POV: New Luggage Rules For Photogs?

The news media are reporting that the incident on the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit was certainly an attempted terrorist attack. This is causing extra security measures being implemented on all flights destined to the United States, which include body searches of all US bound travelers.

As I mostly fly Virgin Atlantic, I visited its website and it now (as of December 26) advises its passengers of additional security measures, which will cause traveling photographers considerable difficulties, especially regarding their camera bags.

The new regulations include restrictive hand baggage allowances for all passengers flying into all US airports, and have now been reduced to only one item of hand baggage.

According to Virgin, This item should not exceed 23 x 36 x 56cm, (approx 9 x 14 x 22 inches) and 13lb/6kg in weight, and should only contain the items needed during the flight.

Knowing the herd mentality of airlines, it won't be long before this restriction may be applied to all flights, in order to either economize on fuel or to generate fees on additional (or heavy) check-in luggage.

And here's the worst part of the regulations: "...should only contain items needed during the flight". This is not good news for us, folks.

Is the way forward to dump all our expensive gear in a Pelican hard case(s), check it in (and pay for it), and spend the flight praying that the case(s) and contents make it back to the US from wherever we are flying from???

And the coup de grace? From CNN's website: "There were no reported delays from Heathrow Saturday, but passengers boarding a U.S.-bound Virgin Atlantic aircraft were told there would be no in-flight electronic entertainment in the wake of the incident."

Nori Jemil: Bhutan

Photo © Nori Jemil -All Rights Reserved
Nori Jemil is a writer, photographer and a teacher who joined The Travel Photographer's Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition™, and she has produced a broad body of work during the trip's two weeks' duration.

The above photograph of a novice was made at the Wangdicholing Palace, which had served as the principal summer residence of the first and second kings of Bhutan, but currently houses novices and monks.

Photo © Nori Jemil -All Rights Reserved
This vertical photograph was made at the ancient Ura Goempa. The normally quiet temple was bustling with monks when we arrived, as a prominent judge had just died in the Ura area, and funerary rites were being held in its small ceremonial hall. The photograph captures the wisps of smoke rising from incense sticks, next to the head monks who were officiating the ceremony.

Photo © Nori Jemil-All Rights Reserved
The above photograph of a novice throwing his cape over his shoulders was also made at the Wangdicholing Palace and monastery.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Nori was commended for her entry in the Travel Photographer Of The Year's New Talent 2009 - A Traveller's Tale competition with a series of four narrative photographs on an island in Chilean Patagonia.

She was also the runner-up in the Landscape category of the 2008 Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition with her photograph of the Cerro Torre and Monte Fitz Roy mountains in Patagonia.

Nikon Festival: "Today..."

I thought this short movie would be appropriate for Christmas Day. It's courtesy of the Nikon Festival. Just click the arrow.

Merry Christmas !!

Management & Satff of PNG Explorers Internatioanl express Big "Thank You !!" for your support in 2009 and we wish you all a Happy Christmas &
a prosperious New Year 2010.

Happy Holidays To TTP's Readers...

Oh, and my photography New Year's Resolution? It's to go wider, increase my use of prime lenses and to be more complex in composition (ie more layers, etc).

And to counterbalance excessive seasonal consumerism, here's an end-of-year bit of wisdom: No-name soft gear (bags, pouches, jackets, etc) available at Army Surplus stores are often as good/tough/reliable/useful as branded and much more expensive products. A $5 no-name canvas pouch or a $30 branded one? It's a no brainer.

I wish all the best to my blog's readers, its Google followers, my Twitter page followers, and many others.

The Travel Photographer blog will soon be three years old! Incredible!

Tewfic

The Travel Photographer's 2009 Picks

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy |Traders of Kochi-All Rights Reserved
Rather than imitating the "Best of 2009" photographs that are put together by various media blog sites, I thought that I'd show those photographs that are best reflective of my photographic style and interest, which were made while on my Photo~Expeditions™.

The galleries in which these photographs appear are linked in the credit notice under each photograph.

