March 13, 2015

4 Cambodia workshops in May & June 2015 - featuring lighting and storytelling

March 13, 2015/ Gary Tyson

We are pleased to announce that due to recent demand for more workshops in Cambodia, we are going to run 4 workshops almost back to back, two in Phnom Penh area, followed by two in the South around Kampot, Kep coastal region. We will alternate them so participants can have the opportunity to choose 2 workshops if they wish and combine their learning experience, doing 1 off camera lighting workshop and a visual storytelling workshop.

Further discounts will apply for participants who choose to do 2 workshops and there is an opportunity to take 2 days off in between the workshops to recover.

The dates for each workshop and links to their respective event pages are as follows:

Workshop 1 - Visual Storytelling (Phnom Penh) - 16 - 19 May 2015

Workshop 2 - '1 Light' Portrait Workshop (Phnom Penh) - 21 - 24 May 2015

Workshop 3 - Visual Storytelling (Southern Cambodia) - 28 - 31 May 2015

Workshop 4 - '1 Light' Portrait Workshop (Southern Cambodia) - 4 - 7 June 2015

Whether you want to learn how to use off camera lighting or develop your skills in visual storytelling, we are confident one or two of these workshops will be very useful for you.

Please check out the links and contact us if any of these dates work for you and you fancy exploring a wonderful corner of South East Asia with us and learning something new along the way.

These workshops are very limited in numbers and we expect them to sell out fast.

Look forward to seeing you there!

To contact us directly please email us at info@f8photography.com.hk

Salt Farmer, Cambodia

July 16, 2013

Client slideshow from Cambodia workshop - Patrick

July 16, 2013/ Gary Tyson

Patrick recently attended one of F8 Photography workshops in Cambodia for 5 days, this portfolio video shows his final selection of images and below this there are some fun behind the scenes shots in action during the rainy season.

Cambodia from Patrick Ansari on Vimeo.

Patrick took some great images during the week and from our feedback he seemed to find the training extrememly useful, completely overcoming any worries about approaching strangers and learning to 'see light' in a much better way than before the workshop.

(Patrick looking far too fresh on day one...the rain soon changed that...:-))

(Patrick and Jon lapping up the wet season photography...lol)

(Gary demonstrates some off camera lighting whilst Patrick watches on with his Leica M240 balancing on the edge of the boat...)

(Then Patrick balances on the small boat with his Leica whilst Gary tries to qualify for the Cambodia gymnastics team by pulling the splits whilst holding the boats together with his flip flops!)

(Patrick trying a bit of 'off road' moped skills whilst trying to find a route to an out of town photoshoot location in Kampot.

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F8 Photography provides commercial photography and photography and video training workshops, more details can be found via the ‘courses and workshops’ link and upcoming events via the front page of our website.

May 24, 2013

Buddha's birthday celebrations....F8 Photography style

May 24, 2013/ Gary Tyson

We are now into our second day of the Phnom Penh photography workshop and we started the day bright and early before 6am shooting the views over the Mekong river for sunrise and the workers and monks coming over off the boats from silk island. Sunrise over the Mekong, Leica M9P, VL 21mm F4

Monks arrive by boat from Silk Island, Leica M9P, 90mm Summarit

After that it was a quick breakfast and heading out to the local monastery...it still wasn't yet even 7am...a few yawns of tiredness could be seen, but everyone was highly motivated to get some shots before the harsh sunlight started...which wouldn't to far away...this is one of the main problems this time of year in Cambodia, the heat is unforgiving and the light can be extremely harsh...so its early rises and late finishes to capture the best light.

Lydia at one of the temples in the monastery, trying to catch a bit of shade from the heat.

We spent a good hour at the monastery chatting to monks and helping those that wanted to practice their english language skills, as well as playing with the kids and fascinating them with showing them their images on the back of the cameras.

Leica M9P, 90mm summarit

Today is the 25th of May, the day on which the Cambodians celebrate Buddha's birthday, ascencion and enlightenment. We were lucky enough to be invited back in the afternoon by some of the monks to witness the parade and take part as we wished. Of course this would offer us a great photo opporunity so we all graciously accepted the invitation and headed back in the early afternoon to see what unfolded.

Leica M9P, 90mm summarit

Similar shot to above, but this time trying the Leica M Monochrom and 28mm.

Several of the monks we had met earlier were conducting preparations in the main temple so we hung out there anxiously waiting as more and more monks and children gathered below. Andrew was kind enough to offer me the lend of his Noctilux lens as he wanted to try my 75mm lens. This worked well as as I knew with so many people around, if i wanted to single out someone i would need to be using either a Noctilux or a 75/90mm focal length.

Excited kids await the start of the celebrations, Leica M9P, 50mm Noctilux

The kids were all carrying flowers as offerings for inside the temple after the precession which was about to get underway for the next 30 minutes or so.

Monks prepare for their celebration march around the monastery, Leica M9P, Noctilux

Leica M9P, Noctilux

As the parade came to its end back at the temple I crossed the street to try and get some shot of the Monks coming past with a bit of symmetry, as i focussed on this monk he didn't notice me, but just looked up to the heavens....i thought...."jackpot" as that was for me the shot of the day....so we had spent a good few hours around this area and I think it was well worthwhile and a great experience to be able to be part of their day. We will be sure to return on Monday with prints for them all to return our gratitude to them for allowing us to photograph them. Tomorrow its off to silk island bright and early at 6am. Looking forward to more great photo opportunities in a rural setting.

My shot of the day for me personally, Leica M9P, Noctilux

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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May 24, 2013

Phnom Penh workshop underway...mudfest with x100s

May 24, 2013/ Gary Tyson

Well the day started slow as the flight from Hong Kong with the group of keen photographers was delayed by 2 hours but that didn't change anything other than a faster lunch once they arrived. We went through our composition presentations and were out crossing the river by 4pm heading to a small village on the other side for a baptism of mud and photography.

Fuji X100s in panoramic JPEG mode (12 images stitched in camera, works fine)

For myself I just took the Fuji X100s out and this is actually the first time I've tried to use it properly, its very different from my Leicas but nevertheless it did everything I asked it to without any issues, so all images you see in this post are from the Fuji.

Even though the first shoot was just a taster of whats to come, it was still great fun and everyone was fascinated by how energetic and happy the local kids are around here.

Winnie taking a break and trying not to slide downhill into the river as I almost did a few times!

I noticed Winnie taking some photos with the kids then as she took a break she had that look on her face of elation that happens to everyone when they are around Cambodian people, their zest for life rubs off on you very quickly and they really put our own lives in perspective. Just being around them, with or without camera is a positive life experience I believe.

These kids swim freely in the Mekong river, hanging on to passing boats and playing wildly in the mud.

Everyone had quick refresher on how to use their metering systems on the cameras and then it was some free shooting time to seek out some willing subjects, of which there is never a shortage in Phnom Penh.

No tyre swings here, but the bumper tyres on boats work well as a makeshift chair until the boat leaves.

We were lucky enough to have our own personal acrobatics display team at the village.

Who needs a diving board? Just climb up the nearest ferry and use that as your diving platform.

Lydia has her first mud spa shortly after arriving in Cambodia and Sammy our driver helps wash up.

Lydia joined Gary barefoot to try and get some extra grip in the mud, but it wasn't helping, luckily the rain had now stopped but left the ground soggy and slippy....photography can be a hazardous sport you know...but getting a good mudpack on your feet is good for you (so i'm told) :-)

Steve (right) and Andrew (back left) taking a break from the heat at a roadside cafe.

After an hour shooting it was time for a quick refreshment before hopping back on the boat to the other side and clean up for our first dinner at the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club), an apt location for dinner on the first night as its perhaps the most heritage building for photographers and journalists in this town with its rich history associated to the Vietnam war era.

A curious girl watches us with nervous curiosity..."who's this gang of photographers in my village"?

Tomorrow morning its an early start, up before dawn to get the beautiful Cambodia sunrise and then off around Phnom Penh to some great locations and hours of photography....will update in a few days with the gang's progress here, watch this space...

