wider than 24mm lens for this shot I think

Great way to see the city from the river

Another day at the office

There is now a part 2 to this blog post with more images, you can see that by clicking here:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/blog/2013/01/mekong2/

If you wish to see other images and blog posts from this trip and other Cambodia trips you can see a selection by clicking here.

December 22, 2012

Shooting Phnom Penh - The Muslim quarter

December 22, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Its the second day of our Christmas 2012 expedition around Phnom Penh, spent this time exploring around the Muslim quarter , a district I have visited before only once before a few years ago. All images below shot on Leica M9P with Leica glass ranging from 24mm to 75mm.

In true Cambodia fashion, everybody was chatting away with us and smiling. We even saw one fish seller start slapping her friend with some raw fish and prompting Steve to shoot the comedy!

I did my usual trick of wandering off alone from our group (I always find it easier to shoot alone, rather than with other photographers, I find it much less intimidating for my subjects if I am by myself. I quickly found some interesting alleyways and residents that invited me into their homes and workplaces to see what they were up to.

One family took me into some dark back room where they had a 20ft python coiled up in the corner....i almost left my camera bag where it was and ran off! lol.

For some reason I am highly attracted at the moment to shooting people in hijabs, i find the m really interesting and the way they frame womens faces makes for lovely images, and I was delighted to find lots of kids and women wearing them around this part of town, not typically something you would expect to find in Cambodia I guess, but like most other cities in the world, theres a little bit of everything, you just need to know where to look.

And last but not least of course is my good friend Stephen Patterson, I couldn't resist a portrait of him with the great light as he was scouring the landscape for his next subjects from the back of the tuk tuk on our way back to town.

December 21, 2012

Back to Phnom Penh (Day 1)

December 21, 2012/ Gary Tyson

'In the avenues and alleyways' M9P, 35mm 8 elements

We've had a crazy busy few weeks in Hong Kong leading up to Christmas, shooting tens of thousands of stills images for commercial work and several commercial video projects have kept us busy right through December, so it was high time for a short break and catch up with some fellow photographers on a jaunt to Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

'Welcome back to Cambodia, step inside', M9P, 24mm

So far I've only been back here one day, but already i can feel the stresses of city life easing away into the background as I wander the vibrant streets of Cambodia meeting some inspirational characters and getting back to basics shooting only with Leica rangefinder.

Shooting thru the Tuk Tuk canopy to create a natural widescreen effect, M9P, 75mm

All the images here were taken over the space of 3 hours on the first day. Yet again for me i find inspiration on every street corner in this wonderful country, and am lucky enough to have 3 of my best friends all shooting with me, Trevor, my old army buddy has travelled all the way from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to shoot here, Stephen Patterson from China has come via Thailand and the North of Cambodia to join us in Phnom Penh and Steve managed to escape Hong Kong a day earlier than me to get a head start with his trusty Canon rigs.

Pastel colours are everywhere, M9P, 35mm 8 elements

We are exploring some different areas of the city this time, as we have become familiar with several districts now so wish to explore some of the even less trodden sidestreets around town, am very much looking forward to unveiling some new characters.

Peek-a-boo from Mummys bike, M9P, 50mm Lux ASPH

We will be back in Cambodia for another workshop in the south in February 2013, but for the meantime we will continue exploring Phnom Penh...this must be my 12th or 13th visit to this place and it never ceases to impress me, the people are so friendly, the light is great, the colours are amazing and the company is good.

Heres a few more images from the first day and wishing all a Merry Christmas of photography that for me will be spent with a bunch of fellow photographers.

Cheers!

Washing line, M9P, 35mm 8 elements

Home Sweet Home, M9P, 24mm

Looking at me?, M9P, 50mm Lux ASPH

Colour, colour, everywhere, M9P, 50mm Lux ASPH

F8 Photography provides stills and video production for weddings, events, corporate, commercial, training, sports, documentaries and NGO projects around the world, to see more of our work our meet us to discuss a project, please contact us here: info@f8photography.com.hk or check out our work via the galleries that can be accessed from the front page of our website here.