February 2012 Desktop Calendar

Another month has rolled around and it’s once again time for a new desktop calendar. This month’s comes from Nepal and what was somewhat of an aborted morning of photography. We’d headed up to Nagarkot on the ridge above the Kathmandu Valley in order to get up and photograph the sunrise over the Himalayas. The Gods of weather weren’t really with us for the sunrise part of things though as a heavy cloud cover moved in and we didn’t get so much as a glimpse of either the sun or the snow-covered mountains. However, once you’ve gotten up before dark on a cold, misty morning and seen your photography plans disappear you’re only left with two choices. Either go back to bed or go for a walk and see what you can see. I took the latter and wandered off around the hillside, finding a narrow trail that led part way down towards a village below. Although the fog was still covering most things up high, there were patches of light shining underneath it briefly and this was the result.

As always, there are a variety of sizes for you to choose from. And below is the same image without the calendar which can be licensed, purchased as a fine art print and shared.

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The streets of Kathmandu and its surrounding towns abound with opportunities for street portrait photography. Faces with character can be seen everywhere, the lines and expression suggesting a million different stories to be told. Life is open and direct with daily activities taking place in public in a completely non self-conscious way. There’s no need to rush, no need for haste. Time takes on a new meaning as the ancient is blended with the modern in ways rarely seen elsewhere. A walk through the streets will always reward the respectful photographer with experiences and images that are unique yet common, personal but also public. Kathmandu truly is a photographer’s paradise.

The Keeper of the Lamps. Bodhnath, Nepal 2011.

Head along some of the access roads to the Bodhnath Stupa, particularly on the north-eastern side, and you’ll come across tables full of butter lamps. Traditionally made with clarified yak butter, these lamps represent the illumination of wisdom and help to calm the mind and aid meditation. While on pilgrimage or when visiting temples, Tibetans will typically light a large number of lamps. With a small donation to the custodian, the pilgrim is free to light the lamps. Bodhnath is not the only place to find these but in the Kathmandu area at least, it’s probably where you’ll see the most activity around them. With Losar (Tibetan New Year) fast approaching, the Tibetan areas of Nepal will become frantic with activity and energy as pilgrims descend upon the sacred sites and lighting butter lamps will be one of the rituals undertaken.

The image above was shot at f2.8, 1/80 ISO1000 at 70mm.

Cleaning Buddha

It’s hard to believe that 2011 is almost over. As we head into the last month of the year, it’s time for the twelfth free desktop calendar of 2011. Cleaning Buddha comes from Bodhnath Stupa in Nepal. Custodians circulate the upper level splashing yellowish colored water over the white stupa in a ritual end to the day’s cleaning. Hit the links below for the size(s) you want.

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My regular newsletter is undergoing a major revamp and the newest edition will be sent out next week. It promises to be very different to previous ones and features some unpublished work, a bit of behind the scenes info, some reviews and more. Sign up below if you haven’t already.

For those of you in Taiwan who have blogs of any description, the 2011 Taiwan Blog Awards starts tomorrow December 1st. This year I’ve volunteered to help out with the organization (thus excluding this blog from the contest). Full details will be posted tomorrow at Taiwanderful so look out for the announcement. One of the things you do need to do is register your blog in the directory to be included (if it’s not already there that is). Click on the banner below to go to the registration page. There are some great prizes this year.

If you’re interested in licensing this month’s calendar photograph click on the photo below and follow the steps.

]]> http://www.craigfergusonimages.com/2011/11/cleaning-buddha-december-desktop-calendar/feed/ 0 http://www.craigfergusonimages.com/2011/11/mountain-morning/ http://www.craigfergusonimages.com/2011/11/mountain-morning/#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:00:34 +0000 Craig http://www.craigfergusonimages.com/?p=8361

Photographers and tourists look out toward the Annapurna Range, Nepal. (Craig Ferguson)

Getting up before the sun and heading to a mountaintop is a common experience for photographers, travelers and tourists wherever mountains are found. Most people drag themselves out of bed in the pre-dawn hours, stumble bleary-eyed to the lookout point and take photos of the sun rising. Perhaps they’ll take a few photos of their friends and loved ones, or perhaps it’ll just be the mountains. Something that not many do however, is to also photograph the other surroundings in the area. Vendors selling souvenirs, other photographers and tourists posing for photos. Keep an eye out for what else is taking place and you may come away with a few different photographs from your early morning journey.

