Angor Photo Workshop participants - Copyright 2011 Gavin Gough

For this reason alone the last two weeks on the inaugural Angkor Photo Workshop, led by Karl Grobl, Gavin Gough, Matt Brandon and myself has been remarkable. I can’t think when I last so enjoyed such a large group’s diverse experience, humor and company.

Looking for Matt Brandon - the fourth Musketeer

And now it is at an end. We leave this morning for Siem Reap and the airport – although Gavin and I are staying on for a few days of personal shooting. It has been a humbling experience to watch each and everyone of the participants blossom (photographically!) and as is so often the case on workshops we have learned as much from them as they have hopefully taken from us. Below is a slideshow with a few images contributed by each of the participants:

I’ve also included the 4 winning Soundslides presentations that were competed at the end of the first week, to give you a hint at some of the talent and creativity we so enjoyed. Without exception, none of the group had used Soundslides and Audacity before, yet everyone mastered it and produced wonderful multimedia presentations.

To Ruti, Scot, Jasper, Melissa, Catherine, Lisa, Chris, Ursula, Carl, Jenny, Darrell, Andrew, Tim and Ayn thank you for your energy, passion and friendship.

And to each of you reading this – save the last 2 weeks of July 2012 and come and join the four of us on the second Angkor Photo Workshop.

First place, Lisa Brockman and Scot Sargeant

Second Equal: Ursula Wall and Carl Johan Ragnarsson

Second Equal: Ayn Brown and Chris Choulos

Third Place: Catherine Wisner and Jenny Krasner

I thought it might be useful to list some of the iPhone, iPad & iTouch apps (and I guess they would be available o ANdroid too) that we have all been sharing on the Angkor Photo Workshop with Karl Grobl, Matt Brandon and Gavin Gough. My thanks to them and to the participants for letting me take most of the credit for sharing these with you! I’ve also added some essential software that is either free or low cost that I think you should all consider using.

iPhone & iPad Photography Apps

PhotoSmith – If you are an Adobe Lightroom user and have the camera connection kit, Photosmith allows you do the first part of your workflow on the road right on your iPad. The app allows you to import, rate, label, keyword, tag your images exactly as you would in Lightroom, before then importing them to Lightroom when you get back to base. A wonderful tool to save time when on the road. Read a review here

Light trac. This iPAD app lets you find out when the light is perfect at a specific location by showing you exactly at what angle the sun hits your location at any given time of the day. I’ve reviewed this previously, but this is a superb app for making sure that you are in exactly the right place at the right time, as it links to satellite imagery to ensure you can be pinpoint accurate. Want to know where to get a star bust effect over Angkor Wat at Sunrise, then use this app to go to precisely the right place. Check out Light Trac’s website for screenshots

Filterstorm – A favorite of Photojournalists, Filterstorm is at home in a professional workflow, or for anyone who simply wants to get the most out of their pictures while on the road. Filterstorm contains a suite of powerful tools including curves manipulation, color correction abilities, noise reduction, sharpening, vignetting, and black and white conversion fine-tuning. It also includes the powerful ability to apply any of the available filters by brush, color range, and gradient. Read a review or check out the pro version in iTunes

GPS4Cam – This excellent and intuitive Geo location data app allows you to append GPS data to your images prior to importing them into Lightroom, Aperture Or Camera Raw and is by far the most cost effective way to geotag those images. By simply synchronizing you iPhone and your camera’s clocks, you can then turn the app on. We has it “pinging” every ten minutes to save battery life as this was accurate enough for us at the pace we were walking. It Works with any and all digital cameras. Any model, any make (even Leica!).and runs in the background leaving you free to take pictures, listen to music, use maps or browse the web and does not even need wifi to work. Then tap the “Export” button. This will generate one or more picture codes that you then take a picture of, with each code containing all of the time and location information. The free desktop application uses these codes, along with your pictures to synchronize precise times and locations and then embeds that info into each picture file. You are then free to import into Lightroom etc.

