 |
||
Archives: April 2011Weekly Photo – Kelly Anthony Photography
A Cambodian man checking fishing traps in the morning on the river. On this particular day, the river was very still and smooth during, making for great reflections in the water. Location: Kampot. We spent the weekend relaxing by the river, eating, reading and enjoying the views – a very productive weekend! This particular image is composed of 3 photos stitched together.
One (1) photo a day Cambodia, Kelly Anthony Rae Photography, Day 18
Day 18 photo: A young teenager working to sort and recycle rubbish According to the World Bank, approximately 2% of the third world’s population sustain themselves from collecting and recycling rubbish. This 15 year old boy carries a load of plastic bottles to be loaded onto a truck. The bottles are often collected by young children carrying large sacks or pulling carts. They walk around the city, collecting these bottles and then trade them in for money. The rubbish is then sorted and placed in these large bags, to be transported to recycling companies. Across Cambodia an estimated 1.5 million children under 14 are forced to work, child advocacy groups say. They say that while most labor on family farms, up to 250,000 work in hazardous conditions while begging, scavenging waste, working in factories or mining. (source)
The rest of the one photo a day series can be found here: http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/category/a-photo-a-day/ One (1) photo a day Cambodia, Kelly Anthony Rae Photography, Day 17
Day 17 photo: Limes and oranges for sugar cane drinks You can find sugar cane juice from little street carts all over Cambodia (and other countries). It’s basically crushed sugar cane to extract the juice, sometimes they will add in limes and other flavours. Then they pour the juice into a small plastic bag with ice, pop a straw in and there you have it – a take away sugar can juice drink. All for about 20 cents. It’s very sweet.
The rest of the one photo a day series can be found here: http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/category/a-photo-a-day/ One (1) photo a day Cambodia, Kelly Anthony Rae Photography, Day 15
Day 15: Lucky Burger. Please bear with me as I explain the story of how I got this photo … Currently, there are no McDonald’s restaurants in Cambodia. The closest thing is either Lucky Burger or BB World. There are a few Lucky Burger stores located around Phnom Penh. When we first arrived in Cambodia, we signed up for a Lucky Card. Whenever you shop at a Lucky Supermarket, you give them your card and you get points. The conversion rate is $1 = 0.1 points. You can redeem your points once you have 50, 100, 200 or 500 points. For accumulating 50 points, you get a $5 gift voucher which you can use at Lucky Burger. We finally got to 50 points after 10 months of living in Cambodia (yes, that’s spending $500 on groceries to get a $5 gift voucher) and I happily set off to Lucky Burger to spend it. The picture below shows what I got for our efforts of grocery shopping. It consists of:
The rest of the one photo a day series can be found here: http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/category/a-photo-a-day/ One (1) photo a day Cambodia, Kelly Anthony Rae Photography, Day 9
Day 9 photo: Public toilet = the closest tree or wall A not so uncommon sight in Phnom Penh are men using trees, walls or anything else as public toilets. I think it’s because a lot of people live on the street and work on the street rather than in buildings, they use the closest available tree or wall. Pros and Cons of using trees and walls as public toilets. Pros: Cons: Also in the photo, note the man and his child sleeping in the rubbish cart.
The rest of the one photo a day series can be found here: http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/category/a-photo-a-day/ One (1) photo a day Cambodia, Kelly and Anthony Rae Photography – Day 1
In order to improve my photography and challenge myself, I am attempting to do a-photo-a-day for the month of February. Lots of people start these things – often for a year, but never finish. I figure a month (the shortest month at that) would be a more achievable goal to set. There are 28 days in February this year, so it means 28 photos. The photos posted in this series will be of a general interest nature – no theme yet, but all based in Camboda and reflecting on life here as a volunteer. So here is the photo for day 1, 1st of February 2011. This is a picture of the ‘Cambodian Daily’ one of the two main English newspapers in Cambodia. It often contains articles from other newswires so it has a lot of international news, but also publishes local news as well. I thought it a fitting picture to start of this daily photo series.
The rest of the one photo a day series can be found here: http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/category/a-photo-a-day/ Cambodia and Vietnam Calendars
We have put together one calendar with photos capturing the colour and life of Cambodia and another of Vietnam, which can be purchased here at these two links: 50% of profits from each calendar will be donated to work by TEAR Australia and Task in the area of Community and Sanitation Development, in the Mean Chey District: http://tiny.cc/1f2ei They make the perfect Christmas presents for family and friends.