Indian tourists inspect the postcards and calendars for sale at a vendors table in the Himalayan foothills, (Craig Ferguson)

Photographers and tourists look out toward the Annapurna Range, Nepal. (Craig Ferguson)

A gold painted thangka laid out on a table. (Craig Ferguson)

Spend any time around Tibetan communities and you’ll come across their traditional painting, the thangka. A thangka is a silk painting, sometimes with embroidery, that usually depicts a Buddhist deity, mandala or scene from Tibetan history. The artform serves a dual purpose being both decorative and an aid for meditation. Traditionally, thangka paintings were created by traveling monks. They could be easily rolled, stored and transported as the monk journeyed between different temples and monasteries, and were utilized as teaching aids. The scenes and figures depicted on them, including the Buddha, different Bodhisattvas, influential lamas, mandalas and more. They can serve as a focus for various rituals, visualizations and ceremonies conducted all in an effort to help guide the practitioner further along the path to enlightenment.

Artists creating traditional Tibetan Buddhist thangkas. The silk is decorated with Buddhist deity's, mandala symbols and other icons associated with Tibetan Buddhism. (Craig Ferguson)

Thangka painting in Tibet dates back to the 7th century CE. Princess Bhikruti, first wife of the earliest Tibetan emperor Songtsän Gampo. Bhikruti, from Nepal, is believed to have introduced thangka art to Tibet in conjunction with her husband first bringing Buddhism to the Tibetan plateau. The princess, a devout Buddhist, brought thangka images of Aryawalokirteshwar and other Nepalese deities with her when she went to Tibet. The artform itself can be traced to the 3rd century CE with Buddhist and Hindu artisans in Nepal creating the works of art in manuscripts and later on metal and as wall paintings.

Artists creating traditional Tibetan Buddhist thangkas. The silk is decorated with Buddhist deity's, mandala symbols and other icons associated with Tibetan Buddhism. (Craig Ferguson)

By about the 14th and 15th century, brighter colors began to appear in thangka art as influences from Chinese paintings started to be incorporated. As well, elements of a tantric nature became more widespread with depictions of sexuality and female elements taking a more prominent role in the paintings. By the 18th century, the Chinese influence was a lot stronger and had a much greater impact on Tibetan art.

Today, the majority of thangkas created are likely for commercial purposes rather than spiritual. Tourists to Nepal and Tibet open their wallets and buy them as souvenirs of their travels. While they still play a major role in the rituals and ceremonies of Tibetan Buddhism and will continue doing so into the future, a lot of the young students learning the craft do so with an eye on sales.

A mandala on display inside a thankga painting school. The traditional Tibetan art dates back to the 7th century CE. (Craig Ferguson)

I’ll leave you with a small gallery slideshow featuring these and more photographs on the art of thangka. These are all available for licensing and use in an editorial feature. Feel free to click on the share button to embed this in your own blog or email a link to your friends.

Spinning cotton into balls at Womens Skills Development Project in Pokhara, Nepal. The WSDP was set up in 1975 as a non-profit, fair trade organization to help disadvantaged women in Nepal. (Craig Ferguson)

Providing opportunities to the most disadvantaged members of a society is one of the key goals for a lot of NGO’s globally. One of the more successful organizations working in this area is the Women’s Skills Development Organization (WSDO) based in Pokhara, Nepal. In operation since 1975, the organization which is also referred to as the Women’s Skills Development project has helped thousands of disabled, economically disadvantaged, abused, widowed, divorced and outcast women in rural Nepal. By providing them with free vocational skills training, and a job facility, the women are able to become self supportive.

The WSDO operates under the principles of fair trade. It’s handicraft center in Pokhara produces handmade bags, toys, cases and household accessories using production processes that minimize environmental impacts. Through the sourcing and use of local raw materials and eco-friendly dyes, all products that come out of the center are made in a sustainable fashion. Women of all ages who come to the center are provided with training in the manufacture and production of the goods. Skills learned range from material cutting, sewing, weaving and dying through to business management and English language training.

Measuring the pattern for clothing at Womens Skills Development Project in Pokhara, Nepal. The WSDP was set up in 1975 as a non-profit, fair trade organization to help disadvantaged women in Nepal. (Craig Ferguson)

A Nepali woman pours hot dye for cotton into a large container at the Womens Skills Development Project in Pokhara, Nepal. The WSDP was set up in 1975 as a non-profit, fair trade organization to help disadvantaged women in Nepal. (Craig Ferguson)

In addition to the production of handicrafts, 80% of which are exported, the WSDO boasts its own saving and credit program. Women are able to save money in interest bearing accounts as well as seek loans at nominal interest rates. Workers at the organization are also provided with a clothing allowance, 60 days paid maternity leave, free health checkups, education particularly on social issues and the environment, and educational scholarships for the daughters of the workers.

