Photography: Join me at Celebrating the Images of Asia Event, Suntec, Singapore 23-24 October 2010
“Images of Asia – 23-24 October
2010 – Suntec, Singapore”

I
like
to thank the organizers of
"CELEBRATING THE IMAGES OF ASIA" for
their invitation and making me part of this great
event in
Singapore.
I am one of the Guest Speakers during the event and
conduct also some 90min.
Photography Workshops on
both days.
A detailed guide using
Apple Aperture 3 software
to get more from your photographs, plus the important
essentials and workflow after the shoot including
tips on backing up your files in the field
using
Aperture 3 software.
Photography today...
are we manipulating to much?
Plus an introduction in using Multimedia
presentations.
- Excerpts from the website: Images of Asia – 23 to 24 Oct 2010
For more information please go to: www.OneAsiaFest.com
Travel Photography: Simplicity, Light & True Colors of Boracay Philippines, a colorful Time Machine.
A colorful
Time Machine... Simplicity, Light & True Colors
of Boracay Philippines… from 1993 until
2008.
© Gunther
Deichmann -
Boracay 2008, true colors and
atmosphere of Boracay, Philippines
Sometimes
we repeat ourselves, like the other day when I was
looking for images in my PhotoShelter Archives and
Galleries and I came across the
ones from Borobudur and Yogyakarta in Indonesia.
(previous post)
A coincident for sure…but it happen again yesterday
when searching for particular images for an article
on Cambodia.
I stumbled across the
Philippines Boracay folder and out of curiosity I had
a quick look, but then decided to share some of those
photos with you, again a nice mix of film and
digital. Time Machine as the name suggest's means
going back in time... hence the reason the first
photos on this post are the most recent ones,
followed by the old-timers.

© Gunther Deichmann
-
Boracay 2008, colors, simplicity
& light
© Gunther Deichmann -
Boracay 2008, "The Mask"...
simplicity.
© Gunther Deichmann -
Boracay 2005, when I woke up in the
morning...before brushing my teeth and going to the
bathroom I spotted these cloth pegs on the
Balcony...the rest you can see above...color, light
& simplicity!
I might add that non of the Photos have been altered
in Photoshop, well in 1993 Photoshop??? The Digital
images have been processed using Aperture using minor
adjustments only. Again an interesting mix between
film and digital, besides light and color don't
change, it is only the equipment and our way of
processing today.
So, easy on Photoshop, filters etc.,...believe
me, Mother Nature has the
best light & colors we could ever ask for and
that is a real blessing.

© Gunther Deichmann
-
Boracay 2003, colors & light
with my
very first simple point and shoot Digital Camera, a
Canon G2. 
© Gunther Deichmann - "The Colors of
Boracay"
& simplicity...
film - Fuji Velvia 50 ASA
FM2 Nikon with a 20mm lens -
2002 
© Gunther Deichmann
-
Boracay 1993, simplicity &
colors on Kodachrome film
from the hill top with my then X700 Minolta using a
600mm Minolta lens.
Soon, very soon I stop
digging in my Archives and share with you new images
from Cambodia, so please stay tuned, I be reporting
direct from our GD Photo
Workshop base in Siem Reap at
the Heritage Suites
Hotel.
My special thanks
to Shroff International
Travel for all those complicated
and ever changing travel arrangements in and out
of Cambodia. Love you Guys!
GD
Travel Photography: Experience is the mysterious, Borobudur & Yogyakarta Indonesia.
BOROBUDUR & YOGYAKARTA

© Gunther Deichmann - Borobudur Kodachrome
25
“The most
beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the
source of all true art and science.”
-
Einstein
It
was during the good old Kodachrome days when I
visited Borobudur in Indonesia.
While searching for some images the other day it all
came back to me…the good old days! Well the days
aren’t so bad either now, but my memory started to
flash in front of me again.
No
Photoshop and very BIG Computers them days… film was
it, period.
During my visit to Borobudur I observed the sun and
thought it be so nice if I could get the sun to break
just through the openings of the stupas…so I waited.
Patience paid of and I managed to squeeze in just a
few frames, bracketing the exposure as much as
possible and then? Ha, ha NO LCD screen either.

© Gunther Deichmann - Borobudur
Kodachrome 25
I
had to wait a few weeks before I got back to
Australia, send the film for processing to Melbourne
since Kodak was the only Lab who could process
Kodachrome at that time.
After the boxes of slides arrived I looked with
excitement for those images from Borobudur, once I
found them amongst all those others my grin was
brighter then the light table…remember no
Computer…well only those super large ones which
nobody could afford.
In short, this is the story about the image above.
(first one)
I am actually planning a Photo Workshop to
Yogyakarta, Borobudur and the near by Volcano. If you
interested please let me know, this one promise to be
very cool and affordable, I post the dates (2011)
once I finalized the details, so please stay tuned. I
guess this time around it will be all digital.

© Gunther Deichmann - Batik in Yogyakarta, Kodachrome
25
Now I am looking forward to yet another amazing
ancient structure this time in Siem Reap, Angkor Wat
and surrounding areas. Our Photo Workshop starts by
September 12 and includes Phnom Kulen and the mighty
Tonle Sap Lake.
Maybe
Mr. Einstein visited these places too, who knows but
he certainly has a point.
GD
Below some excepts from Wikipedia…for more go
to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur
Borobudur, or
Barabudur, is a 9th-century
Mahayana
Buddhist
monument
near
Magelang,
Central
Java, Indonesia.
The monument comprises six square platforms topped by
three circular platforms, and is decorated with
2,672 relief
panels and
504 Buddha
statues.
A main
dome, located at the center of the top platform, is
surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside
perforated stupa.
Borobudur is the biggest
Buddhist temple in the ninth century measuring 123 x
123 meters. It was completed centuries before Angkor
Wat in Kamboja.
All relief panels in Borobudur temple reflect
Buddha's teachings. For the reason, this temple
functions as educating medium for those who want to
learn Buddhism.
The
monument is both a shrine
to the
Lord
Buddha and a place for
Buddhist pilgrimage.
Borobudur a UNESCO
World
Heritage Site
Jogjakarta
City (also
Jogja,
Yogya,
Jogjakarta) is a city in the
Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia.
It is renowned as a center of classical
Javanese
fine art and
culture such as batik,
ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows.
Travel Photography Workshop: Cambodia September 2010. The Road less traveled... Siem Reap & beyond.
The Road less traveled...

© Gunther Deichmann - On
Mekong River Cambodia 1992
shot with Kodachrome 25 ASA
I
just finished the
Itinerary for the Journey after our Photo Workshop in
Siem Reap Cambodia, and for those who would like to
join, please contact me for more details as this trip
is only for a very limited number of participants.
Traveling by road and stops I have selected including
a couple days in Batambang with it's amazing Colonial
architecture, along the majestic Tonle Sap Lake
traveling south to Phnom Penh.

© Gunther Deichmann -
Cambodia 2009
Rickshaw in Phnom Penh

© Gunther Deichmann -
Cambodia 2009
By Ox Cart if weather permitting to the remote temple
of
Bantey Ampoeu (part of our Siem Reap Workshop)

© Gunther Deichmann -
Cambodia 2009
The remote temple of Bantey Ampoeu (part of our Siem
Reap Workshop)
The Long Road to Great Travel Photography, published in Asian Geographic Passport
"The Long Road to Great Travel Photography" the Magazine is available at Newsstands & Airports, you can also check out the pdf file @ http://www.deichmann-photo.com/publications.html
See below some quotes; you find
a lot more tips, information and other quotes in the
article.
"Don’t dwell on it if
you miss a great shot."
There are always plenty more opportunities around the
corner."
"Sometimes it is better to take home a memory than
the Photo.
Let the images come to you, instead of chasing the
images."
"Focus on your use of light and the composition.
Use your LCD preview as little as possible;
review your images at the end of the day."
GD
Join me on one of my Photo Workshops in Asia, for
more information and dates please go to
GD Photo Workshops and click this
LINK.
Mystical Asia: Multimedia presentation created with Aperture 3 slideshow, Motion & Garageband
Mystical
Asia QT 2:51min. - Best viewed in
Safari Browser
File size: Approx. 18MB - DSL Broadband connection
recommended.
I have been
flood out the past few days with Photography and
Aperture 3 workshops at the Power Mac Center at
Greenbelt 3 Makati. Tomorrow I have another session
the whole day at the University of the Philippines
Diliman sponsored by Power Mac Center Educational
Division, all this prior my departure for the US on
Tuesday.
But I promised on my last post that I share with you
yet another cool Multimedia Demo/Presentation and
here it is, "Mystical
Asia" a 2.56
min. QT file, using Photos from Thailand, Cambodia,
Laos, Burma (Myanmar) Nepal and Tibet.
I finished this demo only a few days ago, amazing
stuff you can create using a MacBook Pro and of
course the cool Aperture 3 slideshow with GarageBand
and my new "Girlfriend called Motion" from Final Cut
Studio.
Endless possibilities...with a touch of Motion your
Multimedia demos or presentations can look so
different and really come alive.
Now sit back and enjoy "Mystical
Asia".
Please
note the video is best viewed using your
Safari
Browser we experienced recently that in
Firefox some script codes appear underneath the QT
window, the video will still play correctly but it
looks a bit strange.
Hopefully this issue is disappear soon.
GD
Photo Workshop: Cambodia and beyond...last call for reservations
Cambodia
& beyond...last call for
reservations
We are getting very close to our
final bookings for our GD PhotoWorkshop in Cambodia
from the 12 to 18th of September 2010, we have only 3
more spaces available and our bookings will close by
July 25th.
For more info please go to:
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/gdphotoworkshop/page1/calendar.html
A complete Course outline is available up on request,
please email me and I send you the PDF file, thank
you.
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/contact/contact.php
GD
Exploring Mystical Cambodia, Multimedia presentation using Aperture 3, Motion & GarageBand
QT 1:46 min.
Mystical
Cambodia is a Journey into the past...created for my
GD Photo Workshops and my love for Cambodia.
Produced with Aperture 3, Motion from Final Cut
Studio and GarageBand. The short Video clip at the
end was taken with a Nikon D300s long after sunset
with very little light left. I created the soundtrack
for this project entirely in GarageBand which took
about 20 min.
You might noticed that I am using Aperture 3
slideshows with Motion lately, it is just an awesome
combination for Multimedia presentations, tutorials
or just for fun.
For info on my GD Photo Workshops please click
this LINK
Also on: Vimeo & YouTube
GD
Adventure Photo Workshops in Asia: Cambodia-Nepal & Philippines... discover the undiscovered with your digital camera
The
GD
Photo Workshops in Asia...
confirmed dates for Sept. & Oct.
Cambodia, Nepal & Philippines.

©
Gunther Deichmann - discover the
undiscovered in Cambodia
You
find we go beyond the normal tourist locations,
experience adventure with a touch of luxury in some
of the best destinations in Asia. Discover the
undiscovered with your digital camera.
Gunther has many years of experience in Cambodia and
Nepal, you explore places seldom visit by others.
Understand light and composition, meet new people and
immerse yourself in new cultures, getting the shot
right in the first place is the main objective in
these workshops. Learn how to see with your eyes and
using the camera only as a tool to capture the
ultimate image. Photoshop manipulation is not on the
agenda.
At the same time master the after the shoot workflow,
critique, tips, tricks and techniques, plus securing
your Photos with the implementation of a complete
back up system during our classroom sessions at the
Hotel.
The
workshops are for advanced amateurs who want to gain
insight into how to make better photographs for
editorial, stock sales or for personal satisfaction.
A digital SLR camera capable of capturing RAW images
is required. Students are encouraged to bring their
own laptop.
Students
will work in digital formats and for those with
experience on Mac Computers Gunther will guide you
through the understanding of Aperture. (including the
latest version 3.0.3) He will also teach basic
editing skills in Photoshop. Gunther is a certified
Apple Pro Trainer for Aperture and has years of hands
on knowledge using Photoshop as a photography tool.
For more info go
to:
Cambodia, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh
PHOTO WORKSHOP in September 12 - 18, 2010
Final bookings must be made by latest 19th of
July
PACKAGE PRICE:
US $1,795.00 (airfare not included)
for more details please email us at
gdeichmann@mac.com
The price is inclusive of
the following:
-
7 days and 6 nights stay inclusive of accommodation bed and breakfast at a 5star Boutique Hotel (Siem Reap)
-
Ground transportation and guides including visit to the Tonle Sap lake
-
Bottled water will be provided throughout the excursions.
-
Heritage site permit fees.
-
(only 4 more slots available)
Full details and outline of course will be send to
you upon request.
Please
Note:
If you like to take part of the Phnom Penh extension
additional fees are applicable, this is in addition
to our Siem Reap 7 day Workshop and a great
opportunity for those who like to add some extra days
and explore/discover Phnom Penh and surrounding
areas. Pls. send us an email for more information for
the Phnom Penh extension.
7 days Angkor Wat and beyond...explore and discover
the hidden Khmer treasures,
please book this workshop early it is our most
popular one.
Read
what students had to say from our previous Photo
Workshops in Cambodia
& India.

©
Gunther Deichmann - ancient Temples
& ritual Cambodia

©
Gunther Deichmann - Siem Reap
Cambodia
October 14 - 21, 2010
Bookings close by 9th of August.
Only
4 spaces remaining!
Nepal,
Kathmandu
A
7 day Journey into Nepal, final itinerary yet to be
finalized, please stay tuned for more info very soon.
Shortly we announce the price and upon request we
provide you with a detailed Itinerary and Course
outline.

© Gunther Deichmann - Sadhu Nepal

©
Gunther Deichmann - Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu,
Nepal
Oct. 29 -Nov01, 2010
Bookings close by 31st of August.
PHOTOGRAPHY
LESSONS IN PALAWAN:
Learn from the Pro. in cooperation with
Power Mac Center Manila
Philippines.
Four days of fun and learning travel
photography..exploring nature's beauty in Palawan
Target: Amateurs and semi-pro (max 8 participants)
please book this one early.
Peso 12,000
(does not include Hotel and accommodation charges
yet)
Philippines
only! Course outline soon to be announced.
For registration:
workshops@powermaccenter.com

©
Gunther Deichmann -perfect camouflaged Monitor Lizard
cooling of in the lagoon on Dimakya Island Palawan,
Philippines

©
Gunther Deichmann - Flying Fox, - Fruit Bats
on Dimakya Island Palawan,
Philippines
Hope to see you on one of our GD Photo Workshops,
GD
Aperture 3 Essentials & basic Photography course at Power Mac Center, Makati Philippines
Aperture
3 essentials & basic Photography,
using your camera and understanding the
work-flow after the shoot.
July 23-25
Doing it right from the start and
avoiding problems later, using your camera and
Aperture 3 is really not that complicated.
Switching from iPhoto to Aperture 3 the easy way,
organizing all your photos the correct way, create
Aperture 3 slideshows, import and edit video (movies)
in Aperture 3.
Correct your photos the professional way without the
use of Photoshop, export your photos to Facebook with
a click of the button...plus tips, tricks and
techniques on photography.
This course
is for amateurs and semi
pros.
Course fee: Peso 8,500.00 per participant for 3 days
1 to 4 PM except on the last day there is an
additional 1 hour (1 to 5 PM)
For details: www.powermaccenter.com
For registration: workshops@powermaccenter.com
See a basic course outline below:
Day
1. Short
introduction and presentation on basic photography
3:00
hours.
Lecture on your camera and problems you’re facing
How to use your equipment and make the most out off
it, hands on and learning the basics.
E.g. basic operation of your camera the a-b-c. tips
and tricks.
Short walk around Greenbelt 3 with GD using your
camera in the field.
Setting up your computer for Photography and
uploading images.
A.
The first upload to the computer using Aperture 3 or
iPhoto ’09
Basic lessons on digital photography.
Q&A
Day
2.
3
hours
Another short walk in Greenbelt with GD implementing
the lessons from day one.
Hands on and advise including some critique after the
shoot and upload of images.
B.
The digital workflow after the shoot, Aperture 3 or
iPhoto more advanced training,
plus backing up your images the correct way.
Q&A
Day
3.
4
hours
Final lessons learned and discussion, plus more tips,
tricks and techniques from GD on Photography.
Participants go out alone for about 30 minutes and
shoot some simple assignments given by GD.
After they return evaluation and lessons learned,
final editing and fine-tuning with Aperture 3 or
iPhoto.
What to do with your photos after the final shoot and
edit;
integration on the Mac e.g. creating slideshows,
presentations with iWork etc,.
Q&A
Photography: Soccer fever in Manila Philippines? From the car window...
Soccer
fever in Manila, Philippines?

