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Very excited to announce here on the blog the launch of a new partnership with tour agency Tibetan Connections, offering photography workshops and tours in western China on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Tibetan Connections, a small grass-roots company, have been based on the plateau for a number of years and are actively involved in encouraging responsible tourism in the region. Their ethos is to work with and hire local Tibetan people and visit communities to help support the people of the region through ethical tourism. They will be our logistical partners on the trip, looking after travel, guides and accommodation for us.

Our first collaboration begins in June with a 5-day tour from June 10-14, around the Eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, focusing on the monastic lifestyle and rituals in this region. I visited this region in November of last year and it really is a stunning part of the country, relatively unexplored compared to many other regions in China.

Below is an outline of the June tour. Be sure to check out the Tibetan Connections website for more information and to confirm your place on this trip.

Workshop Aims:

Monastic Life

The aim of this tour is to introduce you to the people and cultures of this unique part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We will focus on learning how to photograph in areas where religion is very evident, demanding a respectful and sensitive approach to your photography. We will guide you through the different approaches to adopt in these situations and offer help and guidance along the way.

At the same time, we will aim to build up a portfolio of work from each participant that represents your vision of the underlying themes of Tibetan buddhism, monastic life and spectacular scenery that we will have the opportunity to document throughout our trip. No matter what your level of photography, Sean will help establish individual goals for each participant in order to improve your level by the end of the trip.

Day 1 Meet in morning for a portfolio review. In the afternoon take a trip to Kumbum monastery.

Day 2 Depart Xining and drive to Rebgong (Tongren). Stop in Jenzha for lunch and continue through great landscapes arriving in Rebgong in early afternoon. Once in Rebgong visit the thangka artists village and Upper Wutan Monastery.

Nomad Woman | Qinghai-Tibet

Day 3 Visit Rongwu Monastery after breakfast. Depart Rebgong and drive to Labrang (Xiahe) traveling through the Ganjia grassland stopping to visit local Tibetan Nomads.

Day 4 Spend the whole day in Labrang catching the morning and evening light. Labrang is a very famous monastic center in Amdo Tibet.

Day 5 drive back to Xining with great views of the Yellow River. That evening enjoy a party and slideshow of the trips photos.

Event Poster

For anybody who is in Beijing this coming weekend, I will be giving a workshop at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art on Saturday 20th November from 4:30 to 5:30. I’ll be talking about ways to photograph large-scale environmental issues and trying to give participants help in helping form and shape their own ideas for approaching these issues.

Here’s the general outline:

“UCCA welcomes two-time Pulitzer Center Grant recipient Sean Gallagher, who has spent the past two years traveling across China documenting the country’s fight against desertification and disappearing wetlands.

Having the ability to visually communicate overarching themes, theories and ideas is essential to helping the public understand sometimes complex and seemingly disjointed issues.

Gallagher’s workshop will focus on the art and science of effectively photographing large-scale environmental issues and conveying eco-stories through imagery. He will also provide participants with useful advice about identifying themes and stories, and offer tips about the process of eco-filmmaking, from shooting to distribution.”

If you think this might be of interest please come along. Entry is free and there are many other events on throughout the day, all along ‘green’ lines. Hope to see you there.

On Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th June, we headed out on our first “Desert Workshop”, focusing on introducing our students to Tianmo desert which is located just 80km north-west of Beijing. We spent two days exploring the local dune systems and experiencing local life amongst the people of the area. You may think that I might be a little tired of deserts by now, but it really was a lot of fun to introduce people to this little visited area, so close to Beijing.

We had a jam packed 2-days full of shooting in the desert, visiting people’s homes, lots of editing sessions and trying traditional food from the area. Highlights including getting up for the sunrise over the desert and having a run-in with the local army plus multiple wedding parties! An odd mix but a lot of fun and it provided plenty of photo opportunities for everyone!

Please take a moment to play the slideshow and see some of the images from our trip. We hope to run this workshop again sometime soon, so please stay tuned and sign-up for our newsletter to be the first to know about new classes and trips!

Tianmo Desert Workshop

We are delighted to announce our upcoming workshops for May 2010! We have two workshops planned, “Shoot-Edit-Photoshop” and “Beijing Desert Workshop”. We hope each one will cater to whatever you current goals in photography may be. Please find the initial outlines below. For more details and detailed itineraries, please head to our Workshop page (via the tab at the top-right of the blog) .  We look forward to seeing you on one of our upcoming classes!

