INSIDE

FUN WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

p h o t o January 2009
Edition 4

INSIDE ASSIGNMENT: AIRSHOWS

Ways to shoot fun pictures at your local airshow
DEADLINES: AGAINST THE CLOCK
Skills for news photographers
SKILL FACTOR: ANGLES
How to use angles to improve your images
PROCESS: DIGITAL INFRARED
Fun with odd wavelengths
TRAVELSHOOTER: ON ASSIGNMENT
Visions of India: An amazing place
TECH NOTES: CF CARDS
Caring for your cards
 INSIDE photo

I may juggle the composition, as the strength of a picture is in the com-

position. Or I may play with the light. But I never interfere with the sub-
ject. The subject has to fall into place on its own and, if I don't like it, I
don't have to print it. - George Rodger

contents Edition 4, January 2009

INSIDE ASSIGNMENT: AIRSHOWS

Airshows- fun on the runway p4

DEADLINES:AGAINST THE CLOCK

Flying high in an RNZAF Strikemaster jet aircraft, this self portrait was taken back in the 80’s on a Nikon F4 The story behind the photos in p22
newspapers

Gōngxǐ fācái; which loosely translates to "Congratulations and be prosperous"

Simplified Chinese: 恭喜发财; traditional Chinese: 恭喜發財; pinyin: Gōngxi fācái; Hokkien: Keong PROCESS:
hee huat chye (POJ: Kiong-hí hoat-châi); Cantonese: Kung Hei Fat Choi; Hakka: Gong hei fat choi.
PSE Infrared from colour images p26
Happy New Year and all the best for 2009, the year of the Ox.

Hi all, sorry about the delay with this edition, I took Kath and kids on their first camping trip to Lake
Aviemore in South Canterbury, New Zealand and lost track of the time. It was a lot of fun and great SKILL FACTOR: ANGLES
to meet up again with friends from my home town of Oamaru. This month we look at all the exciting
Change your angles to improve p30
fun you can have at air shows and discover simple ways to shoot them creativity. I have always been your pictures
fascinated with aircraft and flying and am a keen flight simmer so shooting air shows are a natural
extension of my photographic horizons. I also touch on varying your viewpoint to create more dra- PUBLISHER/EDITOR/DESIGNER/
matic angles in your images. Your goal as photographers is to always get people to stop and look at PHOTOGRAPHER/WRITER:
your photos so vary your angles and watch people as they stop and ask the most important question John Cosgrove TRAVELSHOOTER:ON ASSIGNMENT
in the photographic world “How did they get that shot”? You know you can do it and it’s always fun Travelshooter1@gmail.com
INSIDE Photo e-magazine is published Visions of India: an amazing place p32
shooting different pictures. This month there is also a major (27 pages) of images, photographic tips
by:
and travel information on India, a huge country that I would love to spend more time in if Kath INSIDE Photo
would let me. It is an amazing country full of colours and contrasts so the next time you want to go 5 Council Street
somewhere interesting then think about a visit to one of the many states of India. Infrared is a St Kilda
unique way to look at black and whites and this month I show you how to use PHOTOSHOP Elements Dunedin LAST FRAME:
to change your landscapes into creative infrared images. New Zealand
Ph: + 64 3 4555998 p58
Again all the best for 2009 and keep on shooting, www.insidephoto.info
JohnC p Material published in INSIDE Photo is copyrighted and
cannot be reproduced (or photocopied) other than for
individual personal use.
This e-zine was produced using the new QuarkXpress 8 page design software 3
2
 pON ASSIGNMENT: AIRSHOWS ARE GO
Words and Photos by John Cosgrove

While very common in Europe and the States where there are literally shows held
every weekend from April through to August, airshows are still more the exception
rather than the rule here in Oceania and Asia. There are the famous ones such as the
RAIT, Farnborough, Paris, Oshkosh, Langkawi, Singapore Airshow, Asian Aerospace,
Warbirds over Wanaka and Avalon in Australia, and there you will always find the Red
Arrows, the Blue Angles, the Thunderbirds, the Frecce Tricolori, the Flying Bulls, the
Breitling Jet Team and locally our own Red Checkers on show, performing stunning
precision aerobatics for the masses, but to really capture the flavour and colour of an
airshow bring your camera along and take part in the largest spectator sport in the
world.

4 5
 They sometimes call them big boys’ toys, but whenever a small or large plane
flies overhead we all pause, look up and marvel at the technology allowing us
the gift of flight. But they are always so far away from us. To get up close and
personal with a plane you have to go to an airshow. This shot of a vintage
RNZAF Harvard trainer was snapped as it completed a flypast at Wigram, the
1/400th of a second shutter speed was enough to freeze the action but
allowed the propeller to still appear as though it was turning.
6 7

