I recently returned from a photography trip to Macau and Hong Kong. The trip was courtesy of Wanderlust Travel Magazine following my win in their 2018 photo of the year competition. I won the ‘Travel Icons’ category with an image I had taken on a trip to Havana in Cuba the previous year. As well as receiving various photographic and storage equipment, the main prize was an all expenses paid trip to Macau & Hong Kong. Click through the slideshows below to view some of my favourite images from the Wanderlust adventure as well as my winning photo taken in Havana, Cuba:
The initial prize was for four days in Macau and a further four days in neighbouring Hong Kong. I extended the trip to two weeks to allow myself more time to explore and get more travel photos. Whilst in Macau I met up with Thomas Kast, another Wanderlust Competition winner who joined us on the various organised tours. Thomas won the People category of the travel photography competition with his excellent photo, ‘The Thinker’ captured in Jerusalem. Thomas is an illustrator and photographer who loves shooting with a long lens and tripod, more of his fine photographic work can be found on his website. As part of our prize we were given a photo assignment to produce tourist friendly images for both the Hong Kong and Macau Tourist boards. I believe some of these images will also be used in a future article about the two locations to be published in Wanderlust travel magazine.
Macau
Macau (or Macao as it is spelt in English) is only forty miles from Hong Kong but the two locations are very different culturally. At only 13 square miles Macau is a small but fascinating place with a unique Portuguese-Dhnese heritage. Macau makes the most of it’s small space with an abundance of historical buildings, gardens, coastline and a wide range of new attractions including 5 star hotels, dazzling shows and huge themed casinos. Macau is located on China’s south coast at the mouth of the Pearl River and is surrounded by the South China Sea. It has been a special Administrative Region of China since 1999 and is becoming increasingly popular as a stopover destination to Australia. Most visitors to Macau land in Hong Kong international airport and either take the fast ferry or travel across the recently finished Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the World’s longest sea crossing bridge.
Unfortunately whilst we were in Macau the weather was not ideal with heavy rain for much of the trip. Heavy rain combined with high humidity is very problematic for photography and camera equipment. As any photographer knows: the weather (and lighting) is a fundamental factor in capturing the best images. However, we did the best we could in our short but interesting time in Macau. My favourite images included: the sunsets taken down by the sea & the night images of the casinos, the iconic UNESCO list building, ‘Ruins of St Pauls’, and the interesting & colourful churches that could be found in the centre. You can view some of these Macau images in the slideshow below:
Hong Kong
After four days in Macau we moved to Hong Kong where we had both better weather and more time to capture some travel photographs. Hong kong is a Special Administrative Region on the Eastern side of the Pear River estuary in Southern China. Compared to Macau it is much larger and more populated with over 7.5 million people living within a 426 mile area. In addition to the mainland areas there are many islands, some of which me managed to explore off the coast of Hong Kong. With the high rise buildings and huge modern shopping centres it also appears very different to neighbouring Macau. My favourite images from Hong Kong are from the Tian Tan Buddha located on Lantau island which was published by the Sunday Times, the night time Dragon festivals in the City, views over the city from the adventurous Suicide Rock hike, and various street photos I captured during my time exploring the Hong Kong Streets. Some of these Hong Kong photographs can be viewed in the slide show below:
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to both Macau & Hong Kong and would love to return in the future. More of my photography from the Wanderlust trip can be found on my website, my Instagram, my Facebook and my Flickr account. Here is an article written by Wanderlust travel magazine on entering and winning a photo competition. The win has given me the confidence to enter a few more competitions and the motivation to travel in the future and take some more! If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or collaborating in any way please email: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.