In the words of Monty Python ‘and now for something completely different’ – Travel Photography and Ethno Photography.

Bicycle Man, Pangkalan Bun, Borneo
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

While I wait for inspiration to write the CAKE crew in Marble Bar story, and my web host to come back online (major database crash at Pbase.com) I will talk about my new project. Travel Photography and Ethno Photography (roughly translates to photographing people in the world), especially of minorities, is something I want to explore and hopefully learn to do well. Having always been a fan of Travel Photography, my recent work in Malaysia and Borneo opened my eyes to the fact that I should stop just being a fan and dive into it myself. It involves pointing my camera at humans and in that way basically pointing the camera at myself as well. Something I struggle with, but where’s the fun without a new personal challenge! My upcoming Asian Adventure and Photographic Nomadic Journey around the world is the perfect opportunity for this. Would be a crime to not capture people and scenes along the way and improve my travel photography – while still capturing my beloved landscapes as well of course!

A few feeble examples of my travel photography so far. Much more to come.

Masai Women, Kenya 
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

Saving the Kitten, Pangkalan Bun, Borneo
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

Master Chef, Mindil Beach Market, Darwin, Australia
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

Resources: I read The Travel Photographer’s blog, an outstanding blog. The writer, Tewfic El-Sawy, is a brilliant travel photographer, his galleries are here.

Jambo, habari? Mzuri sana! Sawa sawa

A long time ago in another life, in a galaxy far far away, I visited Kenya. A long time ago but I still remember all the Swahili my Kenyan guide John taught me. I remember the fantastic landscapes and wildlife, large wide open savannah plains alive with elephants, giraffes, wildebeest, lions, cheetahs etc. I remember standing up in the open 4WD, wind and sun in my face, bumping along on a dirt road through wide open savannah thinking “I never ever want to leave!” – a common trait of every one of my outback trips. Got to get out of this city crap!

It was my first longer trip abroad and my first trip with any sort of photography involved. I borrowed a Canon 35mm point&shoot from a friend and loved it. Most of the shots are absolute crap! I knew nothing of composition, exposure, aperture, DOF etc. I just loved light, landscapes and wildlife. My love for wide open spaces and landscapes comes from childhood, my love for photography was kindled here in amazing Kenya.

I always thought that among the crap bulls-eye composition shots there were a few keepers here and there worth restoring for sentimental value, and I would like to some day find the negatives and scan these and run them through the magic digital darkroom in Lightroom. When I recently stumbled upon a box of dusty scratchy old negatives, the old film scanner was called into service!

What I found was interesting. I certainly recognize myself: wide angle, love of the sky, wide open savannah landscape view, dramatic light. Most of the shots are typical bulls-eye, point and shoot from exactly where I was standing. All shots have far too much space top and bottom, so cropped to a panorama they suddenly work much better. I have always seen in panoramic format, just didn’t have a camera to capture it! In the next post I will go into details of how I restored these. I deliberately left in some of the film grain, just took out big scratches, dust spots etc. I like the grain! In this post I will concentrate on the photos, much more in my new Kenya gallery.

First up are some beautiful giraffes contra-jour the sunset:

Giraffes in the sunset
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

Driving through the landscape on gorgeous red dirt, on a moody lit day:

Red Dirt Road Panorama
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

Contra-jour catches my eye, here we have elephants and wildebeest:

Elephant and Wildebeest on the Savannah
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

The beautiful magnificent wide open Kenya savannah:

Golden Hour on the Savannah
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

To see the rest of the collection, go to my new Kenya gallery.

Asante sana, hakuna matata ya kwaheri!