Singapore goes all the way... the passion for Photography!

My spread in the current Asian Geographic Magazine.

I arrived in Singapore on the 19th of October and greeted at the airport by the nice and charming Leslie Quek from the Asian Geographic Magazine.
Then to the Hotel…well not really a Hotel but super cool Apartments called Fraser Place, I had to be early in Singapore due to the Judging of the "Life at the Singapore River Competition" that was sponsored by Frasers.

I checked in my room…wow, now that is what I call living, an extremely nice and very spacious apartment and my home for the entire week.

The view from my Apartment window, Frasers Place Singapore

Thanks to Fraser and Asian Geographic for providing such a cool accommodation, a couple of days later Manuel Librado arrived who was also a Judge for "Life at the Singapore River" including John Thet and Diego Garcia from the Asian Geographic Magazine.
A few days on and we announced the lucky winners and had a nice evening at the Fullerton Hotel.

The next day, I think it was the next day... I was part of a TV Reality show appearance for MediaCorp as a Judge for the Big Shot competition sponsored by Nikon Singapore with a grand prize of some 20,000.00 Singapore Dollars…Wow what a prize!

See below some excerpts from Nikons website,more @ The Big Shot
A reality TV series for amateur and semi-professional photographers where we let your photos do the talkingTHE BIG SHOT of Singapore is about the moving stories behind that photography which often at times, when taken well, can speak a thousand words. Our reality tv series is about stories of seven aspiring photographers and their quests to take the BIG SHOT of Singapore. Each week, the seven aspiring photographers will do their best to stay in the competition by overcoming the different challenges that await them in each episodic challenge...

GD and Alex Soh in the studio, judging and taping for the the Big Shot

Even Michael Yamashita commented on this super prize and said in his Twitter...

"You heard right. That's 16,000 US dollars. We could use a few more contests like this one in USA. Singapore is absolutely contest crazy!"

It was during the recording of the show that I met Alex Soh a super cool and nice Singapore Photographer who was also on the Judging panel.

After the Judging and elimination of one or two participants we were done and Alex took me for some great lunch eating something called... Duck Rice. Yummy….thanks Alex.

Thursday, the day my “Sister” Jamie arrived…wow so cool had not seen Jamie in a while and we had a real great evening out catching up with all the latest gossip.

Jamie had arrived... our first night out...lots of Sake & Japanese food.
from left: Michael Yamashita, Alex Soh, Jamie Rayer Keet,
Gunther Deichmann & James Whitlow Delano.

Then I got ready for the big Event “One Asia Celebrating the Images of Asia” organized by the Asian Geographic Magazine.

Saturday the first day of the show was interesting, meeting other Photographers and Celebrity Speakers like Michael Yamashita, James Whitlow Delano (James still shoots B&W film which is so cool these days) Manuel Librado and many others.

Now the fun starts...in front of the green wall at the event

OK Guys... lets make my "Sister" Fly... 1, 2, 3 go...
don't you like the movement part, sorry can't show you the scream, he, he.
from left: Manuel Librodo, GD, Michael Yamashita, Alex Soh James Whitlow
Delano & flying Jamie.

A full Program awaited all the visitors with Live Judging, Seminars and Talks.
Unfortunately Steve MacCurry had to cancel his trip due to some other urgent matters and last minute commitments.

Exhibitions of some excellent Photos where on Display and of course Nikon and Canon showed their presence too.

I had two Seminars/Talks:
On Saturday:
Over 30 years: A Journey Through Color & Time… a one and half hour journey through my Photography.

The other on Sunday with the Title:
Are We There Yet? - Post production tips, focus on Apple software and
Multimedia presentation.
No need for Photoshop, if you have Aperture 3. Image manipulation does not belong in Nature and Photo Journalism.

In between all of this I was also one of the Judges in the Live Photo Competition Contest by Asian Geographic, a prestigious event and marathon judging of two hours plus.
More info @ http://www.oneasiafest.com/

Asia Without Borders Live Judging at the Event...

Who is going to have the next highest score?

