Going to Myanmar....last minute thoughts....any advice

"I know of a friend who snuck in from Chiang Rai..."...wow, I have been up on the border before and I have met many people who have snuck out...not in...

I had no idea Indians were "blacklisted" in Burma...wow, that surprises me....I have spent a lot of time in India, I love it......

Speaking of "blacklisted"...I just found out that there is going to be a women's soccer (football) game between Myanmar and North Korea in Yangon when I will be there...I am going to try and go..sound so freaking cool.....

cheers, michael
 
"Speaking of "blacklisted"...I just found out that there is going to be a women's soccer (football) game between Myanmar and North Korea in Yangon when I will be there...I am going to try and go..sound so freaking cool....."

I guess Burma is the only country in the world the N. Korean soccer team would NOT want to defect to while they are there.
 
"I guess Burma is the only country in the world the N. Korean soccer team would NOT want to defect to while they are there."

hahahaha....I actually heard that there are some north koreans working in Myanmar now, supposedly they are helping to build some "buildings" in the new capital...I wonder how many north koreans will be at the soccer game....I want to go to the game and check it out, it sounds fun...

cheers, michael
 
I am in Yangon now and I am a little surprised to be on rff now...I had to send my family a quick email and let them know that I am ok....I arrived yesterday and I already managed to loose one of my 2 soft releases..I lost it at Shwedagon Paya which is the most famous buddhist stupa in the country......i guess not a bad place to lose it....BTW, while I was taking photos I heard some people speaking Thai close to me, well I lokked at the family and there was a girl there shooting a black Leica MP with a 35mm summicron (verison 1) and a she had a motordrive/grip on...I was a little surprised to say the least...I have lived in Bangkok for 2 years and have never seen a Thai girl with a Leica, (besides my girlfriend)....anyways, I started to talk to them and it was cool..she lives in Bangkok too.....anyways, I need to get off this computer now and go out on the street taking photos ...I am heading down to the delta soon where the cyclone hit......

cheers to all from Yangon.....michael
 
hey guys, things are ok out here for me...i am using my m6ttl and my m3...my m6ttl is giving me problems.....i already knew that the light meter sucks because of the battery drainage problem, but man, it has affected the way that I shoot....I am using it battery free now because I can't keep turning the camera "off" every time that I am done taking a picture, so I just took the battereis out of it and I am using my light meter....well, between switching back and forth between the m3 and m6's shutter dial is not the easiest thing to do...I do get confused sometimes when I am shooting...in Bangkok when I use my cameras (doesn't matter which one) I only take one camera out of the house at a time, so I never had this problem...now that I am using both of them simultaneously, well...to be honest, it sucks.....that, and the fact that I have to over expose most of my shots because I am using a yellow filter and the skin tones of the people are dark...I remember when I was in India, I had to overexpose everything to get the detail that i wanted, well, it was easy then because I used the meter in the camera.....anyways, I am trying my best to take photos that are interesting.....

I taped my last soft release in my m6 so that problem has been solved...so far so good there, but my m6 is in dire need of a CLA....it is DIRTY....anyways, enough complaing....I know that I am fortunate to be here taking photos and meeting the locals......ok, I am getting off this computer now...gonna go burn some film....cheers, michael
 
Malbo is spot on, however I somehow found great food there. And you might find a few camera stores packed with second hand gear and amazing repairmen!
 
michaelbialecki said:
"I know of a friend who snuck in from Chiang Rai..."...wow, I have been up on the border before and I have met many people who have snuck out...not in...

I had no idea Indians were "blacklisted" in Burma...wow, that surprises me....I have spent a lot of time in India, I love it......

Speaking of "blacklisted"...I just found out that there is going to be a women's soccer (football) game between Myanmar and North Korea in Yangon when I will be there...I am going to try and go..sound so freaking cool.....

cheers, michael
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That does sound really cool. I've just been to Burma/Myanmar once and crossed the border at Mai Sai. It was a great time. I can't wait to see your pictures!
 
michaelbialecki said:
hey guys, things are ok out here for me...i am using my m6ttl and my m3...my m6ttl is giving me problems.....i already knew that the light meter sucks because of the battery drainage problem, but man, it has affected the way that I shoot....I am using it battery free now because I can't keep turning the camera "off" every time that I am done taking a picture, so I just took the battereis out of it and I am using my light meter....well, between switching back and forth between the m3 and m6's shutter dial is not the easiest thing to do...I do get confused sometimes when I am shooting...in Bangkok when I use my cameras (doesn't matter which one) I only take one camera out of the house at a time, so I never had this problem...now that I am using both of them simultaneously, well...to be honest, it sucks.....that, and the fact that I have to over expose most of my shots because I am using a yellow filter and the skin tones of the people are dark...I remember when I was in India, I had to overexpose everything to get the detail that i wanted, well, it was easy then because I used the meter in the camera.....anyways, I am trying my best to take photos that are interesting.....

I taped my last soft release in my m6 so that problem has been solved...so far so good there, but my m6 is in dire need of a CLA....it is DIRTY....anyways, enough complaing....I know that I am fortunate to be here taking photos and meeting the locals......ok, I am getting off this computer now...gonna go burn some film....cheers, michael
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It really sounds like you need a Zeiss Ikon.
 
