Categories: bhutan

11 Images of Bhutan — Happiness is being behind the camera

Bhutan

Originally published on medium.com: 11 Images of Bhutan — Happiness is being behind the camera

Bhutan
Images of Bhutan

Bhutan has been known for its focus on nurturing a happy society. With its idea of ‘Gross National Happiness’, a focus on nourishing its cultural roots and a policy towards sustainable economics, the country has attempted to tread a path of balance between embracing a modern way of life and traditional values.

I have been travelling to Bhutan for five years now, trying to understand its pulse and learning from its composure, while also enjoying the country’s beautiful mountainous landscapes.

Every year, I lead a week-long mentored photography tour Bhutan, which gives you an up-close glimpse and understanding of country’s rich culture and heritage. The tour is a excellent window to the life and landscapes of the Himalayan region. The mentored photo-journey equips you with a keen understanding of life and takes you through the art of telling stories with your images. Discover what it takes to create unique images that stand apart from cliche, have your own unique signature and makes a strong visual impact. To be a part of this unique photography tour, visit “Travel Photography Tour to Bhutan” to know more details and sign up.

In these years, I have photographed many aspects of Bhutan — the genial monks, smiling people working hard in the fields, ebullient children in the villages and monasteries, mountain slopes fluttering with prayer flags and beautiful stupas, fortresses glittering with flood-lights in the evening sky and dazzling snow-covered peaks in brilliant morning light.

Bhutan
Beautiful sunrise over the mountain landscapes at Dochula, Bhutan

I have immensely enjoyed freezing these facets of Bhutan. It’s a meditative experience observing the country’s pace of life that attempts to harmonize with material and spiritual wealth. These are images of everyday Bhutan, it’s beautiful people juxtaposed against the majestic Himalayas landscapes.


Categories: meta, misc

Images from 2018

Kyrgyzstan

In the year of 2018, I travelled more than I had initially planned for, and enjoyed every bit of it. Some of the highlights of my journeys included a very well spent week of winter in Ladakh, an action packed week in Kyrgyzstan and many happy days in Iceland. 

The year started with our annual photography tour to shoot winter landscapes in Ladakh. I was returning here after a gap of two years, and immensely enjoyed being here. Here is an image that I loved making during this week. 

Ladakh in winter

Most of my travel this year was leading photography tours for Darter Photography. My next tour was a photography tour to Bhutan. This is a country I always look forward to visiting. No matter how often I go there, I still desire to keep going back. I immensely enjoyed the moments of being there.


11 Images of Winters in Ladakh — India’s ultimate landscape photography experience!

Photographing winters in Ladakh

Here is a collection my images of winters in Ladakh, made over several visits in a span of about 7 years. Originally posted on medium.com – Winters in Ladakh — India’s ultimate landscape photography experience!

Photographing winters in Ladakh
Powdery snow on the mountains over a frozen Pangong Tso Lake, in Ladakh during winters.

I first visited Ladakh exactly ten years ago. This was well before the region became every motor-cyclist’s ultimate destination, part of every traveller’s tick-off list and every holidaymaker’s check-in dream. In those days, tourists were in smaller numbers and Leh had more homes than guesthouses and hotels.

Every winter, we conduct a photography tour to see and capture the glorious landscapes of Ladakh. This is perhaps India’s ultimate landscape photography experience. Travel to the highlands of Ladakh in winter, when Ladakh is at its pristine best — with its snow-clad mountain landscapes, frozen lakes, resilient nomads with their herds of sheep and yaks and endless fields of snow. Explore photography on the roof of India on this mentored photography tour in a season when the earth is covered in a carpet of snow. See details and sign up today: A Snow-filled Winter in Ladakh — Photography Tour

The story is all different now. Ever since a block-buster Indian movie featured the landscapes of Ladakh eight years ago, it has become the go-to destination of hundreds of thousands of people every year. The region has been transformed from a quite mountainous escape to a bustling tourist town of German bakeries, pizza joints and mall-roads!

ladakh in winter

But all that ends when the summer season makes way to a cold frigid winter in Ladakh. After September, as the temperatures start falling rapidly, shutters are downed on the souvenir shops. Most hotels close for winter and taxi drivers stay home for a few months. But this is also the time when mountains are transformed through the magic of falling snow.