I got back from three weeks in India with my wife and a good friend of ours...second trip to this amazing country. I'm not usually a people photographer, but the people of India are so amazing and friendly I could not resist on this trip. We, being americans with big cameras, were sort of rock stars in many of the off the main drag places we visited on the trip. We spent lots of time in some of the primitive villages of the south and west, as well as 8 days in Kashmir which was quite an experience. Below are a few of the people pics from the trip.....
Group of kids in Kashmir...we had an impromptu photo shoot with a group of kids hanging out in one of the villages...it was great fun, took tons of pics of them!
Paul, thanks so much for the comment. As I said, this is not my usual style of photography, but the people were just so amazing. I have tons of others and would be happy to post more if there is interest...I don't want to fill up the board with pics people don't want to see....
Ok, happy to add a few more. Thanks for the comments, as I said this is not usually where I focus (so to speak) when traveling. The people are so beautiful and interesting looking, and friendly especially to westerners who they hardly ever see...and even less with a big black camera!
Ok, technically this isn't a people picture...but with the Star Wars movie coming out, thought I'd show you the picture of yoda that we took....
Charles, thanks. Honestly, I'd post the link to the entire album somewhere, but I'm not sure where to put it to get exposure. I'm not trying to 'sell' anything, but I'm actually pretty pleased with how the album turned out. Yes it has a bunch of pictures of my wife, our friend who traveled with us, and even me, but overall it is a good group I think. I've sent it to my friends list and it is on my fb page (but I don't have many friends...)..Some will be printed and will take the place of other images of mine on our walls.
cohenfive wrote:
Paul, thanks so much for the comment. As I said, this is not my usual style of photography, but the people were just so amazing. I have tons of others and would be happy to post more if there is interest...I don't want to fill up the board with pics people don't want to see....
Count me in as another vote for more pics! Subscribed
Looks like it was a wonderful trip. and your smugmug site contains tons of really fantastic shots that I know you two will cherish for the res of your lives.
My wife and I have been to India several times over the last 40 years. Never tire of it. For photographers it is to me the best place on earth. We have not spent any time in Kashmir, but have been thru most of the rest of the country, and will return again in early December,2016, to the far north east of India, in Nagaland. For the past 5 years or so we have been travelling with the Joeseph van Os photosafaries group.My wife is not a photographer, but she loves going on these trips as they get you to the right place at the right time to see the most interesting photographic subjects. Since it appears the both you and your wife are photographers you might look into doing a photo workshop with one of the many groups that offer that.
I particularly like the way you captured many of the individual people around India. You isolate them beautifully from their background. When I travel, I tend to take zooms, not fast primes, which would be good for that kind of depth of field subject isolation. How do you manage to get such great shallow depth of field in your portraits?
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the photographs of your journey. I wish you many more.
Mike
Thanks Mike, and everyone else. As I said, wonderful trip, and although putting the images together took a lot of time, it was fun as well and I get a lot of enjoyment out of sharing them.
This was our second trip to India, we went last year this time as well. That trip was a bit different as we saw most of the most famous sites like the Taj and Red Fort, this time was more exploratory in the backroads....including Kashmir. We thought long and hard about whether it was safe enough to head up to Kashmir, but at the end of the day it was a wonderful, and safe, experience. That region is really starting to come back after many, many years of hardship caused by the unrest and violence that resulted. I would recommend Kashmir without reservation.
As far as gear goes, I took the following: d810 (probably 90% of shots), d750 (only used when I needed extra low light capabilities), 14-24 (not used often but as always I love this lens), 24-70 (probably 80% of shots), and 70-200vr f/4 (used mostly to take pics of animals). My wife took her v2 with 10-100 (90%) and 6.5-13 lenses. The latter is being retired as she was frustrated enough at times that she wants to get a dslr now. Trying to decide between fx and dx, not sure for her as she does value lighter weight and size...me, I only value iq. Thanks again!
I encountered a French photographer a number of years ago while hanging out on TrekEarth, a photography website. Claude traveled extensively to India and I believe he continues to do so. You might appreciate seeing his work given your love for India. Apart from a bout of giardia along the way, I loved the month I spent there but alas that was twenty years ago when photography was in its dormant phase. It is a magical place, no doubt. Were I a younger man I'd definitely visit again, this time with my Df and a kit of manual focus lenses.
