The Terra Galleria Blog – QT Luong

Posted on February 21, 2013, 2:58 pm, by QT Luong, under Announcements.

The opening feature in the March 2013 issue of Outdoor Photographer Magazine is an article about my nature landscape work. Read the web version.

I am honored to be called a “modern master” and “artist” by such a prestigious magazine, and to have been interviewed by a writer as perceptive as William Sawalich, who distilled the wide-ranging interview into a cohesive story. I happened to see my copy yesterday, on the birthday of Ansel Adams. He gives the general theme of the March 2013 issue, and is mentioned enough in the article that it is almost a fitting tribute.

To complement the article, I’d like to share a few images which did not appear in the final version of the article, although they are discussed in it. Here is one version of the “nighttime Lower Yosemite Falls image”:

Here are the “two very similar views of Death Valley and Denali” which helped start the National Parks project:

I feel that this image, part of the initial edit – and of the conversation about the ease of finding new images – was a good counterpoint to the Tunnel View image since the later is such an iconic location while this one is so little visited that I did not encounter a single person during the springtime hike from the Valley floor to the base of Ribbon Falls and never saw this composition before:

Tags: linkedin, magazines, publication
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Posted on February 8, 2013, 8:12 am, by QT Luong, under Announcements.

Rudyard Kipling described Burma (now Myanmar) as “unlike any land you know about.” Having visited all the countries in continental South-East Asia, some several times, I have indeed found Myanmar to be the most fascinating of them. The sites by themselves would be compelling enough. They have a magical quality which defies the imagination and amply justify the “Golden Land” given to Myanmar.

However, what makes Myanmar so interesting is that it has retained its unique traditional culture much more than other countries, because of the isolation of 40 years of military rule it is emerging from. Myanmar for now remains one of the most authentic destinations in our ever more modern and homogenized world. There are opportunities at every turn to capture moments of a lifestyle which hasn’t changed much over the last century. Unlike in more developed places where the sight of a camera raises suspicions, residents of all ages and genders still graciously welcome photographers.

As highlighted by President Obama’s visit, Myanmar is opening to the West, so changes are coming fast. The flip-side for us is that comfortable accommodation and transportation are now available, which make possible a luxury travel tour with stays at four and five star hotels. Since traveling in Myanmar in 2000, I have always wanted to return, so I am pleased to announce that I will be co-leading a Myanmar photo tour with Insiders Asia tour director, Phuoc Babcock, just like in our Fall 2012 Vietnam Photo Tour which was a great success with participants.

Classic Myanmar in Focus will take place January 3-14, 2014. During this time of the year, Myanmar has the most moderate temperatures and driest weather. We will visit the four most well-known destinations in Myanmar, using air transportation between them in order to minimize travel time. But we will not entirely shy away from bumpy rural roads, as our fifth destination, Pindaya, will definitively take us out of the classic tourist trail. Our schedule is expressly tailored for photography, with many sunrise and sunset sessions at spectacular locations. At each of the sites, we will take excursions into lesser visited areas, and enjoy special access and arrangements not available to normal tour groups to help us create unique images.

The tour will provide us with an extraordinary diverse range of photographic opportunities, including landscape, architecture, street photography, and environmental portraiture.

We start in Yangon with the amazing Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the oldest, largest, most gilded, revered, and active Buddhist edifices in the world. Bagan is the most impressive archeological site in South-East Asia, and in my opinion one of the man-made wonders of the world. In two and half centuries of extraordinary religious fervor, thousands of Buddhist monuments and temples (as many as all European cathedrals) were built in the small valley. Although many are ruined, they still stand almost as dense as a city and form an unforgettable sight when viewed at dawn from a high platform or a hot-air balloon. The center of Buddhism and Myanmar arts then shifted to Mandalay, an old royal city, particularly rich with traditional workshops, pagodas and monasteries, which will provide for close interactions as well as iconic landscapes. In Pindaya, we will experiment with light painting to photograph a mysterious cave filled with 8,000 Buddha statues, discovering on the way rural scenes that have not changed for centuries. Our exploration of a traditional way of life culminates in Lake Inle. We will visit floating villages and gardens built in the middle of this huge and beautiful mountain lake surrounded by high hills, enlivened by Intha fishermen with unique dress and technique of leg rowing and fishing.