This new workshop titled ‘Shoot-Edit-Photoshop’ is aimed at beginner/intermediate photographers who are looking to improve their digital workflow from the shooting stage, through to editing and finishing images in Photoshop. We all know how it is easy to lose control of all those images you take, so you will learn effective ways in which to edit and categorize your images to improve you skills at managing your photos straight after a shoot. After categorizing our images, we will take them into Photoshop to learn how to get the best out of them through simple alterations such as cropping, changing colour balance, levels, contrast and saturation. Photoshop can be very daunting but we will break it down and show you the few essential functions you can use to get the very best out of your images.

Editing Session: Weekend Workshops

“Beijing Desert Workshop” - Dates: Saturday 5th June and Sunday 6th June 2010 (Please note these dates have changed)

During this workshop you will explore and photograph the little-visited desert of Tianmo. Located just 80km from central Beijing, next to the Longbao Mountain Range, it is the closest desert to the capital and offers visitors a glimpse at the spectacular desert regions that now dominate 20% of northern China. Sean Gallagher, whose images of China’s deserts have appeared in National Geographic China, will guide you during this workshop helping you capture this unique environment. You will have a chance to shoot side-by-side with Sean and learn how to capture landscapes, natural scenery and photograph daily life in this dry but fascinating area.

Earlier this week I released a video titled ‘Earth Hour: In One Minute’, a time-lapse video that captured last month’s Earth Hour at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing. I thought it would be fun to use this video as the basis for the first competition that I have run through the blog. Up for grabs is a half-day (3hours) one-on-one workshop with me here in Beijing. Maybe you’d like to brush up on your editing, your night photography, your photoshop skills, your street photography? No problem. We’ll have 3 hours to target anything you want, FREE.

Okay, so how to win? In my time-lapse video I actually appear twice within the video by walking into the foreground. (I was waiting alone in the cold for an hour doing the video, so I had to entertain myself somehow!) The challenge is to tell me the correct second count at which I appear, both times. To clarify, it’s the second count on the YouTube/Vimeo counter NOT the clock in the bottom-right of the screen you see counting down the Earth Hour. You can watch the clip on either YouTube or Vimeo. They are exactly the same.

The first eagle-eyed person to post the correct answers (or closest to them) here on this post on my blog will win the free workshop. Easy as that!

(*Hints* You may have to pause/start the video quickly to see frames individually around the points you think you spotted me. Those who know me and/or have met me on a workshop before, may have an advantage to knowing what I look like…obviously!)

I’ll reveal who is the winner at the beginning of next week, that’s assuming somebody gets it over the weekend! If no-one gets it, I’ll leave the competition open until someone does! Good luck!

Chinese New Year Workshop | White Cloud Temple

February welcomed a very unique time of the Chinese calendar; Chinese New Year. To mark the most important holiday of the year, we decided to run a special workshop to coincide with the celebrations in Beijing.

Claire | White Cloud Temple Fair

On 16th February we headed to the White Cloud Temple in XiCheng District. This spectacular Taoist temple is over 1000 years old and is one of the city’s hidden cultural gems. It served as the perfect backdrop for us to explore and photograph traditional celebrations in the capital.

Marina | White Cloud Temple Fair

This post features a selection of photos taken on the day. Thanks to Marina and Claire for making it a fun afternoon!

Marina (left), Sean (center) and Claire (right) | White Cloud Temple

Claire photographing a temple visitor | White Cloud Temple

Tibet (c) Charlotte Duch Lynggaard

As many of you know, I began running workshops in Beijing in late 2009 as a response to what I perceived to be the demand for a setting where photographers could get together, share ideas, enjoy photography and explore China in a guided and relaxed setting. So far, we have had many students attend, all bringing their own approaches to photography. Not every student has the same aim. Some are aspiring professionals, some keen amateurs with advanced kit and some who just want to take better holiday pictures to act as memories for their time in China. Everyone is welcome and our primary aim is to try and pass on some of the passion we have for photography and China to our students.

Tibet (c) Charlotte Duch Lynggaard

This week, I’d like to introduce you to one of our former students, Charlotte Duch Lynggaard. Charlotte attended one of our first group classes in the hutongs in November and has since taken a number of private one-on-one classes with me. During these classes we have approached a number of topics including street photography, basic photoshop skills and ways to approach effective editing.

Tibet (c) Charlotte Duch Lynggaard

By day, Charlotte is a doctor. However as can be seen from these photographs in this post, she has a great visual sense to go along with her obvious analytical and technical skills used in her day job. Charlotte does not aspire to be a professional photographer however photography is a creative release for her, that gives her an escape and a level of balance in life.