©
Gunther Deichmann - from the car window, street
vendor
selling soccer balls near Makati. Leica D-Lux 4
Today on my way to Makati this happy street vendor
came up to my Taxi window trying to sell me a soccer
ball, I can't recall seen a street vendor selling
soccer balls. Must be connected to all the action in
South Africa at the World Cup.
GD
Photography & Environment: Life & death of a Turtle, Aperture 3 slide show with Motion & GarageBand
"The life & death of a Turtle" QT 00:50 sec.
During my recent trip to Palawan in the Philippines I saw young Turtles released by the Dugong Dive Center's & Club Paradise
Turtle Protection Program, on Dimakya Island, but I also saw a dead Turtle on one of my boat trips.
A sad sight...and you might say... it's the cycle of life, but in many cases Turtles die from eating Plastic Bags. They mistake plastic for jelly fish one of their natural food sources and choke on them. Only recently another dead Turtle in the area had been examined and cause of dead was due to plastic, found in the stomach content.
A stark reminder that we should not trow any plastic bags or other plastic items into our precious ocean, we should stop all together using plastic bags, hence the reason for this short message and video clip today.
Not to mention all the oil which is spilling and killing our marine life right now in the US.
Created with Aperture 3 slide show, Motion and GarageBand. (Video footage from the Nikon D300s) Except for the Jellyfish and the large Turtle underwater all other video footage and the floating dead turtle were taken in Palawan during my trip... a sad but true story.
GD
Also on:
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TIMEJOURNEY#p/a/u/0/zhoDzQArMSo
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/12821359
Photography: Guess who came for dinner…a fish tale from Palawan, Philippines
Guess who
came for dinner...

© Gunther Deichmann - El Rio y Mar
dinner
time...
As
promised here is the photo from my last day at El Rio
y Mar…amazing this Lion fish arrived just in time for
dinner.
If you read Part 3 from my recent Palawan trip then
you might remember I was talking about my last night
and dinner at the pier at El Rio y
Mar.
Our group was sitting at the dining table at the end
of the pier when suddenly one of the staff caught my
attention. He was pointing at the steps at the end of
the pier, so I walked over to him and to my amaze
there was this Lion fish cruising around.

© Gunther Deichmann –
almost like a painting... a Lion fish.
No need for Photoshop…
Nature provides all the texture and colors.
Maybe attracted by the light, or was he going to join
us for dinner…we never know.
I instantly grabbed my camera, which was parked on
the dining table only a few meters away.
To get more light onto this fellow I used the build
in flash on my Nikon D700 this time…wow the light and
the texture of the steps created this cool abstract
image of a Lion fish.

© Gunther Deichmann –
even he was not invited
I am so glad he dropped by.
What else can I say…never leave your camera behind,
even if you have dinner with your friends.
BTW…there is some cool muck diving at
El Rio y Mar
and the
Dugong Dive Center has a Dive
Center right at the resort.
However
in my case there was no need to take the plunge…the
fish came “right to me,” or did he came for dinner?
GD
Nature & Travel Photography: Part 3 Jurassic Park? The Monsoon has arrived...nature & the weather, Palawan Philippines
Dramatic
skies, enchanting colors…
a tropical kaleidoscope.

© Gunther
Deichmann - view from the Pier at
El Rio y
Mar,
Palawan Philippines
Oh…
how I love this time of the year, the monsoon has
finally arrived cooling things down a bit, a good
time for some different photography.

© Gunther Deichmann -
sunrise on the way to Calauit Island
Palawan Philippines
It started all on my last day on Dimakya
Island, storm clouds rolled
overhead, the first rain for this season had
arrived. The day before on my way to Calauit
Island we had painted skies at sunrise, an
indication that things where about to change,
great I thought.
You might think oh no…this bad weather is going to
ruin everything…actually not, it is the other way
around, well at least for me I just love this time of
the year.
The ocean is so calm but the colors can be
spectacular and lets face it we do need water,
natures gift to man.

© Gunther Deichmann - near Club
Paradise,
Palawan Philippines
© Gunther Deichmann -
the Monsoon has arrived
Palawan Philippines
I said goodbye to Club Paradise
and all those
great people who made my stay so awesome, Dirk
Fahrenbach from Dugong Dive Center
and Juergen
Warnke joined me for a short 20 min. boat ride to
El Rio y Mar…which is just “around the corner.”

© Gunther Deichmann -
arriving at El Rio y Mar,
Palawan Philippines
After my arrival I settled into my quarters (wow,
these are very cool cottages) and had my usual cup of
coffee first. Then I wondered around the Resort area
which is nested in super healthy Mangroves, nature...
again all around me.

© Gunther Deichmann -
my home... sadly my stay was just to
short but I shall return. El Rio y Mar Palawan
Philippines

© Gunther Deichmann - very healthy Mangroves just
behind my
cottage during a tropical rain
shower
Red Mangrove: Flowers of the red
mangrove are fertilized and begin to develop.
The propagule or seedling, does not drop from the
tree immediately, but continues to grow in
place. If there are no storms or other
disturbances, the red mangrove seedling and its
companions can advance the shoreline as they
stabilize the soils beneath them. In nature
however, storms tend to keep the system in
balance.


© Gunther Deichmann - Human cutting of
mangroves can cause severe erosion problems during
major storms or tsunami. Mangroves are also a very
important breeding ground for fish and other marine
critters. Palawan has some very healthy Mangrove
forest along its coastline.
I took it easy the first few hours, besides it was
Sunday and now1:00 PM not a very good time to shoot
anyway.
Then of a sudden... at 3:00PM all hell broke loose
with a great tropical downpour, fantastic I thought,
grabbed the umbrella and started to work at the
Mangroves.

After about 45 minutes it was all over, the sky
cleared up nicely with the clouds disappearing in the
distance.
I went around the place and took some Photos of the
Resort and at sunset I spotted this amazing dark
cloud on the horizon in the bay. (see first photo
above) Another wow left my lips before it went to
dark and I got ready for our dinner at the pier.

© Gunther Deichmann - a cool night in tropical
Paradise
El Rio y
Mar, Palawan,
Philippines
By now it was 7:00 PM and I thought…well that is it
for today but then the big surprise…sorry folks you
have to wait for this one…I promises in a couple of
days you get to see it. My suspense again...
Unfortunately I could only stay one day in
El Rio y Mar
before
hitting back to Manila, oh how I wished I could
had extended my stay, but I shall return, a
promise I will keep.
It was amazing how many photos I managed to take in
such a short time, these are only a few on today’s
post.
To top it all off, the image below was taken just 3
hours prior my departure, just after breakfast near
the swimming pool area.

© Gunther Deichmann -
Brown-throated Sunbird near the pool
area at El Rio y
Mar, Palawan,
Philippines
One
thing is for sure if you travel to Palawan in the
Philippines nature is all around you…as they say, it
is the Philippines last frontier, but for me it is
the lost Paradise or plain and simple Jurassic Park.
GD
News: Switching from PC to Mac had been long overdue for these two...
From Jurassic
Park to the Future...
It was a big day yesterday for Juergen Warnke
Chairman of Club Paradise
and
El Rio y
Mar...he decided to make the
switch from PC to Mac. During my recent visit in
Palawan I had a lot of chats with Juergen about
the efficiency on the Mac and a week later we went
together to the Power Mac Center
to check out
the units.

Juergen Warnke is all
smiles at the Power Mac Center
Greenbelt 3 during his first test drive.
Being a Business man who travels a lot Juergen
decided on the new Mac Book Pro 13 inch, I certainly
going to help him with the initial setup and get him
up and running in no time. He is also looking into an
additional iMac for the Resort and a Cinema Screen
for his office, the perfect combination. He now has
all the Battery Power on the road and the luxury for
the office.
After we left the Power Mac Center
we switched
for a Glass of Wine at my favorite
Wine Bar the "Cave"
and just in
time for the World Cup Soccer game between
Switzerland and Spain. Wow the win by the Swiss
over Spain was just awesome.

Happy
Switchers...Othmar Frei and Juergen Warnke at
the
Cave Wine Bar
at
Werdenberg in Yakal street
Makati.
Othmar Frei the GM of Werdenberg
Corp. a good friend who
switched also just recently to a Mac greeted us,
it was only a couple of weeks ago that we both
went to the Power Mac Center to get his Mac Book
Pro i7.
So there you have it, two new-bees and happy
switchers. Othmar I ask, how is your new Mac? Oh boy
I should have made the switch a lot earlier, it is
just so cool...just love it. Great... after that we
had a few Glasses of wine and watched the soccer
game.
Tomorrow I continue with my adventures from
Palawan... "and then came the rain"...but that should
never stop you from taken photos...almost like making
the switch from a Pc to a Mac...it is never to late.
Until tomorrow,
GD
Nature & Travel Photography: Part 2 Jurassic Park? No...endemic wildlife in Palawan Philippines
Part
2...endemic
wildlife has its home on
Dimakya Island, Palawan Philippines

© Gunther Deichmann -
at sunset Fruit Bats from the
second colony take off into the sky.
The
endemic wildlife of Palawan is just so amazing…and
you don’t have to venture very far to encounter
Birds, Anteaters, Porcupines, Deer, Lizards and
Turtles you just need a little patience “walk and
talk” quietly and you find them on
Dimakya Island
Home of Club
Paradise.
Note: All images have been processed using Aperture 3
using only RAW file image adjustments and cropping.
No manipulation in Photoshop.

© Gunther Deichmann -
my home for four days...Club
Paradise,
Palawan Philippines
We all know that the
diving is just so amazing in
this area, from shipwrecks to an unspoiled
immaculate
house reef
right in
front of your cottages. Where Turtles roam
and
Dugongs feed
on the
adjourning sea grass beds not to mention all those
critters and tropical fish on the reef. A paradise
for underwater Photographers.
However as mention before in Part 1, on my recent
trip to Palawan I concentrated on the wildlife above
the waves where another paradise was waiting for me…

© Gunther Deichmann -
The Brown-throated
Sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis), also
known as the Plain-throated
Sunbird, is a species of
bird
in the
Nectariniidae
family. It is found
in a wide range of semi-open habitats in
south-east
Asia, ranging from
Myanmar
to the
Lesser
Sundas and west
Philippines
My second and third day on
the island was blessed with encounters of Herons,
Pigeons, Calamine Deer and of course the ever
presence of Flying foxes — or Fruit Bats, but this
time from a different colony at the other end of the
island. (see the photo above)


© Gunther Deichmann -
luck was on my side when I wondered through the
Resort, when I spotted these Herons right next to one
of the Buildings. Entertaining me for a few moments
before they took off in the undergrowth.
Rufous Night-Heron (Nycticorax
caledonicus). The Rufous
Night-Heron hunts for food during night time. They
primarily eat small fish, crustaceans, frogs, aquatic
insects, and small mammals. They live near bodies of
water such as rivers, streams, marshes, seas and
lagoons. They fly at dusk to their feeding ground
producing a "kwok" sound.
Rufous Night-Heron can be easily identified if it's
young or mature because of its distinct color. The
juvenile changes its color from spotted and streaked
brown into plain brown with a black cap on top of its
head when it becomes an adult.

© Gunther Deichmann - I
spotted this CALAMIAN DEER close to
the natural lagoon
Dimakya Island on my second day, just a
minute stroll from my cottage.
CALAMIAN DEER (Axis
calamianesis). The Calamian Deer
is also known as the "hog deer". The name "hog deer"
arises from its habit of crashing through the
undergrowth with its head down like a pig, rather
than leaping over obstacles as other deer do. Hog
deer are heavy-set and compact, standing only about
28" high at the shoulder.
Calamian Deer is an endemic species restricted in the
Palawan Faunal Region and is considered endangered by
the World Conservation Union (IUCN). They are found
in the Calamianes Islands, Northern Palawan. Axis
deer in general take readily to water and are said to
be good swimmers. They are predominantly grazers, and
they eat also fallen flowers and fruits of forest
trees.
Of course my stay was way to
short to capture all the endemic species like the
Scaly Anteater or Pangolin, some of the Owls (I
certainly heard them at night) and many other Bird
species. I guess I have to make another trip and
catch up with some of the other animals that have
eluded me on this visit.
I also traveled to Calauit the famous Island with its
African introduced species, but my report from this
part of Palawan has to wait a bit, lets just
concentrate on some of the Philippine endemic
wildlife first.

