India Photo Tour: Varanasi extension

Tonight we took a fantastic sunset cruise on the Ganges. First we paddled down river to the main burning ghats to observe the amazing spectacle of Hindu cremation ceremonies. Every day approximately 300 bodies are cremated here. Photography of the cremations is not allowed, but we will have the images forever in our minds.

After leaving the burning ghats, we had one of the many flower seller girls pose for us on the front of our boat. Her name is Shivana, she's 10 years old. We surrounded her with lit candles combined with flowers in small bowls made from dried leaves. Shivana and other children sell these to be used by pilgrims as offerings which are set adrift in the Ganges. The combination of a beautiful child, the illumination by candle light, and the backdrop of Varanasi was incredible. This shot was made with my Canon Mark II set to 1600 ISO, using a 16-35 f2.8 lens. I chose auto white balance and under exposure of two thirds of a stop.

India Photo Tour: Varanasi extension

Walking the streets of this amazing city provides fantastic opportunities for photography. Sadhus (wandering holy men) abound here. We found this man sitting just steps from our hotel. After a brief chat he agreed to be photographed. The 67 year old man is from the state of Punjab and was formerly a school teacher.

India Photo Tour: Varanasi extension

We've arrived in Varanasi, India's holiest city, situated on the banks of the Ganges river. This morning we took a sunrise boat ride on the river. With a little bit of negative exposure compensation and my camera set to cloudy white balance I made this image of a boat full of Hindu pilgrims silhouetted against the rising sun. Later today we will walk the streets of this ancient city and try to capture some images out of the wonderful chaos that exists here.

India Pushkar Fair PhotoTour: Vivien Rickaby

Three time Jim Cline Photo tour participant Vivien Rickaby of Cyprus made this wonderful portrait of a gypsy girl at the Pushkar Fair. Vivien can add this wonderful shot to her portfolio of images taken on her three different trips with us. Vivien and her husband John fist traveled with us to Peru, then to Southeast Asia and now India. The subject of Vivien's photo is Anita, a gypsy girl who I've known for years. Each year I find her at the fairgrounds and we hire her for an exclusive photo session on the dunes at sunset. Vivien released the shutter just as Anita tipped her head. She also selectively framed Anita off-center, leaving plenty of blank canvas to the right side of the frame. The resulting, perfectly balanced image is more than a great portrait, it's a masterpiece. As Vivien's husband John would say.... "splendid"!

Our India, Pushkar Photo Tour Group

Our group at the Amber Fort in Jaipur: Standing: left to right, Digvijay, Marcos, Tom, John, Michele and Alice. Sitting left to right, Liz, Vivien, Ayn, Caroline, Pete
Lying in front, Karl

Back Side of the Taj Mahal closed !

We arrived in Agra after our bus ride from Jaipur, checked into the hotel, refreshed ourselves and then headed to the back side of the Taj Mahal. The back side of the Taj Mahal is a little known spot, accessible via road, by driving around and through a very interesting Muslim neighborhood, or by hiring a boat just below the wall on the east side of the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately, when we arrived at our usual spot at the backside of the Taj Mahal we were greeted by several armed Indian army soldiers who informed us that we could not approach the Yamuna river to shoot sunset reflection shots. When DV, our guide asked them why access had been blocked, they said that the Indian Supreme Court had ordered that the back side of the Taj be sealed off for security reasons. The guards also explained that the boat, which one can hire, has been restricted to an area well to the east of the Taj Mahal, a position which doesn't offer good opportunities for photography. With no other option, we spent an hour or so making images from the riverbank, near the army encampment. Here's a shot of the Taj Mahal, looking through the razor wire at the point that we were stopped. Tonight we're going to try to hire the boat and get a bit closer, but for the time being, it looks like no one will be getting those amazing reflection shots that were once a key part of many savvy photographer's Taj Mahal experience.

India Pushkar Fair Photo Tour: Alice McKinnon

Alice McKinnon of Moose Jaw....I mean, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada has an eye for composition. While walking under an archway leading into Jaisalmer Fort in Rajasthan, Alice paused just long enough to capture this compelling image of two men chatting. The dramatic lighting, combined with the patina of the crumbling sandstone wall makes for the perfect backdrop for this shot of two elderly Indian gentlemen. This image should bode well with the judges in your camera club...knock their socks off with this one!

