I'm Off to India

Dark Star

Dark Star

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Well, in 5 days time Suzanne and I are lucky enough to be off for two weeks holiday in India. One week travelling and sight seeing, followed by one week lounging on a beach in Goa.

The travelling week sees us in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur for two nights each.

Of course I am seeing this as fabulous photographic opportunity and wondered if any of you wise and wonderful folk could share any advice or guidance from similar travels you might have made.

What equipment would you recommend I take?

What sights to see and what sights to avoid!!

Any tips or hints for the travelling photographer?

This is a rare opportunity for me and I'd love to make the most of it!!

All advice welcomed :D

Thanks :thumbs:
 
Lucky Man

1st tip - make sure camera is well insured. - my mate went to America about 8 months ago - left the Camera on the plane by mistake - even though he realised as soon as he got inside the airport - Too late - Camera was on house insurance, and hes had a dreadful time getting any payout, and then finds max payout is £150 for all equipment in total.

So Check before you go :)
 
I've been told you should only drink water from "branded" mineral water bottles, or just survive on Coca Cola. :lol:

Make sure you bring some medication for diarrhea and the like.

As for camera lens:
Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC/Canon 18-55 kit lens/Canon 70-200mm f4L

Should be enough. :D
 
You are welcome to take any of my lenses with you so take your pick :)

Suggest you leave the kit lens and take my 17-40L.....much heavier but worth it.
 
RobertP said:
Suggest you leave the kit lens and take my 17-40L.....much heavier but worth it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you could take Robert's 17-40L and his 100-400!
And a Sherpa to carry them! ;) :lol:
 
Have a great time - looking forward to seeing your photos when you get back!
 
RobertP said:
You are welcome to take any of my lenses with you so take your pick :)

Suggest you leave the kit lens and take my 17-40L.....much heavier but worth it.
Click to expand...

Cheers Rob - thats a generous offer thanks - although I'd be worried for its safety!!!

See you later to discuss!:D
 
kamion said:
I've been told you should only drink water from "branded" mineral water bottles, or just survive on Coca Cola. :lol:

Make sure you bring some medication for diarrhea and the like.

As for camera lens:
Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC/Canon 18-55 kit lens/Canon 70-200mm f4L

Should be enough. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks Kamion that was my plan although I am tempted to take the 50mm 1.8 with me as well!!!

And we have the medication!!!! :gag:
 
A music photographer I know from another forum is doing just this now. You can read his blog about how he's finding it. Good luck and bring back lots of shots :)
 
I'd take one short to mid range zoom, the 17-40 probably, accepting from the outset that I'm going to be under-gunned for some shots. That way you should strike a happy balance between your photography and actually enjoying your holiday without carting loads of gear about.

On the other hand the light in India is to die for for a photographer. Difficult! :lol:
 
The only advice I'd offer above what's already been suggested is to make sure you take enough memory cards or a storage device with you! Nothing worse than that feeling half way through your holiday that you're running out of storage space! I hope you and Suzanne have a great holiday and bring back some stunning photos! :thumbs:
 
Grendel said:
I hope you and Suzanne have a great holiday and bring back some stunning photos! :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Many thanks Paul - I hope I'll be okay with 2 x 4Gb cards, 1 x 1Gb plus a 40Gb Epson P-2000 :D

Can't wait!!! :thumbs:
 
Wow you lucky thing! My parents in Law are currently out there for 6 weeks (Oh the things you get to do when you're retired!) and are having a great time if the e-mails & postcards are anything to go by!

Have a wonderful trip!

So far as gear goes, I'd probably go for (from your kit plus Robert's generous offer!) the 17-40L on loan, plus your own nifty fifty and 70-200, and maybe consider investing in something a little lighter than your current manfrotto by way of a tripod? The nifty is barely anything extra on the weight front, can be carried in a pocket, and helps to bridge the gap between the other two.
 
Have a great time mate, Don't forget to take some pictures of Jade Goodie while you are there..:D
 
And you can make lots of copies and pin them up on the dart boards in all the bars!! :D :lol:
 
Think you should take your good friend from work. Think its rather poor that you didn't think of that already!!!
 
Ha the first casualty of my name change, Andrew thought that Dark Star was me.
 
I did wonder!! Thought that you and John might have secretly worked together!! :D :lol:
 
Maybe I should change my name as well - Dark Star is beginning to sound Corny!!!!
 
In evidently Insurance is a must for you (missus too) and your equipment. Do your homework well with taxi & transportation fares. ALWAYS DRINK BOTTLED WATER (Make sure to check the lid always being sealed). never trust a stranger Would have advised you to go to the various National parks (http://www.kanhanationalpark.com/) if you enjoy wildlife photography.
oen wide angle, one decent zoom and one macro lens is more than sufficient for your travel. Also make sure to take socket adaptors for India for recharging your camera batteries.

Last but not the least have lotsa fun and post all UR great pictues on TF.

Cheers.
 
Thanks to all for the advice - if the snow holds back we'll be at Heathrow by 8:00 am and in Delhi 18 hours later (stop over at Doha)!!

If I get can get on the internet in the next two weeks I'll be sure to post an update, if not you'll hear from me in a couple of weeks!

Behave yourselves while I'm away :D

John
 
Have fun John! :)
 
Yes ... hope he left in plenty of time ... :shrug:

Still if he left bright and breezy he should've been alright ... :thinking: ... or we'll hear from him later ... :D







:p
 
I expect Robert will tell us if he got to the airport OK, as Robert was very kindly driving them! :thumbs:
 
John does not like to be late... for anything.

He was having kittens having seen the weather. So we left even earlier than planned - 5-30am. Really struggled getting up the gentle inclines on the roads locally but got to a point where we could see if the north circular road was moving - and it was.
So after a long slow game of guess where the lane is on the A406 we got to Heathrow OK. Tomtom seemed to like the scenic route back but somehow avoided most of the traffic. Got home about 9am.

Least Heathrow is still open so he may get away.
 
That's good news, Robert. Glad you got back safe and sound. At least they have the warmth of India to look forward to........ Grrrrr!!:D
 
:clap: Well done, Robert!
 
Got a message this morning that they arrived in Delhi safely.
 
Brought them home today and I got a tip :)

50rupee.jpg


Seems a bit shell shocked but no doubt he will be back here soon.
 
ha ha! :lol: Is that 50 rupees, Robert? How much is that worth?


I've just done my sums..............about 58p? What a cheapskate......wait till he gets back on here with his wonderful pictures!!
 
I was thinking earlier that John should be back soon!
 
He says he has about 2000 pictures. We were going round for holiday stories but the travelling + time change has got too much...so that might happen tomorrow.

Just don't ask about the beach massage......:eek:
 
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