© Gunther Deichmann - this
photograph was taken on Calauit Island during my
recent visit to Palawan. Deforestation has greatly
reduced its numbers and the Philippine Bearcat is on
the endangered species list
The Binturong
(Arctictis
binturong), also known as the
Asian
Bearcat, the Palawan
Bearcat, or simply the
Bearcat,
is a species of the family Viverridae,
which includes the civets
and
genets.
It is the only
member of its genus.
The binturong is neither a bear
nor a
cat,
and the real meaning of the original name has been
lost, as the local language that gave it that name is
now extinct.
Its
natural habitat
is in trees
of forest
canopy in rainforest.
It is nocturnal
and sleeps on
branches. It eats primarily fruit, but also has been
known to eat eggs,
shoots, leaves, and small animals, such
as rodents
or birds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binturong

© Gunther Deichmann - photo of
Palawan Porcupine was taken on Calauit Island during
my recent visit to Palawan.
The Philippine
Porcupine (Hystrix pumila), or
the Indonesian
Porcupine or the Palawan
Porcupine, is a species
of
rodent
in the
Hystricidae
family (Old World
porcupines). It is endemic
to the island
of Palawan
in the
Philippines.
Common Name: PALAWAN PORCUPINE Scientific Name:
Hystrix pumila Local Name: Durian / Landak
Conservation Status: Apparently stable, but these
species are reported to be persecuted by farmers as
pests in coconut plantations.A locally common to
uncommon species found in primary and secondary
forest in the mountains and in the lowlands.
This species also prefer caves, but are commonly
found under tree buttresses or in rock crevices.It is
an endemic species restricted in the Palawan Faunal
Region. It has been recorded in the islands of
Busuanga, Calauit, Coron, and on the Mainland at the
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, and
the forested areas of El Nido.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Porcupine
For the 3rd part I share with you some
of the cool cloud formations, sunrise & sunsets
that occur this time of the year…the onset of the
monsoon and my favorite travel time, so please stay
tuned for Part 3.
Just one
more...
jumping with joy in Paradise.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Club Paradise,
Palawan Philippines
Please
Note: A
Photo Workshop in Paradise - Oct
29-Nov 1
PHOTOGRAPHY LESSONS IN PALAWAN: Learn from the Pro.
in conjunction with the Power Mac
Center
Four days of fun and learning travel
photography..exploring nature's beauty in Palawan
Amateurs and semi-pro (max 8 participants) please
book this one early.
For more info pls. contact:
Email:
workshops@powermaccenter.com
tutorial@powermaccenter.com
2/L Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center Paseo de Roxas Avenue,
Makati City, Philippines
Tel: 7297087
3/L TriNoma, Edsa
cor North Ave. Quezon City
Tel:
9013981
For other Workshops in 2010 plus
Cambodia and Nepal please go to:
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/gdphotoworkshop/page1/calendar.html
Nature & Travel Photography: Jurassic Park? Well, almost at Club Paradise in Palawan Philippines - Part 1
Jurassic Park?
No...
Club Paradise
Palawan Philippines -
Part 1

©
Gunther Deichmann - like... Jurassic Park..."Flying
Foxes"
Fruit Bats & a Heron on
Dimakya Island
Part 1:
All
Photographs on this Blog Post taken the very first
day (actually half a day, I arrived about 11:00 AM)
on Dimakya Island
Watch out for part 2 & 3 more nature and
interesting animals soon to follow on my Blog...plus
a cool marine creature taken during our dinner at the
Pier of
El Rio y
Mar...ha,
ha my suspense again. Don't you love it!
I
returned
last night from Palawan the last Frontier in the
Philippines...Nature at its best. The past week my
Blog posts have been very thin and I didn't bring my
MacBook Pro this time either...just the cameras and
plenty CF Cards.
I knew if I had brought my Laptop the nights would
have been very long, spending hours sorting the
photos on Aperture 3 and having non or very little
time for my good buddy Dirk Fahrenbach, plus Juergen
Warnke was on the Island too this time.
Spending quality time with friends in "Jurassic Park"
for a change...plus Aperture 3 worked so well that I
am almost done with the editing the day after my
return.
I left Manila on a Cebu Pacific flight to Busuanga
and after about 50 minutes arrived at the new
Busuanga Airport, wow things have really changed
since my last visit here. I had been to Club Paradise
before but that was many moons ago, so it was
interesting to find out what changes had taken place
besides the new airport. After a short jeepney ride I
boarded the Boat from Club Paradise for Dimakya
Island.

© Gunther Deichmann - arrived on Dimakya Island Home
of
Club Paradise & Dugong Dive Center
Palawan, Philippines
Located on Dimakya Island and also the Home of my
good friend Dirk Fahrenbach from
Dugong Dive
Center. Dimakya
Island undoubtedly one of Asia’s Eden, the
Philippine’s Last Frontier and the Calamianes
group of Islands is perhaps one of the world's
best-kept secrets among travel destinations and at
the same time the Home of
Club
Paradise.
The Resort had also undergone some facilities changes
including a Spa and the Dugong Dive Center is
offering now some
Liveaboards trips
to
APO Reef and
other areas.
The islands house reef is world famous for its marine
life and is frequently visited by Dugongs, as a
matter of fact this season has seen a record number
of these amazing animals right in front of the
Resort... a divers paradise without a doubt.
Within few minutes of my arrival I spotted the Flying
Foxes having the their usual midday rest...hanging
upside down in the trees right next to the Resort. Oh
this is great!
I checked into my cottage located right on the beach,
changed into something more comfortable before
setting off for a little exploratory walk with Dirk
to the other side of the Island...but first we had a
nice cup of coffee and a good chat...
Dirk...GD...
some diving too? Absolutely NOT! What? Are you sick?
No... I am going to have some fun running around in
the Jungle and heat finding these other creatures
almost everybody seems to forget about.
...there are plenty great shots of Dugongs and marine
critters by good Underwater Photographers already,
besides our good friend and excellent underwater
photographer
Tony Wu
is going to visit you next year anyway and he is
getting all those great underwater shots. As for
me... I am getting sweaty and dirty trying to find
some endemic animals on this beautiful island.
Dirk...GD you're crazy...yep I know!
Ok.,OK...but may be in a couple of days Dirk
commented with a grin... sorry Buddy not this time.
However in the evening I am having a couple of drinks
with you. Dirk...I don't believe it....you left your
computer at home...yes my friend, otherwise no drinks
later...Dirk...oh I get it now...!

©
Gunther Deichmann - A Monitor Lizard cooling off in
the Lagoon on the Island, he was my very first
encounter on day one. I followed him around for about
2 hours trying to get the perfect shot of him in his
natural environment.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Abstract reflections of nature in
the lagoon. A natural attractant to wetland
inhabitants and visitors, thus, wildlife around the
lagoon area (such as herons, bulbuls and kingfishers)
continues to inhabit the island. The climax
vegetation and the hills are also preserved in their
natural state. These areas provide habitat to other
birds which area displaced in the
flatlands.

© Gunther Deichmann - Just one more my "friendly" but
very shy
Monitor Lizard in the Lagoon on the
Island

©
Gunther Deichmann - my lucky day... the Dugong Dive
Center still had some hatchlings before their
release, a great opportunity for me to get some shots
at sunset.The Turtle protection program on the island
is a joint effort between the staff and management
from Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center
http://www.dugongdivecenter.com/turtle_program.html
The resort has engaged in an active tagging program
for marine turtles to study their habitat range. From
February to October 1991, 12 marine turtles were
tagged using the markers from Pawikan Conservation
Project of the DENR.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Painted Sky - the end of day
one...& what a day it was in Paradise.
A few more days and more exotic nature will follow,
so please stay tuned for
Part 2 and 3.
Before I am signing off today, (only today, plenty to
come yet) a special thanks to all the staff and
Management at Club Paradise & El Rio y Mar and of
course to Dirk Fahrenbach and his staff from Dugong
Dive Center.
Until soon...Save
and Protect our Environment!
GD
Apple Mac: Power Mac Center Redefined Greenbelt 3 Makati, Philippines, it was Party Time...
Power Mac Center Redefined...
Party Time in Greenbelt 3 Makati
Open
for Business again...but so redefined... the awesome
newly renovated Power Mac Center in Greenbelt 3
Makati Manila Philippines.

Philippine
All-Stars @ Power Mac Center
Greenbelt 3 Makati, Manila
It all started on Thursday the 27th of May 2010,
after undergoing some major renovation the past few
months PMC open its doors again with a big Bang,
attended by celebrities, personalities and Press it
was certainly a party to remember not to mention the
great food and drinks.
Apple representatives from Singapore attended plus
some "Super Heros" where walking the floor. Well,
that was day one...the celebration continuous with
yesterdays appearance of the famous Philippine
All-Stars cool music and lots of fun.
If you need a new Mac, iPod Touch or what ever your
heart desires drop in to this truly amazing...awesome
new PMC and avail of up to 15% discount which is
still available until Sunday. My good friend Luis
Harder and Photographer did just that yesterday,
walking out of the door with a new iPod Touch for his
wife and a cool iMac for his office.
But there is so much more...ongoing Tutorial for
GarageBand, Aperture 3 and other Apple applications
check out the schedules and dates at PMC.

A
cool new Classroom... and the nice redefined 1 on 1
tutorial room are now open...as a matter of fact we
have an Aperture 3 Introduction on Sunday the 30th
from 6 to...? Lets see, we might just make this one a
bit longer, please drop by and join me and find out
what Aperture 3 is all about.
http://powermaccenter.com/services/training/learning_series
Todays Photos are from the last few days...however I
am working on a nice fast slideshow from the event as
well and we post this one later, of course it will be
created using Aperture 3 and GarageBand, so please
stay tuned.

Congratulations
to the Staff and Management of the Power Mac Center
not only for providing Manila with such a great store
but for a super event.
The
PMC is certainly redefined!
http://powermaccenter.com/stores
GD
Aperture 3 Slide show demo including Motion from Final Cut Studio & GarageBand...endless possibilities
Aperture 3 Slide show including
Motion from
Final Cut Studio & GarageBand.
Multi Media Demo only. "Faces" from Nepal - using Aperture 3, Motion
& GarageBand approx. 1: 10 min.
Pls. Note: Color and brightness might vary on different screens
Also on Vimeo & YouTube
Incorporating Motion from Final Cut
Studio into an Aperture 3 Slide Show is giving us
some cool possibilities. I created the Motion Clips
with Motion which is part of Final Cut Studio, very
nice as an intro and finish for your Aperture Slide
shows.
The sound (2 separate tracks) I previously created in
GarageBand and had them in my iTunes Library.
Like with everything else on a Mac a perfect
integration, when open Motion I had access to all my
Photos in my Aperture 3.0.3 Library and could have
also used my soundtracks, but in this exercise I
added the sound later in Aperture 3.0.3
It was real fun messing around with Motion and
creating this short demo, with endless possibilities
at your fingertips you can produce a nice and cool
looking Multi Media show using Aperture 3, Motion and
GarageBand.
GD
Travel Photography: PhotoShelter update…latest images from Nepal uploaded…now available in the Archives & Gallery.
Photographs - Nepal...
Travel through Culture & Time

Wow
it is done…just finished uploading the latest images
(high resolution) from Nepal from my recent trip in
Feb/March 2010.
Due to other commitments Nepal got a bit delayed, the
latest Photos from India have been on my PhotoShelter
Archives for some time.

© Gunther Deichmann - Sadhu Kathmandu Nepal
Feb./March 2010
© Gunther Deichmann - Sadhus Chest, Kathmandu
Nepal Feb./March 2010
Nepal: Amazing – bizarre – colorful – and ever so
strange, but at the same time very beautiful. Check
out the selected Images in my PhotoShelter Gallery,
of course there are a many more in the archives if
you can’t find what you’re looking for in the Gallery
just type in the Search box.

© Gunther Deichmann - Kopan Monastery Kathmandu
Nepal Feb./March
2010
© Gunther Deichmann
- Kopan Monastery Kathmandu
Nepal Feb./March
2010
Animal Sacrifice – Fossils –
People - Buddhist Temples & Monasteries – Monks –
Cremations - Hindu Ceremonies & the ever so
strange Sadhus from Kathmandu in Nepal “A true
Journey through Color, Culture & Time.”
Click this LINK or the Photos and
go direct to the latest from
Nepal.

© Gunther Deichmann -
Hmmm what is the Riot Police doing at
my doorstep?"Little Tibet" Kathmandu
Nepal Feb./March
2010
© Gunther Deichmann - Red and Yellow Kathmandu
Valley
Nepal Feb./March
2010
Non of the photographs have been manipulated, all
photos have been processed using a MacBook Pro i7 and
Aperture 3.0.3
The Photos on this Blog post are only a small taste
what is stored in my PhotoShelter Archives and
Galleries.
GD
Just one
more... and then
there was light.

© Gunther Deichmann -
amazing Sun-rays lasting only a few minutes and then
the light
was gone, from the top of the Monkey Temple
Kathmandu, Nepal Feb./March 2010
PhotoShelter
LINK
Travel Photography: Updated PhotoShelter…amazing, awesome, colorful and very chaotic Varanasi…India’s oldest city.
Amazing,
awesome, colorful and very chaotic
Varanasi…India’s oldest city.
"A
True Journey Through Color &
Time."

© Gunther Deichmann - performance of Ganges Aarti in
the early
evenings at the Riverbank on the Ganges,Varanasi,
India 2010

© Gunther Deichmann - Ganges Aarti Ceremony in the
early
evenings, Varanasi, India
2010
The
last Photos from my recent trip to India are now
residing in my
PhotoShelter
Archives,
well… almost all, I am still working my way
through the Nepal Photographs. Hopefully I am done
with them shortly too, but India is done, thanks
to Aperture 3 and a patient wife who let me work
without interruption these past few weeks so I can
finish my editing.

© Gunther Deichmann - there is a lot of Laundry
today...
at the Ganges Riverbank, Varanasi, India
2010
Varanasi
also commonly known as Benares or Banaras is a city
situated on the banks of the River Ganges in the
Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, regarded as holy by
Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains. It is one of the oldest
continuously inhabited cities in the world and
probably the oldest of India.

© Gunther Deichmann - hanging the Laundry...
Ganges River Varanasi, India
2010

© Gunther Deichmann - I just love those colors...
Varanasi, India 2010
Varanasi is one of the holiest places in Buddhism
too, being one of the four pilgrimage sites said to
have been designated by Gautama Buddha himself (the
others being Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya, and Lumbini). In
the residential neighborhood of Varanasi lies
Sarnath, the site of the deer park where Gautama
Buddha is said to have given his first sermon about
the basic principles of Buddhism.

© Gunther Deichmann - sunrise over the River Ganges
Varanasi, India 2010

© Gunther Deichmann - worshippers
bathing in the sacred waters
of the Ganges River, Varanasi, India 2010
Watching the sunrise over the mighty Ganges River and
observing the numerous rituals along the riverbank is
mesmerizing, where hundreds of worshippers can be
seen bathing in the sacred waters. The riverbanks are
lined with a chain of stone steps called Ghats,
stretching from one end of the city to the other.
Ghats are part of the religious landscape of this
city.
From
Varanasi we traveled by road to Lumbini in Nepal
(Buddha’s Birth Place) and then continued to
Kathmandu, a fantastic Journey through Culture and
Landscapes.
As mention above the Photos from Nepal will be
shortly available too in PhotoShelter, another week
and I am done with the editing. To view all the
photos from Varanasi and others from my recent trip
to India please go to my
PhotoShelter Gallery & click
this LINK.
GD
Just two more...photos
from the car window...
along the road from Varanasi to Lumbini in
Nepal, the Birth place of Lord
Buddha.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Rural area near Varanasi, India
2010

©
Gunther Deichmann - waiting for local transport in a
small rural town between Lumbini (Nepal) &
Varanasi, India 2010
My
PhotoShelter Archives & Galleries:
http://www.photoshelter.com/c/gdeichmann
See below excepts from Wikipedia on the Ganges Arati
Ceremony in Varanasi.
The purpose of performing arati is the waving of
lighted wicks before the deities in a spirit of
humility and gratitude, wherein faithful followers
become immersed in God's divine form. It symbolises
the five elements: 1) space (akash), 2) wind (vayu),
3) light (tej), 4) water (jal), and 5) earth
(pruthvi). Communal Aarti is performed in the mandir;
however, devotees also perform it in their homes.
To witness the performance of Ganges Aarti in the
early evenings is almost a must, provided you can
handle the immense crowd of people.
Hindu devotees performing the "Puja" with lighted
lamps. The view is very mesmerizing and the ambience
is spectacular in the backdrop of the beating of
cymbals and bells as well as the incessant chantings.
"
Aarti (from the Sanskrit term Aradhana) is a Hindu
ritual, in which light from wicks soaked in ghee
(purified butter) or camphor is offered to one or
more deities. Aartis also refer to the songs sung in
praise of the deity, when offering of lamps is being
offered.
Read
more @
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarti
Late News: Updated Home Page with new photo selection from Nepal
Home Page
updated with Nepal...

