Thanks for viewing, we’d love to have your comments and feedback.

KR,

www.sunnykalsi.com

sunny kalsi photography, like the rest of the country, were snowed in last week.  So what does a photographer do when snowed in?  Get the camera out and go for a walk.  It was the first time we were able to enjoy the snow since we were kids and really didn’t mind the London Transport system grinding to a halt. 

It’s always good to try different things and snow represents it’s own photographic challenge.  These opportunities allow us to develop our skills further, and prepare for even the least likely scenerios!

So here is our take on picturesque West London.  It’s never looked so good! and apologies for the title!

Thanks for reading!

KR,

www.sunnykalsi.com

sunny kalsi photography  managed a rare week away last summer to the beautiful island of Sardinia.  Apart from some well needed R and R, the island provided plentiful opportunity to shoot gorgeous landscapes.  This requires a different skill set from wedding photography.   Instead of swift thought and grabbing your images as the action unfolds, the focus on finding the right vantage point and waiting for the right light. 

Landscape photography allows you to test out the equipment and push the quality of both lens and camera.  Resolution and wide angle lenses are key (well for my style at least!), as well as the all important tripod.  I learnt this the hard way, when I could see the shot but didn’t have the equipment to execute it!

So what of Sardinia: it’s a beautiful place, with the best beaches in europe and simple gorgeous food.  The people are friendly, and if your willing to try a little italian they’ll be more than willing to help teach you some more.

The roads are fast, it’s the only place where I’ve seen a coach overtake a motorbike that was already speeding! 

Below are a selection of images from Sardinia, plus a couple of shots of the alps from the plane home.

Thanks for reading,

www.sunnykalsi.com

It was an honour to see the array of medals on display reflecting Britain’s best showing at any international sports event, in quite some time! Hopefully, the other sports can learn from these athletes.  It’s worth remembering they train in less than ideal conditions (compared to say…footballers), and most of the time its a solo effort.  I admire and respect the mental strength to work for 4 years for 1 shot at glory! 

Here’s a few shots I managed to get in:

A typical trader trying to cash in moments before the parade!

KR,

www.sunnykalsi.com

sunny kalsi photography took time out on Friday 20th June to visit Royal Ascot.  This was our first time at the event, which meant we did not know what to expect.

Our good friends Nick and Ruchi had done all the hardwork in booking tickets, etc. We were charged with picnic duties!

Getting in to Ascot is slow, understandable given the volume of people attending.  The route takes you past stunning homes, with great views.  A far throw from the urban grind we experience day to day.  As they say, it’s nice to see what the other half live like. 

Once in to Ascot, the car parks are organised with each car being precision parked to avoid any wasted space.  The weather had been forecast for heavy showers all day, we arrived under bright but overcast conditions. The weather held out all day except for a 10 minute spell!  We had planned to have a picnic in the car park before attending the event.  I wasn’t too sure about this, but as it turned out we were out done by almost all our neighbours. 

People had brought along gazeebo’s, wooden garden furniture, and full on hampers.  Our picnic was pale in comparison.  Something to bear in mind for next year! In addition to the families attending, we did notice a couple of MPV’s full of ladies.  Drinks were flowing and the music was blaring across the car park, one set even brought along a karioke machine!

After the picnic, we made our way in to the general admission grandstand (we passed the limosine car park – from the traditional american stretch limo to stretch hummer’s and everything in between!).  Once inside, the place is awash with people.  It was difficult to equate this abundance of cash with the credit crunch that makes the news daily.  The champagne was flowing, and bets were being placed all the time.  The people were here to enjoy themselves!

Being at Ascot, we couldn’t resist a few nominal bets.  Neither of us have been in to gambling, other than the odd lottery ticket.  The effect of placing a bet on to an event is incredible.  For each race we were shouting and screaming, willing on our horse to win.  During the race, we really wanted that horse to win.  The gambling encapsulates you in to the event, nothing else crossed our minds.  That is scary, but not as half as scary as winning.  When you win, you believe you can win on the next one.  It is completely irrational, but you still do it.  I am impulsive by nature, and Mrs Kalsi is usually very good at keeping me in check.  After winning, even Mrs Kalsi was encouraging me to place a bet on the next race.  I can see how people can become addicted to gambling, as the rush of winning is amazing.

The one warning people should heed, is the sheer number of book makers on the premises.  These people are there to earn a living, and they aren’t there to make continuous payouts. It stands to reason they must make enough money for them to keep coming back.  It sounds obvious, but when you get that winning feeling……

The event itself started around 1.30pm with the Queen cruising past the track, followed by a military band procession.  There were 6 races, and we did bet blindly.  We did get 1 winner to reduce our losses on the day, which was nice. 

