#112 Incredible India! (1)

Incredible India! is the baseline of India’s national advertising, inviting tourists to visit. Images in the TV ads are indeed incredible, inviting, wonderful. But, let me tell you, they are inferior to reality. To give you an idea, I spent there 13 days and came back with 3000 pictures, even though the light was so harsh during the day that very little could be done, and our setup was not well geared to dawn-and-dusk shooting, and we didn’t stop the car more than 10% of the time when potentially great pictures beckoned…. And not only that, but a full 10% of those shots were worth posting, a percentage I never reached again, before or since… which also means I will have to be awfully selective in choosing what to show you, or rather what I can afford not to show. And how to choose between what is historically or culturally meaningful, and what I managed to make a good picture out of…

What my partner and I did was the standard tour of Rajahstan, with the Taj Mahal and Delhi thrown in for good measure.This was my first shot, in Delhi’s Red Mosque, and a stolen one at that, because sadhus (wise men) don’t like having their pictures taken. But I had my Canon EF 135L on my 5D II, and he didn’t notice…

By the evening of the first day, we were already in sight of the Taj Mahal, probably the monument that made the strongest impression of all those I was priviledged to see…. this time with a Canon EF 200mm L f:2.8 and a 1×4 multiplier.Now, of course, not showing the Taj Mahal would be heresy, even though you have probably seen it a thousand times. So just three pictures, each a bit “different”. This first one, to show the glory of a sunrise, as evidenced by how few people there are,and the wonderful colours of the Zeiss ZE 50 f:1.4

Now the full harshness of the sun, barely one half hour later. The importance of getting there early cannot be stressed too much. This picture with a lens I really liked, though specialised: the Canon EF 15mm fish-eyeThen a less frequent view. Sunset on the Taj from the other side of the river, with a very unusual cloud formation. This time a Zeiss ZE 85mm f:1.4Now I hear what you’re thinking (good ears, eh!). If he captured sunrise, and then sunset at the Taj, then he must have stayed there all day. Wrong! I was off visiting surrounding landmarks, such as the Agra fort, Akbar’s mosque, and making a few pictures in the process:This already shows one of the most important, most enchanting aspects of India. Its people. To me India is portrait heaven. And, save for the first one, I did not steal shots. Our guide asked for permission, and almost every time our request was greeted with a smiling “yes”. Then a few rupees changed hands to say “thank you”. This was most welcome, because I shot portraits with MF lenses (Zeiss ZE 50 and ZE 85), which are not the best for stealing shots quickly and stealthily. And who would steal from people who greet you warmly and gracefully?

That said, those lenses were not good for portrait only, as evidenced by this picture of Fatehpur SikriIncidentally, that Canon fish-eye was a fun lens, but also a good one. Not overexpesnive, light, easy to use including indoors, very sharp…So, on we went discovering awesome palaces of Rajahstan, built at the same time as those of Venice, and with the same money, coming from the import by caravans of Chinese goods, spices, gunpowder, silk…

Some loudly, even garishly styled, here in Jaipur with my workhorse EF 24-105LSome a fascinating combination of elegance and science, like the giant instrumentarium (giant sundials, astrolabes and other instruments that satisified the Maharajh’s taste for astronomy), also in Jaipur

Some simply supremely elegant:

Some inside decoration is fascinating in its taste, artistry and luxury. It is a feast! Especially, as is the case here, with Zeiss ZE 85, then 50 f:1.4.The last two are carriages for the Maharajh and his family. Needless to say, all this splendor did not extend to all Indians, much the reverse!Now comes the hard part. Saying “good-bye” to lots of lovely shots that haven’t found a place on this short narrative, else it become as long as the list of India’s maharadjahs and rajahs. But, in my opening comments I spoke about India’s incredible people. So, how come I show so few portraits? Well, that is for instalment n°2…. time to go to sleep now…