Hipstamatic – iPhone photography never looked so retro! For those wanting the look and feel of plastic toy cameras from days long ago, Hipstamatic is the app for you. Not only will it turn your photographs into creative works of art, the app does an amazingly great job and transforms your iPhone into a whole new camera. The app itself recreates the look of an old square-frame camera and takes Polaroid-style pictures. With the swipe of a finger you can change its virtual lenses and film formats to create a variety of over-saturated or discolored effects. You can read more on the Hipstamatic Website.

Easy Release This is an essential app if you need to create an on the spot model or property release. The app allows you to create a legally binding release (based on Getty Images own releases), including the image of the model or property, their signature, your signature and a witnesses signature. It then send all parties a pdf copy. Any changes made at a later date require the original parties to sign again. Matt Brandon – aka The digital Trekker – did a detailed and superb review of this great app on his blog

PerfectlyClear It’s fast, easy Dynamic Range Correction (DRC) that balances luminance and color, adds sharpness, and in more recent versions helps to reduce noise especially in processing images with a lot of darker areas. Perfectly Clear helps to overcome the deficiencies and limitations of the iPhone’s camera. This is a great way to quickly process an image before sharing it on social media, facebook or email etc

PhotoMeter – Photometer will turn your iPhone into a reliable Exposure Meter, a modern interpretation of what it should be in times of retina displays and touch screens – for old times sake they have included a classic skin that feels and behaves just like the real thing. Perhaps more a but of fun than an essential tool, it is useful bnever the less!

Productivity and Photo Sharing Apps

PhotoShare – Transfer photos and/or contacts between two iPhones and/or iPod Touches over bluetooth. Requires iPhone 3G or later or 2nd generation iPod Touch or later (Bluetooth data transfer cannot be supported on the original iPhone or original iPod Touch due to hardware limitations). Does not require any 3G or WiFi connection. This is the best bluetooth photo sharing app out there, and it’s free!!

Dropbox – Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go. You can read your docs or flip through your albums when you’re out and about. Save photos or videos to your Dropbox and share them with friends in just a couple taps. Even if you accidentally leave your iPhone in a taxi, your stuff is always safe on Dropbox.

Goodreader – GoodReader is the super-robust highly-rated PDF reader with advanced reading and annotating capabilities. Reviews worldwide hail it as “essential,” “the best,” “magnificent” and “the killer app”. With GoodReader on your iPhone, you can read virtually anything, anywhere: books, movies, maps, pictures. Use it once and you’ll be hooked. GoodReader has earned its accolades by the way it handles huge PDF and TXT files, manuals, large books, magazines. The ability to mark-up PDFs opens up new doors to GoodReader users who can now use typewriter text boxes, sticky notes, lines, arrows, and freehand drawings on top of a PDF file.

WorldCard mobile – WorldCard Mobile, the leading business card scanning application for iPhone, uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to instantly transfer information from business cards to the user’s native contacts. With a simple click of the camera, you no longer have to manually input contact info from business cards or email signatures. This is a great tool that helps you keep the details of all those key contacts for a given location: fixer, travel agent, photographers.

Dragon Dictation – Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered by Dragon® NaturallySpeaking® that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or email messages. In fact, it’s up to five (5) times faster than typing on the keyboard. With Dragon Dictation you can also dictate status updates directly to your Social Networking applications (Facebook and Twitter) or send notes and reminders to yourself….all using your voice. So when you’re on-the-go, stop typing and start speaking – from short text messages to longer email messages, and anything in between.

Softsign gives you the ability to sign legal documents, contracts and forms on your iPhone and iPad. Whether you’re a photographer or filmmaker needing a release form signed, an entrepreneur who wants to potential investors to sign a non-disclosure agreement or a tradesman who needs a client to sign an estimate, Softsign is the App for you. Softsign is reliable, easy to use, and environmentally friendly. Importing PDF documents to Softsign for signature couldn’t be easier. You can open PDF documents direct from Mail, Evernote, or Dropbox – simply tap the attached file and select “Softsign” from the pop-up menu and your document will be automatically saved in the templates section of the App. When you need to get a document signed, simply head to the templates section, open the document and in just a few simply steps you will have the signed document processed and you can share it directly from the App via Mail or by printing a hard copy directly from your device.