Some of the entries where excellent and made our decision not easy at times, but a fair and good organized scoring system was in place. Results and winners you find on the Asian Geographic Website http://www.oneasiafest.com/images-of-asia.phtml or in the Magazine.

Excellent Photos on display.

What a week… three different judging sessions, Seminars/Talks and of course our evening outings in good company during the week.

It was a lot of fun, plus an interesting and learning week, meeting old and making new friends like Alex Soh from Singapore who looked after me like no one else, thanks for everything Alex.

Now I like to take this opportunity and thank John Thet and his entire Team for making all this possible, bringing people together who love their craft and showed their passion for Photography.

To celebrate this inaugural event, an Images of Asia Reception took place at IndoChine Empress Place (close to Suntec, on the river). The finale kicked off on Sunday night with a super party with everybody, unwinding after all those long hours from the days before, some of the Guests included:

Lunita Mendoza Editor Asian Geographic, Leslie Quek from AG, John Thet Publisher AG, Daren Tan Nikon Singapore, Rod Andrewartha and friends, Diego Garcia, Elysee Tan AG, Lester Ledesma, Annamarie Blight CNN, Discovery Channel, Philippine Airlines, Silk Air and so many others, I be here all night if I list them all... so please forgive me.
And there were of course all those Photographers mention earlier plus so many others.

Good Photography is NOT dead…maybe a bit sleepy at the moment… but soon to be awaken again.
From all the talks and discussion I had…the trend is defiantly going back to the non use of PhotoShop even the new trend in HDR was frowned upon by many Pros last week.

Long time ago...the Ernst Haas Book “The Creation” was entirely shot on film, the images represented Nature and the sheer beauty of our Planet. Lets not mess it up with some crazy and weird effects.
Remember… NATURE is the most beautiful thing mankind has got… lets keep it that way!

GD

Just one more...

PS. I am also leading an expedition into Nepal for the Asian Geographic for more details please contact them direct @ http://www.asiangeo.com/events.html


This one is entirely different from my other advertised GD Photo Workshops in to India and Nepal in March/April 2011 and to Cambodia/Laos in September/October 2011.
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/gdphotoworkshop/

First good look and test drive on the all
NEW iPhoto from iLife '11

I found a few minutes today and had a quick look at the all new iPhoto from iLife '11 and I have to admit...I am impressed. Just the interface alone is so cool now with full screen capabilities and floating film strip almost like Aperture.

Access to the basic adjustment tools are easy, great new options for slideshows, new layouts for cards and books etc. and as mention, this is only my very first impression. I had no time to go any deeper now, but will do so very soon, in the meantime I like to share with you some screenshots at least on the new iPhoto.
Had a quick look at GarageBand and iMovie too, lots of new and cool things, but again not enough time at the moment.

I am also working on another post from my trip to Singapore and the "Celebrating Images of Asia" Event which finished last night with a great Party.

See below some screenshots from the new iPhoto from iLife '11
GD

Cool Slideshow options & choices also now
available in full screen mode


Easy to add places also in full screen


At full screen adjustment tools and effects, plus the cool
floating filmstrip below just run your Mouse over it
to make it smaller or larger.


Share with Flickr, FaceBook and others...


Excellent new options for designing your Cards and Books.

Just installed iLife 11 test driving it now...
more in a few days, looks very good so far.

Straits Times, Singapore, Celebrating Images of Asia

The diversity of the Asian region will be celebrated in this weekend’s exhibition with photographs and films

Photography and videography enthusiasts will gather this weekend in Hall 402 at Suntec Convention Centre for Images of Asia, an event that showcases the wonders of the Asian continent.
The exhibits come from different galleries and there are also screenings of still photos and films. To be held tomorrow and on Sunday, the inaugural event will also include talks and workshops by renowned photojournalists such as Steve McCurry and Michael Yamashita.

Mr McCurry is best known for his photograph “Afghan girl”, which was first published on the cover of National Geographic magazine.
The Images of Asia is the first event under the umbrella of OneAsia Festival organized by Asian Geographic. The festival traces its roots to the Asian Geographic Photo Competition, which was organized by the small team that started the Asian Geographic magazine eight years ago.

