Latest News from Adam Monk

The Hasselblad H4D-60 is not really a travel camera… it being huge, heavy and not very subtle.  But It’s such a lovely camera to use, and the results are nothing short of spectacular, which makes it all worth it.  Its a hard camera to use quietly, as the shutter makes an almighty “thunk” which tends to echo around the space in places like Dzongs (Temple fortress of Feudal Bhutan) and temples.

This Image shot in the Thimpu Dzong on my last photo tour of Bhutan in the angled light of late afternoon as a group of Monks crossed the courtyard.  Shot on the Hasselblad H4D-60 with the Hasselblad 100mm f2.2.

Thimpu is the capital of Bhutan, though to call it a city is stretch.  Up to a few years ago Thimpu was just a small town in the Thimpu valley, now it is the biggest “city” in Bhutan and the capital with a population of just over 80,000 people.  To me it’s still a beautiful relaxed town where the locals are always ready with a smile and directions for a lost traveller, or even a lost photography tour group.

Despite its title as Capital City, Thimpu still has no traffic lights, and when the city council tried to instal some there was such a local outcry they were removed again shortly afterwards.

This trip to Bhutan we were blessed with some beautiful skies and some magic sunsets.  This is the Thimpu valley at twilight with the Thimpu Dzong on the right hand side behind the rice fields.  Below is the same location shortly afterwards with the lights of the Dzong lit up.

Both Images were shot with the Hasselblad H4D-60 camera and the Hasselblad 50mm f3.5 or the 100mm f2.2.

I have just returned from my latest Bhutan Photo tour where I spent 15 days photographing, teaching and learning.  The great thing about running photography tours is that I learn as much from the participants as they learn from me, not just about photography, but about people skills, diplomacy, about myself and how I react to certain situations.  It really is an illuminating experience that I hope makes each tour better and better.

Ideal Light for Landscapes

Bhutan is always a magical place and this year was not disappointing, the weather last year was all blue skies and sunshine, which is very nice, but this year turned on some magic moody skies and some great overcast days with some lovely soft light for more landscapes, and photographing Bhutan’s wild rivers like the images to the left and below.

The rivers in Bhutan all run straight out of the mountains, usually from snow melt, so they are all rapids and waterfalls, blue and very cold!  The coloured Prayer Flags add a lovely cultural dimension and really place the image firmly in the Buddhist Himalayas.  The Bhutanese, who are almost exclusively Buddhist (Buddhism is part of their constitution) place the prayer flags in many natural beauty spots, particularly high passes and across river valleys.

They are really a great form of labour saving device,  the prayers are written on the flags, which are made in such a way that they unravel in the wind, releasing the prayers as they disintegrate.

I took the Hasselblad H4D-60 along on this latest photo tour (as I did for my tour of Vietnam and Cambodia earlier this year), its not really an ideal travel camera, being rather heavy…  But its such a pleasure to use, and the images are so sharp and clear that I cant say I regretted it for a minute… Except when I had to carry it up the mountain!

Images shot on the Hasselblad H4D-60 and Hasselblad 50mm f3.5 lens.

Bhutan Photo tour for 2014

Next years Bhutan photo tour leaves in march for the spring festivals in Punakha Dzong, wild flowers and battle re-enactments, it will be awesome!

I have finalised all the details for my photography tour of Bhutan for next year and the web page has been fully updated.  Next years tour differs from this years tour, which is leaving next month (october 12th), in that next year we are going in March, which is Spring in Bhutan.  This means all the wildflowers will be out, it also means the festival around which I base the dates for the Bhutan Photo tour will be different.

Bumthang Festivals for the Photo tour of 2013

Both this year and last year the tour dates revolved around two fantastic festivals in the Bumthang region of Bhutan, The Jambay Lhakhang tshechu (religious festival) in Jakar and the Prakar Lhakhang tshechu (religious festival) in the Chumey valley.  Both of these festivals are as authentic as it gets and worth the travelling into the scenic mountainous region of Bhutan, not that you need any further reasons, the scenery in central Bhutan is spectacular even on a bad day!

Punakha Festival  for the Photo tour of 2014

For 2014 by arriving in spring it opens up the possibilities for seeing other festivals.  For next years tour I have set the dates to coincide with the Punakha Dromchen tshechu, which takes place in and around the stunningly beautiful Punakha Dzong (temple fortress).

This festival commemorates a pivotal victory of the Bhutanese over the Tibetan army in the 17th century that took place in the location where the Dzong now stands.  The Punakha Dzong was built to ensure the Tibetans would never be able to sneak up the Punakha valley again, and the festival that happens in spring each year has a dramatic re-enactment of this battle as the main event.  We will be there to photograph it.

If you would like to join me at the Punakha Dzong (which is pictured above) for this unique festival go to the Bhutan Photo Tour webpage to read all the details and reserve your place.

