Gudrun and I have become friends, BLOG and photo buddies. Her site is http://www.gudrunklaff.com if you’d like to check her out. We started connecting early in the trip before the rest of the group arrived and found we worked very well together. This is always an important consideration when photographing with a group. We all developed, over time – some of us already had it full blown – a singular focus in our desire to get “the shot” and maintaing good manners, not stepping into someone else’s frame or disrupting their focus while shooting is really important. So as I say it was terrific that Gudrun and I worked well together – our skills were about on a par, tho’ I think her eye is much better than mine. We could also depend on each other for kind and constructive criticism when the official review process could sometimes get quite brutal.

The other person who was a delight was the American woman Ley. “short for Shirley but NO ONE calls me that!” A true southern and very gracious belle with a tremendous sense of fun and an ability not to take the process too seriously. Much needed by the way and i shall be forever grateful to her!

The group spent an afternoon being ferried upriver to a relatively new discovery of thousands and thousands of stupas. Gudrun and I ended up walking a fair distance up hill to find “undiscovered vistas.” It was all rather disappointing, the light was flat, the subject matter either too complex or too one dimensional, the restorations too uninspired and so on… Then the sun started to set and the light became incredible. It was as if a celestial chorus was painting in light instead of sound. You truly live for those moments if you love photography!

some kids play with cats and dogs, some with their water buffalo….

Buddha’s kitten

Perfect Light