Photo Touring in Southeast Asia

Just who is it that travels without a camera these days? Answer: Nobody! Whether it’s with your phone, a pocket camera, video camera or more advanced photography equipment, everybody is snapping memories of their adventures to share with friends and family. With the rise in popularity of learning and specialty tours, comes the rise of the photography tour! As great as it is to take pictures for fun, it can be much more rewarding (and fun) to advance your knowledge and learn how to take beautiful pictures with the assistance of professional photographers on small group travel adventures.

Some photo tours are offered on a day basis in many places, but the usual duration for a full length photo tour is 10 – 14 days.  In other words, your normal holiday spent wandering around with the crowds and perhaps spending long hours waiting in lines, is transformed into a rich learning experience with special access to the best photo locations, as well as close cultural interchange with local people happy to be photographed. The best photo tours come with one or two accomplished professional photographers experienced at teaching beginner to advanced level participants how to improve their ability and make striking images. They guide small groups of 6 – 10 participants through exotic countries around the world, with Southeast Asia being one of the most popular.  It’s no wonder with the regions many wonders and colorful people! The countries in highest demand for photo tours are Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

Helpful Tips for Choosing the Best Photo Tour

 

                                                          Photo credit: Kyaw Kyaw Winn

First, decide which country and type of photography you are most interested in. Travel photography is the obvious first choice for most travelers in Southeast Asia, and it includes people, landscapes, historic sites, markets, etc. Be sure to have a good look around at places that may not be on your Bucket List yet, as you may be pleasantly surprised with what you see.  

Myanmar is a destination on the rise, as it has only recently opened up to the world and is still relatively little traveled. National Geographic photographer Catherine Karnow has called Myanmar, “…the most photogenic place that I have ever photographed.”

Assuming a Myanmar photo tour or other Southeast Asia destination is on your short list, contact a high quality, well experienced travel & photo tour company like Luminous Journeys, which also conducts photography adventures in Vietnam and Bali.  Make sure you are comfortable and happy with what they have on offer, and be sure to ask them a lot of questions! This is true of course for any destination you may choose.

 If the dates of a particular photo tour do not match your schedule, ask them about private photo tours. Unlike most photo tour operators who do not have photographers on the ground 24/7/365 in the countries they operate, Luminous Journeys does, and so they are able to offer private adventures on dates of your choosing.  

Some key questions to learn the answers to are: 
1. Who are the lead photographers, how accomplished are they, and are they experienced in the country where the tour will take place?
2. Are true, high quality professional images they’ve taken in the country in question on display?
3. Are they patient leaders and instructors with all experience levels, including beginners?
4. What hotels will the group be staying in? (They should be listed, if not, ask).
5. While in country, do we fly city to city or take a bus?
6. How much actual photography vs. free time will we have?
7. What is the maximum number of participants?
8. Do the photographer leaders offer enough in field instruction, image review, and/or help in better understanding post processing?
9. How much personal instruction can I expect to receive?
10. What is included and not included in the price?

Photography tours and workshops are a great way to see the world and experience it more up close and personal than with general travel tours. Some excellent photo tours can be had for about the same price as some regular 4 star tours, believe or not! Plus you get much better access to the country while learning how to become a much better photographer. And at the end of your tour, you’ll have the great new images to prove it!