[Philomath55]

As usual, a wonderful travelogue by you AD Sir. I read your travelogues with keen interest as it ignites the wanderlust in me. Will definitely make a trip Hampi when I visit Karnataka next.

[chaitanyakrish]

Excellent Pics Dr.AD. I'm a fan of your photography style and they immensely help, to choose my next destinations.

[Gupts007]

What a beautiful experience that we enjoyed vicariously. Your travelogue not only motivates to travel but addresses another issue that sometimes hampers the idea of travelling due to the fact that most of us wait for travel partners.
One needs to be able to travel solo comfortably and self connect is so important. Beautiful pictures of some amazing locations.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by the_bat

Damn, I must say I am genuinely amazed by the level of candid shots you have taken, followed by the hotel suite you got at the place.

Thank you very much.

I was actually clouded if I should ask you this on a public forum or not, but as Naval said, "If you don't ask, the answer is always no". I have developed a keen interest in photography over the past couple of years and would love to get some tips/resources to learn your kinda photography or resources that you learned photography from.

First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong in this question. This is actually a good question and I will be happy to share whatever I have learned.

I started my learning with a few online courses a couple of years ago. There are plenty of online courses in photography, and you can choose one or more than one depending on your liking.

I did a few courses, but one "complete" course that I would recommend is this: https://www.udemy.com/course/photogr...o-photography/

I took this course in its entirety and that helped me get going with the basic understanding. Then after that I took many advanced courses. Thankfully, there are tons of videos on YouTube about photography, from expert photographers, and I watch many of them regularly as a part of my learning and also just as a hobby. Some of those videos are just amazing and they teach me a lot.

In addition, there are many websites dedicated to photography, and I am a regular reader of those sites. For example, one site that I like is this: https://photographylife.com/

They have a few nice and simple tutorials here: https://photographylife.com/learn-photography

And finally, and most importantly, I have a few good friends who are expert photographers with a lot of first-hand experience and track record of taking great photos (for example, my friend @robimahanta), and I discuss with them and learn from them. It is very helpful to share your photographs with such expert friends and seek their feedback. This is one of the best learning methods.

These are the resources and the methods I use to keep learning about this fascinating field. You can choose some of these resources and methods as you like.

I don't have a DSLR but own a Realme XT (64 MP + 16 MP Primary Camera). I am not sure if its too much to ask, if you too think the same, pardon my curiosity please.

Honestly, for the kind of photos I shared in this travelogue, a DSLR is not a strict requirement (although it will certainly help in getting good quality photos, and I did use DSLR for most of these photos, but not all).

DSLR or mirrorless camera is certainly a requirement if you want to do a very technical photography or do some specialized shots, such as macros, or portraits with very shallow depth of field, or bird photography which can not be done without a telephoto lens at all.

However, keeping aside such specialized topics, for most "general" photos, and certainly for the kind of landscape photos I shared here, the composition is the most important thing. Composition, color coordination, lighting are some of the things which can make or break a landscape photo. And thankfully, these things do not require a DSLR or any high end camera. You can get great compositions and achieve good color theme and light theme in your photo even with a mobile phone camera.

Therefore, before you even worry about what camera you have, I would suggest focus on learning as much as you can about compositions, color coordination, lights and shadows etc. There are tons of online resources to learn more about these topics. These things are also a lot more interesting to learn because these are pure arts compared to the science of the technicalities of camera. That science can come later. But before that, learn the art, that is independent of the camera.

I am totally fascinated by this topic of composition, and every day I keep reading articles and studying photographs to understand more about composition and learn the nuances of good or bad composition. It is a lovely hobby in its own right.

Although I used mostly a DSLR in this trip, I also took photos with my mobile phone and got a few decent shots with mobile too.

For example, I liked this photograph from my trip, which was taken with my mobile phone camera:

This photo looks decent (I think so, but again this is purely subjective and others can have different views) just because of the composition, the colors and the light.

From technical point of view, this was shot with a poor resolution and in general poor telephoto lens on my mobile phone, and if you see closely, you will find a lot of "defects". If you zoom on the leaves on that tree for example, there are no details. The details are lost, and the clarity is poor. There is also a weird artifact at the sharp contrasty edges. A better camera (DSLR or mirrorless) could have done better in eliminating or minimizing some of these defects. But that is not the point of this photo.