The competition evolved under the guide of the current publisher John Thet and five years later, it took on the name Asia Without Borders Photo Competition. Since then, the competition has attracted over 9,000 entries from over 100 countries.

Today it has blossomed into AsianGeographic’s OneAisa Festival, where various programmes and events including the Images of Asia, will lead the way to the grand finale in 2011 (OneAsiaFestival.com).

The two-day Images of Asia event will end with an exclusive party at the IndoChine waterfront on Sunday.
Besides photo exhibitions, video screenings and workshops, there will also be more than 70 companies showcasing the latest products such as cameras, lenses and filters, travel-related accessories, and computer software.
A highlight of the event is a “live” judging of the Asian Geographic Asia Without Borders Photo Competition between 4pm t0 6pm on the main stage. This event will be streamed live on the magazine’s website AsianGeo.com.

This year’s prizes will include the Canon EOS 5D Mk II (EF 24-105mm) worth $5,800, Canon EOS 50D (EF-S18-55m) worth $2,099 and watches from Tissot. There will also be an additional $5,000 cash for the grand prize winner.
Canon Singapore, which has been the major prize sponsor since the days of Asian Geographic’s Asia Without Borders Photo Competition, has played a significant role throughout the years in the competitions.

The OneAsia Festival will also be graced by legendary photographers Gunther Deichmann and James Whitlow Delano.

Excerpts by the Straits Times

© Gunther Deichmann - The Bamboo Train,
near Battambang, Cambodia Oct. 2010

GD

• Performance when opening large libraries
• Performance when exporting heavily-adjusted images
• Importing iPhoto Libraries
• Relinking to referenced images after importing an iPhoto Library
• Importing photos and videos from iPhone or iPad
• Upgrading libraries with images containing Spot & Patch adjustments
• Duplicate detection of audio and video files
• Face detection on RAW+JPEG pairs
• Rendering of thumbnails used in Faces view
• Rendering of images scaled to below 100% in Viewer
• Image quality on straightened images
• Applying Red Eye correction
• Rendering thumbnails when reprocessing masters
• Searching libraries containing a large number of keywords
• Applying photos to GPS track paths
• Export of GPS data when using Export Metadata command
• Handling of color profiles in Print dialog when using Loupe
• Applying and removing slideshow Photo Effects
• Slideshows containing video clips
• Tethered capture
• Library database reliability
• Library repair
• Updating vaults

In support of Asian Geographic's Event October 23 & 24 in
Singapore "Celebrating the images of Asia" - One Asia-




© Gunther Deichmann - Ta Prohm, Cambodia Sept.2010

Greetings from Singapore, I like to thank the Organizers and sponsor for inviting me and to be part of this truly great event in Singapore. Some schedules have been moved around a bit and I be giving now also a talk on travel Photography on Saturday and the topic on Sunday will be... "Are We There Yet? - post production tips," focus on Apple software.

© Gunther Deichmann - early morning on the
Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia Sept.2010

Just as ‘processing’ is essential to film photography, so post-production is the final stage of digital creations. Advice on the essential but often difficult trick of ‘knowing when to stop’

Detailed guide to using apple software to get more from your photographs, including workflow after the shoot with tips on backing
up your files in the field using Apple software.

Check out also the Live Judging Event on the 23rd of October, for details see the info below.

The images on today's post are from my last Journey in Cambodia, September 2010, a complete selection will soon be available on my PhotoShelter archives. More recent images from Cambodia @ http://www.deichmann-photo.com/page2/page2.html

© Gunther Deichmann - Phnom Penh, Cambodia Sept.2010




© Gunther Deichmann - Phnom Kulen, Cambodia Sept.2010




© Gunther Deichmann - Bamboo Train station,
near Battambang, Cambodia Sept.2010



© Gunther Deichmann - on the Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia Sept.2010



© Gunther Deichmann - on the road to Phnom Penh,
Cambodia Sept.2010




© Gunther Deichmann - Buddhist Monk during a funeral
ceremony, rural Cambodia, Sept. 2010



© Gunther Deichmann - Moonrise over the Mekong and
Tonle River, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Sept. 2010

I be reporting back from Singapore as the days go by so please stay tuned, there is also another TV event which I am part off it, more on that later.
GD

Celebrating the Images of Asia - One Asia -
Singapore October 2010

PHOTO WORKSHOP CALENDAR 2011

Limited to maximum 8 participants for our
International Workshops.