Airshows come in two parts, static ground displays and flying displays and my favourite is always the airshows. Here Singapore Airlines first Airbus A-380 flies over the crowd at Changi.
Airshows – a great day out
H aving been to a few lately, some on a grand scale
such as the biannual Asian Aerospace show now
called the Singapore Airshow (the next one is in February
2010 while the AA09 will be held in Hong Kong and is not
a flying show rather a purely industry-only event) and
others on a much smaller local scale out at my local aero-
drome (the Taieri wings and wheels) I realised that the
same skills are needed to effectively cover an airshow re-
gardless of the size of the flying displays.
8 9
1: Planning
1: Get there early and stay late. Get along to the event
as early as possible as this will allow you better parking
and closer access to the aircraft well before the crowds
arrive and it will also give you better light to work with
before the sun gets too high in the sky.
2: Find out which way the wind is blowing by looking at
the nearest wind sock and this will tell you which way
the planes are taking off and flying past you (they always
like to work into the wind).
3: They usually place the organisers and loud speaker’s
tent or caravan as close to the center of the action as
possible so that they can monitor the show and provide
an informative show commentary for the crowds, so find
it and the position yourself within ear shot so that you
can hear all the commentary and plan your shots, but
watch out for poles or loud speakers getting in your vi-
sual range.
4: Batteries and CF Cards: Recharge all your batteries the
night before and reformat all of your cards. If you are
used to shooting in RAW try covering your first airshow
in JPEG Large to quadruple the number of shots available
to you. Most shows finale is their big name aerobatic act
so there is nothing worse than running out of frames just
as it is starting.
5: SUN: Sun glasses, sun hats and high UV sun screen -
NEVER go without them, even on a cloudy or overcast
day you can still get horribly sunburnt so Slip Slop Slap
and Survive.
6: Some shows allow seating but some don’t. I am sure
small local shows are okay but at big events you may find
security will not allow you to bring portable seating
along. Take along a couple of plastic rubbish bags to sit
on as they are lighter and more portable than a large
travel rug (they also provide good dry shelter in those
sudden rainstorms that always seem to appear at
shows).
7: Tripods, while they seem necessary you may find
them too cumbersome to tilt and pan fast enough to
capture the action, a monopod may be better choice or
hand hold the camera unless you have a really big heavy
lens. Remember you will have to carry it around with
you when you go sightseeing around the static display.
8: Remember once you are positioned along the flight
line you may not get out of there for a couple of hours so
carry enough water and food with you to survive.
9: While today’s airshows are very aware of safety and
are conscious that the attending crowds have paid for
good entertainment so they are always balancing enter-
tainment with safety concerns but you should always
think about your own safety.
Follow all the usual rules about working around aircraft:
don’t touch just look, watch out for propellers, wing tips,
sensor spikes and the many protrusions, flaps and
ailerons found on wings and fuselages that can catch
your clothing, arms or legs as you walk around aircraft.
Breaking off a part on a plane is very expensive so watch
out as you manoeuvre around the craft for a better
angle.
10: Protect your hearing with ear plugs and wear sun
glasses when jets are working nearby. Always watch out
for jet blasts as it can be a very painful experience as a
crowd of spectators sitting in the wrong place found out
one year at the RAIT in England when a B1 Bomber
spooled up its engines and blew hundreds of spectators
painfully across the airfield. While you are sitting there
watching the planes fly past look backwards and see
where you would run to in the event of an emergency. If
you’re with a family group then always make a meet-up
point for after the show should you all get separated. It
happens despite the best intentions of organisers and
the very capable pilots that an accident may eventuate
so always look after yourself before worrying about
shooting the action. Leave the accident coverage to the
media and just find your friends and family and be safe.
Planning your coverage:
An airshow is not a “Let’s shoot everything and see what
we got later” episode, it’s a well planned aerial enter-
tainment event offering hundreds of photo opportuni-
ties, all within the capabilities of most photographers.
Lenses: We all can’t afford great big glass such as 400 to
800mm whites or blacks but you will find most aviation
events can be covered with the kit 75-300 or 80-200
lenses you brought with the camera. You may want to
buy a 1.5x or 2x tele-convertor if you realy want to get a
bit closer but for most of us an airshow is a rarity so let’s
work with what we have already. With the exception of
the kind loan of long glass from Nikon, Olympus and
Canon to cover the two recent Asian Aerospace events I
found that smaller local airshows at Dunedin and
Wigram could be easily covered by my Sigma 80-200mm
with a 1.5x tele-convertor attached. I prefer not to carry
a heavy camera bag at airshows so I use a camera vest
and limit the lenses to a tele-zoom on one body and a
wide to mid zoom on the other. These lenses give me all
scope I need to be creative and still capture the action. I
use a small back pack to carry water and extra food and
my rain gear.
Exposure: Now the fun starts. I tend to use Av (Aper-
ture Priority) mode for most my shooting, usually shoot-
ing around f8-f11 until I point the lens skyward. Then I
take a center weighted meter reading off the grass or
tarmac and set the camera manually and leave it alone,
but I review my first couple of frames and see if the ex-
posure is correct for the detail areas. Nothing worse
than capturing beautiful skies that are properly exposed
and the plane is just a black blob in the center of the
10
frame. When shooting in Av Mode I always shoot at
minus 1/3rd exposure compensation to add punch to the
blue skies and colour saturation. A polarising filter is
great but you can lose shutter speeds if the sky becomes
overcast. Center weighted metering is best rather than
Matrix or Evaluative as these modes will always defer to
the brightest part of the frame turning everything else
slightly underexposed. The bright blue sky and those
white puffy clouds while looking nice and great in your
backgrounds will always trick your meter so use manual
to get the correct exposures.
Remember we work in a Positive Capture (digital)
world that is VERY unforgiving of any overexposure so
always use your LCD screen to monitor your progress
and watch your exposures.
Shutter speeds: Always shoot at the fastest shutter
speed you can get away with at the lowest ISO setting
you can use depending on the lens you have on the cam-
era. Most airshows are held on fine or cloudy bright days
so you can use the lowest ISO available to you but watch
the out for increased noise and grain if you start to
bump up the ISO rating to get faster speeds above
1/500th of a second to stop the movement. Slower shut-
ter speeds allow you to add movement to propeller
driven aircraft instead of freezing the action.
Focusing: Today most cameras come equipped with
multi-area selection and AI Servo assisted focusing and
while this is great for airshows you have to watch that all
your images are not starting to look the same with the
‘plane in the centre of the frame style’ shots. You can
use the wide area focusing modes available on your cam-
Remember the golden rule: Shutter speed equals
lens length so an 80-200mm zoom shouldn’t be shot
less than 1/200th of a second, a 300mm should not
be shot under 1/320th of a second etc, etc.
11

era but watch where they are focusing as clouds can
sometimes become the point of focus. If you have forgot-
ten to turn off Closest Focus Enabled on your Nikons a
passing hat or flag can cause the lens to refocus just
when you see that great shot. I tend to always use the
single spot focusing mode or block focusing as this allows
me to pre-plan my shots and get the angles I want.
The Shoot:
Planning your digital photographic coverage of an air-
shows starts before you arrive at the event. Major Air-
shows have comprehensive web sites listing the timings
for all the events, the aircraft you will likely see and the
time table for aerial displays but at smaller club and re-
gional events it’s simply a matter of turning up and mak-
ing decisions on the day as to what to shoot.
I would start with looking at the aircraft on display; an
12
An F-16 flys inverted above the crowd at Changi. Think of ways to make your photos more creative and not just a procession of plane shots.
early arrival should get you better light than the hope-
less midday sun so start looking for angles and shapes.
Early morning or late afternoon sun makes for more cre-
ative lighting opportunities allowing silhouettes and
warmer colours. Early arrival at the airfield also allows
you to shoot late arriving aircraft that may not be part of
the overall flying show.
Look for shots of aircraft moving around the apron to
their parking positions.
You won’t get movement once the main bulk of the
crowd arrives.
STATIC:
Everyone can shoot an airplane sitting on the tarmac but
what you should be looking for is the unique angles and
view-points that these amazing craft offer us visually.
13
 1: Bend the per- Are there any so called surprises at this show? (usually fly
spective with your pasts by aircraft not landing at the show i.e.: the arrival
wide angles – zoom of a B2 Bomber at Avalon).
out to 18mm and
then tilt your lenses FLYPASTS:
up or
Once the flying routine starts and you have positioned
down to
yourself in a good location to shoot all the action change
alter the
some of the settings in your camera to give you better
view and
control over the final images.
create
unique an- 1: Change to the center weighted metering mode so that
gles. The exposure will come from the centre of your viewfinder
long bodies and that’s where you will usually place the plane as you
and wide wings all are shooting it flying past. Spot is too narrow.
scream ‘shoot me cre-
atively’. 2: Change to the fastest shutter speed you can use based
on the limits of your lens and the lowest ISO rat-
2: Then zoom in to your ing you can get away with. Remember that
longest tele zoom set- higher ISO’s may give you high shutter speeds
ting and shoot tight detail shots but you pay for it with increased Noise/Grain in
using the available light to create your pictures.
colourful view points or a line of
rivets or a set of numbers. This is 3: Change the Auto Focus to AI Servo or
where you can use Matrix (Nikon), Continuous AF and use C/HIGH on
Evaluative (Canon) or Multi-Segment your capture rate, and then always
(Sony) metering modes to punch up the remember to pan your camera even if
colours and saturation (I also dial in -1/3rd you are using shutter speeds in excess
compensation to help the saturation) or your of 1/500th of a sec. The trick of a suc-
detail shots. cessful Pan is to always carry
on the pan movement after
3: Look up or down, high or low; never walk you have fired off the shut-
around with the camera stuck at your usual eye level ter.
point.
4: Shoot lots of frames but
FLYING watch your shot
count so that you
Once you have answered the bases questions it’s all
don’t run out of
about setting yourself up to shoot good photos.
frames on your
Questions to answer: CF cards.

