Enjoy a weekend with Photography Workshop conducted by HummingBird India and led by photographers from Darter Photography. This weekend photography workshop has a focus on field outing and learning photography at scenic locations in Coorg.

Dates: March 3rd to 4th, 2012

Itinerary

Day 1

- Till 10.30am – Arrival, freshen up, breakfast and rest before the session begins.
- 10.30am to 12pm and 12.15pm to 1.30pm:

Indoor Session

1. Introduction to Photography
2. Technical aspects of making a photograph
– 1.30pm to 3.15pm – Lunch Break
– 3.30pm to 7pm – Field outing – drive to Irpu Falls and other places along the way to the falls
– 7.30pm to 8.30pm – Review of Images taken during the field trip.
– 8.30pm – Dinner and End of Day

Day 2
– 7am to 8.30am - Field outing
– 8.30am to 11am – Breakfast, freshen up and rest
– 11.30am to 1.30pm

1. Post-processing the images in the computer
2. Understanding photography equipment – cameras, lenses, tele converters, tripods, bags and other gears.
3. Camera Gears – What to buy? 4. Q & A

– 3.30pm to 6pm – Field outing
– After 6pm – Dinner and checkout

For Registration, contact – info@hummingbirdindia.com
or call Dinesh – 9742264034 / Suman – 9742264276

HummingBird & Darter Photography provide unique photography experiences in exciting destinations in India. Coorg being one such destination, chosen for its diverse ecology.

The workshop is designed to address beginners who have an interest in photography. No prior experience or expertise is required to attend this course. The participants need not own a digital SLR or any advanced photography equipment. However, participants can benefit by bringing a camera of any kind to the workshop.

We help beginners and amateur photographers view the world from behind the camera to take back memories for a lifetime, both in their minds as well as their memory cards. Arun Bhat, The Darter Photography Expert on the tour guides photographers on opportunities and techniques of photography. The overall experience of the tour is a key determinant of our success and we go all out to ensure that the photographers have the time of their life.

Introduction

Darter Photography introduces you to the technical, artistic and social aspects of photography with this workshop. You will learn about the concepts of photography, what the different modes of a camera mean, how to compose a photograph so that it catches the eye, how to post-process it to reflect reality or make it artistic, and, in an increasingly connected world, how to share it online. So the next time you click a photograph, you’ll create a memory to cherish.

Participants of previous workshops say

• “Excellent course content, pace and attitude” – Sneha
• “..as a beginner, it was a good hands on learning experience” – Jyothin
• “The instructors are very approachable and ready for help” – Shantanu

+ See some photos taken by participants at the field session during the earlier workshopshttp://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.157372640992826.38643.133013046762119

Intended Audience

This workshop is for you if you:
- are getting started on photography
- have an interest in photography, and
- are keen to take better photographs,

You would be required to bring your digital camera to the workshop. An advanced camera or an SLR is NOT a prerequisite.

Topics covered

Classroom Sessions
• Concepts of photography
o Introduction to photography
o Technical aspects of making a photograph
o Understanding exposure, histograms and metering
o Focus, Aperture, Depth of Field, Shutter-speed, ISO and White Balance
o Familiarization with all the controls in your camera
o Camera modes and making the best out of your camera – Program Mode, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual modes
o Understanding digital cameras and associated photography gear
o Knowing what makes a technically good photograph; identifying problems in images
• Composition
o Stories through your photographs
o Guidelines for good composition
o Understanding quality and play of light
• Types of photography and their nuances
o Portrait, Landscape, Wildlife, Architecture and Macro photography at a glance
• Post-processing images on the computer

Field Session
• Guided field session at Lal Bagh to practice concepts learnt in the classroom
• Review of photographs from field session

Your take from the workshop

After the workshop, you will be able to
• understand the different controls in your digital camera and make the best use of them depending on the circumstances at which you are shooting.
• know and use the advanced modes to control the exposure and depth of field to get the best from your subject.
• understand the nuances of composition, which helps in taking appealing images.
• make the best use of your camera’s abilities and open up to unlimited possibilities in photography.

Registration Details

The workshop fee is Rs. 4,000/- per person.

The workshop fee includes:
• Classroom sessions and field session under the guidance of Darter Photography Expert
• Lunch and tea/snacks for both days of the workshop
• Breakfast on Day 2 after field session

The workshop fee doesn’t include:
• Additional snacks or beverages ordered from the hotel
• Transport to classroom or field sessions
• Anything that is not part of the Includes section above

Please email us at register@darter.in or call us at 9740083260 (Shreeram M V) / 9880006460 (Arun Bhat) to know more details and to register.

Your Photography Expert: Arun Bhat

Accomplished travel and landscape photographer Arun Bhat’s works have been used by publications in India and across the world, all the way from Japan to USA. His works have found way to newspapers, glossy magazines, calendars, wall hangings and several other applications. His services are routinely used by corporate houses to create visual representations of their businesses. He is a professional photographer who has extensively travelled across India, creating some of the finest imagery of India’s landscapes and heritage sites.

