India, with its vibrant colors, diverse culture and teeming population is paradise for photographers. A friend of mine once remarked that if you blindfold yourself, take a camera and walk down a market, taking random pictures, you can end up with a few great shots – that is you do not get run down. India offers a lot of great photo opportunities in every day life.

We love our photography and travel. We have been running tours to other destinations in India and outside India, for over two decades and many of our regular guests are serious photographers. One reason why photographers like to travel with us is because we understand their special needs, like few others do. Some advise that we have for those planning a photography trip in India is listed below.

Planning your trip

Identify the subjects that you want to shoot and the best locations and the best times in the different locations to shoot them.

The first thing that you need to ask yourself is what all are you looking to shoot. Once you have figured this out then make an “Ideal Wish List” of all the shots that you want. You may never get most of them but this is a good way to start planning your trip. The next step after you have got your “Wish List” together is to identify the different locations, which would suit your purpose.

Once you have frozen the destinations that you want to visit, the next step is to find out the best seasons in the different locations for shooting your preferred subjects. At the same time you would also need to figure out how many days would you need in each of your preferred destinations to get reasonably good photo opportunities. For instance, if you want to shoot Asiatic Elephants, one week in Corbett National Park in May, will get you a lot of great pictures. However, if you went to the same Park in December, a month would may be good enough.

Plan your itinerary well.

A well-planned itinerary will save you a lot of time and money. The two main things that you have to plan for are:

• Travel arrangements – have to be planned so that you spend the least amount of time in transit and the maximum amount of time in the field taking pictures.
• Naturalists, Guides and Drivers – These are the people who can make or break your trip. They are your local contacts who have probably spent years in the field and know the place like the back of their hands. It is very important to have a good local team and to build a good working relationship with them, since they are the ones who arrange the shooting opportunities. Remember to tip them well and to let them know at the onset that you are going to do so. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys and you definitely do not want monkeys to guide you in the shoot.

Planning you itinerary well is easier said than done, especially if you are going to an area where you have not been before. Most of the Tour Operators and Ground-handling agents claim to know a lot about photography but very few of them actually do. One good way to find out how much your tour operator knows is to ask them specific questions and judge from the answers. You could also ask them to give you references of the photographers that they have dealt with and them cross check with the photographers.

Before your Departure, Care and Maintenance

Get information about your locations.

You definitely need some up to date information about all the places that you plan to visit, a few weeks before you leave for your trip, so that you come prepared. I have met a lot of people who land up with the gear and expectations – just because they did not have the right information. Some of the most important information that you need is:

• Light conditions – The light conditions in most parts of India are highly variable depending on the seasons. For instance, in Ranthambhore National Park (a great place to shoot action shots of tigers) the temperatures vary from below 4 degrees centigrade (in peak winters) to over 45 degrees Centigrade (in peak summers) and so the light goes from really soft in winters to really harsh in summers.
• Wildlife viewing – The kind and number of wildlife that you see depends a lot on the weather conditions. Generally speaking, you can see more mega-fauna in the summers (when the light is very harsh) than in winters (when the light is fantastic).

What you need is “current information” about the different locations, just before you are leaving for the trip and not general information about the different places.

Some tips for nature photography in India

• Vehicles, Drivers and Guides – Most of the wildlife photography in India is done from a small Suzuki jeep (locally known as Gypsys). These are not very comfortable but are very tough and do very well on bad terrain. There is often not enough space in these Gypsys to set up a tripod (unless you remove or fold one of the two rear seats). However, beanbags are very handy if you are in one of these vehicles. Since these vehicles are small, they can at the most take 3 photographers (ideally only 2). It is very important to get a good driver, since he is the one who is going to set the angle for you. It is also very important to brief the driver and the guide (who are compulsory in most wildlife sanctuaries and parks) about the angles etc that you like (and you will have to do this).

• Best time in the day for shooting – The best light conditions are found in the early mornings and the late hours of the evenings. This is also the time when wildlife is most active. This is particularly true for summers, when the light is good only for about an hour or two in the mornings and evenings.

• Best time in the year for shooting – Generally speaking, in most parts of India, winters is a much better time to shoot than summers. In winters the light is softer, the wildlife more active and the backgrounds more colorful. However, this is a broad generalization. In summers, it is generally easier to find wildlife (this is most apt for mega-fauna like tigers, elephants, deer etc) because they tend to congregate around the few water holes that still have water.

• Dust – In most of India (especially in the wildlife areas) dust is ever present (and in large quantities). This can be tough for the equipment and it is advisable to be prepared for it. However, dust can also make for great backgrounds, particularly at dawn and dusk.

• Patience – You most probably already know about the amount of patience required in nature photography. However, I would like to add that in India you need much more of this quality than you would in other countries.

• Safety of your equipment – In most of the wildlife parks and sanctuaries, your equipment is generally safe. However, I would advise you to be very careful when traveling in trains and when you are in urban areas. In such areas, stick to your equipment.