Welcome to the December 2019 newsletter.
It’s been four months since my last newsletter in August 2019. Nearly three of those months have been spent on the road, with me being in France for about 1 week from September to December.
What’s been happening? Where have I been? And what the heck happened in Vietnam that made headlines?
OK, so in the middle of September, I was commissioned to photograph a huge technology conference in Amsterdam for none other than Sony. Yes, that huge corporation that makes everything from TVs to digital cameras asked me to do some work for them. And very pleased they were too! But that’s just an aside to the main event.
Straight after the conference, I headed off to Vietnam. I had been invited there by a Vietnamese travel agent called Ciao Travel. They had asked me to photograph northern and central Vietnam to help promote their various excursions. It was also an opportunity to get to know how they work, as in September I should be running a photo tour to Vietnam, retracing some of what I did.
But just as I was about to leave on Saturday, 28 September, I was stopped by the authorities at Da Nang airport. The reason? My MacBook Pro!
Around the beginning of July, Apple issued a recall on laptops that had been manufactured between 2015 and 2017. In amongst the chaos of travelling and being inundated with work, I missed the recall notice.
Vietnam Airlines flatly refused to help in any way apart from reissuing my return ticket. They just left me in the middle of Da Nang airport to fend for myself. Thankfully, Ciao Travel were on hand to help out and got me to a hotel in Hoi An, where I had to spend an additional 18 days!
The problem with all of this actually stems from the fact that the Vietnam Aviation Authorities issued a notice stating that on the one hand the laptop wasn’t to be carried at all but in another paragraph stated that as long as you leave it turned off and not charging that you can bring it into the cabin. Confused? Yes, it is clear as mud!
Air France, which originally flew me into Vietnam, couldn’t have cared less! In fact, they don’t even inform customers on any of their websites about the problem, nor do they inform you at check-in either.
When checking in with Vietnam Airlines in Vietnam, you are informed about the problem, but for me, it was too late.
Because of all this, I had to forego some work in Romania and Moldova, but that has been rescheduled for October 2019.
Upon my return to Europe, I had one whole day at home before running out the door again to go to the Dolomites for my autumn workshop.
Then next up was a month in Moscow. That beautiful city in Russia is absolutely worth a visit. The metro system, especially, is a joy to photograph. It has some utterly stunning architecture beneath the streets that you just have to see.
So let’s head on into the trip reports to see what’s been going on, as well as give you some photography workshop ideas which may interest you.
Vietnam, south-east Asia. A country that has many dimensions to it, as far as landscapes and people. A country whose people are extremely welcoming and always have a smile for you.
Having been on my list of places to visit for a few years now, I literally jumped at the chance to go in September when I first had a meeting with Ciao Travel.
Over a few weeks, an itinerary was thrashed out and some of my wishes were granted in the form of visiting the Mu Cang Chai rice terraces in the north near the Chinese border and the beautiful UNESCO-protected city of Hoi An in central Vietnam.
Arriving in the country is easy. For a lot of nationalities, the Vietnamese offer a free 14-day visa to enter the country. You just need to show your return ticket at the immigration desk, and you’re good to go.
Leaving aside the controversy of the laptop, my whistle-stop tour of this Southeast Asian country was literally life-changing as well as eye-opening.
My first couple of days were spent in Hanoi. My hotel was told to let me in my room early, but it seems they didn’t get the message, so I had to wander around this bustling city feeling very tired from jet lag. But this wasn’t all bad, as I got to experience it without a guide and learned how to cross the road without getting killed by one of the thousands of mopeds and motorbikes that completely ignore the traffic signals.
Something I was lucky enough to experience was the so-called train street. This tiny street that runs through an old part of Hanoi has a train that goes through it, and you can stand within inches of it as it passes through. Well, that was until the authorities decided, just after I left, that because of how popular it had become with social media wannabes that it had become too dangerous and so banned people from being in it!
Next up was Ha Long Bay. An amazingly beautiful bay of water in the northeast of Vietnam. It’s a stunning area, and the overnight cruise I was party to was amazing. One of the fellow travellers was a former Vietnam veteran who was happy to tell his tales of when he was stationed in the country. He had told me that no one cared about his stories, so I sat and listened to him for a few hours, and now wish I had recorded it! He was fascinating.
After a 4-hour drive back to Hanoi, it was time to go to the first of the rice terraces around Ninh Binh. This wasn’t quite as I had hoped, but still an interesting experience. We were taken to a small temple complex on the way, but I later learned that there was a far more interesting one that will be in the forthcoming photography tour.
