First up was a workshop in Kathmandu where Linda gave the girls a coffee table book she’d had made showcasing their photos. The girls were stunned to see their work in print! This workshop also gave the girls a chance to update all of us on the work they had been doing since last time. They had been given a number of guest photographer assignments for major festivals etc which they loved. We also spent some time planning the Pokhara trip which was already causing great excitement amongst the group.
Two days later it was off to Pokhara in a bus full of very excited girls. With almost a full day of traveling behind us, the first night was spent with Linda giving a workshop on the landscape setting on a camera and also use of tripods. These things were critical as we were leaving to go to Sarangkot, a high lookout point, first thing the next morning…
At 5am we headed off through the dark and quiet streets of Pokhara for the lookout point at Sarangkot. Walking up the trail to the lookout we were greeted with a few glimpses of some very close snow-capped mountains, the Himalayas. The girls were squealing with delight and any ill effects of the early rise quickly dissipated. We rushed on until we reached our final destination on the roof of a small café. The girls set up the tripods and we all eagerly waited for the first rays of sunlight to appear and land on the white snow of mountains including Annapurna I (8,091m and 10th highest in the world), Machapuchare (6,993m and famously known as ‘fishtail’), Dhaulagiri (8,167m and 7th highest in the world) and Manaslu (8,163m and 8th highest in the world).
Well as anyone who has seen this view will tell you, it is truly breathtaking. Although there was a little cloud blocking some of the mountains we still had some amazing scenes of them as well as the lake and neighbouring hills. The girls went into photo overdrive and their enthusiasm and excitement was contagious. As the sun rose and the air warmed up the clouds moved around revealing different peaks and aspects of the range, presenting even more opportunities for some great shots.
We were back at our guest house by 8:30am, ready for some breakfast and invigorated and wide awake from our morning experience. After breakfast the girls spent some quiet time in the garden writing in their journals. We then spent a fun filled hour playing some crazy team games with them, their energy was limitless!
To be continued…
Visit our facebook page for more photos taken by our director, Sarah Johnstone.
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