Our regular readers will know doubt have noticed our blog laziness over the last several months, which of course we blame on Covid 19. As we all know from all the sober, non-fear mongering, science based reporting in the Media since the beginning of 2020, the SARS CoV2 virus can indeed travel unimpeded over the Internet. At the speed of light. I am wearing a Hazmat suit as I type. I live in the thing. It’s not terribly easy to shower in, but I think it’s well worth the extra effort.

Not that we have not been (love those double negatives!) posting each month, because we have. It’s just that it’s been a “best of” series from other photography sites who have published stories written by Luminous Journeys’ photographers. Since you may have missed these brilliant scribbles when they first came out, we thought it a pretty good idea to recommend them to you here. Why waste critical virus fighting energy creating all new masterpieces from scratch when we can stay safe by hunkering down with an emergency case of Macallan Estate Single Malt?

India has been having a horrendous time getting control of their second wave, but is now thankfully making some headway. It’s one of our favorite craziest countries to visit and photograph, and we feel for our many friends there still suffering through this.

While we do make the subcontinent easy for our India photo tour participants to travel and shoot in, we know through hard won experience that going on your own requires significant preparation. Mental and otherwise. So in case some of you decide to brave these vibrant Madlands without us some day, the article by yours truly linked below will be indispensable to your photographic and gastrointestinal success! Please trust us on this.

One correction: In Insight #6, it says, rather than relying on hotel wifi: “A far more reliable and faster way is to buy an India SIM card with plenty of data and using it as your own private Hotspot. Cards are affordable and widely available.” This is true but NOT good advice. The reason is the 24 hours wasted if you choose this route. Get your SIM cards at the Airport to avoid this time wasting hassle.

Incredible India – 9 Insights for the Traveling Photographer
by Mr. Yours Truly

“Incredible India” is the lead marketing slogan of India’s Ministry of Tourism, and well it should be! It’s undeniably true for oh so many reasons, both compelling and frustrating for the traveling photographer. Compelling for the magnificent array of photo opportunities India entices us with, and frustrating for the unique set of challenges that can hamper our ability to take full advantage of those opportunities.

There is quite literally more than enough photogenic diversity of people, cultures, events, religions, landscapes, cityscapes, street scenes, industries, architecture, wildlife, and historical grandeur on the subcontinent to keep any photographer busy for a lifetime, and probably several!

This is true not only because India is a vast country with so much to photograph, but because the day to day difficulties of getting around and getting the job done will slow you down and obstruct you more than you would think. Generally speaking then, you won’t want to bite off more than you can chew on any single trip. It’s a place the average traveler tends to love or hate, but these emotions can shift from one pole to the other several times in any given day! It can be quite overwhelming for the uninitiated…

Story continues here…

David Lazar caught testing his camera against the elements