Two women weld a solar cooker in Rajasthan, India

One of the greatest things I love about travelling is that I get to witness and experience things that are very different to my daily life.  Like what it’s like to live with no electricity.  Or limited water supply. Or observe women in traditional Indian clothing welding a solar cooker.

I had travelled 350km from Delhi to reach this location by road, which took about 7 hours.

In temperatures way above 30 degrees C the Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan use large solar reflectors designed to cook food by concentrating the power of the sun into a small area (important in a place where electricity is a rare commodity).

The construction and maintenance of these cookers is carried out by a group of women empowered by the college to learn skills traditionally assigned to men.

For me, this shot is interesting due to the way it jumbles up my own conventional thinking.  Men vs Women.  Delicate dresses vs Tough work clothes.  Maybe I’ve just been brainwashed by years of marketing to think that metal work is carried out by men in overalls wearing large masks.

A fisherman crosses a river on a bamboo raft in Guilin, China.

Sometimes I take photos without thinking about why – like a force of habit.  This happens to be one of those photos and I don’t recall exactly what I was doing at the time.

This being the case, I’ll keep this short and sweet:

This was taken in Guilin where a great many fishermen make a living from the River Li.  This guy wasn’t fishing though so I assume he was just transporting himself around on his bamboo raft – looks like it could take a few passengers too! Whatever his reason, it’s better than sitting in traffic or being stuck on an overcrowded bus or train.

A band plays live for a birthday celebration in West London, England.

My friend is in a band – Chimovski – and asked if I’d like to shoot them.  Of course, I jumped at the chance since at the time I was practicing my lighting technique.  This was my first live shoot with speedlight flashes!

I used radio triggers to remotely set off the flashes – there are two at the front and one in my hand held up over the crowd. The one in my hand has a mild orange filter on it to give a separation between the crowd and the band.  I sensibly decided to wear my in-ear headphones as I made my way around the room.

It was loud, it was sweaty and I loved the results.

Commuters struggling to make their way to work in London, England.

This is Earls Court Station, in West London and is where a great many people congregate every morning in order to catch a train to work.

On this day, nobody was going anywhere.  I’ve never seen it this bad before or since.

I walked to the office from the station that day and luckily my office wasn’t too far.  For many others all they could do was stand around and wait.  And wait they did…

A woman travels from boat to boat selling goods in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

Taking photos at night usually requires a tripod.  Taking photos at night of a moving boat from another moving boat is to be avoided at all costs.

Of course, I didn’t know that at the time I took this shot.  My tripod was out on the top deck of a junk boat and the other passengers were wondering if I had some special night vision camera or something.  Nope – I didn’t.  Just a tripod and no clue.

Helped by the wind, the waves were pushing the boats up and down.  I think I ended up just hand holding it because the tripod was basically useless without firm ground.

It’s not the sharpest shot in the world but I like it!  I hope you do too

A pebble makes a ripple on the surface of a pond in Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

I woke up at stupid-o-clock to get this shot.  I forget exactly what time it was – maybe 4.30am?  This was the time that my driver picked me up to take me to see sunrise at the famous Angkor Wat temple complex. We arrived and there were already about 50 others grabbing their spots.

Eventually we found a spot with an unrestricted view.  An unrestricted view of  the famous structure covered in swathes of green scaffold – presumably to restore or preserve it.  I started thinking I could remove the scaffold with Photoshop.  Then I figured I would never be bothered to do that.  Also, the thought made me feel somehow…dirty.  I wonder how many others had similar thoughts that morning.

I adjusted my position a little – getting a little lower for some shots of the lilies.  It was then I noticed the reflection had completely blurred the scaffolding – bingo!  I’m sure you can still make out the scaffold if you look hard enough but it was good enough for me!

The surface of the water that morning was like a mirror.  The colours changed as the sun rose but otherwise I was getting the same shot that everyone else there would get.  What to do?

I decided to throw a pebble or two into the pond to see if it would capture well.  I did feel slightly silly doing it and probably messed up a few peoples shots of the mirror like surface (although no one complained).  Thankfully it turned out great and got me a shot that I’m proud of.  Again, I wonder how many others had similar thoughts that morning.

Two ducks sit on a half-frozen lake in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Sometimes, you have to force yourself (and your gear) to endure harsh conditions to get a shot.

That’s what happened here.  It was cold, getting dark and the snow was heavy. Hardly a soul around.

I wrapped my camera in a plastic bag I swiped from the hotel room and ventured out.  After taking a few close up shots of the untouched snow and of the half-frozen lake I returned and unwrapped the camera to check out the results.

The results were worth it.

A fairground ride in Bournemouth, England.

I have a number of ‘play’ lenses which are fun to use and produce interesting (if a little unpredictable) results.  One of those lenses is called a Lensbaby and is completely manual – no electronics at all.  I found myself in Bournemouth with it and decided I should try out a night shot.  One of the brightest things was a local fairground ride so I aimed at that, pushing and pulling the plastic lens to get focus.  Try as I might I was unable to get a well focused shot.  I had fun trying though and actually liked the results – they give a sense of movement that can never be obtained from a sharp well focussed shot.  I went home that day satisfied with the results.

Skiers enjoying a leisurely decent at the Avoriaz ski resort, France.

This was taken from a ski lift with the smallest camera I own (a Canon XT/350D), during my first ever ski trip.  I was completely new to skis and of how the ski lift operated.  On the first few tries I wondered if I could safely hold on to the ski lift, the ski poles, my ski gloves and operate the camera at the same time.  Luckily, I can hold the camera, zoom and press the shutter all with one hand.

Every now and then I look into smaller cameras and come to the conclusion that I prefer the images that come from my DSLRs.  Technology always seems to improve though so maybe I’ll look again this coming summer.

Workers making candles for sale in Rajasthan, India.

To get this shot I climbed up a fragile looking wooden ladder to reach the top of a building overlooking the group.
I then simply leaned over the side and shot straight down and was glad to have rugged footwear with a decent grip.