Vietnam: Harlong bay

Travelling to the north east of Vietnam, i decided to tour the many limestone islands of Harlong Bay. To do so I booked a tour with my local hostel and was soon sailing through the dramatic limestone islands that pierced the seas of North East Vietnam.

Our tour guide was friendly and helpful and the food served aboard our small boat was delicious. The first day I spent in the Bay itself was spent touring the dramatic "amazing cave" located inside on of the limestone casts. It was huge and  lit with the most amazing colours and our guide talked us through the formation of this dramatic structure.

 After this we scaled one of the island hills to taken in the vista of our dramatic surroundings before being whisked away to kayak into the setting sun. We finished our canoeing trip by padding through a cave up to 'monkey island', which more then lived up to its name as we got to view the monkeys first hand cavorting through the trees that covered the island.

As the sun set we enjoyed dinner on the boat before being rocked to sleep by the lull of the waves. The next day was one of relaxation, as we sunbathed on the deck on our way back to Hanoi.

Kanchanaburi

 Kanchanaburi was one of my favourite places in Thailand. Its a place that is both immensely beautiful and profoundly sad, home as it is to the infamous death railway. On my first day there I walked up to and over the bridge over the river Kwai. Build by the japanise using slave labour, thousands of Asians, US, Australians and British died in the in its construction (as I learned on my visit to the powerful railway musemum). The bridge and the settings around it almost seemed too beautiful to be the site of such horrific brutality but the large graveyard in the centre of town confirmed the cities' brutal history.

After visiting the bridge itself I walked over to a beautiful Chinese temple that lay over the other side of the river. It was filled with dragons pillars, massive gold statues and the most indescribly lovely pictures carved into the stone of the temple. That evening I met some of my fellow britains who led me to a Reggie bar where they reveled a talent for singing and playing Jazz. The bar became an instant favourite hangout and many a night I would lazy around a beer in hand chatting and watching my friends perform.

I also explored the beauty of the Erawan waterfalls, a seven tiered fall where I swan, slide down natural waterslides and attempted to avoid the hundreds of fishes that would swim and tickle your feet in the pools. Returning that night I sat by the river and was greeted with a spectaular sunset that turned the water a deep purple.

Thailand: Koh Sok national park

I decided to head somewhere slightly less touristy, so I headed to Koh Sok and a guest set right by the national park. Almost as soon as I arrived however I was already heading out the door as I booked a trip to a raft house set right on a lagoon deep in the park. The setting was beautiful, surrounded as it was by limestone cliffs covered in lush jungle. We arrived by boat and spent the morning swimming in a lake that was as warm as a heated bathtub.

After settling in our guide took on a trek right through the jungle, we past rocks shaped like daggers and crossed a stream multiple times to get to the mouth of the cave from where the water flowed. The treking through the cave was interesting as we had to wade through water, sometimes deep enough to be up to our necks. However we were rewarded with some spectacular rock formations and water cascading down the walls of the caves. 

After being led out of the cave I bonded with my fellow travellers by playing party games, eating fish caught fresh from underneath our huts, drinking beer and going on an exciting night time boat safari where we saw Civits, Bitulong and a strange kiwi like bird. After all this excitement the next day we finished our tour by doing one final trek through the jungle.

Arriving back in Koh Sok park I decided to extend my stay and in doing so got to trek through the park, seeing a snake chasing a frog that gave me the scare of my life and cheeky monkeys who had come down from the trees to steal coke and beer from the rangers huts (I even got woken up by one opening my window to break and enter into my hut).

I was now ready to move on by bus to the famous Kanchanburi.

Lost in the woods

Forests are a place that I feel a deep connection with, its why so many of my photos focus on trees and woodland. The sights, the sounds and the colours of nature are what inspire alot of my pictures.

With these photos I hoped to capture and convey the essential beauty, feel and power of the Welsh woodlands.

An artistic blur

One of my favourite techniques which I've experimented with when taking pictures recently has revolved around zooming in on a subject while setting the camera on a low shutter speed. The feeling of speed and the abstract patterns produced create quite a wonderful effect. While this technique may be hit and miss when it does work the effect is spectacular.

These pieces once again show my fascination with the idea creating a piece of photography that could be seen almost as a piece of abstract and impressionistic art.

Spirituality in Art

I was pleased recently to have been invited to take part in a gallery displaying images of spiritual in art. My photography and art has always been heavily inspired by my unorthodox approach to the divine. As such I felt I could take part and (hopefully) add something meaningful to this event.

I have included a quote and one of my pictures that will be used as part of my display which I hope gives a bit more insight into my art and how I see the world.:

"For me one of the main things that is so attractive about photography is just how beautiful the world is. And in seeing that beauty one can't help but to feel a sense of awe, a sensation of touching something greater and more wonderful then can be understood by the rational senses. In other words for me to take a picture of something truly beautiful is in some way for me to reach out to God and find myself immersed in His/Her great beauty. For me all these pictures represent moments when I have somehow touched or found that moment in life when one connects for a moment with the divine."

And here is a link to the actual event itself:

https://www.facebook.com/events/211070629060412/?fref=ts