November 01, 2012

Southern Cambodia photography workshop - Feb 2013

November 01, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Our next Cambodia workshop will be concentrated in the southern part of the country for 5 days around Sihanoukville, Kep and the surrounding islands. This promises to be another successful experience for a small group of photographers (maximum 6) to fully immerse themselves in a photo rich environment with 2 instructors for personalised hands on training. For more information on the workshop and to register your interest, please follow the link below or click on any of the images:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/event/southcambodiafeb2013/

Here are a few images of this wonderful part of the world from one of our previous trips there that we will enjoying exploring with you again soon.

October 10, 2012

Manila Photography workshop - signup this week for discount

October 10, 2012/ Gary Tyson

As some of you may know, we are hosting a photography workshop on the streets of Manila in the Phillipines with acclaimed photographer Kurt Kamka from 16-18 November 2012. We are offering an early bird discount price for clients who signup and pay for the workshop before 20th October, so thats just a few days left to go. Save HK$500 by signing up now.

We have capped the workshop at 8 participants, so far we have ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT...act fast if you wish to have a great photography trip with some like minded people.

If you wish to escape the hustle of Hong Kong for a few days and shoot in a subject rich environment in a small group, improve your composition, learn some new techniques, this could be the workshop for you.

Heres the link to the workshop events page:

F8 PHOTOGRAPHY MANILA WORKSHOP - EVENTS PAGE

Heres some blog posts we have done about some of the areas in which we will shoot in Manila:

MANILA WORKSHOP RECCE

PEMBO - PHOTOGRAPHERS PARADISE

MAKATI,MAKATI, MAKATI

LIFE BEYOND THE GRAVES IN MANILA

And heres some very recent blog posts from clients that attended our last workshop held in Cambodia, see their images and read their thoughts.

CAMBODIA WORKSHOP REVIEW BY F8 PHOTOGRAPHY

October 08, 2012

GUEST POST: Terese - Cambodia Workshop

October 08, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Terese Chan (less portraits of Terese) who travelled to Cambodia with us. Terese shot with the Fuji XPro1 throughout the workshop. These are her thoughts.

(the author - Terese, posing for a lighting demo during the workshop in Phnom Penh)

I've been on and off looking for photography courses in Hong Kong for over a year, most of them I found were formal classroom teaching or commercial wedding shooting… Honestly, as a design-trained person I perceived they are boring, stiff and too commercial…and then I found F8 Photograpy (www.f8photography.com.hk). I was stunned by Gary's works, especially the street photos and immediately joined his workshop without hesitation even though I had never met him in Hong Kong.

(A girl playing hide and seek, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F1.8 1/550s)

We met in Cambodia on the first day, all of us got our gear to click on and go! It seems that we had bad luck with heavy showers on the first day but we were lucky though as Gary took us to a good location and we ran into so many lovely warm faces. I had a tough time to avoid getting my camera wet, and yet I didn't want to miss any captures….it was challenging and great fun!

(Terese (left) and Susan still smiling despite the torrential rain...)

(A praying sweet heart, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 1000 F1.4 1/150s)

(Lady under the shelter, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 3200 F2.2 1/110s)

(A girl, Fuji X-pro1 60mm ISO 200 F4 1/45s)

(A boy, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 1000 F2.4 1/52s)

I really enjoyed the total immersion in the environment, it was effective to learn in such a good and relaxing atmosphere with great people. The learning schedule might be intense, but for me the process was fun with all the happy and kind participants, they really made my trip! All the laughter and sharing made the course fruitful and complete! :)

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Terese classed herself as a 'newbie' photographer when she arrived on the workshop. Having heard that I expected to see 'beginner' images at the end of day 1, but this was not the case, Terese absorbed all the information we gave her about using different lenses and viewpoints to improve her composition techniques, she embraced her camera (Fuji XPro1) which can be slow with autfocus at times, and she got on with all the training, always smiling. My view on her work that she produced was that it was outstanding, like the other clients we took on the workshop, they all worked together and pushed each others standards higher throughout, which benefited everyone immensely and raised the self-pressure level. I think working in that style is a good thing, and I know Terese will agree that the images she produced on this workshop were some of, if not her best photographs she has taken to date. I am aware that Terese is very busy working for Cathay Pacific and it is not easy for her to get time off work, so we want to say thanks for making the time to join us, we hope you reaped the benefits of the workshop, your images certainly tell that story. Well done Terese, great work, and look forward to taking you the next travel photography expedition :-)

Here are more of Terese's images from the workshop:

(Terese seemed to be REALLY enjoying the workshop!)

(Gary from F8 helping Terese set up the Fuji XPro1 after installing the new autofocus firmware)

(Sisters, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F1.4 1/680s)

(A boy who peeps, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F2.5 1/220s)

(The boys in a temple, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 1000 F2 1/2900s)

(A smiley face, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F2 1/180s)

We have other posts from the workshop attendees as well as behind the scenes shots and video coming soon. Please stay tuned for that, you can now ‘search’ the blog on the left side of this post to find subject posts easily, try typing ‘cambodia’ to find all our posts from there if you wish to read more.

October 05, 2012

Manila Photography Workshop Recce

October 05, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Details of our November 2012 workshop in Manila can be seen here: http://www.f8photography.com.hk/event/manila-photography-workshop/

I have been to Manila 3 times in the last 2 months and am starting to get familiar with a few of the locales for shooting street life and have hung out with Kurt Kamka a few times, hes an American photographer based in Manila, so its great to have good communication with someone who already has 'boots on the street' (ironically the name of his blog also, which can be seen here).

All images below are shot on the Olympus OMD with 12mm, 25mm, 45mm lenses and processed in Adobe Lightroom 4 with VSCO film presets or Niksoft Silver Efex 2 for black and white images.

(Welcome to Guadalupe, OMD, 25mm)

This last trip we explored the Guadalupe area of Makati which yet again proved to be a fruitful location full of life and great friendly people. Every single person we met was more than happy to be photographed - if anything the only problem was that once you stopped to talk to people and take an image or two, a crowd sometimes gathered which made it more difficult to get good compositions due to the scene becoming far too 'busy' with willing subjects.

(Kurt shows the kids their portraits, you can't help but smile when you see their reactions)

Kurt was shooting with his Leica S2 camera, a beast of a machine capable of producing some amazing image quality, its a bit out of my price range unfortunately and since I am recently divorced from Leica, luckily I am avoiding their gear, although I do agree with him that the quality is second to none. I was using my trusty OMD for this trip again, as it constantly delivers the goods for me, is lighting fast and the lenses are unsurpassed for these 4/3 sensors.

(My tribute image to James Nachtwey style composition, OMD, 12mm)

(Mini-gangsta, OMD, 12mm)

We met all sorts along the way, small kids, elderly people, mini-gangstas...all totally friendly. It's easy to see how some people get worried walking around Manila, as of course there are some dangerous areas, much like any other city, however, just knowing which areas to avoid is all that is needed to ensure a pleasureable experience shooting in the streets, I found the place each trip to be more enchanting and you can't help but appreciate the people.

(Friendly lady, OMD, 25mm)

(Need a shave?, OMD, 25mm)

When you look at these images, bear in mind that all of them were taken in the space of 2 hours, that should give an idea of the versatility and range of interesting people that we found in just a short walk down a few streets. Its not easy in some countries to find so much diversity of characters, especially ones so willing to be photographed. I think Kurt is a lucky man to live in such a cool city.

(View across to Makati, OMD, 25mm - HDR effect - combined 3 images in Photomatix Pro)

When looking over at Makati from a bridge the mix of poverty with the new world is evident, with slum housing blending into skyscraper towers only a few metres apart, there is a lot of contrast in Manila, I noticed that, with high end shopping malls and designer brands all around certain areas, but I am not shocked or surprised by this anymore as Hong Kong is exactly the same in my view with these kind of contrasts.