Go to the Home Page...click the
Image above
Only
minutes ago we updated my Main Home Page Gallery with
Nepal, if you can spare a moment why don't you have a
look.
You might have to refresh your Browser to update the
Photos, by next week the complete collection (only a
few at the moment) on Nepal and Kathmandu will be
uploaded on my Photoshelter Archive & viewable in
the Gallery.
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/
PhotoShelter update...just uploaded additional Photos from India 2010
More NEW
Photos in my
PhotoShelter Archive & Gallery

©
Gunther Deichmann - a very cool & colorful look,
Elephant during
the Elephant Festival in Jaipur Rajasthan
Feb.2010
News...I
have just updated again my PhotoShelter Archives with
some additional Photographs from India 2010, more
images from Varanasi in India and Nepal by latest
next week.
View the photos & click this
LINK or the
Images.

©
Gunther Deichmann - the night before the Holi
Festival, spectacular
Bon fires are lit all over the city, Jaipur Rajasthan
Feb. 2010
Photography & Aperture 3: People...Colors & Expressions from India & Nepal - "Small Taste of the Latest"
A Journey
through endless
Colors & Expressions - India &
Nepal...

© Gunther Deichmann - "Old Delhi" - New Delhi India
Click on this LINK or the Photo
above & go direct to the NEW
Photos
Please Note: If you don't see the India and Nepal
images you might
have to refresh your Browser, previous Photos where
from Cambodia.
Going
through some 15,000 photos can be quiet a task even
for Aperture 3 but I am almost done now. I have
uploaded today only a small selection of Photos (50)
under the category "Small Taste of the
Latest" from India and Nepal.
I decided to use the theme; "People...Colors
& Expression" for this Gallery, other
images from Monasteries, People, Religion, Landscapes
and way of life, etc., will follow in my
PhotoShelter
Gallery soon.
All Photos have been processed with Aperture 3.0.2
including exporting and watermarking. This has been a
great trip all around from our Photo Workshop
experience in India and then to the edge of the
Himalayas in Nepal.
I might mention also that both of my Nikons the D700
and D300S performed without a glitch. If you're
interested to join me on one of my Photo Workshops
Adventure Travel with your Digital Camera, please
contact me or check out the Calendar dates for
2010 on my GD PhotoWorkshop site by clicking
this LINK.
I hope you enjoy this small selection of Photographs
from India and Nepal as I have enjoyed these two very
special and amazing places.
GD
Photography:The Students Work... Photographs from our India 2010 GD Photo Workshop
The Students
Work...
a Journey Through Incredible India

©
Gunther Deichmann - Incredible India, Elephant
Festival
in Jaipur Rajasthan March
2010
It
is done, I have uploaded the work from the students
in the Gallery 'The Students Work"
a selection
of six images each from their recent GD
PhotoWorkshop in India Feb./March 2010.
Note: If you don't see the
new images right away you might have to refresh your
Browser, please enjoy the Photos and refrain from
copying them, they are all protected by © copyright
to each individual Photographer.
Congratulations
to all participants for creating such nice Photos and
I am very proud of you all. India had been a tough
one from the chaotic streets in Old Delhi to the long
Journey in Rajasthan by Mini Bus.
Shooting from early morning until dusk then back to
our Hotels for a quick meal and shower, then we
started our work on our Computers, uploading the
images and working with Aperture 3 (except for two
who used Lightroom).
Feel free and read some of the comments in the
Testimonials
from some of
the participants.
Interesting everybody jumped into the cold water and
worked with Aperture 3 (installed on our first night
at the Hotel in Delhi)which was only released a few
days prior our departure for India. No one
encountered any problems and everything went real
smooth, even our Lightroom Guys where very impressed
with Aperture 3.
But now I rather let the images from the students do
the talking, everyone done an incredible Job under
sometimes very difficult circumstances. Thanks again
to all Participants & I hope to see you again one
of those days... happy shooting.
Please note: I have also updated my
Home Page
on my Main
Website and changed some Photos from
India in the Gallery
section.
In due time I am going to replace my Photos in the
Galley on my Blog called..."A Small Taste of the
Latest" with a new selection of
Photos from India and Nepal, currently it is still
Cambodia.
My special thanks to Shroff International
Travel for making the Journey to
India an enjoyable one.
GD
Adventure Travel Photography: Behind the Scenes...GD PhotoWorkshop in India, the fun images
Behind the Scene in
India...the fun images
from our last GD Photo Workshop.

© Gunther Deichmann - Behind the Scene...
Jaipur, Rajasthan India 2010
To view the photos you
can also click on the image
above.
I
just uploaded
the images from "Behind the Scene
India" into the Gallery all
taken during our last GD Photo Workshop
February/March 2010. The Image Gallery from
the Students work
will follow
sometime next next week.
The current Gallery "The Students Work" is still
active with Cambodia but will be replaced very soon
with nice Photos from the participants during our
last GD Photo Workshop in India. I am still waiting
for a few more images and we're done.
In the meantime enjoy the images Behind the
Scene from India; from the streets of New
Delhi, the Taj Mahal in Agra and Jaipur in Rajasthan.
Please
Note: If you click
the LINK
and you
see Photos from Cambodia you might have to refresh
your Browser to view this new and entertaining set
of images from India.
As soon I have the students work uploaded I let
everybody know, I am very proud of them, they did a
great Job and you get to see some excellent images
very soon.
Shortly I am going to share with you also some of my
images from India and Nepal, in my Gallery "Small
Taste of the Latest" and of course a much broader
selection will be available on my PhotoShelter
Gallery soon too. However I need a
bit more time, have to do a lot more fine tuning and
editing in Aperture 3 prior publishing those.
Enjoy "Behind the Scene from
India...
GD
Travel Photography & Aperture: 15000 images later…Test drive & road tested Aperture 3 in Nepal & India
15000
images later...Aperture 3

© Gunther Deichmann - Hand made paper production,
Kathmandu Nepal, March 2010
Three
days after the release of Aperture 3... I left for
Nepal and India starting a 4-week journey including
my Workshop in Rajasthan these are my honest and
first impression of Aperture 3.
I just got back 10 days ago and like to give you now
some serious feedback how Aperture 3
performed…straight out of the box.
You might ask, oh… that is a bit risky using this new
and not tested latest software for a major trip like
this
Not really, I have been using Aperture since day one,
made my Hardcover book Journey Through Color &
Time using Aperture 1.0 360 pages with tons of images
from scanned tiff’s to the very first digital ones.
So when Aperture 3 was released only days prior my
departure I felt confident in using the new release
without any hesitations.
I installed Aperture 3 almost on my way to the
airport, well almost some 48 hours prior my
departure, had a quick look and from then on I used
Aperture 3 shooting some 15,000 plus images.

© Gunther Deichmann - and there was light...
one of those moments... lasting only few minutes
Kathmandu, Nepal March 2010
Did I encountered some problems? Not really except
for one or two glitches which got fixed with a
Software update half way through my Journey, I
installed that one in New Delhi. (3.0.1) And now only
few days ago we received another super update,
Aperture 3.0.2
Let me describe some of the new features I used for
most of the time during my recent trip, they not only
impressed me but made my editing on the road so easy…
just awesome, sometimes pushing my MacBook Pro and
Aperture 3 to the limit.
- Switching between Library’s is a breeze, now I can have for e.g. a Library for different Countries or what ever I see fit at a click of the button. It was good timing with the new release of Aperture 3, I created a brand new Library for my recent trip (actually two, one for India and one for Nepal) but can always go back to my previous ones at a mouse click. (Note: you might have to reprocess your images if they had been previously processed in Aperture 2, but that is also not a big deal if you choose only one or two photos. If you like them all to be reprocessed then depending on how many images you have this could take some time) For me this is a great new feature when dealing with thousand s of images, less strain on your machine.
- I love the new Import panel with all its options to choose from, including creating a back up already during Import. Check it out and set up your import panel to suit your workflow.
- Seeing your adjustments when you use the all-new Quick Fix in new Preset panel is very cool. Very nice is also the quick adjustments for different light conditions, changing the White Balance to tungsten, flash, fluorescent , etc., very easy now. I used it under some mixed light conditions in Varanasi, India. Also easy access to the adjustment panel right next to the Preset panel. Plus creating your own presets is real awesome…I use my own for sharpening, tailor made now for my Camera models.
- Switching your Machine to 64 Bit at the start improves Apertures performance, the only drawback is that other software might not work and you have to go back to 32 Bit, but soon or later others will follow and make it compatible also for 64 Bit.
- I love the all-new full screen Browser, bringing your editing to another level and speed.
- I also noticed a vast improvement on the RAW conversion, an excellent improvement, less tweaking and time required for image corrections now. A real time saver.
- Due to my type of Photography I don’t use the new build in Faces so much, but the new Places has some real benefits in particular if you have a GPS unit attached to your Camera. On my trip I used my iPhone to record the info and later imported the data into Aperture 3. I guess now I have to get my GPS attachment to avoid this work-around.
- Wow…the "Z" Key, a very cool improvement changing your zoom capabilities from 100% up or down, then hitting Z again to go back to full screen, very nice touch.
- Oh these Curves…gorgeous Curves…now they have been added, something which I missed in previous versions.
- Of course the new color-coding is very handy and useful, I started to use it now during my fine-tuning and more precise editing.
- Very nice touch: More information is displayed above your Metadata panel (this info is only visible when you click on the Metadata Panel), see screenshot below.

- I use the activity Monitor a lot especially during export, again more information is now available.
- During my Photo workshop in India all participants installed Aperture 3 and after a short intro they where all up and running without any major problems…in other words the learning curve or upgrading from Aperture 2 to 3 is relatively easy.
- We had two Lightroom users in our Group, both of them where very impressed, as a matter of fact one of them has switched now to Aperture 3 and the other is following shortly.
- Now, if your SLR has a Video function look no further, Aperture 3 will import all your Videos, with or without sound and you can edit all of that right in Aperture 3 creating awesome slide shows/presentations on the fly without ever leaving Aperture 3. Once finished you have all the export functions at your fingertips. BTW... The new slide show is so slick with a lot more new additions.
I am working on a nice presentation right now and in
due time you get to see it on my Blog and You
Tube/Vimeo.
To top it off you can also get this magic frame from
your Video you might have missed in your still shot,
just select New JPEG from
frame and
you’re done. (see screenshot)

Using for demo purpose
a Video still from my iPhone
If you like to change the
music you have easy access to your iTunes Library and
you can import even previous Movies you have on file
into Aperture 3, creating some awesome looking
presentations mixing stills with videos. Yes, you
have that magic Media Browser at your fingertips in
Aperture 3.
Is that all? Oh no there is so much more… like, new
Brushes, Chromatic abrasions (our underwater
Photographers going to love this one) Flags, more
adjustment tools etc., etc. and in due time I
introduce them to you too.
I only mention some of the new features I used on my
recent trip and of course the others which have
always been part of Aperture.
The coolest part about Aperture is that you can
customize your workflow the way you like it or the
type of Photography you do, Aperture 3 has just
become even more flexible.
Shooting a lot of images like I have done on my last
trip, Aperture 3 performed just AWESOME!
Tip:
For those of you who have problems remembering some
short cuts, here is a tip how you can customize your
keyboard to suit you:
For example:
Commands with more than two or three keyboard
shortcuts are sometimes difficult to remember e.g.
like the Highlight Hot and Cold areas.
The
default: Option –
Shift – H
I use this one a lot, but on a bad day I sometimes
get mixed up with this short cut so I changed it
to S
How can you do this? Very easy…go to the top left
hand side click Aperture and after that you see the
drop down menu, click on Customize, a keyboard will
show. (see screenshot) now you can customize your
shortcuts like I have done with the Highlight Hot
& Cold Areas.

Aperture is very
customizable, it all depends on your need and type of
Photography.
In my next Post I introduce you to the behind the
scene images and a new Gallery with photos from the
participants which where taken during our recent GD
Photo Workshop in India.
Until soon,
GD
Adventure Travel with your Digital Camera...thank's for being part of the GD Photo Workshop in India
My
gratitude & thanks to all participants
for taken part in our recent completed
GD Photo Workshop in India.
© Gunther Deichmann - "The Group shot"
I
only got back a few
days ago, but today I like to take the opportunity to
thank all participants who joined my recent Photo
Workshop in India, at the same time I like to thank
also our fantastic Driver who took care of us where
ever we ventured, he made certain that our Journey
was a safe one.
Thanks also to our Guides at different locations from
New Delhi to Jaipur in Rajasthan. In the coming weeks
when I have received some images from the students I
post some of their photos on my GD PhotoWorkshop site
but also an Album again from behind the
scenes...there are some real funny ones.
Furthermore once I am done with my editing I create
another Album from my recent trip to India and Nepal,
which you're going to find soon under a
"Small Taste of the
Latest"... currently featured
Cambodia.
My gratitude to Shroff International
Travel for a superb Job, organizing
this difficult but rewarding Journey, thank you so
very much. More info about recommended Hotels and
accommodation from India and Nepal will also
follow soon.
Please stay tuned for much more in the next few
weeks...for other Aperture 3 Seminars
& Photo Workshops in 2010 please
click this LINK.
GD
© Gunther Deichmann - Mug shots during our
encounter in Jaipur with a street
Photographer using a 150 year old Camera
© Gunther Deichmann - Lots of fun on our first
day in old Delhi
Just one
more...thank you India!

© Gunther Deichmann - Varanasi, India
Aperture 3 & Travel Photography in Asia: Monastery colors in Nepal
Kopan Monastery
Kathmandu Nepal...

© Gunther Deichmann - large gathering of Buddhist
Monks
at the Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu Nepal
The Journey has come to an end...the
last Blog post from on the road, but more to come
when I am back in the Philippines. And don't forget
to check out the Calendar dates on my GD Photo
Workshop site, Introduction into
Aperture 3 plus some cool Aperture &
iLife '09 Seminars at the Power Mac Center
Manila.
For
questions and special requests, you can call
729-7087 or 88,
or email at:
training@powermaccenter.com
Learn
and see how Aperture 3 can help your workflow,
"15000 images later...working with Aperture 3 using
images from my last Journey"
March
19, 2010
Introduction to the all New Aperture
3
Power
Mac Center in TriNoma
Also
our GD Photo Workshop in Nepal during October 2010 is
filling up fast, only four (4) spots available,
please go to the GD PhotoWorkshop site for more info
@
October 15 - 22, 2010 (DATES
CONFIRMED)
"ACCEPTING RESERVATIONS
NOW”

© Gunther Deichmann - eyes that seem to follow
you...Kathmandu, Nepal
Now back to my post... Monastery
Colors in Nepal,one of my last visits in Kathmandu
was at the
Kopan Monastery a Tibetan Buddhist monastery near
Boudhanath, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal.