With his friendly approach, coherent narration and willingness to be available at all the time to the participants, Arun’s sessions are widely appreciated by participants for the ease with which the nuances of photography are conveyed.

About Darter Photography

Enjoy a weekend learning about birds in Coorg, led by well-known naturalist Mandanna K A.

Itinerary

Feb 11th

• Till 10.30am:  Check into accomodation
• 11am onwards: Explorations

Feb 12th

• After 8am: Set out to to explore
• 3pm: Check out

For Registration, contact info@hummingbirdindia.com
or call Dinesh – 9742264034 / Suman – 9742264276

About Your Guide Mandanna:

Mandanna K.A finished master degree in Social work (MSW) after which he joined Jungle Lodges and Resorts at BR hills wildlife sanctuary. He worked as a naturalist for almost two years. He was hired by the BBC to work as an assistant researcher for the Documentary of Mountains of the Monsoon – A natural world production on western ghats. He also worked as a cameraman with National Geographic Channel for the production of their documentary on King cobras (Secrets of king cobra). He worked with other two documentaries one is on Human-Elephants conflicts (its called Deadliest towns) in West Bengal and another one is about snakebites (Million snake bites) for BBC natural world. Currently, he is working as freelance naturalist and wildlife photographer.

Being born and brought up in the Western ghats, Mandanna has extensive knowledge of Natural history. He is also a Wildlife photographer and his photographs have appeared in various publications and has won many contests. His special expertise are in handling remote camera- traps and tracking and interpreting wildlife – from mammals and birds to smaller insects and reptiles.

You will recognize a fragrance of heritage in every corner of Melukote. The old temples, the large Kalyani that has hosted several movie shoots, the smaller Raya Gopura that also has its beauty tested in the movies, a Sanskrit Academy, two ancient temples, a Vaishnava heritage that is preserved as good as it was a few centuries ago and several houses, temples and structures that have a stamp of past all over them — a quick glimpse of Melukote for you.

The heritage town of Melukote is located 120km from Bangalore. It became a center of Vaishnavaites when Sri Ramanujacharya took shelter in the town during 12th century. The town hosts two ancient temples and several smaller heritage structures. The everyday life and culture of Melukote retains a feel of its past and heritage.

Darter Photography takes you on a photography outing to Melukote, to capture these ancient structures, heritage sites, its traditions, its people, its celebrated puliogres that can be relished by the street. Join the Darter Day Out on Saturday, 4th February armed with your cameras and guided by expert travel photographers.

Who can join?

Any one! If you want to see and make beautiful photographs of the heritage town of Melukote, hop in with us. It doesn’t matter if you are shooting with your phone camera or carrying the world’s most expensive photography equipment. We take you through the places and guide you in making good images along the way.

The Day’s Program Includes

* A brief session on Melukote with photography in mind.
* Photography of places in Melukote, with guidance from Darter Photography Experts.
* Image Reviews and critiques.
* Visit to ancient temples, heritage sites, Kalyanis and other interestig sites and to see and capture everyday activities in Melukote.

The Itinerary

* Start from MG Road at 6.45am. Pickup from Jayanagar at 7am.
* Stop for breakfast on the way at 8am
* Reach Melukote at 10am
* Head to the Kalyani, begin with a brief session
* Start photography with on planned route from 11am to 1pm
* Lunch and Image Reviews from the morning shoot from 1pm to 3pm
* Start photography with a planned route from 3pm to 6.15pm
* Depart for Bangalore at 6.45pm with a snack-stop along the way. Image reviews from evening shoot on the way back. We are back in Bangalore approximately by 9pm.

The itinerary is tentative and timings are only indicative, except for a fixed time of departure from Bangalore. Delays and changes are possible with progress in the day and shooting conditions.

Cost

This trip is priced at Rs.2,350 per person.

The cost includes
* Transport from Bangalore and back in an air conditioned vehicle. Pickup and drop from specific locations.
* Breakfast, lunch and evening snacks
* Guidance of Darter Photography Expert through the day

The cost doesn’t include
* Mineral water and additional food and beverages beyond what is mentioned above.

Register for this tour

To register for the tour or for more details, please email us at register@darter.in or call us at 9880006460 (Arun Bhat) / 9341229807 (Pradeep MR)

Visit www.darter.in and facebook.com/darterphoto to know more about Darter Photography.

Tour Date: January 26, 27 and 28

Overview

Few places can offer a photographer such an amazing choice of subjects, irrespective of his/her area of interest and degree of expertize. In Hampi, a landscape photographer is greeted with, what a guidebook calls “arguably one of the most beautiful sunrises in the world” and perhaps the most colourful sunset one can ever see in this part of the world. The travel photographer, inclined towards heritage sites and street life, will have enough work for his camera that can keep him/her busy for weeks together. A wildlife and nature photographer will be equally amused, with a range of bird life unusually rich and diverse for a region this arid, and a wildlife sanctuary teeming with sloth bears.

Is this tour for you?

The Hampi Photography Tour is designed to (a) help amateurs and photographers of any level of expertize to see and capture the beauty of Hampi (b) travellers keen to explore the diversity of Hampi, not necessarily having photography in mind.