(Manila in colour, OMD, 25mm)

(More colour in Guadalupe, OMD, 12mm)

(Every little shop window greets you with a big friendly smile, OMD, 25mm)

If I could describe Manila in colour tones I would say its 'Kodachrome'....the pastel colours that I see everywhere remind me of this, and it really is a place that lends itself to colour photography....the last few trips as its still monsoon season, there have been lots of muted grey skies which helps give the colours a nice soft look, perfect for photography...as long as you take your umbrella in case of a downpour.

(Jeepneys in monsoon season, OMD, 25mm)

(Big Mommas house - OMD, 12mm)

(Street scene, OMD, 25mm)

(Need a room? OMD, 25mm)

(The daily news, OMD, 25mm)

(More street scenes, OMD, 25mm)

Just shooting street scenes on every corner interest me in Manila, the characters all seem to be just 'hanging out' in interesting poses or compositions, it makes photography easier in this sense, and of course I still love black and white photography in these streets even though I just said earlier that it lends itself very well to colour imagery.

On the way back at the end of the shoot we were strolling along the Pasig River banks and came across a bunch of crazy kids jumping off a road bridge into the river, which looks pretty polluted and has a very very strong current.....these kids must have amazing immune systems, and can swim like olympic athletes to resist that current....not to mention the dangers of jumping off a 50ft high road bridge....one kid had climbed right to the top of the girders as can be seen in the image below...i didn't see him jump from there, maybe he has second thoughts once up there, but Im quite sure some of them have done that before...have to admire their fearless attitude and passion for having fun, no matter the risks.

(The jumpers, Pasig River, OMD, 75mm)

(Underpass, OMD, 25mm)

We will be returning to Manila to run a workshop with Kurt Kamka in November, its really a great place to shoot, its perfectly safe, my only advice there is don't go street shooting at night, keep to areas that are safe and be wary of taxi drivers, almost every taxi driver I met always trys to tell me 'the meter doesnt work' or the fee is an extra few hundred pesos....its just one of those things...confirm the price before you set off with a cab or ensure they use the meter, then you'll be fine and still have a few hundred pesos left over to buy the kids a coke for being so friendly in their village :-)

Details of our November 2012 workshop in Manila can be seen here:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/event/manila-photography-workshop/

Links to Kurt's work can be again seen here at the links below:

http://www.kurtkamka.com/

http://bootsonthestreet.tumblr.com/

If you want to see other posts we have written about Manila, please click this link below which will search out all the Manila posts for you on our blog for your convenience:

http://www.f8photography.com.hk/tag/manila/

October 02, 2012

Workshop review - Cambodia September 2012

October 02, 2012/ Gary Tyson

BEHIND THE SCENES - Shooting in Cambodia

Our small group workshop was a resounding success, some of the images produced were simply outstanding, for some photographers who attended, having either never shot 'people photography' before, or having little experience in engaging their subjects, I was honestly amazed at the work they were able to produce over the course of 3 days.

(The Motley Crew - Andrew, Ian, Susan, Terese, Steve & Gary)

The training each day was long, sometimes 12-14 hours of constant photography, editing and review sessions, but being away from their home countries allowed the participants to focus on the tasks without any distractions and this I believe is a key element to fast track learning. That coupled with a photographically rich environment allows for some great work to be produced.

We concentrated on exposing the group to a variety of different locations and subjects, encouraging them to shoot 'people' and use their different lenses, all the while being there to assist with any technical or composition questions and guide where necessary. We spent a small amount of time each day focussing on developing/editing using Adobe Lightroom 4 back at the hotel and then a good hour and a half session every night reviewing/critiquing eachothers best images of the day as a group. This was a really useful part of the training for everyone and we all learnt a lot during these feedback sessions. The group also learnt other features in Lightroom 4 including how to correcty export images for various formats (email/web/print) and to utilise the slideshow feature in Lightroom to produce a finished portfolio of images set to music at the end of the workshop.

Here are a few images from 'behind the scenes' at the workshop, showing the photographers going about their daily shooting rituals in a variety of locations in and around Phnom Penh.

(Rain or shine, we were up and out, smiling, with cameras in hand, shooting all day long)

(1-1 therapy from Gary....(we thought he was the one who needs therapy?!)

(The locals love the OMD as much as us....and Sam (right) setting up to take the group shot on the Contax G2)

(Just interacting with the locals was half the fun of the workshop)

(Showing Terese some XPro1 tips (left) and Susan (right) gets me to pose with her new found friend - a newborn kitten!)

(During some downtime, Ian buys some Cambodia scarfs, as modelled by Gary (right), an essential purchase in Cambodia)

(The girls pose, closely followed by Andrew and Gary striking a pose in the Tuk Tuk)

(Learning to use a diffuser and reflectors is essential for portraits in the harsh light)

(Sam (Tuk Tuk Driver) and Terese (right). Thats what we like to see, smiley happy people)

(We await our transport across the Mekong river whilst Andrew cleverly waits in the shade, it was a long day that one...)

Some of the participants from the workshop have kindly found time to produce some guest blog posts on our site, they can be seen by clicking below, well worth a look, some outstanding imagery they produced over the 3 days:

STEVE (ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR) BLOG POST

ANDREWS GUEST BLOG POST

SUSANS GUEST BLOG POST

As I spent much of the time in country either teaching, watching or assisting our clients with their shooting, I didn't get much time to shoot myself during the workshop. Here are a few of the images that I managed to capture in between events whilst we were out and about.

All the below images shot with Olympus OMD, processed using VSCO film presets in Adobe Lightroom 4.

September 30, 2012

GUEST POST: Steve - Cambodia Workshop (Asst Instructor)

September 30, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Steve Porte (less portraits of Steve) who travelled to Cambodia with us as assistant instructor. Steve shot with a combination of Canon 1D Mk IV and 5D Mk III throughout. These are his thoughts on the workshop:

(Steve is always having a laugh and a joke, enjoying life - here we were setting up a lesson in 'off camera lighting')

Last week, I traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia with F8 Photography owner Gary Tyson and four other photographers. Unlike our casual visit in July (described in a previous post that can be seen here) this trip was to host a formal photography workshop in and around Phnom Penh. The group consisted of four participants, Gary and myself. Here are my thoughts on that trip...

(The motley crew - Andrew, Ian, Susan, Terese, Steve & Gary)

On our last visit, we had great weather and beautiful light. This time, there were daily rain showers - but the rain had little effect on our daily routine. Both during and after the rains, we were bathed in the same soft light we have come to expect in Cambodia, and the rain actually became an interesting element in several of our images. Just like our last visit, the combination of colourful infrastructure, verdant landscape, warm and friendly people, and the soft light, made for a wonderful photographic experience.

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.2, ISO 200)

(1D4, 27mm, f/3.5, ISO 200)

(1D4, 16mm, f/6.3, ISO 200)

(1D4, 34mm, f/3.2, ISO 200)

The biggest surprise for me this trip was the quality of work produced by the workshop participants. The four arrived ranging in experience from first-day-with-a-new-point & shoot, to an experienced nature photographer. Although this was billed as a basic-skills workshop, each participant produced some very good images on day one. After four very long days of shooting, group and individual tutoring, and nightly post processing lessons, each participant was putting up some very strong images, with a much-improved keeper rate. Very impressive.

(Steve (top right) tutoring Ian (left) whilst Terese (front) studies her images captured so far)

As always, the real treat shooting in Cambodia was interacting with the local people. We met some well to do folks, and some less fortunate - but regardless of their situation, all were warm, genuine, and displayed the winning Cambodian smile. The warm welcome we received from everyone made the trip wonderful, even without raising a camera.

(Steve engaging some subjects with his infectious smile)

(5D3, 85mm, f/2.2, ISO 200)

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.4, ISO 200)

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.2, ISO 200)

(1D4, 35mm, f/6.3, ISO 200)

This trip, as usual, we delivered portraits taken on the previous trip (and some shot early this visit). Every person to whom we delivered prints beamed at seeing their own images. I’m not sure who was happier - the subjects at receiving the prints, or us at seeing their reaction. A true win-win situation.