iSupr8 – Once a staple of home movies and student films, Super 8 mm cameras are used by today’s filmmakers to achieve an authentic, vintage look. But if you don’t want the hassle of good old fashion film, or you can’t make it down to the Levi’s Film Workshop in Los Angeles, for a limited time only Levi’s is giving you this tool totally free. So download away and get busy turning your videos into gritty, grainy masterpieces.

iTalk Recorder is a full-featured recording app with a streamlined and intuitive user interface. Press the big red button to record; press it again to stop. You can append to existing recordings, choose from three levels of recording quality (11.025, 22.05, or 44.10 kHz sample rates), and manage your recordings, all with just a fingertip. You can email recordings straight from iTalk. iTalk also supports direct file sharing through iTunes. Whether you’re recording minutes of a meeting, a lecture, or the sounds of birds singing in a meadow far from any electrical outlets, iTalk Recorder Premium puts the sound quality you need in the palm of your hand.

Essential travel apps

TripIt – TripIt is an easier way to organize travel. No more frantic searches for flight numbers in your inbox: access all your travel plans in one place on your iPhone, iPad, in your calendar, or online – no matter where you book. To get started, simply forward your travel confirmations to plans@tripit.com and TripIt automagically creates a ”smartinerary,” combining your travel plans with maps, driving directions and more, which can easily be shared with others. TripIt Pro acts like a personal travel assistant who takes care of you while traveling, by keeping you in the know with status alerts and alternate flight options, storing all your frequent traveler points in one place, and helping you save money on flights. Greater peace of mind while traveling is available for $49/year.

iTranslate – iTranslate features a well-designed user interface that suits well with the iPhone’s screen. You can easily switch from one language to another easily with the use of a pull-down menu. One good thing about iTranslate is the fact that it doesn’t entail too much data charges since the app uses a small amount of data. This iPhone app also lets you keep track of the previous texts which you have translated already. You can easily go back at these texts and then translate them to another language. It stays in your iPhone’s memory so you don’t have to enter the texts again. It gets more fun whenever you are trying to communicate with someone in a foreign country. You can let them enter what they want to say in their language and then you translate it on your own language

WebMD – Feeling Ill? Responsible for other on a workshop in a remote location? This tools helps you diagnose possible symptoms and provides some basic guidance to alleviate them. It’s feature include: WebMD Symptom Checker – Select the part of the body that is troubling you, choose your symptoms, & learn about potential conditions or issues; Conditions – Find medically reviewed information about Conditions relevant to you & learn more about causes, treatments, & related symptoms; Drugs & Treatments – Search their extensive database for information on Drugs, Supplements, & Vitamins. Access content such as Uses, Side Effects, Warnings, and more; Pill Identification Tool – Identify your prescription drugs and over the counter medicines by pill shape, color, & imprint; First Aid Essentials – Your handy guide for medical emergencies. From insect stings to broken bones, helpful treatment tips are always available, even without an Internet connection.

TuneInRadio- TuneIn radio is simply an internet radio for the iPhone. Is the concept new? Not at all. However, that does not mean that TuneIn RadioTunein Radio does not have the chance to bring some unique features to the iPhone internet radio application market. TuneIn Radio aims to be the best of the best for iPhone internet radios. It locates local radio stations, has a huge list of radio stations, can play custom radio stations from the web and even aims to record live radio stations so you can go back and listen to a particular broadcast or song that you previously recorded.

Packing Pro Packing can often times be a tedious and annoying task. While the end result means you are set and ready to venture off to your desired destination, the process can be a little stressful as you scramble to make sure all the necessities are accounted for.Many have a hard enough time planning an outfit a day in advance, let alone being prepared for multiple days (or weeks), which is where Packing Pro by Quinn Genzel comes in. Essential for anyone who appreciates having enough clean underwear, Packing Pro helps you plan out a well-developed list so you will hopefully leave nothing behind.

Powerplug – PowerPlug is a free reference guide to the power plugs and electrical power systems of the world. Each country is listed along with its commonly found outlet types and power requirements. Search by map, country, or outlet type. Designed for both the experienced traveler and those just curious about the world, PowerPlug provides an easy to use interface that simplifies your search for information.

