Last week, I announced the launch of the Cairo Photo Tours, part of a new and active group of companies based here in Cairo Egypt, and it has been fascinating watching on Woopra where the interest, responses and traffic has come from. If you don’t know about Woopra, you must. It is totally addictive!

With the launch of the Group, The Photo School and the Photo Tours, as well as the Focus For Humanity Foundation, some of the detail about the Nile Photo workshop with Matt Brandon that was also announced, may have been a bit suppressed, so forgive me if I soap-box for a minute and share with you again why we think this is such an unusual workshop and why you should come on it. In fact in some difficult to justify self-promotion, you can watch Matt and me chat about it in the short video clip below too:

What marks this workshop out are 5 main differences and in no particular order these are:

1. There are currently no other photo workshops that are run in Egypt, which despite the challenging bureaucracy here, surprises me. The weather is always good here (sometime a little too hot if you had read some of my earlier posts from the planning trip!), and in October – when we are doing the workshop – the temperature is a very comfortable 34-36 degrees Celsius in the day and high 20C in the evening. But what marks Egypt out, as a really wonderful workshop location, is the extra-ordinary wealth of cultural photography opportunities and the warmth of the Egyptians’ hospitality.

2. Secondly this is not a workshop spent in basic hotels, in guest housed or on long train journeys – not that those are bad things as they often help you immerse yourself in your environment. But on this trip we are based on a luxurious private Dahabiya- a large twin masted Sailing boat – that has no motors and therefore is in harmony with the wonderful sites and culture we will see. If the wind fails us, then a small tugboat will help us keep on schedule. The Dahabiya is in effect a luxury floating hotel – the standard of the rooms and en-suite facilities, the cleanliness of the public spaces and the kitchens were the equal of many a small luxury hotel (and arguably I should know as that is part of my other day job!). There are all mod cons including wifi, Satellite TV, laundry, free soft drinks and as far as I can work out, hot and cold running staff to cater for every eventuality. The food promises to be great, and the only potential fly in the ointment is that the boat does not have a liquor license – but worry not. I already have a cunning plan that solves that!

3. Thirdly we are mixing the traditional “must see’ locations between Luxor and Aswan such as the Valley of the Kings, Karnak Temple, The Colossus of Memnon, Edfu and Philae temples with a host of unusual, seldom visited locations. Ancient mud-brick villages, livestock markets, ruined mines and a range of different villages including the Nubian village near Aswan that completely astounded Matt and me. In this last village we will get to spend a whole day with a Nubian family – sharing their lives, building a relationship and hopefully getting a compelling photo essay into the bargain. It is this mix of formal and informal and of ancient and modern that helps to make this trip so unique. In all these places – the only exception being the Valley of the Kings where cameras are banned – we have chosen them because of the richness of cultural, landscape, street or environmental photo opportunities that they will provide.

4. Fourthly – and unusually – we have some space for partners to come along. Not many, so you need to be quick, but we are hoping that this might encourage some of you who would otherwise find it difficult to come to such a remarkable place without your beloved other, to convince them that this is finally a photo workshop that they can come on without having to play second fiddle to a camera all week! The Partner program is really a relaxed Nile cruise. In the mornings they are with us when we visit the temples, tombs and historic places. In the afternoon they are able to relax on board or explore the local town and market. Relaxing on board is pretty civilized too – endless free soft drinks, a jacuzzzi, sun loungers, books, board games and Sat TV should occupy most people! In the evenings we are all then together for dinner.

And if that was not enough to persuade you, there is also the option of a Cairo pre-extension – perhaps that should be ”pretension”! A few days soaking up the atmosphere, getting into the groove, visiting some of Cairo’s extraordinarily rich cultural opportunities. We plan to have dawn at the pyramids including a photo opportunity with a camel train; visit the camel souk (check out Matt’s superb photo essay on this); whirl with dervishes, barter in the souks, bazaars and explore the narrow streets of the Old City full of artisans and daily life.

Anyway, enough from me. Please check out the itinerary for both the main “cruise” and the “pretension”. All the details, the costs, lots of images, the prices, what to bring and how to book are over on the dedicated tour website, Cairo Photo Tours.

