PHOTOGRAPHY TOUR INDIA
Sample itinerary of our bestselling Five Stops of Light India Photography Tour to the Pushkar Camel Fair, Rajasthan, Delhi, Agra & Varanasi. Amazing encounters, brilliant photographs, unforgettable experiences.
Dates: 1st November – 12th November 2019
Price: TBA
Day 1: Delhi – Street and architectural photography around Old Delhi
Arrive in Delhi by international flight just prior to midnight on the 31st of October 2019, or shortly after midnight on the 1st of November 2019. Since we don’t want you disturbed by guests arriving after you’ve checked in, you’ll have a single room to yourself upon arrival. Our India Photography Tour covering the Pushkar Camel Fair & Rajasthan begins with some early morning photography in select parts of Delhi. Head back to our hotel for breakfast and transfer to twin-sharing accommodation. Late afternoon street photography again. The day’s photographic highlights include Delhi’s Red Fort, Chandni Chowk & The Jama Masjid. Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 2: Delhi to Varanasi – Street Photography around the ghats of Varanasi – The evening worship ceremony – Overnight at Varanasi
Catch our mid-morning flight to Varanasi – the holiest of holy places for Hindus. Upon arrival, transfer to our hotel. Late afternoon we head off to the famous ghats for photography. Witness and photograph the worship ceremony of the holy river Ganges as the sun goes down. We’ll be photographing innumerable worshipers – faith and devotion writ large on their faces – as they watch a group of young priests perform an elaborate ritual in worship of the holy river. This is a ritual that has remained unchanged since time immemorial; take our word for it – it will remain etched in your memory as an experience that you will never ever forget.
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 3: The Crack of Dawn – Head-to-head with the morning rituals – Life on the ghats – Street photography – The Ganga Aarti revisited – Overnight Varanasi
Up before the crack of dawn, we head off to the river ghats where your Varansi Photography Tour leader briefs the boatsman just where exactly we need to be to get the best shots. Hop in and away we go, the boatman puts the pedal to the metal (or should we say “oar to water”?) as he fights the current. Dawn is just about… well, dawning, and the sky is a deep blue with traces of pink as you go about making images of the river and the rows of boats on it that seem to stretch into the yonder.
We’ll continue to row down the Ganges, making photographs from our boat of the devotees bathing in the river and life as it unfolds on the ghats. To say you will be moved is an understatement. You will be rocked – to your very core – at the spectacle that unfolds before your eyes. As the sun climbs higher, we do what all good photographers do: head back to our hotel for breakfast. Post lunch we head to the vicinity of the ghats again, exploring the labyrinth of narrow streets and indulging in some serious street photography. At sundown we return to the ghats to make images of the Ganga Aarti again. The previous evening’s shoot will have familiarized you with the event enough to enable you to plan and make any shots you may have missed.
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 4: Varanasi – Jaipur : Life on the ghats – Fly to Delhi – Drive to Jaipur – Overnight Jaipur
Off we go to the ghats before sunrise again, but this morning has us exploring them from a different perspective. Starting off from a central ghat, we’ll walk the length of the ghats, making images as we go along of the morning worship ceremony. We then wend our way to some bathing ghats where we’ll make some stunning images of people as they approach, take a dip in the river and pay homage to the sun.
