The emerald heart of the forest

Its no secret for me to say that I love nature, I never feel more alive then when I'm out surrounded by trees, streams, rocks and rivers. I love the way that light falls through leaves, the way that barns and buildings become reclaimed. Ivy and brambles slinking into the cracks and binding everything in green.

The sound of birds above me and the song of the brook running over stones. Rustling leaves and the sound of rabbits brushing the undergrowth. Th dappling of sunlight passing through clouds. The wind, the rain, the sun and the forest, nature has its own living beating emerald heart.

And step by step man is killing it, encroaching further and further upon it and pushing it further and further back to its boundries to a pint of no return and it breaks my heart. Nature is precious and beautiful and like anything precious and beautiful it should be preserved. We should spend more money on it, build gardens around it, use less harsh chemicals on it and protect more of it.

This is the only way we can protect that most precious jewel, the emerald heart of the forest.

The woods of strange impressions

It has been a while since I had done any abstract photography. Most of the things I had done recently had been focused on charities, urban decay and brightly coloured skies or objects.

I therefore felt like I wanted to reconnect with a artist subject I am passionate about. The only problem I had was that I had been feeling the need to push myself in new directions. After all this was a subject that I had covered so thoroughly it was actually beginning to bore me.

It turned out that taking these photos at a different time a day was just what was needed to inspire me. It was dusk when I started and the street lights were just beginning to be turned on.

This changed the black and golds I normally worked with into vibrant greens, white and orange. Subtle hints of purples rose from the ground and flashes of yellow came as the evening light hit the trees.

I used a mixture of delicate moments, circles and zooms as well as violent jerks and hard crash pans on subjects to create a series of images designed to evoke the feel of a painted forest of strange and beautiful impressions.

Devon: The wild and beautiful

 I had an invite from a friend to visit her over the Christmas holidays and so I decided to take her up on it and headed out to sunny old Devon.

The south of England is a beautiful place to visit, full as it is of sweeping coastline, desolate moors, pristine woodland and quaint pubs to relax in with drink in hand.

After a long and slightly delayed journey I arrived in Totnes and spent the night relaxing, listening to music, catching up and having drinks with my friend and her partner before heading to bed.

In the morning she took me down to a paddy where she kept her horses and together we went for a ride. It was my first horse riding and I have to say after I got over my initial nerves from getting on a horse for the first time I began to really enjoy myself. In between ducking and dodging past holly and persuading/pleading with my horse to occasionally slow down we managed to complete the ride successfully.

Afterwards I took the chance to explore the local woods behind the stables and after scrabbling through the tree ended up getting some great shoots of the setting sun through the trees.

We got some food at a cozy local pub before heading over to a friends house to have a night of hilarity playing board games and drinking wine. I went to bed that night in high spirits with the promise of the Dartmoor moors on the horizon tomorrow.

Volunteering with Go East part 3

By the time my third week on Dao Tien rolled round I felt I had settled into a relatively set routine on the island. This was however to be my last week volunteering on the project and in alot of ways it really felt like the best had been saved for last. A real highlight of my time there came that week as I finally got to go out and see the gibbons feeding in a semi wild environment (a vital part of the rehabilitation part of the project).

As I walked into the semi wild enclosure, I had a powerful moment of elation as I first saw the gibbons flying through the trees. This stage was an important part of the project, where the staff would take a step away from the gibbons in order to prepare them for life in the jungle. And although the staff would still go in to feed them twice a day (as we did now), it was great to know that these beautiful creatures would one day be ready to go back into the jungles of Cat Tien.

That week I was also taken out around the island to collect the seeds and leaves that the gibbons liked to eat. I perfected the art of catching the elusive grasshoppers that inhabited the thick grasses behind out lodge (these would then be fed the island's incredibly adorable Pygmy Loris), I gave tours and went out for a lovely evening meal at the home of one of the people who worked for Cat Tien national park. I also got to see first hand the truly innovative spirit that has served the Vietnamise people so well in their daily lives (A key for a padlock you say? Crazy talk when we have this handy sledge hammer right here).

On one of my last days my normal routine was set aside however and I was told to come with another volunteer down to the riverside. There we found one of the members of staff waiting for us with a rowing boat, we were taken out onto the river and got to drift serenely around the island river as the boatman rowed (with his feet no less). It was a real treat made even better when I got to see the island's wild Black Shanked Ducs leaping between the trees.

My last night was a wonderful send off, as I came in to find brownies waiting in the common area and me and my fellow work mates chilled out, chatted and watched Game of Thrones (which I was proud to be able to introduce to one of the volunteers).

In the morning I packed my bag, said some fond fairwells and set sail on what was approaching the final leg of my journey.

Cambodia: Koh Rong island

After arriving in Cambodia I decided I desperately needed the beach and so after spending one night in Phnom Penh I jumped on the nearest bus and boat heading to Koh Rong Island. I arrived and was immediately greeted with white sand beaches and crystal clear blue waters.

Life on the island was attractively laid back and I spent most days trekking to and then lazing on some of the best beaches I have had the pleasure of experiencing while traveling. At night I would explore the island's many restaurants and clubs.

The Island was also home to some amazing wildlife including monkeys, many kind of fish as well as some snakes. The best though was saved for when I took a late night snorkel tour of the island's luminous plankton. With each wave of my arms it was like swimming through an ocean of glittering stars.

About four nights in I managed to contract a stomach bug that had been going around the island and was pretty much confined to my dorms for the next three days. After I had recovered though I decided it was time to head out to pastures new.

Sadly though this beautiful island is under the threat of serious development, many parts of the island have been brought up by Chinese developers who are planning to extensively develop the island (including building an airport). These types of developments rarely end well for the ecosystems of islands like this and it would be sad to see this island go the same way.

Vietnam: The hills of Sapa

 After the (fairly ) rushed pace of the Harlong Bay tour I took a days break in Hanoi to relax before booking an overnight bus to the mountainous region of Sapa.

After the unique experience of taking the sleeper bus, I took a quick snooze before heading to explore the mountain town. The first impression was one of overwhelming beauty, in Sapa huge alps like hills are cut with layer after layer of rice paddies. Tribe people wander the town in the most colourful outfits imaginable and the rivers that run through the forests turn into spectacular waterfalls.

I started my first day's trek by exploring one of the local villages, where they sold the most lovely clothes imaginable. I then treked down through the town to a nearby waterfall, by this point I was ready to have lunch so I sat enjoying the scene and talked to the friendly locals who provided my lunch. They advised me to stick around until the performance of a local traditional dance, in which the tribal girls danced coquettishly with their male counterparts.

To round off the day I took a walk through the hills that ran from the centre and found a particularly lovely and isolated trail through the undergrowth. I stopped by the nearby river and just enjoyed the view.

After a night spend teaching English to local orphans and enjoying the delicious food there I took a tour to the famous flower market, where every possible product, animal and item of clothing vied with the local people to be the most spectacular sight there. We then took a tour through a traditionally village before returning to relax and enjoy the Christmas festivities in the local town square.

I took one final day to relax and wander around the region of Sapa before booking my bus on to my next destination.