What are the timings of the air displays? 5:

After
Which direction will the aircraft appear from? the
first couple of
Where is the sun during the show? displays you will
realise that all
How close can I stand to the runway?
air displays fol-
Where will the commentary trailer or nearest loudspeak- low a pattern so
ers be located? it is not a mad panic to
snap off frames so relax
What visual obstructions will I get? and enjoy the show. Start
to plan your shots, look
Do taxiing aircraft come past me to get to the end of the for ways to include clouds
runways? or back grounds into your

14 15
 frames where possible, shoot the plane as it passes a
clouds edge to give your image different colour back-
ground. If you are stuck with an overcast cloudy bright
day then try and fill the frame rather than shooting small
dots against a drab gray background.
6: Think Colour and how you can use it to highlight a
plane.
7: Think shapes, lines, scales and direction as you look at
ways to make your images more visually spectacular.
8: Use a lens hood on all your lenses to increase their
sharpness and stop lens flare and a hazy effect when
pointing it skyward.
Other Considerations:
Airshows are planned to only happen on sunny or cloudy
bright days but as you know nature rules so be prepared
for interesting cloud patterns or sudden weather
changes which can be used to your advantage to create
interesting backdrops to the aircraft.
Overcast days with their lower cloud base often force
the show participants to fly a little bit lower making for
closer objects in the frame. While it appears very bright
Airshows and working in and around aircraft present a whole new set of lighting problems for photographers to overcome. In the shot above your light meter will be tricked into underexposing every-
the camera exposed correctly for the interior of the HS Andover cockpit but we lost the view out the window. By selecting rear curtain sync on thing so use the LCD screen to review results and then
the flash selection dial or Custom Function menu and then using the AEL (Auto Exposure Lock to take the meter reading off the outside light) I use your exposure compensation (+1 to+ 2 stops) set-
was able to balance the outside light with the interior of the cockpit. It always pays to experiment and have fun with your photography at air- tings to correctly balance the exposures.
shows. Again the manual exposure trick I gave earlier can solve a
lot of exposure problems. Overcast days soften the light
and reduce harsh shadows making it very easy to shoot
but also think also about the ambient colour as you may
have to change the White Balance to stop your images
appearing too cold.
Changing from AWB to CLOUDY setting will warm up the
images but if they go too warm then use the FLASH set-
ting on the WB selector as this adds only a light warming
effect to your pictures.
Bright Sunny days have their own set of rules and while
they can give you great super saturated blue skies (-1/3rd
stop compensation works great here) the lighting can be
really harsh as the day progresses.
The extra contrast, while nice in some images, can make
all your pictures start to look the same. If you know the
day is going to dawn nice and clear then it really is advis-
able to go earlier to use this light on your static images.
Partly Cloudy days add depth to your images by giving
the viewer a point of reference as you frame your aircraft
amongst the white puffy clouds. Just watch your expo-
sures and look for shadows. Later as the sun sets you can
often get lovely golden clouds to shoot the aircraft leav-
ing the show.
16
Fast and slow aircraft.
Jets are fast while propeller driven aircraft are slower
and each requires different techniques to show their
speed off. Propeller aircraft and helicopters should be
shot at no more than 1/250th of a second to allow the
propeller or rotors to move and appear blurred other-
wise it looks frozen and unnatural.
Watch helicopters as you may have to even lower the
shutter speed to 1/60th or 1/125th to get the slower turn-
ing rotors to blur effectively. Jets are all about speed so
unless you have a mountainside or control towers/hang-
ers to use a blurry background to indicate speed most of
your flying shots will be ‘frozen in time’ moments. Check
your LCD screen during the display to see if you are get-
ting the effects you want.
Smoke trails.
Every airshow and aerobatic pilot uses smoke to show
the crowd their route around the airfield and it creates
dramatic and colourful patterns in the sky. The RNZAF’s
Red Checkers CT4 precision flying team, while in slower
propeller driven aircraft, still manage to create amazing
patterns in the sky as they perform their aerobatic rou-
tines. Here you may need to zoom out or even use a
smaller zoom lens to capture the patterns during the
shows. Think of your rules of composition here and look
for lines – straight and wavy, curved and repeating pat-
terns to create amazing images.
Fill the frame
While obvious it still amazes me how many people still
shoot objects that are too far away in the frame. Wait for
them to get closer. You don’t need the whole plane in
the frame and you don’t need to have all the wing tips in
nor do you need the entire fuselage so close crop when
you can and think patterns when you can’t.
The people
Another subject to shoot at an airshow is the people tak-
ing part or watching it. Look at them to give you other in-
teresting shoots in between the flying displays. What are
their reactions to the noise, the fun elements and the
weather?
Air shows are fun and great photo ops just plan your day
well and take plenty of memory cards and batteries and
always slip, slop, slap and enjoy. p
17
Above: The RNZAF Red Checker aerobatic display team performs a loop over movement against a brilliant blue sky. Using minus one third expo-
sure compensation helped to punch up the sky without losing detail in the smoke or the aircraft.
Below: Again the increased saturation punches up the colour in this static shot of a photographer shooting a vintage aircraft. The unique angle
makes it a more interesting photo rather than a snapshot.
18
Airshows are all about colour and detail. Look at ways to frame aircraft as they move around the airfield or use your tele-zoom to close crop
into detail parts of aircraft to make the viewing experience much more interesting.
Detail shots are so necessary as they add to our story. You can never get great actions shots all of the time and to be honest flying shots can be-
come pretty boring so fill out your story with interesting detail shots.
19
 Airshows on offer:
Wings over Wairarapa 09 will be held at the Hood Aerodrome at Masterton, New Zealand, over the weekend
of the 17th & 18th January 2009 which is Wellington Anniversary Weekend. WEBSITE: www.wings.org.nz/

Omaka Classic Fighters Airshow 2009 will be held over the weekend of April 10-12th 2009 in Malborough.
WEBSITE: www.classicfighters.co.nz/

RNZAF airshows and displays in January 2009

8-22 January: Walsh Memorial Flying School - Orion and Seasprite flypasts, Red Checkers flying display.

17-18 January: Wings Over Wairarapa - Iroquois, Sioux, Orion, Hercules, Boeing 757, Harvard, Red Checkers
flying displays and Kiwi Blue parachute team display.

25 January: A1GP Taupo - Red Checkers flying display and Iroquois static display.

You could visit www.nzwarbirds.org.nz to find out when they are flying in your area.

The Gisborne Aviation Preservation Society Inc presents VINTAGE VOYAGE from the 6th to the 8th of February
2009. You can disembark at Gisborne’s history-rich Darton Field where there will be vintage aircraft here from
all over New Zealand with the Tiger Moth Club of New Zealand holding their annual national gathering & com-
petitions. www.vintagevoyage.co.nz.

International Airshows
Avalon 2009
Australian International Airshow and Aerospace& Defence Expo will be held in Geelong, Victoria,
Australia, from March 10th to 15th 2009. WEBSITE: www.airshow.net.au/avalon2009/index.html

July 3 - 5, 2009 the Wide Bay Australia International Air Show 2009 in Bundaberg Queensland, WEBSITE:
www.widebayairshow.com.au

RAIT Royal International Air Tattoo: the RAF’s big day out in 2009 on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July at RAF
Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK.

Mark in your dairies the next Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow will be held over the Easter week-
end of 2nd, 3rd and 4th of April in 2010.

