NZPhotographer Issue 27, January 2020

Exploring Myanmar
with Lyn Alves
I
am a female solo traveller in my late 60’s, who
enjoys wandering the world, journeying along the
‘road less travelled’, off the tourist trail. My camera
is my companion on my adventures but I haven’t
always been a solo traveller - my husband shared my
passion for travel and adventure but, sadly he passed
away so I have been traveling on my own for the last
5 years.
Looking back, photography has always been part of
who I am. It started with my first box Brownie at the
age of 9, progressing through a range of point and
shoots until my first real camera in my early 20’s, a
Zenit. My love affair with this solid Russian beauty died
when it froze on me on a mountain holiday in the
snow!!
I have been a Canon girl ever since, buying a SLR
when my husband and I backpacked around South
America way back in 1996. 16 precious films were
guarded with my life. Those were the days of placing
your films into black bags so they could ‘safely’ be
scanned by the X-ray machine at airports and not
knowing if they would be okay until being developed
on returning home. How times have changed. I
resisted buying a digital camera for as long as I could.
I couldn’t get out of my head the term ‘spray and
pray’, but have to admit my photography changed
in 2009 when we travelled across North Africa - Egypt,
Libya, Tunisia, and Morocco. We were going to do a
camel trek out into the Sahara, stay with the Bedouins
and sleep on our camel blankets under the stars so
I needed a camera that was dust and sand proof -
enter my first DSLR, the Canon 40D.
Capturing on my camera moments, scenes,
occasions and people is such a pleasure and a
privilege. It enables me to relive the journey whenever
the occasion arises. My fascination with cultures
from around the world, I’m sure, stemmed from the
National Geographic Magazine that I devoured as a
youngster – it’s a passion that I cannot get enough of.
I travel for 2 months each year and have plans for at
least the next 5 years! I’m simply one of those people
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NZPhotographer