On my last Photo Tour to Bhutan I found myself gazing more and more at the magical Himalayan Landscape.
Last year I made two trips to Bhutan, one in the Himalayan Spring in April, and again in Autumn in November. Both times of year are beautiful and in quite different ways. In Spring the rice is just being planted and the fields are beginning to go green, the trees are starting to sprout new fresh leaves and the land is waking up from the big freeze of winter.
Autumn of course is the opposite, the rice is being harvested, vegetables are being stored, the chillies are all on the roof being dried for winter use and the land is slowing down ready to go into hibernation. Both very different views and it was a new perspective for me to see both ends of the seasons in one year, to revisit places who on the last visit were planting when they were now harvesting.
The other thing I noticed last year was that I found myself shooting more landscapes of Bhutan. On previous photo tours of Bhutan (2016 will be my 7th trip there) I was almost totally captivated with the people and the culture, it’s so very different to where I am from that it was hard not to be. These last two trips it felt like I was re-seeing the amazing Bhutanese landscape, both the natural world and the place that the Bhutanese people have made within it for what really is thousands of years.
Click the “Read More” to see the raw processed version of this image straight out of Lightroom before final adjustments in Photoshop.
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There is a lovely small Monastery I always visit on my Bhutan Photographic tours each year, on the slopes of the Phobjikha Valley in Western Bhutan. Normally it’s very quiet and serene with just a few peaceful Monks and a stunning view down the valley. As I have been going there for quite a few years, we usually get invited in to photograph the morning prayers in the small temple, a special privilege not normally granted (see this post). Not this year.
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A few minutes after the previous image at the Ura Valley festival in Bhutan. Really it’s just the same post split into two.
I always go off on my Bhutan photo tours with the best intentions to write Blog entries as I travel with new images daily. Occasionally it works out as planned and I put up the odd entry as I travel… Not this time, not even one entry. I think this was a result of pretty hopeless internet, and a tour group who were so enthusiastic to do and see everything that I was run ragged every day. By the time we were finished for the evening it was all I could do to drag myself to bed!
I also embarrassed to say that I have barely looked at my images from that trip, again as a result of too little time, or at least the desire to sleep during whatever time I had.
This image is of two of my Bhutanese guides, Tshering (on the right) and Kezang, having a laugh with some local kids at the festival in Ura Valley, it’s a candid shot facing away from the action of the dancers at the festival. Shot on a Nikon D810 and the 24-70mm f2.8 lens
I’m in a hotel in Bangkok on my way to Bhutan for this months 15 day photo tour to Bhutan. Got to get up at 3am tomorrow morning for the flight to Paro which should take about 4.5 hours, including the stop at Guwahati airport in India. Last time we got stuck on the runway in India for about 6 hours waiting for the fog to lift from the Paro Valley so the pilot could see the runway and not actually crash into the mountains.
It’s certainly an exciting descent, going through 3 valleys with the edges of the cliffs brushing the wingtips… Not the sort of thing you would want to do if the valleys are filled with dense fog! Anyway, the 6 hours on the runway turned out to be very interesting as we were in the plane with about half the government of Bhutan (in economy class), who seemed to be a lovely humble bunch who were more than happy to chat to the wide eyed curious foreigners about the working of their little Himalayan country.
I can’t say I’m actually hoping it will happen again, 6 hours in sweltering Assam province of India in a metal tube in the baking sun with no A/C was not something I am keen to repeat, but still, sometimes the most amazing things can come out of trying circumstances.
What does all this have to do with the image I am posting? Nothing really, other than it was shot in Bhutan and I am on my way there now…
The image is actually of a young novice Monk studying his lessons in the tenuous warmth of the early morning sun at the Gangtey Goemba, a tiny Monastery in Central Bhutan in the Phobjikha Valley
I was going to put up a post this morning saying Bhutan Photo tour for November has only 3 places left (from a total of 10)… But that was before I got to work. After arriving at work my Bhutan Photo Tour for November 2015 is completely full!
Bhutan Photo Tour 2016 Dates soon
I will be headed to Bhutan in a couple of weeks and one of my objectives while I am there will be to research locations and festivals for the 2016 tours, so keep an eye on the blog. If you would like to be on the early notification list you can send me an email at: am@adammonk.com
My Photo tour to Bhutan just seems to get more popular each year, I had six places taken before I even started promoting it, and the last 4 before I could print the flyer! If you are interested in going to Bhutan with me at some stage and you would like to get the early notification please just send me an email and I will put you on the early warning list. am@adammonk.com
I will be running another Photo Tour to Bhutan in 2016, and if I have time I may even run a second tour in October/November 2015.
My Photo Tour of Bhutan for 2015 has filled up really fast, as of today I only have one place remaining… So if you have been sitting on the fence, sit no longer. The Tour is strictly limited to 10 people, so once I reach that number that’s it for this year
You can read all the details of the tour and download the booking form right here>
Dates are up and I am open for bookings for my Photo Tour of Bhutan for 2015. Each year I like to modify the nature of the tour from things I learn the previous years, so it just keeps getting better and better. Everything from which hotels are nicer or have better food, to complete changes to times of year or itineraries. This year I have made changes to everything!
Bhutan Photographic Tour 2015
The tour for 2015 is from April 27th to May 12th which is later in Spring than last years tour. I have also shifted from 2 buses with 2 Bhutanese guides to 5 4WD cars and 4 guides (and me as number 5), which means we will all be a lot more comfortable with plenty of space for camera gear, lots of leg room and you can ask as many questions from the guides as you like!
Perhaps the biggest change for this next tour will be the internal flight from Paro to Bumthang in Central Bhutan, where we meet our cars, drivers and guides. This way rather than drive out from Paro to Bumthang, then drive all the way back (there is only one road), we fly out and drive back much more slowly, with less hours spent driving per day. This means more time meeting the locals, seeing the sights and making photographs.
Still only 10 people.
Something that hasn’t changed from last years tour to Bhutan is that it’s still strictly limited to a maximum of 10 people. Small groups are nicer to travel with and much more personal.
If you would like to read more about next years Photographic tour to Bhutan, all the details can be found on my Bhutan Photo Tour web page, including the early bird special price that will save you $500 if you book and pay your deposit by November 30 of this year. You can download the booking form directly off the page, or if you have more questions, you can use the contact form at the bottom of the page or give me a call.
Some more stormy moody skies from last years Bhutan Photography Tour, this time over the Chumey valley in Bumthang, Central Bhutan. This is one of my favourite valleys in Bhutan, it is wild and open and the main road, which is the only road is a small winding one that is only 1 lane wide that meanders across the valley and then up through the passes.
I think this image is really defined by the sky and all the moody texture with sunbeams breaking through the clouds. Imagine it with Blue cloudless skies… It really wouldn’t be a “keeper” at all like that would it?
This was shot using the Hasselblad H4D-60 and the Hasselblad HC 100mm f2.2 lens. I shot it with the panoramic crop in mind and simply cut off the top and bottom… Having 60 megapixels to play with is very handy!
The “small” building on the ridge with the sunlight falling on it is actually one of the King’s Palaces. This image looks fabulous blown up big and actually featured in an international exhibition on Bhutan in Copenhagen earlier this month, as did the one from the previous post.
My next Photo Tour to Bhutan will be leaving in April 2015, dates and costings are being finalised right now and details will be up soon