Museums to Visit
RNZAF Museum, Wigram Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND.
NZ Fighter Pilots Museum, Wanaka, NEW ZEALAND.
Gisborne Aviation Museum Gisborne NEW ZEALAND
RAAF Museum, Pt Cook, Victoria, AUSTRALIA.
TEMORA Aviation Museum, Temora, NSW, AUSTRALIA
WEBSITES
Research these great web sites to see how others shoot aircraft and airshows:

www. maxair2air.com
An amazing photo site for avialogists and airshow enthusiasts with top notch photography and slide shows
presented by Max Haynes.

www.fencecheck.com
This site is loaded with tips, tricks, and tons of user submitted photos.

www.airliners.net
The world’s best aircraft photo site with hundreds of thousands of images from the world’s best aircraft pho-
tographers – most of them amateur snappers.
20 21
 Racing against the clock
T he other day I decided to shoot
the Con Rodders annual hot rod
event being held here in Dunedin.
On show were about 40 chopped, al-
tered and colourfully painted hot
rods of various ages and styles.
Now as you know in the world of
news photography you often don’t
get hours to spend with a subjects,
it’s usually a case of get in, shoot up
a storm and then leave.
The skill is finding enough good sub-
jects to shoot in a short time frame.
Look at the coverage by local news-
papers over the recent holiday pe-
22
riod of people relaxing in the sun by
pools, lakes, rivers, and at cricket
ODI’s and horse racing events. It
shows how talented and productive
the photographer is if they can get in
and shoot about a dozen good im-
ages in an hour and then get back on
the road to the next assignment.
I too had about an hour to wander
around the hot rod show before
Kath and the kids returned to pick
me up so I started to look at the
myriad of patterns created by the
talented body builders.
This was because I got there a bit
early and there wasn’t that many
people looking at the cars.
Always walk around your subject at
least once to see it from all sides and
angles then plan your shot count
based on the themes you have set
yourself. Concentrating on a set
theme helps you to get into the right
frame of mind to cover events.
I set the goal of initially shooting just
the patterns and colours that caught
my eye first then later I moved onto
looking at the people watching the
show.
Using the wide angle I went in close
23

to bend the perspective and reduce the impact of the
backgrounds. I was using a Canon 28-105mm zoom on
my Canon 40D and it proved very useful in isolating the
subjects as I wandered around the show arena.
The longer lens view point offered by the 105mm zoom
allowed me to close crop on the circles of the head and
tail lights, or the repeating patterns of scoops on the
bonnets or sides of the cars.
Always remember you don’t have to include the whole
car in the frame as often just the hint of a car leads view-
ers to acknowledging it as a whole car. As super model
Rachel Hunter once said the hint of it is better than the
whole view.
A car show is all about angles and depth of field. Vary
your angles as you work your way around the cars, look
for repeating patterns, contrasting colours, circles and
lines. Now use the cameras lens aperture to control the
depth of field to isolate features and blur out messy
backgrounds.
Not everything needs to be in focus so shoot wide open
and create an image which shows the viewer exactly
what you wanted them to see.Suddenly the hour was up
and I found I had actually walked around the show about
five times and by sticking to my themes I had managed
to shoot about 150 good photos. p
24
T he CF/SD
flash mem-
ory card in your
camera is the most im-
portant part of the entire digital capture process. True
some people may jump in and say the Analogue to Digi-
tal convertor, the Colour Engine and the Sensor bit depth
are as equally important, but without the CompactFlash
card all you are capturing is one time only video.
Since flash memory was developed in the 1980’s and dig-
ital cameras took the world by storm in the late 90’s the
CF/SD cards are our new digital age film but with camera
sensors sizes now in the 20 megapixels our two year old
cards are filling up fast. CF/SD cards record all the elec-
tronic data associated with what we see and capture,
and then they carry it stored inside them in a non volatile
state until we ask for it to transfer it all to another mem-
ory device (our computer or portable hard drive). The
transfer speed (or read-write speed) that they operate
on as they send the data to the new host system is criti-
cal for the effective capture of all the colour data in our
images. Think of it this way, a slower read/write speed
on a CF card can cause your camera to slow down its
own capture rate and then this forces the camera to de-
cide what to keep and what to ignore so you end up with
dropped frames. Remember the Gold Lexar CF cards that
couldn’t keep up with the Nikon D200 and dropped shots
a couple of years ago, much to the annoyance of users.
Slow transfer rates from the card to your computer can
really stretch your day. Nowadays we often shoot from
between 1 to 4 GB of data each time we take the camera
out. If it was going to take us hours to transfer we would
be really disappointed with our cards. So it is advisable to
always use the fastest speed CF card you can afford.
Today that speed ranges from 80x all the way up to
Lexar’s new Professional 233X and Hoodmans RAW 300X
CompactFlash cards with read/write speeds ranging from
about 30 to 45 megabytes per second transfer rate but
tomorrow who knows as the technology is changing as
we speak. At CES 2009 they recently announced a new
format of cards that contain read/write speeds of up
to 104 megabytes per second, and they plans to have
develop cards with speeds of up to 300 megabytes
per second in a couple of years. Coupled to this ad-
vance in read/write speeds is the rapidly expanding
Gigabyte storage capacity of the CF/SD cards which
currently stands at 16GB although again at
CES2009 announcements were made of a new for-
mat SD card, the SDXC, promising greater capacities of
up to a maximum capacity of 2TB (2000GB). The main
thrust of this new technology is the development of a
new series of laptops which have solid state hard drives
(CF cards) rather than the old spinning 3.5 inch hard
drives which offer laptops OS start up times measured in
fractions of a seconds rather than minutes.
For us it means faster and bigger cards but we still have
to care for them the same way.
Care for your CompactFlash card.
Yes, there are no moving parts but they still need main-
taining and the easiest way to do that is 1: Never use it
as a portable library and 2: Always reformat each card
after you have downloaded it.
1: Never use your CF/SD flash card as a portable library,
storing all the images you shot six months ago because
as sure as little green apples ripen and fall off the tree
you will either lose the card or you will corrupt it and
lose all the data anyway. Cards are fragile in terms of
corruption (or even used as transfer devices for viruses)
and when your File Allocation Table (FAT) is ruined it ne-
cessitates the need to reformat and you will lose every-
thing, so back up. When the FAT is corrupted you get
blocks in your card and this is shown by the decreasing
amount of space you can use despite using the Delete All
button.
2: Reformatting it in the camera (never use the Delete All
command) allows your flash memory device to reset all
its parameters. Think of it clearing away all the dead data
cells and making it use all its available potential to accu-
rately record your important data.
I always download as soon as possible to another hard
drive then once I’m sure the data is safe I‘ll reformat in
the camera and this way I know all my cards are working
to their full potential and I have yet to have any of my
Kingston or Sandisk cards come up with a bad block or
fail on me. p
25
 BEFORE

Creative colour spectrum for black

and white images

W hilst recently judging an international photogra-

phy competition in Indonesia I noticed that a large
proportion of the landscape entries (and a few portraits
This lesson was prepared using ADOBE Photoshop Elements

as well) were digital infrared photos.

digital
Discussing it later with the other judges I found that am-
ateur photographers in Indonesia are by far the largest
group of photo enthusiasts in the world to experiment
with digital infrared. They try it on all manner of subjects
and they are also very adept in hacking old Canon D30
and D60 bodies, turning them into full time digital In-
frared recording devices.
Infrared is classified as light radiation with wavelengths
longer than visible light (that is beyond the red in our vi-
sion) and shorter than microwave radiation. Basically it
means that Infrared light is invisible to the naked eye and
we can’t see it, but most digital cameras’ CCD/CMOS
chips can as they are sensitive to both the visible spec-
trum and the near-infrared spectrum.