The first photograph is of a pensive worker at a trader's "godown" in Mattencherry (Kochi). The area is where trade in spices such as pepper and turmeric, as well as ginger and tea was conducted. It still has remnants of this trading activity, but it's not what it used to be.

The worker wasn't posing...he was just standing there against this beautifully colored background.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy |Theyyams-All Rights Reserved
Theyyam is a unique ritual which is performed only in Northern Kerala. After a complex preparatory ritual involving elaborate make-up and meditation, the performers are incarnated as deities, and dispense advice and counseling to the throngs of devotees who attend these rituals. It's a living cult of several thousand-year-old traditions, rituals and customs, and is observed by all the castes and classes in this region.

I have never been so close to a living deity before!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy |Kathakali-All Rights Reserved
Another favorite photograph was made at a Kathakali school in Thrissur in Kerala. I had arranged to spend half a day at the school to photograph the preparations for a Kathakali performance, and had total access to the performers being dressed for it. It was interesting to see that rigid wholesale plastic bags for basmati rice were used to fashion petticoats for some the dancers. These provide support and lift to the pleated yellow skirt seen in the photograph.

Kathakali is one of the oldest theater forms in the world, and originated in Kerala and in which dancers/actors take part in performances based on Hindu mythology, such as the two epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.


Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy |Gnawa!-All Rights Reserved
The Gnawa (or Gnaoua) Music Festival 2009 in the coastal city of Essaouira was a sensational visual and aural experience, and an opportunity to photograph musicians belonging to the mystical Sufi religious order in Morocco. Descended from former slaves from Sub-Saharan Africa, these musicians perform a particular rhythmic (some say cacophonous) style of music, part African, part Berber and part Arab. Many of the hard core devotees of this music experience trances and loss of consciousness.

The photograph was made during a performance by Ganga Zagora, a Gnawa group from the south of Morocco, at the ancient zaouia of Sidi Bilal within the walls of Essaouira. The large castanet-like hand cymbals used by the Gnawa and seen in the photograph are called querqab.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy |Street Barbers of Manali-All Rights Reserved
This is a simple portrait of a Rajasthani woman, whose magnetic but innocent beauty just jumped at me. I was photographing at a Rajasthani encampment in Manali while teaching at the Foundry Photojournalism Workhop, and there she was, under a tent and tending to a small child. I was told that the Rajasthani families in the camp were seasonal migrants, coming to Manali to work and escape summer's torrid heat in their home province. Apart from her radiant smile, she was very shy.


Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy |Dancers of Tamshing-All Rights Reserved
One of the many photographs I made while on my Bhutan Photo~Expedition™ during the Tamshingphala tsechu near Chamkar in the heartland of the country. This dancer was rehearsing his steps for the dance of the stag and hounds (Shawa Shachi), and his agility was such that his jumps were almst to fast for my camera to capture.

I was glad to photograph his spinning as much as he was willing to do, as these photographs were used to create the illusion of movement with the "flip book" technique in a slideshow.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy |Budhha's Apprentices-All Rights Reserved
One of my favorite photographs of Bhutan made during the aforementioned photo trip last October. Photographed a the Chimi Lakhang monastery in Wangdue, and proving that Buddhist novices (usually called monklets) are still children. Here, a novice is perched on the window sill of the abbot's room, watching an Indian television serial. Fearing of being discovered, his companion runs away.

Being dedicated to Lama Drukpa Kuenley, the Divine Madman, the temple is popularly considered to be a temple of fertility.

New Restaurant Open at Gateway Hotel

After a long construction period, work is almost completed at Gateway Hotel.
One of the latest features is the new "Wild Orchid Restaurant", which replaces the old "Ani Ani Brassiere". The new Restaurant is much spacious, brighter and comfortable.
If you come to Port Moresby, please try a Wild Orchid Restaurant.

Emyr R.E. Pugh: Environmental Portraits

Photo © Emyr R.E. Pugh-All Rights Reserved
In his short website biography, Emyr R.E. Pugh describes himself as a linguist, translator, interpreter and a documentary photographer based in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia....but I think he's way more than that. I have no way of knowing how good his translation skills are, but what I do know is that he's an excellent documentary photographer.