(1D4, 22mm, f/5.6, ISO 200)

(1D4, 35mm, f/2.8, ISO 200)

In my last F8 guest post, I mentioned that Cambodia is a wonderful place to visit, to shoot, and to use as an effective teaching venue. The atmosphere is relaxed, there is abundant local and international food cuisine, the light is beautiful, and the people are wonderful. I’m happy to report that nothing has changed. For me, it doesn’t get any better than this - even in the rain....

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.4, ISO 400)

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Just want to say a special thank you to Steve for joining the workshop in this capacity. His assistance, experience, humour and character were a great addition to the workshop, helping everything along smoothly and all the participants have expressed their thanks already. The workshop was a much more fruitful experience for all with his participation. Cheers Steve.

More of Steve's photography can be seen via this weblink.

(Steve quietly ponders which flavour milkshake to try next at the Riverside bar and grill, Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh :-))

September 30, 2012

GUEST POST: Susan - Cambodia Photography Workshop

September 30, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Susan Lim (less portraits of Susan) who travelled to Cambodia with us. Susan shot with the Olympus OMD throughout the workshop. This is her story. (Susan became 'at one' with her OMD shooting sometimes 12 hours a day, practice, practice, practice)

(Susan loved interacting with the kids and shooting in the rain with her new shooting buddy, Terese (far left)

When I first registered for the Cambodia workshop I told Gary that I wanted to explore this part of Cambodia, learn their cultures and practice my basic photography skills using my recently acquired Olympus OMD.

I was given a lot of opportunities to take photos in different locations such as Wat Phnom (Buddhist temple area in the city), the silk weaving villages on Mekong Island, rice fields outside the city, street photography and environmental portraiture inside Pagodas and around other parts of Phnom Penh and the last day we visited an old temple complex about an hour away from Phnom Penh with some old ruins, great for landscape images and portraiture of the elderly temple minders.

(Inside a Pagoda, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Little girl on Mekong Island, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Monks at the Pagoda, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Intense portrait, Olympus 20mm)

In each location, people are willing to have their photographs taken and they were all full of smiles. I did notice a lot of poverty in Cambodia, which sometimes upset me as I am not used to seeing these things having travelled from Hong Kong. The results of my photographs are highly impacted by my emotions.

My thoughts on the the workshop training:

The workshop was very well organised, Gary from F8 Photography is a brilliant photographer. He is knowledgable and well experienced. Without his guidance, I would never have learnt so much about how to see and take images in a way I had never done before.

I also benefited a lot from the other participants who are all highly motivated and engaging, Steve, Andrew, Ian and Terese. Each of our session ended with critiques of photos which includes great suggestions for improving our photographs. I also learned to see results of different camera brands and the photography style of each participants. I would highly recommend F8’s Cambodia workshop to anyone.

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Susan had a great workshop with outstanding results. She had recently purchased the Olympus OMD and wanted to immerse herself somewhere away from the distractions of Hong Kong life to fast track her learning experience. I think she did this without question, and anyone viewing her images here will agree I am quite sure. For someone who has only been shooting a few months, her results were excellent, I was in fact quite envious of some the shots she 'saw' that I didn't see myself :-). On this type of workshop the instructor always learns just as much from the clients I think, I love to see how others interpret a scene, I can always learn from that. Susan was affected by some of the poverty she saw during the workshop, this is not a bad thing, this is a reality, we all react differently to what we see, and it is reflected in some images in her portfolio. This reminded me of my early visits to Cambodia, it is easy to get overwhelmed by some of the sights, but I also think this makes us stronger photographers as being emotional about our work is a good thing, it means we care about what we are trying to say. Good work Susan, well done.

(Rainy day, first shots...this was one of Gary's favourites that Susan produced on Day 1, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Cheeky children, Olympus OMD, 45mm)

September 28, 2012

GUEST POST: Andrew - Cambodia Photography Workshop

September 28, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Andrew Hardacre (less portraits of Andrew) who travelled to Cambodia with us. Andrew shot with a combination of Leica M9 and Fuji X100 for this trip. This is his story.

Photography biorhythms was a new concept to me. Rise at 5.30am, bed at midnight. Flat out. All day, every day.

Gary warned us that we would burn out if we tried to do this. I didn't listen.

The evidence however is in the catalogue. A few gems taken in a burst, followed by long interludes of the mundane. Devoid of inspiration, no spark. Fortunately I did listen to everything else he taught us. I can't promise I can put everything into practice at once. I do however have a much better understanding of the importance of colour, how to engage a subject and the value of a tight frame.

I was already a black and white junky but although I still think B&W first, I can now see why in the past my colour images often failed. I need to go and seek out colours that work and be more selective in what I shoot.

And the really big lesson is then selecting what to keep and what to trash. Forced ranking the day's files down to 20, then 15, then 10....... that was interesting.

(Andrew scouting for new subjects from the Tuk Tuk)

On day 1 and 2 the challenge was to decide which 20 to put up for critique. By the end of day 4 the problem was the other way round. Can I find 10 worth showing out of the hundreds I have taken.

I compared this in my blog to doing a language immersion course and I guess that is pretty close - this is an immersion course in the language of light. Me definitely Leica :-)

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Andrew produced an excellent body of work during the 3 day workshop. Andrew was one of the most self critical members of the workshop - this is something I consider to be a great asset as a photographer, you MUST be able to criticise your own work and be open to constructive criticism in order to grow. Another point from me was that Andrew explained to me before the workshop that he had spent little time photographing 'people' as he is a big fan of nature and landscape photography, and he wanted to expand his portfolio with 'people'.

(Andrew and Gary chilling out whilst waiting for the boat to ferry them across the River Mekong)

I think it is very evident in this short showcase that Andrew easily achieved his goals and produced some fantastic environmental portraits and close up character studies. It was a real pleasure having Andrew with us on the workshop and we very much look forward to spending time shooting with him again in the future. In the meantime, here are a few more images of Andrews from the workshop and some links below to his blog:

Andrew has his own blog that showcases more of his images from Cambodia and his other photography interests also, please take time to go have a look, heres the link below:

ANDREWS PERSONAL BLOG

We will have other posts from the workshop attendees as well as behind the scenes shots and video coming soon. Please stay tuned for that, you can now 'search' the blog on the left side of this post to find subject posts easily, try typing 'cambodia' to find all our posts from there if you wish to read more.

Thanks for taking the time to visit our blog, if you like our blog and website, please ‘like’ us on our public Facebook page or on the 'LIKE' box to the right side of this blog. You can share this story with your friends with the Facebook and twitter links below or on the left side of this blog. You can also subscribe to our blog via the RSS link below or on the right of this post.

August 28, 2012

Pembo - Photographers Paradise

August 28, 2012/ Gary Tyson

(Welcome to Pembo, OMD - 25mm)

Welcome to Pembo...my new favourite part of Manila. I have to say that ANY photographer visiting Manila simply MUST take the time out to visit this area. Its an amazing little district full of intertwining streets and an extremely vibrant street life culture. This place is exactly how I imagined Manila to be in my mind before I visited, full of smiley faces, great colour and amazing characters - even the cats look cool in this part of town!

(Coca Cola Cat, OMD - 25mm)

I'll start off this post with just a few images from the first 10 minutes of walking into Pembo....this should give you a view into the place, from chaotic traffic, variety of characters, smells of street life (check out the pig photo!) the place was like a circus of life, and I must yet again thank my new friend Kurt Kamka for showing me this place.

(It's all about family - OMD - 25mm)

(Hanging out on the street, OMD - 25mm)

(A local form of transport - the trike - OMD - 45mm)

(Bacon sandwich anyone...OMD - 45mm)

(Peek-a-boo, OMD - 25mm)

As I wandered down the street in Pembo (I was only here for 2 hours), I couldn't decide which lens to use on my camera (this is one reason why I usually just take 1 lens with me whilst out on the street....to minimise confusion and help me concentrate on one focal length)....There was so much to see here, I wanted to shoot wide angle environmental shots, then shoot close up portraits of the same people....luckily the Olympus OMD lenses are all very small and light, which enables me to carry 4 primes, which all together weigh less and take up less room than just one of my Canon 'L' lenses. I switched frantically between my wide, medium and longer lenses (12,25, 45, 75) throughout the walk to enable me to capture as much as I could of this place.

