Learn photography skills while trekking the Himalaya

by Kraig Becker on

A few days back we listed some of the top opportunities for learning new skills while traveling, and today we have a similar opportunity that will give you the chance to build your photography and videography skills while trekking through Tibet next spring.

The Everest Trek 2010 is being billed as “the highest photography and videography workshop in the world” and it is being put hosted by Chris Marquardt and Jon Miller. Marquardt has one of the best known photography podcasts on the Internet in Tips From the Top Floor, while Miller is the producer of the Rest of Everest, a video podcast that is the most comprehensive look at climbing the tallest mountain on the planet that you’ll find anywhere. Both will give their fellow travelers insightful and important tips on improving their skills as photographers and videographers in daily workshops set against the dramatic backdrop of the Himalaya.

The duo’s first trek and workshop combination, was held earlier this year and was a huge success. On that first trek trip, the destination was Everest Base Camp on the South Side of the mountain, in Nepal. This year, the journey will take the team to Tibet, where they’ll explore the North and East Sides of Everest, on a four week long odyssey that will begin and end in Kathmandu.

If you are interested in joining the expedition, registration will open on Sunday, September 20th at 9:00AM MDT (UTC -7). Last year the entire trek sold out in less than a minute, and demand is expected to be high again for the 2010 edition as well. Applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis, giving those first to apply, the first chance to join the trek.

This is a learning vacation that offers an adventurous trek through one of the planet’s most stunning environments. And while the North Side of Everest gets a lot of traffic in the spring of each year, the East Side of the mountain is seldom visited, and remains a remote, and rugged wilderness. That alone makes this a unique experience, but add in the daily workshops, and you’re sure to have a once in a lifetime vacation.

Photo of the Day (8.8.09)

by Brenda Yun on


At first glance, this cliff looks precarious and tall, but when you look even more closely, you can see just how precarious the dwellings that sit atop it truly are. While I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live atop a cliff, I don’t think I’d ever be so daring as to do it.

This shot was taken on the lovely island of Corsica in France by mikegoldstein, whose photographs span nearly half the globe — from southeast Asia to the warm beaches of Europe. I’m in awe of the contrast between light and dark and the medium tones of the water that balance this photo so perfectly.

If you have some great travel shots you’d like to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day!

Traveling the globe with Nat Geo Student Expeditions

by Kraig Becker on

In the summer of 2008, National Geographic launched a fascinating and inspiring project called Student Expeditions, which aimed to send high school students to a variety of exotic locals around the globe, immersing them in that location through unique, special projects that give them the opportunity to experience the culture and landscapes of the place, while learning something special in the process. The program is now in its second year, and even more students are getting the opportunity to take part in this amazing travel experience.

The students can choose to travel to Australia, Belize, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Galápagos, Iceland, India, Mexico’s Yucatan, Peru, Rome and Greece, Spain and Tanzania. Each of the trips is three weeks in length, and along the way, the students, and their trip leaders, are joined by National Geographic experts, who share their insights and unique perspectives on each of the countries. These experts are generally writers, photographers, explorers, and so on, and they typically spend between four to eight days traveling with the high schoolers.

While traveling in their selected country, each of the students adopts an On Assignment Project, which are specially designed to teach them something about the country, while offering an experience that only National Geographic can deliver. The projects focus on photography, filmmaking, wildlife and conservation, and more. The trip leaders and experts work closely with the young travelers to help complete the assignments, and create a lasting travel experience unlike any other.

Many of the studens have been blogging their travels all summer long, and you can read all about the Student Expedtioins experience by clicking here. You’ll find thoughts on trekking glaciers in Iceland, exploring Inca culture in Peru, and visiting the sites of ancient empires in Rome and Greece, amongst many others.

And if there are any students out there that are interested in joining future Student Expeditions, click here to begin the application process.

Travel photography scholarship in Antarctica!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Think you have what it takes to hang with a National Geographic photog? Now, could you last two weeks shooting in Antarctica? If you think you have what it takes, check out the new WorldNomads.com travel photography scholarship. If you win the assignment, you’ll go take Gap Adventure’s Antarctica Classic M/S Expedition to the Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula, and your photos will appear on the National Geographic Channel’s website.

Oh, and since I’ll probably reblog it, let me know. They can also appear on Gadling if the winner’s cool and gives me permission.

“This truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience life as a National Geographic photographer,” comments Amanda Byrne, Scholarship Coordinator for WorldNomads.com. “In addition to a wonderful trip, the scholarship recipient will receive AUD$2000 worth of Pentax photographic equipment of their choice to really help them take the best pictures possible.”

Ready to give it a shot? Apply here!

Chameleon with a Camera and Dennis Darling’s packing list

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a photography book Chameleon with a Camera: A Unique Primer on Travel Photography and How to Survive a Trip in the Philipsburg, Montana Public Library. It’s a slim volume perfect for taking along on a trip for inspiration. The author, Dennis Carlyle Darling is a professional photographer and a professor of journalism at the University of Texas in Austin.

Each summer he and his wife, Helen Darling, country western song writer and singer, come to Philipsburg. They are both charming, lovely people.

As I read through the book, particularly enjoying the travel related quotes and rejuvenating my interest in taking pictures of people–one of Dennis’s fortes, his packing list caught my attention. He’s traveled to various countries on several occasions and has suggestions for items that are easy to take along and useful. One of them I haven’t seen on a packing list before.

It’s a sink stopper. As Dennis pointed out, and I’ve found to be true, many sinks and bathtubs in hotel rooms or hostels don’t have stoppers. To do laundry, keeping water in a sink can be helpful. Dennis suggests the round, flat rubber kind. To jazz it up, try this dolphin stopper version.

Dennis also suggests:

  • waterproof matches
  • a few clothes pins
  • string to use as a laundry line
  • packing tape in case you want to send packages home. As he said, good packing tape is hard to come by
  • a small pair of scissors
  • a needle and thread
  • zip lock bags
  • maps. In many countries, the maps may not be as good as what you can buy in the U.S. Even if they are, having maps from the get go can make a trip easier.

Although the book is not recent, the information is particularly pertinent to anyone who is interested in hitting the road with a camera and ready to capture artistic images worth sharing.

Dennis also points out that taking photographs is solitary and time consuming. Great shots come from effort. When traveling with others, such shots can be hard to come by. In that case, perhaps a dolphin sink stopper might be a welcome, happy looking relief at the end of a day of chasing images.