This is a catch up post for me. I have been so busy with this workshop I have had so little time to even sleep, let a lone post here. I am loving the excitement and the creativity our workshop participants are bringing to this workshop. Gavin and I went all out to find local and some not so local families for our participants to interact with. This is unique by all accounts. Very few, if any photo workshops have this kind of opportunity for photographers to inter into the lives of locals like this.

Even though we introduced our participants to their local subjects, each photographer is working on their own story. From the school teacher that is participating in his 26th Thaipusam – to the family that traveled 10 hours by bus from Singapore to participate in Penang’s Thaipusam because it has less restrictions than in Singapore.

Gavin and I were talking today how the real story is how in a few hours a mild-mannered insurance salesman or a big time banker can finds himself with an 8 ft carriage on their shoulders with 4 ft spears sticking in their sides or dancing in a trance with needles in their cheeks and tongues.

I can’t wait to show you our student’s the visual stories that come from this week.

By the way, Gavin and I have decided, we would like to offer this workshop next year. You might want to reserve your place soon!

A friend attaches the "vale" or small spears to a devotee's torso.

Gavin Gough and I officially start our 2012 Thaipusam workshop tonight, here in Penang. So yesterday met several of the families we have arraigned for our participants to follow and photograph during the festival. We also did a pre-workshop run through with the models we have secured for our participants to photograph.

We have found three lovely models, none of them are professional, but each one is beautiful in their own right. Not only were they beautiful on the outside, each had a something special on the inside as well and were a real joy to work with. I want to thank Victoria for bringing her skills as a makeup artist to play. (But Victoria, I think you had an easy job with such lovely ladies )

The young lady in the black outfit, called a kebaya nyonya, is Cindy Ong. I think I am going to take her home and give Jessie a big sister! Cindy not quite 18 years old is full of drama and is a natural at this modeling stuff. The next Jayshri Mennon or just Jay. Jay was not only a wonderful model but a huge help this week in prepping for this event. She has recruited most of her family as subjects for our workshop participants to document as they perform these important Hindu rituals. Thank you Jay. Speaking of Jay’s family, her sister Shri is making the orange sari look so beautiful. Between Cinday, Jay, Shri and Victoria how can we help not take a good picture?

The prep work for this event did not start yesterday, but months in advance. Sometimes I think people think all you have to do to make a successful workshop happen is just show up and teach. Far from it. Gavin and I have been working with the help of people here in Penang for close to a year to make this happen. We are excite to develop a unique and exciting workshop for our participant. Maybe in 2013 you can join us?

The other day had the pleasure of chatting with Brian Hirschy and Jamin York of Plateau Photo Tours about the Tibet workshop this coming March and April.  We talked for about 45 minutes and covered almost every aspect of this tour,  from our transportation, the altitude, where we will be sleeping to the things that we will be photographing. This trip has been referred to many times as a”bucket list” trip.  If you don’t know, a bucket list is a list you make to complete before you die. In other words, this is a trip that you don’t want to miss.  I could go on talking about what we talked about but that would be silly, since we recorded it. It is best if you just listen to the interview yourself, so I’ll shut up and you can do just that. Just click on the link below.  We still have a few spaces available though it is selling out.

For more information on this trip visit this LINK.

We also would like to encourage you to visit our sponsors for this trip. My very good friends at Think Tank Photo and Black Rapid Strap.

Here are a few reminders of that trip.

Jamin York, the Tour Manager shooting the Tashilhunpo Monastery.

Lighting butter candles in Lhasa, Tibet

The old fort overlooking Shigatse.

I have known Mitch for six or seven years. We first met online on the Travel Photography Network. He struck me then brash and bold. I now realize what I had mistaken for brash and bold was self confidants and an overabundance of talent.

You have to visit Mitch’s gallery HERE and visit his blog HERE. Mitch is represented by both Getty and Corbis. He is the author of six ebooks and you can find them HERE. Enjoy this interview with my friend Mitchell Kanashkevich.

A fisherman pulls in an empty net off the shores of Batu Ferringhi.

I am working on a project for a NGO that is focusing on the peoples of Africa and Asia’s coastal waters. In short, we are looking at issues of over fishing, climate change and natural disasters like the Acheh tsunami and how these factors effect the livelihood of the coastal people. This is from today’s shoot right here in my backyard.

83 year old fisherman, Ariffin pulls a horseshoe crab from his net.

Empty nets are frequent these days.

Becasue the fishing is so bad, Ariffin and his family suppliment their income by transporting Arab tourist to remote beaches to picnic.

It was wet. It rained all night last night and the ground around the city square where the locals gather to pray was soaked and riddled with puddles. The crowds were sparse compaired to past years according to locals. But the faithful prayed on.

Note to the squeamish: Below are some rather graphic images. Not as graphic as they could have been. Please be advised.

Women praying during the morning Eid al-Adha prayers.

Women praying during the morning Eid al-Adha prayers.

The Sacrifice

The head of the military (in white) donates a ram to the main mosque of the city. The meat (as with all the sacrifices) will be disributed to the poor.

His number is up.

The sacrifice is about to begin.

Preparing for sacrifce.

Bound for sacrifice.

The men sacrificing the next cow call for the knife.

One of the many Buddhas at Borobudur.

We finally were able to see Borobudur, though it was cloudy. Not the puffy white clouds on blue skies, the completely overcast gray white blanket kind. Great for portraits but not so hot for anything with a sky in it. So here are a few gray looking shots of the ruins of Borobudur.

After Borobudur spent took to the streets of Jogja. The people here, like most everywhere in Indonesia I have been, are friendly and open to having their photos made.