India Pushkar Fair Photo Tour: Liz Bryan

Liz Bryan a writer and photographer from British Columbia, Canada captured this beautiful still life image of a pot against a wall in the "blue city" of Jodhpur.
Wherever we go, Liz returns with images that few other tour guest capture. Liz has a great eye for landscapes and still life imagery. Here, her use of dramatic lighting along with saturated color and a perfect composition, offers us a visual treat. Thanks to Liz for "seeing differently". Excellent work!

India Pushkar Fair Photo Tour: Peter Fay

My long time friend, Peter Fay of San Diego captured this stunning portrait of a man in a doorway in Jodhpur India. Peter will likely be adding this image to his upcoming India show at the Ordover Gallery in Solana Beach California. Pete is a veteran shooter and frequent Jim Cline Tour participant. He has traveled with us before, to Guatemala and Myanmar and always has a fantastic gallery opening a few months after returning home. Pete, we're looking forward to your India opening!

India Pushkar Fair Photo Tour: (by Blank)

(blank) of San Diego California spotted this bird perched on a motorcycle rear view mirror and captured a magnificent image. The tiny bird only paused for a few seconds but blank was quick to capture the instant that the bird noticed his own reflection. When blank is not traveling he shoots surfers on the California coast, so he's used to reacting quickly and catching the decisive moment. Nice job Blank! (photo and name removed by request )

Digvijay Magazine!

I rarely use Photoshop, but it sure comes in handy when you need to combine images and text. While driving from Jaipur to Agra Ayn Brown and I sat in the back of the bus and created a "Magazine" featuring our local India tour guide, Digvijay (DV for short).
I made the photograph of DV while he was leaning up against a wall at Amber Fort. He was in the shade with some wonderful bounce light illuminating him. The pose was so "GQ" that I had to get it. Using the text tool in Photoshop 7.0 (yes, I'm a bit behind on Photoshop upgrades) I overlaid some text to create what looks like a magazine cover. We presented DV with a printed copy, made a a local one hour photo store while we were enjoying a nice dinner. I think he really got a kick out of it!

Our Photo Tour Makes the Local Newspaper!

Jim Cline Photo Tours highlighted in the local newspaper! While shooting an impromptu sunrise ceremony at Gadisar lake near Jaisalmer, the local newspaper snapped this shot of Vivien Rickaby photographing a sadhu. The caption (in Hindi) reads “Smile for the camera”. Other group members visible in the photo include Pete Fay and Ayn Brown.

India Pushkar Fair Photo Tour: Caroline Villeneuve

Caroline Villeneuve of Bathurst, New brunswick, Canada, one of the novices in our group (and a very quick learner, I must say), immediately began to make many wonderful, interesting and evocative images. Here, Caroline captured three Rajasthani men sitting in a row. She positioned herself so that the three men were at an increasing distance from her lens, and by using a shallow depth of field, created a photograph with an amazing feeling of depth. Way to go Caroline, you've got the eye!

India Pushkar Fair Photo Tour: Michel Sirois

On our second morning at Pushkar Fair several tour guests decided to get up before dawn to photograph the Rajasthani tribal men sitting around the campfires and having their morning masala tea. We situated ourselves at an intersection of two foot paths near a busy tea shop and started panning everyone that walked past. Michel Sirois of Bathurst, New brunswick, Canada, captured this incredibly powerful image by panning with dead-on accuracy. The resulting picture evokes a tremendous feeling of motion. Bravo Michel!

India Pushkar Fair Photo Tour: Ayn Brown

This killer shot is by Ayn Brown of Johannesburg South Africa. Ayn captured this man smoking a chillum. By putting the subject off center and also framing the man's head and the smoke against the darkness of the window, Ayn took what could have been a good shot and made it an extraordinary image. Way to go Ayn!

India Pushkar Photo Tour: John Rickaby

This fantstic shot by John Rickaby was made today at Amber Fort in Jaipur. John captured this image using an old Canon digital Rebel...so if you think using an outdated entry level digital SLR will hold you back; think again! It's the photographer rather then the camera that matters most. Great shot John!

India Pushkar Photo Tour: Tom Lehman

Everyone on the tour is getting such wonderful images I'm posting them for all to see. The first image I am posting is by Thomas (the bull) Lehman of New York. Tom's image reminds me of a Steve McCurry shot....dark, mysterious and utilizing a very shallow depth of field. Tom is know as "the bull" because nothing can stop him. Although he carries the most gear of any of the tour members, he's always the first to hike the extra mile in search of the perfect image and the last one to opt for a ride home. After an extremely long day trudging through deep sand at Pushkar Fair, Tom "the bull" declined the camel cart ride back to camp and continued shooting even after sunset. He returned to camp with full CF cards, looking as though he had just been on a short leisurely stroll to the corner market and back. Tom, where do you get all that energy? Bravo to Tom for this incredible photo!