(Harsh light, works for me!, OMD - 45mm)

(A sneak peak into someones living room, OMD - 25mm)

(A proud man, OMD - 25mm)

(More than happy to pose, great character, OMD - 25mm)

Something myself and Kurt discussed on our walk was how everyone just can't help smiling in the Phillipines. Its a great 'de-stress' exercise to just go for a walk around Manila, its infectious and by the time we had finished our shoot, we felt we had a very fulfilling afternoon and pleasant experience, and I feel lucky to be able to just walk around and engage with these people, my life is enriched by meeting them and I am very grateful that they allow me a few seconds of their time to capture their vibrant smiles and laughter.

(Laughing girl, OMD - 45mm)

(Brotherhood , OMD - 25mm)

(Shy at first...OMD - 75mm)

(...then strike a pose...OMD - 75mm)

The light was very harsh and the weather hot as we walked the streets, but as the whole area is made up of small streets and alleyways there is plenty of opportunities to use the shade and dappled light to get some nice shots, even in harsh light, I don't worry too much, there is always a way to shoot...i love shooting into the light as much as anything, so I am always on the lookout for interesting light to use to my advantage when the weather is like this.

(Full of character, OMD - 25mm)

(Hello stranger, OMD - 45mm)

(I LOVE the colours of the buildings - OMD - 75mm)

(Shy boy, OMD - 75mm)

(Mini-Gangsta, OMD - 25mm)

(shooting into harsh light works well with natural diffusers, OMD - 25mm)

We were lucky enough to stumble onto a basketball match between some locals also and they allowed us to shoot them for a while, this was a welcome break for us from the harsh sun outside as we hung out in their indoor court for 20 minutes and a good chance for me to test the high speed 9 frames per second framerate of the Olympus OMD, as I had not used it for sports photography yet, worked pretty well i thought.

(Olympus OMD had no problem with fast moving sports, OMD - 75mm)

(A national past-time in the Phillipines, OMD - 12mm)

I know this blog post is quite a long one with plenty of images, I hope that doesn't bore anyone, I really couldn't make my selection any smaller to show this place, its so interesting for me, I just wanted to share the beauty of this place, and as I said earlier, I strongly encourage anyone visiting Manila to take the time to visit this locale. Here are a few more images of some of the great people we met along the way.

(Family life is everywhere , OMD - 75mm)

(One of my few black and white images from this trip, OMD - 25mm)

(Eating 'Balut', a fertilized duck embryo complete with feathers....yummy....OMD -25m)

(Local musicians in Pembo, OMD, 75mm)

(Friendly waves goodbye as we left Pembo, OMD - 25mm)

(We will be back for sure!, OMD - 45mm)

All images here are shot on the Olympus OMD with various prime lenses and all processed with 1-click presets fromVSCO film presets, still by far my favourite film simulation filters that work directly as a preset within Lightroom 4.

For other posts I have written recently with images of the new Olympus OMD in Manila please see the links below:

LINK TO BLOG POST: Shooting the back streets of Makati

LINK TO BLOG POST: Residents of Makati Catholic Cemetery

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Manila (first trip in July 2012)

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD shooting in Ulingan, Tondo, Manila

August 28, 2012

Makati, Makati, Makati

August 28, 2012/ Gary Tyson

(Kurt Kamka on the prowl on the back streets of Makati, OMD - 25mm)

Some will know Makati as the business district of Manila in the Phillipines....some may know it for another reason - an infamous red light district.....you will find neither of those places featured in this blog post.

Today's post is about two guys just going for a walk down a few streets of Makati, well away from the business zone and suits and well away from the red lights. I see both those things in Hong Kong on a day to day basis whilst moving around town and I have no desire to feature either of them here, so I wanted to simply show a few images from taking a walk down some completely normal streets just off the tourist map in Makati with my new shooting buddy Kurt Kamka.

I was lucky enough to hook up with Kurt Kamka on this trip who was my trusty guide throughout my few days shooting. He does some outstanding photography on the streets of Manila and his work can be see at the following links:

1. Kurt Kamka Blog

2. Kurt Kamka Tumbr site

Something I have mentioned a few times before and will continue to do so is about using the Olympus OMD camera for this type of photography - in my mind its perfect....simple as that.....both me and Kurt shoot in a similar fashion with this camera, fully utilising the rear tiltable screen as a viewfinder and one touch shutter release of the screen...it works wonders. Ironically both of us previously shot with Leica M series cameras but are both finding the Olympus to be well up to the job on the streets (Kurt also still shoots with a Leica S2 camera).

(Brothers, OMD - 75mm)

We had earlier been shooting some people that live at the Catholic Cemetery in Manila (blog post on that featured here) then grabbed some water and headed for another hours walk round some back streets. These are the images that we captured on that walk. I am still mesmerised by the colours of the Phillipines, I actually find it hard to shoot in black and white here, as everything has a beautiful 1970s pastel colour tone to it (in my mind at least), which I just want to record all the time with my camera. Even this little girls blue Ukalele seen below was exactly that, from the clothes to the Jeepneys, the colours just scream out at me.

(Perhaps the warmest smile of the day - OMD - 75mm)

We came across these kids sat in the street playing musical instruments and having a great time together, I stopped to take some photos, help them practice a little bit of English and then scare them with my terrible Ukalele skills...lol.

(Image by Kurt Kamka - The kids weren't familiar with my Beatles and Rolling Stones renditions...lol)

I have never seen so many smiling kids as I have seen here during this trip, a lot of people call Thailand 'The land of smiles'....I'm quite sure the Phillipines could easily win this title also.

(Land of smiles, OMD - 75mm)

There were also plenty of animals to be found along these back streets, I saw a lot of cockerels tied to doorways, and Kurt explained to me that these were used for 'cockfighting', a viscious sport I imagine which seems to be very popular here and in many other parts of Asia. I also encountered a vicious dog or two, luckily tied to a post, and probably the skinniest cat I have ever seen!

(Who let the dogs out?, OMD, 25mm)

('Ma-Cat-i' in Makati, OMD - 25mm)

As well as the young kids in the street we met plenty of elder folk who were equally as nice and pleased to meet and interact with us as we wandered through their neighbourhood. Of course we had a few funny looks at first, but with big smiles and friendly gestures, every single person we met was more than happy to be photographed.

(Friendly gentlemen in Makati, OMD - 75mm)

On our way out of the back streets we came across a building site, where some workers were hanging around outside on a break, they stopped us in our tracks and insisted that we photograph them. The Fillipinos just seem to LOVE being photographed at every opportunity.

(Pinoy smiling builders, OMD - 75mm)

As we finished our walk the heavens opened and poured down, so it was time to jump in a cab and head back for a coffee and some editing. A succesful day was had by both of us and a great first meeting. On the way back to my hotel I was reminded of the poverty that of course exists here as beggars tapped on the taxi window asking for money, I am never sure what is best in this situation, does giving them money keep them on the streets...i guess so...but its always a hard call for me...

(Begging at the roadside - OMD - 12mm)

The following day I found a photography paradise in a part of town called 'Pembo'. I am currently editing my images from that location and will do my next blog post on that once I arrive back to Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon. Please be sure to come back for a look as there are some great characters featured in those images and if anyone reading this has any desire to photograph life in the phillipines, I strongly recommend visiting that place.

For other posts I have written recently with images of the new Olympus OMD in Manila please see the links below:

LINK TO BLOG POST: Residents of Makati Catholic Cemetery

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Manila (first trip in July 2012)

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD shooting in Ulingan, Tondo, Manila

August 26, 2012

Life beyond the graves in Manila

August 26, 2012/ Gary Tyson

(Entrance to Makati Catholic Cemetery - OMD, 25mm)

Along the backstreets of Makati in the heart of Manila lies an old Catholic Cemetery, seemingly abandoned, but on looking inside it has a lot of residents, who are quite alive.....living in the tombs that remain within. It always amazes me the places that people can turn into quite homely communities....this was yet another one of them, full of smiling faces and vibrant colours.

