Photographic Locations Jaipur/New Delhi, India

[Alistair]

Will have a week or so at the end of a business trip next month. Any strong locations in this area for landscape/place photography?  I should add that I am happy to travel around a bit and even head further up and over to Nepal but not sure if I have the time to do such an excursion justice. Any tips and insights much appreciated.

[SeanBK]

I haven't been up north to Nepal but a very short flight from Jaipur will take u to Udaipur (still in that exotic Rajasthan) but hot. Stay @ Lake Palace Hotel [same hotel where 007's "Octopussy" - Roger Moore was filmed .now the title will get NC17 rating ]
  Then for less than 2 hrs drive to Ranakpur. A real find in middle of dense nowhere land a real exotic well maintained all white marble temple. One caveat > it opens for inside photography at noon. Then if u feel like head on to Jodhpur aka Blue City where Steve McCurry's Iconic images were taken. If you can do stay at Umaid Bhavan Palace Hotel. That I can say is 7* hotel service and looks wise. Expensive but worth it, no need to stay @ most expensive suite (I've seen it, just more of the same), Std garden view is just spectacular. I took D800e & was just perfect.
   Of Course Agra w/Taj Mahal is a staple but this gives a varied look.

[dreed]

Are you in India now?

And/or have you been there before?

What experience do you have in travel around Asian/South East Asian countries?

[Alistair]

Thanks Paul and Sean for those suggestions, they sound great. Dreed, I have been to India quite a bit but always the corporate wallah with little time to look around. This time I have a couple of weeks to do my own thing, the first of which I will have my wife with me and will restrict to well trodden tourist paths. The second I would like to go "off piste" in search of interesting photography locations. I am a relatively seasoned traveller having lived and travelled abroad for some years. I do not arrive in India for another month. Thanks for your participation.
Regards
Alistair

[Philmar]

I'd fly to Varanasi for the week. The Ganges River ghats are fascinating.

[Msphoto]

In Jaipur, the Palace of the Winds or Hawa Mahal is one of the main attractions. Also, in Rajasthan the are a number of step wells like Chand Baori that are hugely photogenic.
Enter "Rajasthan Stepwells" into google image search. Pretty neat stuff. Rajasthan generally is very colourful, with lots of great forts etc.
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/10/chand-baori-step-well-in-rajasthan-india.html
There is a movie called The Fall (2006) that had many locations filmed in Rajasthan that inspired me to go there.
If you are going in May though, that's one of the hottest times of the year in a pretty hot part of India.
A (flash) slideshow of some of my pix here. http://www.msphoto.ca/Rajasthan_slideshow.html

[Alistair]

In Jaipur, the Palace of the Winds or Hawa Mahal is one of the main attractions. Also, in Rajasthan the are a number of step wells like Chand Baori that are hugely photogenic.
Enter "Rajasthan Stepwells" into google image search. Pretty neat stuff. Rajasthan generally is very colourful, with lots of great forts etc.
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/10/chand-baori-step-well-in-rajasthan-india.html
There is a movie called The Fall (2006) that had many locations filmed in Rajasthan that inspired me to go there.
If you are going in May though, that's one of the hottest times of the year in a pretty hot part of India.
A (flash) slideshow of some of my pix here. http://www.msphoto.ca/Rajasthan_slideshow.html

Thanks very much. Wonderful images on your slide show. EDIT What equipment did you take with you to get these?

[Msphoto]

Thanks Alistair
I've been to India a few times but that trip to Rajasthan was in 2009.
My main body on that trip was a Nikon D3 and lenses were 17-35, 28-70 and 70-200. I also took my travel sized tripod. We were there for 3 weeks , mainly in Rajasthan but also Delhi.

[Rajan Parrikar]

If you can do stay at Umaid Bhavan Palace Hotel. That I can say is 7* hotel service and looks wise. Expensive but worth it, no need to stay @ most expensive suite (I've seen it, just more of the same), Std garden view is just spectacular.

http://blog.parrikar.com/2012/04/06/umaid-bhawan-palace/

http://blog.parrikar.com/2014/02/15/rotunda/


PS: in Jaipur I recommend the Oberoi Rajvilas.

[Alistair]

Just to quickly let you know where we ended up going. Spent around 8 days going from Delhi -> Udaipur -> Jodhpur -> Jaipur -> Agra -> New Delhi. Then flew up to Leh in Kashmir/Jammu. From there took trip to Tso Moriri, Nubra Valley and Tso Kar. Great trip. Most travel by private car with driver.

Some images here : http://www.alistairowens.net/#wildlife-3