I have been catching up on some of my shots from earlier in the year which I didn’t have time to sort out before going to Morocco. The weekend before I left for Morocco, I was in Norfolk for a landscape workshop with Chris Herring which turned out to be a beautiful spring day – the first one I remember this year.

It was great to photograph both the beach and lighthouse at Happisburgh where the erosion on the beach has been very significant over the last two years. Then we headed into the Norfolk Broads to shoot some windmills. As luck would have it the evening light was beautiful and we even saw a rainbow. I have added some images from this workshop to my Norfolk Landscapes gallery with the newer images appearing first in the gallery.

It was great to see Chris again as it had been almost two years. If you are interested in landscape photography and you want to improve your technique and creativity then I would definitely recommend attending one of Chris’ workshops.

Just home from another photo tour with Steve Davey which was yet again great find and an amazing opportunity to learn and develop my photography future.

My first trip with Steve was to Morocco back in October 2009 so it was an excellent chance to shoot some better images than last time. We visited some of the same places on this trip – Marrakech before heading off to Ait Benhadou, Imlil and Amred.

Additionally, we visited the beautiful fishing village of Essaouira which was a great new place to explore and photograph. The blue fishing boats are very distinctive.

Overall I am very pleased with my images from this trip and they can be found at Morocco 2013 gallery – just click on the location links in the description to see the three sets of images.

On Sunday, London’s West End became a colourful and vibrant scene for the Chinese New Year celebrations in London. Despite the bad weather, people didn’t seem to have been put off coming into Chinatown and Trafalgar Square to welcome in the Year of the Snake.

A large crowd in the streets enjoyed the parade and then food from the outdoors stalls which had been set up in front of the restaurants. Down in Trafalgar Square, various artists performed for an equally large but damp crowd.

This is the second year that I have manage to photograph these celebrations in some quite challenging conditions … it is never easy shooting in the rain and trying to keep your gear dry. Having said that it was good fun and I was joined by my friend, John Chandler who I hadn’t seen for a while. A selection of my best images from this year can be found in my Chinese New Year 2013 – The Year of the Snake gallery. Please have a look and let me know what you think.

This morning I headed out early for a photo walk in Richmond Park located in South West London. It is the largest of the London Royal Parks and was created by Charles I in 1634 as a deer park. Today, there are over 600 red and fallow deer as well as a large population of birds around the ponds. The main goal was to find and photograph the deer but there were also plenty of opportunities to photograph the landscape and birds.

The deer seemed to be just where I parked next the Pen Ponds in the centre of the park. Providing you don’t try to get too close to them these deer appeared to be fairly relaxed and not worried about a few photographers. I suspect that they are used to people walking, running and cycling around the park. Please check out my images in the Richmond Park gallery.

I had a great day out yesterday at the London Ice Sculpting Festival in Canary Wharf. There were talented sculptors from the UK, USA, France, Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, Latvia, Belgium and Portugal producing amazing works of art from ice. They created a wide variety of sculptures depicting Wonders Of The Universe out of a gleaming 2-metre block of ice.

The winner of the doubles sculpting event was the team from UK who produced the beautiful work shown in this image (left).

I am back back in London after an amazing trip around Asia with Steve Davey on his Impressions of Laos & Vietnam photo tour. Whilst I was away I managed to post some images along the way … from Bangkok we travelled north by train to Laos visiting Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. I have previous posted images from all of these locations.

I must mention an amazing evening we had in Luang Prabang with Adri Berger who is fantastic photographer and videographer – check out this film Portraits from Luang Prabang. Plus the great food at the Big Tree Cafe which is run by Mija Son, his wife. If you ever visit Luang Prabang then you must go there.

From Luang Prabang, we flow to Hanoi which I also posted some images before leaving Vietnam. The images that I have just posted to my “On the Road” gallery are of the landscape and markets around Sa Pa, Can Cau and Bac Ha as well as a few images of border with China at Lao Cai.

I am back in Asia with Steve Davey on his Impressions of Laos & Vietnam photo tour. We started in Bangkok a week ago and have travelled by train north to Laos visiting Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. It is very different from when I was here 18 months ago for Laos New Year … a lot dry even though it has rained. This trip I am trying to edit and post process as I am travelling which is I always find a challenge.

Please look at some the new images that I have posted to my “On the Road” gallery – these are the last images are from the first part of our trip through Laos.

One of the great pleasures of photographing in Asia is the street food that you can enjoy just about everywhere. Not only do the provide a great and varied subject it is an excellent opportunity to watch you meal cooked in front of you and eating great fresh food.

Luckily near the hotel that I am staying in Bangkok, there are many street food stalls and roadside restaurants which provide a vibrant environment and some amazing Thai food. The photo in this blog shows our chef from last night who is barbecuing the various meats and fish being served that this place.

I am back in Bangkok before starting out on the Steve Davey’s Laos & Vietnam photo tour next Wednesday. This time I am staying in the older part of Bangkok where all the backpackers seem to be and not far from the Grand Palace. Having flown in yesterday, it was an early start today around sunrise at 6am and I wasn’t sure what I would photograph.

As I wandered round the local area, it was much quieter than the night before but a few folks had seemed to have partied through the night. So I turned towards the Grand Palace and stumbled upon a few runners … and then more runners which given that it must already have been 30 degrees centigrade seemed mad to me. Eventually, there was a sign … ah it was the Bangkok Marathon so I decided to walk along the route up to the Grand Palace.

It wasn’t a surprise that this marathon is held very early in the morning because I doubt anyone would survive the heat later in the day. I was hot just walking along so congratulations to all those that completed the course which finished in front of the Grand Palace … a spectacular backdrop for the event.

The atmosphere in Lang Prabang for Lao New Year was completely amazing … one of the highlights of the Steve Davey photo tour to Laos & Cambodia in April 2011. They celebrate New Year over three days with the main celebrations on the middle day with a religious procession with lot of monks in their colourful orange robes. Along the route of the procession, people sprinkle the monks and others in the procession with water. I believe that this is to wash away the evil spirits.

After the procession, everyone starts to throw water and the town becomes a massive water fight which is impossible to avoid unless you lock yourself inside and don’t answer the door. The cafes and bars are great supply of water and happy to help out … some of the locals even have hoses constantly refilling large drums. Added to this there are lots of cars, trucks, open back vans and small lorries parading along the street following a circular route. These vehicles carry there own supply of water so that they can fight back and soak the participants outside the cafes and bars.

With all this water, I did take some extra precautions to keep my camera moderately dry – thanks to my Storm Jacket. Most of the people were relatively careful to not throw huge amounts of water directly at the camera providing you let them throw water at you … move the camera out of the way rather than trying to use it to protect you – that wouldn’t have worked! The great thing was that everyone had hours of fun with everyone joining in. It is fair to say that I have never been wetter in all my life … my trainers (sneakers) to three days to dry and were binned at the end of the trip.

Please take some time to have a look at my Laos – New Year gallery and let me know what you think.