Genius Scan – Genius Scan turns your iPhone into a pocket scanner. It enables you to quickly scan documents on the go and email the scans as JPEG or PDF.The Genius Scan scanner technology includes smart page detection, perspective correction, image post-processing. It allows you to build PDF documents with multiple scans. This app really comes into its own when you combine it with Travel Tracker (below) so that you can scan all of your receipts whilst on a trip.

Travel Tracker – TravelTracker is your ALL-INCLUSIVE personal travel assistant. It stores all vital information for your trip and displays it in convenient, easy to use itinerary screens. Additionally, it will allow you to record all of the key pieces of information you may need after your trip. It links with trip it, allows you to record recipts, ntes etc during your trip. This is the only product you’ll need to organize all your trip details for both personal and business use.

Bayan Temple, Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Sitting in the colonial grandeur of the FCC hotel in Siem Reap whilst helping Karl Grobl to run the inaugural Angkor Photo workshop I was chatting with a number of the participants about their varied experiences of attending workshops with different leaders. Most had some horror story to tell until they had found Karl’s, Gavin Gough’s or Matt Brandon’s workshops and with each of them having some of the highest repeat customers they are clearly doing something right.

But it got me thinking and I realized that Photography Workshops are strange beasts.

Typically ( and I should stress that I am NOT referring to the current workshop!), for a period of typically 10 days or more a group of enthusiastic photographers, most of whom – if not all of whom – will never have met, descend on an exotic location full of expectations and normally weighed down by enough camera gear to solve certain small African states’ national debt crisis.

Throw into this mix a highly creative, perhaps even quirky, “named” photographer, who as sure as eggs are eggs can shoot a cover story for National Geographic, but who probably lacks the mild OCD behavioral traits required to ensure that 8 tuk-tuk drivers – none of whom can speak a word of English – are at the appointed spot on time and you have the potential for a major meltdown.

Young Monk, Leaning out of a window in Siem Reap, Cambodia

To add to this dynamic, the group is at different skills levels photographically (and socially), many are jet-lagged and after three days of early mornings “to catch the light”, frustrations levels have risen, tempers are frayed and the quality of your photography is suffering.

If any of this sounds familiar, then I have a couple of solutions for you that will allow you to get the most out of your workshop.

Firstly, relax. No, seriously, relax. Many of us need time to decompress from the pressures of work, the long haul flight, the excitement of being on the long awaited trip and we create a huge burden of expectation that is almost impossible to live up to. There is a well documented phenomenon called the “Emotional cycle of change” which identifies that on any progressive journey of change there will be a period where things get worse, where tempers fray, where the group dynamics will impact us and….here is the crucial bit… by knowing that this dip is part of the journey, we can understand that working through this allows us to emerge stronger, more focused and more aligned. Knowing ahead of time that this period of tension will exist – whether personally or even within the group – allows us to embrace it rather than be thrown off guard by it.

It is completely true of most of us on a photography workshop. We all go through it. It is normal. So don’t increase the pressure on yourself. Accept that it is the case, welcome it even, because you know that by accepting it you will emerge in a far better place. Honestly.

Messrs Gough and Brandon hoping that Buff Headgear will sponsor their next workshop

2. Choose your photo workshop wisely. Be less tempted by a great name, and more tempted by a great workshop. Check the blog posts of former participants to find out about the tour leader. What is there style, there approach. Is it really a workshop or just a guided photography tour? Neither one is better than the other, but they are different. Are you going to be frustrated for example if when getting to a location, the leader shoots all the time, rather than help you with your technique? What have others said about the way the tour was run? Were the hotels good? Was the itinerary too packed? Did you have enough time to process images or get critiques? Were people free to shoot or were they given assignments? Was there enough free time to relax by the pool if you wanted to – it is after all your holiday?

If you need some suggestions on some excellent workshops which are superbly organized and led by photographers with world class reputations for their images AND their coaching and mentoring mentoring then look no further than any or all of the following photographers (in no particular order): Karl Grobl and Jim Cline, Nevada Wier, Gavin Gough, David DuChemin and Jeffrey Chapman, Matt Brandon, Edoardo Agresti or Ami Vitale

Young school girl in Siem Reap, Cambodia

3.Lastly slow down when you are out shooting. Try and do as much as you can “in the camera” rather than in Lightroom or Photoshop. Find your subject, think about where you want them placed in the image. Put your camera to your eye. Now bob around like someone had put ice in your shorts – all the way keeping the camera to your eye – and see what happens to your composition as you subtly change your point of view. Once you have got the composition right, do a “Sweep” around the background. I start at the top left, go around the rectangle of the view finder and then zig-zag across the 2 diagonals, all the while looking for things that would distract: something red, something too bright, an old cloth etc. Only then do I take the shot. I immediately check the image and the histogram, for both exposure and composition. If ti is good, then I start to work the shot, making sure that I am getting a variety of expressions or composition.