In the few days since we soft launched the tour, we have already sold a number of places, and several firm expressions of interest. So don’t tarry. You know you want to come. Print out the itinerary, sit down with your loved one, talk it through and then book the trip of a lifetime in October 2011 down the Nile.

A couple of weeks ago we launched Focus for Humanity – a new Not For Profit foundation that supports photographers and NGOs. This was the subject of of a previous post.. Well today the main annual Foundation grant of $15,000 was formally announced. This helps s a semi-pro photographer turn pro. You can find about more about this or how to apply at Focus for Humanity

Last week was primarily focused on work a “recce” for a Photo workshop down the Nile that Matt Brandon will be leading in October 2011. You can read all about the exciting developments in my last two posts, here , here and here.

But my real news for this week is the launch of a new photography business here in Cairo – The rather grandly named Cairo Photo Group. What we have done is to establish 4 different but interlinked companies that each focus on a much needed area of photography support here in Egypt.

The first is the Cairo Photo School We are very honored to be the first “franchisee” of Gavin Gough’s Bangkok Photo School, looking at teaching travel, street and cultural photography to expats and visitors, as well as the local Egyptians. The school focuses mainly on practical half day or one day workshops exploring Cairo and working on an individual’s requirements. This is supplemented by some classroom work on Lightroom, creative concepts and also studio lighting. Which brings me onto the second company, Cairo Photo Studio.

Cairo Photo Studio is a commercial photo studio run by an up and coming Egyptian photographer, Ramy Salem. Together Ramy and I have created a dedicated photo studio and some classrooms, filled the studio with some great lighting equipment (no mean feat getting hold of this stuff in Egypt) and are mixing the use of the studio for teaching, the rental of the studio to local photographers to explore their own ideas and the commercial use of the studio by Ramy to deliver client work in product, fashion and event photography.

The third company is Cairo Photo Tours. It seemed strange to me that no-one was offering tours or workshops to some of the amazing site and locations around Egypt, so we decided to fill the gap. With guest leaders such as David duChemin, Gavin Gough and Matt Brandon, we will be offering a series of photo tours/workshops with a difference. There will be a strong social responsibility angle to each of the tours. We will be working with local NGOs and charities (including some hopefully chaired by Egypt’s President’s wife, Suzanne Mubarak) and making some donations back into communities that we visit or spend time with.

The first of those – announced today – is an amazing tour down the Nile between Luxor and Aswan that Matt Brandon and I have been investigating.

Based on a luxurious privately chartered Dahabiya we which allows us to stop off the beaten track and explore some of the lesser known temples, ruins and villages. There full overview, some great images, the price, what to bring and how to book are on the dedicated pages on the Cairo Photo Tours site. Other tours we have planned include the Western Desert including spending time living with the Desert tribes at an Oasis, crossing the dunes by 4×4 and camping out under the stars) and the there is also the Cairo Explorer tour – a week of photo opportunities in Cairo, Alexandria and the immediate area.

Lastly we will be opening in the near future a much need service here in Cairo, Cairo Photo Services. Getting hold of camera accessories and support equipment here in Egypt is both difficult and expensive, and yet photography is one of the fastest growing hobbies within Egypt. We are thrilled to be representing both X-rite – whose product we use in the studio, the school and on the tours and THINK TANK PHOTO in Egypt. In the future we will also look to offer a simple rental service of lenses, cameras, tripods, flash accessories etc to help people try out new equipment and to have access to the right gear for special occasions.

Lots going on!

As many of you know, Matt Brandon and I have been scouting for potential workshop locations In Egypt this past week or so and at times we both wanted to take the same image from the same location at the same time. Indeed at a quick glance at some of the images that we have both posted on our respective blogs they might look identical. Look closely though at those images and the differences start to appear.

We had a laugh about it but we also discussed which images each of us would put up on our blog or Facebook so that we didn’t “steal each others thunder” – as they say in England. But it made me think back to some discussions and experiences I had had on a workshop recently with David duChemin and Jeffrey Chapman, where it felt at times that I was following David around letting him create the compelling image and then I would pole up, ask him what he was doing and think “ooh, I like that” and then set about creating a similar version.