Our calendar is built in such a way that (a) we work closely with every photographer, helping them no matter what is their level of expertize (b) help beginners understand the basic nuances of photography and get beautiful images of Hampi (c) facilitate expert photographers to see and capture the right place at the right light, assisting them further when necessary (d) allow non-photographers to explore the diversity of Hampi.

The Photography Tour

“Many worlds of Hampi” is a 3-day photography tour designed to cover a wide range of interesting subjects that goes beyond the architectural splendours of Hampi. We have explored all the corners of Hampi to bring you the best in -

Landscapes – the river, boulders and hills of Hampi. Standing on the top of one of the highest landmarks of Hampi on an early morning as we wait for the the first rays of sun, our group of photographers will see the eagle’s eye view of the vast boulderscapes of Hampi with ancient temples and pavilions (mantapas) dotting the landscape. The Tungabhadra River magically squeezes its way through this arid landscapes, gently reflecting the blue skylights of the morning, perhaps with a coracle or two floating on it, ferrying people from the bathing ghats to Vithala Temple.  Have you ever felt, in places like this, that no photographs can justify the beauty of nature in front of you? We tend to agree, but we will also stay with you to bridge that gap between what you see and what you capture.

Sunsets can be equally captivating, as the sun paints the sky in hues of deep orange-pink, as we gather on a lively hillock littered with pillared pavilions, large boulders, small temples and a fragrant frangipani tree. Don’t be surprised if you forget photography for a moment and get engrossed in the evening landscape. But Darter Photography Expert will make sure you have the time of your life, with your experiences of the place as well as with your camera. There is no way you will go back home without taking great pictures and a brilliant smile.

Wildlife – birds and bears. A short drive from Hampi is a wildlife sanctuary dedicated to protecting a dense population of sloth bears that wander the shrub jungles adjoining the ancient city. It is not just the big, fat, adorable bears that we have here. Painted Sandgrouses, Grey Francolins, Flocks of parakeets, Black Redstarts, Sirkeer Malkohas, Yellow Throatred Bulbuls, White Browed Bulbuls, Indian Peafowl (Peacocks), Monitor Lizards and Star Tortoises are part of the big list of wildlife that our photographers have captured in Hampi. While wildlife sightings are left to chance, we know where to find them all, and the best ways to photograph this wildlife. Of course, expect plenty of leads on making great wildlife images as we go hunting these birds and animals on our way to Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary.

Architecture – the famed ruins of Vijayanagar Empire. Of course you would have heard of these. Hampi’s architectural heritage and its temples in various stages of ruination have brought this small village the UNESCO world heritage site status. A large number of monuments more than four hundred years old are strewn all across the plains of Hampi, inviting photographers to lose themselves in the ruins. But it would make little sense in making mere imprints of these beauties in your camera. With nearly half a dozen visits to the site, your photography expert has done a lot of work to find out what are the best monuments to shoot at what time of the day, to assess the direction of light that works good on these monuments and some great locations of Hampi and the right hour to capture their essence. All this knowledge is at the disposal of our participants, which helps make the tour a highly fruitful photography sojourn. The photography expert is there with you all the time, helping you when you have problems, reviewing your pictures and assisting you on field, ensuring that you get the best of what Hampi has to offer.

Tour Information

The tour calendar includes

• Visit to sites in Hampi that offer excellent photography opportunities in landscapes, wildlife and architecture
• Photography sessions at the resort that help participants in (a) capturing the best of what Hampi has to offer and (b) sprucing up your photography skills
• Daily image reviews at the end of the day

Accommodation

We will be staying at the Sloth Bear Resort, the new offering from Jungle Lodges and Resorts, on the boundary of the Daroji Bear Sanctuary.

Registration Information

This tour costs Rs.11,500 per person.

To register for the tour or for more details, please email us at register@darter.in or call us at 9740083260 (Shreeram M V) / 9880006460 (Arun Bhat).

Please see here for more details on the inclusions and exclusions.

Your Photography Expert: Arun Bhat

Accomplished travel and landscape photographer Arun Bhat’s works have been used by publications in India and across the world, all the way from Japan to USA. He is a professional photographer who has extensively travelled across India, creating some of the finest imagery of India’s landscapes and heritage sites.

Having travelled the country many times over and being used to waking up at 5am in bitter cold winter days, he has seen and captured finest landscapes all the way from Himalayas to the peninsular India but is yet to see anything as spectacular as the ‘morningscapes’ seen from the top of Hampi’s Hills. His half-a-dozen or so visits to Hampi have helped Arun develop a sense of familiarity and a good understanding of Hampi’s photography opportunities. Expect his guidance to come in your favour in making beautiful images of Hampi’s attractions.

Book this Tour

To register for the tour or for more details, please email us at register@darter.in or call us at 9740083260 (Shreeram M V) / 9880006460 (Arun Bhat). Alternately, fill in the contact-form below.

Know More

Visit www.darter.in to know more about Darter Photography and other photography centric events conducted by us.