Preparing upcoming Photography Tours and Workshops to Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Sicily in late 2017/2018
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Myanmar, Sicily and Sri Lanka are going to be my focus for upcoming Photography Tours and Workshops. They are all places that I know really well, are unbelievably photogenic and just spectacular. I have been to all of them very recently, the latest Myanmar trip was a great success and the next one will be even better! Sri Lanka and Sicily are new venues and I have pages of notes, tons of photos, already written blogs on them and am now going back into action! It is a lot of work! I am a photographer not a tour operator, but I love organizing things, in fact I may have missed my vocation of becoming an events planner… on second thoughts, nah, becoming a photographer is the best and only choice I could ever have made!
First of all, I list all the places I would like to take my photographer travelers to, which may not necessarily be exactly the same ones as the last trip there. I then work out the best route and the best way to get to each place and with what sort of transport. I love experiencing local transport, especially traveling by train in both Myanmar and Sri Lanka. There are terrific photographs to take both from the train, the platform, and life in the train itself. It is not realistic or particularly fun to take them for hours on end so I plan them carefully. In both Myanmar and Sri Lanka we will take 2 local train journeys but in Myanmar for most legs of the journey we will fly, giving us more time in those spectacular places that I have chosen, however in Sri Lanka we will drive. These do not preclude local buses, boats, bullock carts, bicycles or anything else. We're there for the photographs and the experience.
As keen photographers we like good light wherever possible. Certain places really should be seen at sunrise and sunset so wherever it is feasible that option is available. Myanmar offers some exceptional dawn and dusk photography. If someone wants to sleep in, that’s fine, we’ll come back and get you! In Sri Lanka, the sites don’t open until 7.00 am which is one hour after sunrise. Having said that, a good vantage point can usually be found. It is however impossible just to visit places during those few hours of good light. In Sicily and Sri Lanka those perpetual blue skies are not guaranteed either, but still offer terrific photography. Images with umbrellas, misty mornings and colorful clothes all add depth to the portfolio of photos that you will take.
In Asia I work with local travel agents who arrange the transport, provide local guides who are primed on what we are looking for, they will book our tickets and hotels, which we choose very carefully together. I believe in responsible travel, trying to give something back to the local communities where possible. I favor comfortable air-conditioned hotels with all amenities but usually locally owned and not too far from the sites we have come to see. I do not exclude a night in a ‘home stay or monastery, for the experience. In Sicily there are some superb bed and breakfasts that I often favor over hotels. Many telephone conversations and e mails later, things crossed out and others added they will be ready for publication on annasphototraveltours.com.
The difference between a regular tour or going on your own and a photography tour or workshop is that in addition to visiting the best places at the best times in a small group of similar minded people, you can learn endless tips on how to take better pictures and make them look how you want them to. I am available the whole time to coach, help, talk and encourage you. There will be some work to do, but the whole idea is that it is totally enjoyable whilst being instructive and constructive. This tour can be a complete learning experience whilst traveling or can just be a fun and easy way to obtain better pictures than you could ever imagine.