Now I should say at this point that I was not DELIBERATELY following David around, nor was intent on copycatting, but in these tiny seaside towns (population:4 old ladies, 3 vespas and a black cat) it was difficult not to bump into each other. My approach was to try and learn from David what he had seen, what aesthetic he was considering, what setting he was thinking about etc as he composed his image.

Those of you that know David will realize that he is incredibly generous about sharing ideas and helping others to learn. He would show me his image on the back of his camera, discuss with me what lens he had selected, what f-stop he had chosen or what to look out for and then allow me to have a go. And Matt, Jeffrey, Gavin and many others that run these sorts of workshops all share this ethos.

And the result? Well once or twice I got close to a duChemin or Brandon “original”, but mostly they became my images that I had sweated over, albeit inspired by someone else. But mostly – and this recent trip with Matt Brandon was no exception – I just learned a whole lot.

I learned how to really look within the Frame: what was the background doing? What tonal range was I looking at and what options did I have? Was there any hot spot or distraction that would change the viewers [perception of the image? Was I telling a story? Was I using the right focal length to draw the eye or did I have enough visual mass or negative space to balance the image?

Now I wouldn’t have got all of that insight If I had just copied the image carte blanche and if I hadn’t asked – and those of you going on a workshop this year, never be afraid to ask. What you think is a dumb question is only dumb if you don’t ask it. I could have got some of that knowledge or inspiration by reading, but the impact was so much greater when it was a practical example, on the ground, camera in hand. And that was when I started to learn. To me each of these images became sketches that I want to adapt and to make my own, probably at a different time and in a different country.

So although Matt and I might have very similar images from our few days together, we interpreted the scenes we saw differently. Our angles were different, our light was different, our choice of lens was different (I always seem to be coveting Matt’s 85mm f1.2 lens. I am sure there is a commandment about that: “thou shalt not covet another man’s lens”!) and our post-processing is different.

So the morale of the post is what? Well if your intent is to learn, to be inspired by a great image and to use that as a vehicle to further your own vision, then go ahead, emulate, practice, ask copy whatever. If the person is there then for heaven sakes ask them to explain things to you. In my experience photographers are happy to help fellow enthusiasts.

If your intent is to copy without your own subjective vision, or to deliberately mislead, then good luck to you. I suspect you will still be doing that in a few years time – if you have not been caught and had the copyright law thrown at you – whilst the rest of us have moved on and developed our own individual style or vision.

So to Matt – thanks for sharing, for taking the time to explain and for continuing to inspire. I love the image of the camels walking down the hill with Cairo in the background – but I still prefer his! Check out his recent blog to see his (better) version and get inspired.

Then go out and take some fun pictures.

But, despite this, we are striking a rich seem of cultural images.

My hopes that we would uncover a rich tapestry of life, culture and opportunity seems to have been borne out. We have had to work really hard to educate our guide and driver what we mean by “cultural photography”, but as each day progresses he takes us to better and better locations.

For someone whose life is lived showing people the ancient culture of the pharaohs, he looked at us slightly quizzically at first when we said “Yes, that temple is really great, but we want to see culture that does not include temples or tombs”.

“Why”, you could see him thinking, “did you decide to come to Luxor and Aswan then?” Why , indeed!

Well I think our images begin to hint at why. Matt Brandon has just posted some wonderful images that he took yesterday in the camel market and a Nubian village, and given that we are only spending an hour or so in each location, and not really “working” the opportunity, it highlights just how exciting and rich that opportunity could be.

The contrast between the dark skinned Nubians in their colorfully painted villages and whose women are happy to be photographed and the lighter skinned Luxor West bank Egyptians in their traditional mud brick houses is interesting in itself. There is a common thread though that emerges: The welcome, the hospitality and the offer to sit and drink “shay” – the leaf tea laden with sugar that is an excuse to stop and rest but also provides much needed energy to combat the sapping nature of the sun. It was 50C at 6pm last night! But beyond this the different mosques, culture, villages and variety provide plenty of opportunity.