Click on the Image and go direct to the Calendar for 2011

March 17, 2011 - Confirmed!
India - Nepal
March 17/18th  (depending on the arrival of the participants) to the 24th/25th  (celebrating Holi on the 20th in Varanasi) then we have our option to leave from Delhi to Kathmandu in Nepal our extension and second Workshop from the  25th to the 31st / 01 of April,  again depending on the departure of participants. 


You can also choose just one of the destinations either India or Nepal, or join us on both in India & Nepal and book the combination. After the completion of our Indian Workshop we fly from Delhi to Kathmandu in Nepal.

I complete Itinerary is shortly avail. and I send this one to those who are interested, pls. remember this workshop is almost full, only two more spaces available for India and only 3 more for Nepal.

Final bookings will close at the latest by November 08, 2010 http://www.deichmann-photo.com/gdphotoworkshop/page4/contact.php


September, 2011 - Confirmed!
Laos & Cambodia combination

We can confirm also for 2011 a combination for Laos & Cambodia starting on September 24th to the 6th/7th of October 2011 the final Itinerary and schedules will follow shortly for the above confirmed Workshops on my GD Photo Workshop site. Bookings close for Laos and Cambodia combination by latest end of June 2011.
You can also contact me @ http://www.deichmann-photo.com/gdphotoworkshop/page4/contact.php

Again, you can also just choose one of the destinations either Laos or Cambodia, or join us either in Laos or Cambodia, or go with the combination.
GD

Other Photo Workshops for 2011 are being finalized, we should have and confirm the dates by end of October 2011

Back to Cambodia...the land with it's charming
People, amazing Culture and History.



© Gunther Deichmann - the famous Battambang
Bamboo Train at full speed & I almost broke
my neck getting this shot.

Go to the Gallery "Small Taste of the Latest" Cambodia 2010
or click on any of the photos.

Please NOTE you might have to refresh your Browser if you don't see
the images from Cambodia right away.

From Siem Reap and surrounding areas across the Tonle Sap Lake by Boat to Battambang and after a few days to Phnom Penh by road, only to return to Siem Reap by car a few days later. After our GD Photo Workshop in Siem Reap the Cambodian Journey continued in September 2010. I have uploaded a small selection from this recent trip, more Photos from Cambodia and other Countries you find on my PhotoShelter Archives and Galleries including the latest images from India and Nepal in 2010.

© Gunther Deichmann - it is all Khmer...

The latest and complete set from the recent Cambodia Journey will be available at PhotoShelter shortly. In the meantime you can enjoy this small selection. More interesting articles from my recent Journey to Cambodia to follow soon...

© Gunther Deichmann - Monastery near Angkor Wat

A great local and enjoyable Photo Workshop in Manila last weekend is behind me now and I am getting ready for my Singapore trip next week.

A lot will happen in Singapore, from a TV appearance as a Judge on a TV show, then there is the Fraser Suites Judging "Capture Life by the Singapore River" photographic contest and of course the "Celebrating the Images of Asia" Show at Suntec from the 23rd to the 24th of October, for sure a very busy week.

I try my best to update you all from Singapore either via FB or Twitter, I might even get the chance to send a Blog out, but lets see.

Please Note: Our GD Photo Workshop in March/April 2011 to India and Nepal is just about full, we have only two more vacancies our bookings will close by latest November 10.

We are also getting a lot of inquiries for our Workshop in Laos and Cambodia by late September 2011 and have only 4 more spaces available.

“Images of Asia – 23-24 October 2010 – Suntec, Singapore”

Reporting soon from Singapore, and if you happen to be in Singapore you can find me or join one of my Workshops at Suntec "Celebrating the Images of Asia" from the 23rd to the 24th of October.