OK, so this post has ended up being much longer than I imagined, but honestly if you have made it this far and you can follow these 3 simple guidelines, I can guarantee that you will get the most out of your workshop and your images will raise in quality, composition and impact.

Modern day monk in a motorbike helmet

Yet some places, however many documentaries you watch, travel guides your read or hours you spend researching on the web cannot fail to impress or deliver on those expectations.

Once such place is the Angkor Wat temples complex, in Cambodia, where I have just spent the first day of a workshop along with Karl Grobl, Matt Brandon & Gavin Gough. Our fourteen participants could not be a more delightful, engaging and talented group and If the remaining twelve days are as good as the first then this workshop will far exceed any expectations.

Sometimes on a first visit to a location is it impossible not to be a little over-awed. I experienced this today at Angkor Wat I had long wanted to come here. I also knew that I wanted some evocative and unusual photos of these magnificent temples, and with a little bit of luck I might find an angle or a situation with a saffron robed monk, that allowed me to explore my own creativity.

But I’ll be honest, I got seduced. I was seduced by the extraordinary majesty and magnitude of the temple complex. I was seduced by the intricacies of the stone carvings and, dare I admit it, I was seduced by the cliched contrast of the bright orange robes of the monks against the granite grey of the temples.

I cannot think of a better place or a nice team of colleagues to spend 2 weeks immersed in photography and I am looking forward to meeting the 14 people brave enough to put up with the 4 of us!

This evening, I met up with 4 of them here in Bangkok, as I joined a “pre-workshop” workshop that Gain was running for them. Over the course of a few hours we wandered between the stalls of Bangkok’s 24 hour flower market.

Every time I return to the flower market I see differences – sometimes it is the weather, sometime a change in seasons, or sometimes the light. But there are also several constants: the vitality of the market, the warmth of the smiles and the incredible tolerance of those working in the market as 5-6 photographers, weighed down with gear, all try to capture a compelling picture.

So I thought I would post a few of the “Snap” that I took today. Most of these were taken as I worked with one of the group to explain a point and I present them on this blog as nothing more than a record of a wonderful afternoon spent with some charming individuals in a place that is quickly becoming my “go to” place in Bangkok.

I need your help.

For a very good cause. For Focus for Humanity – the charitable foundation that I set up to support Humanitarian, travel photographers and NGOs.

The purpose of this post is shameless self-advertising. But I hope as you read the next few paragraphs you will realize that this self-advertising is not for self benefit, but to support Focus For Humanity.

We are extremely fortunate in Focus For Humanity to have some of the world foremost travel and humanitarian photographers on our board. We are equally fortunate that all of them run world-class workshops. Sometimes together – like David duChemin and Jeffrey Chapman or Gavin Gough, Matt Brandon and Karl Grobl or sometimes independently.

This year, as part of my Focus for Humanity work I have agreed to organize with some of these photographers some workshops in Egypt and to support a third in Cambodia, with any fees/income that I generate from these workshops going directly to support Focus For Humanity grants and investments. Specifically in providing fully funded places on other workshops with these internationally acclaimed photographers.

For the avoidance of doubt, the workshops are run on commercial grounds, but my fees will go to Focus For humanity. The photographers still – and quite rightly in my view – get paid for their time.

The first is with Gavin Gough in the Black and White Desert region of Egypt. The itinerary is varied and exciting – and completely unique. A mix of desert, oasis, villages and towns, providing a variety for landscapes, portraits, environmental and cultural photography. You can find out about this amazing trip on the Cairo Photo Tours Website. We currently have about 3 or 4 places left and I want you to pass the word and help get these filled. Remember a full trip means a considerable donation- in the region of $5000 to Focus For Humanity and our ability to launch 2 workshops grants that will provide fully funded places on workshops later in the year.