Quite why we chose to recce a September/October workshop (cool breezes, a balmy 35 C during the day and a comfortable 25C in the evening) in the heat of June is something I am still scratching my head about. Well of course I know the answer. A combination of my availability and the opportunity to garner advice and insight from Matt Brandon whilst he is here on vacation, but I think we are both realizing just what a challenge the heat is and what we must avoid to make it comfortable for workshop participants.

Anyway, the workshop is really taking shape. We have adjusted some of our thoughts and ideas since my last post to accommodate a better use of the right time to shoot photos and enough time to relax, reflect and discuss.

We have viewed a number of different boats and Dahabiyas – the large sailing boats of the old nobility that look like Feluccas on steroids – that ranged from cheap health hazards with no soul or personality but masses of space, to undisputed luxury.

The actual Dahabiya

Inevitably with such exclusivity and luxury comes a more intimate experience and fewer cabins, but I think from some of the pictures below you will agree with us that this is worth it. I was blown away by the facilities and luxury on one Dahabiya, and this has helped us shape the workshop into a more exclusive and defined proposition.

So our current thinking is to take a luxury Dahabiya with up to 10 participants. The single supplement is very expensive (although available) because space is at a premium, but one other option is a “partner program” that will allow your partner to share in much of what you do on the cultural side and enjoy a luxury cruise down the Nile with you – though the places may well be limited for this, given that priority must be given to photographers.

The lessons we learned about the heat and the light, suggest a program geared around early mornings and late afternoons, with time in between spent cruising down the Nile in luxury, undertaking critiques, mentoring sessions, processing your images. Each lunchtime is taken on deck by the BBQ as we sail to our next destination. For the partners they get to see all the temples and tombs with us in the morning and in the afternoon can sunbathe on deck or be pampered on board, as we sail gently down the Nile to the evening location and shoot.

A luxury bedroom onboard

The afternoon/evening sessions will focus on cultural photography in villages, markets, mosques and some other locations, before returning for cocktails and dinner on board.

It is different, compelling and given the level of luxury, the number of guided visits and the uniqueness of what we are offering, tremendous value. And if you decide to bring your partner along you can fell less guilty about the luxury and the sites!

We are also investigating a Cairo pre-extension. Arrival for example a few days before the main tour to spend a day immersed in the souks and bazaars of Old Cairo, a day out at the Wadi, Oasis and ancient pottery villages at Fayoum, a morning at the fascinating Camel market and probably a dawn visit to the Pyramids to watch the sun rise and the camel trains pass in front of these majestic structures before joining up with the main group on the Saturday.

Details will appear within the next week or so, so keep an eye out, and we are expecting that places will go very quickly!

And so begins our challenge. How to uncover the real Luxor, Aswan and Upper Egypt that is not tainted by the tourist dollar, where the offer of tea or food is made out of friendship and without condition – the Egypt that I have come to love and experience.

I am in Luxor in Upper Egypt with Ramy Salem – my Cairo based photography business partner – and Matt Brandon (aka The Digital Trekker) and his delightful family who are holidaying here, but who have generously given up a few days of the family vacation to come and visit some of the locations with Ramy and me.

The idea was simple enough – the first photo workshop in Upper Egypt – but as even Ramy and I, both of whom live here, are realizing the execution is not so simple!

Our aim is to create a workshop that mixes the stunning landscape of the Nile and the Desert with the culture of the region: the ancient temples and tombs of course are world famous, and a must see for anyone visiting here. But our aim is to focus more on the local culture; for example, the difference between the “original Egyptians” of Thebes (now Luxor) and their way of life that is largely unchanged, with the Nubians who live between Aswan and the Sudanese border or the Bedouins of the White and Black Desert in the west.

But to make it a workshop with a difference we have come up with 3 new ideas.

The first of which is that we are looking at hiring either a couple of old large sailing boats or one large Nile cruiser and using this as our base.