© Gunther Deichmann - a Monks office...
I
have always been fascinated by Tibetan Buddhism and
the Kopan Monastery was high on my list, today I like
to share with you a few images...colorful and graphic
& no manipulation has been applied in any way
using only at times the Quick Fix in Aperture 3.

© Gunther Deichmann - I Love Tibet!
Since I am still on the road I keep the text brief
and let the images speak for themselves.
Enjoy the "Monastery Colors"

© Gunther Deichmann - Monks Books
© Gunther Deichmann - gathering of Buddhist Monks
at the Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu Nepal
© Gunther Deichmann - Head gear
© Gunther Deichmann - the yellow table...
© Gunther Deichmann - Tibetan Tea pots
and Monks
© Gunther Deichmann - taken notes...
© Gunther Deichmann - blue reflections in oil lamps
© Gunther Deichmann - who open the door?
Just one
more...

© Gunther Deichmann - Pashmina Wool from Nepal
Excepts
from Wikipedia on Pashmina Wool:
The fiber is also known as pashm (Persian word for
Wool) or
pashmina
(Persian / Hindi word driven from Pashm) for its use
in the handmade shawls of Kashmir,
India.The
woolen shawls find written mention in Indian texts
between 3rd century BC and the 11th century
AD.
However, the founder of the cashmere wool industry is
traditionally held to be the 15th century ruler of
Kashmir, Zayn-ul-Abidin, who introduced weavers
from
Turkestan.
In the 18th
and early 19thcentury
Kashmir
(then called Cashmere by the English), had a thriving
industry producing shawls from goat down imported
from
Tibet
and
Tartary
through
Ladakh.
The down trade was controlled by treaties signed as a
result of previous wars.The shawls were introduced
into Western Europe when the General in Chief of
the
French campaign in Egypt
(1799-1802) sent one to Paris. The shawl's arrival is
said to have created an immediate sensation and plans
were put in place to start manufacturing the product
in France.
More at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashmere_wool
Until next time...GD
Aperture 3 & Travel Photography: One afternoon at the Bouddhanath Stupa, Kathmandu Nepal
An afternoon at
the
Bouddhanath
Stupa in Nepal

© Gunther Deichmann - Prayer Flags and Shadows
at the Bouddhanath Stupa in
Kathmandu Nepal
The Journey
is coming slowly to an end, 6 more days before I am
hitting back home, I have not written many Blogs
during this Journey one of the major factors been...I
have been very tiered spending long hours shooting
and some limitation with the internet connection.
© Gunther Deichmann - Cleaning oil lamps at the
at the Bouddhanath Stupa in
Kathmandu Nepal
I make up for it once I get back... over 15,000
images by now, Aperture 3 loaded straight out of the
Box before my trip performed absolutely flawless all
RAW images have been stored on my external Lacie
Drives as reference files. I encountered no problems
and my editing has become even faster now using the
new preset adjustment tools...Quick fixes takes care
of most issues.
We arrived in Kathmandu a couple of days ago and went
out this afternoon to visit one of the biggest Stupas
called Bouddhanath located in Little
Tibet,
when refugees entered Nepal from Tibet in the 1950s,
many decided to live around Bouddhanath.
A very special mention I have to give to our our
Guide Lil Tapa who has been a book of knowledge
together with a great personality and sense of humor,
thank you so much Lil! Everything this afternoon
reminded me so much of my time in Tibet in 2006 and I
sincerely hope for a free Tibet one day.
GD

© Gunther Deichmann - a lone Bird, Prayer Flags and
Shadows
at the Bouddhanath Stupa in
Kathmandu Nepal

© Gunther Deichmann - inside the Monastery
at the Bouddhanath Stupa in
Kathmandu Nepal
See below some excepts from Wikipedia:
Boudhanath
(Devnagari:
बौद्धनाथ)
(also called
Bouddhanath,
Bodhnath
or
Baudhanath
or the Khāsa
Caitya)
is one of the holiest
Buddhist
sites in
Kathmandu,
Nepal.
It is known as
Khāsti
by
Newars
as
Bauddha
or
Bodh-nāth
by modern speakers of
Nepali.[1]
Located about 11 km (7 miles) from the center
and northeastern outskirts of Kathmandu, the stupa's
massive
mandala
makes it one of the largest spherical
stupas
in Nepal.[2]
The Buddhist stupa of Boudhanath dominates the
skyline. The ancient Stupa is one of the largest in
the world. The influx of large populations of Tibetan
refugees from China has seen the construction of over
50 Tibetan
Gompas
(Monasteries)
around Boudhanath. As of
1979,
Boudhanath is a UNESCO
World
Heritage Site.
The Stupa is on the ancient trade route from Tibet
which enters the Kathmandu Valley by the village of
Sankhu in the northeast corner, passes by Boudnath
Stupa to the ancient and smaller stupa of Cā-bahī
(often called 'Little Boudnath'). It then turns
directly south, heading over the
Bagmati
river to
Patan
- thus bypassing the main city of Kathmandu (which
was a later foundation).[1]
Tibetan merchants have rested and offered prayers
here for many centuries. When refugees entered Nepal
from Tibet in the 1950s, many decided to live around
Bouddhanath. The Stupa is said to entomb the remains
of a
Kasyapa
sage venerable both to Buddhists and Hindus,
for more info go to:
Wikepedia
Travel Photography India: A brief encounter with Steve McCurry & cruising the Ganges
A morning on the
Ganges at Varanasi, India

© Gunther Deichmann - Sadhu, Varanasi
India
Thanks again to Jamie who has taken
the writing burden of me for the moment, our few days
in Varanasi have been very interesting to say the
least.
Strolling around the Banks of the Ganges yesterday
afternoon a very excited Bebet came running over to
me...hey GD do you you know who this guy is over
there? Oh man it is Steve McCurry! Well, why I am not
surprised...Steve does some Photo Workshops in India
and has travelled this part of the world a lot.
I said...wow cool and before we know we where
standing at the shorelines of the Ganges and having a
quick chat with Steve before we departed in different
wind direction doing what we all do best creating
images.
Thanks to Bebet insistency and before we parted ways
we had a quick photo taken of the three of us, indeed
a small world even for indian standards.
GD
A brief encounter with Steve Mc Curry, at the banks
of the Ganges
River in Varanasi India, March
2010
Gunther Deichmann - Steve McCurry - Bebet
Gaudinez,
Tomorrow we 're leaving via land to
our next destination Nepal with a stop over at
Lumbini,
located in Nepal and is considered the birthplace of
Gautam Buddha.,
after Lumbini we continue on to Kathmandu where we
spend another 5 days or so.

© Gunther Deichmann - Varanasi view from the
Ganges,
BTW...if you have not done so download the latest
Version of Aperture 3 (Version 3.01). I am getting
close to some 8000 images and Aperture has been
performing just fine, no major glitches. FYI...I am
working exclusive with Reference files stored on my
external Rugged Lacie 360 Gig Hard drive plus I am
using an identical hard drive for backup.
See below excerpts on Lumbini from Wikipedia:
Lumbini
is a
Buddhist
pilgrimage
site in the
Rupandehi
district of
Nepal,
near the
Indian
border. It is the place where Queen
Mayadevi
is said to have given birth to
Siddhartha
Gautama,
who as the
Buddha
Gautama
founded the
Buddhist
tradition.
The Buddha lived between roughly 563 and 483 BCE.
Lumbini is one of four magnets for pilgrimage that
sprang up in places pivotal to the life of the
Buddha, the others being at
Kushinagar,
Bodh
Gaya,
and
Sarnath.

© Gunther Deichmann -
Varanasi India
© Gunther Deichmann - early morning bathers Varanasi
India
Varanasi: Holy land of spiritual
rites and rituals, cultural and religious centre,
renowned learning hub, home to 4 universities and
centuries old architecture. Up till now, I’d always
secretly thought of Varanasi or ‘Benares’ as Florence
and Venice put together. Perhaps I was swayed when I
read that Mark Twain said: “Benares is older than
history, older than tradition, older even than legend
and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”
But Varanasi is no Venice. Nowhere else do I feel
able to say that that today is yesterday, tomorrow is
today, and yesterday will be tomorrow. (GD will say
that I’m tending towards the inclinations of becoming
a sadhu..). Like many places of worship, Varanasi has
given me great insight, but short of turning GD’s
photography blog into a book on metaphysical musings,
he has kindly asked me only to write of the essence
of our experience here so far. (and not with-holding
the fact that the tailor is also waiting for me to
try on my superbly handmade silk Indian Alibabá
pants: in all 10 colors!)
The highlight of our 3-day stay here was centered on
the famed River Ganges, which true to its good
standing is rich with daily rituals of life and
death, myth and legend.
© Gunther Deichmann - colors of Varanasi
India
We left the Radisson hotel promptly
at 5:30am this morning glad of the chill in the moist
air (the afternoon humidity accentuates the acid pong
of omnipresent urine) and arrived at the bank of the
river in less than 20mins. The driver was not a bit
surprised to be battling giant busloads of tourists
on the narrow dust-lined streets: We had passed the
harmonious phase of the lull before the storm, which
we were told was meant to crack at daybreak, when the
frenzy of yesterday takes place all over again.
There was already a flurry of activity as we edged
towards the bank of the Ganga: sadhus painting their
weathered faces into cracked mirrors, flower sellers
mulling about while mendicants braced themselves for
another day, and shop keepers literally shifting the
dust from one place to another with feather-dusters.
A shout and our boat arrived as a sudden scuffle
between two boys over a piece of naan bread begun.
Most of the out-of-towners like us were here to go
boating on the river at sunrise; with the only
difference being that GD had specifically requested a
motorized vessel instead of the usual row-boat, not
that there was any speed to the finish but riding
against the current was not going to be easy without
technology, even on holy waters.
© Gunther Deichmann - early morning bathers Varanasi
India
Taking in the length of the river,
GD was unruffled by the bustle (that’s cos he hadn’t
had his coffee yet! haha), while Bebet and I prepared
our cameras, all of us waiting for first light to
awake to a slice of river life and an abundance of
prayers. The silence was broken only by the motor’s
humming, GD’s occasional observation about the light,
Bebet’s anthropological reflections and one
particularly curious devotee, sashaying on a lone
rock a foot at a time and crooning at the top of his
lungs. Kumar our guide, explained that he was praying
for himself, for success and good health, to which I
thought: fair enough, at least he knew he didn’t have
the slightest prayer to make it to Bollywood, if that
was remotely on his wish list.
© Gunther Deichmann - cleaning the small temples
along the
Ganges in the morning, Varanasi India
© Gunther Deichmann - an early morning head shave in
Varanasi India
In no time the sun was
up and out. We clicked our cameras like drum beats in
symphony to the chattering motor. Throngs of men and
women were standing on the steps and bathing in the
river, soaping themselves and brushing their teeth
just a stone’s throw away from where some others were
squat, depositing their breakfast or dinners on the
starched soil. Naked children shivered on the banks
with frowns on their faces, uncertain whether this
was altogether fun or not. The townsfolk scrubbed
their laundry in the greenish waters and beat them
against the rocks. Women rung out their multi-colored
saris and draped them upon the ground. We noticed
others crouching higher up on the steps in the
distance shaping cow dung into flat patties to sun
bake them for later use. Yoga enthusiasts and sadhus
sat crossed-legged in meditation upon higher ground.
© Gunther Deichmann
- colors of Varanasi India
The sun continued her journey while
the people offered their prayers to the morning,
cleansing their minds and spirits along the holy
river until we arrived back to the ghat where we
begun our morning and disembarked. With one backward
glance at the blurred hubbub against the sandstone
walls I left the river Ganges with one thought: this
was yesterday and this is tomorrow.
Jamie
Travel Photography & GD PhotoWorkshop, the Incredible Colors of India
The
Incredible Colors of India...

© Gunther
Deichmann - Jaipur Rajasthan, India Feb.
2010
We
just arrived back in Delhi from Rajasthan and
Agra...now I am fighting with the connection and I am
very tiered, some of the Photo Workshop participants
have to catch the plane back home about right now,
they just had enough time for a quick shower in our
Hotel.
Hey we're going to miss you guys!
I am leaving with Jamie and Bebet tomorrow afternoon
for Varanasi and then overland back to Nepal, another
12 or so days to go before hitting back home.

© Gunther Deichmann - Jaipur Rajasthan, street vendor
selling
colorful powder, India Feb.
2010

© Gunther Deichmann -
Jaipur Rajasthan, India Feb.
2010
The colors of Incredible India; only a few images
today need to do a lot more editing when time
permits, but many more to come in due time, plus I
put up a nice Gallery when I am back home.

© Gunther Deichmann - Holi Festival Jaipur Rajasthan,
India Feb. 2010

© Gunther Deichmann - Holi Festival...the roads are
covered with
colorful powder,Jaipur Rajasthan, India Feb.
2010

© Gunther Deichmann - Jaipur Rajasthan, amazing
colors
during the Elephant festival India Feb.
2010

Gunther Deichmann - Jaipur Rajasthan, amazing colors
during the Elephant festival India Feb.
2010
In the next few days I have no internet connection
but try my best to stay in touch once I get to
Kathmandu in Nepal, until then enjoy the images.
GD
Travel Photography & Aperture 3: The first images from Nepal, Kathmandu Colors...
Bizarre
- Mysterious - Colorful & so amazing...
Kathmandu Nepal.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Buddhist Eyes...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010
I made it...
my first post since I left Manila...
I
am not going into many details today, I rather let
the images speak, only a few today a lot more when my
connection is good, lets see and wait. The worst
scenario... I have to do it when I get back home
after the 16th of March.
Arrived in New Delhi this afternoon after 4 days in
Kathmandu Nepal...a little sad that I had to leave
but I am going to be back there in about two weeks
after my PhotoWorkshop in India.

Contrast!
© Gunther Deichmann - Oh no...I did not set this one
up... I was getting ready to take a shot of this
unknown Guy with a Nikon taken notes when out of
nowhere this Sadhu appeared and stood right next to
him. Interesting, it seems that our fellow had to
Yawn and our Sadhu had his eyes closed...like trying
to put him to sleep. Well, that is sort off my
interpretation. Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010
Internet
connection is Ok now, and I am using the spare time
to write this long overdue post before all my
students arrive later tonight, tomorrow we're busy
exploring the old part of Delhi, the first part of
our Indian Journey.
Nepal was very cool (literally it was freezing in the
evenings and early morning). A lot more later on some
bizarre Animal sacrifice and Cremations along the
River... from the
colorful living to the colorful dead.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Sadhu
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010
A lot more soon from this amazing place in the
Himalayas called Nepal, with old tradition of Hindu
& Buddhism, as a matter of fact I be visiting the
Birth place of Buddha in about 10 days which is just
across the border from India in Nepal..."
The
Journey Through Color & Time"
continuos.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Eyes through red...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

©
Gunther Deichmann - The Wall...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

©
Gunther Deichmann - Bizarre... the Old & New.
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010
Now a little
about Aperture 3 from the road and straight out of
the Box pushing it in the past few days, no
complains... I can truly say Aperture 3 performed
super and I encountered no major problems after some
3000 images in 4 days. A lot more on Aperture 3 on
the road later...now I have to concentrate on my
students and show them around Incredible
India.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Sadhus blessing...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

©
Gunther Deichmann - Sadhu & blue...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

©
Gunther Deichmann - Coca Cola and Blue...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010
Just one
more...