Ten keen photographers I wanted and ten keen photographers I have for the 2013 Photographic Tour to bhutan.

Photography Tour to Bhutan 2014 Dates up soon

I will be running the tour to Bhutan again next year and I’ll have the Itinerary and dates up soon, so you can keep an eye on the Tours and workshops page or you can email me am@adammonk.com to register your interest.  Like this year, the tour for 2014 will be for 10 people only and it will sell out fast.

Halong Bay in the far North of Vietnam has got to be one of the wonders of the world, especially when it puts on a rainstorm like this  as it did when we arrived at the tail end of my Vietnam and Cambodia Photographic tour a few weeks ago.

When we arrived at the dock and got onto our boat the sky was mostly clear with a few clouds on the horizon… those clouds very quickly overtook us and put on this spectacular show…

These images were all shot hand held with the Hasselblad H4D-60 and a combination of the 28mm f4 and the 100mm f2.2  More images of Halong Bay to follow

Continuing on from the last post  on the Fisherman of Hoi An from my Photographic tour of Vietnam and cambodia…

The Art of Fishing

As we continued down the river we started coming to more and more of these huge fishing nets suspended between 4 poles, they were beautiful, more like a work of modern art than a fishing net.  Since they were suspended horizontally across the water it was difficult to see how they were used to catch fish… unless they were flying fish!

Patience is rewarded, and after passing many of these mysterious nets we finally got to see one in action.  The fisherman appears in his canoe, standing up and rowing with a single sculling oar, sometimes with his foot… which is an impressive sight.

He paddles up to a small covered platform on stilts off one corner of the net, climbs in and begins peddling a type of windless contraption made of bamboo which winds in a rope attached to one of the four corner posts.

The whole net arrangement tilts sideways and is lowered into the water until it’s completely submerged.  Later on that day he comes back and repeats the whole process, but winding in reverse, which of course raises the net, hopefully with a heap of fish in it.

At this point all the seagulls have a party as the net is completely open at the top and provides an easy meal.  The fisherman then gets back into his canoe and paddles under the net, and using a long stick and his hands – while controlling his canoe with his foot – shakes all the fish down from the edges into the middle of the net, where there is an access hole for him to get them out into his boat.

All these images were shot on the Hasselblad H4D-60 with either the 100mm f2.2 lens (35mm equivalent of about 70mm) or the 28mm f4 (35mm equivalent of about 18mm), hand held of course, as there is no point in using a tripod on a boat!

Don’t forget to click on the images for a much better view of whats going on!  More Hoi An fishing stories next…

Well so much for regular entries whilst on my photographic tour of Vietnam and Cambodia!  There just never seemed to be any time with so much to see and do.  So here I am back in Cambodia again, post tour, researching next years tour… honestly, i’m working!

Hoi An Fisherman

One of the Highlights of Vietnam for me was an early morning river trip we took with a local photographer I found whilst wandering the streets of Hoi An in Central Vietnam.  Thai Tuan Kiet was born in Hoi An and runs a photographic gallery on one of the main streets, that features his own photographic work shot over many years, he unfortunately doesn’t have a website (yet) but his work is beautiful.

I got talking to him and it turns out he does day tours for Photographers in the countryside around Hoi An and particularly up the river to the fishing villages where no tourists go…  Luckily our tour has a lot of flexibility, and everyone was keen to get up at 4am to grab this opportunity… perhaps not keen, but certainly willing… Lucky for hotel wake up calls!

We had a perfect morning for our boat trip, no wind and some beautifully shaped cloud that gave the sky some fantastic personality.  The fisherman were all very friendly and keen to show us their catch for the day so far.

I took the Hasselblad H4D-60 out on the boat and shot all morning with it hand-held, its just such a lovely camera to use I was loathe to put it down.  In fact the only time I used the canon 5D Mk II for the day was when we visited the fishing village and I needed something a bit more manoeuvrable.

All these images have just had a quick workup in Lightroom on the laptop, so when I get home to a nice big screen I’ll spend some more time and refine them further.

To see all the current photo tours I have running go directly to my Photo Tours page.

More from the Hasselblad H4D-60, this time from Redgate Beach in Margaret River.  On the way down to Walpole a couple of weeks ago (see previous blog entry) we spent a couple of days camping on the Blackwood River (see next Blog entry) just south of Margaret River, and afterwards a night in town.

Redgate Beach Reflections

Read the rest of this entry »

It took many years, but I have now gone completely digital, I bit the bullet (made my deal with the Devil) and bought a Hasselblad H4D-60…  H for Hasselblad, 4 because its the 4th generation and D because its digital… 60 because its 60 Megapixels!  Expensive?… Well lets just say that the wooden leg took a bit of getting used to and I’m sure that I don’t need both kidneys!  Is it worth it?  That will be revealed in the coming months, but so far… Yes.

Karri Trees in the rain on the H4D-60

Read the rest of this entry »