While not wanting to permanently hack one of my

Canons into an infrared capture device I have found
many different and easy ways to convert your images
from colour to infrared in post-production

A monochrome picture converted to infrared may look

just like another black and white photograph, but then
looking closer you start seeing subtle differences: objects
which are bright in visible light (like sky) will appear dark
here, while the dark green foliage changes colour and ac-
quires a bright glow giving off an unusually eerie feeling.
It makes for really creative and beautiful landscapes as
each object in the world reflects different amounts of in-
frared light and the results are always varied as no two
are alike.

This month we will look at the ADOBE Photoshop Ele-

ments way to convert a digital image into Infrared.
Adobe has made it so easy with Elements because they
have made the Convert to Infrared option a preinstalled
action taking away all the guess work but if gives us a
great start point to be really creative.
26 AFTER

Step one: Once you have selected a good image
with a lot of trees in it then Ctrl+J to copy the visible
layer.
Step two: On the new layer select Enhance> Convert
to Black and White and then select the Infrared button
and there you have it – an Infrared Black and white im-
ages.
28
Step three: Now to be a little bit more creative. Once
again Ctrl+J to copy the layer and then select
Filter>Blue>Gaussian Blur and set it to about 20 to give it
a good smudge effect
Step four: Now change the Layer blending Mode to
Screen on the Layers Palette and then adjust the Layer
Opacity to get the soft dreamy effect the Infrared gives
you.
Step five: As most Infrared films were generally grainy,
you can add noise Filter>Noise>Add Noise at about level
6 should do to emulate the film look.
Step six: Use the Layers Burn and Dodge skill you
learned earlier to burn in and make a subtle darker edge
around your image to frame it nicely.
Step seven: To colourise your Infrared image one way
is to now go back to the original Background Layer and
Ctrl+J to copy this colour layer and then make sure it is
on the top of all the other Layers. Change this Layer
Mode to Color and reduce the Opacity to get the effect
you desire.
Step eight: To give your Infrared a Sepia effect simply
create a new layer and fill it with a nice dark brown
(R=92, G=59, B=1) and then Change the Layer Mode to
Color and adjust the Opacity to get the effect you want.
Remember that an infrared image can be a starting point for a wide variety of really creative effects. The only limit-
ing factor is your imagination. In my final colorized image I stretched the border simply by using the Cropping Tool
(set to No Restriction) and Black set as my background colour. Then I added in White Text and reduced its opacity so
that it wouldn’t dominate the image. p
In the next issue of INSIDE PHOTO I will convert to Infrared using PHOTOSHOP CS3. 29
 The first lesson to learn is all about trusting yourself. To level
believe in what you are shooting and that it can work in
the general scheme of things.
As you zoom out to your widest setting start tilting the
lens up or down and see how the perspective changes.
Look for lines that used to be straight and boring that are
now twisted and warped creating new patterns.

look-
ing up as it made
them appear more powerful and racy.
Even the most boring car can be transformed by a
change of viewing angle and the judicious use of a tele-
photo lens to compress the car into a menacing powerful
beast. The same goes for people.

Now crouch down and see what the world looks like
from a lower view point. The simple act of bending down

n - Ang le s and shooting upwards makes small subjects appear big-

ger and then you find that people

om positio
C
A ccording to Wikipedia: Composition is the placement
or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in
a work of art. It can also be thought of as the organiza-
tion of the elements of art according to the principles of
art. The term composition means ‘putting together,’ and
can apply to any work of art, from music to writing, that
is arranged or put together using conscious thought.
In the visual arts, composition is often used interchange-
ably with various terms such as design, form, visual or-
dering, or formal structure, depending on the context.
The golden rule of all photography, or any form of visual
communication for that matter, is to show the viewer
something different. By offer-
ing a
30
different point of view on a common subject we commu-
nicate with viewers of our photos. We win in the great
contest to garner people’s attention by getting them to
stop and look at our pictures and ask the question “Wow,
how did they get that?” Whether they like our pictures
or not is irrelevant and something for others to debate
later about. Why! Because we have won as we got them
to stop and look at our pictures. Try it on any newspaper
and see just how many images attract your eye or do you
just glance across the pages and then move on.
The world of photography is always very subjective and
involves passion and feeling but today we are going to
look at one way to lift your pictures above the ordinary.
To make your photo different isn’t about getting the
most expensive lens you can afford or the latest whizz
bang do-it-all camera – it’s all about changing the view
point of the person who will eventually look at your im-
ages. To do that requires nothing more than a little
thought and a bit of dexterity. In other words you need
to move up, down or sideways, anywhere that’s different
from your usual 5 ft 8 inch high eye point level.
look stronger or more menacing.
But more importantly it creates a unique viewpoint to at-
tract a viewer’s response. It can drag you into the image
to investigate what new things you can see in the frame
that you didn’t see when it was shot from the usual eye
point level. Now zoom out and try the same series of im-
ages and see what consequence the compression effect
of a telephoto lens has on your view point. Notice how it
makes things more compact or menacing.
I used to shoot a lot of pictures of cars for a motoring
magazine and I found that even though each car has a
sweet spot or angle to be photographed from, most
looked really great when they were shot from the road
We
already know what effects
of wide angles and telephotos have on facial fea-
tures and the proportions of their facial features but by
changing the angle we look at people can really change
how we view them as a person.
Ask yourself do we always look slightly down on people,
or do we shoot them looking up at them? Who knows,
that’s for you to decide but remember the angle you
shoot them from tells viewers a lot about how you relate
to a person. Politicians and businessmen always like to
be photographed from a slightly lower view point as it
makes them look important while women should always
be photographed from a position slightly higher than
their eye level to remove any hint of a double chin.
Angles are fun so experiment with them to see how you
can improve your digital photography and get more peo-
ple to stop and look at your images. p
31
32 33
 India
Visions of an amazing nation
Words and pictures by John Cosgrove

T he first thing to remember about shooting in India is

do not attempt to shoot any pictures from the plane
or in the controlled side of the airport terminals. India
has very strict rules about aerial photography as our Air
India Hostess dutifully pointed out as we navigated our
way into Indian airspace on the flight from Singapore to
Kolkata. Other than aerials and the obvious government
or military installations, India is mostly an open book for
photographers. And what a book it is.
You will find India a veritable treasure trove of photo-
graphic opportunities everywhere you look and travel in
this amazing nation.
India is a vast continent full of varied cultures, religions,
peoples and scenery. Even though I have travelled there
many times in recent years on various assignments, I
admit I have only seen a small sample of its photographic
beauty.
Make no mistake, India is a land full of contrasts and no
two cities or states are alike. Even though Nat Geo and
Discovery T&L channels try and show us that India has
been pretty much travel showed out, each destination I
visited had its own particular attraction and special
charm, unlike others anywhere in the world.