Emyr won Grand Prize in the National Geographic Traveler 2009 World In Focus Contest with this lovely photograph of Master Weng, a master calligrapher in the village of Tunjiao (southwest China), who is seen preparing to write a traditional blessing.

Most of his galleries on his website are portraits; some environmental and others straight facial studies. I gather these were photographed in Hohhot (Inner Mongolia) and Guizhou (Yunnan).

My favorite style of photography is most assuredly photographs taken of people where they either live or work, or in situations that tell a story about who they are and what they do....so I find Emyr's work to be really compelling.

I hope that Emyr will be tempted by multimedia...I can just imagine an audio slideshow of Master Weng in his cramped studio, describing his work among ambient sound.

I was tempted to delay this post until the first days of January, in order to include his work in next year's The Travel Photographer Of 2010, however decided that since I'm the editor (and chief coffee-maker) of this blog, I can do as I please and will include Emyr in next year's poll. I think my readers will agree.

To those of us whose knickers are occasionally pretzel shaped about expensive cameras and lenses, Emyr works with a Canon 40D and a 17-40mm f4...I'm just sayin'.

fotoflōt: Innovative & Cool

I recently received one of my photographs that had been fotoflōt'ed, which means it had been printed on quality photographic paper and then fused on to a 1/8" thick acrylic sheet (10"x15" size).

I chose one of my Theyyam photographs to be fotoflōt'ed, and I'm very pleased by its frameless design, and by the protection it provides to the photograph. The acrylic has low reflection and low glare, and it's a cinch to hang on my walls because of its magnetic wall mounts.

Via fotoflōt's website, I created an account and uploaded (directly from my hard drive...about a 5 minutes wait because of its size) a TIFF version of the Theyyam photograph, and it was totally hassle-free from there on. Within a couple of hours, I received an email from the company saying that my photograph was being processed, and would arrive to my address within two weeks.

Less than 8 days later, I received another email from the company informing me that my fotoflōt frame had been shipped and I would receive it in a couple of days.

I received it as promised, and I ought to add that I really impressed by the packaging, which protected my fotoflōt'ed photograph very well.

An innovative and aesthetically attractive alternative to old-fashioned picture frames. Well recommended.

TTP's Travel Photographer Of The Year Is....

Photo © Joey Lawrence-All Rights Reserved


Joey Lawrence!!!!
The Travel Photographer's readers have voted, and the award goes to Joey Lawrence who gleaned 45% of the total votes cast amongst the four candidates.

Joey is the young photographer I raved about in a post this past summer. He has been shooting commercial photography, photojournalism and music videos around the world by the age of 17, and has the established reputation of being a pioneer of new aged digital hyper-realistic photography, lighting and manipulation.

Joey Lawrence's website is replete with phenomenal photography: his most recent is of the Mentawai (a tribe who live on the Mentawai Islands, off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia). He also photographed the Mursi in Ethiopia's Omo Valley and other tribal groups, as well as of Abyssinian Christian holy men, and the Aghori sadhus in India.

If you haven't already, set aside some quality time to savor Joey's galleries, as well as his thrilling blog. You'll be amazed...that's all I'm going to say because you'll soon know what I'm talking about.

A well deserved applause from the readers of The Travel Photographer blog!!

Andy Isaacson: Central Asia

Andy Isaacson is a writer and photojournalist whose work The Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan has just appeared in The New York Times, and was published in Slate and National Geographic Adventure, among others.

He seems to have made a specialty of photographing Central Asia after traveling in Asia for over a year. He considers Brooklyn and the San Francisco Bay Area as his home.

I visited his photography website WorldWebEyes, and greatly enjoyed his diverse portfolios, and was slack-jawed at the beauty of the uncredited music he added to his web site. It must be Tajik or Uzbek, as many of his photographs are from that region, and there are many inflections in the song that sound Persian or Turkic. This plaintive song is just wonderful. Normally, I always turn off the audio embedded in non-multimedia websites, but this time I kept it on and replayed it many times.