©
Gunther Deichmann - The Spoon...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010
Once I am
back in Manila, I upload a new Photo Gallery with
some of the latest images from Nepal &
India...please have patience as this could take some
time, I have a few more weeks to shoot yet.
Enjoy the first taste from Kathmandu, please stay
tuned for a lot more...
GD
Adventure Travel Photography with Aperture 3: India & Nepal plus the GD Photo Workshop in Rajasthan
A new Journey
begins....

©
Gunther Deichmann - Incredible
India
In
a
few hours another Journey begins...leaving first for
Thailand and Nepal then to India for the start of
my GD
PhotoWorkshop.
Meeting
everybody in New Delhi before leaving for
Rajasthan to celebrate the Holi Festival. After
the Workshop back to Delhi, I then continue my
Journey to Varanasi one of the holiest places in
India and travel over land back to Nepal.
I try to update my Blogs as much as possible but that
depends on the internet connection and if I am not to
tired in the evenings.
I am all packed now, Aperture 3 is prepared and ready
for the Road show, I am really looking
forward to see my students in Delhi very soon for an
exciting Photo Workshop
in
Incredible India.

©
Gunther Deichmann - the colors of
India...
I
guess that is it for the time being, I try to report
along the way, but that depends on the connection.
Thanks to the staff
from Shroff International
Travel for making
all the arrangements, specially Arjun & Sheena
who have been fantastic.
GD
Aperture 3 & Travel Photography: Switching Library made easy now, perfect for shooting thousands of Photos

BTW...did
you know that when you start up Aperture 3 it is in
64 Bit? You might noticed the difference if you have
4 or more Gig of Ram installed. However there are
some issues when you work with previous installed
Plug-ins, but nothing to worry Aperture 3 makes it
easy.
Most of the plug-in if not all at the moment work
only in 32 Bit and if you like to use them you have
to restart Aperture 3, click on the image you like to
edit (in my case I use the Noise Ninja Plug-in) click
on the right mouse button, a small drop down menu
appears and you see edit with Plug-in (32 bit) this
will restart you Aperture 3 in 32 bit mode and stays
like that until you close Aperture 3. Once you open
Aperture 3 again you're back to your 64bit.
In a few days I am leaving for my main trip this
year, plus my GD Photo Workshop in India where my
lucky students have the opportunity to study and work
with Aperture 3 in the field. I try to report from
our locations whenever
possible, of course like always depending on the
Internet connection, speed and availability.
Check out also my Calendar Dates on the
GD Photo Workshop
site;
"Introduction
Aperture 3" at Power Mac
Centers Manila Philippines, starting March 26.
GD
Aperture 3:Travel Photography...Tip for Places, use your iPhone or your Digital Camera with a GPS

Recent
visited places from Mindoro Isl., Puerto Galera, City
of Batangas, Makati and Manila shown as Satellite Map
If
you're not using a Digital Camera with a GPS function
that is Ok. just use your iPhone and whenever you
stop or from the Car window take a quick shot. Later
import the photos from your iPhone into Aperture 3
activate Places and the rest is easy. I be writing a
lot more about this cool addition from the road.
Click on the
Places icon at
the upper right hand side at the toolbar to get you
started.

Recent
visited places in Makati and Manila shown as Road Map
10
days ago I went to the Island of Mindoro/Puerto
Galera and I took some happy snaps with the iPhone,
then on the way back I also stopped in Batangas and
then back to Manila. Of course there have been some
gaps where I didn't stop to get some images but all
the rest had been recorded, very accurate I might
add, see the attached screenshots. Map options
are
Satellite - Road or Terrain.
Ok the only "drawback" is that my wife from now on
always knows where I am or I have been, ha, ha. but
that is fine with me too, nothing to hide.

Recent
visited places in Makati and Manila shown as Terrain
Map
To
activate your Places before they work you have to go
first to the Aperture 3 Preferences settings and
activate it, then click on the Advanced setting a
small drop down menu appears and you see Look up
Places, the default setting is on Never just click on
the Automatically and you're done.
Again an excellent new addition to Aperture 3 and as
you can see I am getting fine tuned for my big trip
starting next week.
GD
Aperture 3: Travel Photography and Multi Media presentations direct from locations
Now lets get back to reality and shoot some images in the field, as you know unless we have those Photos even
Aperture 3 can’t do anything, it needs the input first.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Pushkar, India 2009
So here we are back into Photography, Aperture 3 is
certainly going to make our workflow more easy and
more fun, GPS and Places, the new Curves, put back
from the Trash, Chromatic Aberrations the list goes
on and on.
We have also color coding which some of us find very
useful for on the road editing, however I have a
slight grin on my face and you might ask why. Very
simple, some of our Underwater Photographer recently
complained and nagged non stop about updates being to
slow from Apple.
Some even went as far and switched to Lightroom,
again my magic word is patience...are they going back
to Aperture 3 now, it looks that way.
My advise as an Aperture user from day one and as a
Certified Trainer, get to know one software real well
and stick with it, in due time and it is happening
right now changes will happen, remember “Rome was
also not build in one day” have patience, good things
take time. And The Time is NOW.
Thanks to the Apple Aperture Team for a Job well
done!
As
for my travel photography, I am more then excited,
but then again I need to get those images first. You
all know I am leaving very soon and if all goes well
I have Aperture 3 running and give it a real good and
realistic Road test for some 4 weeks in the field
trying to post images with the new Facebook function
, Locations via Places, the new video function and
for sure I am going to work with the new Curves.
Please stay tuned and I try my very best connection
permitting to file real reports from the field, or
you might say Aperture 3 straight out of the Box.
The web is totally saturated at the moment, the talk
of the Town is Aperture 3, but now I am looking
forward to some cool Photography and only then I
write more in details about all those new features
which certainly sound all very exciting.
For the latest info on Aperture 3 and all the new
features pls. go to:
http://www.apple.com/aperture/whats-new.html
GD
Light is photography... photography is light, interesting & unusual Photos from my last trip.
When
the light is just right...

© Gunther Deichmann - “Pyramids” & Flowers - Jan.
2010
Before
leaving for India and Nepal in February I like to
share with you some simple but unusual Photos from my
last Journey, no other explanation is needed judge
for yourself...is it a setup or have they been
manipulated later?
For those of you who are interested I am happy to
post an explanation on my Blog prior my departure to
India.

© Gunther Deichmann - The Palm Leaf - Jan.
2010

©
Gunther Deichmann - Strange - Jan. 2010
Check out also the latest
GD PhotoWorkshop Calendar
updates,
only posted yesterday with the latest dates,
Workshops/Seminars at the Power Mac Center in
Manila & some new international destinations
for 2010 & 2011.
GD
Photography & Environment: Hot & Sour Coca Cola with a touch of Petrol. Recycling Plastic?
“Hot & Sour Coca Cola”...
recycling our Plastic?

© Gunther Deichmann - recycled Coca Cola Bottles
now used for local made Vinegar,
Philippines.
I
guess it is recycling...sort off... our plastic
by-products at least for the Bottles, but when it
comes to the sheer number of plastic bags then we are
way behind the disposal.
During my Travel I come across a lot of weird and
crazy things, like in Cambodia where they use Plastic
Bottles for Gasoline along the country road (see the
photo below) a favorite image from my Facebook Friend
Steve Galano, it was actually Steve who requested
some more of these type of images.

© Gunther Deichmann - recycled Coca Cola Bottles now
used for
local made Vinegar with Chili, Philippines
Here
you go Steve as promised; on my way home the other
day from Batangas in the Philippines I spotted these
Coca Cola Bottles along the road containing some with
Vinegar others with Vinegar and Chili, what amazed me
the Coca Cola labels where in perfect condition and
made me think...
I am sure after all the Coca Cola had gone they must
have cleaned these Bottles before re-using them for
what ever concoction they had in mind. Did they get a
supply of new labels from the Bottling Plant or maybe
they just took good care during the cleaning process.
Who knows?

© Gunther Deichmann - recycled Coca Cola Bottles now
used for Gasoline, Siem Reap
Cambodia
The
real issue is our disposal of Plastic, the culprit
the plastic bags...we have to stop using them!
I remember when I ventured deep into Arnhem Land in
Australia visiting remote Aboriginal tribes, the
first thing I noticed where the ugly blue and pink
plastic bags thrown around all over the settlement.
That was way back in the in the eighties, it could be
worst now. We introduced the Aboriginals to this ugly
menace, before we came along they used bags made out
of degradable materials from mother nature.

© Gunther Deichmann - local Children at Angkor Wat,
Cambodia
collecting plastic. Why can’t the tourist take their
own trash home?
Or
lets take all those plastic bags which get thrown
overboard by ships only to be found later in stomachs
of dead Turtles which they mistakenly took for their
natural food, the jelly fish...and not only Turtles!
These photos of plastic Coca Cola Bottles are some
form of “Recycling”... but not nearly enough what we
should do...
Stop using Plastic Bags!
GD
Photography: "Blues Night" messing up the Bar on our first evening...
“Blues Night” at Buri Resort...

© Gunther Deichmann - cool Blues...with a touch of
lemon.
It
was on our first night at Buri Resort in Puerto
Galera, everybody had gone to sleep with the
exception of the Bartender... it was way to early for
me to do the same so I decided to have a couple of
Beers with my buddy Arj and listening to some cool
Blues from my MacBook Pro.
A few moments later while looking at the ceiling I
jumped up and started to unpack my cameras, the rest
of the evening...well, you see on this Blog.

© Gunther Deichmann - “Blues Night at Buri...

© Gunther Deichmann - the Fan...
No image manipulation of any kind, using only the
Nikon D700 with a 24 to120 mm VR lens at ISO 400
straight shots with only a little adjustments in
Aperture 2. Even the Bartender hang around watching
crazy me running around instead of relaxing.
So there you have it, a cool “Blues” evening at the
beach. In the coming days I post some more very
interesting and unusual Photos from my last Journey.
So, if you into Blues then turn up the volume, sit
back, have a drink and check out the images.
GD
Photography: Three days on the Beach with Aperture 2 & great Light in the sky.
Great Light in the Sky, the bonus images...
editing with Aperture 2 on the
Beach.

© Gunther Deichmann - day one Puerto Galera,
Philippines
Direct
from the Beach... thanks to a good internet
connection at Buri Resort and Spa; the weather has
been great particular very early in the morning and
in the afternoon.

© Gunther Deichmann - day two Puerto Galera,
Philippines
More interesting images will follow shortly but today
I like to share with you some scenes in the afternoon
taken over the past three days all taken from the
same location but with amazing color changes
everyday.
Edited a few minutes ago with Aperture 2 on my
MacBook Pro applying only minor adjustments, very
quick and easy right in front of the beach.

© Gunther Deichmann - day three Puerto Galera,
Philippines
BTW... thanks to the Twitter plug-in for Aperture I
send out an image earlier, great integration as
always.
The cool part is, by the time I get back home I am
almost done with all my editing (2000 images in three
days) and concentrate on my next Journey. India is
just around the corner...
Now I am going to have a couple of beers under the
stars with my buddy Arnold before going to bed.
Enjoy the light in the sky...
GD
Combining Photos & Video using the Leica D-Lux 4 with “A little Help from my Little Friends”
© Gunther Deichmann - Hobbit House Manila,
Philippines, just a fun evening. QT 1:57min
If
you ever pass through Manila then you should check
out the Hobbit House (Lord of the Rings) in Malate,
founded in 1973 by Expat Jim Turner, a fun and very
entertaining place with good music, food and cold
beers.
I took this video some time ago while having a couple
of beers with my friend Arnold,
of course my little Leica D-Lux 4 was strapped on my
belt. As you know, I never leave home without it.
Some very special, fun loving people run this
establishment, the “Little People” with their big
hearts, great smiles and cool sense of humor.
The main attraction is Egoy the Elvis Presley
impersonator, small in size but with exceptional good
vocal cords.
I thought… lets try out the video function on the
Leica, and see what I can come up with… no tripod
using only available light…oh boy it was dark. Plus
some flash photography from other Costumers made it
even more awkward.
A quick edit in iMovie (iLife’09) inserted a small
intro soundtrack to the photos from GarageBand and it
was done.
Nothing special, just a fun video with the help of my
little friends.
Thank you all, you have been so cool and
entertaining, your hearts are so much bigger then
most others.
I think even Joe Cocker would love this place and he
might join in with his song…
"A Little Help From My Friends" or as I call it “A
little Help from my Little Friends”
So, there you have it, never leave home without a
camera, try to shoot and experiment just for fun
sometimes.
GD
Messing around with new software, GarageBand & the Nikon D300s mixing Images & Video for presentations.
“My Photo
Gallery” the Prototype...
© Gunther Deichmann
- “My Cambodian Gallery” 1.36 min QT Prototype only.
Broadband recommended 13.2MB
During my last
trip in Cambodia I used the new Nikon D300s
a lot (I might add for
the first time) but had very little time to test the
Video function on the D300s (a lot more when I get
back from Nepal/India in March)
All image editing was done with Aperture
2.1.4
and the video was very
quickly edited using the new Quick Time on Snow
Leopard which is fast and so easy to use.
I managed to get a bit of Video footage, nothing
special but easily applied in a presentation like
this. Of course the music was created in GarageBand
before and I pulled this track from my archives.
In due time and when I get back from India I put up a
nice mix with stills and Video. Having the ability
now to create presentations where we can use stills
and video combined is just so nice and cool.
I hope you like this small and first demo...the
adventure only started.
Also on YouTube as: "My Gallery" the Prototype
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVi8IgL1tGI&feature=channel
GD
Travel Photography: Sneak Preview Cambodia, December 2009 Photo Gallery updated on my Blog
“Small Taste of the
Latest” updated
with a
selection of Photos from my last trip to
Cambodia in December 2009.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Angkor Wat Cambodia Dec. 2009
View more images in the Gallery click on the Photo or
go to
“Small Taste of the
Latest”on the menu
bar.
In
September 2009 we had our very cool and humoring GD
Photo Workshop in Siem Reap and then in December I
had to return to finish a few projects on my own,
namely the very soon to be launched
Heritage Suites
Hotel and Heritage Adventures
websites. They
be up very, very shortly and I keep you posted. Only
a few more days and I announce the NEW LINKS to you.
During my last trip in December 2009 I did spend more
time at the Hotel then shooting but I guess that’s
life and work, however I had to show my good friend
and webmaster Arnold around a bit since it was his
very first trip to Cambodia, plus I had to finish a
couple other things deep in the Jungle. I know my
suspense again but unfortunately I can’t share these
images with you yet, all pending on a publication
later this year. I know, shrouded in secrecy again,
sorry about that.
But I made a small selection from the last trip today
which I can share with you, just a mixed bag from
Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.
What I like about Cambodia so much, no matter how
often I go back, say for example Angkor Wat I always
find and discover new things or the light is just in
my favor like on the day I took Arnold for the first
time to Angkor in the afternoon.