Tibet (c) Charlotte Duch Lynggaard

Charlotte wanted to focus on an intensive one-on-one course to try and improve her level quickly, under the guidance of someone who could give her give her immediate and direct feedback. By talking to Charlotte about her background, personality and aims in photography we were able to tailor a course that suited her schedule and her overall goals in photography.

Tibet (c) Charlotte Duch Lynggaard

Mid-way through our classes together, Charlotte went to Tibet to try out some of the new techniques and skills that we had been working on during her classes. All of the pictures in this post were taken by Charlotte during her journey in one of China’s most visually spectacular regions. By sitting down and working together, we edited and discussed which pictures were strongest and conveyed Charlotte’s vision. I’m really happy with how fast Charlotte has progressed, just from the few sessions we have had together. To see and help her use photography as a creative release and discover her way or seeing the world, is a real honour and pleasure.

From Left to Right: Jessica, Sean, Pip, Ross, Rita, Fredrik, Eva, Andrea, Alexia

Last Sunday saw the 4th in our series of Hutong Photography Workshops. We had nearly a full class with nine students attending; Jim, Pip, Ross, Andrea, Daphne, Eva, Rita, Alexia and Fredrik.

Andrea, Eva and Rita

The day started at 10 a.m. with everyone finding their way to the Far East International Youth Hostel with no problems. We got into the morning class and straight way found that everyone was at a similar level and wanted the same things out for the day together.

Daphne, Fredrik, Eva and Alexia

Our first afternoon session shooting turned out to be longer than expected as everyone became increasingly fascinated with life in the hutongs. It was a typical day in this unique area of central Beijing and students were offered photo-opportunities at every turn in the maze-like alleys. Editing sessions after the first shoot and in the later half of the afternoon offered students a chance to talk about the photos they were creating and how they could improve.

Ross and Pip

As the afternoon went on, the temperature dipped quickly but everyone was still enthusiastic about trying to get that ‘one last shot’. As the snow fell and the fireworks went off at the end of the day, another successful Hutong Photography workshop came to and end.

Fredrik, Sean and Andrea

Jessica and I want to express a big thanks to Jim, Pip, Ross, Andrea, Daphne, Eva, Rita, Alexia and Fredrik for making it a very interesting and special workshop!

Ross, Pip and Jim making notes in class.

Andrea and Alexia

Class editing session

Jim and Sean

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White Cloud Temple | Baiyun Guan

On Saturday night, the skies lit up with fireworks above most Chinese cities, signifying the start of China’s most special holiday of the year: Chinese New Year.

For the next week Chinese families will spent most of the time eating, drinking, visiting family members, catching up with old friends and heading to many of the temple fairs that are taking place. This week’s ‘Photo(s) of the Week’ come from the White Cloud Temple in Beijing. This Taoist temple is over a thousand years old and is one of the locations for Beijing’s most interesting celebrations during this special week.

The photo at the top is of people rubbing chinese characters, in order to gain luck, fortune, prosperity etc. from the character of corresponding meaning.

White Cloud Temple | Baiyun Guan

The second image is taken within the grounds of the temple and is of two young girls, dressed up in their finest new year clothes.

We’re very excited to be returning to this temple tomorrow for our special Chinese New Year Photography Workshop where students will have the chance to capture the unique celebrations at this special temple. I wish all readers of my blog a happy and prosperous new year of the Tiger! 虎年快乐！

Word Cloud

As you can see, the top 4 are China, photography, desertification and workshop. These four really sum up a lot of what I have talked about over the past 7+ months in which I have been blogging. Read more about each below…

China – I have been lucky enough to call China my second home really, since moving here 3 and 1/2 years ago. Most of my posts are about my life and work here and it’s inevitable that this is the focus of my posts. I do try to add a sprinkling of thoughts and photos from other locations however, when I can.

Photography – Well, this one is a little obvious!

Desertification – The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting sponsored me to work on covering the issue of desertification in 2009 and since, it has been my main body of work. I continue to try to spread the word on this vastly underreported issue to as many people as possible.

Workshop – In October 2009 we began the Weekend Workshops, photography classes aimed at introducing the participants to China, through photography. Slowly but surely they are gaining in popularity as more Beijing residents and visitors look to explore China’s capital with their cameras in hand.

…And that’s it, in a nutshell. I hope it helps give you a quick idea about what this blog is about. Maybe I’ll try this again in a year, to see how the focus had changed. This will be a useful exercise for me too!