[Rudra Sen]

There’s something seriously wrong somewhere.
It could be just our bad luck. Or it could just be my luck.

Otherwise why on earth would lousy weather follow me every time I’m near the mountains?
It must be true to a great extent. Because, so many times I’ve seen Ajay frowning to no end. Expression was very clear.. Why it’s always a bad weather when you’re around?

I really have no answer to this but it’s true.

2006 we made our first trip to Ladakh. We originally planned our trip for June beginning to start. It was raining badly all over Himachal’s higher altitude. I pushed it back to July end with hope for better light and little rain. Weather did improve vastly. With joy and anticipation I reached Delhi sometime in end of July and our journey started. Bright sunshine and lovely clouds soon started disappearing. Roughly 51 km from Manali and Rohtang Pass to be precise, visibility turned to zero with rain.

We were little younger those days. We braved ahead and reached Keylong just to know that weather was not looking good upward. Promised by many and so-called good roads were non-existent. We reached Sarchu to recharge ourselves and our equipment batteries. Night temperature went down drastically with heavy rain. Next morning we got up only to know about a huge landslide 10 km ahead of us. We were stuck in Sarchu for two additional nights.
Roughly 80 km from Leh town we were stuck again for 5 hours. It was in a village named Miru, a small pretty place. We’ve seen Miru this time too and it’s difficult to believe that how devastating it was looking during 2006 July.

This year we both had planned a detailed trip. Delhi – Jammu – Srinagar – Kargil – leh – Sarchu – Keylong – Kaza… Getting into Lahul and Spiti valley. Roughly a month all put together.

But as my luck would have it our plan didn’t materialise fully. It had to happen, I knew.
Baralacha pass was closed and didn’t open till we came back to Delhi. We tried going to Pangong Tso twice but couldn’t because of horrible weather. We ended up coming again via Srinagar. We could have got into Himachal from Pathankot on our way back. But quick call to Manali confirmed that weather started getting bad there too.

OK, enough of ranting. Primary objective for this was photography.
So for 30 days time span any TBHP member would have covered this route couple of times. But for us shooting was the key. Many a times I had spent more than an hour in one place to get the right light. Added to that, Gypsy is the slowest car in that sense. Anybody with any other car would have covered triple the distance.

Well, we’re not unhappy for that. Primary objective was photography any way.

This year we’ve seen plenty of Ladakh travelogues. All of them are fantastic in their own right. I’m not going to put up our travel dairy here but place some images. If you guys are too tired with Ladakh images.. let me know. I’ll stop right there.

Note:
Images were taken using three cameras:
Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II
Small pocket camera – Canon Powershot S90.

Lenses used:
100 – 400 mm Canon f4.5 – 5.6L USM
70 – 200 mm Canon f2.8L IS USM
70 – 200 mm Canon f4L USM
24 – 105 mm Canon f4L IS USM
50 mm Canon f1.4 USM
20 mm Canon f2.8 USM

Tripod: Manfrotto 055MF3 with 029 Manfrotto PAN head.

Graduated Cokin filters with various densities were used to control tonal range.

So here we start one by one. Our transport. With EOS 1Ds Mark II..

[Reisender]

@Rudra,
Man this is fantastic pic to start with..
Keep them rolling..

[Rudra Sen]

Brand new Geolandars tyres after covering Delhi to Kargil. Give and take 450 kms of horrible road in between. Shot with S90.

[laluks]

Rudra da, Was waiting for this. I know this is going to be a treat.

[kpzen]

Finally, we get the travelogue.
Bring it on, I know the pics are gonna make our eyes pop out and jaws drop.

[gonewithwind]

I have travelled to Ledakh in july on My Gypsy from trivandrum.Primary objective of my trip was painting mountainscapes(landscape).
Me too used a Canon S90 camera.
Looking forward to see photos from someone who knows so much about camera and photography.

[CRV2010]

Loved the First Pic. Go on Rudra Sir

Rated *****

[Rudra Sen]

Trying to stand straight. At Sonmarg. Shot with EOS 1Ds Mark II.



While waiting for Zojila Pass to open. Shot with S90.





While crossing Zojila Pass. Good to have a small camera for these kind of capture.





I drove through those deep ditches. Thought for a moment. Told Ajay to drive back again through those ditches. Not to reduce the speed below 50 kmph. Small fun for old people. Shot with EOS 1Ds Mark II.



Nomad boy waiting for tourists. Bare footed and in biting cold. Begging is a way of life for them. Shot with S90.

[San Phrangmung]

The gypsy looks right at home among the rocks. I just wish that Maruti bring out an upgrade soon. Its the last remaining of the old lot after Alto K10 relese recently.

And does the EOS 1Ds have gps of some kind or you used something seperately.

[Joy]

Leh-Ladakh at its best.

Eagerly waiting for the next lot. Awesome pics, mate.

[Dippy]

Time to sit back and enjoy this thread. The opening shot is superb Rudra. If this the beginning I can only imagine what pictures to expect as you keep posting. Bring them on

Thread rating 5 Stars

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by gonewithwind

I have travelled to Ledakh in july on My Gypsy from trivandrum.Primary objective of my trip was painting mountainscapes(landscape).

I see you're a painter. Love to see your creation. As an Art College graduate I surely have the right to ask.

Originally Posted by gonewithwind

Me too used a Canon S90 camera.

I suppose you're using RAW capture.

Originally Posted by gonewithwind

Looking forward to see photos from someone who knows so much about camera and photography.

Sir, I don't know much about cameras. I only know about those machines I use.

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

And does the EOS 1Ds have gps of some kind or you used something seperately.

One can surely use these cameras for tagging. I don't do that because I don't have a GPS system with me. Ajay does that on a regular basis with his 1Ds Mark III.

Originally Posted by kpzen

Finally, we get the travelogue.
Bring it on, I know the pics are gonna make our eyes pop out and jaws drop.

Kp, it's not going to be a travelogue but a cluster of some images. Some boring and some interseting.. I promise you.

[laluks]

Amazing. Those scapes.
Rudra da, I am all blue with envy.

Rated 5 stars

[Klub Class]

Wow! The opening shot is really awesome Rudra Sir.I'm falling in more in love with you clicks Sir. Yes, I'm drooling over those pics

Sir, tell me - how much pictures did you click altogether? 10k+ ?

PS : Rated 5 stars. You really deserve it.

Amith

[4x4 cruiser]

This year we’ve seen plenty of Ladakh travelogues. All of them are fantastic in their own right. I’m not going to put up our travel dairy here but place some images. If you guys are too tired with Ladakh images.. let me know. I’ll stop right there.

First of all its about Ladakh, so i don't think anyone will complain about it and the picture with which you have started blew me away in all senses, I enjoy doing photography a lot (though i am not at all good at it) but would have never thought, that a Black mountain with white gypsy would look so tempting. As is always said the pictures speaks more then the words. Would love to see each and every photo.

Eagerly waitng for the updates.