Indian Wedding - Inspiration

My beautiful girlfriend Jas is getting married in the start of June... I photographed Jas a few years ago now in her beautiful sari, and without a doubt she is going to be a very stunning bride!

Indian weddings seem to be more a festival of love than a what we call a wedding. Its colorful and vibrant and so much happening.

I was looking for this wedding I saw once that had some stunning photos from an indian wedding to send to Jas for inspiration, but I couldn't find it in a hurry.

But I found these.

How lovely are the colors ???

Honesty and Photography

Yesterday I went out to this photography meetup, and typically I ended up with speaking with two photographers that just happend to be there, actually not part of the group I went to meet up with.

We got to talking and they were documentary photographers planning a trip to New York City to take photos of a protest where most of the people were homeless.

They said that they dont edit their photos at all. Only thing they would do is convert to black and white in some instances.

I questioned that - because sometimes there is a piece of rubbish or something that just totally distracts from the actual subject. They said no, that would be lying. But then I asked, you just beeing there, interacting with the person does that not lead to you manipulating the situation?

I brought up this photo below. It was taken with a Canon 400D with the kit lens. So yeah - the real basics - nothing fancy. And I was in a taxi that was driving through Mumbai. He said that I should have stopped the taxi, get out to get the shot.

I said that odds are that this man sitting here, with a look in his eyes that all hope is gone, would have looked up, and the honesty of the moment would be gone. I would have changed the situation. The man behind who is obviously heading for a pee on the wall there in the corner would have stopped and looked. And the subject himself would have changed. It just would.

So sometimes the honesty lies in taking a "bad picture" from a taxi, -- in my opinion anyways...

Food Poisoning in India?

When I visited Mexico in 1998 I didn't eat any Mexican food. As I was an exchange student and my host family strongly discouraged it I abstained from eating any. I still regret it.

Since then I have travelled far and wide and have eaten at places where dirt passes as the restaurant floor and other guests are chooks and stary dogs. And you know what, in my experience those are the places where the food is the best. My best travel advise is that you eat where the locals eat. If its crowded with locals give it a go.

You may think that I have a tough stomach that can take it, or that I have just been lucky, but that's not the case. The ultimate test, the place where everyone gets sick, - India - I didn't. Nope I actually gained 5 kg! No wonder, because Indian food is really quite fattening. Just look at this guy pooring Ghee into the cooking pot. But to all of you out there thinking of travelling to India, please do the same. Indulge in all the wornderful food sold on the streets, on corner cafes, and just do as I did, limit your amount of indian kingfisher beer - as a fellow traveller told me - you drink too much of it you will end up with a sick stomach! ( something in it that makes you sick- and I actually talked to some travellers about this - they were so curious as to how one had gotten "food poisoning" whereas the other didnt, - I asked did you have a few kingfiher beer that day, and he affirmed.

So the most valuable advise - listen to seasoned travellers- they can give great advice of do's and don't.

 This picture is taken in a small town called Bundi where Kipling was inspired to write Kim. Its a beautiful city with watercolored buildings in the middle of nowhere quite off the beaten tourist trails... 

Indian Photoshoot

 A few years back I travelled to India for a one month adventure.

Whilst I was there I took a whole lot of photos of the Taj Mahal, streetlife of Mumbai and other touristy snaps.

The beautiful thing about India is the people. I met so many amazingly nice people there, and when I think about India a warm feeling fills my heart. There were so many moments of kindness towards me !

Some I met and just had casual conversations, others became friends. One of the latter ones were Anuj Bhalla whom I met in an airport in Udaipur. A striking businessman who was on his way home to Delhi.

When he found out I was a photographer he asked if I could take some pictures of him, - and I was delighted to.

Here are some of the shots I took of him. They are all taken on a beach in Goa.

I really hope that I can keep doing this when I travel - photograph people.

My next trip is Mainz, Germany. not far from Frankfurt.

Hopefully there is someone there that would like me to work my “magic” on them :)