The tour is limited to a small group of 10 photographers. Upon informal announcement of the tour via private correspondence, half of the seats have already been claimed.

When is the best time to travel to Myanmar ? Now — for tomorrow things will not be the same in this country which is moving fast towards its future. Come and join me on this incredible photography adventure to Myanmar.

Detailed information about Classic Myanmar in Focus photo tour

More images of Myanmar

Tags: asia, photography, tours, travels
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Posted on February 1, 2013, 1:32 am, by QT Luong, under Books.

I like to look at photographs, in genres very different from my own, particularly in book form. I may write some about this obsession later, but for now let me just mention that in some years, I have spent more on photobooks than on photography gear. I also like best-of lists for many things. Despite their limitations, they are a useful way to try and bring order to possibilities that are so numerous as being practically infinite.

Despite the digital onslaught, there is more interest in printed photobooks than ever. The last few years have seen “best photobooks of the year” lists mushroom in November and December. Last year, curator and writer Marc Feustel compiled a meta “best of” 2011 photobooks list by gathering 52 lists, and giving one vote to a book for each appearance on a list. After completing the exercise, he wrote “if I see another list at this stage, I will probably have to take my own life”. As expected he didn’t compile the meta-list for 2012 photobooks. So here I have done the work, using the same methodology, based on a list of 56 lists gathered by Photot(o)lia that you should definitively explore – plus a few others. When you consider that some of the lists within (most notably Photo-Eye) are already themselves meta-lists, that’s actually more than 90 lists and 500 different titles.

The votes are very spread out. While the clear “winner” received about 25% of nominations, the runner up got only 14%, and from there many titles are tied. This large dispersion reflects the considerable number of titles published. The vitality of the photobook is encouraging, even though the lack of consensus may give the disorienting impression that everything is worth the same.

Non-inclusion on the meta-list doesn’t preclude greatness. American Photographs, one of the two most important books in the history of American photography, was reprinted in 2012 for the first time in a quarter century. Other relatively obscure reprints made it to the meta-list, but not American Photographs (maybe because most photobook lovers own already a copy ? the reprint looks better than my 1938 copy). It appeared only on the list by Mike Johnston’s TOP, initially as the top choice because it is that site’s all-time best seller, with readers ordering more than 1,200 copies.

Many of the top-nominated titles are from small publishers, such Mack Books, a small publishing house focusing on intellectually challenging projects, which started only in 2011 (Michael Mack is a Steidl veteran, though) and doesn’t even use traditional mass-distribution. Well-established Aperture and Steidl appear only from the 10th place. I am only beginning to look at the list. So far, my favorite is “(based on a true story)” which is self-published. I haven’t seen “Afronauts” and don’t expect to do so. Well before any of the lists was written, its 1000 copies had already sold out, which is quite remarkable for a debut, self-published book, published in May 2013. If you do something interesting, despite the avalanche of new photobooks, it is still possible to get noticed, coming out of nowhere !

1st Place (23 votes)

• The Afronauts. CRISTINA DE MIDDEL Self Published

2nd Place (13 votes)

• Elementary Calculus. J CARRIER Mack

3rd Place (12 votes)

• The Present PAUL GRAHAM Mack

4th Place (11 votes)

• Coexistence. STEPHEN GILL Nobody Books (Self Published)
• Lebensmittel. MICHAEL SCHMIDT Snoeck
• Lick Creek Line. RON JUDE Mack

5th Place (10 votes)

• Looking for Love, 1996. ALEC SOTH Kominek Books

6th Place (9 votes)

• Dive Dark Dream Slow. MELISSA CATANESE The Ice Plant
• Down These Mean Streets. WILL STEACY B. Frank books
• Heaven. PAUL KOOIKER Van Zoetendaal Gallery

7th Place (8 votes)

• Another Language. MÅRTEN LANGE Mack
• Jeddah Diary. OLIVIA ARTHUR Fishbar

8th Place (7 votes)

• Circulation : Date, Place, Events. TAKUMA NAKAHIRA Osiris
• City Diary. ANDERS PETERSEN Steidl/Swedish Books/GUN
• Deutschland. GERRY JOHANSSON Mack
• Uncle Charlie. MARC ASNIN Contrasto

9th Place (6 votes)