The day is long, and involves standing around most of the time.  A normal day for a wedding photographer! Old habits die hard:

One thing I didn’t expect was a fight in the grandstand, but we got one.  2 fella’s managed to come rumbing down the grandstand, collecting random people.  Unfortuntely, I didn’t have the appropriate lens on the camera to take a picture!  It was over in seconds, but it was funny to see how the media report on these things. Joking a side, flowing (albeit expensive) booze with gambling is a recipe for trouble…..

In Euro 2008 there were reported ”skirmishes” between rival fans, when England are present these “minor” incidents are not reported.  Likewise, this incident was not reported.  It does make me question how fair and impartial the media reporting in the UK really is.  But that’s another discussion for another day………

My favourite part of the day was stumbling across this beautiful old BMW, perfectly maintained:

Thanks for reading!

KR,

www.sunnykalsi.com

 As this was a last minute trip, we had little time to plan the trip and it was refreshing to wing it.  With photography bookings, preparation is key!  It was nice to break the mould and go with the flow.

We stayed on Jumeirah beach, near the old town.  On arriving it was apparent that the place had been influenced by America, from the wide “highways” to the cars using them.  I’ve never seen so many Corvette’s!

We spent a day in Meena Bazaar, with the wife in full shopping mode!  I can honestly say we spent an age in suit shops, luckily they don’t mind you taking pictures.  This allowed me to get some cool shots, using ambient light which is fantastic!

The Indian influence is immense, with adverts from popular brands featuring indians.  (I haven’t been to India for a long time!).  This really does give you an idea of the economic progress of India and indians across the world.

After I escaped…I mean got back to normal holiday activities we decided to go on a Desert Safari.  This is one hell of an experience, with 30 or so 4×4′s snaking through the desert up and down the sand dunes.  It’s a fun sensation, that is highly recommended.

The shot above represents the emotion I was feeling at this time:  the vast desert, the unforgiving glare of the sun and the sense of adventure as we began our safari.

Whilst out there, we stopped occassionally to walk around and get a feel for the vastness of the desert.  It’s an amazingly harsh environment, and it adds to the achievement of Dubai: it has come from literally nothing. 

As with any opportunity, I try to capture the essence of the place in my images.  This shot for me sums the desert up, as it’s the image I have always had in my mind whenever I think of the desert!

  I wonder if anyone can guess the scale of this image!

 As the day drew to a close, we headed to the camp for dinner and evening entertainment.  I’ve seen the sunset in many places all over the world, but here in the middle of desert the sunset was calming and peaceful.  I would add romantic, but the smell of camel dung put paid to that notion. 

  It was a breath taking sight, as we watched the day end gracefully.

 At the camp we shared a table with an Australian couple (from Sydney) , and a couple of guys from India (from Chennai).  Guess what!  Gabriel (the Austrian Australian) was also in to photography and his partner was a “camera widow”.  We do keep meeting our equivalents whenever we do go on holiday (if you’ve read the Thailand Blog, you’ll know what I mean). 

  Now I’ve never been a camera snob, but there are times when the functionality of an SLR comes to the fore.  I took this shot without flash, after dark.  Technically it’s amazing to think you can do this (handheld). At times like this I am astounded by the technological advances we have experienced in our lifetime!

The next day we spent relaxing by the beach, and having seen the beautiful sunset I couldn’t resist a few more shots.  The location was equally spectacular. We walked out on the pier and then climbed on to the rocks to enjoy an un-interrupted view.  The scene was set to grab a sunset!  However, whenever you think you know it all nature let’s you know who’s boss!  Unfortunately the conditions were not ideal for a beautiful sunset, with the early evening low cloud causing a glaze of light, rather than a sharp image.  However, it produced an enjoyable image nonetheless.

 The next evening we visited the Gold and Spice Souks (Markets).  It was reflection of the relative security of women walking around with branded carrier bags of jewellery.  I can imagine you won’t last long if you tried that in London.

As well gold and diamonds, there were stalls selling authentic Arabic gear!

  The wife suggest I should get one, however I declined (you’ll be glad to hear). 

If I get the chance to go again, I would love to spend more time in old Dubai and capture its authenticity.  With globalisation, we are losing the local charm of each place.  Which is a real shame….

It was a crazy holiday that was as last minute as I have ever done, and one shot sums it up:

Dubai just flew by!

Thanks for reading,

www.sunnykalsi.com

We had the sunday free, so decided to go for a drive to Oxford.

 We had heard all about the historic buildings, and cobbled streets.  It sounded like it worth taking a camera along!

There are 2 things which you notice immediately about Oxford:

• Lack of Parking
• Number of Bikes

 Along with all the beautiful buildings, we also found that Oxford would be an ideal Pre (or Post) Wedding shoot location.

