Marc Schultz: Thailand

Image Copyright © Marc Schultz -All Rights Reserved
Marc Schultz is a Bangkok-based commercial and fine-art travel photographer. His work includes various fields of photography; corporate, travel, advertising, food and interior.

His images are published in newspapers, books, magazines, web sites, print media greeting cards, calendars, corporate literature, and billboards. Marc is collaborating with a major European book publisher on a 200-page coffee table book about Thailand. He works with a full production team of lighting technicians, stylists, make-up artists, and has access to foreign and local models.

While Marc has his own website showcasing his excellent photography, I chose a separate website that has a slideshow with his narration and a soundtrack. The slideshow (Soundslides) is titled Thai Life Through The Lens. There are a number of great frames in this feature. My favorite is one of two elderly rural Thai women laughing their heads off ...this photograph, among others, deserves a standing ovation.

Having said that, I found the narrative to have a 'canned' feel to it. Marc chose not to use a 'fade-in/fade-out' technique, which means that there are no smooth transitions between the narrative and the traditional music. Notwithstanding this shortcoming, I found the photographs to be inspiring.

Marc's slideshow Thai Life Though The Lens

Marc's website

Some Pictures of Places

1st picture is Mount Kinabalu taken from Kundasang. I was on a trip that day and i drove from Kota Kinabalu to Kundasang in 1 hour. Stop by at a small restaurant and took the picture. Btw that small car is not mine. No way I can do 1 hour with that car.

2nd picture is taken during sunset of a landmark in Kota Kinabalu. Its a big sword fish or I think it is in a middle of a roundabout. Its located near Hyatt Hotel.

Angkor Photography Festival

From Celestial Apsaras-Image Copyright © 2006 Tewfic El-Sawy
The third Angkor Photography Festival will be held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from November 18th to 28th.

For the program of exhibitions and slide-shows, the organizers are looking for stories about South and South-East Asia, China, India and Far-East Asia. Especially welcome are recent projects, but older or even historical series are not excluded. The work must be accompanied by a clear description of the project plus a short bio (120 words) and complete contact details of the photographer.

The deadline for submitting work is June 15, 2007. The selected photographers will receive an answer during the month of July. To submit your work and for further details, contact Francoise Callier .

Francoise also requested that I add the following information:

The Angkor Photography Festivalis organizing two free workshops for young Asian photographers (under 28 years old), and who must be based in Asia. To apply, send your photographs, a short biography and a text on your work to: Angkor Workshop

The website is: Angkor Photo Festival

EOS-1D Mark III vs 5D

I'm extremely satisfied with my Canon Mark II's performance and durability, but I'm considering investing in another camera body. After a few months of indecisiveness, I'm still faced with a difficult choice between the Canon 5D and the just-announced Canon Mark III. Sifting through the mumbo-jumbo tech sheets, I've distilled the important (to me) differences to the following, with the advantage of each camera over the other in yellow, disadvantage in red, and neutral in regular. Again, these are my personal opinions but may serve you as well.

Canon 5D:

Cost: $2800
Buffers: 17 RAW frames
FOV crop: 1.0
Size: 6.0x4.4x3
Weight: 845gm with battery
Durability: magnesium-alloy body but not sealed
Frame Rate: 3 fps
AF points: 9TTL
Sensor Size: 36x24mm
Megapixels: 12.8
LCD size: 2.5" TFT

Canon Mark III:

Cost: $4500
Buffers: 30RAW frames
FOV: 1.3
Size: 6.1x6.2x3.2
Weight: 1335gm with battery
Durability: magnesium-alloy body and sealed
Frame Rate: 10 fps
AF points: 45TTL
Sensor Size: 28.7x18.7mm
Megapixels: 10.1
LCD size: 1.8" TFT but with Live View

Perhaps it's a simplistic comparison, but for me it boils down as to whether the high frame rate and the higher buffer rate of the Mark III is worth the price premium of $1700. Sure, the remainder of each camera's tech data is relevant...but what is really important to me are these two. I'm neither fussed about FOV crop difference, nor by the megapixel differential as I rarely, if ever, blow up my photographs to 18 x 24 and beyond. And yes, it would be nice to have the Mark III whose controls are similar to my Mark II, but is this and the higher buffer/fps rate worth the $1700?

Yannis Kontos: North Korea

Image Copyright © Yannis Kontos - All Rights Reserved
Yannis Kontos studied photography in Greece and received his MA degree in Photographic Journalism at the University of Westminster in London. He gained international recognition in the field of photojournalism and collaborated with the French-based Sygma and Gamma international agencies, and with the U.S.-based Polaris Images from its inception. Over the last decade, Kontos has covered the recent wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as all the major stories around the globe. He has received 19 awards to date, including first prizes in the World Press Photo Competition, LIFE magazine's Alfred Eisenstaedt Awards, Pictures of the Year, NPPA's "The Best of Photojournalism" and was twice awarded as European Press Photographer of the Year.