The second is an extraordinary opportunity. A workshop in Cambodia hosted by Karl Grobl, Matt Brandon and Gavin Gough. This two week workshop covers tuition on multimedia, color management, Lightroom, social media and blogging AS WELL as the usual extensive shooting opportunities, critiques and mentoring. The second week is spent on assignment.

This is truly a world first and unbelievable value. You have 4 professional photographers at less than the price of most other workshop where you only get 1 or 2. Based in Ankor Wat in Week 1 and then across Cambodia in week 2, this is a unique and unmissable opportunity. There are currently about 7 places left on this. You can find out more about this on Karl’s workshop partner, Jim Cline’s site.

Lastly Matt Brandon is running a unique workshop down the Nile in October. We have created an amazing trip on a luxury sailing boat, where partners can also come and have a similar itinerary, yet not impact your need to slow down, dwell and shoot a location whilst feeling guilty that you are holding others back. The trip includes all the great cultural sites like Luxor temple and Valley of the Kings, but also we have special permission to go off the beaten tracks to villages, towns, mosques and unusual locations such as the Nubian villages that are devoid of tourists.

The afternoons are spent processing images, critiques sessions and mentoring before heading out at the golden hour for more cultural photo opportunities. Dinner every night is gourmet food on board as we gently sail down the Nile. You can find out more about this trip on the Cairo Photo Tours site. There are currently only 4 places left on this.

So please spread the word. If you are a photographer that already runs your own workshops, please consider still sharing this post as we need this to get to as wide a distribution as possible. It is all in a good cause.

Come along yourself, or at least blog about it, tweet about it, email about it or chat about it. You can scrape any images you need off the Cairo Photo Tours website or any content that might support anything you want to help promote.

Every place we fill means support for Focus For Humanity. Whilst Focus for Humanity does not organize or formally endorse these projects, as its role is purely to distribute grants, this is one of my ways this year of trying to build and grow this foundation.

Don’t hesitate to contact me. Below are links to each of the advisory board’s workshops. Help promote theirs too!

Matt Brandon
Gavin Gough
Edoardo Agresti
Karl Grobl
David DuChemin
Jeffrey Chapman

Not perhaps the normal advice you get in answer to “I am off to Delhi next week, any suggestions?”, but as a Delhi native living in Cairo, Sonali Soni (whose beautiful eyes adorn the header images of this blog) realized that for me the seething mass of humanity, noise, pollution and poverty that has such an impact on most visitors, would seem relatively tame for me after living in Cairo for 3 years.

Huddled in the back of the auto-rickshaw at 5,30 am, with the wind whipping around my ears, I was grateful for her thoughtfulness.

Delhi is a fascinating city that can be overpowering, fatiguing and beguiling all at the same time. I was fortunate enough to a have a couple of days at the end of a business trip to explore what I could find photographically. Armed with detailed suggestions from Karl Grobl, Gavin Gough and Matt Brandon, – as well as the pullover recommended by Sonali – I had planned 6 or 7 locations I wanted to explore, most of which I will share with you over a couple of the next posts.

The first of those was Humayum’s tomb, which I chose to visit at dawn, to catch the tranquility and the golden light and watch the sunrise over this beautiful mausoleum and park.

The first example of the grandeur and Indo-islamic style of Mausoleum and The unprecedented scale and grandeur of the monument, however, are aspects that were to define much of subsequent Mughal tomb building, and are among the similarities commonly cited between Humayun’s tomb and the Taj Mahal in Agra.

When we arrived at 6am – suitably chilled – I was an hour ahead of the official opening time, but a smile, a quick snap and a print on the indefatigable Polaroid PoGo printer, and I was allowed in. The only person in the whole place. Wonderful.

Inside the tomb the small marble sarcophagus lay in the centre of the rotunda, basked in light, whilst the rest of the chamber still remained dark – almost as if was half asleep, refusing to rise to greet the dawn. Off the main chamber are a number of smaller antechambers with beautiful Islamic fretwork and I imagine later in the day stunning light, reflections and patterns.

