Have been thinking about my photography a lot lately, and what it means to me on a personal level. Because so much of my life revolves around other people, and clients and everything other than what I want.
So with that in mind, I'm going to be sharing a set of images from Nepal that mean something to me.
There are moments we capture with the camera that can never exist again. Photography let's me live in that moment a little longer. Not sure if that's good for me, or just helps me cling to moments that can never be again.
The third photo in this series. Serendipity.
We stopped in a village for lunch, and waited patiently for a nice family to prepare a hot meal. Behind the main street was a trail through the forest, illuminated by sunlight.
My favourite photos are the ones I did not expect. That brings me joy.
I love shooting back into the light. I love the way a scene is revealed only in pieces, leaving a few secrets hidden in plain view.
Last time I travelled through this part of Nepal my widest lens was only 24mm. I didn't allow the same mistake to happen twice. I have three lenses on me at all times this month, the 18mm F1.8, 35mm F1.8 and a 100mm macro.
18mm is my favourite wide angle at the moment.
Riding high. Prayer flags on the handle bars of a motorcycle. Upper Pisang on the way to Manang. 3200m elevation.
Om mani padme hum
I like rough edges in composition. I don't like clinical perfection, but the joy of a little chaos.
Street photography but with bovines. This gentle fella was wandering the edge of town paying special attention to the wild weed flourishing along the trail.
Slow travel is the key to these photographic journeys. Having time to let moments happen, and time to contemplate how the light in that moment will be captured by the lens.
We stopped to photograph a waterfall on the way up to Manang, but I spent my time capturing petals of the flowers instead.
One of my favie lunch stops along the route had a few flower pots, so I meditated a little on the simple joy of petals in the sunshine.
Just gonna leaf this here for a while ;)
So much of photography is just learning to see what's already right in front of us. Like that moment when a bush at the side of the road pops out wings and dances in the sunlight.
#EwenInNepal #Photography #Nepal #Lumix #Butterflies #ScalyWings
I took a LOT of butterfly shots this trip. Some of them intensely close with the macro, and some just stepping back a little to allow room for the petals to float in space.
#EwenInNepal #Photography #Nepal #Lumix #Butterflies #ScalyWings #HelloPetal
Up close and personal with a Grass Dart. I never even knew this kind of scaly wing existed until about a year ago. They are what imagine a butterfly would look like in The Jetsons.
#EwenInNepal
#Photography
#Nepal
#Lumix
#Butterflies
#ScalyWings
#GrassDart
This little fella was a treasure for me. I had seen these black and white butterflies dancing about the rice paddies all morning, but finally one stopped for a photo.
It's the tiny flecks of silvery blue on the wing tips and eyespots that make it special for me. And that little rhino snout :)
This guy looks so shocked to find himself in front of a camera! Once you start pursuing butterflies with a lens you'll start to observe that they are definitely observing you too.
Some are tolerant of humans nearby, but most are not. They must have such tiny little brains, and yet they make calculations non-stop about what is a potential danger to them or not.
Took days to get a capture of this species.
The last of my scaly wing posts. I actually posted the original raw file here a few weeks ago, with a note about how I waas standing next to a waterfall and noticed the stones at my feet started dancing. There were in fact little tiny butterflies, like a flattened grain of sand.
Morning light across the town of Besisahar. This is where the journey to Manang begins in earnest.
Downtown Besisahar holds some charm for me. It's not a tourist town, and the local variety of tuktuks are still very popular. These are brand new tuktuks, not cast-off from other parts of Asia.
I love this wall. The buddhist motifs, the shades of blue, the timber panels, the stone blocks and the fact that we were wandering along the trail at 3000m elevation enjoying a little winter sunshine.
When I gathered this set of images together I juxtapositioned this peak against the temple wall (previous post). Nature is my temple. I appreciate the teachings of Buddhism but deep down I feel there's even more we can learn from listening to nature.
Sometimes the act of photography is worthy of photography :)
Some of the highest mountains in the world, and yet just a distant peak behind the forests. (Annapurna II)
Photo Ewen 📷
Will (old/moving to beige)