After covering the Holi festival in Mathura I caught a train to Delhi (an bour late as is usual in India), and flew north to Amritsar, famous for the Golden Temple and the Wagha border ceremony. The light was soft … Continue reading
After four days in Mathura covering the first days of Holi I took a bus down to Agra. I’ve been before but with it only 50km away it was hard to resist shooting the Taj Mahal again with fresh eyes; … Continue reading
Aside from photographing the Holi celebrations in Mathura, I also spent time making portraits of the shopkeepers I came across during my walks around the city. Here are a few of my favourite images..
Earlier this month I travelled to Nandagaon from Mathura to shoot the Holi celebrations that this small town is famous for. After the throwing of paint and powder at the Radha temple the Shepherds from neighbouring Barsana gather with shields … Continue reading
The final few days of the trip, Kep, (which is on the south coast of Cambodia) was the perfect place to kick back, relax in the sea air and enjoy the local seafood at the fantastic local restaurant (The Sailing … Continue reading
I travelled to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh by minibus. After 6 hours we were finally there and people leapt from the bus door like newborns. Here I was in Siem Reap to photograph one of the manmade wonders of … Continue reading
On a day exploring the island we were lucky enough to stumble across this Chinese New Year festival, near Lamai Beach. On the south you can find palm fringed, unspoilt beaches like this one, with a relaxed tropical atmosphere. Back … Continue reading
From Bangkok I made the misguided decision to travel to the Island of Ko Samui with Air Asia, this involved an arduous coach and ferry journey because the flight only takes you south, landing on the mainland in Surat Thani … Continue reading
This is my Cambodian office! For your interest I’m (was) travelling on this 6 week Asian trip with the following equipment:
Nikon D800E (first big trip for this awesome camera, have been astounded by its quality and dynamic range. Upgrading to this has felt like the jump from Nikon D200 to D700) also have a Nikon D700 as spare body,
Nikon 14-24mm F2.8 Wideangle (first big trip with this incredible piece of glass – glad I brought it along),
Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 (this has been the bread and butter lens, its done about 90% of the work I reckon),
Nikon 70-200 F2.8 Telephoto (not used a lot but there have been a few sessions that I couldn’t have done without it),
Nikon 50mm F1.4 (just used for a few portraits – underused),
Nikon TC1.7 Teleconverter,
Nikon SB600 Flashgun
Cable release, Polariser, Neutral Density 3 and 6 stop, and Lee Hard ND Grads 0.6 and 0.9, Cokin 0.6 and 0.9 Soft ND Grads. The vast majority of the trip has been shot handheld, I’ve only got these grads out for a few dawn and dusk shoots in Ko Samui.
Casio Sea Pathfinder Watch (Love this for its in built compass)
Iphone 5 – A great travel tool for its Sat Nav to get me around these Asian cities. Music, to get me through these cramped, endless bus journies and camera to take preview snaps of potential locations which I can look back on later.
Guidebooks – I use Lonely Planet or Rough Guides when I travel, also use Trip Advisor for further info on accommodation and for ideas of what to do in an area.
Macbook Pro Retina 15” 16gb RAM – Dream piece of kit for a photographer on the move, this is my first big trip travelling with it but its hard to imagine life without it. Allows me to review and begin the post production process, keyword and caption work, and generally stay on top of business back home. The display is exceptional for its clarity and viewing angle, I can sit anywhere and still be able to view the photographs on screen. Its also got the required speed to handle the mammoth files that the Nikon D800E produces – 80mb an image!!
1TB Hitachi Portable Hard Drive to back the work up onto.
Not in shot but also with me is a Giottos Carbon Fibre Tripod, courtesy of David Noton.
BEN PIPE PHOTOGRAPHY 