Monks, Motos and Meat
Since I have returned back to Cambodia with a my new camera I’ve been mainly using the 50mm and it’s great. The ability to shoot at high ISO’s (3200 – 6400) for situations where there is not much light has opened up a whole new area. The image quality is also a step up using a different sensor from my previous camera. The dynamic range is also very impressive, being able to to recover images that are over exposed or bring up shadow detail in areas which are dark. It’s one other big difference I have noticed and makes a huge difference, in particular the high contrast images. On the whole, I’m very please with the new camera and the quality of images it has been producing. Here are some photos from in and around Phnom Penh as it’s been a while since the last update. Image 1 – Monks looking at an aerial photograph at the National Museum in Phnom Penh
Exploring Vietnam
Some more Vietnam images …
A few more images form the trip to Vietnam … First is Hoan Kiem Lake (meaning – Lake of the Returned Sword). The story behind the lake is as follows: According to the legend, emperor Lê Lợi handed a magic sword called Heaven’s Will which brought him victory in his revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty back to the Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) in the lake and hence gave it its present name (the lake was formerly known as “Luc Thuy” meaning “Green Water”). The Tortoise Tower (Thap Rùa) standing on a small island near the center of lake is linked to the legend. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoan_Kiem_Lake). The bridge is called Huc Bridge.
Another image from Sapa – North Vietnam.
This Vietnamese man was writing Chinese characters on drawings outside a restored house/museum.
Hanoi, Vietnam
Here are some street photography shots from the city of Hanoi. We were there when they were celebrating the 1,000th year anniversary of the city. It was a fun time to visit, but very very crowded !
Raining and flooding in Phnom Penh
So the rainy season has been a bit late this year, but last Friday Phnom Penh experienced several hours of heavy rain which caused many parts of the city to be flooded. In some spots, the depth of the water on the roads was between 30cm and 60cm. The rainy season in Cambodia is generally from May to October and they remainder of the year is the dry season. Generally the rain hits between 2pm and 3pm and lasts for an hour or so but it can rain for up to a week at a time. The rains flood the streets of Phnom Penh mainly due to the drainage system in Phnom Penh not being able to cope with such large amounts of water. Although in recent years, there has been much speculation that the filling in of Beoung Kak Lake with sand to make way for new developments, has added to the cause of flooding as the water has no where to drain. (see article in Phnom Penh Post) Travelling out in the provinces can be a bit of a struggle during the rainy season as dirt roads are often flooded and inaccessible but the main highways should not be a problem. It can be a great time to see Cambodia is it is the low season for tourists and the rains create a lush, green and beautiful countryside. Some tips for when it’s raining and the streets flood.
Here are a couple of photo’s from the other day near the Royal Palace and Street 178.
Eating / Restaurants in Phnom Penh
This is an update to the first post relating to eating out in Phnom Penh which can be found here. Brown Coffee and Bakery – 5/5 Fantastic modern coffee shop with excellent coffee and pastries at reasonable prices. Set in a very elegant and stylish setting, you’ll be able to relax with freshly baked pastries, cakes and great coffee. http://thebrowncoffee.com/ Khmer Kitchen – 3.5/5 Popular Khmer restaurant with very reasonable prices. Wide selection of dishes and set in a nice cool garden setting. There is also an upstairs eating area where you dine by sitting on the floor at low tables. The food we have experience has been a bit hit and miss, but on the whole a great restaurant. Magnolia – 5/5 Vietnamese restaurant with a huge variety (Fish, squid, eel, frog, chicken, beef, and pork) of delicious dishes and drinks. Set in an old school building where you can dine in a spacious outdoor garden setting or on the balcony, it’s tastefully (pun intended) decorated and the food is great value for money. Magnolia has top class service and food at Khmer prices. Our favourite are the Vietnamese pancakes for $3. Le Rit’s – 4.5/5 Run by an NGO called Nyemo, this is a great shop/guesthouse/restaurant all in one. Offers Asian and European dishes set in a beautiful old colonial house with a peaceful garden. A great dining experience and supporting the work of the NGO. http://www.business.nyemo.com/ Phnom Penh update
So after a week in Phnom Penh we have seen only a little bit of the city, but what we have seen so far has just been great. We were able to go on an evening boat cruise along the Tonle Sap river which was a beautiful evening, even when it started bucketing down. It’s the end of the dry season and soon we’ll be heading into the wet season so there will be a lot more storms and rain. We’ve eaten out at so many great restaurants, shopped at lots of markets and started Khmer language lessons. Below are some photos from the city of Phnom Penh … enjoy ! Foreign Correspondence Club Phnom Penh |
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
<