India Pushkar Fair Photo Tour update

Just a quick update on our tour. We're in Jaipur now having just left the Pushkar fair. Our group of ten is having a great time. While in Jaisalmer we were working on sillouettes during our evening camel safari to the Khuri Dunes. Every one in our group got some great images. Here's an example I shot using my Canon EOS 1D Mark II set at cloudy white balance and minus 1 exposure compensation. Other tour participants have shots just like this one and even better!




A few days ago we ran across Nevada Wier and the National Geographic Photo Tour group during a sunrise shoot at Gadisar Lake. Nevada is a delightful woman and we chatted about photography for a while and realized that we were staying at the same hotel in Jaisalmer! Then at Pushkar we ran into her again. It seems that the NG tour is on a similar itinerary. What a small world. Check Nevada's excellent blog (just google Nevada Wier). Photo above courtesy of Ayn Brown

I'll try to update this blog when we get to Agra tomorrow. We're heading to the back side of the Taj Mahal for some sunset reflection shots. Meanwhile Jim is with his Day of the Dead tour in Oaxaca Mexico. Life is good.

Ciao!

Kenro Izu Angkor Hospital for Children Siem Reap Cambodia

I had the pleasure of working with and photographing Kenro Izu an internationally acclaimed Japanese photographer & humanitarian known best for his photographs of sacred places. Ten years ago, during a series of trips to photograph the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, Kenro was moved by his encounters with children disfigured by landmines and in need of medical care. As a way of returning something to Cambodia, he founded a nonprofit organization, Friends Without A Border, and built the Angkor Hospital for Children in 1999. Since that time, the hospital has treated over 560,000 children.

Kenro and I spent a few days together, and visited several of his favorite temples, so that I could photograph him for an article in the June 2009 issue of Town and Country Magazine. It was a typical, hot day in Siem Reap, so Kenro and I took a short break and enjoyed a cold Angkor beer.

For a look at the published article click here

Fun in Myanmar (Burma)

Last year (2008) during my Myanmar photo tour, I was sitting in the shade at the foot of Mingun Pagoda enjoying a Coke when a Buddhist monk drove up in a home made truck with a load of Burmese folks in the back. Being one of the few foreigners around (tourism was way down due to political unrest and cyclone Nargis), he and I started chatting. I commented on his truck and he immediately said "let's go for a ride", so I said sure and walked over to the passenger side of the truck to get in. Before I could get in and sit down he said, no you drive!
The full story and more photos here:
http://www.karlgrobl.com/BurmaTruckDriver/index.htm

The joy of sharing photos

This image shot by Judit Fabian. Judit was one of the tour guests on my May, 2008 Peru tour. She captured me handing out pictures to a group of children in a remote, andean, indigenous weaving community. One of the great joys of photography is sharing pictures. Since I have the opportunity to revisit places where I have made photographs, I try to bring back a few snap shots every year. No matter where I travel, people always appreciate getting pictures of themselves. I thank Judit for sharing this image with me. See some more of Judit's images at her website (http://www.redrockphotoadventures.com/).

Salvation Mountain, Leonard Knight

I went out to meet Leonard Knight at Salvation Mountain near the Salton Sea yesterday...He's quite a character.Leonard Knight painted a mountain, yes that's right he painted a mountain. It's called Salvation Mountain, it's located in Imperial County just east of the Salton Sea about a hour and a half from Palm Springs. Salvation Mountain is Leonard's tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: "God Is Love." Salvation Mountain must be seen to be fully appreciated.Its 50 foot height and 150 foot breadth is made totally of local adobe clay and donated paint and is truly unique in the United States and probably the world. From its Sea of Galilee at the bottom, to the big red heart in the middle, to the cross at the very top, the reoccurring theme of "Love" is everywhere at Salvation Mountain I made a short slideshow here

this Vietnamese girl lost her leg to a snake bite, she was being fitted for a new prosthesis

 

This little Cambodian girl's expression haunts me to this day....

 

 

I got thrown out of Cuba in June...they don't like journalists

 

 

USAID

Photographed a Cambodian girl...it ended up on the USAID Jobs for the 21st Century Cambodia Assessment

Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, called "the blue city".....I was walking in with my photo tour group and ran into Steve McCurry, he was with his
National Geographic group ....we took a few snaps together, then moved on

Here's aphoto of me and Steve