(Graveyard kids - OMD, 25mm)

During my short trip to Manila I hooked up withKurt Kamka who I have met through our Hong Kong Street Photography group on Facebook (feel free to visit our group and join in if you like shooting street, linked here). This was the first time we had met in person, so we grabbed lunch together and had a chat about cameras and life and it was good to see that we were both shooting with the Olympus OMD today. Another interesting observation from shooting together was that I was preferring to shoot in colour and Kurt shoots mostly in black and white. I also usually shoot this kind of scene in black and white, however, I am finding all the colours of the phillipines impossible to resist, so am still personally hooked on colour for almost all my shooting in Manila at present and also I am loving the VSCO colour film presets that I'm using in Lightroom 4 that allow me '1 click' presets to get me to retro film looks from my OMD RAW files with ease.

Some links to Kurt's work can be found below at his blog and Tumblr sites:

1. Kurt Kamka Blog

2. Kurt Kamka Tumbr site

Kurt suggested we visit the old catholic cemetery as it was very close by. Of course I thought this was a great idea and opportunity to visit a location that I'm quite sure I would never have found on my own - you can't beat local knowledge when travelling somewhere unfamiliar.

(Kurt Kamka (left) and myself outside the cemetery (Kurts websites are linked above this image)

Inside the cemetery, we were greeted by lots of different people, each and every one of them very happy, and quite surprised to see us. I'm guessing they probably don't get many visitors there, and especially not westerners, but like most of the other places I've visited in Manila, we were welcomed by friendly faces and open arms, some of the elderely ladies took a liking to us and insisted on having their photographs taken with us, which was fun and very humbling to be hugged by these people, they really are very genuine people and truly great characters.

(Kurt sharing the love with a friendly lady in the cemetery - OMD, 25mm)

(Great character, full of smiles! - OMD, 25mm)

(Smoke break at the crematorium - OMD, 25mm)

The children we met followed us round for an hour or so and they were more than happy to hang out with us, take some pics and practice their English language skills, I think almost everybody I have met in the phillipines speaks pretty much perfect English, from the youngest child to the eldest of folk, so it makes communication very easy.

(Children living in the graveyard - OMD 12/25mm)

Lots of people were resting in the midday sun whilst we were at the cemetery, so we were careful not to wake them whilst we were wandering around shooting our images, they seemed to be quite content in their hammocks which were usually strung up between two large gravestones.

(Rest in Peace - OMD, 12mm)

The children here have turned certain areas of the graveyard into their playground, a few of the young boys were keen to demonstrate their acrobatic skills springing from tomb to gravestone like some military obstacle course.....I took a few images of this, but was trying to discourage one young boy as he kept looking to me for approval every time he jumped, and I couldn't help thinking that if he missed his landing spot, he was going to be seriously injured!

(The jumper - OMD, 12mm)

(Graveyard girl - OMD, 45mm)

Some areas of the cemetery had dogs roaming around, some of the residents warned us that the dogs could be aggressive, so we kept a few yards from them in most cases, I think they were most likely just hungry dogs so that would make them grumpy and aggitated for sure. I noticed some tombs had dogs tied to the stones, I'm not sure if they were supposed to be guarding that particular tomb, as one man told us the stories of the grave robbers who regularly come at night, digging out graves and taking anything and everything that could be used to make money (gold teeth...metals...etc).

(Graveyard dogs - OMD, 25mm)

It certainly was a unique place to visit, with a vibrant and interesting mix of people living within the cemetery. Again I must say, its always such a humbling experience in these kind of places, always greeted with big smiles, hugs, asking nothing in return.

(Old and young residents of Makati Catholic Cemetery - OMD, 25mm)

I will be shooting again with Kurt Kamka during this short trip to Manila, and will be posting more images from our adventures around the city in the coming day or two, so please check back to see more from this amazing city. In the meantime, here are the links to Kurts sites again, please take a look as he has been living in Manila almost a year now and has an extensive portfolio of images from the city.

1. Kurt Kamka Blog

2. Kurt Kamka Tumbr site

All images here are shot on the Olympus OMD with various prime lenses and all processed with 1-click presets from VSCO film presets, still by far my favourite film simulation filters that work directly as a preset within Lightroom 4.

For other posts I have written recently with images of the new Olympus OMD in Manila and other parts of Asia please see the links below:

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Manila (first trip in July 2012)

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD shooting in Ulingan, Tondo, Manila

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Cosplay event in Hong Kong

LINK TO BLOG POST: OMD goes to Cambodia

July 23, 2012

Olympus OMD goes to Cambodia

July 23, 2012/ Gary Tyson

(Gary in the railroad village with the locals outside Phnom Penh with OMD and Mamiya 7ii)

So here we are again, back to the glorious backdrop of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this time bringing a different camera system - The Olympus OMD for a 4 day field test.

This blog post is not an all out review of the camera system, I'm not a techno-phobe, this is a real world usage review and highlights of my thoughts on the camera system in a fast changing environment and for close up street and travel photography...you won't find any MTF charts or detailed lens analysis....just images that I shot and my thoughts on them :-)

The last time I visited Cambodia I shot only the Leica M9, as I had shot here several times with full Canon DSLR systems and wanted a smaller rig to shoot travel photography with, and the Leica was a perfect fit...albeit the seriously expensive option.

The Leica system is hard to beat (some say impossible), so the bar was set very high, I have achieved some fantastic results with my Leica M9, therefore I already had an unfair comparison level in my mind...but I thought if a camera is going to succeed in 2012 and beyond, it needs to raise the bar and match some of the already outstanding options available to us.

With this in mind, I wanted to test some other rigs out to replace my Leica rigs for street photography and lightweight travel photography. I had tried the Fuji XPro-1 a few months ago, and have written some positive thoughts on that camera system, but after extended use I must admit I found the autofocus to be a little slow and inaccurate at times for my liking, even though the image quality was great. Therefore that camera was moved on and I was back to using Leica again.

Anyway, the only remaining system that attracted me was the new Olympus OMD, with a selection of the already proven prime lenses available from Olympus and Panasonic. So the day before we flew to Cambodia I picked up a kit, camera, grip, 12mm f2, 20mm 1.7 and 45mm 1.8. I figured this should cover most of what I need, and I tend to shoot a lot very close up, so I assumed the 12mm lens (24mm equivalent) would be spending most of its time on the camera.

One of the features that I was initially unsure of with the Olympus OMD was the touchscreen for shooting....At first I thought this was a bit of a gimmick, as I'm a traditional style photographer who likes to look through a viewfinder (I don't care much for EVF either....), so I didn't think I would like the touchscreen feature, especially for shooting.

However, I am a changed man, the touchscreen shooting feature - the ability to compose, focus and shoot almost instantly using only the screen has completely revolutionised the way i shoot with this type of camera.

(using the touchscreen to shoot...image shot below)

I learned the cameras menu systems, and setup it all up how I wanted on the 2 hour flight from Hong Kong to Phnom Penh, without the manual (I never read manuals), so that was easy to do, this helped me warm to the camera once I had it all set up how I wanted, disabling a few features, and programming others to the function buttons to suit my needs.

(First image I took on the OMD, 12mm)

This first shot above was the first time I had tested the touchscreen, which allows you to literally just press wherever in your composition you wish the camera to focus and then shoots....this happens almost instantly, so its a great way to capture a scene or a portrait without having to raise the camera to your eye...its kind of like shooting using zone focussing from the hip...except you take away all the problems that method has (misfocus, composition issues, etc), so in reality this could be the perfect street camera for me.

Because there are very few cameras with this technology currently, I believe that nobody at any stage during my trip there actually had any idea what I was doing when I was shooting in this way....even if I approached them and requested to take a picture, once I was done they would still stand there waiting for me to start....I like that, as then I can capture a more natural image with no barriers.

