Archives for posts with tag: matt brandon

2012 Workshop Destination & Interview

Images of Bhaktapur, Nepal & a quick Q&A of our 2012 Tibet/Nepal Tour


A few days ago Matt Brandon, Jamin York and myself got together on Skype to discuss our 2012 Lhasa, Everest, Nepal Overland Workshop.  We covered almost every aspect of the workshop.  I mentioned quickly that one of the best parts of the trip for me was our day in Bhaktapur, Nepal.  Bhaktapur is a small community outside of Kathmandu city still located in the Kathmandu Valley.  The amazing think about Bhaktapur is that the local community has made an amazing effort to preserve their culture and way off life.  It truly is a city trapped in time.  Ancient city walls, buildings, shops, and architecture all filled with people doing life much the same way that have for thousands of years.

In this year’s tour we will be spending a few days in Bhaktapur. I couldn’t be more excited about our time there.

If you are interested to know more about the entire tour, I strongly suggest you take a listen to our short interview below.  We cover quite a bit of ground in this interview.

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2012 Tour Schedule

Plateau Photo Tours 2012 Workshop Schedule


I’ve been getting quite a few emails asking if our Plateau Photo Tours 2012 tour schedule is finalized or not – I’m happy to say that we have finalized all our plans on two amazing trips that we are offering to the general public.   I’m excited to be partnering with my good friend and fellow photographers Matt Brandon and Jerod Foster for two separate trips through some amazing parts of Tibet and western China.

The two trips are are offering in 2012 are below:

View the links for more information:

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
It gives me great pleasure to announce Plateau Photo Tours annual Lhasa, Everest, Nepal Overland Tour and workshop.  Last years tour was a ton of fun. We continue to call this trip a ‘bucket-list’ trip because, well, you’re going to see some amazing things!  If you are interested in what all the tour entails, please visit our Plateau Photo Tours website.

The overland route connecting Lhasa, Tibet with Kathmandu, Nepal is one of the most beautiful and and sought-out land routes in all of Asia. Covering a distance of 600 miles, this workshop will take us from the ancient Tibetan capital of Lhasa to pristine high altitude lakes, winding ancient rivers, beautiful farming valleys, Everest Base Camp and over the Himalaya Mountain passes to the ancient Nepali city of Bhaktapur. We will be visiting the most famous monasteries and temples in all of Tibet while spending 13 days immersed in the unique Himalayan culture. Join us on the Roof of the World to get up close and personal with Himalayan culture and the adventure of a lifetime!

We like to consider this workshop as a ‘photo tour with a strong teaching element‘.  Most of the teaching will be done on the field in an organic fashion – we will have some specific teaching areas we will cover as well.  Also, we will have reviews and teachings most evenings to cover events from the day and to prepare for the next.  However, we understand that you will want to get lost in the endless alleyways of Lhasa and wander around monasteries to find your own adventures.  Their will be no ‘flag-totting tour guide following‘ whatsoever.  We’ve built time in for everyone and those who want one-on-one time with the instructors will get it.  Those who want to simply shoot will get it.  We’ve built the tour around flexibility, community, discussion, freedom and your ability to learn what you want from our instructors while also having the opportunity to shoot what you want.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
Cultural and travel photography involves much more than catching a flight to a faraway destination and simply taking the camera out of the bag. Instead, it begs us to immerse ourselves in and tell the story of a place, a people, and a way of life with those tools we bring to the table. Story is what the entire world revolves around, it is the substance upon which societies are built, and it is the gateway to exploring and consciously learning about others.

During this culturally compelling photography tour, we’ll have the opportunity to establish a storytelling foundation and build upon our abilities as photographers to create meaning-filled images that truly speak about and to others. Throughout the tour, we’ll touch on photographic issues such as compelling composition, image dynamics, constructing and shooting along visual themes, and the role light plays in conveying emotions and visual subtleties to the viewer, as well as cultural entrée and engagement topics that will help facilitate photographing in a new place and among new people. All of this will be developed from a storytelling perspective, as opposed to a simply snapshot position. We’ll also develop storytelling technical workflows and use them to create visual narratives of one of the most beautiful and culturally rich areas of the world.

The tour will be both intensely photographic and educational, the field will serve as our learning environment, and organic discussions and critique sessions will be held as a coming-together of visual minds most evenings. The goal of the tour (and the tour hosts) is to provide each participant as much freedom as possible in their photography while also offering professional and constructive guidance from a travel and cultural photography perspective.

 

Postcard from the middle of nowhere

Day two on the road from Lhasa to Kathmandu


We are 6 days into Matt and I’s photo workshop – halfway to Mount Everest.  Arguable the middle of nowhere (yet I’ve found internet).  Tomorrow we get our first glimpse of Everest and the day after that we get to visit the mountain itself before we drop off the plateau onto the subcontinent.

I have to say we have a great a talented group of participants and the trip couldn’t be going any better outside of a less “gamey” tasking yak burger.  I’m hoping to get my first blog post up from the world’s high mountain in the next two days, so stay posted!

 

Chengdu… or Don’t

A quick afternoon shoot in China's Sichuan Province


Corny jokes aside, it’s good to get our 2011 Tibet, Everest, Nepal Overland tour started.

It’s been a busy last few days for me getting tons of stuff ready for the trip that kicks off this evening. The good kind of busy. I’ve been able to enjoy a true spring in Chengdu over the last few days versus the lingering winter weather that persists at my home on the plateau. However, I was able to squeeze just a few hours of shooting in with Matt and my new friend Kesh in the other day.

We visited the Wen Shu temple in central Chengdu for a few hours just to wet our appetite.

The WenShu temple is dedicated to the Buddhist representation of Wisdom, Wenshu Pusa (Manjusri Bodhisatva), and contains more than 450 Buddha statues and other precious relics. In addition to the halls and gardens, the temple also has a charming tea house that offers an insightful window of Chengdu life as it is frequented by locals who engage in games of chess, reading, knitting and just chatting with family and friends.

 
Brian Hirschy Photography