[TaureanBull]

Lovely pics! Well composed pics to show the beauty of the place.

I was actually surprised to see SX4 in these conditions because normally one expects a SUV to do the job. But no wonder, with a good GC SX4 would have been a faithful companion.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

I am using Nikon D800 and Nikon D7000 (both with battery grip), Tokina 16-28 F2.8 , Tamron 24-70 F2.8 VC, Nikon 70-200 F2.8 VR II and 50mm F1.4 G. I did used Lee Square GND for few shots and CPL for evening shots. Used Tripod for many shots. For the moon shots, I used Teleconverter TC-17e with 70-200

Once upon a time I remember you were hesitating so much (nov 09) to buy the first nikon you bought

Today its almost one SX4 in there Kudos sirjee. INCREDIBLE pics!

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by sajusherief

That's a list that can push any photographer to sheer state of envy! Though not a professional one, people like me too ! Thanks for that wonderful photologue! The pics are simply amazing, the moon shot swept me off my feet!

Thanks, even I like the moon shot alot, I have a full series, will post soon

Originally Posted by .anshuman

rkbharat, Those are some Amazing pictures. Excellent start to the travelogue, waiting for more.

Even i had been dreaming to be in Spiti at this time of the year, but an upcoming business trip to Foreign lands has spoiled my plans. I plan to go there this season, but only after all this Snow melts.

Rating the thread well deserving 5 stars!

Thanks Anshuman, you need to ab-USE XUV soon . I am most probably hitting spiti soon (or ladakh, depending on work pressure), then we want to hit roads to NE and Bhutan later this year

Originally Posted by Samba

You are using one of the best camera gears available in the market! Your pictures definitely do justice to what you own.

Thanks ans yes, that is one of the best set of gears

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

Lovely pics! Well composed pics to show the beauty of the place.

I was actually surprised to see SX4 in these conditions because normally one expects a SUV to do the job. But no wonder, with a good GC SX4 would have been a faithful companion.

Thanks, SX4 is no problem car, and worst it has seen is the drive to Zanskar, all the way to Padum and even further to Reru and Sakti, some fun drive to Ladakh, and last year adventure to Jalori pass and Daranghati.

With little more GC and better ramp clerance angle, it can give few crossovers run for there money, add an AWD to it, and it will be a league of its own. But I know that's not going to happen.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Once upon a time I remember you were hesitating so much (nov 09) to buy the first nikon you bought

Today its almost one SX4 in there Kudos sirjee. INCREDIBLE pics!

Bet you know the history well , and it actually value more than the value of my SX4

[rkbharat]

Day 3 continue:

We planned for a drive to Chitkul today, to see some more snow, as if we were not satisfied with what we already had, greed I say .
We were up and ready for chitkul by 10:00 Am, drive was pretty smooth, except that we had a tight situation on the way. One mr Punjabi brought his Fortuner and was having tough time passing by us, despite giving him maximum possible space, this guys was panicking, and there was another guy from his group who was directing him. He asked me to touch my SX4 towards the hill side a bit more, while I could not see any space, and I was climbing. Priyanka suggested that she should step out and check, but I decided to rely on this guy and was backing up based on his directions, and then it happened. Left side of the rear bumper of SX4 touched the ice wall and got a dent. I was furious, but then we had good day, so there was no point spoiling it, it was just repair job of 500-700 Rs.

Road was clear right to the last point of chitkul except few meters of ice patches, but nothing serious. We spent around an hour at chitkul, but realized that the spots just before chitkul were much better than chitkul itself. So we drove back and picked up a good snow spot for the rest of the day. We had our big Snowman and snow sliding for the rest of the time.

We met jamaica and his group at chitkul, and they met us again on our picnic spot, infact everybody stopped at our picnic spot . Finally we left back for hotel at around 4 pm.

Pics for the day

Our hotel at Rakcham


Beast


Arrived at Chitkul


Snow time




Chitkul


Tons of snow




And our Snowman


Some sliding time using our shovel






Tourists passing by


Return back to hotel


Road cleaning in progress


More lovely Vistas around hotel at Rakcham


Moon that day

[wanderernomad]

How white is my Valley! no words Bharat to describe the pictures. Good that you enjoyed and this time the snow gods have been generous. But again, mesmerizing pictures.

[rkbharat]

Last night was also cloudy with some snow fall, but not something we were wishing for, though light was quite dramatic along with some lovely clouds. I took few evening shots. One of the most important task we had for last two days was drying out the shoes and socks. Priyanka and myself took the wrong shoes and forgot to carry Quechua. So every time we went inside snow, we came back with all wet shoes and sock. Heater in the room was responsible for drying out the stuff and it did the job well.

Day 4 morning was again lovely, I was up before the alarm, at 4:45 Am, and people think photography is a leisure and all fun job . View from the terrace was absolutely delight, both my manfrotto tripods were out and doing the job well. First light, lovely clouds, clear moon, snow white peaks, song of birds, AND around 5 degree Celsius temp .