• Found Photos in Detroit. ARIANNA ARCARA Censura Publishing
• Here Far Away. PENTTI SAMMALLAHTI Dewi Lewis Publishing (Hier weit entfernt, Kehrer)
• Out to Lunch. ARI MARCOPOULOS PPP Editions
• Two Thousand Light Years from Home. PIETRO MATTIOLI Kodoji Press
• Vanilla Partner. TORBJØRN RØDLAND Mack

10th Place (5 votes)

• (based on a true story). DAVID ALAN HARVEY BurnBooks (Self Published)
• A Natural Order. LUCAS FOGLIA Nazraeli Press
• A New American Picture. DOUG RICKARD Aperture
• Billy Monk: Night Club Photographs. BILLY MONK Dewi Lewis
• Concresco. David Galjaard Self-published
• In the Car With R. RAFAL MILACH Czytelnia Sztuki
• Kiev. ROB HORNSTRA The Sochi Project
• Life Size. SAM FALLS Karma
• Los Alamos Revisited. WILLIAM EGGLESTON Steidl
• Petrochemical America. RICHARD MISRACH & KATE ORFF Aperture
• Photographs Not Taken. WILL STEACY Daylight
• Scrapbook 1969-1985. WALTER PFEIFFER Patrick Frey
• Soho. ANDERS PETERSEN Mack
• The Father of Pop Dance. TIANE DOAN NA CHAMPASSAK Self Published
• Touch. PETER DEKENS Self Published
• USSR 1991. KEIZO KITAJIMA Little Big Man Books

11th Place (4 votes)

• A Girl and Her Room. RANIA MATAR Umbrage
• A Retrospective. RINEKE DIJKSTRA Guggenheim Museum
• House of Coates. BRAD ZELLAR & LESTER B. MORRISON Little Brown Mushroom
• Kodachrome. LUIGI GHIRRI Mack (reprint)
• Lange Liste 79 – 97. CHRISTIAN LANGE Spector Books
• Life’s a Beach. MARTIN PARR Aperture
• Lovesody. MOTOYUKI DAIFU Little Big Man Books
• Margret:Chronik einer Affäre, Mai 1968. NICOLE DELMES Walther König
• Mrs. Merryman’s Collection. ANNE SOPHIE MERRYMAN Mack
• On the Mines. DAVID GOLDBLATT Steidl (reprint)
• Pictures and Words. JUERGEN TELLER Steidl
• Poppy: Trails of Afghan Heroin. ROBERT KNOTH & ANTOINETTE DE JONG Hatje Cantz
• Project Prints. LUIGI GHIRRI JRP Ringier
• Sailboats and swans. MICHAL CHELBIN Twin Palms
• Strip-O-Gram. SEBASTIEN GIRARD Self Published
• Sunburn. CHRIS MCCAW Candela Books
• The Americans List. JASON ESKENAZI Red Hook Editions (Self Published)
• The Netherlands. HANS VAN DER MEER YdocPublishing

12th Place (3 votes)

• Anima. CHARLOTTE DUMAS Self Published
• Bottrop Ebel 1976. MICHAEL WOLF Peperoni
• Cette Montagne C’est Moi. WITHO WORMS FW books
• Closed cities. GREGOR SAILER Kehrer
• Companion. CHARLOTTE DUMAS Editions Filigranes
• Face City. PINO MUSI, self-published.
• Fushikaden ISSEI SUDA Aiko Nagasawa
• Gary Briechle. GARY BRIECHLE Twin Palms Publishers
• Handbook to the Stars. PETER PUKLUS Stokovec (Self Published)
• INFRA by RICHARD MOSSE Aperture
• Los Restos de la Revolucion. KEVIN KUNISHI Daylight
• Metsästä. ANNE GOLAZ Kehrer Verlag
• Murals & Portraits. RICHARD AVEDON Abrams
• My Dakota. REBECCA NORRIS WEBB Radius Books
• NYLPT. JASON EVANS Mack
• Nocturnes. AM PROJECTS dienacht Publishing
• Nurture Studies. DIANA SCHERER van Zoetendaal Gallery
• Ohio ALEC SOTH & BRAD ZELLAR Little Brown Mushroom
• Rachel Monique. SOPHIE CALLE Siglio
• She. LISE SAFARTI Twin Palms
• Singular Beauty. CARA PHILLIPS Fw:
• Summertime MARK STEINMETZ Nazraeli
• Taking My Time. JOEL MEYEROWITZ Phaidon
• The Actor. JOHN GOSSAGE Loosestrife
• The Quest for the Man on the White Donkey. YAAKOV ISRAEL Schilt Publishing
• The River Winter. JEM SOUTHAM Mack
• Thinspiration (Must not Eat). LAIA ABRIL Self Published
• Tim Walker: Story Teller. TIM WALKER Abrams

