After a hectic photo tour with Steve Davey, I am glad to have some time to relax a little as well as do a little more photography here in Bangkok.

Yesterday was a good day’s photography starting at the beautiful Wat Suthat next to the Giant Swing.  There are a number of people restoring the Buddha statues in the covered walkway around the inner wall of the Wat.  Watching their skilled workmanship was fantastic as the painted and applied gold leaf to the initially black statues.

The roads around the Giant Swing are where the trade in Buddha statues appears to be conducted with numerous shrink-wrapped Buddha statues standing this the shops.  I also spied a monk smoking and took the picture (see right) through the hand of a Buddha.

We wandered through the streets towards the river and the Grand Palace (Wat Phra Kaew) with its huge golden towers (see left).  Given that it was the middle of the day, we decided to sit in a small stall just be the boat pier for a few hours watching the busy river and drinking a cool beer.  This had the added advantage that the light was only getting better.

The Grand Palace is spectacular with the exception of the Emerald Buddha which is in fact very small but beautiful.  This is the only part of the Grand Palace where photography is not allowed so I don’t have any photographs of it.

Of course I am still wadding through all the photographs that I have taken during this trip and that will take me at least a few weeks before I have completed the post processing.  There will be a new gallery posted when this is done.

Unfortunately, today was our last day in Siem Reap and the surrounding Angkor area.  During our time here, we have visited a number of temples, had a very eventful boat trip to see the floating village and eaten some great food.

I am way behind on sorting my photographs but as a brief tasted this shot (see left) is Angkor Wat at sunrise.  I am working through my photos and will be created one or more new gallery in a few weeks (I hope).

As always it have been a pleasure travelling with Steve Davey and if you ever get the chance to join one of his tours you really should.

Having a great time in Laos and we are now in Vang Vieng staying at a hotel on the river.  I was up early this morning and the light was fantastic (see picture on left).  The reflections on the river were great and the life on the river started …

The sunset was only amazing with three hot air balloons taking off from the opposite bank as the sun was setting behind the hills.  I still have to post process this afternoon’s images.

Tomorrow morning, we head off to Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars.

I have added a few more images to my new Studio gallery now that I have completed the post processing from my studio shot on 26th March.  I am pleased with the results and am building up my studio portfolio.  Now my next studio is not going to be until May but there will be plenty of photography during April.

Apart from post processing, I have collecting all my stuff together and packing so I am ready to go to the airport immediately after work on Tuesday.  It is an overnight flight to Bangkok where the photo tour of Laos & Cambodia starts on my birthday – what a great thing to be doing on your birthday!  I am sure that it is going to be a great trip and I will try to ensure that I post regular updates on Twitter and when possible I will update my blog too.

It seems to have come round very quickly but on Tuesday evening, I am flying off to Bangkok for Steve Davey’s photo tour to Laos & Cambodia.  I am not sure how often we will have connectivity to the Internet but combined with the ability to tweet via text messaging you will be able to follow me on Twitter.

After an excellent studio workshop with Gregory Brown and a number of subsequent studio shoots, I have finally got round to selecting a small selection of images for my new studio gallery.

I am continuing to experiment with studio lighting to create different effects and moods using various combinations of lights.  The big difference when shooting in the studio is that the photographer is in complete control of the lighting – both it positioning and strength.  It is so different from travel photography when you have to make the most of whatever light is available.

Currently, I am planning more studio shoots in May and June when I will add more images to this gallery.