I'm going to visit Chiang Mai, Thailand in September, probably bringing a 5DII, 16-35, 24-105 and 70-200 F4. I've done some web reseach and bought the Lonely Planet guidebook for Thailand and it looks like the many temples in and around the city will be good areas for interesting travel photography. However, I'd appreciate any suggestions from those who have been there (or live there) on any places good for photography but perhaps overlooked by guidebooks and web sites aimed at general tourists.
I'll probably take at least one tour into the hill country, though it looks like many of the villiages visited on these tours are mainly set up for tourists and are not where the native people live and work.
Any suggestions much appreciated.
MIKE RAUB
Great equipment choices imo.
You might want to add a fast prime for inside the temples or darker places. I find the inexpensive Sigma 20mm F1.8 is always in my bag (I've lived in Thailand for the last 11 years take away a few in the middle)..
The Lonely planet.. get the PDF version and don't carry around that heavy thing..
I agree the market places are great places..
the night flower market for one.
Temples are boring boring boring save for The Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya (not near Chiang Mai) and Wat Rung Khun (in Chiang Rai kinda sorta near Chiang Mai). In fact, Wat Rung Khun is very difficult to photograph properly in September (glaring white skies and really harsh sun at the tail end of monsoon season) It's a very different temple and well worth the bus ride to get there.. but it's difficult.. white on white on white on glaring weather. You can take a look at this gallery
for some really poorly done shots.. need to visit the place again..
To me.. there are far more interesting photo ops in the Chiang Rai area, it's cheaper to stay and eat there, and the rural countryside can be spectacular. Some
less poorly done shots are here. Then there is
the Wat Pai Yaih which isn't as boring as most (99% of Thai temples look the same.. kinda dirty and unkempt, after the first one you've seen them all) temples (we call them wats) because there's a big giant buddha inside and with interesting light photographs well.. and it's where they hid the emerald buddha inside a big cement covered sculpture and it became lost for a few hundred years until lightning revealed it.
I'm the rude bugger who made the comment about photographing the natives like zoo animals.. poorly said I suppose.. only meant that we should endeavor to not photograph people simply because they look different and think that's enough. We need to show them in the course of living their lives.. create more meaningful compositions than just head shots of strange looking folk..
I'm also very much against anything exploiting elephants. This is a complex subject and I swear I'm not a PETA member or even a flaming liberal.. I'm a die hard conservative.. but some things have just gone too far and these elephants.. even the places that claim to be saving them and treating them well.. I've been involved in some investigative pieces (as well as soon being the lead photographer on a major research grant sponsored by a major university full of elephant professors (really)) and all animals over here are severely exploited.. elephants with their usual gentle nature being the worst treated. With that said most mahouts truly love their beasts as they do family.. but are forced to exploit and overwork them just to be able to afford to feed them. Work there all you want, wash them, learn about them.. but I won't be riding them.
The entire area is rich in photographic opportunities.. no need to go look for any. Rent a car/drive combo (actually cheaper than renting a car and driving yourself) and head out in the Chiang Rai countryside for some of the most fantastic landscapes you'll ever see..
But be warned.. September is not a great month for photography. The weather is harsh and the skies difficult to say the least. Two months later from mid-November through the beginning of February is the absolute best time to enjoy and photograph Thailand. Currently the monsoon rains and resulting thunderstorms make for interesting shooting.. but its more time consuming..
About these villages where the tourists help their livelihood.. most are owned by businessmen and the people themselves receive next to nothing.. I don't encourage these either. Same way the local mafia controls the disabled beggars.. it's a third world country.. nearly everything isn't as you'd expect.. almost everyone is exploited.
Sorry to sound so negative.. please don't think that's all there is..
The Kantoke theater is well worth an evening.. not expensive either. Most hotels can arrange your tickets and take you there.
Use the search engine to find more pieces on both Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai..
Have a great trip!