He traveled in North Korea as a tourist, photographing surreptitiously during his trip.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was created by the Soviet Union in 1945 after WWII when the defeated Japanese lost control of the Korean Peninsula. The new country stood opposed to the other new country, South Korea, backed by the United States: two states manufactured during the Cold War.

I found it to be an interesting photo gallery, principally because it opens a window onto a country that most of us don't know. However, I found its editorial introduction on Digital Journalist to be rather thoughtless, with unecessary political overtones. North Koreans have suffered greatly under the Japanese occupation, have suffered from the North-South split, and are still suffering enormous hardships...another proof that economic sanctions/blockades are never effective and lead to nothing but hardship for those who least deserve it.

The Digital Journalist's gallery of Kontos' North Korea images.

Travel Writing Subsidies

There's been a long running discussion about the ethics of travel writers accepting "freebies" and it's an issue most professional travel writers consider a non-issue. Most travel writers accept free or subsidized travel since the industry does not pay enough to first pay all travel expenses and then write and sell the stories. A free or partially free trip or hotel room does not necessarily mean that the travel writer will give a positive review, but in most cases only means that the service will not be mentioned. It's all covered, once again, in a recent post by a travel writer in Texas.

Subsidized travel is controversial and lots of very ethical and pious journalists look down on me as tainted and corrupt because I do it. Fuck 'em. It's a debate I don't bother getting into anymore. Suffice to say that I can't be bought. I accept only trips I think I can sell. If something isn't worth writing about, I don't write about it. I include negative impressions in larger stories when appropriate but rarely write completely negative stories not because I am beholden to anyone, but because they don't sell. Editors with limited space don't want to squander it telling readers where not to go.

I'm an ethical person doing my best in a squirrely field. A lot of newspapers pay peanuts but don't accept stories from subsidized trips. A lot of newspapers have a don't ask-don't tell policy about subsidies but if you get "caught" you're in trouble, not the editor. Many magazines are less stringent in their policies, although Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure are among those with strict no-subsidies policies. They pay for their reporters' travel. I cracked T&L once a long time ago but got tired of the effort it took to get back in and haven't tried again in many years.

By stating here that I sometimes travel on subsidies I have ensured that I will never write for The New York Times, which claims never to accept stories from writers who have ever accepted a subsidy. I have heard differently from many publicists, who claim to frequently spot stories in the Times by freelancers they have hosted. Nobody will ever go on the record with that, though, because nobody wants to piss off the Times.

Sophie's Blog

Fez: The Soul of Morocco

Image Copyright Ed Alcock for the New York Times - All Rights Reserved
The New York Times brings us an article and slideshow on Fez in Morocco.

I've visited Fez (or Fes) a few years ago, and was taken by its medieval atmosphere...I refer to Fez el-Bali (or old Fez, since there's a 'new' Fez which was built during the French occupation of Morocco). The medina of Fez consists of more than 9,000 streets and a million residents, constituting a challenge to the best GPS systems. I recall walking up and down the two main arteries; one called Talaat Kebira ("big climb") and Talaat Seghira ("small climb"), which are so narrow that I frequently had to hug the side walls to let donkeys or mules laden with goods pass me by. I watched a traditional procession including a young boy with a broad smile, dressed in a whie suit and perched on a stallion. When I asked what the procession was all about, I was told that the boy was on his way to be circumcised! So this article brings back wonderful memories.

The NYT article also reminded me that Fez is a center of Sufism and that " The nooks of the medina are filled with Sufi sanctuaries known as 'zaouias', where brotherhoods meet, worship and sing. What I didn't know was that the city was built in concentric circles; the smaller one in the center holds the religious places, a larger one holds the souks, then another for the residential areas, then the city walls, then gardens and cemeteries.

I found it very difficult to photograph people in Morocco, and Fez was no exception. It is considered impolite to photograph women in Islamic Morocco, but even men did not relish being photographed. Candid photography is the only option, and in the narrow confines of the Fessian alleys, it's a very difficult proposition. Despite wily street photography techniques, I still got irate tirades.

The Soul of Morocco (Registration may be required by the NYT).

Travel Writing Not All Fun and Sun

The average person may regard travel writing as among the world's most blessed professions, but the reality is often quite different, as once again pointed out in this eye-opening article by Susan McKee.

Travel writing not all fun and sun
Strong ethics, research keys to success

By Susan McKee

As a professional travel writer, I occupy a place in the journalistic hierarchy somewhere just above pond scum. It’s tricky territory for a freelancer for two major reasons: press trips and poseurs.

Almost all newspapers and magazines still buying freelance will not pick up a writer’s expenses, and the rates they pay don’t come close to making up that shortfall. Freelancers are responsible for their own health insurance and other costs that are typically part of the benefits package for an employed journalist. Add in travel time and, as one writer put it, the profit margin shrivels like salted leeches in the sun.

If you don’t have a trust fund to underwrite your travel writing specialty, two solutions beckon: write only about your own hometown (yawn!) or take press trips.