(local villagers on Silk Island, 45mm) (elderly lady on Silk Island, 45mm)

Using the longer lens (45mm - equivalent to 90mm) was also great fun, as I had the same control as with the wide lenses to capture tight portraits without having to raise the camera. Another thing that has amazed me, having only used this system for 2 weeks now is how sharp the lenses are. I am used to Canon gear for work, which is great...and Leica gear for travel/street which can be phenomenal if you get the right lenses....however...in all honesty for the price of these lenses (some as low as only a few hundred US dollars) their performance is amazing...I couldn't ask for sharper images, and that coupled with super fast and super accurate autofocus...i just love this camera more every time I pick it up.

(school kid hiding under a desk, 45mm)

(local school in Phnom Penh, with super friendly staff and kids, 45mm)

However, as mentioned earlier, I am happiest shooting close up with a wide lens (normally a 24 or 25mm lens, so the Olympus 12mm (equivalent to 24mm) was always going to my new best friend on this camera, and to be honest, this lens was the reason I bought the system in the first place...).

Below are a further selection of images I shot there over a 4 day period with the various lenses. I think as this was the first week I had used the camera, I was more than happy with how it performed and the quality it produced. The main thing is that I haven't missed using the Leica, despite it being my workhorse camera for the last several months....this tells me something....I'm not saying one is better than the other, as I still think the Leica M can produce amazing photographs, however if you want a system that can give you a lot of the portability and loads more technical gucci features than any Leica....and you don't want to remortgage your house to afford the system....then maybe the OMD is worth a very serious look.

(using touchscreen again and getting nice and close with the 12mm lens)

(on boat roof on way across the Mekong River, 12mm)

(children on Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh, 12mm ISO 6400) (sleeping child, railroad slum, 12mm)

(railroad slum, Phnom Penh, 12mm)

(monks at the riverside, 12mm)

(Pagoda Boy, 12mm)

(Rush hour, early morning, 45mm)

(villagers on Silk Island, 20mm)

(102 year old female temple minder, 20mm)

(railroad slum kids, 20mm)

(railroad slum kids, 12mm)

(Our little gang of photographers, L to R: Giles, Steve, myself and Dave, 12mm)

Guest blog posts on this trip from Steve who accompanied us can be read here:

Guest blog posts written by Dave who also came along can be seen here:

F8 Photography provides commercial photography and training across Asia, with workshops on Street Photography and other photography and video training courses, more details can be found via the ‘courses and workshops’ link and upcoming events via the front page of our website.

March 14, 2012

Guest Post: My Cambodia experience (Trevor)

March 14, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Trevor Smith who attended both our Street Photography and Cambodia workshop over a period of two weekends. Trevor works in Saudi Arabia so had a long journey to be with us, this is his story. - Gary Tyson, Director F8 Photography. (The eyes are the window to the soul...)

After a weekend with Gary Tyson of F8 Photography and rising street photographer Eric Kim on their street photography workshop in Hong Kong, I was brimming with confidence and keen to test myself armed with new skills as well as explore a different country which is recovering from an extremely brutal past.

Flights all booked and kit checked we were all set, but sitting in Gary’s office waiting to go to the airport....the flight time was approaching fast and Gary, the consummate professional had to tie up any lose ends before the trip, which almost made us miss the flight, so a mad dash to the airport started off the adventure to Cambodia.

The plane doors opened on the airstrip in Phnom Penh onto a sweltering heat that smacks you in the face. Eventually through Immigration, customs and red tape we fall out into the night heat and manic road system towards our hotel.

(Weather and light was harsh for many landscapes but I tried where I could)

An early rise the next day for a full days shoot, bright eyed, bushy tailed and excited. After a typical English breakfast (you can take the boy out of England but not the …. Well you know).

Gary recalled what was to be our trusty and faithful Tuk Tuk (Motorbike/Mopeds with carriage) driver (Gary has used him many times on his previous exploits), his orders were find us a typical riverside shanty village along the Mekong.

From his vast experience as a Photographer and many visits to Cambodia, Gary briefed us as to the type of photos and the kind of reception we could expect along with all the technical jargon my tiny brain could handle. Sam (our Tuk Tuk driver acted as translator, explained our presence and intention and always asked people if they minded us photographing them, normally with a promise of a print for them to keep).

(A motley crew...Rocco, RJ, myself and Gary from F8)

It was hugely daunting for me (as well as I suspect for the village dwellers), we were swamped by laughing, excited kids and curious, smiling, coy adults wanting their photos taken by these funny looking people, most are happy to see their face on the LCD screen as this is the closest they will be to being on “TV”, so they were astonished when we gave them a printed photograph.

(kids and villagers around Phnom Penh and Mekong Island)

Two hours whizzed by as did a whole pack of photographic paper used on the portable printer Gary brought along. Photos were dished out to old and young alike and each one was received with pure delight and excitement (what a great idea and a great piece of kit the Canon Selphy 800 printer is).

(Every travel photographer should have one of these printers at all times!)

Back at the hotel we swapped stories and compared images, had lessons on Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro 2), post processing (editing if you prefer), in essence this told Gary what he needed to know about our individual strengths and weaker areas which he could mentor us on, one to one throughout the next few days shooting.

(local villagers greeted us with friendly curiosity)

The next few days were photos, photos and more photos with visits to different villages, markets and pagodas. We also took some time to visit the infamous and very solemn S21 prison and killing fields which I’m not going to dwell on as this was a very sombre experience that contrasts with the vibrance of life now prevalent in Cambodia.

(the infamous S21 prison camp)

One of the days we took a trip to a Buddhist commune, which had lots of homeless people given shelter and food by the monks, this included children that were being schooled when we arrived. They took (I’m guessing) a welcome break to afford us some photo opportunities.

(children living with the monks at the Pagoda)

Every Buddhist male is expected to become a monk for a period of his life, optimally between the time he leaves school and starts a career or marries. Men or boys under the age of 20 may enter the Sangha as novices nowadays they may spend as little as 1 week or 15 days to accrue merit as monks. These communes/monasteries are the heart and soul of such communities.

(a very proud child monk)

That particular Monastery was deemed quite “Rich” in comparison to many. Sam our tuk tuk driver suggested we take a trip onto 'Mekong Island' which was a completely different way of life for both residents and Monks alike much more rural but none the less spectacular and humbling. The moment we arrived (and pushed the Tuk Tuk up the dirt tracked hill) we were greeted by mopeds full (3, 4 and sometimes 5 passengers) of happy, smiling faces that followed us up the track waving all the way and of course riding ahead to tell everyone else. Young and old alike were out waving.

(shooting the kids on the island)

(villagers greet us with Gary from F8 in the background shooting us working)

After several interesting photo opportunities along the way we arrived at the “poor monastery” which looked deserted less a strong looking old man sweeping the courtyard. Sam did his thing and the old gent said it was okay to take photos as long as we asked before snapping someone. After 10 minutes of snapping the old man we heard youthful giggling coming from just around the corner. Gary led the way and asked the monks (aged around 17 - 20) if we could photograph them upstairs in their accommodation from where they gazed down at us, which was a simple would structure without decoration or paint etc.

At one of the poorer Pagodas on Mekong Island)

Unfortunately the batteries ran out on the printer so we vowed to return the next day with photos (which we took down the local print shop and printed in large format as they were particularly patient with us, taking so much of their time). We returned with the photos and an offering of a 50kg bag of rice (which we know helps feed the monks and the people living around the monastery). We received a blessing from the main monk (excuse terminology). Further up the track there were female Monks and some field workers which again provided some great photo opportunities.

(I can't beleive he chose the same colour as me...:-))

Before heading back to Hong Kong I thought I better get a traditional shave and haircut!

(street barbers give you the best shave and haircut for 2 US dollars!)

Then it was time to fly back to smoggy Hong Kong came far too quick and although I cant put my finger on the reason why, I was very sad to leave Cambodia.

I was completely blown away to see such poverty and yet the amazing people therein, always had a smile and warm greeting as long as you were willing to spend the time of day with them. A note here is DON’T JUST ARRIVE, SNAP AWAY AND DRIVE OFF AGAIN, its not polite and they are humans with their own pride and feelings regardless of their situation. Great people that have suffered much and continue to do so, but they are amongst the friendliest I have ever come across.

