Last summer, I had the pleasure to spend 9 days in Tibet with Sowers Action (a Charity based in Hong Kong, focused on delivering education to children in need in China, particularly in remote places - http://www.sowers.org.hk/en/index.php). During which we visited a school which they sponsored, explored Tibet and saw some truly stunning views!

A little bit on the geography of Tibet, it is located just north of the Himalayans, bordering Nepal and Bhutan. Tibet is often referred to as the "roof of the world". Several of the world's tallest mountains including Mount Everest of the Himalayas can be found on the southern border with Nepal. Due to the high average altitude of the region of about 3500 metres above sea level with the lowest parts being ~2900m, the region is very dry all year round. Temperature can plummet from +20oC during the day to -10oC or colder at night, because the thin atmosphere at such high altitude does not reflect a lot of sunlight during the day and doesn't trap heat very well over night time.

You might think Tibet is a little behind in terms of development because of its remote location. But in fact, they are really modern in many aspects. For example, they have 4G! There isn't 4G coverage even in Durham where I go to university! I suspect development really took off since being connected to other parts major cities via railway since the Qingzhang Railway opened in 2006.

Altitude sickness is a big problem when visiting areas of high altitude. It starts to kick in from 3000m. onwards, and the severity varies from person to person. (see the NHS page on altitude sickness) For the most part of my journey I was above 3550m in Lhasa and we climbed to 5019m when driving over a mountain pass. At these altitudes there was only two thirds, dropping to a little over half the amount of oxygen at 4500m compared to at home! I had a packet of biscuits which puffed up like a balloon up there! (see photo below)

The reduced oxygen level was quite a pain up there. We were told to move slowly otherwise your body demands too much oxygen and altitude sickness hits you in the face. Fortunately I only had a mild headache for the first couple of days apart from one episode of a really bad headache that lasted a whole afternoon and evening, triggered by running to get back on the coach at 5019m when we were driving through a mountain pass. Strangely, coke (the beverage, the red original and best flavour) soothed the headaches a lot, probably because of the high sugar content and a little caffeine in there? 

This trip to Tibet really makes me wonder how people climb the Everest, particular those without oxygen tanks when I couldn't run a hundred metres at Everest base camp altitude. Not that I tried, I didn't dare because my body just couldn't cope with it, I couldn't hold my breath for longer than 15 seconds due to the lower amount of oxygen in the air.

Anyway, onto the photos. It's been difficult choosing a set of 50 photos from 2500 shots that I took over only 9 days, my favourite photos from my trip in Tibet last summer:

Wow, so much has happened in 2014! I did a fair bit of travelling, started working for a few clubs and the events work had really taken off, Here are my favourite photos through the year to help tell the story, thank you all who helped and were involved!

Sunset in Frankfurt, what a beautiful city

Worked for "Itchy Feet", its all about swing dancing for them

Got to shoot in the beautiful Durham Town Hall to document a debate about climate change

A few balls at my uni (Music Society Ball, Sciences Ball, Trevelyan College Summer Ball pictured)

(Part 2 of the Summer Season 2014 series)

This year's Trevelyan College Summer Ball took place on 18th June and the theme was "Cool Britannia". Blue, white and red decorations everywhere with actors in fancy dress dotted around. There was a lovely drinks reception with strawberries in the , and there was an ice cream stand right next to the table of bubbly! Very fitting for a Summer ball (ha, summer get it?)

I had the pleasuring of walking round with a picture frame (Trev's ball chair, Hannah's idea) and the frame was extremely popular! Everyone loved the frame and wanted a photo through it. Even the "Queen" had a portrait through the frame! (Although Her Royal Highness got her footman, Humphrey to do the hard of work of holding the frame for her) Also the frame was surprisingly roomy, record for the night was fitting something like 11 people in the frame! 

Plenty of ents (=entertainment) around the college site (I think they really packed in as many as possible). There were some crazy ride in the car park which swings people around (I can't remember what it was called, please see the photos of people screaming their faces off below) and another one that literally spun you around (wasn't quite brave enough to find out what it was called...). Another notable one were dance machines inside, so much fun that even the "Queen" joined in (see photographic evidence down below).

Thank you to all the entertainers, live bands, DJ's staff, organisers and lastly, the guests for a great night! 

You can see the full album over on Trev's facebook here.

Fortunately it was a clear night on the 10th Aug, so I managed to capture the Supermoon of the year hanging over Hong Kong! (Wondering what Supermoon is? see here)

I am looking to print this out to go on my wall, something huge like 3ft by 5.5ft! Also considering selling huge prints of this photo, get in touch if you are interested :)

"Can we pretend that airplanes, in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now..." (The little voice in your head sang that to the tune didn't it?)

If anyone is looking for a wish or many wishes, now is your chance to make them properly, to some real shooting stars...!

The Perseids are a meteor shower that occurs every year around mid of July to late August. The name "Perseids" originates from the shooting stars appear to come from the constellation Perseus, whereas in reality they are courtesy of the comet Swift-Tuttle (thank you!) 

Even though the showers occur over about a month, they usually peak between the first and second week of August, this year they are projected to peak on 12th-13th August (make a note or even check the weather now!) If you are lucky, you might be able to see some when you are out watching the Supermoon too!

