Posts Tagged ‘mekong delta’
Mekong Delta, Veitnam
The Mekong Delta is known locally as the 9 Dragon River as it has 9 tributaries leading in to the sea. Apart from being a beautiful place filled with small islands, canals and massive mouths where tributaries join, it’s also home to hundreds of thousands of very busy people all chugging up and down the rivers.
Working on the banks of the Mekong – Matt Preston
Give us a hand luv! – Matt Preston
Not only are the rivers filled with elderly boats massively over loaded with cargo, the embankments are full of people hurrying from one place to another as each day is filled with work to be done.As a westerner the sights you see are not only photogenic but sometimes boggle the mind. It just goes to show what a world without so many ludicrous health and safety rules would look like. And I kinda like it.
Hard Work – Matt Preston
Floating Hand – Matt Preston
Fast Boat To Saigon – Matt Preston
The much smaller canals that link islands and villages together along the Mekong Delta are filled with characters usually in their tiny boats where man-power (or more often than not, woman power) are the best method of propulsion. The movement of both ourselves and those that float past was something I wanted to capture. Motion blur is a very captivating effect. While not technically perfect by any means the effect and the content portray a strong and vibrant message that makes for a fun and entertaining image such as the one above. The smiling toothless man in the shot really adds to it too!
Born to Smile – Matt Preston
Wandering around the villages you meet so many friendly and curious people. None more so than the children who, whilst used to seeing tourist now, are also the most curious. The child above delighted in our company and even followed us for a while. Asian children are so photogenic and I adore the lighting of this image. While it would have been nice to capture her hands sometimes you just need to grasp the moment and make the most of it.
Lifting the lid – Matt Preston
Rice paper is big business on the Mekong. Producing thousands of sheets a day these people are one woman production lines. I love capturing action and especially heat and steam in shots. You get such a strong feeling from it, you can almost feel the heat rising as she lifts the lid.
You can check out the rest of my Mekong Delta Photos below.
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The big adventure countdown
Our big traveling adventure is just 1 month away! We’re starting to bite our nails a little bit now and frantically getting everything prepared. There’s an amazing amount to sort out when you own a house you want to rent and a cat that needs a new home!
Juggling finances plays a big part along with also increasing my skill and experience working in all manner of photographic situations. I’ve been lucky enough to shoot a few weddings as well as meeting up with some great models for portrait shoots and fashion shots. I’m very pleased with my work so far and hopefully will get to fit some more shoots in before we go.
Our plans haven’t changed much. Our hostel in Sydney is booked as is our flight to Vietnam. My new Macbook Pro has arrived and i’m busy setting that up with everything I’ll need for the journey and beyond.
I’ve also updated my “creative website”. Take a look at www.mattprestoncreative.com which covers all manner of creative outlets.
I’ll be updating this site in the coming weeks as well so keep an eye out for new features and blogs.
It’s really picking up pace now!
If you live in or have been to any of the following places do leave a comment with any advice or recommendations!
Singapore
- Singapore
Vietnam
- Hannoi
- Sapa
- Halong Bay
- Hue
- Nha Trang
- Mekong Delta
- Saigon
Cambodia
- Phnom Penh
- Kampot
- Bokor Mountain National Park
- Battambang
- Siem Reap
Thailand
- Chiangmai
- Bangkok
- Chiang Rai
- Ayuthaya
- Kanchanaburi
- Ko Tao
- Phuket
- Phi Phi
- Ko Lantra
- Krabi
Malaysia
- Penang
- Butterworth
- Cameron Highlands
- Kuala Lumpur
Australia
- Sydney
- Melbourne
Progress report on travel plans
September 20th 2009. The day that everything changes. Ok that’s slightly over dramatic but never-the-less accurate. Our plans for the “Big Adventure” are coming together and picking up pace.
For those of you that don’t know, my wife and I are planning to travel extensively through South-East Asia for around 3 months before moving to Sydney, Australia for a while. This is part of my drive to become a full time professional photographer and gives me a goal or deadline to work towards, you’d be surprised how motivational that is!
So here’s a rough itinerary, I’ll spare you the impressively in-depth version my wife has created. In 3 months travelling there’s hardly a day when we’re not booked to do something or travel somewhere!
September
20th – Fly from Heathrow, England to Changi, Singapore
27th – Watch the Singapore F1 Grand Prix with friends
October
Fly to Hanoi, Vietnam and spend a few days there as well as 3 days in Sa pa, treking & home stay and 3 days at Halong Bay.
Vist Hue City, Da nang and market town of Hoi An. Also the costal town of Nha Trang where there’s amazing beaches and sea corals.
On to Ho Chi Ming City, visit the famous Tay Ninh and Cu Chi tunnels. Cai Be on the Mekong Delta for a home stay.
Cambodia
21st – Boat and bus to Phnom Penh for a few days
Visit Kampot and Bokor Mountain National Park. Then to Battambang for a 
village home stay.
A boat to Siem Reap for Angkor Wat. Hopefully be there for sunset one day and revisit for sunrise the next day.
November
1st – Bus and train to Bangkok, Thailand
A few days in Bangkok before we go to Ayutthaya and then on to Chiang Mai visiting the sticky rice factory and do a bicycle tour.
On to Chiang Rai and possible home stay b
efore a hill-tribe trek.
An overnight train back to Bangkok before heading on to Kanchanaburi. Visit the Bridge over the River Kwai.
December
On to Ko Tao for a few days before hoping over to the islands of Phuket and Phi Phi for a week or two.
On to Krabi and Hat Yai before crossing the border into Malaysia
Visit Penang and Butterworth then train to Kuala Lumpur.
Train back to Singapore then fly on to Sydney, Australia around the 19th. Spend a couple of weeks enjoying Christmas while looking for a more permanent accommodation.
Flexible plans
Obviously these plans might change. That’s the wonderful thing about backpacking and traveling for extended periods of time. You can be flexible with your plans and get a chance to go off the beaten path. I’m really looking forward to the home stays and visiting a few sites and towns you wouldn’t normally go to. The flights are booked as are the Grand Prix tickets so it’ll be a fantastic start to the journey!
I will as ever be blogging throughout our travels and beyond. I’ll also be meeting up with locals from each country, doing photo shoots with local models and also meeting local photographers. Some of which I shall interview for blogs. The main point of our travels is to build up an extensive portfolio and hopefully do some networking with local photographic agencies and publications.
More progress reports on our plans as they are confirmed. If you have been to any of these countries please do leave a comment. I’d love to hear any recommendations on places to go, hidden gems, etc.