 Here are some examples:

Walking up St Aldates leads you to both Christchurch College and on to the river.  The College grounds are well maintained, and the buildings were spectacular in the late afternoon sun.

Although the weather was sunny it was a chilly day (perfect for a long walk!), I can imagine that Oxford would be an awesome location in summer.  We certainly enjoyed our time there, and look forward to returning in the future. 

Thanks for reading! 

www.sunnykalsi.com

A dream holiday to Thailand started with a mega 14 hour flight to Bangkok.  I’m not one for flying, as I don’t enjoy the experience.  However, the flight was forgotten as soon as we collected our luggage and passed the Thai immigration control.

We had planned (after much deliberation!) a multi stop 2 week trip.  We started with a few nights in Sukhumvit @ the Dream Hotel.  This hotel was awesome, with brilliant service.  The conceirge was always insightful and helpful, getting us reservations and arranging taxi’s efficiently.  

We went site seeing: taking in the Grand Palace, the Golden Buddha and the iconic lying buddha.  I would recommend making time to see them, as they are stunning sites. 

However, as my wife pointed out: once you’ve seen one temple, you’ve seen them all.   

We decided to make a trip to the Bangkok Gurudwara, as it’s supposed to be stunning!  Unfortunately they don’t allow photography indoors, but I can vouch that it’s an impressive building with 4 floors; 1 community level, a school, langar hall and on top the Granth Sahib.  Interestingly, they had the Granth Sahib in the middle of the room.  I did manage to take a shot of some of the detail (see below).  I would recommend going, as words don’t really do it justice.  It’s also set in the heart of the Indian Market, which made for some great photo opportunities.

We finished the evening with river cruise dinner, this was another opportunity to see other parts of Bangkok. Especially the other side of the River, where the old capital used to be based.

The pick of the evenings was dinner at the top of the Le Banyan hotel in the Vertigo restaurant.  Here we really were overseeing Bangkok, with no cover or roofing what so ever.  Lucky it didn’t rain!

From here we went on to Krabi, which is an hours flight south of Thailand.  We arranged for a trip in to the rainforest and to the nearby dormant volcano.  

On our tour, we were accompanied by a japanese couple, with whom we had great fun trying to communicate.  After a short time we had worked out that they were the japanses equivalents of ourselves, with the chap being a camera geek and the wife a “camera widow”!  We also visited the elephant sanctuary.  I was in 2 minds about the morality of taking a ride on a captive elephant, in the end we went for it on the basis that the people did look after elephants, and otherwise they’d be used for industrial logging. 

It was one hell of a day, from relaxing in the emerald pool (on a volcano), riding an elephant, trekking through a rainforest to finally relaxing in a natural hot spring.  The Rainforest did throw up interesting bugs, not least this spider which was about 6 – 8 inches from (leg to leg, as opposed to the body).  Neither my wife or the japanese lady could see it (it’s camoflaged!), so they kept moving closer until they were inches away.  Then they both saw it, and began screaming. If only I had a video camera at that point!

Other beautiful sites included the hot stream of mineral water, which was like a natural spa with nutrient/mineral rich hot water flowing from the volcano at 40 degrees centigrade.

If you are ever in Ao Nang, there is another beach past the right hand end (facing the sea).  This is a non commercial beach, with very little in terms of shops and restaurants.  However it does possess a fantastic location for a sunset, and has a strange beach.  The beach here is extremely flat, so much so that if you walk out in to the sea for 50m, you’ll only be ankle deep.  I’ve never seen such a thing, if only I had my camera!  

We headed to Hippies bar for dinner, which is across from the beach.  The beer was good, as was the food.  I’m not one for chillies but I ordered a Tom Yum Goong soup after a few beers and specified spicy…..man, my mouth was on fire, I was sweating and I drank as much water as I could get my hands on! As I finished my soup, I counted over 12 red chillies.  Indian dishes use 4 or 5 for a family sized dish!

The next day we caught a ferry to Phi Phi Don island for the 3rd leg of the trip.  We hadn’t really thought our luggage through, and this became evident as I tried to carry 2 suitcases up a ladder on to the deck of a ferry, only then to have to climb down another ladder, and then jump on to the next ferry.  The hoards of backpackers were better equipped for such a boarding!

Once we got to Phi Phi Don, we had to go through the same hassle trying to get off the ferry!  Once we were off we had to catch a long tail boat to our hotel.  This is because there are no cars on Phi Phi Island.   I was a little hestitant at first, but it’s a hell of a thrill. 

The lack of Health and Safety is refreshing, I do think we are overly protected.  Out there, there is no safety net so people don’t abuse themselves.  This self regulation is much better than the red tape we face on a daily basis.