Some comet viewing tips:

• Go somewhere far away from light pollution, ie really dark! (Dur... that almost goes without saying)
• Let you eyes adjust to the darkness, this would normally take around 10 minutes, give it 15-20 just to be safe.
• Avoid looking at bright sources of light to preserve "night vision". So avoid phones, torches etc.
• If you really must use light, like checking out the path or whatever, use red light wherever possible because that's apparently best for keeping your night vision. Google SkyMap has an "astronomer mode" built in, or you can even use free apps like Lux to give you a nice red filter on your phone)
• Wrap up warm. Speaking from experience, it still gets fairly cold despite being summer time, because you would be sat still most of the time. I was wearing 3-4 layers last year and was just about comfortably warm (yes, multiple pairs of trousers as well as tops)
• Bring something to sit on because the ground/grass is likely to be wet from condensation
• You might want to bring a friend/family member/significant other/loved one to keep you company. I think this would make an excellent occasion for some deep conversations/"romantic hang out"
• Lastly, prepare what you need in advance and get up earlier than you think you need to. For a special annual occasion like this one, it is probably better to be too early than too late (I learnt this the hard way....)

Last year, I tried to capture the Perseids with no success. Unfortunately I got out of bed too slowly at around 3am. It was nearly 4am by the time I got dressed and got out there. The sun had "half risen" and it was too bright to see normal stars by then, let alone shooting stars. I did see a truly epic sun rise with not many clouds in sight though!! See the photo at the bottom.

I wish you the very best of luck if you decide to go out and look for the Perseids! Even if they don't show, you never know what else you might find :)

Did any one catch the last Supermoon on the 12th July? These guys did, check out their photos - http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-28283564

Supermoon happens because the distance between the moon and Earth varies continuously because of its slightly elliptical orbit around Earth. It appears bigger than usual when it is at the point closest to Earth (up to 14% bigger compared to its furthest point away according to NASA) and when that happens, it is call "perigee-syzygy" (Supermoon is fine, even wiki uses that term... see here for technicalities) 

No worries at all if you didn't see it in July, I didn't know about it either so I missed it too (hence no photo to show in this post, apologies...) BUT! There is another one coming up on the 10th August, at 11.25pm (UK time) and the moon will look even bigger compared to the last Supermoon! Thanks to the moon becoming a full moon within an hour of reaching its closest point to Earth in its orbit. So it's like the mother of all Supermoons.

Go write this in your diary/set a reminder on your phone/ask your friends to remind you, it really is something not to be missed. I will be trying my best to get photos too! 


Best of luck with the weather for those in the UK! *fingers crossed*

Source - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10966962/Super-duper-moon-expected-in-August.html


PS. Blog post about the Perseids meteor shower coming soon! (spoiler: the meteor shower's activity peaks round about next week, just after mother of all Supermoons)

Wow it's August already! I meant to blog about every event that I covered individually but I forgot due to moving house and other reasons. Sorry guys, here are the highlights in “double bills” to make up for my lack of blogging.

Click Read More for the photos and short posts about each night :)

Cuth's was basically full the whole day, even the more tucked away gardens round outside of the main grounds. There was a bouncy castle/volleyball and laser tag arena provided by AR Entertainments. Who could have guessed that Connect4 and air hockey were also very popular. Indoor entertainment in the dining hall included an arcade of a range of games like MarioKart and Wii Tennis, great for when it started raining a little bit.

Thank you Cuths big band, Ocasan, Collectors Club and many more for providing us with great music on the main stage from the afternoon all the way into the night. Not to mention Video DJ beatamxx took over inside the converted dining hall, rounding off the day with vibrant tunes (and videos for those who weren't too busy dancing).

Thanks all who attended and many who posed for brilliant photos! You made the day a pleasure to photograph :)

You can see the full album on St Cuthbert's Society's Facebook page here.

I had the pleasure of photographing the BioMed Society Dinner which took place in Stockton, it was a three course dinner served on the Teesside Princess (a tour/party ship, like Prince Bishop in Durham).  I have never been on the boat in Stockton before, thanks to the nice weather the "cruise" was brilliant, through lots of photogenic landscapes.

We arrived ahead of schedule and the staff were very accommodating and we set off well on time. Starters were served shortly after a round of welcome drinks from the open bar, which I am sure served many more rounds of drinks after. Main course quickly followed and the dessert not long after, but the staff kindly left enough time for trips to the bar. (There are photos of the delicious food they served in the story board below).

President Enoch gave a wonderful speech to round off the evening, noting that this would be the last year that BioMed will be taught in Stockton, thanking his Exec for a great year of work and most of all, thanking all those who made it a fantastic evening on the boat!

Thankfully the weather was nice and it stayed dry the whole evening. I think we all had a great time in Stockton, cheers guys!

PS. Sorry for only taking the giant group photo right at the end due to my oversight.

First off, apologies for writing about the exams and revision etc again, just can't help it. It is the number one priority for many students right now, including myself, hence this blog post (as the ultimate procrastination?). Now lets get to it...

Here is a little "app" that I put together in Excel. It is not the prettiest looking but it is simple and everyone can open it. It has only one function: to help you visualise your revision progress, so you know what needs doing the most. Initially I only did it for my own revision, but then I thought it might be helpful so I thought I would share it here (y)

You can download it right here, just click "Download File" below for the .xlsx spreadsheet file.If you found it helpful, feel free to share with your friends. You could even buy me a drink after exams if you are feeling generous :)

Scroll down a bit for instructions.