I left Gary in Hong Kong to fly back to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia via Singapore which gave me much time to reflect on the previous weeks, Hong Kong and street photography, Phnom Penh and environmental photography along with the people (both photographers and the photographed).

I have to say I have been lucky enough to travel extensively, been on many courses/workshops and had many memorable travel experiences but this was by far the best experience. So a big thanks to all but a massive thanks and huge thumbs up to Gary Tyson and F8 Photography.

Roll on the next trip……..Vietnam?? Hmmmm :-)

Final note from F8:

Gary, the Director of F8 has also written a blog post about his experience, that can be seen by clicking here.

Another of the workshop attendees, Rocco, has also written a blog post about his experience, you can read that here.

Also, Gary's assistant RJ wrote a blog post about the same trip, that can be found here.

March 09, 2012

Guest Post: RJ's Cambodia (F8 Assistant)

March 09, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by RJ Gurung, assistant photographer/trainee with F8. He has been training with F8 Photography for approximately 6 months, with little previous knowledge in photography before he started in September 2011. His enthusiasm and passion for photography drives him and has helped him develop a unique and interesting style. I felt a trip to Cambodia would help him explore his creativity and push his skills further. - Gary Tyson, Director F8 Photography. (The author and photographer - RJ)(RJ with the street kids)

On the 2nd of March 2012, a small group of us took a direct flight to Cambodia from Hong Kong. Upon arrival in Phnom Penh in the early evening, the light was already gone, therefore we took the time to sample some Khmer food and crashed at our hotel.

Pumped up with the excitement to capture some great shots, the next morning we headed over to the poor areas of the city. Our Tuk Tuk driver advised us to visit these areas as we had told him the type of images we wanted to get, and we felt it portrayed the unfortunate living conditions of many Cambodian people.

(street kids in the railway yard)

Poverty is a big issue in Cambodia, another issue was the traffic which was very chaotic on our travels around the city. On the roads we could see motorbikes everywhere, even young children that looked as young as 7 or 8 years old were riding them on busy streets, so I decided to practice some techniques and capture panning shots of the motos and I was happy with the results!

(panning shotwhilst travelling by Tuk Tuk)

Whilst we were visiting the poor areas of town, we witnessed a lot of interesting characters. There were kids playing around, old folks gathered together for their everyday chats and a humble group of people living their life in a very different way that I am familiar with in Hong Kong. We went further inside the slums and started to take pictures when the kids came over and greeted us with smiles on their faces. I must say I had an incredible time taking pictures of the kids at the same time being mesmerized by their innocence and reminiscing my own childhood.

(the eyes are the window to the soul)

One of the shots of this small kid came out to be pretty strong. I feel like the innocence and shyness of this kid twinkles in his big eyes contrasting with his dirty face reflecting his playfulness. The experience in the slums was very inspiring and it didn't seem right to just walk away from there after taking the picture so I printed out some of their pictures and gave them a couple of dollars as a sign of respect. Overall, it was a remarkable experience for me to see how humble and lively the people in the slums were despite struggling and living their life in poverty.

(giving a print made a big difference)(RJ likes to shoot wide and close with the street kids)

The next day we went to explore Mekong Island, a short boat trip across the Mekong river. The island has many old pagodas where the monks live, hence being calm and peaceful in contrast to the city.

(RJ shooting on Mekong Island)

In Cambodia, Buddhism is the main religion, so it was no surprise to see many young monks in the pagodas. We took their pictures and gave quite a lot of prints to them. Unfortunately, our printer ran out of batteries at the end of the day so we decided to go back the next day to give them the remaining prints and they seemed really happy to see us again.

(Young monks on Mekong Island)

We also managed to get the blessings from the monks who prayed for us. As a token of appreciation, we gave them a 50 KG bag of rice.

(Offering rice for the monks at the Pagoda)

The island offered some breathtaking scenery. Myself and Gary climbed onto the roof of the boat when we were travelling to the island so we could soak up more scenery and sun!

(Gary and myself crossing the river on the roof of the boat)

On the return journey back to the city we were lucky enough to see a stunning sunset which gave me a really good feeling and was the perfect end to the day and the trip before we headed back to Hong Kong the following day.

(Gary & I on the boat during sunset)(Sunset over Phnom Penh)

Gary, the Director of F8 has also written a blog post about his experience, that can be seen by clicking here.

September 01, 2011

Student Showcase - Lisa (composition)

September 01, 2011/ Gary Tyson

Lisa is about halfway through the course now, and has recently been on a month long trip back to Europe so had plenty of time to concentrate on some of her homework, this time being 'composition'. The brief was to take a few images that demonstrate some basic elements of composition after having had the composition lesson and some reading materials to digest; some of the subjects for the homework included showing images that deomonstrate the following;

Leading lines, frame within a frame, shape, colour, contrast, portraits of a stranger, unusual viewpoints etc.

After having reviewed the images, I have to say that I am yet again VERY IMPRESSED by the standard of images that are being produced after a few lessons and pointers in the right direction.

Lisa hails from Denmark and has a background in design and styling so she already has a very creative eye for sure, that was clear to me when we first met, and now that she has fine tuned her technical abilities with the camera she is able to communicate and realise what she sees in her minds eye easily and to good effect with the camera.

Here are a few of Lisa's images, bearing in mind she has only been using a Digital SLR camera for a few weeks, already showing that she is taking to photography with ease, a real natural talent, great to see!

For more information on our photography courses, which include photography, DSLR video shooting, studio lighting courses and workshops abroad in places such as Cambodia, please see the links on the front page of our website here. There are other blog posts on previous clients photography training on our blog here.

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July 19, 2011

Nurturing Passion – Creating Capability

July 19, 2011/ Gary Tyson

Arguably, in life, there are things that we either have or we don’t have… One of the key things that we look for in clients, when working with them to develop their skills in photography is a passion, a passion for the art and a passion for the subject. Easily developable are the skills associated with the subject, with practice and guidance we can equip clients to become more proficient and effective in using the tools – camera, lenses, flash and post-production software, etc.

What is harder for us to develop is this core ingredient, passion – you either have it or you don’t… However, what we can do, when a client discovers their passion; is nurture it.

Our last trip to Cambodia is an example of how we did this: we invited a client, Ranjit Gurung who is starting out in photography to join us; he has this passion.

Our challenge was to take this raw passion and nurture it in a way that Ranjit could dramatically improve the outputs from his equipment:

Canon 550D
100mm f2.8 macro
50mm f1.4
17 – 55 f2.8
Off Camera Flash

Of course we know that you cannot turn someone into a professional photographer overnight, but we do believe that given the right opportunity, training, encouragement and feedback, you can fast track people in the right direction.

Ranjit in action

Ranjit looking at how the light falls inside the temples around Angkor Wat, Siem Reap.

Our approach is to enable our clients to become more comfortable in the use of their equipment – typically, technical skills development under different conditions, using low light to advantage and off camera flash to enhance drama in the photograph. Once this is in place an increased confidence becomes apparent.

We have found, over time, that one of the key capabilities to nurture in our clients is their ability to approach and interact with their subjects – especially during street photography and portraiture. Again, this comes with practice and support – we role model and encourage our clients and after a few initial approaches our clients are simply raring to go.

Through on-going feedback and guidance we equip our clients to take a more considered and compositional approach to photography. Moving the client from holiday snapshots to striking images.

Below are a few of the pictures Ranjit captured:

Using off camera lighting to achieve dramatic portraiture.

A young boy plays in the rain.

Looking out from the dormitory at the Lighthouse orphanage, Phnom Penh.

Capturing the action at Khmer Boxing, a national sport in Cambodia.

Girl at her home near Phnom Penh.

Laughter at the temples of Siem Reap.

Ranjit said:

"Shooting with Gary & Chris from F8 Photography has been one of the most amazing experiences for me, I feel I have learnt lots about the skills of photography, how to approach and interact confidently with subjects, and most important how to realise my passion. It was hard work, but worth it, I really look forward to my next photography adventure with them!"

For more information about our photography training, click here to check out the different courses we run on our website under 'courses & workshops'