Contact Sheet #2

All the photos were taken in Nepal some 6 years back (gosh, I'm old!) when I went there with the People's Association for a climbing and mercy relief trip to help the children at a missionary school there.Most of the photos here were shot on slides (Fujichrome Professional Provia 100), save the first photo, which was shot on negatives and developed in Kathmandu, Nepal (the slides were developed back in SG). Apparently the negatives weren't fixed very well, so some of them have started to fade and turn yellow (some of that yellowish tinge can be seen in the photo of the Nepalese Girls). I'm trying to find time to salvage them by re-fixing them in the chemical and at the same time making a digital backup but school is so busy. Sigh.

Took this when we hit a maoist encampment somewhere halfway on our journey up to the base camp. We camped beside a river and this hut was a short distance from where we were. You can notice the man in his maoist rebel cap placing a watchful eye on us.
135mm f/8 EOS50E Fujicolor Professional Reala 100


It was at the point where we hit 3500m above sea level when this big cloud moved over us and visibility was cut to nearly zero. The sunlight hardly penetrated the cloud and we had to stop our ascent for safety. As the cloud moved away, the front group picked up their trekking poles and started onward again. It was at this moment that I whipped out the camera as light slowly filtered through, casting an errie blue hue over everything.
400mm f/5.6 EOS50E


Basically this was a view at the Annapurna Base Camp. A whole bunch of climbers on this particular day because its nearling the end of the climbing window, if I can remember correctly. Its about 4500m above sea level I think. I was already woozy from altitude sickness the night before and only managed toi acclimatise that morning. Pardon the quality because the original file was 9mb+ big so I kinda compressed it as small as I can. Ditto for all the others.
20mm f/16 EOS50E.


I doubt you can see from the lousy quality of the image but there are prayer flags fluttering at the brown ridge. Its for good luck and the climbers who have died on the mountain. Yeah, people do die there. Beyond the snow-capped peaks lies Tibet.
28mm f/11 EOS50E


Bet you can't tell what those 2 sherpas are standing on is a huge chunk of ice! Ha! The hole is carved by the spray from the waterfall coming down from the cliff behind.
Fujicolor Professional Reala 100, 35mm f/5.6 EOS50E


At about 3500m we had trekked above the level of clouds and this was the last 'fluff' that drifted past us. The landscape seems pretty bleak and dry but when the moist cloud passed over it it left a trail of white frost in the cold weather. If you didn't know what heaven is, take a closer look.
28mm f/8 EOS50E


And amazingly plum blossoms still bloom in the thin air. The photo was taken as we ascended towards the base camp on the day before. It was close to noon but the weather was just hovering above freezing.
35mm f/5.6 EOS50E


At the foot of the Annapurna Mastif. The ground is an entire piece of glacier and the melting water slowly trickled beneath my feet. As it flowed down, it met other trickles and at the point where it neared the town of Pokhara people were white-water rafting. And it all ended up in a lake.