13th Place (2 votes)

• 2013. JUSTIN JAMES REED Horses Think Press
• 207 West 17th Street #20c NY NY 10011. MATTHIAS HERRMANN Fotohof
• A Possible Life. Conversations with Gualbert BEN KREWINKEL f0.23 publishers
• American Portraits. LEON BORENSZTEIN Nazraeli Press
• Anarchy Photobook Mania. NOBUYOSHI ARAKI Izu Photo Museum
• Anyway. ARI MARCOPOULOS Dashwood Books
• Arbeit / Work. CHRIS KILLIP Steidl
• Babe MICHAEL NORTHRUP J&L Books
• Before Tomorrow. YANNIK WILLING Self Published
• Behind the curtains of 21st Century Communism. TOMAS VAN HOUTRYVE Intervalles
• Black Market. BROOMBERG & CHANARIN, Chopped Liver Press.
• Brutal. MICHAL LUCZAK Michal Luczak
• Call and Response. CEDRIC NUNN Hatje Cantz
• Cardiff After Dark MACIEJ DAKOWICZ Thames & Hudson
• Censorship Daily. JAN DIRK VAN DER BURG Self Published
• Cindy Sherman. CINDY SHERMAN MOMA
• Classroom Portraits. JULIAN GERMAIN Prestel
• Distant Place. AGNIESZKA RAYSS, JAN BRYKCZYNSKI, ADAM PANCZUK, MICHAL LUCZAK & RAFAL MILACH Copernicus Science Centre
• Documenting Science. BERENICE ABBOTT Steidl
• Ed van der Elsken: Sweet Life: Books on Books No. 13
• Este Seu Olhar. MAÍRA SOARES. Self Published
• Fabrik. JAKOB TUGGENER Steidl (reprint)
• From the Archives. DON HUDSON Éditions FP&CF
• Furtivos. VICENTE PAREDES Fiesta Ediciones/RM
• Harold Feinstein. HAROLD FEINSTEIN Nazraeli Press
• Heavy Hand, Sunken Spirit. DAVID ROCHKIND Dewi Lewis
• Imaginary Club. OLIVER SIEBER Bohm/Kobayashi
• In Almost Every Picture 11. ERIK KESSELS KesselsKramer
• Isolated Places KEIZO KITAJIMA Rat Hole Gallery
• Jitka Hanzlová JITKA HANZLOVÁ Kehrer Verlag
• Kazan. MAYUMI HOSOKURA Artbeat publishers
• Keld Helmer-Petersen: 122 Colour Photographs: Books on Books No. 14
• Kim Jong Il Looking at Things. JOÃO ROCHA Jean Boîte Editions
• Kodama.KIMURA HAJIME Mado-sha
• Krass Clement: Drum: Books on Books No. 16
• Lewis Hine LEWIS HINE DAP
• Labyrinth DAIDO MORIYAMA Aperture
• Larry Sultan & Mike Mandel. LARRY SULTAN & MIKE MANDEL Distributed Art Publishers
• Left Behind. JONATHAN HOLLINGSWORTH Dewi Lewis
• Lenore. ERIK VAN DER WEIJDEN 4478zine
• Malick Sidibe. Portrait of Mali MALIK SIDIBE Skira
• Matatabi. KOJI ONAKA Super Labo
• Michigan ALEC SOTH & BRAD ZELLAR Little Brown Mushroom
• Modern Times. PATRICK TSAI Nanarokusha publishing
• Moments before the flood. CARL DE KEYZER Lannoo
• Nathan Lyons. JESSICA S. MCDONALD University Of Texas Press
• Neue Welt. WOLFGANG TILLMANS Taschen
• New Colour Guide. JOHN MACLEAN Hunter & James
• Night and Day DAVID ARMSTRONG Morel
• Nobuyoshi Araki: The Banquet: Books on Books No. 15
• Nora. JUAN VALBUENA. phree
• On borders. OSTKREUZ PHOTOGRAPHERS Hatje Cantz
• Photo Express Tokyo KEIZO KITAJIMA (reprint)
• Photography Changes Everything. MARVIN HEIFERMAN Aperture
• Pieter Hugo. This Must Be The Place PIETER HUGO Prestel
• Reading Ed Ruscha. ED RUSCHA Kunsthaus Bregenz
• Red Thistle. DAVIDE MONTELEONE Dewi Lewis Publishing
• Reprinting the City. STEPHAN KEPPEL FW:
• Retinal shift. MIKHAEL SUBOTZKY Steidl
• Revolutions. RÉMI OCHLIK Emphas.is
• Rien. ANDRÉ CEPEDA Pierre von Kleist
• Rosette, Mauricette et Roby. ZOÉ BEAUSIRE, Kominek.
• Ruth on the Phone. NIGEL SHAFRAN Roma
• Saluti da Pinetamare. SALVATORE SANTORO, self-published.
• Somewhere. ANDRES GONZALES Self-published.
• Stay Cool. RJ SHAUGHNESSY Self Published
• Still. PATRICK HOGAN Self Published
• Tales of Tono DAIDO MORIYAMA Tate (reprint)
• The Children Living in Washington Heights 1959-1962. GASHO YAMAMURA Yagisha
• The Collared Dove Sound. SABRINA RAGUCCI & GIORGIO FALCO self-published
• The History of Photography in Pen and Ink. (Second Edition) CHARLES WOODARD A-Jump Books
• The Lost Album DENNIS HOPPER Prestel
• The Photograph as Contemporary Art. Melinda Gibson Self-published
• The Table of Power 2. JACQUELINE HASSINK Hatje Cantz
• There’s a Place in Hell for Me & My Friends. PIETER HUGO Oodee
• This Folder May Contain Clippings and Other Ephemeral Material LIZ SALES Conveyor Arts
• Toilet Paper. MAURIZIOU CATTELAN & PIERPAOLO FERRARI Freedman Damiani
• Upstate ALEC SOTH & BRAD ZELLAR Little Brown Mushroom
• Vivian Maier Out of the Shadows VIVIAN MAIER CityFiles Press
• Vanitas. JOEL-PETER WITKIN Arbor Vitae
• Vol I. ADAM BROOMBERG Self Publish Be Happy book club
• War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath, ANNE TUCKER, WILL MICHELS, NATALIE ZELT Museum Fine Arts Houston/Yale University Press
• Wegweiser zum Glück. Bilder einer Straße 1979-1981 WILHELM SCHÜRMANN Hatje Cantz
• Welcome to Springfield. MICHAEL ABRAMS Loosestrife
• Wolfgang Tillmans. WOLFGANG TILLMANS Taschen