I wandered around, waiting for the dawn light to bathe the beautiful pink buildings in that distinct warm glow, checking some angles and positions. I had done some homework the night before using the amazing LiteTrac app on my iPad, that allows you to see the angle of the sun at any time of day over a satellite image (shown here shoing the research for the shot above). >

I was not disappointed. As the sun rose the mausoleum took on a duty pink hue, providing some wonderful contrast with the clear blue sky that was developing at the same time.

The price of course of having the place to yourself and completely free of anyone in your line of sight is that the sky ad not quite developed its rich blue color that heralded the transition form dawn to day. However I small price to pay to see this remarkable site completely unspoiled by tourists or souvenir sellers.

By 8am the place was alive with the workers setting up for the days; visitors, and just as finished a camera crew turned up with 5 models resplendent in their saris to shoot a corporate video. And there begins another story, but perhaps not one to share on the blog but over a glass of something when next we meet!

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!

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.

I felt a little indulgent standing for 20-30 minutes trying pan after pan when there was so much going on around me, but allocating at least this type of time, Gavin explained, is how you master the technique, and how you capture that compelling image.

So I thought I would share a few images as I progressed through the tips that follow. Clearly the early images are not ones that I would normally publish and I have not made any adjustments – they are exactly as shot, but some of you might find it helpful in understanding the tip or learning not what to do! There is a slideshow further down too of more images.

Panning too quickly meant my framing was just off

Gavin taught me a couple of extra things that were really helpful, and I want to share with you. I won’t repeat my earlier post about the settings – 10 tips for mastering panning – the distance, the stance etc – but do read this as it is an integral part of how to master panning – but Gavin did share me with 4 additional tips, the first of which was how to set-up my custom functions correctly, to allow me to rapidly move to panning mode.

I am a Canon user – but I know Nikon will have something similar – so I have 3 custom settings I can record on my Canon 5d Mark II, so I set up C3 for panning. The first thing to do was to set up the camera for a “generic” panning shot – a starting point, if you like.

I switched to TV mode, selected a shutter speed of 1/30, and changed the AF-Drive settings to AI servo and multi-shot. I put the ISO on Automatic, and evaluative metering. Then I went into the Main Menu options and selected from the Yellow settings menu, Custom User Setting>Register, and stored under Mode Dial:C3.

This meant that when I was shooting something in say AV mode on a fixed ISO, with single shot and spot metering and I saw an amazing panning opportunity, I had just 1 turn of the main mode switch, to C3, to be set up for panning. It all means there is just less to worry about – let the camera do the work!

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Mistakenly focusing on the elbow not the face has reduced the impact

The second tip was obvious once Gavin had said it. Keep your focus point welded to the bit you want to stay sharp, throughout the pan. Easier said than done mind you, but this is what will make the face or the hands or the flower that you are focusing on jump out of the picture.

The third tip was to also consider panning in low-light situations, using a flash. The only additional setting here is to select second—curtain shutter for your flash, so that any light trails are behind the subject being panned, not in front! You need to turn the flash down probably 1 or 2 stops – enough to create the effect, but not enough to startle the poor man on his moped with some blinding X-Files like light!

The fourth tip was to pre-select the focal length to the aesthetic you want in the final picture and stick with it. Lets say you have a 24-70mm lens, and you want to take the final shot with the subject large enough in the frame to be interesting, but sill with some negative space or composition elements to make a compelling shot. When you track to the right or left to start your pan, the subject will seem tiny at that focal length. Don’t be tempted to re-adjust the focal length. Leave it on that pre-determined setting, focus on the subject – keeping that focal point on the key area of sharpness that you want – and pan at the same speed as the subject. As the subject reaches your pre-determined point, press the shutter. This sounds obvious, right? I can’t tell you how many times I found myself adjusting the focal length as I was panning!!

Playing around with the flash - not quite there yet!

After that it really is trial and error, making tiny adjustments to the flash or the shutter, depending on the light or the speed of the subject. As you can see from the images in my slideshow, it is harder than it sounds, or maybe I should say I found it harder than it seems!

Practice really does make perfect in the case of panning, and boy, do I need to practice! If you want to see some great examples then head over to Gavin’s blog an check them out.

Pulling it all together, for a decent Panning shot