This photo is all about composition, and not the technical details. I personally like this composition (and that is why I shot this in the first place). Not that the composition is perfect. There are some flaws in composition too. For example, that stone coming in the frame from the left edge is a bit of a distraction. I would have loved to get a cleaner composition without anything distracting on the left edge. This photo will look much better if the left edge was clean and there was just open space without any of those elements. But, while walking around there, and trying to compose this photo, I could not find a position where I could get this composition without the stones in the left edge. Further, on second thought, I felt that the stones on left make better "weight distribution" (another key element of composition) in this photo, and may be that element is required to make this photo look good. Eventually I decided to let it be there and composed this image as shown here.

These are the thoughts and discussions about composition that you can practice and learn, and then, even with your mobile phone, you can get good photos. Camera is not a limitation unless you reach a very pro level already.

At least at my level of photography, and the kind of photography shared in this report, composition is 90% of the story. The rest 10% is few other elements that you can ignore at this time. I also enjoy the other technicalities of photography and camera now, and I also enjoy manual mode where I control aperture, shutter speed, ISO myself to achieve the desired effect I want. I also use prime lenses when required, and now have started understanding the style of different lenses and how they affect the final output. But all that comes in the picture only if I get the composition right. Nothing can help a bad composition.

Sorry for the long answer to your question. But I hope I gave you some useful information. And my apologies if you already knew these things and what I mentioned was redundant.

Originally Posted by Philomath55

As usual, a wonderful travelogue by you AD Sir. I read your travelogues with keen interest as it ignites the wanderlust in me. Will definitely make a trip Hampi when I visit Karnataka next.

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

Excellent Pics Dr.AD. I'm a fan of your photography style and they immensely help, to choose my next destinations.

Thank you very much to both of you for your kind words.

[srikrishna717]

Fantastic share Dr AD. I guess this part is also called the "Ramayana trail" If I remember correctly. Your photographs are superb, I think the tough climb up was all worth it!!
Great captures, thanks once again!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Gupts007

What a beautiful experience that we enjoyed vicariously. Your travelogue not only motivates to travel but addresses another issue that sometimes hampers the idea of travelling due to the fact that most of us wait for travel partners.

Thank you very much.

One needs to be able to travel solo comfortably and self connect is so important. Beautiful pictures of some amazing locations.

Thanks again and well said. Yes, waiting for travel partners should not be an excuse, and one should be able to travel solo. As you said, self connect is the key part.

Originally Posted by srikrishna717

Fantastic share Dr AD. I guess this part is also called the "Ramayana trail" If I remember correctly. Your photographs are superb, I think the tough climb up was all worth it!!
Great captures, thanks once again!

Thank you very much.

Yes, Matanga hill is one of the three or four hills in Hampi that form the "Ramayana Trail". Many of these locations are associated with various events in Ramayana, and the temples on each of these hills tell some story from Ramayana.

For example, see this story quoted from: https://hampi.in/matunga-hill

Matanga Hill is one of the important locations mentioned in the Hindu mythology, Ramayana. The place was the hermitage of Sage Mathanga. Monkey prince Vali killed a buffalo demon called Dundhuvi and thrown the corps on to the sacred Matanga hill. Angry at this act, sage Matanga cursed Vali that he could never venture on to this hill. Later Dundhuvi's son Mayavi fought with Vali to avenge his father's death. Vali chased him into a cave; and asked his brother Sugreeva to stand guard outside.

After a while thinking that Vali was killed in the fight, Sugreeva closed the cave. Finally Vali emerged from the cave and chased Sugreeva out of the monkey kingdom. Sugriva along with his warrior general Hanuman, took refuge at the Matanga hill, as Vali could not climb this hill. Later Lord Rama killed Vali and crowned Sugriva as the king of the monkeys.

[ellip5i5]

Lovely write up, thank you for sharing.

This is the sunrise from across the river on anjanadri hill. The climb is much easier and you can expect a good crowd too. The only bummer is that, though it’s just across the river from hampi, it’s a good 20-25 min by road as there are only a few bridges to get across.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by ellip5i5

Lovely write up, thank you for sharing.

Thank you!

This is the sunrise from across the river on anjanadri hill. The climb is much easier and you can expect a good crowd too. The only bummer is that, though it’s just across the river from hampi, it’s a good 20-25 min by road as there are only a few bridges to get across.

Nice photo and thanks for sharing this information! Yes, Anjandari hill is a good place too, and offers some great views, with an easier climb. It is actually on the way to Sanapur Lake, and thus, can be combined with a visit to Sanapur Lake.

However, another attraction at Matanga Hill (in contrast to Anjandari hill) is that it not only offers great views of sunrise, but it also offers 360 degree views of the main Hampi monuments area, from close distance. Just after sunrise, in that morning light, watching various temples and monuments from the top of the hill was also a great experience.