We will continue to walk down the ghats , soaking in the unique atmosphere of each of them (yes, each ghat has its own unique personality) and making images as we go along. Keep an eye out for the washermen at the oh-so-very-imaginatively-named Washerman’s-ghat, barbers plying their trade at this-here ghat, locals showing-off their expertise at yoga at that-there ghat… and the list goes on and on. Post-breakfast we’ll board our flight back to Delhi from where we’ll drive down to our next destination – Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 5: Palaces in a lake – The Wind Palace – Street life – Bustling Marketplaces – The Royal Palace and Observatory – Street and architectural photography at The Pink City of Jaipur, Rajasthan – Overnight Jaipur
The morning will see us photographing around the lake at Jaipur, making images of the palace and small structures in it as the sun comes up. We’ll then chase the sun so as to be right where it matters when it sheds its first rays on the red and pink sandstone of the Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds). After photographing the structure as it takes on a brilliant red hue, we’ll walk around the locality, making images of the people as they begin their day and go about their lives. The afternoon will see us making images of the marketplace of the old district of the Pink City Jaipur, following which we’ll go about photographing the City Palace and the Royal Observatory.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6: Imposing Forts and Majestic Elephants – Drive to Pushkar – Behold the Fair of a Thousand Camels – Overnight at The Pushkar Camel Fair
Early in the morning we head to the outskirts of Jaipur to visit one of the most imposing forts in Rajasthan and the palace in its precincts. Following the morning’s photography there, we set off to our next destination – The Pushkar Camel Fair. The late afternoon will see us indulging in an orientation tour (the fair is huge, you don’t want to get lost, do you?) of the fair grounds and indulging in some photography. Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Days 7, 8 and 9: Camels (includes tantrum-throwing juveniles, bad-tempered adults, and grumpy seniors) – Their Minders – Incredible Moustaches – Elaborate Turbans (yes, occasionally you’ll find a camel sporting one too!), Brightly Colored Sarees… – Overnight The Pushkar Camel Fair
Trust us when we say that there are few spectacles that can rival The Pushkar Camel Fair, and the next three days of our Photography Tour to the Pushkar Camel Fair have been strategically planned to help you make the very best of photographs that the fair has to offer. We’ve timed our arrival – and stay – just right, we’re there when the camel trading will be at its peak, and we’ll be there to witness and photograph the throngs of pilgrims arriving in Pushkar too.
We’ll be up by the crack of dawn each day to photograph the activities at and around the fair grounds. Camels are a plenty – a couple of thousand of them – each with their unique personality (generally dour!) – and make for amazing subjects. Coupled together with their minders (replete with brilliant turbans and imposing moustaches), their womenfolk and everything else you can think of, and there’s the human element for you. Around breakfast time we return to our hotel and rest till after lunch, only to return to the fair grounds late afternoon again. As the sun goes down, keep your eyes peeled for some brilliant silhouette opportunities. You’d be excused for thinking the day ends then, but you’ll be surprised as a thousand bonfires spring up as the traders and their families crowd around for the evening meal.
As the days progress, the inflow of pilgrims for the religious part of the fair will increase. We will correspondingly see a sea-change in the festivities as food-stalls, ferris-wheel rides and other forms of entertainment spring up. Photographic material – we’ve got enough to last you a lifetime!
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 10: Adieu Pushkar – Hello Agra – Overnight Agra
Our last morning of photography at the Pushkar Camel Fair. While the area will have taken on a carnivalesque look what with the pilgrims flooding in, the bulk of the camel trading will be over and done with. The few dozen odd stragglers and their minders will be the government sponsored ones – mainly to cater to the swarms of tourists who’ll be flooding in by now. Please be polite and avoid smirking at the various “Photography Tours” who’ll have just come in, unaware that they’re essentially now witnessing a stage-managed event and not the real one. Trust me, it’s not the done thing – they don’t know better.
Post-breakfast we get into our vehicles and it’s onward-ho to the next destination on the amazing photography tour – Agra.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 11: The Taj Mahal – The Red Fort – The Taj from across the river – Overnight Agra
Up before dawn to ensure we’re at the head of the line ready to enter the Taj Mahal Complex – the better to make photographs of this amazing testimony to love before we have too many people intruding in our frame. We then walk around the complex over the next few hours making images before heading back for breakfast.
Post-lunch we head off to the Red Fort to make images there before heading off to the Taj again to make images of it with a backdrop of the setting sun.
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 12: The Taj Mahal – Drive to Delhi – Farewell Dinner – Tour ends
The last morning of our photography tour sees us making images of The Taj Mahal from across the river at sunrise. Post-breakfast we drive down to Delhi. The rest of the afternoon is free for you to pack or explore Delhi on your own. Early farewell dinner at the hotel, followed by airport transfers to catch your homeward bound flights, most of which depart shortly after 11 pm on [precise date To Be Announced] of Nov., or shortly after midnight on [precise date To Be Announced]of Nov.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Five Stops of Light – The Pushkar Camel Fair & Rajasthan
“AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING EXPEDITION with locations very well thought out… always at choice locations at the best time, and your knowledge of each location was invaluable & the resulting images are amazing!! I don’t think this trip can be duplicated by any other photography workshop!” ~ Len Ominelli, NY