34 35
Some points to remember when travelling
and photographing in India.
India is:
p Both modern and ancient, embracing new technolo-
gies and ancient customs, where you will see the latest
and greatest on show right next to relics from times gone
by as a modern industrial nation it still respects and
firmly holds onto customs and practices from the past.

p A land where travel via road or rail is relatively

cheap but basic while air travel is still expensive and yet
growing so fast that the airports are struggling to control
the growth.

p A land so big that it can be 40+ degrees C at one end

sweltering in the Southern Hemisphere summer while it
snows up north in the regions shivering in the grip of a
Northern Hemisphere winter.

p A billion people with hundreds of religions and eth-

nic groups, all living in the second-most populous coun-
try and the largest democracy in the world.

p The ABC’s of India are Astrology, Bollywood and

Cricket and remember never to argue with them over
these three basic tenets of life.

p Many people speak passable English in the cities but

not in the countryside where languages such as Hindi,
Tamil, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Malayalam, and Bengali, Urdu or
any of the 26 other officially recognised languages are
spoken depending on which state or district you are visit-
ing.

p Mumbai has Bollywood, Kolkata had Tollywood and

Chennai has Kollywood, they are all representative of the
different languages spoken by the film actors relative to
the region they are in.

p Most people don’t mind their photo taken but it

does pay to ask sometimes especially around the thou-
sands of holy men who live on the streets around India.
Keep a pocketful of minor Rupee notes on hand to give
to children when you shoot them. Watch out for the beg-
gars.

p Away from the main areas, watch were you put your
feet as the streets/roads can sometimes be covered in
waste or excrement so watch it when you decide to
move over there to get a different angle for your photo,
and remember they also have snakes – lots of them, so
don’t go stomping around over piles of dead leaves and
tree debris.
p Hotels are plentiful but you will find that most west-
erners are expected to stay at the branded hotels be-
cause Indian business hotels are often small and are not
above two stars while many don’t even rate a star.
36
This young girl and her family travel through the choked streets of
Kolkata in the back of the ubiquitous Indian Taxi. These steel monsters
rule the streets and the drivers tend to use the horn regardless of
whether they have the right of way or not - to ride in one is an experi-
ence never forgotten.
I shot this image from the window of another taxi as it pays to keep
your camera ready as you drive around India, remember though to
keep it out of sight until you see a photo op. Set your camera’s AF to
AI-Servo at allow for movement.
p Water and soft drinks are available everywhere just
watch and see if the screw top is sealed before they give
it to you, pick the bottle up yourself and don’t accept al-
ready opened bottles or cans.
p Take good anti-diarrhoea pills with you as the local
remedies are basically tablets made of carbon and it
takes a long time to work. India is unfortunately a dump-
ing ground for fake and suspect generic drugs from Asia
so watch what you buy across the counter at local drug
stores.
p Eat only hot cooked food and you should be okay,
just remember that India has a vastly different climate
and the health standards outside the top hotels and
chain restaurants is not up to European standards and
yet in saying that I have been sick more times with hotel
food than with roadside food cooked in hot vats and on
charcoal stoves. So experiment, just watch out for what
the locals determine is a mild dish as it could be a lot
hotter (curry/spices) than you are used to, especially in
Kerala where they make curries that rival flamethrowers.
37
p Remember this is India where many work ethics and
practices were inherited from the centuries of oppressive
rule by the British Raj so don’t expect much to happen
fast, without a lot of talk, tea and negotiation. Never yell
at people as they will think you are rude and ignore you
even more, just go with the flow and enjoy this wonder-
ful culture in all its glory. A small amount of ‘fixing fees’
can sometimes lubricate the wheels and get things mov-
ing but for the average tourist the only thing you have to
watch out for is the unwanted ‘tour guides’ who latch
onto you at popular sites and without asking guide you
around the site then hold their hand out for a fee. Tip-
ping in hotels isn’t part of the routine but if you do tip in
US dollars expect an upsurge in very helpful people
there.

p India’s emerging middle class are just discovering

the value of internal tourism so expect a lot of crowds at
sites but many of the natural history and tourism sites
are still under developed but the numbers of visitors
showing up each day are growing rapidly.

p Most tourist sites will not be well sign posted and

there will be two prices: one for locals and one for for-
eigners. Facilities are not as well developed especially
toilets so control yourselves.

p Your hotel staff can always provide a driver for an

average cost (don’t drive yourself as it’s too dangerous)
and he will take you wherever you want to go. I found
that if I was staying a couple of days in one place the
staff soon learnt that I wanted to visit out of way places
and sights and the drivers learned quickly to spot photo
ops and stop at moment’s notice to capture an image or
two. Again tipping helps a lot.

p Drink plenty of fluids and while it’s okay to walk

around with a camera around your neck in most places
practise the usual safety rules for all tourists i.e.: watch
your personal security, watch yourself after dark, watch
out visiting odd places and watch your alcohol consump-
tion. Note: a well known Scottish whisky maker once cal-
culated that in India alone there was three times more of
his black label on sale than the factory had ever pro-
duced that year so watch what you buy.

p Never walk into a slum area on the excuse of looking

for photos – it’s too dangerous and often offends the
very proud people living there – how would you like it if
someone to walk into your house and start shooting pho-
tos?

p India has a wealth of extremely talented and very

friendly photographers so it pays sometimes to make
contact beforehand with the many different photo soci-
eties and groups there before you go to find out where
are the best places to visit photographically.

Stand on any street corner in India and you will find a wealth of photo opportunities. Just take your time,
shoot with a long tele zoom and watch your back for wayward mopeds or cyclists. I like to stand on the
streets outside hotels in the early morning before breakfast, to capture the real people of a country.
38
Photographing in the cities

Kolkata, or as we used to know it as Calcutta, is the capi-

tal of the Indian state of West Bengal located in Eastern
India (I told you India was a land of contradictions).
Kolkata is most famous for being the home of the Mis-
sionaries of Charity order of nuns foundered by the late
Mother Teresa.
Yet despite millions of dollars in aid having been poured
into the city of the past fifty years I found many of its 15
million citizens were quite happy to take the money and
still live amongst the squalor they grew up in. Like many
cities in India it suffers badly from poverty, pollution, cor-
ruption, traffic congestion and excessive over-crowding
but I found a general air of apathy or ambivalence ex-
uded by the people I met about helping themselves to
improve their lot.
I know I wasn’t there to do charity work and change the
world, but the people of Kolkata just didn’t seem to care
who they trod on to get somewhere and yet they were
still holding their hands out. I eventually did met some
nice people but the overall feeling of this place ruins any
desire to return.
The central market area of Kolkata is well worth a visit in
the early morning; go with a guide as you will find many
unique photo ops there but not much English spoken.
Look out for the shop owners making hot sweets similar
to an Indian version of the donut in vats of hot oil and
then look for the many different stall owners selling fresh
produce. It’s dark in there but the dust filled light filter-
ing through the holes in the roof makes for amazing pho-
tos.
While waiting for the overnight train to Delhi to depart
from the huge Kolkata station I did however spend a very Inside the Central market in Kolkata (above) you
will find many photo ops so walk around and
enjoyable couple of hours shooting up a storm photo- keep your eyes open. Up your ISO to cope with
graphing fellow travellers and the trains arriving and de- the low light conditions. Outside the market I
found these people (left) reading up on the lat-
parting every few moments, filled to capacity with their est soccer and cricket scores on free newspapers
human cargo. while (above right) a porter carrys a heavy load
on his head at the Kolkata train station and
The noise and the controlled pandemonium seemed to (right) a young man adjusts the load on his tri-
be everything I had expected from India. cyle courier as he competes with the CNG pow-
ered mopeds lined up behind him for clients.
The streets around the station are a nightmare of jam-
packed humanity, all trying to get from one place to an- Sometimes it’s worth changing colour modes
into monochrome to give an edgy feel to your
other and you can easily fill up a card or two just images especially if the ambient light is hazy and
standing on the corner shooting everything moving flattens the saturation in your images.
slowly past your field of view.

