INTRODUCTION This is a little mini-series in which I undertake a one-two hour walk-about with a specific lens and present five images taken during this period to show off what the lens is capable of, or where it falls short.
One Hour Lens Test: Sony FE 28-70 3.5-5.6 OSS Read Post »
The island of Penang lies south of Langkawi on the north-west coast of mainland Malaysia. Before Kuala Lumpur developed into the international capital it is today, Penang was the economic and cultural hub of Malaysia. But it wasn’t always so.
Chemicals and culture: 48 hours in Georgetown, Penang Read Post »
I was honoured to be approached by Bellamy Hunt for an interview on his fantastic camera resource website. You may have come across his “In Your Bag” series, but he also features photographers of different styles too.
Interview with Japan Camera Hunter Read Post »
Despite being at anchor these past few months I’ve managed to stay on top of my photographic duties. The Urban Picnic Street Photography Competition, which I helped set up with Rob Hill of Urban Picnic was a huge success, drawing in hundreds of entries from around the world. As a spin-off to this Rob has set up a bi-monthly ‘inspiration’ feature where two street photographers come together to work on a project with a common theme.
[S02E06] The second part of our Madurai podcast wanderings, we start off in Garlic Alley where an old lady is duped. We make our way to the incredible Nayak Palace and end the day with a noisy procession.
Palaces And Processions Read Post »
This is a submission for the theme that asks for a shot taken with a prime lens. A prime lens has a fixed focal length, in this instance 50mm. A 50mm prime lens is the one closest to what a human sees in real life, which is why traditionally crime scene photographers always used 50mm lenses! No crime scene here, alas, just a photograph of a worker with a heavy steel basket on his head.
#OnePrimeWednesday – Early Morning Basket Boy Read Post »
A wonderful street shot of essential bananas being delivered in the slums of Mumbai. Actully, slums is not a particularly PC way of describing this area and it’s not really Dharavi since that’s just up the road from here. Whatever, it’s a great scene all the same.
Bananas In Dharavi Read Post »
People make a place and Madurai is no exception. Friendly, accommodating and willing photographic subjects.
The People Of Madurai Read Post »
Firstly our apologies for some unscheduled email updates regarding Somalia and piracy. We’re experimenting with a new service but the emails today were only supposed to be test alerts and you weren’t supposed to receive them. Ooops. Please delete these messages. So…before we leave Madurai we wanted to show you our photographs of the people and the scenes of our fave city. It is a pictorial observation of our time there, presented as two slide shows. Once you’ve clicked on the slide-show to activate it, you can select the four-arrowed button to view in full-screen mode. You’ll need a fairly decent connection as they’re high res images but it’s worth it as the portraits are very personal, whilst the street scenes will give you a good idea of the environment in which these people live.
The People And The Places Of Madurai Read Post »
As is probably evident from our previous posts, Madurai is a pretty crazy place. Rest, then, from the madding crowd in the calm of one of her grandest buildings, Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace. Deceptively understated from the outside, the open court-yard of the interior is imposing and beautiful. Liz: “If you are in southern India please do not miss this most beautiful palace. I fell in love with it in many ways. Its shape, colour and structure are sublime. Palest peach, vanilla, apricot, and cream combine to impart an ethereal quality”. The palace is close to becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site, which goes some way to illustrate how wonderful this simple building is. At the end of this short post we include a little slide show of a few of the buildings of Madurai.
Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace – Easy For You To Say Read Post »
Last time we left you we’d been wandering the back streets of Madurai and offered plenty of photographic evidence of its energy. In this post Liz gives a more cerebral account of our experience in this fabulous city, taking in the huge Meenakshi temple, which wouldn’t look out of place in Disney World. Her guide teaches Liz about the five sense, and they’re not the sense you or I learned about at school. Strangely every single photograph taken inside the temple ‘disappeared’ from Jamie’s camera, but we have plenty more images of the huge ‘gopurams’, as well as the people of Madurai. Liz’s prose is what travel writing is all about…
Meenakshi Amman Temple Of Madurai Read Post »
This short slide-show gives you a little taster of the buildings of Madurai, and has been published to coincide with our Madurai blog posts. Pictured are the Meenakshi Temple, the palace, and a strange ‘mall’ with a temple in the middle of it. Plaster of Paris gods stacked hundreds of feet high look out across the city, whilst back-streets hide away secret retreats.
The Buildings Of Madurai Read Post »
Having finally made it to Madurai after our fairground ride through the Western Ghats, we were able to relax, put on the walking boots and go for a romp through the back streets of this great city. It is full of strange wonders and fascinating people. This post, with its many photographs, captures just a small part of this: street vendors, manual labourers, layabouts, kids, beggars and strange architecture…
The Magic And Madness Of Madurai Read Post »
In the previous post we finished somewhere in the middle of the Western Ghats, lost, yet the journey up until that point had been fascinating. Not only were the local people preparing for the fantastically named ‘Pongal’, a celebration not too dissimilar to Harvest back at home, but Tamil Nadu was over-run with pilgrims from all over India. As we drove in one direction, so there were thousands of pilgrims walking barefooted the other way, heading towards the temple in Palani that wouldn’t look too out of place in a James Bond film.
Pongal, Pilgrims And Palani Read Post »
The streets of Madurai is a bustling chaotic mass of energy. One doesn’t have to walk far to get a great picture of the people going about their business, weather selling, carrying, begging or playing. I tried my best to get some surreptitious, objective viewpoints but as soon as you point a camera at a Tamil, they smile and pose!
The Streets Of Madurai Read Post »