Floating down the Nile escaping the heat of the day, with time to process images, do critiques or just relax by the small pool on the top deck, would provide a good balance to the early morning starts and late afternoon photography sessions where the heat and harsh sunlight is replaced by the balmy breeze, wonderful portrait light and villages full of people relaxing after a hard day in the fields. The focus would remain though on a workshop approach – working on technique and vision, allocating time to critique and to learn as well as undertaking a small assignments and a photo essay. Depending on which type of boats we select we could end up with a ratio of 10 students to 3 tour leaders and one or two other professional photographers – one of the highest leader:participant ratios anywhere.

Secondly we are also planning to study how our two tour leaders – hopefully Matt Brandon and Gavin Gough – undertake an assignment for a local NGO. They will lead us through the process of an assignment and then we will all go out for a day, visit the NGO and shoot the assignment. We will donate some of our images to the NGO for them to use in their campaigns.

The third differentiator is that we are looking to provide a “partner program”.

Having been on photo workshops myself I realize how significant a chunk of the annual vacation budget they consume, and yet our loved ones who are perhaps less interested in photography, cannot share those experiences. In Luxor and Aswan there is such a wealth of culture, temples and tombs to provide an ideal alternative program, yet allow the more social times in the evening and lunch to be shared.

Yet nothing here in Egypt is that straightforward. Red tape, bureaucracy and security are given as excuses for something not being possible almost as often as ”Baksheesh” is heard from children seeking cash. Not much can be done without specific permits, and of course although cash always helps to overcome obstacles, this is not our modus operandi. We want to apply and receive the permissions, or visit a village without having to pay extra for that privilege.

Sadly just hiring some 4x4s and going “freestyle” is forbidden, and so although we can and will create a program that unlocks the door to the real Egypt, it does mean that the next few days of research will be full of challenges and frustrations. Already we are thinking that Luxor is just too conditioned and evolved around tourism and whilst it is a great place to start or to end a tour by visiting the Valley of the Kings, Hatchepsuit or Karnak temple, it is not the place best suited to our workshop approach or requirements.

We visit the boats today, and an old village north of Luxor before heading off south at dawn tomorrow on our way to Aswan, where we will explore a massive camel market and the option of each participant living with a Nubian family for a day.

There is so much potential here in Upper Egypt for cultural photography.

If however we are to be successful then we have to break free of a sadly all too familiar global culture where tourism has impacted both positively and negatively a location including that 3-year-old child or village elder whose outstretched hand and plaintive plea “Baksheesh, Baksheesh” is all too familiar.

More to follow in the next day or so.

When we moved to Egypt – which was not I hasten to add my sad attempt to “tick-off’ the exotic location component – this myth was quickly dispelled the first time I went out and found that my Steve McCurry impression was pretty wasted on the average Egyptian and my images were just expensive snaps.

Compelling reads such as “Within the Frame”, by David duChemin and following the blogs of great photographers like Gavin Gough, Chris Orwig, Ami Vitale and Matt Brandon and others have helped me to realize that the answer is a mix of craft (knowing how to use the tools of the trade properly so that you are free to concentrate on the aesthetic); the vision (breaking the rules, trying to follow your heart and allowing your creativity to flourish); the preparation (knowing what the light will be doing, what the cultural sensitivities are etc); the graft (going out there time and time again until you get the shot you want) and of course, sometimes, luck

Ami Vitale in a recent review session, encouraged me to slow down and to try and understand the story better, and this advice came to mind yesterday when I was walking past a non-descript blacksmith forge, camera in hand.

Rather than just acknowledge the nod of the two men sat at the back of the shop, we stopped and I gestured with my camera and muttered in my halting Arabic as to whether I could take their picture.

Ramy, my Egyptian colleague then started to chat with them as I began to take some shots. Within minutes they began to suggest that they start up the forge again and show me what they do.

I thought that I would share with you some of the successes and failures that I went through over the course of that hour or so as I tried to work the opportunity by trying different angles, lenses, compositions and style to capture this wonderful story of what turned out to be a father and his two sons running a small family business.

The first image at the top of the blog was one of the portraits I made of the old man towards the end of the session, but the thumbnail snapshot from Lightroom below show you some of the different images I made and later discarded of his son working at the furnace before finally choosing one to process below right.