40 41
The overnight express train from Kolkata to Delhi is one Old Delhi contrast severely with the modern face of New Delhi but
of those essential experiences one must do to fully un- that is where the fun is. It is over-crowded, full of exciting hustle and
bustling crowds of shoppers, pedestrians, vendors, cyclo operators
derstand India’s dependency on rail. The trip is 18 hours and mopeds. Again set your camera on AI servo to capture the move-
long and travels for more than 1500kms through the ments and shoot everything. Always look up and down, there are
hundreds of photo ops here so open your eyes, ears and nose and in-
harsh interior of India, past hundreds of small towns, and gest this amazing place. Watch your back and remember your per-
villages surrounded by flat and featureless farmland. sonal safety. People don’t mind being photographed but a smile
always breaks the ice.
Your fellow travellers in the sleeping cars are full of hope
for a better future for their country and themselves as New Delhi is also the seat of power in India so there are many memo-
rials and expansive gate ways to photograph at night just get your
they journey to the nation’s capital Delhi. hotel driver to guide you around.
The long hours aboard breaks down any language barri-
ers and you are soon in animated discussion with your
neighbours, showing them your images as you take
breaks from hanging around the carriage doors shooting
this amazing country as it speeds past.
Nothing beats the wind in your face to cool you down
and even though most high value carriages are air-
conned it is still hot inside. The train passed though vil-
lages at sunrise as we sped towards Delhi and it was fun
to see the locals out conducting their morning ablutions
in the fields and around the few stations we stopped at.
Indians seem to always give you space to clean yourself
and many take the opportunity whenever a faucet was
available.
Everything moves by rail here and most trains are packed
full of people and produce although it gets a bit unnerv-
ing when you enter carriages to see bars on every win-
dows (that’s if they even have glass in them as it’s usually
Perspex and its scratched so badly you can’t shoot
through it).
The sun rose in the sky and so did the temperature and it
was like working in a blast furnace when we finally pulled
into Delhi station around midday. Delhi I found has two
very distinctive parts –old and new, and for photogra-
phers the old part is by far the most photogenic.
Take normal cab from your hotel in the centre of Delhi to
the Red Fort and then change to a pedal cab or moped
for the short trip to the old spice market where hundreds
of years of spice trading have left the air almost un-
breathable when you enter the cool dark maze of shop-
ping streets there. Nearby the picturesque Red Fort rises
above the old Delhi markets so go there early to get
good light and then move over the street to the nearby
outdoor market areas to really see how life moves and
exists in Delhi. All around Delhi you will find a mixture of
old and new so keep your eyes open and copy the locals
habit of carrying your camera bag on your front and not
over your shoulder.
42 43
Mumbai is on the western coast of India and is the home
of the world famous Bollywood movie studios and more
recently a tragic terrorist attack, but it will blow your
mind when you see the photo ops available in a city with
a population of approximately 13.7 million, making
Mumbai the second most populous city in the world. It
takes a long time to get around Mumbai so always plan
for extreme traffic delays to get to and fro the airport. I
attempted a short trip from my hotel into the colourful
sewing and fabric area to see a photo studio owner and
it took me nearly four hours in the hot midday sun to
crawl along in an air-con taxi through the seething mass
of humanity that lives and works there.
I have stayed in both those famous hotels ruined by re-
cent attacks and I found the areas around these two ho-
tels to rich in photo ops.
Start your day early (about sun rise) at the Gateway of
India which is out the front of the Taj hotel and work
your way along the sea wall looking for interesting sights
and photo ops. About 400m down the road turns to the
right and you come out on one of the main thorough-
fares, the Colaba Causeway, lined with shops and filled
with people going to work or school. Look for the many
colourful fruit and vege street traders, phone merchants
perched above one another and immaculately dressed
school children coming out of the slum areas nearby.
Take a break at the famous Leopold Cafe, a real classic at night. You sit in nearby abandoned buildings rented
amongst travellers in Mumbai. It is the right place to out to the food vendor whose chefs cook all the food
meet fellow travellers and locals who want to meet trav- outside on huge cookers and fires. Runners take your
ellers. Here you can have a quick lunch, a milk shake, a food and drink orders and rush across the street where
lassi (liquid yoghurt), curry dish, catch up on the news an army of cooks service your order. I watched amazed
and quiz others about places to see and things to do in as chefs dressed in immaculate white uniforms cooked
Mumbai. Around lunch time head over to one of the dosa (Indian pancakes), Nann, and Roti on white hot
many public greens and catch a cricket match or two. steel grills, expertly laying the dosa down and lifting
They don’t mind you standing out there shooting pic- them off cooked a few seconds later with their bare
tures even if you feel like you are walking onto the hands. The heat was unbelievable but so was the speed
cricket pitch. The evenings offer many opportunities to of their hands. In Mumbai one of the hundreds of photo
shoot night shots of the hundreds of old English style ops to watch out for is the feeding of the masses. Each
buildings in and around the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, day in certain local restaurants you will notice that
formerly known as Victoria Terminus, now the headquar- groups of poor and destitute men start to line up outside
ters of the Central Railway, and a UNESCO World Her- them, quietly squatting on the pavement outside in rows
itage Site. Take an hour or two one day and visit this and waiting. Then throughout the day passerby’s and
amazing site and shoot pictures of one of the busiest motorists will suddenly stop and briefly rush into the
train stations in the world. Just behind the Taj Hotel on a restaurant then run out again, get back into their cars
small back street is a very famous al fresco dining experi- and drive off. Then the owner of the shop will come out
ence frequented by Bollywood starlets, businessmen and and call in the next man or men in the line and take them
romancing couples. You wouldn’t recognise it during the inside and feed them. It is a form of charity whereby
day as the Bademiya Seekh kebab stall vendor operation those who can buy meals for those who can’t afford
44 them. A good scheme. 45
Chennai, a port city on the south eastern side of India, it
used to be call Madras and is a typical bustling Indian city
struggling with rapid economic growth and over popula-
tion. It is an old city formed in the 17th century as an im-
portant trading port between the Asian and Indian trade
routes. On the weekends get your driver to take you
down to the 13 km long and 400 to 500 meter wide Ma-
rina Beach area where you can find very intense games
of street cricket being played on the parking areas. Here
it’s a very serious affair with hundreds of Rupees chang-
ing hands as quickly as the stumps are moved to make
way for passing buses. The locals get all dressed up in
their replica Indian, kiwi or aussie branded cricket
clothes and play a form of twenty20 cricket with a tennis
ball, one set of stumps and usually one bat which is
shared by all. It makes for a great photo essay as the
players duck and dive between parked cars, cows and
buses to catch high flying shots. Sadly while we were
shooting this event nearby a man was drowning in the
sea despite large signs saying no swimming was allowed.
Of note is the fact that Chennai hosts the country’s
smallest national park , The Guindy national Park, which
is only 2.76 km square and hosts displays of endangered
deer, foxes, monkeys and snakes which are an important
source of anti-venom for the state of Tamil Nadu. Out-
side the rapidly expanding modern face of Chennai on
the East Coast Road is an amazing tourist attraction well
worth the hour and half journey. Go past the Crocodile
Bank, a research centre for crocodilians located about 40
km south of Chennai and travel for another 20km and
you will reach the Mahabalipuram city, also known as
Mamallapuram. The city was once the capital of Pallava
kings and was named after the Pallava King, Mamalla. A
listed UNESCO world heritage sites, it’s an amazing col-
lection of rock cut temples and caves that are the finest
in the world and originated between 7th and 9th cen-
tury. The main attraction is the Shore Temple, which is
renowned for its intricate carvings. The most striking fea-
ture of this temple is that it is dedicated to both Lord
Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Each cave temples, monolithic
rathas (chariots), sculpted reliefs and structural temples
displaying an ancient Dravidian style of architecture has
been carved from a single rock or boulder and many are
truly amazing in their detail. It costs about USD$10 to
enter but it is well worth it. Take the time to visit the
nearby artist colony and look for detail shots of the stone
masons in action. Chennai has many tourist attractions
so plan to spend a couple of days there.
46 47
Bangalore is India’s world famous IT capital but sadly it’s
a miss-match of old and garish new buildings and indus-
tries servicing the software trade.
Located 1000m above sea level it is often called the gate-
way to Southern India. In olden times the British and
wealthy locals moved to Bangalore to escape the ex-
treme southern summer temperatures.
As a result many of the attractions date from the colonial
days where British and Indian rulers tried to copy west-
ern buildings.
The Bangalore Palace was built by a Wodeyar king in
1887 on the 400 acre space.
Inspired by the Windsor castle, it has the special attrac-
tion of a gallery of nearly a thousand historical photos,
including those of viceroys, maharajas and other famous
personalities inside and exquisite carvings and paintings.
Be aware some tourism sites while charging you entry
fee will also charge you a photography fee.
At the Palace they expect 500 rupees or about NZD$17
for the privilege.
One of the interesting side trips in Bangalore is a walk up
and over the 3,000,000,000 year old Bugle rock which
served as the town’s watchtower, in case of any attack, a
bugle call from here alerted the inhabitants of the town.
Dating from the Pre-Cambrian period in earth’s history,
the 3-billion-year-old rock may be the oldest rock on the
Indian subcontinent and rivals Uluru in Australia as the
oldest monolithic rock on the planet.
You can walk around it visiting the various temples lo-
cated there and then go next door and enter the nearby
Lal Bagh park with its Glass House, modelled on London’s
Crystal Palace, and the center of attraction in this 2400
acre park.
Here are rare collections of tropical and sub-tropical
plants, trees and herbs laid out in artistically landscaped
gardens that have a profusion of flower beds, lotus
pools, tinkling fountains and flowering Indian trees such
as the Asoka (Saraca indica) which is one of the most
beautiful flowering trees with brick-red flowers.
The rarer, yellow bloom-bearing variety Saraca declinata
and Mangolia, Champac trees to name a few are also on
show. Bi-annual flower shows attracting participants
from all over India are held in the Glass House.
Despite its modern frontage Bangalore is well worth the
time to wander around and look at the many sights on
offer. Just watch out for the rain as it really pours down.