Great to read updates from Michael. There's been some progress b/c last time I was there the internets wasn't really available. Very good.

Burma is really a hidden gem for a seasoned traveller. People usually avoid it for political reasons but I think that if we really want to kick in some progress in the country we should all travel over there and buy things and services from local people, take a lot of photos and write travel stories. Isolation has never been a succesful foreign policy anywhere, it only hurts the normal people. The Burmese government actually enjoys it because now they are free to do whatever they want.
 
Peter A (NYC) said:
Malbo is spot on, however I somehow found great food there. And you might find a few camera stores packed with second hand gear and amazing repairmen!
Click to expand...

thanks everybody for the responses, I appreciate it.....I actually found an old Leica lens at some crazy sidewalk used camera store in Yangon when I arrived here...it was a summar....the guy wanted a 100usd for it...it was not in the best shape and I really dont need another lens.....but it was an interesting find...I did ask around at different camera stores about Leicas and they all told me of that one lens that I had already found...they told me before that some photographers in Yangon used Leicas but they dont think anybody uses them anymore....anyways, it was interesting to chat with some of the Burmese photo shop owners..

I had an excellent day (photographically speaking) and I am pretty sure that I shot some good stuff......my 28mm and 90mm lenses seem to be getting a lot of use out here....as much as I love my m3 and m2, I think i am going to have to consider something different...I might be going back to the states for Christmas (Miami/San Francisco) for a couple of weeks and see about getting something more suitable.,....I just got an email from Youxin and he repaired my m2......I really like m6ttl because it has been with me from the start, and it has been all over the world with me and I have taken some good photos with it, and I know the logical thing would be to get another one.....but to be honest.....I am not sure anymore...the light meter thing has bummed me out, and now I just realized that it doesnt set my flash off at shutter speed 2....all the other speeds work with the flash....I know I know, it doesnt really matter, how often do I need to shoot my camera at speed 2 and use a flash, but still it bothers me.....

anyways, it is night here in Myanmar and I am going to put my flash on the m6 and go take some photos.....as far as me posting photos up from this trip....well, to be honest, it will probably be a while, I have shot mostly tri-x and I need to go home and develop the rolls an di Imagine that will take some time...but, yes, I will post some up when I get everything developed.....

ok, I am outta here, lots of interesting things happening outside this door....cheers, michael
 
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hey guys, I am back in Bangkok now and I just got done unpacking my camera bag and counting how many rolls that I shot and how many extra rolls that I have left over....I sorted out my film , the tri-x from the other stuff( C41 and E6) and I am going to go to the lab in an hour and drop off the C41 and E6 rolls.....all of my work "the serious stuff" was shot using tri-x, and that is going to take some time for me to develop, but I am I excited at what I shot and I am motivated to develop the rolls asap, I just need some time to get everything organized so I can develop them myself.....I am glad that I brought along some color stuff too....whenever I travel, I always bring a couple of rolls of slide film just for the heck of it...I have a cool Leica projector back in the states and I know one day when I am old, I will enjoy sitting down and looking at the slides....

Anyways, the trip was good, I am happy with what I shot, I know that I haven't seen the stuff yet, but I am pretty sure I have some good stuff....I just hope I don't mess up developing the film somehow......It was only a 2 week trip and I would of liked it to have been much longer, but all in all, it was good....

It did take me a day or two to get into the "groove" of shooting again....I mean approaching strangers, meeting new people, seeing new things, learning some basic language phrases, watching and learning about the light and all the other countless things that come with throwing yourself into a totally different culture and country.

As far as my gear goes, I am going to make some changes...not sure what yet, but I need to change some stuff up...I love my gear and I am happy using the m3 and m2 around Bangkok, they are amazing cameras and I can't see myself selling either of them, but I need a different (standarized) kit for stuff like this.....

The lenses were awsome....I used the 35mm 1.2 early in the morning when the cities or places that I was in were waking up....I used to use my 50mm summilux for early morning shooting (4:30-6:00 am) when I was in India.....but my 35mm was the go to lens....for one, I don't have a medium yellow filter for it, I just use a u.v. because it is a "modern" lens and I don't want a yellow filter on it, so obviously it is faster than my summilux......I use yellow filters on my older Leica lenses (90mm and the 50mm) because I like the look that I get.

I used the 15mm a little bit, but it was 100% worth bringing on the trip, it was exactly what I wanted when I needed it...that lens will always be in my bag....the 28mm and my 90mm saw a lot of use and the 50mm, well, lets just say, I am glad that I had it in my bag, but I could of done without it.....but I won't, because I love the 50mm focal length and I like the look of my 50mm summilux...there is something special about the 50mm that I like.

ok, that's about it, I am off to the lab soon....I will post some photos up when I can, but it will be a couple of days because I switched labs and this lab takes a couple of days....the quality is much better than that other lab that used to scratch my negatives, but the downside is, I have to wait a couple of days....and when I get the tri-x stuff ready, I will post some up too, that's the stuff I'm excited about...
....cheers, michael
 
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I'm really glad you enjoyed your stay in Burma. Can't wait to see your photos as I know they'll be fabulous :-]
 
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