Posts tagged india
Wildlife Photography 2 by Tracey Lund
Wildlife Photography 2 by Tracey Lund

We finally got to see Tracy in person for part two of her story which followed on from her Zoom presentation during lockdown.

Alaska, Canada, Yellowstone, India, Zimanga and UK Hides. An inspirational evening with wildlife and nature photos from these areas as well as some anecdotes of her travels and trips.

Tracey Lund is from Hull. Her photographic journey began after an inspiring trip to Africa in 2004.

After returning to the UK, Tracey wanted to develop her photography and so joined three Photographic Societies and submitted her favourite images as entries to some of the major worldwide Wildlife Competitions. Tracey is also a permanent display as she is a ‘gallery photographer’ at the famous Joe Cornish Art Gallery.

Tracey's presentation was a whirlwind trip around the world calling at Alaska, Canada and Yellowstone. Then we moved to India where we were treated to a bewildering array of birds, squirrels and mongooses, not to mention the spotted deer - top of the fast food menu!

In Africa we were taken to Zimanga, the hotel and wildlife hides. Another whirlwind of birds, snakes, jackals and others. She even had a story about walking with cheetahs.

Tracey described the opportunities, Lagoon Hide, Bee Eater Hide, Scavengers Hide and startlingly the Overnight Hide! Into the hide in the afternoon and stay for 17 hours till breakfast.

But what a beautiful collection of wildlife photos Tracey showed to illustrate what was possible - eye to eye with water buffalo and a herd, yes a herd, of elephants.

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Special Presentation, WildlifeMaurice Youngalaska, canada, india, yellowstone, uk hides
An Indian Adventure by Alan Cameron ARPS
An Indian Adventure by Alan Cameron ARPS

This week at our Tuesday meeting Alan Cameron recounted his pre-pandemic holiday in India, he described it as his travelogue. And what a feast of art, history and photography this presentation proved to be.

 Alan divided his presentation into two parts, part one featured the north of India, the 'Golden Triangle' and Ranthambore National Park, and after the break he moved south to Karnataka and Kerala.

 After a late arrival in Delhi Alan showed us pictures of the terrible traffic and driving manners, highlighting the Tuk Tuk donkeys, sacred cows and the ubiquitous camel!

 The India Gate, commemorating the fallen of both world wars and the mosque were beautifully photographed and presented. These formal photographs were contrasted with pictures of street markets including artisans with tools of their trades, and collections of foodstuffs, nuts, cloves and so on.

 e Gandhi monument built on the site of Gandhi's cremation was an interesting building. World Heritage sites are abundant in India and the tomb of the second Mogul Emperor with its Paradise Gardens with its rivers of water, honey, milk and wine. A land flowing with milk and honey!

 In Agra Alan showed pictures of the famous Taj Mahal with its tomb and paradise gardens.

 In Ranthambore Alan found the famous Indian Tigers and he took some great pictures but not without some trepidation because firearms are not allowed for the guides in their open jeeps.

 Thanks Alan for a wonderful evening.

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Special Presentation, Cambidge Inter-Club, ZoomMaurice Youngindia, trravel, culture, people, landscape
Photo-talk by NDPS member Des King
Photo-talk by NDPS member Des King

The People of Rajasthan
Tuesday 1st february

This evening the booked speaker had to call off and his presentation has been rearranged for March.

NDPS member Des King offered his services as a reserve speaker and gave us an excellent presentation on his trip to Rajasthan three years ago. He began with a map of India showing the geographical areas covered, starting from Delhi.

The first part was based on 'people' and accompanied by a brief commentary from Des and backed by Indian music which proved to be very evocative. India is a colourful country and Des certainly caught the mood with street sellers, the festival of Diwali and tiny hot air balloons. He went to a theatre to watch a special performance by actors who only moved their eyes!­­­

The Opium Festival looked interesting and, for sure, Des bought a pipe!

The sacred cows of the country which, of course, cannot be shooed away or pushed off, were ever present in his photos, in the street, in the markets and even on the railway lines! Des had also been to a Hari Krishna temple and listened to the Hare Krishna mantra being chanted by the congregation.

After 'people', Des concentrated on buildings - temples and palaces, the Jaipur Observatory and the Taj Mahal from afar. What a breath taking, whirlwind, tour of a colourful and fascinating country.

Thanks Des for standing in and giving us a great evenings entertainment.

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Photo-talkMaurice Youngstreet photography, travel photography, india
60 Minutes in Mumbai's Dhobi Ghat by Michael Chinnici
60 Minutes in Mumbai's Dhobi Ghat by Michael Chinnici

Last Tuesday evening evening Michael Chinnici, whose home is in New York, gave his presentation from Bolsano, in Northern Italy, where he is supervising the print and production of his next book - Vanishing Cuba

The Dhobi Ghat is used throughout south-central Asia to refer to any laundry-place or washing-place where many launderers or clothes-washers work; they may be ordinary people or professionals (traditionally men) who use the place to wash clothes and other linen.

Mumbai has an extensive dhobi ghat (there are several other dhobi ghats in Mumbai!)

It was here in the extensive Dhobi Ghat that Michael spent just over an hour with one camera, and one lens. He took a whole series of pictures in black and white which, of course, he could view in black and white on the camera screen but all the colour information was still there in the RAW file. The final pictures he had made in mono were not only outstanding pictures, but all told a story. The Dhobi Ghat is run along the caste system lines, you are born into the ghat, work in the ghat and that is your life.

Michael's photographs illustrated the life and work of the workers, the people who work there also live there. So, we saw pictures of people washing clothes by hand, people ironing, cooking and just relaxing. Many of these pictures were environmental portraits where the person was just as important as the background. And in the background so many times was the ubiquitous wall calendar offered as a gift by a politician.

He explained that all the photographs were handheld, all used natural light and none were taken on a tripod. All were processed in Lightroom and Silver Effects from the Nik Collection using Topaz to de-noise as a first process.

In the Q and A period Michael offered some good advice on street photography including a technique he has used himself, giving his camera for a subject to look at and try, to gain confidence - if I can trust you with my camera, you can trust me with your image!

Our thanks, Michael, for an interesting and instructive evening.

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Special PresentationMaurice Youngdhobi ghat, street laundry, mumbai, india