BanHup Teh Photography » Traveloque

Intha fishermen of Inle Lake

Banhup Teh — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:34:15 +0000

Inle lake is another attraction worth visiting by photographers. It is recommended to take an internal flight to Heho from Yangon (we flew from Mandalay) because apparently the roads linking these places are pretty bad. From Heho we were transported by car to Nyaungshwe where we took a fast boat ride to our hotel, Golden Island Cottage.

The Intha people who live in and around the lake have a fascinating way of fishing – they row with their legs freeing their hands to manage a conical-shaped fishing net. They usually work alone on their long canoes, on which they perch themselves on a tiny area at the stern. They are surprisingly agile even at that precarious position.

They start training them young.

At sunset.

A 24mm/f1.4 portrait

Banhup Teh — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:20:12 +0000

This lens is well suited for environmental portraiture. Being a wide angle lens expect it to have some distortions if you do a close up as the following portrait will show. I personally have no problems with that as I have leant to live with some life's imperfections.

This portrait is of a 70+ yr-old gentleman who is the caretaker of the Nyaung Ohak (aka "Under the shade of the Banyan trees") ruins. He lives next to the ruins with his blind wife.

Taken with the Nikon 24mm/f1.4 Aperture Priority @f/3.2 1/160s ISO 200.

More of what the 24mm/f1.4 can do here.

Getting in line – a shot from the front

Banhup Teh — Mon, 31 May 2010 04:00:00 +0000

As mentioned the monks do move quite fast so much so that I was at the back of the line most of the time. For this shot I was informed by our guide that they will be going through this area. I liked how the how the sunlight streamed through on the right and waited for the procession to come by. My wait was rewarded by this.

Monks collecting morning alms

Banhup Teh — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:12:07 +0000

After our 'chasing' of the nuns for photographs it was the monks' turn the next day. (Story later) The monks were as expected much faster leaving us far behind before we knew it. Notice their bare feet.

Nuns in the sun

Banhup Teh — Tue, 25 May 2010 03:16:36 +0000

This one was taken in Bagan, Myanmar.

We were following this group of nuns who went out doing their routine alms collection in the morning. They somehow could walk faster than us making trying to capture the moment a bit tougher. This has to be one of the best that I have so far. Hope you enjoy it.

Nuns in the sun.

Day 2 – Mandalay Part 1

Banhup Teh — Sat, 22 May 2010 11:09:41 +0000

We woke up early the next day having well rested our weary bones, had breakfast (that was provided by the hotel – nothing to write home about) and off we went to Yangon airport again to take an domestic flight to Mandalay. It was just slightly more than a half hour flight and when we landed we noticed a huge contrast between the airports. Mandalay airport is actually built as an international airport but with no international traffic it was only used for domestic flights. What a waste. Moreover it is situated about 45 minute's drive from the city proper.

Mandalay is the second largest city after Yangon with a population of about 6 million people. It is famous for its gem stones and handicrafts. The road network is not as good as those in Yangon. You can find all sorts of vehicles on the road. These include horse and ox carts.

As we were early and it was before check-in time, we visited the one of the holiest temple of Myanmar, the Mahamuni Paya famous for its gold leaf Buddha. It is claimed that the Buddha image is a life Buddha in that worshipers would paste gold leaves on the body daily (never on the head) and over the years the thickness has increased. The head apparently and miraculously enlarged proportionately with the body!

Like a few of the other touristy areas we went on our trip there was an entrance fee for cameras – we were stopped and asked to pay for using our cameras. And like most of the temples we visited there were souvenir shops lined on both sides of the way towards the temple. The shot below was taken at the entrance after by-passing the shops. The payment counter was just to the left (glass booth). Do not be surprised if you see many worshipers there it being a very holy temple.

There were monks everywhere.

Novice monk.

Novice nun.

There were bogus monks as well. They would asked for donations from you which is prohibited by Buddhism.

This apparently was one of them. Notice the stain in his mouth due to betel leave chewing.

Have you ever seen a photographer monk?

I have to show this…don't you agree he is a Michael Jackson lookalike?

The worshipers come with their families. That gave me the opportunity to take some portraits of them.

Here is a baby boy who did not mind.

And his grandma.

Notice most of them apply powder aka thanaka, made from the bark of the tree of the same name, to their face.

Including males.

Apparently besides for beauty it helps to protect the skin from the sun.

This is his sister looking back.

A close up.

It was soon time to leave the temple. Next destination – the handicraft workshops. To be continued – Mandalay Part 2.

Preparing for the world cup?

Banhup Teh — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:32:47 +0000

Nah, he was getting ready for lunch. Also taken at the Shwe Yan Pay monastery.

Notice the poster on the bottom left? Football seems to be a favourite sport in Myanmar. I see posters related to football everywhere I went… even in monasteries as in this case.

Click photo for larger and better view.

Locking up

Banhup Teh — Wed, 19 May 2010 03:00:39 +0000

Taken at the same Shwe Yan Pay monastery as the previous post.

The monks just finished their lunch. Next to the dining hall was another building which I think is a store. I saw this monk went in and since I like the lighting at that alley, I waited for him to come out. He finally did and that was when I grabbed this shot.

Locking up

Exit the monk

Banhup Teh — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:43:51 +0000

Taken at Shwe Yan Pay monastery (famous for its oval-shaped windows … more of this later) while on the way from Heho airport to Nyaung Shwe jetty, the gateway to Inle lake, Myanmar.

The gong just sounded signaling to all disciples that lunch was ready. Everyone was going in all directions to their respective rooms to get ready. I was eyeing this exit hoping one of them would use it when this monk came along.

Used my Nikon D3 + Nikon 24-70mm/f2.8 Aperture Priority @f/3.2 1/800s ISO 800.

Exit the monk

Cloth weaving at Inle Lake

Banhup Teh — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:35:43 +0000

Inle Lake is famous for its Intha fishermen (Intha = sons of the lake) with their leg rowing, and for its cloth-weaving industry.

We visited this cloth-weaving workshop on the first afternoon of our arrival at this picturesque lake. It was just about 10 minutes' boat ride from our hotel (Golden Island Cottage).

For all who want to know, this series was taken with my Nikon 24mm/1.4. What a great lens for photojournalism.

Golden Island Cottage – from the hotel platform (taken with Zenitar fisheye).

Preparation.

Weaving.

Through the threads.

Happy weaver.

Self portrait.

Coming down.

Goodbye.