I am not proclaiming these to be great images – I like them and the old man loved them so I guess that is all that really matters. But what I did learn and wanted to share with you is that it is not the exotic location and it is not luck that made this work. It was taking the time to slow down, build a relationship and to keep trying different angles and composition – even when I knew I had a couple of “keepers” in the bag – that allowed me to walk away with 3 new friends and a couple of fun images.

It would have been so simple to have just nodded that acknowledgement and to walk on.

Red Shirt Demo, Bangkok

The third day of the Red Shirts protests against the Thai government was potentially the day when things would happen. The unrealistic deadline for the government’s resignation had come and gone, and the Red shirts had decided to fan out from their central base at Phan Fa bridge, and take their protests out further into the city.

I had met up with Bangkok based Gavin Gough and Penang-based Matt Brandon to go and see what was happening. Armed with a press pass that gave us unfettered access to the Red shirts central location, we were free to wander and take pictures.

I was struck by how nonthreatening the whole event was. It felt like a cross between a carnival and a high school open day. There was a central stage on which, judging by the crowd’s reaction, populist speeches were being made and all the side streets were lined with make-shift tents, under which the thousands of red-shirts lay sheltering from the harsh sunlight.

Everywhere I went I was greeted with smile, offers of drink, food or a place to rest in the shade. I even had a little boogie with an 85-year-old Grandmother, much to the delight of the crowds and my embarrassment. Below is a sideshow of some of the images. Mouse -over the top of the image for the caption.

The most exciting event was when an electrical short-circuit underneath the bridge caused some rubber to catch fire, sending clouds of acrid smoke into the clear blue skies. Typically of course I was at the other end of the street, but both Matt Brandon and Gavin Gough were there (spot the difference now between the professionals and the amateur!!) and there are some images on their blogs worthy of a look.

All in all I was struck by how few people were there – confirmed by Gavin who had been there on the two previous days – and how quiet things were. A great afternoon, but a little light on drama – probably a good thing!

There were reports of two soldiers being injured earlier in the day when a grenade had been thrown into their barracks, and hopefully that it’s the last of the violence.

I am not sure how the Red Shirts intend to effect the change they desire, but if there political philosophy is anything like I experienced – partying, food, drink and lying in the shade – then I may just get interested in politics again!

If Ami’s portfolio is what you are after then visit her website, www.amivitale.com. It would be inappropriate let alone presumptuous for someone of my meager photographic talents to comment on Ami’s photographs. Many far more qualified than I have earmarked her as one of the truly outstanding photographic talents of her generation and I suspect the world is a better place for having someone of Ami’s skill, compassion and empathy using their visual story telling capabilities to help others.

So I am going to tackle this in two parts – the first part is this post about my experience and the process of having 10 of my recent images reviewed by Ami. The second part  - a series of 3-4 shorter posts – will each cover one of the key themes and detailed feedback, together with the ideas and suggestions that Ami gave me – which I think that others on similar “journeys” of photographic discovery may find helpful, re-assuring or even encouraging.

Booking the time with Ami was something that I orchestrated through the website, The Compelling Image for a cost of $160 – which I think is incredible value and, dare I say it given the time I had with Ami and the benefits I gained, is too cheap! For those of you wanting to take an online course in photography, then do look at “The Compelling Image” – they have some truly outstanding professionals providing you with individual tuition, assignments and critiques for a very reasonable price. You can find out more about all of their courses, including the option to have Ami Vitale review your work, at www.thecompellingimage.com.

Anyway back to the review. I have to say it felt pretty nerve racking. Like many photographers I have that weird mix of wanting to share my images so that people can see them, but also nagging self-doubt that they are really good enough. You can imagine therefore my angst at having to submit 10 images to be formally critiqued by someone of Ami’s standard, even though I knew by her reputation that Ami, of all people, would provide incredible objective insight, advice and encouragement.

