Trip to India pics. First gallery post. 56k warning!!

[suryad]

Hello all.

As the title suggests these are my FIRST real pics I took with my EOS 20d 17-85 kit. Enjoy.

This pic is of the "chakra" which is a major part of the religious influences in India. It represents time, life, and many other philosophical aspects. The flag of India has this as an emblem at its center. This was from a temple called Konarak in Puri, Orissa. This is a very very old temple but unfortunately it is crumbling as can be seen from the picture.

These are the holy Jain caves on the outskirts of Puri. It is said that this was a great school where the believers of the religon of Jain would come and take refuge there. Beautifully captivating place.

This is at the "ghat" as we call it in Bengali. The holty river banks of the Hoogly or the Ganga river. These local kids were a riot!

This is the Victoria memorial. A tribute from the era of the British empire to Queen Victoria. It is absolutely stunning. By mistake I had left it at ISO 1600 the night before and forgot to change it before taking this pic.

This is the famous meat market in Calcutta. This is by a place called New Market...ironic since this building is a couple hundred years old.

This is a typical stall in the New Market...stalls like these are family run and once a customer here you are a customer for life. In fact generations of families shop at the same stalls...sort of like tradition I guess. These shopkeepers know you by name soon enough.

Enjoy.


CraterLion Productions

 

[Rapala46]

awesome. I really like the story behind the last one

 

[danalec99]

5 is my favourite from the series!

 

[suryad]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the comments.

 

[suryad]

Well here is part two. Hope you guys enjoy and also it would be great if you could post some critiques. All shots are hand held so apologies for the crappy night shots...:meh:

Taking a nap to escape the summer heat!

Kid working at his father's stall...this was a very random shot I took just for the heck of it because I felt awkward to ask him to pose. Sorry for the camera in the pic...we were shooting at that time.

Another pic of the stall where the cook is cooking up a batch of singaras.

Another shot of the Meat Market.

This is a coconut vendor. Drinking the waterlike substance inside is thoroughly refreshing in the heat. I was trying to get a shot of him cutting open one and some of the liquid spilling out and trying to take a shot of the liquid in mid air...but didnt work.

India gate. No tripod...

Steps of the Gurudwara...the holy temple of the Sikhs in Delhi.

PS: All photos were taken and posted straight from the camera. No touchups. Can anyone suggest what could be done to improve the pics?

CraterLion Productions

 

[Joerocket]

I really like the colors in the meat market shot, great series!...lol Ganga river.

 

[AIRIC]

Great shots!

Eric

 

[suryad]

Thanks guys. Any critiques for certain shots?

 

[JonK]

Great stuff suryad. I like the busy market shots and the first two at the very top. Love seeing these daily life type shots, especially from india...so different from north america.
Curious as to what the filming was for.

I would suggest if you want critiques to take one or two shots and post them alone here or in the critique section....you'll get better feedback that way.
cheers and welcome

 

[EC808]

Nice shots! I love pictures of everyday life. The one of the meat market is very cool.

PS: All photos were taken and posted straight from the camera. No touchups. Can anyone suggest what could be done to improve the pics?

CraterLion Productions

You should probably consider photos from DSLRs as digital negatives. They should be processed if you want to see your camera's full potential (and you have a really, really good camera). I would suggest that you sharpen your images, and play with the contrast and the color balance.

 

[Tsimiri]

I agree...absolutly wonderful pictures. As far as critique, in the picture of the India Gate, there is what looks like a sun spot on the right of the gate. That could be removed in photoshop and maybe up some contrast but thats really all I could think of. The pictures are amazing and few need touchups...
I think that you could crop the pictures with the cameras in them. But seriously good job

~Fiona

 

[Bada Gora]

Curious as to what the filming was for.

Check out Craterlion Productions for everything you ever wanted to know about why we were filming in India.

 

[JonK]

Check out Craterlion Productions for everything you ever wanted to know about why we were filming in India.

Very cool; thanks for that.
Wanna make it to delhi and india one day soon....as well as all those other cool places you plan on visiting with your crew.

 

[suryad]

Thanks guys sorry for the delay in posting. Bada Gora happens to be one of the team members for Craterlion Productions. We went on our trip together.

Thanks for the suggestions as to what can be done in improving the pictures. The spot on the India Gate is I think dirt on the lense...it was taken late at night and with family members around and so it was a hastily taken shot.

Once again thanks for the critiques and encouragements. I will try to dig up some more India shots.


CraterLion Productions

 

[suryad]

Here are some more pics from my trip.

This is one of my faves but I dont know if I should revert it back to color or leave it in B&W.

This is a typical main road in Calcutta. Very small, very cramped and very claustrophobic for a lot of people who are not used to this.

An old building. Calcutta is strewn all over the place with buildings like these and more. They were British era buildings and I am sure each building has quite a story to tell.

Victoria Memorial at night. Handheld. One of my first night shots after a lesson in how to hold the camera stable for night shots from my uncle.

This is one of the most relaxnig and beautiful places on the outskirts of Calcutta. We were not allowed to take pictures of this temple for some uknown reason but I felt that the world would miss out if I could not take a quick shot of this temple. This is the Belur Math (B-e-l-o-o-r M-o-t-t-h). This is a temple in the Belur Math and this piece of land was given to Swami Vivkeananda for his resting place and his disciples. A very revered place. The river Hoogly or the Ganges flows just a couple hundred feet to the right of the picture. Very beautiful.

This is in Agra at the entrance to the Taj Mahal.

This is inside the above entrance and seeing the Taj Mahal bloom open in front of our eyes...it was a feeling I dont think I can quite describe.

Another Taj Mahal shot. I am sure there are much better shots than the ones I have posted...but here it goes anyway.