Hope to see you there,
GD

© Gunther Deichmann - the first image & the start of a very long day,
processed to B&W using Aperture 3

A few images behind the scenes from last weekend's GD Photo Workshop...Intramuros in Manila Philippines and the American Cemetery Memorial Park plus after the shoot Workflow with 10 iMac's Aperture 3 and the cool team from the Power Mac Center.

© Gunther Deichmann - Wow what a group...

As you know I have only recently returned from Cambodia and had committed for this Photo Workshop in Manila...from Cambodia to Manila and soon in Singapore...Oh boy and that is only a week away. The month of October has been crazy!

First of all many thanks to all who participated in our GD Photo Workshop in Manila Philippines last weekend.

© Gunther Deichmann - Part of the group early Saturday morning,
far left; Luis Martin Harder is getting ready

My special and deep thanks go to Luis Martin Harder for his input, commitment and hard work together with the... Word for the World Christian Church and so many others who made this Workshop a real success.

My sincere thanks also to Pastor Raymond for all his kindness and support. To the Power Mac Center with their support team Andrew, Mark and Jeffrey, you have been outstanding and so supportive to make the work flow after the shoot very easy with Aperture 3 and taken some workload of me.

© Gunther Deichmann - Andrew, Mark and Jeffery from
Power Mac Center assisting the participants after the shoot.

It was real fun seeing all those cool images going through Aperture 3 without a glitch, we only did some basic processing but the organization of that many images was so easy using Aperture 3 plus it gave the participants a chance to see how efficient Aperture performs when dealing with large volumes of Photos.

Thanks again to the Power Mac Center Team, their help with this volume of Images certainly made my life a lot easier, I also like to mention Maleng Raysag from the PMC Education Devision who was instrumental in setting this up for us.
In addition the PMC also sponsored some prizes for the best Photos of the day, thanks again for you generosity, oh... before I forget my appriciation also for the cool baseball caps for every participant.

But importantly my thanks to the Participants who really gave all their hardest and performed extremely well...THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH...YOU been so fantastic and super cool.

© Gunther Deichmann - blending in with the color



© Gunther Deichmann - lots of color and fun

We started at 5:30 AM last Saturday and everybody was on time, prior Saturday we had a short two hour briefing on Friday night with all the participants and organizers.
On Saturday morning we wondered around in the old part of Manila and I was on hand with advise and shooting techniques, after the morning session we went back to Makati to the facilities of the Word for the World Christian Church where a room was prepared with some 10 iMac units from the Power Mac Center.

© Gunther Deichmann - Exploring Aperture 3 on an iMac...



GD checking photos on his MacBook Pro...



Serious editing in progress with Aperture 3...

Now everybody had a chance to see Aperture 3 in action and we downloaded our morning take from the memory cards.
I may add that one of the participants was using an Nikon Film Camera (FM2) but we had the film processed the images burned on a CD and then imported those into Aperture.

© Gunther Deichmann - Aperture is making it easy
to select your best shot...

After some well needed lunch I gave a short talk about the morning shoot before we hit the road again for the afternoon session at the American Cemetery Memorial Park, this location proved to be a real challenge for all participants.
We returned around 6:00 PM cleared or Memory cards again and closed the event with some certificate, prizes and more talk on Photography and finished by 9:00 PM, it was a very long day indeed.

© Gunther Deichmann - Hmmm...very interesting at the American
Cemetery Memorial Park, Manila - Philippines

Luis Martin Harder a superb Photographer himself was instrumental in organizing this event, oh boy it did need some organizing with some 37 active participants running around in the field. I like to thank also Carlo who worked together with Luis behind the scene and of course Arj Muñoz my partner and friend who led a helping hand.

Almost done...it is getting late and the last few words.

Please forgive me, If I have forgotten to thank someone, I did appreciate all your help too.

I am sure some of the participants will upload some of their images to Facebook and Flickr, I have already uploaded some additional ones direct from Aperture 3 to my Facebook.

Just one more...& the last shot of the day.