© Gunther Deichmann - Ta Phrom, Cambodia Dec. 2009
Click on the Photo for more.
While he was dazzled and overcome by this
architectural master piece trying to catch his
breath, I just wondered around and played with the
light.
The next morning at 5:30 we left for Ta Phrom with a
perfect sunrise and a slight cool breeze, a welcome
change from the normal humid condition earlier in the
year. Besides my Jungle trip (more on that later)
that was all the time we had exploring Siem Reap this
time around.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Phnom Penh, Cambodia Dec. 2009
Click on the Photo for more.
Due to unavailability of flights from Siem Reap (sort
off lucky for us) we chose to drive from Siem Reap to
Phnom Penh, a town I know only to well, again we only
had two days but since I know my way around it was
easy to get to the right places at the right time.
Located along the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has a lot
to offer for visitors and Photographers alike,
charming French restaurants and Bars lined up along
the “Boulevard” overlooking the Mekong, and behind
you the majestic Grand Palace with its famous Silver
Pagoda.

© Gunther Deichmann - Phnom Penh, Cambodia Dec. 2009
Click on the Photo for more.
Thanks to Aperture 2, editing was fast and smooth,
plus I have finished all my tagging, key wording
etc., uploaded all the latest images into Archives
from my Agencies and in a few days everything will
also be on my PhotoShelter Archives and Galleries.
I hope you’re going to enjoy this small selection of
Images from our last Journey, Cambodia is certainly
one of my favorite destinations in Asia, more very
soon on PhotoShelter.
GD
GD Photo Workshops 2010 adventure travel with your Camera... Journey Through Color & Time.
2010
GD
Photo Workshops in Asia

Happy New Year
to you all and I hope you can join me on one of my
Adventure Travel Photography Workshops in 2010.
We are in the process and updating our GD Photo
Workshop website and that should be done shortly, a
new look with more information and the Calendar for
2010. In the mean time we make all official
announcements on this Blog.
For those of you who live in Manila I am also
conducting regular Seminars and Photography related
Workshops on Aperture 2, iLife and Pages at Power Mac
Center in TriNoma and Greenbelt 3 Makati.
(please contact the Power Mac
Center for schedules and
details)

©
Gunther Deichmann -
New Power Mac Center,
TriNoma
For Bookings and other PhotoWorkshop inquiries please
click this
LINK
for feedback and what previous students had to
say
CLICK
HERE.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Rajasthan India 2009
Leaving
in late February 2010 our first GD Photo Workshop
will take us to India where we celebrate at the same
time the magic of “Holi” India’s most colorful
festival. Other Photo Workshops been finalized for
Palau in Micronesia (Natures best kept secret) an
amazing Journey into Myanmar/Burma, Laos and of
course once again one of our favorite destination
Cambodia later in the year.
In
Cambodia we’re not only visiting the famous Angkor
Wat and other well known temples but this time we go
way beyond... exploring hidden Khmer treasures deep
with in the Jungle of Cambodia. For those who like to
stay on we extend our stay and travel from Siem Reap
to Phnom Penh for an additional 3 to4 days.
We keep our Groups to a minimum of eight (8)
participants to give you the very best value and
attention. These are field-Photo Workshops, followed
by honest critique of your images and process. There
are almost daily critiques and informal gatherings,
all providing an opportunity to share your work and
having fun doing so, stress is not part of the
agenda.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Laos
Digital
photography has changed the way photographers create
images, both in terms of the actual work with the
camera, and the possibilities that exist in the
digital darkroom. Instead of waiting a day or more
for film to be processed, the photographer can now
relate to the image while still at the location. This
presents possibilities for improved exposure and
composition, as well as new visual discoveries and
insights that arise from seeing the image immediately
after it has been exposed. In the digital darkroom,
precision adjustments for color and tonal balance,
contrast, and sharpness allow for unparalleled
creative and technical control.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Laos
The workshops are for advanced amateurs and
experienced professionals who want to gain insight
into how to make better photographs for editorial,
stock sales or for personal satisfaction. A digital
SLR camera capable of capturing RAW images is
required. Students are encouraged to bring their own
laptop.
Students will work in digital formats and are
expected to have basic digital photography skills
including image capture, downloading, editing, etc.
For those with experience on Mac Computers Gunther
will guide you through the understanding of Aperture.
He will also teach basic editing skills in Photoshop.
Gunther is a certified Apple Pro trainer for Aperture
2 and has years of hands on knowledge using Photoshop
as a photography tool.
Work
Shop Outline
The program offers a combination of presentation,
exploration and discovery. On most days, we will be
learning exposure and capture techniques with our
digital cameras in the morning & afternoons then
using Adobe Photoshop and Aperture for exploring the
digital imaging workflow at lunchtimes and in the
evenings.
During the workshop we will provide direction to
photographers looking to improve their photography as
they travel on personal trips, or photograph on
assignment. Our primary focus in these work shops is
on the technology of shooting digitally and learning
to tell the stories of other people's lives. The
entire world of the photographer is reviewed as we
discuss gaining access, researching places and story
ideas, as well as understanding the complete digital
workflow.
We will cover using digital cameras, and all of the
gear needed to be fully prepared to go out and cover
stories while traveling. Daily lectures and
discussions will also include how to use strobes and
a portable digital darkroom. Throughout the week you
will photograph various editorial assignments:
picture stories, point pictures and captions writing.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Phnom Penh Cambodia Dec.
2009

©
Gunther Deichmann - near Phnom Penh Cambodia Dec.
2009
You
will photograph for example places in Cambodia and
the other destinations while learning from one of the
best travel photographers around. Gunther covers all
aspects of the shoot: how to solve technical
problems, how to work with people, gain access,
digital workflow on the road, and how to use a small
strobe. You will learn how to research a story,
select a destination, prepare a shooting list, edit
your pictures and ways to share your work with a
larger community.
Gunther will work with students in critique sessions
and in the field, sharing his working knowledge and
techniques.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Palau Micronesia,
No Photoshop used here, this is a natural
reflection.
General
Workshop Information
A successful workshop begins with advance knowledge
and good preparation. Take the time to do a little
research on the area(s) you will visit. This document
is intended to inform you of what lies ahead and
assist you in fully preparing yourself to take
maximum advantage of the learning environment
workshops with Gunther.
Students will be pushed to photograph not only scenes
and environments, but also the people and life for
example in Siam Reap and Angkor Wat, Cambodia or
India. People that are naturally timid about
approaching people will learn techniques and be
exposed to ideas and a spirit that will help them go
forward with their photographic communication
including photographing people.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Myanmar/Burma
Students will spend much of their time exploring and
photographing the rich daily life for example, the
Angkor Wat Ruins and the colors of India.
Gunther will discuss technique, intent, composition,
and the creative use of the camera and lens. He will
review and critique your portfolio, and
works-in-process, discuss careers, getting published
and give you an idea of where you are, and what to do
next to become better, but most important you will
learn how to see things in a different light.
For Gunther’s Bio please click this
LINK.
Photography: Toothless Smiles & Color … young & old happy faces from my Journeys, what ever happen to the Tooth Fairy?
Happy
without teeth…
what ever happen to the Tooth
Fairy?

© Gunther
Deichmann - Phnom Penh, Cambodia Dec.
2009
You
might ask why I have chosen these images for today’s
post…it is very simple… Happy New Year To YOU All!
Hopefully 2010 will bring peace, laughter and more
happiness.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Tibet smiles at 4800 meters
80 plus years old but still
smiling.
Happy without or only a few teeth…people I have
encountered from the high Plateau in Tibet, to the
markets and temples of Bali and to the Banks of the
Mekong River in Cambodia. Natural smiles and
expressions, so natural that it is almost
unbelievable but it is so true.
I decided to share some of these images with you
today and hope they make you smile too, just like me
every time I look at them. Smiles from wonderful
people I encountered with during my travels.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Bali, one or two more to
go...
No Camera and Tech talk today…2009 was packed already
and I am sure we see a lot more of it in
2010...besides Christmas shopping is over, well at
least for most of us.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Bali...so
happy.
Today I like to take the opportunity and express my
gratitude and sincere thanks to all those people who
made my Journeys save and filled my heart with
laughter and even sadness at times.
Thanks to my family, friends, clients, guides and
supporters but especially to those people I've taken
photos off, may our path cross again.
Have a great and fantastic 2010… take care of our
precious environment and if you get the chance…even
the slightest… don’t forget
to laugh with or without teeth!

©
Gunther Deichmann - Bali... now that is a
Melon.
A very happy
New Year -
prost Neujahr
-
bonne année
-
onnellista uutta vuotta
-
gelukkig Nieuwjaar
-
ath bhliain faoi mhaise
-
selamat tahun baru
-
godt nytt år
-
szczliwego nowego roku
-
feliz ano novo
-
gott nytt år manigong bagong taon
-
sawatdii pimaï
-
kung hé fat tsoi - xin nian kuai le / xin nian
hao
-
godt nytår
-
eutichismenos o kainourgios chronos
-
felice anno nuovo, buon anno
-
S novim godom
-
sreno novo leto
-
Cung Chúc Tân Xuân
yeni
yiliniz kutlu olsun
GD
iLife - Aperture 2 - Tips, Tricks and Techniques... be a Professional Photographer this Holiday Season.
Power Mac Center TriNoma
presents...

© Gunther
Deichmann - Phnom Penh, Cambodia Dec. 2009
Nikon D300s
Be a Professional Photographer this Holiday Season...
presented by Power Mac Center TriNoma
3rd Level Mindanao
Wing, TriNoma Edsa cor. North Avenue,
Quezon City, Ph: (632) 901-3980
A one hour special on iLife - Aperture 2 - Tips,
Tricks and Techniques by Gunther
Deichmann.
Power Mac Center TriNoma, 30th of December from 5:00
to 6:00 PM
For
questions and special requests, you can call 729-7087
or 88, or email us at
training@powermaccenter.com
Photography: Cambodia round up…one day in Phnom Penh… Aperture 2 comments & where to next…
The mood
& colors from the last
few days in Cambodia...
The
year is coming fast to an end and I am looking
forward to some very exciting Journeys in 2010.
Myanmar – India - Nepal & Cambodia are confirmed
trips…plus what ever else crops up in between, with
me you never know.

© Gunther
Deichmann - the mood of Angkor Wat
the day before we left for Phnom Penh Cambodia
Before I am going into the family Christmas mood I
like to share with you some more interesting
escapades from the recent Cambodian Journey including
a bit on Aperture 2.
I have also included a disturbing Photo…a stark
reminder of the dark past in Cambodia with its Land
Mines; its scars are still visible today and for many
years to come.

© Gunther
Deichmann - the Gate of Bayon
Temple, Siem Reap Cambodia
Please
spare a moment for those unlucky ones among us, be it
in Cambodia or elsewhere in the world. Lets not
forget them, may our thoughts be with them not only
during Christmas but all year around. Thank
You!

© Gunther
Deichmann - a stark reminder...
the scars of War! Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
As you know I have just returned from Cambodia a few
days ago in time to spend Christmas with my family.
Arnold my Web Guru and myself left Siem Reap on the
18th of December by Car for Phnom
Penh where we spend a few days roaming around.
Sadly we had to leave the good company of the
Heritage Suites
Hotel behind, already missing
Didier, Vorana and Jam plus the super friendly
staff, but I will return soon. Siem Reap has
become almost my second home now, plus there is
still so much to more explore and to
discover.

© Gunther
Deichmann - last light on the way to
Phnom Penh Cambodia

© Gunther
Deichmann - the fisherman on the way to
Phnom Penh Cambodia
A lot of changes have taken place in Phnom Penh since
my first visit in 1992 and again in 2005, I have been
spending more time these past few years in the Siem
Reap area.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Sunday afternoon at the Mekong River
in Phnom Penh Cambodia
Phnom Penh brought back memories from the past
especially when we had dinner at the FCC (Foreign
Correspondence Club) my hangout from the earlier
days.
A must on any ones list if you visit Phnom Penh,
great food, cold Beer and a cool atmosphere, this
time around they had a great Gallery of Photos from
my famous Rock stars on the walls; Garry Moore,
Chrissie Hynde's from the Pretenders, Jimi Hendrix,
David Bowie, Pat Garrett from Midnight Oil, Rolling
Stones and just about everybody else from the good
old days… plus a cool Blues/Jazz Band was playing on
our first evening in Phnom Penh.
But you also find walls covered with Photos from the
Vietnam War and the horrific reign of the Pol Pot
Regime, some disturbing images but it is the reality
from the past or even now in the streets of Phnom
Penh where you see people with out their limbs.
Been connected is important these days, good Internet
connections are all over Phnom Penh like in Side walk
Café’s and Restaurants. Getting around is also not a
problem you find Tuk Tuk’s and Motorbikes on every
street corner.
If you don’t have any accommodation booked, then you
should check out a very cool guesthouse called the
“Eye of the Mekong House” at 30 street 110 - run by a
very charming Frenchman called Nikolas. Great place
with spacious rooms, good Coffee, very affordable and
right in town just a stone throw away from the Mekong
River.
The new Nikon D300s proved to be fantastic in every
aspect during my last trip but I need more time for
the Video…lot more details on that one later.

© Gunther
Deichmann - A Christmas Tree???
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Let me finish today with the
word “patience” there has been some whining and
complaining re. Aperture 2 updates been to slow and
some Photographers are thinking switching to
Lightroom…
New Camera models have been popping up non-stop in
2009; now we blame Apple and other for not keeping
up… sad! What ever happen to patience? From my past
experience when Apple has done something they did it
real well and not using some Beta version like Adobe
with Lightroom. Would you buy or work with a Beta
Version of a Camera? As a serious Photographer I
don’t like to test things, I like them to work…don’t
forget who came out first with the almost perfect
Digital Photography workflow…Aperture was way ahead
and made things possible which had been very
difficult before and could only achieved with
Photoshop.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Color Steel...Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Patience…all real GOOD things take Time and I am sure
Apple will come up with something soon enough…they
have always done so in the past, maybe a bit slower
but for sure it will be awesome and no need for Beta
testing.
Now I have to get this Blog out... move my Magic
Mouse and get back to my red wine and Midnight Oil
plus the Kids are waiting. Cheers!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a GREAT
2010!
GD
Travel Photography: Another amazing Cambodian Journey is coming to an End & Aperture 2 Software update just in time for my Nikon D300s RAW files.
The
spirit of light in Cambodia…
Yes,
all good things come to an end sometimes…but not for
long, I shall return very soon to this ancient land
with its Temples hidden deep in the Jungle.

© Gunther
Deichmann - APSARA & light Angkor Wat
Cambodia Dec. 2009
I wish all my readers, family members and friends a
fantastic Christmas season and might the New Year
bring what you have been wishing for. As for me, I am
leaving tomorrow Siem Reap for Phnom Penh and after a
few days back to Manila just in time to spend
Christmas with my family.

© Gunther
Deichmann - corridors & natural light
Cambodia Angkor Wat Dec. 2009
This trip has been very strenuous but ever so
rewarding, met new friends…
a musician composer from Las Vegas (we had a great
chat about my music and Garage Band), a Doctor, an
Eye specialist and his wife from London and some
others. PS. according to him my Eye sight is still
Ok... hmmm and since his wife is also a Medical
Doctor my Blood Pressure is fine too...must be the
good wine at the Heritage Suite Hotel.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Buddha Bless Cambodia Dec.
2009
Our stay at the Heritage Suite Hotel (Arnold my Web
Guru and myself) was as great than ever, with the
superb company of the Management and staff, in
particular the GM Varona and Jam from Marketing, not
to mention the ever so entertaining Didier from the
Heritage Adventures. Thanks to you all...
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...your
hospitality has been outstanding!
I announce some very interesting news soon regards to
the Heritage Adventures
and
the Heritage Suites
Hotel once we’re back in
Manila.

