India through the lens

The country is a haven for photography buffs, writes Salliza Salleh

ACE photographer Steve McCurry once said that of all the places he’s travelled to, India has more opportunities to capture the magic and vibrancy of life than anywhere else. What he said is very much true as India is dense with life, culture, religion, art and history.

New Delhi, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Kashmir, Varanasi, Pushkar, Agra and so many more attractive places in India have unique charm.

Everywhere you turn your eyes in India, you see stories and experience moments that may confuse, amaze, frustrate, bless or shock you — an emotional roller-coaster.

It is a photographer’s heaven especially if you love to capture human interest, as most of Indians spent more time on the street than at home. Life is revolves around the street.

Here are some tips on how to get the best of this magical country from a photographer’s eyes: and protect your camera properly. A camera with an attached wide-angle lens up to 35mm is good enough to capture the intense atmosphere inside the temple. of interesting personalities but also include their colourful environment into the frame.

In this second photo, the friendly sadhu allowed me to take his photo. Instead of taking his portrait, I included the gorgeous tree, a glimpse of the temple on top of the hill and the blue sky in the frame. It tells a deeper story about the subject.

The light in India is photographer-friendly. Wake up early in the morning for beautiful sunrises, walk and mingle with people when the sun is high and stay outdoors for the gorgeous sunsets.

I packed various GND filters, CPL filter, a superwide lens and a light tripod in my backpack to capture landscape. This is a landscape photo of the famous Jaipur Lake Palace at sunrise.

The streets of India are crowded, chaotic and overwhelming at the same time. Take a slow walk along a street and blend in with its people, especially in markets.

Go light on your camera loads. A camera attached to an all-rounder 24-70mm lens usually does the trick. I use a camera attached to a superwide lens 14-24mm or a 24mm fixed lens and a 50mm lens. A small LED light is a great help for a dark moment. This photo is a typical street scene at Ana Segar lake in Ajmer.