Adam Monk Photo Tours & Images Gallery

More images from the Kingdom of Bhutan, This time of the Black Hat Dancers of the  Prakar Lhakhang Tshechu (religious festival) in the Chumey Valley in Bumthang, which is in Central Bhutan.

This was during the Black Hat Dance, or Zhana Cham which celebrates the assassination of a Tibetan King in 842AD by a black robed Monk as well as symbolising the subduing of the demons of the Earth by Buddhist Yogis.

The sound of the hand drums the dancers carry symbolises Buddhism itself which has no visible form.  This is one of the most sacred dances at the Tshechu and simply witnessing the dance is said to wash away sins.

The Dance is certainly breathtaking to watch with beautiful costumes and the dancers performing spectacular spins and leaps that become more daring as the day progresses and more Ara is consumed (Local rice liquor) by the dancers.  Incidentally, almost all the dancers at these Tshechus are local Monks.

All these images were shot with the Hasselblad H4D-60 and the Hasselblad 100mm f2.2 lens.  Don’t forget to click on the images to get a bigger view.

Photo tour of Bhutan 2014.

Well Bhutan continues to be a popular destination, my photo tour of Bhutan for March 2014 has completely booked out.  I have already started working on the itinerary for the 2015 photo tour of Bhutan, and I will have the dates up shortly for that, so if you missed out this time there will always be the next tour.

Just to whet your appetite a little, this is an image of the Bhutanese landscape on the way out to the Tango Monastery, just a short drive out of Thimpu.  This image was shot early in the day on my last photography tour of Bhutan last October with the Hasselblad H4D-60 and the Hasselblad 100mm f2.2 lens (and a tripod).

Shot a few minutes after the previous image in the Gangtey Monastery temple with the young Monks at Prayer being led by a senior Monk.  Shot very discretely with the Fuji XPro-1, again with the permission of all the Monks.

Bhutan Photographic Tour March 2014

I will be headed back to Bhutan in March 2014 with a small group of 10 photographers for another 15 day Photographic Tour of Bhutan.  I currently have only 3 places remaining for that tour and the early bird discount of $600 expires December 23rd, if you would like to read more you can go the Photo tour of Bhutan page on my site, the booking form can be downloaded from there.

A more subtle shot of the Monks of Gangtey Monastery, this is shot inside the temple with the permission of the abbott and the Monks.  Not really an appropriate place to use the Hasselblad, so this one is shot on the Fuji XPro-1, a remarkable little camera that hardly makes a sound!  Just what you need for inside a temple as the Monks are chanting. This image was shot on my latest photo tour of Bhutan.

A pair of Buddhist Monks enjoying the sunlight, shot from the balcony overlooking the courtyard of Punakha Dzong in Bhutan.  I think the shadows make the shot.

Shot with the Hasselblad H4D-60 and Hasselblad 100mm f2.2 lens on my recent Photo Tour to Bhutan.  Don’t forget to click the image to get a bigger version.