14 th Place (1 vote)

• 333 books not listed here

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Posted on January 23, 2013, 2:58 am, by QT Luong, under New images.

DAY 10: Before breakfast, a few early rising photographers took a walk around Hoang Kiem Lake, the heart of Hanoi, just five minutes from our hotel, to see early rising residents exercising on the shores of peaceful lake in front of Turtle Tower.

Our highway stop on the way to Halong Bay included a embroidery and stone carving workshop.

Upon arrival at Bai Chay, we boarded our own Indochina Sails boat (identical to the one below). I was surprised to see it didn’t have a natural wood color.

New regulations had just been passed six months ago, compelling all tour boats to be painted white in order to give Halong Bay a distinctive look.

After lunch, our first stop was at Luon Cave tunnel that we could explore either on a sea kayak, or on a row boat, which turned out to be the choice of most participants.

We then climbed steep stairs on Titov Island to reach a high vantage point with great views.

From there, we saw some of the more than 3000 limestone islets rising from emerald waters which make Halong Bay the best known natural wonder of Vietnam.

The evening was rainy so unfortunately there was no color at sunset, but the lights of the boats began to shine at dusk, making our overnight stay worthwhile.

DAY 11: We started with an early morning Tai Chi session on the deck.

We checked out the Vung Vieng fishing village comprised of floating homes where some residents used their feet for paddling.

