The Photographic Essay Workshop

Join me from August 4th 2012  over weekends in Calcutta for a workshop on how to shoot a photo story. For registration and further information please contact the workshop organisers KRIYA STUDIO at 9830379166.

The Himalayan Seasons II: Lahaul & Spiti

On the trail between Komic and Demul  in Spiti  at an altitude around 4500 metres

This is the second part of an eight part essay on the seasons in the Himalayas one part every week. This part covers Lahaul and Spiti.

December to March
It is peak winter and temperatures in Kaza can be down to -20C on some nights!  The road from Simla to Kaza along the Sutlej is kept open despite snowfall which can block the road from time to time. Some hotels and guest houses in Tabo, Nako and Kaza continue to function. For winter photography this is the time! Be prepared for delays due to snowfall and road closure.

April and May
In the valleys spring would begin in April. The apple blossoms would come into bloom especially near Tabo and o along the drive between Nako to Kaza.  From Mid April the weather is suitable for jeep safaris as the warmer days would melt some of the snow and make the passes feasible. The weather would still be cold and expect freak snow storms even in May!  

June to September
These four months are the peak season in Lahaul and Spiti. The days can be hot and sunny and temperatures can rise to 25-28C! The Kunzum la pass would be probably open in mid June and remain open until mid October depending on snowfall. It is possible at this time to make a full circuit route starting from Simla going upto to Tabo and Kaza in Spiti then across the Kunzum la into Lahaul and then down to Manali. The more intrepid can continue the circuit by following the road from Manali to Leh (two days) and finally exiting Leh either by flight or carrying on down to Srinagar making it a trip of a lifetime but you need a lot of time for this! The valleys are green in June-Aug becoming brown with the approaching autumn in Sept. Late Aug to mid Sept is  a wonderful trekking  time and good for the high pass crossings  like Kibber to  Tso Moriri across Parang La.

October and November
 There are not many tourists at this time. The tourist traffic remains until Kunzum la pass is open. Once it closes the traffic also dwindles. The first two weeks of October can be interesting as the autumn colours are quite spectacular! The road from Simla remains open and it is possible to do a journey into Spiti and return the same way.

Photography Locations
Here are some of the good photography locations:

• The monastery complex of Tabo in the early morning
• Old Dhangkar monastery and fort
• Chandratal Lake
• The village of Komic located at 4500 metres
• The drive from Kaza to Kibber via Ki

For an overview of the region please do visit my photo galleries.

The Himalayan Seasons I: Ladakh & Zanskar

Approaching storm, Leh Palace

This is a eight part essay on the seasons in the Himalayas one part every week. The first one starting today is on Ladakh and Zanskar.


Mid December to March
It is peak winter with temperatures in Leh down to -30C on some nights! It is the time for the Chadar Trek usually in late Jan/Feb. The flights from Delhi are running and some hotels and guest houses are open in Leh. The Indus valley is usually open for vehicles. Awesome light and clarity for photography! Some of the monastery festivals are held at this time - Spituk, Stok, Likir and Matho have festivals in February 2013!


April and May
The first spring would probably come in late April. From Mid April the weather is suitable for jeep safaris as the warmer days would melt some of the snow and make the passes feasible. The weather would still be cold and expect freak snow storms even in May! It is a good time to visit as the summer tourists are yet to descend on the Indus!


June to September
These four months are the peak season. The Manali-Leh road and the Srinagar- Leh road are both open. The Pensi La pass to Zanskar usually opens in mid June.  In some years, freak snowstorms have closed the road for a few days during this period. The valleys are green in June-Aug becoming brown with the approaching autumn in Sept. Late Aug to mid Sept is  a wonderful trekking  time and good for the high pass crossings – Tso Moriri to Kibber, Across Zanskar, Rumtse to Tso Moriri etc.  It is high season so air fares are  all up and for larger groups hotels need to be booked as well.


October to Mid December
 There are not many tourists at this time. Leh is in a shut down mode from mid October. The late winter sometimes makes October a good month for jeep safaris. Trekking is usually ruled out at this time except for the intrepid! This season usually sees few visitors.


Photography Locations
Here are some of the good photography locations:

• The Shanti Stupa at dusk in Leh

• Tso Moriri lake in autumn when the sheep and goats graze on the rich pastureland.

• Overnight at Lamayuru monastery staying at the monastery guest house.

• The sand dunes of the Nubra valley

• The view from the top of Thikse monastery in  the early morning when the lamas are at prayer.

For an overview of the region please do visit my Ladakh and Zanskar photo galleries.

