Adam Monk Photo Tours

This is an image I shot last year while on my Photography tour of Bhutan, I’ve been meaning to put it up for ages as I rather like it.  Really, the light makes the shot, though I guess that’s a common thing with photography.

For this image it had been raining and windy on and off all day, and this was a small break in the weather.  The clouds were moving rather fast, so the sunbeams were shifting and changing all over the place.  I took about 10 exposures on the Hasselblad H4D-60 and a 50mm lens (about the equivalent to a 32mm in full frame 35mm speak), but I liked this one the best, with the sunbeams illuminating the green field in front of the house, a little on the hill behind it and the forest on the hillside opposite.

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 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.

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.

Since there are so many Monks in Bhutan I can hardly only put up one image, so here are a few more.  Mostly photographed in the Dzongs and temples of  Punakha, Trongsa, Thimpu and Bumthang.

Path to Enlightenment

It seems the Monks are used to being photographed, I guess they are an easy target, but if you are on the path to enlightenment being magnanimous with a group of photographers is just one small test along the way.  Either way they were all very friendly and obliging, or perhaps gracious is a better description.

Don’t forget to click on the images to see the bigger (and better) version.  All three of these images were shot on the Canon 5D Mk II   with a Canon 24-105mm f4L

Bhutan Photographic Tour 2013.

The  dates for the Bhutan photo tour for 2013 are up!  I have redone the whole tour for 2013 and reduced the number of participants to a maximum of 10 people to ensure plenty of personal contact time.  You can read about the new Bhutan photo tour for October 2013 on this page

Over 10% of the population of Bhutan are Buddhist Monks, so when you are there you tend to see a lot of them about.  The Dzongs, which are old feudal fortress temples dotted all across Bhutan,  are now used as centres for Government offices and are also house the Monk bodies of Bhutan, quite aptly symbolising the close relationship of the counties government and its religion.  In fact Bhutan is one of the only countries that has its religion (being Buddhism) written into its constitution.

Buddhism in Bhutan

The Buddhism of  the majority of the population Bhutan is what they call middle path Buddhism, that is they won’t kill animals, but they occasionally will eat meat if one of their livestock dies from an accident or old age.  As a tourist in Bhutan you are usually served meat or fish with most meals, as the Bhutanese assume most Westerners want to eat meat, but the great irony of this is that all the meat for tourist consumption is imported from India!

This image shot in Thimpu Dzong, with the permission of the subject, with a Canon 5D Mk II and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L lens