The islands feature endless numbers of beaches, grottoes, and caves. For our last stop, we walked through the huge chambers of Sung Sot Cave.

On our way back to Hanoi, we made the same highway stop, which was excellent for souvenir shopping with good choices at reasonable prices.

We visited the village of Bat Trang, which is well known throughout Vietnam for beautiful ceramics which have been made there for seven centuries.

DAY 12: On the final day of the tour, we were scheduled to have another walk in Hanoi, but since the participants who didn’t leave in the morning had an evening flight, and therefore a full day, we decided to visit Ninh Binh instead.

Ninh Binh is often referred to as the “Inland Halong Bay”. We took a beautiful trip on the Sao Khe River in Trang An amidst karstic mountains, gliding into a number of caves, some so narrow that we had to crouch into the rowboat in order not to bump our heads with stalactites.

After lunch, we visited Hoa Lu, the first capital of independent Vietnam (968-1009).

We celebrated the end of a great photo tour with a drink on the rooftop Summit Lounge Bar at the Sofitel Plaza while enjoying panoramic views of West Lake and the Hanoi skyline.

Part 5 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Tags: asia, culture, photography, tours, travels, vietnam
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Posted on January 14, 2013, 2:14 pm, by QT Luong, under New images.

DAY 8: Since we skipped visits last afternoon, this morning we were heading to the Hue Citadel, rain or shine, to start a busy day. As it rained, our first stop was under the Ngo Mon Gate – looking respectively at the Flag Pole (Vietnam’s tallest) and the Palace of Supreme Harmony.

The soft light helped reveal textures and colors which would have been hidden in a sunny day as we visited the Forbidden City, the former home of the Royal family before 1945.

Our next stop was at the Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue’s oldest. Its landmark pagoda tower didn’t look great against a grey sky, but our guide Cong talked a few monks into staying into position for us.

From the pagoda, we embarked on a Dragon Boat for a brief cruise down the Perfume River, at the end of which our bus picked us up.

Our first afternoon destination was the mausoleum of Emperor Tu Duc. We photographed around the peaceful Luu Khiem Lake, where the Emperor spent his time.

We then proceeded to the shrine itself, consisting of the steele pavilion and the tomb.

On the way to the next destination, we stopped at a roadside workshop where they make incense sticks and conical hats.

Shortly before arriving in Thanh Toan village, we spotted this duck herder in the distance, amongst authentic countryside of flooded rice fields.

The Thanh Toan village is known for its covered bridge, only one of three such bridges in Vietnam.

The highlight, however, was simply strolling along the canal in the village, and observing the daily life of its friendly inhabitants.

DAY 9: This morning, we flew to Hanoi. Our first stop in the capital was the Temple of Literature, a famous millenium-old temple of Confucius which hosts Vietnam’s first university.

As the place is very popular with the Vietnamese, the grounds are enlivened by visitors (who were happy to pose for our photos) and musicians.

In the afternoon, I led a photo walk in the Old Quarter, where each street is specialized in a particular trade. Despite the bustling activity, I did not lose anyone – unlike our local guide who took out the non-photographers participants.

In the evening, we attended the Water Puppet Show at the Thang Long Theater.

By special arrangement, before and after the performance, we were able to visit the backstage to take a close look at the interesting apparatus and greet the artists.

Part 4 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Tags: asia, culture, photography, tours, travels, vietnam
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Posted on January 7, 2013, 3:30 pm, by QT Luong, under Uncategorized.

The year did not start too great. I had a flight booked for Hawaii to photograph the new lava ocean entry, but it dried out in the last days of 2011, so I cancelled that trip. I planned some winter photography instead, but I suddenly lost all mobility in one shoulder – making it difficult even to get dressed by myself. However, in the end, it was a good year during which I visited varied National Parks with extremes of weather, and captured a number of fleeting natural moments in the sky, before concluding the year with many locations in Asia.

In March, I traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska to photograph the Aurora. For my first attempt at capturing this magical and elusive phenomenon, I got lucky. We had great weather with several clear nights and great sky activity along the Steese Highway and the South Denali Viewpoint. However, because of the remoteness of the location, I like this image, taken over the Eastern boundary of Gates of the Arctic National Park.

