OK, not looking forward to my next assignment!

jamesoliverstone said:
I will see if I can find them again (they were scribbled on a piece of paper, and I moved house months ago now!) :)



Thanks very much :)

I too am intrigued to see how the a77 fares up in the field. I have been having a few focusing issues with it the last couple of days, where it just isn't quite nailing the focus in the way I would expect, but that of course could be user error ;)
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No worries if not mate :thumbs:
 
better tell Cowasaki to write your name in pencil on the 'speakers list' for the convention in May :lol:

But seriously, i half envy, half worry for you - i'm sure you'll have the experience of a lifetime. Be cool :cool:
 
skiking said:
Thailand may not be that much safer! Both US and UK governments have issued a terrorist alert for the country.

Stay safe wherever you are and I look forward to seeing the images.
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I've just read the FOC advice, it mainly just the Cambodian-Thai border because there is a big dispute with ownership of certain temples and also the Malay-Thai border but there has always been a massive problem with Muslim insurgents around there. The deep south is probably more dangerous because the attacks and murders are in-discriminant whereas the Cambodian border is the two armies who are less likely to directly attack tourists. Bangkok on the other hand will be like any other major city, keep your wits about you and you will be perfectly fine. :thumbs:
 
skiking said:
Thailand may not be that much safer! Both US and UK governments have issued a terrorist alert for the country.

Stay safe wherever you are and I look forward to seeing the images.
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Sorry to say risk,are in every part of the world,alway have been,i tend to not look to deeply into them,or you end up going no where :)
 
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I am not worried about SE asia at all, plus, I will be in remote areas most of the time and the rest in a rather nice spa ;)

leftcurl said:
better tell Cowasaki to write your name in pencil on the 'speakers list' for the convention in May :lol:

But seriously, i half envy, half worry for you - i'm sure you'll have the experience of a lifetime. Be cool :cool:
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Cheers mate :D
 
sounds great, wish I had a job that sent me all of the place like that, war zone photography is something I would love to do but wouldn't know where to start :(
 
Thanks all :)

Well, I arrived last night safely in Guatemala. My first experience was to be picked up at the airport by one of my engineers, who promptly opened the back of the 4x4 and handed me a bullet proof vest and told me to put it on as the journey was going to be a bit hairy!

Well, after I arrived at our country office and said hi to everyone, there was much laughter had by all, as the whole thing had been a big wind up! Yup, they got me good and proper!

And for your amusement, here is me in said bullet proof vest :lol:

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Anywho, it turns out that yes Guatemala is a dangerous country, but only in areas that I certainly wont be visiting, as the locals wont even go to them, so all in all I am going to be fine.

Gits, they certainly put the fear of god into me, but it was a great joke.

Guatemala is from what I have seen so far today a beautiful country, and having a meal in the sun listening to traditional salsa music and sipping cerveza... this trip is looking better all the time :D

Anywho, for those interested, here is a view of the active volcanos near Guatemala city, taken whilst dangling my arm out of the tenth floor window, holding onto the camera for dear life :D

Not a bad view :)

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Anywho, off to head out towards the pacific now so I wont be posting on here anymore, but you can follow my blog if you want to find out more.

Laters all :D
 
Hey James, I just had a trawl through your website and blog. There are some stunning images with captivating narratives as well, really enjoyed looking through it.

Reading some of these replies there is something that is of real concern to me at the moment. It seems that being scared or wary of the unknown is something that is slowly becoming more prevalent in the UK's school places and in its population in general. The fear of what might happen seems to overwhelm the feeling that this could truly be one of life's greatest experiences. Of course life has inherit risks but by cocooning yourself in a safe little world and living these magical places and people through other peoples adventures and journey's while wishing you were there yourself is selling yourself short.

I have lived away from the Uk for 5 years now and this forum is how I keep track of what is happening back home as I value the opinions here more than bbc news but some of the posts here are a little scary. Just to emphasize, there is a post in the Lounge about collecting your dogs "presents" with the op stating that they were thinking of videoing themselves picking up their dogs mess just in case they had to provide evidence that they did it. To me this is one step away from wearing a headcam 24/7 and recording everything that happens in our day to day lives just in case someone bashes me for the 56pence and a half eaten curly wurly I have in my pocket. A very scary and one way street we have turned into.

Went off on a little tangent there, getting back to the point, as long as you do all that is necessary to reduce any risk to you while travelling or walking around places that are new then you are doing all you can. I wouldn't walk around London or Manchester with my gear hanging off me or my iphone constantly stuck to my ear, nor would I venture into certain areas on my own. Life has risks, everyday we all do something that could put our life in jeopardy but we still do it. The moment you don't follow your own path because of what might happen to you is the moment that you've lost and once you become scared its very hard to break out of that cycle, fear breeds fear.
 
Hey Grahame, thanks for taking the time to write a detailed reply, and whilst I agree that travel certainly is something that everyone should do... it doesnt always come naturally to everyone.

I actually include myself in that statement too. I clearly remember the first time I plucked up the courage to go Africa for the first time, and that wasnt anything even remotely like going into the areas I go to now, but putting yourself outside of your comfort zone is just another way to say "conquering fear".

Thats not an easy thing for anyone to do as fear is a powerful emotion that is very hard to get over. I remember vividly when I arrived in Tanzania a couple of years ago, I was full of excitement and energy. Then we started to head out into the bush with our bag of food and medical supplies and the further and further we got from civilsation the more and more worried I became, then that worry turned to outright anxiety and fear when I was stood facing a fully armed tribe in the bush.

Ok, so its an extreme example, but I still have a certain amount of fear and anxiety whenever I travel to these kind of places as I have been raised in a culture that is so very different from these places and in someway have been protected from injustice, health problems, violence and political instability so it is a rather unnatural thing to place yourself directly into areas where you are in direct danger of these things.

I think it shows a healthy respect for these places and your own personal safety to be worried and take the necessary precautions before you travel. Mind you, it doesnt get over the fact that you still need to actually stand up and go there.

I do this because I need to keep pushing myself to do amazing things. I have an absolute passion for the work I do, and thats probably the only reason that I go to these places.

I do however say that anyone is capable of travelling to far away and exotic places, you and I are not special, we just made the choice to do it. I have a healthy respect for people that travel out to do amazing work in places far and wide, but I also have a healthy respect for those that do amazing work on our very shores, often putting themselves in situations in the UK that i wouldn't dare do.

Horses for courses and all that ;)

I also firmly believe that if someone dreams of doing something, they will end up doing it at some point. It took me 34 years to pluck up the courage :D
 
Also as a side note (i didn't want to start a new thread)... I have finally uploaded the photos from Cambodia onto my website now (they are under the my travels section). that was an absolute mission getting that lot done!

Now both trips are all wrapped up, I am ready to head off to the Thailand and the Philippines at the end of the month :D
 
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