© Gunther Deichmann - American Cemetery Memorial,
Manila Philippines. Processed in Aperture 3

God Bless and hope to see you next time at one of my Photo Workshops abroad or in the Philippines.
GD

ONE ASIA - Celebrating The Images of Asia

23 -24 OCT 2010 Hall 402 Suntec, Singapore




Join me and many others in Singapore for this truly great event at Suntec, lets
CELEBRATE THE IMAGES OF ASIA for more info go to the
official website OneAsiaFestival.com

Hope to see you there! GD

The Students Work...GD Photo Workshop
Cambodia Sept. 2010



Click on the image above or on this LINK and go to the Students Work Gallery.

Please NOTE you might have to refresh your Browser if you see Photos
from previous students on India in 2010.

Another great Photo Workshop in Cambodia is behind us and I have uploaded all the students work into the Gallery called "The Students Work".
Some amazing Images have been taken and on purpose I ask the participants to choose six of their favorable ones, I didn't do any editing or enhancing.

Editing is part of Photography and sometimes the hardest part in deciding which images to choose out of thousands taken on a trip, there might be others and I have seen some during the workshop which are equally good or even better then the ones represented here.

What I am trying to say is... everybody did a real great Job creating nice images and coped with the hardship I had sometimes lined up for them.

On another note I might mention that my good friend Dirk Fahrenbach our Video Man on this trip, he took some amazing stills with his little waterproof Olympus Point and Shoot Camera, well it gets to show you it's not always in the equipment you use, however I let you be the Judge once you open the Gallery.

BTW (Dirk is from the Dugong Dive Center in Palawan, and we are planing one of the next GD Photo Workshops at Club Paradise soon)

I am also working on a Video from this Photo Workshop for the first time using of course Aperture 3 and mixing in the footage from Dirk's Sony Video Cam, however due to time constraints at the moment this will not be finished for a while, but I keep you posted.

Thanks again to all the participants, Boat Drivers, my friend and Guide Savuth and of course the Heritage Suites Hotel for their excellent service and hospitality.

Click here for Testimonials from the last and previous Photo Workshops -
For Photos behind the scene CLICK this LINK.

Enough words now...instead enjoy the Images from this very cool group.
GD

Just uploaded & ready for viewing...
"Behind the Scene" Cambodia 2010

It is done, after going through tons of images from everybody I uploaded a Gallery behind the Scene on my Blog.
I took the image below on my way home at the Changi Airport in Singapore at 3AM in the morning and I thought it is very fitting for the announcement of the Behind the Scene.

© Gunther Deichmann - You never to old to travel...he,he.
Click the photo above and go to "Behind the Scene" Gallery

Please Note:
If you see images from India just refresh your Browser.

Selected images from the Participants will be up soon too, still waiting for some more sets to come in, so in the meantime enjoy the Behind the Scenes. I had to keep the Photos a bit smaller than usual, we just had so many to choose from, in the Gallery you find a representation of some 86 images.
Hope you enjoy them as much I have enjoyed the last Cambodia Photo Workshop.
GD

Two GD PhotoWorkshops have now confirmed dates for 2011...

India & Nepal:

March 18th to the 25th including celebrating the exciting Holi Festival in Varanasi. The full and detailed Itinerary and cost will be available shortly.

Then we have our option to leave from Delhi to Kathmandu in Nepal this is our extension and second Workshop from the 25th of March to the 01 of April.  

You can also just choose one of the destinations either India or Nepal, or go with the combination. Other 2011 Photo Workshops I announce very soon, but India and Nepal is confirmed for 2011.


Laos & Cambodia:

I can also confirm for 2011 a combination for Laos & Cambodia starting on September 24th to the 6th/7th of October 2011 the final Itinerary and schedules will follow shortly for the above confirmed Workshops on my GD Photo Workshop site. http://www.deichmann-photo.com/gdphotoworkshop/

You can also contact me @ http://www.deichmann-photo.com/gdphotoworkshop/page4/contact.php

Please Note:
India and Nepal 2011 is almost fully booked and we have only two more vacancies, bookings for India and Nepal will close by latest first week of November.

For feedback and testimonials from previous Photo Workshops please go to: Testimonials

GD