Back to Phi Phi, we arrived at the resort and it simply breath taking.  The ocean is clear, calm, with warm, powder soft sand.  The sun is shining, with a smattering of light cloud in the sky and it’s 36 degrees C.  I’d love to be there right now!

The resort is called Zeavola, and it’s an amazing place.  There are 3 types of accomodation, we went for Garden Villa.  This meant we had a room, a living area and an separate bathroom, with an outdoor shower and sink.  I can say that it’s liberating brushing your teeth outdoors, watching your fellow  guests walk by! 

This was my favourite part of the holiday, being a real beach bum!   For the next few days the hardest part of the day was deciding what to eat! 

We decided to spend a morning visiting other parts of the island.  Phi Phi island is actually 2 islands, with Phi Phi Don being the holiday resort island and Phi Phi Le being the national park, where the film “The Beach” was shot.   We spent an hour in the morning here, and I have to say it’s simply one of the most beautiful places in the world. 

In the bay, I also took the opportunity to try snorkelling.  This was an amazing experience, it was like diving in to a giant fish tank.  The fish were all sorts of colours, and the coral was something else.  As it opened up, the electric blue colour shows through. 

The Zeavola resort is towards the northern tip of the island, with sealed off beach.  There are a handful of hotels here, and a couple of local restaurants.  In the evenings, it’s pleasant beach to take a walk on and watch the local kids mess about with various fireworks.   The time we went was on the back of the rainy season, and mosquito’s were present.  However, there are these coils you can use, which emit smoke which repels the little bugs!  Beats the sprays and the mosie net.

As our 4 days in paradise came to an end, I decided that I couldn’t face the ridiculous ferry journey!  Driven by this irrational fear of public transport and the desire to take a ride on a speed boat, we booked the speed boat back to Ao Nang.  It’s an thrilling ride, boucing over the waves at such speed.  It was a decadent experience, that I am glad we took the opportunity to experience.  It’s very difficult to get a sharp image, such is the movement.

We arrived in Ao Nang, in just under an hour.  It’s a wonderful feeling just pulling up to a beach on a boat and jumping out with your bags on to the next place.  As we got to the road, we had to flag down a vehicle.  I say vehicle, as Thailand has myriad of vehicles between a “normal” car and a motor bike.  In Bangkok there are Tuk Tuks, little 3 wheelers.  Here in Ao Nang, we had mini vans that could transport up to 6 people but were smaller than a Ford Fiesta, smaller 3 wheelers (than Bangkok) and these motorbike conversions (see below).  It’s all new to me, but best of all they pimp up there vehicles.  So you get mini vans with blacked out windows, lowered, with 10 inch sport rims and best of all neon lights!

After checking in at our hotel, we went for a walk around and found this Indian Place, it had been nearly 2 weeks since we had been home and it was nice to hear some punjabi!  Food was good and the drinks kept flowing.  Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the establishment but it was right by the side street full of bars and opposite the Dutch bar.   We experienced the Monsoon strength rain, and the Thai hospitality simulateously.  As we were about to be soaked to the skin, when a kind lady gave us an umbrella to borrow (which we did go back and return the next day). 

Ao Nang maybe in Thailand, but with the number of northern europeans here it could have been Spain in the summer!  The place is totally focused on serving this booming tourist market, which reduces some of the charm (especially with the Starbucks and fast food joints opening up).    The Hotels here do have some interesting quirks, such as outdoor bathrooms set amongst plants.  It was definitely a different experience!

My wife wanted to take a Thai cooking class, so we went off to try our hand!  Without going in to details, the key is in the preparation.  The cooking bit is relatively straight forward!  Below is an example of our efforts!

On the final leg of our trip we headed back to Bangkok.  We stayed at the Siam@SiamDesign hotel.  This place is a refreshing piece of design, photographs and descriptions cannot capture its awesome design.  If your in Bangkok, you could do much worse then stay here.  It’s a long way from stuffy, old skool snooty hotels. Service is fantastic and the decor is brilliant.

One of it’s key features is it’s infinity pool.  Nothing special about that in itself, except it’s on the 10th Floor overlooking the Thai National Stadium.  It’s a great place to watch a sunset!

Overall, we thorughly loved our dream holiday in Thailand.  Our only regret was not to see more of Thailand or stay for longer, it’s an amazing place with fantastic people.  The diversity in the experience you can have is extensive. 

What really made the place was the contradictions, with super shopping malls with street sellars outside.  The top of the range cars and the tuk tuk’s!  Best of all was the beauty pagent we came across on travels, it sums it all up!

Thanks for reading!

www.sunnykalsi.com