Myanmar 2008

[Fabian]

Amazing pictures.

[JoGeAr]

Great thread. Beautiful pics. Greened !!

[jasonbalmer]

Originally Posted by ota

National Geographic quality. But an onion field? Really?

Yup, an onion field along the banks of the river. That's where we set down because the winds were too strong in the primary landing site.

It was pretty impressive actually. We started to come down at the primary site and the pilot concludes too much wind. So he did a mighty burn to gain altitude and then maneuvered over to the secondary site and put us down as soft as you please on a narrow strip of sand by the river. Some top-notch balloon piloting that day.

[jasonbalmer]

Originally Posted by JoGeAr

Great thread. Beautiful pics. Greened !!

Thanks!

[thai-papa-jim]

Some absolutely stunning photos. Jealous as hell!! Thanks for putting them on the board.

[kingwilly]

wow, i've travelled in Burma a few times. never done the balloon ride., looks like i should have. cheers.

[Mr Pot]

Beautiful photos, I'd love to see Bagan; question remains... any more photo's?

[Halfaboy]

Absolutely fantastic ! Was in Bagan in de mid 80’s and seeing these pictures I want to go back as soon as possible.

How did you travel from Rangoon to Bagan, where did you book and what were the costs ?

[Lady Hawk]

Wow great photos

[Papadave]

Yes, stunning photos better than any I've seen on BBC website, etc.
I've never been there but my Dad did his bit there fighting the Japs during WW2.
Also, it's nice to see smiling faces; life goes on despite the poverty, natural disasters and political turmoil that exist not just there but all over the world.
Thanks for sharing.

[Papadave]

P.s. Are you a keen or pro photographer and what kind of camera (and film?) did you use?

[mediamanbkk]

Magnificent, especially those taken from the balloon. Do you have any other galleries to share with us?

[waldo_one2]

Great pics........i agree with everyone else.The Balloon pics are amazing!.....but i liked the pic of the Gurus doing their thing to.

[sunderlandstephen]

Thats a proffesional eye you`ve got there.
Best photos have seen on TD by a mile.
Thanks

[jasonbalmer]

Firstly, to each and all, thank you for the continuing stream of positive comments. Sometimes I get a little bored with my stuff (familiarity can do that) and your kind words help me regain enthusiasm.

Originally Posted by Mr Pot

Beautiful photos, I'd love to see Bagan; question remains... any more photo's?

What you see are the best from about 1700 shots in Myanmar. It's the extent of what I have from that locale. I do have some shots from Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand from previous trips. I'll be trying to get them up as time goes by, but please be patient -- I have some things going on in my life right now that will take most of my time over the next couple months.

Originally Posted by Halfaboy

Absolutely fantastic ! Was in Bagan in de mid 80’s and seeing these pictures I want to go back as soon as possible.

How did you travel from Rangoon to Bagan, where did you book and what were the costs ?

Bagan in the the mid-80's must have been an amazing experience.

I flew from Yangon to Bagan -- Air Mandalay if I recall correctly. When I got to Yangon (from BKK) I went to Exotissimo Travel (in the Sakura Tower) and got my air reservation and up-country hotel straight away. Very easy to do and not so expensive. $250 for the round trip air, $30/night for the hotel. Priced and paid in US$. Bring new (or perfect condition) notes -- the money changers are especially picky here.

Originally Posted by Papadave

P.s. Are you a keen or pro photographer and what kind of camera (and film?) did you use?

I am not a professional photographer by any means. Just a guy who likes to travel, eat and take pictures. Completely digital -- in fact with film I doubt I could make this work nearly so well. The ability to shoot zillions of frames and essentially zero additional cost plus the ability to see and analyze the results immediately are the things that enable me to enjoy some success with this.

Here's the equipment set I carried

Canon Rebel Xti digital SLR (10MP)
Sandisk Extreme III CF Card -- 12 GB
(I shoot in RAW + JPG mode)
Canon EF-S 17 - 85 IS f4 - 5.6
Canon EF 70 - 300 IS DO f4.5 - f5.6
Hoya Super HMC Pro UV filters for the above
Manfrotto 190 MF3 magfiber tripod
Manfrotto Magnesium 3437 head
L- Bracket for quick portrait/landscape conversion
Garmin GPSMap 60CSx GPS Receiver
Insect Repellant
Sunscreen
A good hat
4 camera batteries
4 extra GPS batteries
Lowepro S&F Reporter 200AW bag

Most of the shots were with the 17 - 85 lens. It's a very convenient lens but it does suffer from softness and vignetting, according to the optics labs folks. A lot of reviewers speak poorly of it. Even so, it seems to produce acceptable results.

The long lens was my tool of choice for candid shots -- it's 480 mm equivalent with the so-called magnification factor. I'd settle into a tea shop maybe a row back from the street, get out the camera and give folks a half hour to get bored with me. Eventually I'd blend into the background and then I could capture candid shots.

Originally Posted by mediamanbkk

Magnificent, especially those taken from the balloon. Do you have any other galleries to share with us?

Eventually I'll get some more stuff up -- right now I'm bogged down with things in my life. After October I should be able to get some more photos up.

[Sputnik]

Excellent pics !! thanks for sharing

[Jardine]

Totally stunning photos, thanks for sharing.

[Wayne Kerr]

Spectacular. Can't believe I didn't see this until now. Look forward to the next installment.