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 The state of Kerala is old; some historians say it was first
recorded in Hindu epic poems as early as 800BC. Located
on the south western tip of India well below the hippy
commune of Goa, Kerala is on the lush and tropical Mal-
abar Coast and is one of the most popular tourist and
50
honeymoon destinations for Indians. On one side it faces
the Arabian Sea and the other is hemmed in by the
Southern Ghats (Mountains) towering to 2700m. Over
the centuries it grew into a major cultural and trading
port which later enacted major social reforms that have
lead to the people of Kerala being ranked among the
healthiest, best educated, and most gender-equitable in
India. It is really an amazing place to visit because every-
thing you expect to see in India – the poverty, the over-
crowding and the hectic jam-packed nature of Indian life
51
are strangely absent. Kerala is 90 percent literate and is
one of the wealthier states of India as well as being one
of the most diversely religious areas you will ever visit.
As you drive from the international airport near the fort
city of Kochi to the small city of Kottayam every time you
turn a new corner you are confronted by either a gigantic
Madonna in stone, a colourful Hindu temple, a Jewish
synagogue or a Christian church or one of the many
other different religious faiths brought to Kerala by the
traders over the years.
The small rural city Kottayam was my base for a week of
photographic exploration of this lush and verdant area of
Kerala. Nearby are the famous backwaters, a series of
manmade canals and lakes that criss-cross the landscape
and offer peace and tranquillity to visitors. There are a
few four star hotels sited on the banks of lake Ku-
marakom and you can only access them from the water.
Many Bollywood and European film stars like its remote
location as it offers peace and privacy away from the pry-
ing eyes of paparazzi.
Day trips by tourist boats to go sightseeing out on the
Backwaters can be booked through your hotel front desk
and you can even sail along the canals and byways of the
backwaters which stretch from Kottayam to Kochi in an
old style house boat which is considered one of life’s bet-
ter moments. There are many photo opportunities in and
around Kottayam and Kerala has an excellent tourism
board website that keeps you well informed of what to
see and shoot just two things to remember.
One: watch the mosquito’s as they do bite through
clothes and two: PDA (Public displays of Affection) such
as hugging or kissing are not an accepted practice in pub-
lic in Kerala.
Otherwise you will find a very colourful countryside
where you are more likely to see an elephant being
washed in a stream alongside a moped rather than find
rows of beggars pestering you for your cash.

Final hints and tips to remember about photographing in India:

p Watch your health especially when walking around national parks where snakes, mosquito’s and ticks can
cause you problems and in some places watch out for the Tigers.

p Indians are generally a warm and very helpful people but find some western traditions annoying so ask be-
fore you take a close up of a screaming child.

p They are not a backward third world country, in fact many Indians that you will meet socially have a univer-
sity education, it’s just the job opportunities are a lot more limited for them so treat people as you would like to
be treated.

p India is all about colour so shoot well saturated images that include a lot of close up images, forget about
landscapes in southern states as the heat haze and air pollutants spoils many potential landscapes. For good
landscape shots you have to go north to the hill states in-between seasons.
The amazing beauty of India comes from the fact that it is so diverse and photographable and it has fully em-
braced the 21st century with many of the attractions being listed on the web so information is readily attainable.
53
 Seeing India from the back seat of a Taxi is a fun way to shoot interesting pictures, because believe me, in India the
roads are full of amazing sights. I usually set my Canons to AI servo and pick an f8 aperture in AV Mode and use my
17-85mm IS lens. I always annoy the hotel and taxi drivers by having the windows open as they like their air-con here
but this allows me to shoot in natural light. The air pollution and haze make the light difficult but you can correct that
later in Photoshop. Mopeds are difficult to shoot from as they have low roofs and it’s hard to see out but the streets
are were all the action is so if you have a couple of hours free jump in a cab or hotel tour car and enjoy India.
54 55
 Take time out from discovering the very photogenic streets of Old Delhi and keep an eye out for the
historic Red Fort. One day I will get time to nip inside and see what it looks like because the few
times I have been travelling through Delhi I have only managed to catch it before it opened or after
it had closed for the day. You hotel concierge should have the times it is open, if not consult the
web. Local photographers tell me it changes colour in the different light accorded by the seasons so
plan your trip well. It is also one of few places the military don’t mind you photographing them but
it does pay to ask first if you want them in the frame.
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Trains are still the life blood of India trade and commerce and if you are prepared to travel local style on
hard seats it is a very economical way to see this amazing country. The bars take a bit of getting used to but
they are there for your safety to stop people reaching in and robbing you. Here the digital camera really
works as an ice breaker as you can quickly establish a friendly rapport with your fellow travellers by showing
them your travel shots. Watch your personal safety at all times and before you doze off store all your gear
away in locked bags otherwise you make awake to find things have moved. Women travellers note there are
usually women only carriages on most commuter trains. There are other classes of travel available on trains
but these sometimes take a bit of time and expense booking so plan well. Overall rail travel is fun and excit-
ing but it is a rush to get aboard at most stations so watch your bags. Pushing and shoving is acceptable just
don’t get on first as you will spend your entire journey jammed into the back of a cramped smelly carriage
unable to get out and see the sights as the train journeys through this photogenic countryside.
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