Bobcock in India (with a new camera......)

[Bobcock]

The first post will be for a single picture only.....

So, I finally got to make my long awaited return to India. It was 25 years since I was last there and I was so looking forward to it.

I wasn't disappointed, India is still magnificent and I'm pleased to say I was able to fart with confidence the whole trip.

I took over 4000 photographs over the 11 days I was there and I'm buggered if I'm putting up all of the 600 I have processed.....I'll put a selection of good ones, if you want to see more you'll have to go to my website when I've uploaded them there, which will happen over the next 24 hours.

Anyway, before I went I felt I was due a new camera. I was going to buy the Canon 1Dx, but after really getting deep into it I decided on the Canon 5D MkIII. I already had the Mk II but this things is a dramatic upgrade and far far superior. The 1DX has the same guts but with 2 processors is capable of 12 fps, I settled for the slower 6fps. The other advantage to the 1Dx is the build quality but at half the price I decided to go with the 5D and buy myself a beautiful new lens (or two), the magnificent 24-70 L2.8. Truly the best lens I have ever had the privilege of touching.

Oh and no, I'm not Stickman who did an excellent photospread on Kolkata and was there a couple of days after me (I think).......

Anyway, before I went I had preplanned a shot I wanted to take, from the back of a Kolkata taxi, the famous Hindustan Ambassador.

So this shot, which I'm very pleased with is the first photograph taken with my new camera....

[Bobcock]

Ok..... the Oscar speech in the opening post will now give way to some more pics.....

I walked well over 10km a day on average with approx 12kg of camera gear on my back. I was tough at times, but there is no better way to see a city, especially Kolkata.

OK pic 2, it's the same theme, I'd like to know which people prefer. The first is in motion the second is stopped at a crossroads. I'm torn between the two, there is one of the two that is clearly favoured by the 3 professionals I've shown this to....

\

One of my top 5 favourite pics of the trip, rickshaw wallahs outside Scotts Market



Goats head, Scotts Market



Plenty of great street food going on in Kolkata.........

[aging one]

Keep them coming, this is going to be a classic.

[slackula]

OK pic 2, it's the same theme, I'd like to know which people prefer.

The first one is nicer to my untrained eye; less busy and the little motion blur in the fencing and in the drivers rear-view mirror is good.

Anyway, both are cool, looking forward to more BC.

[palexxxx]

looking forward to more too, good so far.

[Bobcock]

Bangkok Katoeys..... meet you country cousin....... euuuuwwwwww.....





Kalighat...... the famous temple in South Kolkata..... cant take pictures inside, very different atmosphere to when I went there 25 years ago, in fact I'm told it's only changed in the last year or so.....

[Rural Surin]

Nice, BC!
Keep 'em coming...

[Bobcock]

This wee lass was having her head shaved presumably before being taken in an terrfied out of her wits by the goddess Kali.....



There is one child who's eyes dominate this shot, I have another photo with just four of them and she does the same thing..... just so photogenic.



Back to the meat market at Scotts market. I have never forgotten being in this place 25 years ago, the stench and the colour of the meat, it was green...... Seems a lot healthier these days.

[somtamslap]

if you want to see more you'll have to go to my website

Link?

[Davis Knowlton]

Great shots, Bob. It's been 28 years since I left, at the end of a three-year stay. Brings back a lot of memories. My wife of that time was a skilled photographer, and I still have a number of great shots she took during our three years in India and two in Bangladesh. Love your photo threads!

[Marmite the Dog]

I'd like to know which people prefer.

The first one, although a slightly slower shutter speed might've made the motion blur a bit more dynamic.

Great pics as always and looking forward to seeing more.

[Loy Toy]

Bob your great with any type of camera in your hand.

Looking forward to enjoying some more of your wonderful talent.

[Bobcock]

Boy thinks he's Gansta





Loads of cricket games going on on the Maidan this your left armer turned this ball a mile (see the puff of dust where it pitched) and I captured it just before it hit the stumps. He is now in Birmingham qualifying for England.



Eden gardens...... never let an Indian tell you it's bigger and better than the MCG!

[Bobcock]

After Eden gardens I headed over to the banks of the hooghly, I wanted to see where all the dieties wash up after the religious festivals and get picked apart by the poor to find coins etc.... I found rich pickings on the ghats over the road from the stadium.





Can you spot the girl asleep or dead in this pic?

[Bobcock]

I've always loved getting pictures of street hairdressers, one of the best pics I ever took was in Hanoi.....

Here is a Kolkata hairdresser.....

[Bobcock]

Victoria Monument

[Cujo]

Looks just up butterflies alley, but he might have to beat off Socal.


Great thread and pics Bobcock, as usual.
You always seem to get that something extra (Besides great exposure, composition and colour saturation) that turns a snapshot into a picture.

[barrylad66]

thx bob,love a photo thread and you certainly have a photographers eye.looking forward to more.

how do i find your website boyo?

[bankao dreamer]

Thanks for posting Bob I stayed at a mates house in a village in the Punjab in 2007, the pics bring back a lot of memories of my stay in India. Keep them coming.

[Bobcock]

Off to the Punjab later in the thread.....

Delhi next........

[ossierob]

Yes Bob as everyone has said your prowess with the camera is special. Your shots are very memorable. Thanks for the post

[aging one]

Did you go alone, or were the family with you?

[taxexile]

i prefer the second taxi shot, there seems to be more colour and detail to the dashboard and lower part of the car interior which along with the increased activity outside the car, just makes it more eyecatching to me.

is it some kind of hdr post processing programme, or an in camera hdr effect?

[Bobcock]

Neither.... no HDR involved, just processed in Lightroom.

[Davis Knowlton]

I also prefer the second shot - just seems like more action. Not really sure why, just grabbed me more.