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The first challenge was selecting which 10 images to submit. Now that sounds very arrogant – I don’t mean that I had so many great images to chose from that I struggled to sort the “chaff from the wheat”. Far from it. In my case I have so much chaff, that I struggled to find the wheat!  But obviously you want to show both your potential and also perhaps examples of where you are seeking guidance – the aim after all of such a review is to learn from somebody that you respect and whose work you acknowledge as being the type of quality that you aspire to achieve at some stage on your own photographic journey. I was conscious too that the images I selected would of course shape the discussion. Obvious when said like that, but I can’t tell you how long I spent wondering which ones to select – even taking advice from a couple of photography buddies to help me be objective about it! You can see the 10 images that I selected for review in the slideshow above and if you want to browse my other images then you can review those in my gallery.

The mechanics of the review are very straightforward. You select on the “The Compelling Image” website from a range of pre-ordained dates, when you want the review to happen; you pay your money, and on that day, the “course” is enabled for you. Once enabled you upload your images via the TCI website where you also have the opportunity to attach a commentary about each picture – why you had taken it, what you were trying to achieve, what you thought worked and what you thought didn’t etc.

Within hours of enrolling on the course – even though the course was still a few days off – Ami had been in touch by email. She wanted to know my background, my motivations my interests and then she wanted to arrange to have a chat with me via Skype on the day of the course (it is technically a one day course).

Ami could not have been more gracious or delightful. Full of ideas, full of encouragement and full of support, she began by seeking understanding about each image – Why had I chosen to submit this image? What did it mean for me? Why had I composed it that way? What other angles/viewpoints had I considered and why?  How many frames had I shot? How longed had I spent thinking about the image before shooting it? She had clearly prepared thoroughly for our call because as we discussed each image, Ami delivered real insight and the benefit of her extensive experience in identifying what is was that she liked or where there were areas she wanted clarification over.

Some images that I thought were my strongest, she liked, but usually Ami felt that they were missing something, or could have been better! Other images which I just liked, she loved – and for quite different reasons from me. As we went through each of the images, we kept returning to a number of dominant themes, but I am going to save those details and the specific critique for my next post. But at no stage was this dispiriting. Gavin Gough shared with me that “critiquing somebody’s photographs is only slightly less hazardous than offering thoughts on the perceived beauty of their children in my experience. It’s easy to offer praise alone and that’s often what reviewers resort to – or they go to the other end of the scale and pick things apart without offering encouragement”.

I can’t amplify sufficiently how productive, enjoyable and without being too over the top, humbling the whole review process with Ami was. It was just terrific fun. But of course it was also much more than that. It was incredibly focused, balanced between praise and constructive criticism, positive, helpful and motivating. Ami’s great skill is in simplifying things – helping the complex seem straightforward, removing the mental barriers that are blocking your ability to advance, and leaving you more reflective, upbeat and ready to go.  She makes you see things is an uncluttered and objective way, that as soon as she says them just seem so obvious that you kick yourself for making everything that went before so complicated. In just one hour I came away already thinking differently, motivated to just go and try new things and inspired by the opportunities that were now in front of me, yet also aware of what I should not repeat or get frustrated by.

Mentoring at its best, then. In terms of developing my photography I suspect I shall look back on this process as one of those seminal moments where I felt I had made a step change.

Like many who have met or know Ami – even virtually as I did – you realize that you have just spent time with someone very special.  There is an inner calm, a compassion and a genuine warmth in the interest she displays in you and your photographs that is all too rare these days. I too have joined the rapidly increasing Ami Vitale fan base!

Ami has kindly allowed me to share with you her comments and feedback. My next post will cover one of the key themes we discussed, using one of the images together with the comments I made as part of the submission process, and more interestingly, the critique that I received from Ami.

Please help and spread the word by clicking on the share button below, retweeting, facebook updates etc. And if you haven’t already done so, lose yourself for a few hours and get inspired by visiting Ami’s portfolio.

I wrote recently how through a combination of factors my 5Dmk2 and f2.8 70-200 lens and I had parted company, with the kit bouncing on the pavement rather than resting securely in my Cotton Carrier.