Annapurna Sanctuary

The south base camp of Annapurna in the Annapurna Sanctuary has become a very popular trekking destination. The vast amphitheatre of peaks provide one of the best locations in the world for mountain photography. Some photographs from the region are here and for more photos please do visit my web site http://www.sujoydas.com/Nepal-Himalaya

Macchapuchare at sunset 

Moonrise Macchapuchare from Macchapuchare Base Camp

Dawn on the south wall of Annapurna I

Annapurna South and Annapurna I

Annapurna South Face

Photographing with one Nikon body and one prime lens

The other day I was planning to do some street photography in Calcutta and was debating about what equipment to use. I wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible and not carry a big bag loaded with cameras and lenses. There is some joy in being able to move seamlessly through the streets and shoot before anyone has  realised that a photo was being taken!  Ideally for this sort of shooting one of the smaller compacts like the Canon G12 is very suitable but I am a "SLR man"  at heart and so decided on an SLR. The Nikon D90 is small and compact:  it was my choice of camera body. Now the lens?

The choices with me as you can see presented quite a dilemma!

• Nikon 12-24 DX zoom
• Nikon 24 f2.8 AF-D
• Nikon 28 f 2 AI 
• Nikon 35 F2 AF
• Nikon 50 F1.8 AF D
• Nikon 16-85 VR DX
• Nikon 85 F1.8 AF

How did I decide as the brief was one camera and one lens only?

My first instinct was to take the normal zoom 16-85 mm as that would take care of almost all the situations which I would be looking at. But, zooms are slow and the 16-85 is no exception and bulky as well compared to the primes. As I wanted to be "not looking like a photographer" I abandoned the zoom idea and with the same logic also ruled out the Nikon 12-24 DX wide zoom.

So I was left with the Nikon prime lenses!

The 85 mm ruled itself out as it is a short telephoto and would not be very useful on the street as I was not looking for telephoto subjects or portraits specifically.

 I then had to consider that the D90 is a cropped sensor so all the Nikon prime lenses would be subject to this crop factor.

The 50 F1.8, though a superb lens,  and extremely fast and sharp,  eliminated itself again for being  a short telephoto  on a DX body.

So I was left with the three Nikon wides - 24, 28 and 35.

The 28 f2 AI was one of my favourite lenses in the old film days and many of my outdoor shots were taken with this lens. Howver, I soon realised that the lens would not meter with the Nikon D90 and as I needed to shoot fast this would not work.

So it was between the 24 and 35!

The 35 would operate like a normal lens 52mm and would have the advantage of a f2 fast aperture. However, my past experience told me that 52mm would perhaps be a little too tight in busy street situations. It would be easier to get closer to the action and shoot with a wider lens and also take advantage of the additional depth of field of the 24 which would effectively be a 36 mm.

I quite like the field of view of the 24 when used on the D90 and the combination makes a fast compact kit. So how did I set it up?

• The ISO was on auto with maximum ISO of 800 as I felt that would be sufficient given that I had a fast  2.8 lens and reasonable depth of field.
• I set the autofocus to AF-S, single point as I did not think I would need continuous focus.
• I decided to use aperture priority auto as I usually do and set the 24 lens to 5.6 which is two stops below the maximum aperture which is a  reasonable sweet spot for optimal performance.
• I set white balance to auto as I was not going to have time in the field to tinker with the white balance settings.
• And finally as always I decided to shoot RAW.
• I formatted a 4 GB scandisk Ultra memory card and put in freshly charged battery which should be sufficient for a day's work and set out.

And finally how did it work out?

I must say that the setup resulted in extremely quick shooting! There was no need to fiddle about with the zoom ring - my feet were the zoom and I had to move closer or away depending on how I wanted to compose! The camera lens /combination was small and unobtrusive so often I could hold it behind my back and take it out and shoot in a jiffy and in most cases the subject was not even aware as I walked away! I could shoot in seconds as I was not changing any of the settings before shooting.

I knew that I had only one lens so I needed to shoot photographs for that lens. So instintively close up portraits from a distance, ultra wide landscapes etc were all ruled out. I also knew that for impact I needed to be close to the subject to get that feel of drama especially when shooting street activity like shops, market places etc. Focusing was also not an issue as the available depth of field made it easy to focus as well.  In most cases I tried to be within six to ten feet of my subject, sometimes maybe even closer!

Try this out someday - you will find freedom from a bag full of lenses, bodies and having to make choices as you go along!

For more of my photographs please do visit www.sujoydas.com