The WSDO center welcomes visitors and are open 6 days a week (closed Saturdays) from 10am to 5pm. The center is located in Srijana Chowk 8 in Pokhara. On site are areas for the production of the handicraft products as well as a retail store. All money earned goes directly to the workers.

I’ll leave you with a gallery featuring more photographs from the Women’s Skills Development Project.

Rural Nepal for The Asia Foundation

While in Nepal last month I produced a series of images to supply to The Asia Foundation. They are an international NGO committed to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, just, and open Asia-Pacific region. The Foundation supports Asian initiatives to improve governance, law, and civil society; women’s empowerment; economic reform and development; sustainable development and the environment; and international relations.

Above you can see a screen grab of one of the images they used in their social media activities. This was shot above the Kathmandu Valley. The photos that follow were also supplied to the Asia Foundation and come from various other locations that we visited in Nepal.

Collecting hay into bundles in Nepal. 66% of the Nepali population work in agriculture and it provides approximately 33% of GDP. Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in Asia with a per capita GDP of $562. (Craig Ferguson)

A Nepali woman winnowing rice. Rice is the major crop in the nation where 66% of the Nepali population work in agriculture and it provides approximately 33% of GDP. Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in Asia with a per capita GDP of $562. (Craig Ferguson)

The Annapurna Himal before dawn. 57 second exposure @ f11

Things have been quiet here over the past couple of weeks but things have been far from quiet elsewhere. Busy, busy, busy best describes life at the moment. I will endeavor to get back to a more regular blog posting schedule over the next week or two but for the meantime here’s a little update on various happenings.

While in Nepal I spent some time photographing for the Esther Benjamin’s Trust, an NGO that works in the field of human trafficking. I’ll have some photos to share with you from that (hopefully next week) but I can say that I was pretty happy with the work created that day and it was a pleasure to work with the organization.

Still on the NGO side of things, I also provided some work to the Asia Foundation. I believe they’ll be publishing something from it today sometime so look out for it. I’ll post a few shots from that series in the next couple of weeks as well.

Since returning from Nepal, other than editing the above-mentioned photographs, I’ve been busy teaching at Taipei Photo School. A few new students have come on board and it’s been great to meet them and help them in their own creative journeys. I’m looking forward to the follow up classes with the students I’ve already worked with, and the initial class for another student who’s booked for next week.

My cameras have mostly been sitting in their dry box for the past couple of weeks although they did come out the other day for a business portrait session for a couple of guys who are about to launch a new company. We got good weather for the outdoor shoot and came up with a number of good ideas. The resulting photographs are very strong and should help give them a good professional image when they launch their new venture.

More business portraits are in the cards next week as well which will see me shooting lawyers. I’m looking forward to it as it’s a guy I’ve known online for a while but have never actually met in person.

Marketing is an essential part of a freelance photographers life and a bit of time has been dedicated to that recently. A batch of print promos went out the door the other day to a selected group of photo editors that I want to work with, and an email promo went out this week. One of the keys to success here is getting your work in front of the right people, and half the battle is knowing who the right people are. Research, research, research is the key.

Finally there are a couple of other things in the works that you should hopefully see and hear about later this month. I’m excited about them and am eager to get them out but patience is a virtue.

Josh Ellis doing a fine job as assistant.

While in Nepal last week I shot an assignment for the Esther Benjamins Trust, an NGO that works with the victims of human trafficking, particularly children. I’ll blog more about it later and show you some of the final shots once I’ve delivered everything to them but for now I can share a couple of behind the scenes photos that my wonderful wife Selina shot on her Canon S95.

In terms of gear, it was a pretty simple shoot. I mostly used a 5D Mark II with 24-70mm lens on it, alternating it at times with a 5D and 70-200mm. The ambient light was pretty good so I just used a single 580EX II for a little extra pop. It was connected to a Phottix external battery back and triggered by the new and fantastic Phottix Odin ETTL trigger. Josh Ellis performed a great job as assistant and voice activated light stand and we came away with a great selection of photos that the folks at Esther Benjamins Trust love. All in all, a great assignment working with great people. I urge you to check out their work at http://www.ebtrust.org.uk/ and see what you can do to help.

Preparing to shoot.

Jump. I'm using 2 Black Rapid RS-5 straps to manage my gear.