We then drove the Dalton Highway beyond the Polar Circle to the beginning of the North Slope, which was an adventure in itself, amidst temperatures down to -30F during daytime past the notorious Atigun Pass.

At the beginning of May, I returned to Yosemite for a once-in a year opportunity. This time equipped with a rain deflector, I was at least able to photograph the moonbows (rainbows created in the mist of the waterfalls by the light of the moon) at close range. You’d think that Yosemite in May is warm, but standing in the extremely wet spray of the snow-melt water, I barely escaped hypothermia.

A few weeks later, I traveled to much drier West Texas to photograph a much rarer event, the solar eclipse of May 20 which was annular. I chose to travel that far destination because the eclipse would occur there close to sunset, with the landmark El Capitan providing an interesting silhouette.

I then re-visited the nearby desert National Parks. It was already hot in Big Bend – where I spent more time along the Rio Grande than in previous visits. Temperatures rose above 110 F.

Much closer to home, Pinnacles National Monument also gets fairly warm (temperatures above 100F are frequent). I normally prefer to visit in colder seasons, but I did a summer visit to complete my seasonal coverage, in anticipation of the Monument becoming Pinnacles National Park. It almost did not happen, as the bill would have expired at the end of the year, however the US Senate did approve it on a Sunday Dec 31st session !

In September, I embarked on a wide-ranging road trip thought the National Parks of the Colorado Plateau. I revisited many parks with the goal of creating night landscape images which were not possible even half a decade ago, enjoying the challenges raised by changing moon phases from the new moon to almost full moon. The half-night that I spent at the mystical False Kiva, from sunset to moonset was particularly memorable.

On that same trip, I also looked for fall colors in unexpected places, and at least found a way to set up foot into the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, an area that I had planned to visit for a long time, but where my (relatively) fuel-efficient car was a definitive limitation. This left me wanting to see more of the remote areas of the park, for which a quick fix was to take an overflight near sunset time. I particularly enjoyed seeing from the air places to which I have hiked before, such as Chessler Park.

In late October, I had the pleasure of leading a Vietnam Photo Tour which managed to visit in 11 days an incredible variety of sites in South, Central, and North Vietnam. Thanks to our participants for making this tour a success, and to my co-leader Phuoc Babcock for putting forward first rate logistics, with the very finest hotels, restaurants, and transportation available in Vietnam. A great time was had by all.

After the tour, I explored Taiwan by myself for a week. I returned to Vietnam during the winter break so that my children could discover the country of their ancestors and meet with their extended family.

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Posted on January 5, 2013, 1:56 am, by QT Luong, under New images.

DAY 6: The day started in Hoi An with a nice sunrise over the river, caught just a few minutes walk from our riverfront hotel.

After breakfast, we boarded a small boat to observe the river life.

After navigating a narrow river channel, we came to the small pier of the Cam Kim Village.

We walked into the village, entering two homes uninvited – no invitation nor previous acquaintance was required ! – after which we enjoyed a conversation using our guide as a translator.

On the way back to Hoi An, we got a second chance to photograph fishermen casting their nets, as after spotting them on the river, our guide asked them to repeat this immemorial gesture for us.

We had a bit of time for a last walk in Hoi An, and for some participants to collect their custom-made garments from the famed Hoi An tailors – assisted by tour director Phuoc who did double-duty as a shopping consultant.

After lunch in Da Nang, we photographed coracle boats on a beach on the Da Nang Bay, as a storm was brewing.

The drive between Da Nang and Hue is known as one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the world, culminating at the Hai Van Pass, however, we stopped only shortly at the summit since it was in the clouds.

As we arrived in Lang Co, the rain stopped, and although the sun did not appear, we enjoyed dramatic clouds as we photographed the activity of fishermen in late afternoon.

DAY 7: From our beachfront cottages in Lang Co, it was just a matter of walking down a few steps to the sandy beach for sunrise.

We then photographed checked out fishermen’s activities.

A drive on a local road on the lagoon side provided with more photography opportunities.

Before leaving Lang Co, we took a short walk into the authentic village which hasn’t been touched by tourism yet.

As we got on the road to Hue, it started to rain heavily.

Instead of visiting the Hue Citadel in the rain, the participants opted for a photo sharing session which we held in the bar of the Saigon Morin Hotel, while enjoying drinks.

Part 3 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 |