Author:sgallagher

beijing-china-heatwave-climate-sean-gallagher

Photos from Beijing (China) during 2023 Record Breaking Heatwave

Temperatures recently were again close to 40C (104F) in Beijing. The Chinese capital has seen waves of heat descend on the city, breaking records and providing more warnings of the changing climate in Asia. “Last weekend the mercury soared past 40C (104F) for three consecutive days, the first time that the city has endured such prolonged heat since its weather station started recording temperatures in 1951. Surrounding areas also issued “red” weather warnings, indicating that the temperature could surpass 40C […]

Continue Reading
beijing-china-heatwave-climate-change-sean-gallagher-photographer

What You Need to Know About China’s Record Breaking Heatwave

What you need to know about China’s record breaking heatwave. If you’ve been following the latest climate news recently, you will have heard about the brutal heatwave battering northern China. In this short video, I share with you a few important facts to understand what is happening on the ground here. Watch more of these videos on my YouTube channel.

Continue Reading
photographers-in-china-beijing-sean-gallagher

Photographers in China – Documentary – 镜像中国 – 摄影师在中国

‘Time Through Lenses’ is a new TV documentary that profiles photographers who have documented the changes to China over the last 70 years. I was pleased to be one of the small group of photographers selected and spent a few days with the crew to share and talk about my work documenting the country’s environmental challenges. I spoke extensively about my long-term work on desertification and climate change impacts across the country. I also discussed my life and career as […]

Continue Reading
BEIJING-SANDSTORM

Photographing northern China’s ‘Super’ Sandstorm

“Why is the sky orange?” I pulled the sheets from around my eyes and looked at my daughter. “What do you mean?” I said. “The sky. It’s orange,” she stated in a very matter-of-fact way. I rolled over and pulled the curtain to one side. I peered through my half-awake eyes out onto the streets of Beijing which were shrouded by a distinctive orange haze. It was like the city had been dipped and soaked in a cup of English […]

Continue Reading

Multiple Points of Interest – The Secret to Creating Dynamic Images!

Today, I want to share with you how adding multiple points of interest in your photos can make for much more dynamic and interesting photographs. When people first start taking images, they often focus on just one subject in the frame, but a professional technique to make images much more interesting is to add multiple points of interest within the frame of the photograph. To begin doing this, you need to start by first appreciating the frame of your photograph […]

Continue Reading

The Secret to Capturing Reflections – Photography Technique

This week I want to share with you how making images using reflections can make for much more interesting and powerful photographs. Reflections can come in many forms but the primary places to look out for reflections is when you are near windows, mirrors and still water. The reflective properties of these allow you to be very creative with your compositions and will help you make photographs that are much more interesting and intriguing to your viewers. Try getting close […]

Continue Reading

Undercover in North Korea – New on YouTube

In 2009, I travelled to North Korea on assignment for the Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail. I travelled with G&M correspondent, Mark Mackinnon, secretly posing as tourists, in order to get a rare and unique view of the country at a time when very few outsiders were permitted to visit. Breaking up my camera and smuggling it in pieces in my luggage, I was able to surreptitiously take photos and use a tourist’s camcorder to capture video as we […]

Continue Reading

What Do I Need To Learn To Become a Photographer at National Geographic?

I received this question this week via someone in my private WeChat/WhatsApp groups that Patreon members gain access to. It’s a question I have been asked a number of times before, so thought I would share my answers that I gave here with all of you. Taking images for National Geographic is a goal for many and is seen as one of the pinnacles of the profession. When I was starting out, it was a dream for me too. I […]

Continue Reading

Patreon Launch

I am pleased to share the new of the launch of my new PATREON page. This is your chance to directly support my work and become a valued member of my community online. When you join my community, you gain access to my private WhatsApp/WeChat groups for daily communication with me. ‘Amateur’ and ‘Advanced’ members also get personalised portfolio reviews and are invited to my monthly group call on Zoom where we discuss and review your work, and share ideas […]

Continue Reading

Photography Tip – A Frame in a Frame

This week on Youtube and Instagram I introduced the latest photography technique of a ‘Frame in a Frame’. In this post, I go further in-depth into this technique and provide more examples for how you can use it to improve your photographs and make them more impactful. Composition is one of the fundamental principles that we need to think about when we make images. Personally, I obsess over composition. It is the framework to our image. Every image is a […]

Continue Reading