What made it all the more galling was that I was out with Matt Brandon and his daughter Jess (She will be one to watch in a few years as she has an amazing eye for composition aged 13!) that day, having some amazing one on one tuition, getting some fantastic opportunities for some compelling images and benefiting from Matt’s encouragement and advice.

Matt had made me go out with the two lenses I was least comfortable with – for me the f2.8 16-35mm and the f2.8 70-200mm. Normally my default lens is the 24-70mm. Suddenly I was down to one lens, and not one that I would normally have picked as my main lens for a day’s shooting street portraits and the inside of temples.

Matt is just incredibly patient and generous with his time and his insights. Having conformed that the camera and lens were in need of repair (see photo), he took me to Georgetown in Penang, where the endless stalls, temples and sights made for some great earning opportunities.

About an hour or so in, he could see that I was getting frustrated and wisely was ignoring my increasing whinges about not being to get the tight composition I wanted because I didn’t have the right lens.

He stopped me and quietly swapped my 16-35mm lens with his 85mm f1.2 lens and said “try this”. Wow what a difference. What a lens. Now I could go and get those images taken…or so I thought.

I shot away getting some exciting compositions and back-lit photos, marvelling at the flexibility that this lens gave in low light. I walked over to Matt to show him a couple of images.

“Nice – that one’s a keeper”, he said. “Have a look at this”. You can guess what was coming, can’t you.

I looked at the image on his screen, taken with my 16-35mm lens. Wow! A compelling image, with amazing light, awesome composition, back-lit and tack sharp. The shot that I had been trying to take all morning! Matt smiled and slowly walked away to carry on shooting. No criticism, no sarcasm, no negative comment – that’s just not his style. Just a smile and a point well made. It not about the kit, its about the photographer’s ability to make the kit do what he wants. Lesson learned!

When I got back that evening and looked at the images I had taken with Matt’s lens, I realised I still needed a good helping of humble pie! Of the 30 or so images that I had shot with his f1.2 85mm lens, only a couple were potential keepers. I had underestimated the incredible precision of a lens with an f1.2 focal length and its impact on the depth of field. Sure, I knew it was going to be completely different from my f2.8 lens, but even selecting a singe eye to focus on resulted in the other eye being out of focus!

It just goes to show that it really isn’t the gear or the expensive lens that makes the difference. It’s the photographer. I know now why the likes of Matt (hard at work to the left!), Gavin Gough, Jeffrey Chapman and David duChemin are for ever re-enforcing this point but sometimes this is just one of those lessons you need to learn the hard way, to help re-calibrate your own confidence and capabilities and to make you focus on what you really need – experience.

Matt had proved to me with my own kit, that the shot was there to be made. It just required vision, great craft and more experience. We laughed about it later, but maybe the expression should be “graft and vision”, rather than “craft and vision”! Either way, when the camera is back, I know what I am going to do… practise, practise, practise!

According to Gavin’s own post . they’ve arranged the trip to “coincide with the most auspicious bathing day, on April 14th, when the river Ganges will be the centre of attention for tens of thousands of eager devotees. Indeed, on the last such day, in 2001, five million Hindu pilgrims participated. It is difficult to comprehend the numbers involved, imagine the entire population of both Paris and Rome converging on the banks of the Seine on the same day. It promises to be a memorable event and it will be a privilege to witness it. The next Kumbh Mela won’t take place until 2013 so you will appreciate that opportunities like this don’t come along very often.”

Not only this this be an amazing spectacle, but it is almost like a 2 for 1 deal. Both Gavin and Matt are two of the world’s leading and most respected travel and humanitarian photographers. Their blogs are followed by thousands, their teaching and courses a have an awesome reputation and their workshops are always over-subscribed. But what will make this trip for any of you lucky enough to get this place will be the fun relaxed atmosphere these two will have. They are close friends, very relaxed and humble, with extensive knowledge of living and working in India, so you know that this is going to be the most amazing trip with some amazing people. You might even get the odd good snap too!

I’d be signing up like a shot if I wasn’t already booked to go on a workshop with David duChemin, a week or so later! But don’t tarry. If you are interested get your name in today! Places will go faster tan you can press send!

You can get all the details over on either Matt or Gavin’s blogs