[Leica] Varanasi

[sonc.hegr at gmail.com (Sonny Carter)]

Technology is amazing, Jay.  However, showing the camera where to look is
more amazing, and you're a master of that.

Regards,

Sonny
http://sonc.com <http://sonc.com/look/>
Natchitoches, Louisiana
1714
Oldest Permanent Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase

USA


On Mon, Dec 26, 2022 at 9:13 PM Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG <
lug at leica-users.org> wrote:

> Bob, Douglas
> Thanks for looking.
>
> The important aspect of this trip is that I was on a boat most of the time,
> facing the ghats, so you capture the overall mood/atmosphere and photograph
> people facing you. If I was on foot on the ghats, all I would get is
> photographs of the backsides of people, one of my pet hates, because the
> action is usually at the congruence of land and water! Of course, the
> excellent stabilization built into equipment today also helps a lot with
> night/low light photography in general. I got sharp images using a Nikon
> Z9/Nikkor Z70-200mm f2.8 combo, which is pretty heavy in aggregate, with
> shutter speeds as low as 1/5s. Technology is absolutely amazing.
>
> Cheers
> Jayanand
>
> On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 6:40 AM Douglas Barry <imra at iol.ie> wrote:
>
> > Impressive place, Jayanand, with equally impressive images, however, the
> > stand out for me in the collection is "Cremation at Night". I'd regard
> > it as probably the photograph of the year on the LUG.
> >
> > Douglas
> >
> > On 23/12/2022 03:03, Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG wrote:
> > > Neela & I had gone on a trip to Bandhavgarh National Park, followed by
> > the
> > > temple town of Khajuraho, and finally Varanasi on the River Ganges, one
> > of
> > > the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the high
> seat
> > of
> > > Hinduism. To start with a few impressions of Varanasi, mostly seen from
> > > boats on the river, as the hotel we were staying was situated on the
> > river,
> > > and not accessible by vehicles - only by boat, or on foot - so a lot of
> > our
> > > movement was on boats:
> > >
> > > Ghats are access points on any river/water body. There are 84 ghats in
> > all
> > > on this stretch of the Ganges - some a few years years old, and some
> > > thousands of years old. This is a view from the terrace of our hotel,
> > which
> > > was situated on the river at Darbhanga Ghat:
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221206-050-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > > The ghats are interconnected, so it is possible to walk from one end to
> > > anther on the rivers edge, taking in sights like this one - shaving of
> > > one's hair is a common act of piety and penance in Hinduism:
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/untitled-20221209-896-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > > Varanasi is probably the holiest city in Hinduism, and the main temple
> > here
> > > is the Kasi Viswanath Mandir (the tower of which is visible just to the
> > > left of the central lamp post in the photograph). As it is also Prime
> > > Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, it is getting a
> much
> > > overdue facelift, including this modern, clean and efficient access to
> > the
> > > temple from the river:
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221206-184-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > > The Ganga Aarti is a photogenic, daily tourist spectacle of a tradition
> > > thousands of years old, offering prayers to the goddess Ganga, after
> whom
> > > the river is named, on the banks of the river, at Dasashwamedha Ghat,
> by
> > a
> > > dozen priests. It is about an hour long, and these are some views of
> the
> > > ceremony from the river - a variety of props are used - conchs, lamps
> of
> > > different types and sizes, incense, fans made of reeds as well as
> peacock
> > > feathers, among others:
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221206-199-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-151-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-181-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-185-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-2-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-591-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-732-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > > These two young men seem to be more interested in their smartphones
> > rather
> > > in the spectacle going on:
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221206-206-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > > The floating of small lamps in the Ganges is a ritual done to pray for
> > good
> > > health and well being of your loved ones:
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-104-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-095-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > > In Hinduism, the belief is that all your sins are washed away by dying
> in
> > > Varanasi, and being cremated on the banks of the River Ganges, so this
> > is a
> > > constant activity. The main location is Manikarnika Ghat, where
> multiple
> > > cremations happen 24/7 through the year - here are impressions taken at
> > > sunset, and at night:
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/untitled-20221208-881-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-780-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > > Finally , a portrait of a young man I caught while disembarking from a
> > boat
> > > at night, both in B&W and Colour:
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-087-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit+B_amp_W.jpg.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-087-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html
> > >
> > > Please see LARGE.
> > >
> > > Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome
> > >
> > > Cheers
> > > Jayanand
> > >
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> >
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