Going back to Hanoi again, it was time for a long train ride up to a mountainous area that skirts the Chinese border. The same train that rolls through the streets of Hanoi took me to this area, and little to no sleep was had on it. It gave a new meaning to rocking and rolling and will again be in the photo tour. You have been warned!
Arriving in Lao Cai at 6 am or so, I walked bleary-eyed to my transport, which was to take me up to the mountain town of Sa Pa. This was my first real taste of the rice terraces, but unfortunately, most of it had been harvested. But aside from this, there were also the Hmong people who, with their colourful traditional dress, provided ample travel portraiture opportunities.
As I mentioned, something that I had hoped for in Sa Pa was to photograph the rice terraces that had turned yellow for autumn. Talking to the guide that I had, I showed him some pictures of what I was looking for, and he promptly told me to get down to Mu Cang Chai. His friend, who was a guide, had sent him some images showing that it was all still unharvested and yellow. A phone call to Ciao Travel ensued, and transport was promptly arranged the next day.
So what’s the difference between the two areas of Sa Pa and Mu Cang Chai? Well, anyone looking up images of rice terraces in Vietnam is shown images of steep-sided mountains full of rice. They proudly state that you can see these in Sa Pa. The problem is that this isn’t the case, and in fact, the images you see are in fact of Mu Cang Chai.
Down in this area, the Hmong people are still present, and again, they provided a beautiful relief to the landscape in the area. I had a blast capturing some of them, and they were more than happy to let me take images of them.
After a long journey back to Sa Pa, it was back down to Hanoi for an internal flight to Da Nang. Of course, this was where things were to become interesting as I went to leave, but again, let’s not go back over that.
The ancient port town of Hoi An was to be my home for what should have been three nights. It was here that I eventually ended up spending nearly three weeks and got to know many people.
Hoi An is a small town with big possibilities. There are a couple of markets here that provide endless travel portraiture and especially so if you go early in the morning when most tourists are sleeping off the previous night’s beer and wine.
Over my extended stay, I captured some of my best travel portraiture to date. I started to learn some Vietnamese to ask people if I could photograph them. This is always useful, as when you start speaking to someone in their own language, you’ll find that you get more out of them.
In addition to all of this, I became extremely good friends with the local tourism office of Quang Nam province. So much so that one of my friends from here is teaching me Vietnamese off and on whilst I help her improve her English.
So, despite the shenanigans of my laptop making headlines across Vietnam and some parts of the Western world, the trip was a huge success, and I cannot wait to go back again.
PS. Three mysterious ladies helped out with the images below. Who are they? Friends from Hoi An who were gracious enough to get up early and let me photograph them.
From 19 to 26 October 2019, I ran a photography tour and workshop in the beautiful Dolomites in northern Italy. This mountainous area is absolutely stunning in autumn, and this year was one of the best I have seen it. It was wall to wall colour and everyone who went was ecstatic with the colours we had.
Picking up clients at Venice Marco Polo airport, I drove up to Cortina d’Ampezzo. This small town was used in the Winter Olympics back in 1956, as well as one or two James Bond films. But I digress.
The area around Cortina d’Ampezzo bursts with colour each year, and during this trip, it was even better than in preceding years. It just has to be seen to be believed. Forget your English Lake District’s in autumn the Dolomites will knock your socks off with the colours on tap.
Having visited the area several times, it’s starting to become another home. My knowledge of the area has grown again, which was thanks to a British photographer who lives in the area. On a roadside location that we were shooting, he let on about an amazing location that had the best colour he had seen in years. A 45-minute hike was needed to get to it, but once done, it was worth the effort.
Aside from this, not-so-secret spot, we also took in places such as the Tre Cime and Lago di Braies. The latter, though, is starting to get very crowded if you hit it at the wrong time. But we didn’t let that deter us, and also managed to get away from the maddening Insta Crowds.
The second half of the tour was based in the Val di Gardena. I had managed to source a hotel that provided dinner in the evening, and the feedback was that it was an absolute winner! The dinner and wine on offer were superb, and for next year’s Dolomites photo tour, it will be back on the schedule.
Lastly, it has to be noted that because of the aforementioned Insta Crowds that the Val di Funes has closed one of the roads that leads to a famous viewpoint. The church of Santa Maddalena has become such a hotspot that the villagers have decided that all visitors must now park in the village and then walk 2km up to the viewpoint.
What happens, though, if you don’t fancy that walk? There’s always San Johnann which has easy parking and fewer people.
Hot off the press!
On the 7th and 8th December 2019, I was up in the Lake District National Park. I had promised a friend and fellow vlogger, Paul Thomson, that we would do a collaboration. It’s only taken 9 months for me to get to that, and the results are up.
Don’t expect miracles in this, as the weather was the usual bad style for this time of year. Still, we had fun though.