A young lady from Lombok, Sumatra, taking our photo. "Turnabout is fair play."

A Javanese vender on the street selling food.

One of Jogja's unique becaks ply's the streets.

Speaking of folks having their photos made, our becak (cycle rickshaw) drivers stationed in front of our hotel all had theirs made today. I brought my Phottix Odin wireless TTL trigger, my Phottix Easy-Pop up Softbox (60cm X 90cm) , a small light stand as well as a small umbrella (hand held) and two 580 ex flashes with me. We set up a makeshift studio in front of the hotel and had all the drivers come though for a portrait session.

A little off camera flash with a Phottix Odin and softbox.

Come again another day…. preferably after I leave. Today was a wash – in many ways quite literally. We had planned to photograph sunset at Borobudur, the ancient Buddhist ruins from the 9th century, but we had so much rain we couldn’t even see the ruins. So we choose to skip it for the day and try again tomorrow morning. We did photograph the local bird market. That was a first for me. It was rather difficult to see so many animals that should have been running free in the jungle in very small cages. Even a small liter of some sort of mountain cat. But rather than stressing you with images of caged kitties, I leave you with three fun images inspired by the rain.

A batik artist draw a scene on fabric, then later his work is later traced in wax.

Click of the images to view full size.

A quick hello from Jogjakarta, aka Yogyakarta, Indonesia. We spent time today touring the around city learning about batik. I am told that Jogja (If your hip like me you can just call the city simply Jogja.) is the best batik in the world. It is certainly amazing stuff. All done with layers of wax drawn on fabric and dyed in multiple baths of reds, blues, yellows and more. I am really loving this city. It is a real mix of old traditional culture and the über cool. But for now, just a few quick photos from my Fuji X100 and I am off to bed. Been up since 3 am and I can’t focus on the keyboard.

A worker adding detail to the artists work in wax.

An works brushes a layer of wax to the artist's work to repel the dye.

Mr. Alim the artist ads another layer of wax to his work preparing his art for the next layer of dye.

The final product. An amazing work of art... on fabric.

A water buffalo sacraficed during Eid al-Adha in Kashmir, India 2006.

While many of my friends and associates are off to India to attend the Pushkar Camel Festival this week I decided to go the opposite direction. I am headed to Jogjakarta, Indonesia to photograph Eid al-Adha or as we used to call it in India, Baqra Eid (Goat Eid). It is also known as the greater or Big Eid. It is a festival of sacrifice for Muslims. On the first day of this festival many Muslims will sacrifice a lamb, goat or even a water buffalo or camel to commemorate Ibrahim’s (Abraham) sacrifice of his son, Ishmael, as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead. Now, before some of you Christian readers correct my Biblical history and remind me that it was not in fact Ishmael that Abraham was about to sacrifice but Isaac, let me set you straight, not for Muslims. But this is not the time for a theology lesson. Lets move on.

Knowing why an event is celebrated is as important as how it is celebrated. It informs your shooting and allows you to be aware what is going on around you. Yet even knowing the why is not enough. Research prior to the event is a must. As with many worldwide festivals like Christmas, Eid al-Adha is celebrated differently from country to country.

Since last week I have been doing some homework. Here is a little look into my thoughts and workflow, so-to-speak, as I prep for this shoot.

I am doing this as a personal assignment and not for a client. I am traveling with a friend who hopes to develop some photo workshops in the region and as such this is a bit of a “recce” or reconnaissance survey trip for him.  In a cursory look at some photos of Eid at Jogjakarta I see that much of this event is centered around a parade. Not real exciting. Parades are hard to shoot. I need to find out; can I get in close? Will the crowd and the officials allow me to step right into the parade as such? So what do I need to find out before hand? Simply put: as much as possible.

My first stop is the net. I Google the event. I find out as much about the event as I can.  I read up on it and find out where it starts, when it starts, is it a mulit-day event? How long does it go each day? What will the weather be like? Raining ? Hot? In short – I read everything I can get my hands on.

After that I head to Google images and search for images of the event and the area around it. Word of warning. Just because an image comes up in your search doesn’t always mean it is of your event. It is very important to read the story associated with the images you find.  When I am looking at the images, I am looking both at what has been shot and what hasn’t. As I look at the images I ask myself, what lenses would work best? What bag or method of carrying my gear would be best?  How are people dressed? Long sleeves or short sleeves? Shorts or long pants? This is important as I don’t want to be disrespectful to the culture I am shooting in. What is the conditions around where I am shooting. Is it muddy, paved, in the city? Is the event crowded or are people spread out?

As I prepare I will also download the correct off-line GPS maps for my iPhone for the cities and region I am traveling in. I use a handy app that I have reviewed here before called City Maps 2Go. Great value and packed with local information. I highly recommend it. You don’t need a cell signal to use it.
Sometimes I have a local fixer. A fixer is someone who often makes a living at helping photographers and film team in their location. They know the language, culture and how to get things done. They are never free and can be a bump in your budget. But, where it might cost you in the short run, a good fixer will save you a lot in the long run. The problem is finding them. The best way I have found is just by networking with other photographers. For this trip I am fortunate to have an expat from the US who lived in Indonesia for years. He knows the language fluently, and even more important he knows the culture, the dos and don’t s, the dress codes, the times to push and the times to submit. This kind of knowledge can be invaluable!

This is the basic steps I run though to get me ready for a field assignment in a new location.  It take time. My inclination is to rush through it or just go and be surprised. Bad idea. Always better to be prepared. But preparation is a sacrifice.