I did photography from 4:50 am till the full sun out around 7:00 Am. It was fun and a very satisfying. Nobody was there to disturb, a serene silence.
Few more pics, I did used Lee square GND for few shots.

Few evening shots from Day 3








Early morning shot on Day 4


First Light


Fire in the sky


Lovely cloud formations






And the moon series








Snow peaks glowing like gold


Village waking up


And the last shot from Sangla/Rakcham

[sudev]

Envy you the trip. Well captured and good story line.

Looks like you may have set off an un-intended competition of creating THE biggest snow man between touring fraternity of TBHP!!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

Day 4 morning was again lovely, I was up before the alarm, at 4:45 Am, and people think photography is a leisure and all fun job . View from the terrace was absolutely delight, both my manfrotto tripods were out and doing the job well. First light, lovely clouds, clear moon, snow white peaks, song of birds, AND around 5 degree Celsius temp .

Are those moon shots composite? Very nicely captured. Having 2 DSLR bodies definitely helps as I am finding out the hard way.

[Rudra Sen]

Excellently captured images Rajiv!

and people think photography is a leisure and all fun job.

Of course not after seeing your capture.

[himadrimondal]

Just fantastic, the frames are mind blowing to say the least.
Loved the cloud structures captured in black & whites. Seeing your SX 4 in all that snow ,
only goes to justify how good the car is.

[sridhar-v]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

I changed to Bridgestone Potenza GIII just a week before the trip, a very good decision, as we had to cross snow, slush and bad roads

Great job. Ur trip tilts me more towards an SX4. No ground clearance issues-wow.
How was the grip when travelling on actual snow/ice?

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by sudev

Envy you the trip. Well captured and good story line.

Looks like you may have set off an un-intended competition of creating THE biggest snow man between touring fraternity of TBHP!!

Thanks Sudev ji, and if nobody joins the competition, we will set the bar higher in May/June with much bigger snow man in Spiti :P

Originally Posted by ampere

Are those moon shots composite? Very nicely captured. Having 2 DSLR bodies definitely helps as I am finding out the hard way.

All moon shots are single shot, Nikon D7000+70-200 F2.8+TC-17e+Cropping
two bodies are must for landscape as you get so much opportunities at different Focal lenght. I was using Tokina 16-28 F2.8 with D800 all the time, and 70-200 F2.8 with D7000.

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Excellently captured images Rajiv!
Of course not after seeing your capture.

Thanks Rudra sir

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

Just fantastic, the frames are mind blowing to say the least.
Loved the cloud structures captured in black & whites. Seeing your SX 4 in all that snow ,
only goes to justify how good the car is.

Thanks, and the place itself is amazing
SX4 is a good car, as I mentioned earlier, its has gone through much tougher roads than this one. This was a piece of cake, except one slush point which was scary, more about it in next post

Originally Posted by sridhar-v

Great job. Ur trip tilts me more towards an SX4. No ground clearance issues-wow.
How was the grip when travelling on actual snow/ice?

Thanks
Actually more than SX4 or any other car, its the skills that matters alot on those roads. out of 70KM on odo of my SX4, more than 25K is on hilly roads.
Grip was fantastic, car was holding very well in snow and slush, glad I decided to change the tyres. The noise level is drastically low from Aceler and comfort is fantastic. Worth all the extra money

[lordofgondor]

Whoa, those are spectacular pictures. One of the best snowed out mountain collection I've seen! It all looks so beautiful.

Awaiting the arrival of more captivating stuff.

[lsp]

@RK
Amazing Pics Man!! I liked the moon shots very much and some of the B&Ws are worth framing and hanging on your wall.

Since you said SX4 did very well on this trip, did you do any special prep for this?


I was also wondering if people well versed in using GPS etc. on your Android phones and other devices, (like yourself, TSK, etc) could write a primer of sorts for the technologically challenged people like me explaining whats the basic equipment needed, how to find out routes, how to record your journey, how to use the equipment offline, tricks & tips etc. It would be a great help in initiating people into this stuff and making their journeys safer and more enjoyable.

Please give it a thought.

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by lordofgondor

Whoa, those are spectacular pictures. One of the best snowed out mountain collection I've seen! It all looks so beautiful.

Awaiting the arrival of more captivating stuff.

Thanks, more next

Originally Posted by lsp

@RK
Amazing Pics Man!! I liked the moon shots very much and some of the B&Ws are worth framing and hanging on your wall.
Since you said SX4 did very well on this trip, did you do any special prep for this?

Thanks, nothing special prep on SX4, standard 70K service, new tyres.

Its the other prep which can allow us to open a temporary home and an auto garage where ever we go, will post our master packing list

Originally Posted by lsp

I was also wondering if people well versed in using GPS etc. on your Android phones and other devices, (like yourself, TSK, etc) could write a primer of sorts for the technologically challenged people like me explaining whats the basic equipment needed, how to find out routes, how to record your journey, how to use the equipment offline, tricks & tips etc. It would be a great help in initiating people into this stuff and making their journeys safer and more enjoyable.
Please give it a thought.

Sure, I can post few tips