SPJ Link

Dennis Cox: Asia

Image Copyright © Dennis Cox - All Rights Reserved
Dennis Cox is an award-winning travel and location photographer for magazines, books, corporate publications, and advertising. He managed to photograph on all seven continents and has specialized in photographing China since 1976. His photographs have appeared in an eclectic range of publications in numerous countries worldwide.

Dennis' travel photography is aimed at stock sales, and he markets his images through his own stock agencies, maintaining full control of his output. He won an incredibly long list of awards, including SATW's Travel Photographer of the Year for many years.

A true professional in every sense of the word, his gallery of photographs on the Detroit Focus (an artists' alliance) website shows his talent and creativity. His photographs are studies in perfectionism, and ingenuity...I've been to Burma's Inle Lake twice and never thought to photograph the fisherman through the net as Dennis did! There are other photographs in this gallery which I'd like to mention, and which highlight Dennis' versatility....the first is that of the two Buddhist novices (#22) in a temple in Xishuangbanna (Yunnan) and the other is of a novice (#24) holding an alms bowl at the Schwezigon Pagoda. Dennis chose a wide-angle and photographed from low...in both cases, I would've photographed from eye-level. His viewpoint is much more effective. The one photograph which doesn't do it for me is the photograph of the Burmese woman behind a bunch of parasols.

Here's Dennis Cox's gallery on Detroit Focus.

Books: Philip Marsden

For Philip Marsden it was love at first sight with Ethiopia, and he returned to this magnificent country 20 years after his initial visit. He read everything there is on Ethiopian Christianity and shows his eagerness to touch its mystic core in his book, The Chains of Heaven (now in paperback).

A book reviewer in the Telegraph writes this: "His exhilarating, sometimes burlesque narrative introduces several fascinating characters, including Tekla Haymanot, the holy man of the 13th century, said to be descended from Zadok the priest, who "once prayed without interval for 20 years. During that time he did not sit down and his right leg rotted and fell off. His praying though was unaffected, and he carried on for another seven years on his left leg."

I was amazed by the intensity of faith in this African country when I attended the Timket celebrations in Lalibela and Gonder. The devotion and spirituality expressed by Ethiopians rivals any that I've seen in my travels to the well known centers of faith, be it in India's Varanasi, at Morocco's shrine of Moulay Idriss or at the Shwedagon Paya in Rangoon, to name but a few. The story about Tekla Haymanot above mirrors the many stories told and retold about legendary sadhus in India.

An eye-opener of a book, and darn good yarn. If you're interested in Ethiopia, that's a book for you.

Ajmal Naqshbandi

The photojournalism world is outraged and in deep mourning following the murder of Ajmal Naqshbandi by the Taleban in Afghanistan. He was killed by a Taleban group who claimed that the Afghan government had refused to meet its demands to release senior figures from prison. Ajmal was the local journalist, guide, translator and fixer for the Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo who was released after 5 Taleban members were freed in exchange. Their Afghan driver was beheaded last month.

The BBC correspondent in Kabul reports that there is outrage in Afghanistan that the government would bow to the Taleban's demands, and that it saved a foreigner but not an Afghan.

International efforts, including from photojournalism organizations, were exerted to free Mr Naqshabandi, but to no avail.

I had written a post titled POV: Fixers on the day of Mastrogiacomo's release, and expressed my opinion that local fixers were not accorded the care, attention and recognition that international photographers receive. It is perhaps worth revisiting.

A prominent photojournalist, Gary Knight, wrote that photojournalists are responsible for the well being of the people they hire to help.

There'll be no other posts on TTP today.

Beyond The Frame: Shadows In Thimpu

Image Copyright © 2006 Tewfic El-Sawy - All Rights Reserved
My recent posts on photographs with super saturated colors and dark shadows made me choose this one for this week's Beyond The Frame. It was taken at the Memorial Chorten in the Bhutanese capital of Bhutan.

The scene is at the small building at the side of the Chorten where three large prayer wheels are virtually in constant motion, rotated by the numerous pilgrims that arrive here. This Chorten was built in 1974 honoring the late King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, known as the father of modern Bhutan.  It is built in a typical Tibetan style, and is a center of worship for the people living in Thimphu.

The three prayer wheels represent the three protective bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara, symbol of the compassion, Manjjusri, symbol of knowledge and Vajrapani, symbol of the power. The rotation of the wheels is meant to send prayers to the heavens. The prayer wheels are near the entrance gate, and all pilgrims and visitors stop by before continuing to circumbulate the Chorten itself. The pilgrims are usually very intent on their ritual of pulling the prayer wheels, and it's a great spot for candid photography.

What attracted me to this scene is the combination of the colors; the yellow ochre of the walls, the turquoise blue of the hat, in the design on the wheels and on the sleeves on the man on the far right, and the diagonal swath of black shadows on the wall and prayer wheel which cuts into the scene. The larger photograph (click on the one above) shows stronger saturation and better color rendition.