From Battambang I boarded a bus heading south for the sleepy town of Kompong Chnang. This was a good base for exploring the floating villages on the Tonle sap Lake, and it was way off the tourist map – only … Continue reading
After a week in Siem Reap I was ready for a change from photographing temples dawn and dusk, I caught the bus to Battambang a sleepy city on the road between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Initially I couldn’t see much … Continue reading
The Next morning at Angkor Wat I was looking for a more original viewpoint, shooting from the bank of the moat as the pilgrims crossed the causeway towards the famous temple, from here I could shoot in relative tranquility. Sunrise … 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.
The Morning Market, Luang Prabang, Laos, its 7:20am and I’m crouching inches from this fish aiming a wideangle lens at its lifeless mouth, if only every day could commence in this fashion! Nikon D800E, Nikon 14-24m Lens at 14mm, 1/100th … Continue reading
Sunday, the day of the sabbath – the choice = Tottenham vs Swansea or a Shoot, I can’t watch the team white so its a downtown train. With some city shoots I aim to time the shoot to coincide with the rush of people and traffic which I’ll include in the frame. However for this shoot which I’ve had on my mind for awhile, sunday was the perfect day – the lack of traffic / commuters / security guards meant I could have peace to sit on the pavement at the foot of the Lloyds building, in central London.
I picked up the Nikon 14-24mm Lens in New York recently as a little treat, I’ve been looking forward to using this along with my new body (Nikon D800E) to reimagine some of my previous shoots in the city. Being able to zoom out to 14mm which is close to a fisheye perspective allows me to be a few metres from the foot of a building and yet still fit the entirety of the structure in frame.
The Heron Tower, London, England
This is the newly finished Heron Tower (near liverpool st), shot handheld on my way to the primary location. I’ll come back and do more of the amazing building soon.
Looks good on the back of the camera, I always like the reflective nature of glass buildings, now over to the main event. I scope out the location with a slow walk around the building – I know where I want to do the main shot but its not time yet – i want it a little darker, so I’ll set this up to do i the meantime..
Struggling now to do this handheld but its not possible with this tripod set up to angle the camera directly up – I’ve pumped the ISO to 800 and aperture is almost wide at 3.2, usually you’d struggle for sufficient depth of field but at 14mm it almost infinite. I love the industrial look of this building with all the pipes visisible on the outside, reminiscent of The Pompidou Centre in Paris.
Lloyds Building, London, England
This is the one I came for, I’ve got the tripod angled up and I’m crouching on the pavement, lens is zoomed out to 14mm to get as much as possible in, D800E is at F8 (no point stoppng down further and have diffraction softening the image, and I don’t need to slow the shutter speed either) 1 second exposure at ISO200. Only exposed a few frames – its amazing how quickly the light changes at this time of day, after a short while the sky is losing the blue colour and being lit by the light pollution of the city. I move on to one final shot before heading home..
Lloyds Building, London, England
BEN PIPE PHOTOGRAPHY 