© Gunther
Deichmann - early morning at
Ta Phrom Cambodia Dec. 2009
My gratitude to Nikon
Singapore once again for providing me
with an excellent replacement Nikon D300s
Camera for my
damaged D2X.
I have not finished testing it completely…but I am
more than happy so far with it, considering it
received some real punishment during this trip.

© Gunther
Deichmann - early morning at
Ta Phrom Cambodia Dec. 2009
Can you imaging how happy I was when Apple announced
a few Days ago the RAW file update for
Aperture
2, which
of course included the Nikon D300s just in time for
my test drive in Cambodia. All photos on this Blog
have been edited using Aperture 2 and almost no
corrections have been applied.

© Gunther
Deichmann - novice Monk at Angkor Wat Cambodia
Dec. 2009
Sorry I have to keep this Blog post brief today, need
to pack my things yet and I rather let the images
speak…a lot more photos will follow but due to some
pending publications I can’t share them at this time.
I am wishing every body a great Holiday Season…take
good care and be good.
From Siem Reap in Cambodia…Buddha Bless!
GD
Travel Photography: Straight out of the Box & into the Jungle the Nikon D300s plus the new 50mm f:1.4 G Lens…test-drive in Cambodia.
Straight
out of the Box & into the
Jungle of Cambodia...

© Gunther
Deichmann - Cambodia Dec. 2009,
Nikon D300s and the 50mm f:1.4 G
Lens
Well
not quiet out of the Box but almost… I picked up
the
Nikon D300s and the new 50mm 1.4 G Lens
in Singapore. The D300s is the replacement unit for
my water damaged D2x…remember the Rice Paddy incident
in September…thanks to Nikon Singapore for providing
me an excellent deal and rescuing my totally water
drenched 180 2.8 mm lens. They did a great job, my
special thanks to Jonathan from the Service Center at
Nikon Singapore.
I only had little time to go through the Manual but
since I am a Nikon user from way back it was fairly
easy to work my way through the D300s.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Red Bananas, Cambodia Dec. 2009,
Nikon D300s and the 50mm f:1.4 G
Lens
The first time I used the Camera was at Phnom Kulen
shooting some rare red Bananas, yes you have heard
right, RED Bananas, supposedly only found in the
Jungles of Phnom Kulen.
It was here that I used also the new 50mm f:1.4 G
lens for the first time, I am truly impressed with
excellent image quality even at f:1.4 wide open with
superb color rendition.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Butterflies at Phnom Kulen
Waterfall,
Cambodia Dec. 2009,
Nikon D300s and the 50mm f:1.4 G
Lens
An hour or so later I set the D300s up for some Video
footage at the Phnom Kulen
Waterfall, easy operation but before I post the
results I have to do some editing first of the clips,
sorry not enough time at the moment.
After the red Bananas I shot some Butterflies at the
Phnom Kulen Waterfall and then we went deeper into
Jungle to a very special Cave only using the D300s
with a mix of Lenses... fighting darkness, water
dripping from the ceiling and Bat shit.
A lot more from this very special place later, yes I
know my suspense again…but all good things take time!
I have another super early start tomorrow, so I
finish now with my first verdict that the D300s is an
outstanding Camera and with the 50mm f: 1.4 G Lens
just awesome. All images have ben processed using
Aperture 2 with almost no adjustments.
Thanks to Didier from Heritage Adventures
for providing
all the transportation and logistics.
Just one
more from this afternoon at Angkor
Wat...

© Gunther
Deichmann - an afternoon at Angkor Wat
Nikon D300s with 50mm f:1.4 G Lens
But now its time to go to bed, G, night... until very
soon.
GD
Travel Photography: Hidden places…Adventure in Cambodia with a touch of Class…

© Gunther
Deichmann
I keep today’s Blog brief, as
a matter of fact it is just to say hi from the
Heritage Suite Hotel
in Siem Reap
my quarters for the next ten days.
A lot of exciting things are planned; test driving
the Nikon D300s and exploring some remote places in
the Jungle. Finishing what I missed on my last trip
plus there is some additional work to be done for
the Heritage Adventures
and Heritage
Suite Hotel.
Busy and exciting days ahead, plus my Webmaster is
flying in today to help on a project but more on that
later.
Oh before I forget, the Wi-Fi connections is just out
of this world at the Heritage, excellent reception in
all rooms now or you can relax at the poolside for
some early morning surfing and listening to the
native birds tweeting.
OK., that’s it for this morning, a lot more in the
coming days, you just have to stay tuned or subscribe
to my RSS feed.
GD
Travel Photography & a lot more; next week from the Heritage Suite Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia, plus testing the new Nikon D300s in the field.
Thanks again to Arjun Shroff from Shroff International Travel who has taken care of all my last minute travel arrangements, he really performed some magic to get me onto some of the flights.
Last September we finished our GD Photo Workshop in Siem Reap and now another trip for something different…but for sure with some more images.

© Gunther Deichmann - magic Cambodia!
Once in Siem Reap I fill you
in with more details…oh no, not my suspense again.
At the same time I am test-driving the recently
released Nikon D300s not only for the images but also
for its Video capabilities, which should be very
interesting.
However I do give the Ox Cart a miss this time, don’t
like to loose another Camera, you might remember from
one of my previous Blog post when I lost my Nikon D2x
in the rice paddy.
The last month of the year is taken care off now;
another very exciting trip is in the middle of
January 2010 until the end of the month. Then on
February 24 our Photo Workshop in Rajasthan India
starts... until March 4. After our Photo Workshop in
India I have another very big and exciting surprise
but that one has to wait too… yes I know, my suspense
again, sorry about that.
Don’t worry I let the cat out of the bag soon enough,
you just have to stay tuned. I know, a lot of riddles
today!

© Gunther Deichmann - Reflections on the Tonle Sap
Lake, Cambodia
Going through the equipment
check now and have to pack my bags by Friday, from
the 8th of December I try to update
my Blog at least every two days from the
Heritage Suite Hotel
direct from
Siem Reap, and of course the latest news from
the Heritage Adventures
as well.
In between all of this I have some Aperture 2, iLife
and iWork Seminars and Workshops at the
Power Mac Center in
Manila, for sure a very busy
but exciting start for 2010.
GD
Travel Photography: Going back in Time prior Digital & Photoshop, plus updated PhotoShelter Galleries with Cambodia & India.
Creating real reflections... without
Photoshop.
It
is nice sometimes when you go back in Time, looking
at images you created without a Digital Camera and
the use of Photoshop, remembering the good old
days...
Creating
reflection, distortions and other simple effects is
easy these days, a few clicks and you’re done in
Photoshop, flipping an image and vola you have a
great reflection.
As for me... I create these images without the help
of Photoshop!

©
Gunther Deichmann - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
1992
The other day I went through my archives and came
across one of those images, taken in
Phnom Penh in 1992,
Pol Pot was still hiding somewhere in the Jungle near
Phnom Kulen near Siem Reap. Memories starting to
flash in front of my eyes...the "Wild West" days of
Cambodia...bad memories carved into the faces of
Cambodians... the Killing Fields still fresh in their
mind... a time I will never forget.
I arrived in Phnom Penh the same time as the United
Nations covering a major story on the Mekong River
for Animan Magazine in Switzerland. One afternoon
while walking the streets of Phnom Penh I noticed
this nice reflection on this car roof parked right in
front of me. I rested the camera carefully on the car
roof trying not to scratch the paint and took the
image above. Using an FM 2 Nikon with a 15 mm lens
and Kodachrome 25.
What is interesting... 18 years later... I still
create my reflections the same way without the use of
Photoshop, except I am using a Digital Camera now.
Taken in 1992 the image above is a good example, but
so are the ones from 2009, see below Photos from
Cambodia and India. None of them have been treated in
Photoshop, using Aperture 2 only for cropping and the
basic Raw file adjustments.

©
Gunther Deichmann - abstract reflections at the Taj
Mahal India 2009
I have also updated my PhotoShelter Gallery on India
with some new edits and have added a
NEW
Gallery
from my recent trip to Cambodia. LINKS to the updated
Galleries in PhotoShelter:
New Cambodia 2009
&
updated India..added some
additional Photos

©
Gunther Deichmann - Bayon Temple area,
the Bridge, Cambodia 2009
There
is also one more Gallery from Cambodia but this one
is password protect due to a pending article, don’t
worry I open this one in due time, I guess it is my
suspense again.

©
Minding the Goats, Thar Desert Rajasthan India
2009
Please Note:
We
only have two (2) more vacancies for our GD
PhotoWorkshop in India, March/Feb. 2010, hurry and
book now before you miss out on this incredible trip
to India.
GD
GD Photo Workshop: Journey through Incredible India in 2010 final dates and information
I am pleased to
announce the final Dates for our
GD Photo Workshop in India!
February 25 - March
04, 2010

We
are currently working on the final Itinerary however
our PhotoWorkshop will coincide with one of the most
important Festivals in India...lets celebrate "Holi"
and the Elephant festival in Jaipur Rajasthan at the
same time.
New Delhi and Agra with its magnificent Taj Mahal is
also part of our itinerary, more information will be
available very soon.

2009
© Gunther Deichmann - Colors of
Rajasthan
Please
note this PhotoWorkshop is for a limited number of
students only; max. 8 participants.
The Workshop is filling up fast, as of today we only
have three (3) vacancies left, bookings are only on a
first come basis and have to be confirmed by no later
than January 10, 2010. I hope you understand that due
to the complexity and logistics of this workshop we
can't except anymore bookings after January 10.

2009
© Gunther Deichmann -
Rajasthan
I
hope you can join me on this Journey through
Incredible India in 2010. Please stay tuned for more
details and info soon on this Blog or you can
contact me
direct.
For additional info and testimonials from previous
workshops please go to
GD PhotoWorkshops or click this
LINK, thank you.
Note: You can also watch a short intro (slide show)
on India on YouTube, see my prevous blog post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBdyMR8fq0s&feature=channel
GD
Travel Photography: Rare visit to Bantey Ampoeu, Cambodia during the Monsoon season, Website changes & a little Aperture 2.
Visions
in the making…

http://www.deichmann-photo.com/
Changing ones website, content etc… a never-ending
story. Above the new Intro
Page
I decided the other day to change the intro page on
my main web gallery…for how long I don’t know, lets
see. We made also some changes to the Home page with
new images. Not that much has changed, but I felt it
needed a little freshening up…. hope you like it.
Now
to Bantey Ampoeu, a remote Khmer temple hidden in the
Jungle and a great example of natures power if left
alone. Fantastic vegetation… trees have grown and
covering this hidden marvel and one feels like
Indiana Jones.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Bantey Ampoeu

© Gunther
Deichmann - Bantey Ampoeu
Converting some of those Indiana Jones like images
into Black &
White looks very cool too, a feeling of going back in
time with the help
of Aperture 2 & the Monochrome Mixer.
Bantey Ampoeu is certainly off the tourist track and
during the Monsoon can be reached only by Ox Cart… a
one and half hour journey through Rice Fields and
Jungle. This is my favorite time of the year to check
out those hidden places.

© Gunther
Deichmann - Bantey Ampoeu

© Gunther
Deichmann - on the way to Bantey
Ampoeu

© Gunther
Deichmann - "passing
traffic..."
Difficult to get there in
the rainy season but the colors and vegetation in the
late afternoon make it a very rewarding journey, as
long you don’t mind the Leeches and getting
into "Muddy
Waters".
Thanks to Didier from
the
Heritage Adventures
who took me
to Bantey Ampoeu during the worst…but for me the
best time of the year.
GD

http://www.heritage-adventures.com

Heritage Suite Hotel in Siem
Reap
Behind the scene...Giggles, a little fun from Cambodia using Aperture 2, GarageBand & FotoMagico.
Wake up early in
the morning...

© Gunther Deichmann -
early morning
on the Tonle Sap Lake,
Cambodia
A short QT fun movie created with FotoMagico from our
last Photo Workshop in Cambodia;
Behind the
scene... Giggles... and a little fun
with Aperture 2, GarageBand, FotoMagico and final
export using Quick Time. The Title...Wake up early
in the Morning... came about that all our
excursions started around 4 to 5 AM everyday and
the Giggles where part of our daily routine...
just a fun and great group.
The Soundtrack
was entirely produced in GarageBand and since we
had so much fun I just couldn't help myself in
getting this one out...of course I had to add some
Giggles...
Now listen to the "Giggle
Band" & Wake up early in the Morning just
click the LINK below. Plus all the info on
FotoMagico below too.
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/page8/page8.html

© Gunther Deichmann -
having a bath? Early morning,
the water Village on the Tonle Sap Lake,
Cambodia
I
have mention
FotoMagico a few times in my previous Blog post's,
but the latest FotoMagico 3 Version 3.0.8 is so cool
and for those of you who are not familiar with it I
can highly recommend it.
I also introduced it to my students recently in
Cambodia and they fell in love with it.
An excellent software easy to use with superb
quality, you have all the settings you ever going to
need for producing high end slide shows/presentations
(including HDTV) or export it to the web.
You can add sound, text plus some cool transitions at
your finger tips, great integration on the Mac with
access to your
Media Browser for Aperture, iPhoto, iTunes etc. for
more info go to:
http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/
GD

Present on: Options upon
opening FotoMagico

The interface, easy and
simple to use

Share... plenty to choose
from
Photography: "Eyes - like light, without it we can't see." a magic moment in Cambodia.
"Light
is photography, photography is light."
...a magic moment in
Cambodia!

©
Gunther Deichmann - the magic of natural light,
Cambodia 2009
To
finish the month of October, I decided today to share
this Photograph with you . The Image above is from my
last trip to Cambodia...remember I mention in one of
my previous posts that I keep you in suspense, well
here is one of them, others will follow... and more
suspense again.
No more words needed now...enjoy natures gift to
us... called light!
"Eyes-like
light, without it we can't see."
GD
Palawan & beyond...Power Mac Center presents GD Photo Workshop at Club Paradise
Power Mac Center Philippines
proudly brings you...
Palawan
& beyond...
December 3 to 7, 2009
You are cordially
invited to a 4 nights 5 days exclusive Photo Workshop
at Club Paradise Palawan with Gunther Deichmann,
international multi-awarded travel photographer and
Apple Pro Certified Aperture Trainer. Registration
fees includes airfare and accommodation from
Manila to Club Paradise Palawan, all meals (full
Board) and full hands on with Aperture 2. Discover
& Explore a different Palawan with the master!
Please book early
this Workshop is for a limited number of participants
only! Testimonials from previous
international
PhotoWorkshop.
Registration and Inquiries: workshops@powermaccenter.com
0919-2051659 &
0917-5228286. More details will be announced very
shortly.
Explore & Discover Coron & Culion Island plus
the amazing african
and endemic wildlife on Calauit Island in Northern
Palawan.



