Monsoon trekking is common for Mumbai and Pune adventure and nature lovers. Lot have been written about "how to" " where to" and "what to see". I just would like to write about my experience as a photographer. Trekking is not a photography trip. They move fast and take less luggage. I just went with these monsoon trekkers to take photographs!! However, I can't take the tripod or too many lenses. Problems for photographers - 1. rain ( take care of the lens and camera is difficult. 2. Pace - they move fast, there is no time to stand and think about composition and set up long exposures etc. 3. Can't take too many gears ( tripod and lenses). 4. One more major problem is light; in monsoon very often it is overcast clouds and trek groups never leave before 9 Am, so we will miss the morning light. In the evening, all of us will be in a hurry to reach the base and hence in evening golden light we will be in the valley rather than in mountains. So if you go with the trekking group then quality landscape opportunities are very less. I am looking for some photography group that would help me to cover Sahyadri.
So I switched to micro-four-third so that I can accommodate the camera. here are my gears- Olympus OMD EM5- 12-40 Pro f2.8 zoom, 40-150 consumer zoom, Raynox 250R (for macro- an adapter), small silk 3-foot tripod, lens wipes and Canon 100S point to shoot, which can shoot in RAW mode and has all the controls like a DSLR.
Camera in hand would be EM5+ 12-40f2.8- weather sealed, in the trouser pocket Canon S100. Even in rain EM5 can be used as it is weather resistant. Missing the wide angle lens; I learnt to stitch panoramas or two photo stitches to cover the range.
I will add few more points as and when I remember. Here are photos. Click on photos to view large and slide show.
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| No to Sun |
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| Flow |
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| Lonely at top |
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| From side |
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| Village kitchen |
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| Wind and water power |
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| zigzag below |
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| Green patches |
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| From top ponds Sahyadri |
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| Climb |
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| One more step |
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| Conquered Jivdhan fort |
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| Relax on top o f Jivdhan fort- Sahyadri |
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| That evening light |
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| The great Indian Chief |
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| Golden light |
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Malshej ghat Sahyadri
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| I am different |
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Malshej ghat Sahyadri and flowers
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Malshej ghat Sahyadri and flowers
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| Lonavala from Sahyadri |
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| Lonavala and Sahyadri |
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| Lonavala and Sahyadri |
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| Lonavala and Sahyadri |
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| Lonavala and Sahyadri |
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| Lonavala and Sahyadri |
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| Lonavala and Sahyadri |
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| Lonavala and Sahyadri |
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| Green top |
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| Waterfall and boys- scale |
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| Distant mountain |
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| Walking on the edge |
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| Villager from Sahyadri foothills |
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| Villager from Sahyadri foothills |
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| Villager from Sahyadri foothills |
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| Standing in the stream - Sahyadri |
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| Distant one |
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| Geometric shapes Sahyadri |
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| Edge |
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| Geometric shapes Sahyadri |
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| Table top one more view Sahyadri |
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| Table top one more view Sahyadri |
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| Small streams |
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| Paddy field |
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| Cloud cover |
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| Leader- Shri Shivaji Maharaj |
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| Leading to |
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| My photo? a village boy |
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| Ready to climb |
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| Clam |
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| Scaling the height |
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| Water storage at top of the mountain |
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| Bus, clouds and a landscape |
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| Blue beauty |
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| Wild flower |
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| Grand parents |
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| Turn back |
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| Paddy fields |
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| view |
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| From top |
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| From top - village, Sahyadri chavand fort |
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| From top - village, Sahyadri |
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Malshej ghat Sahyadri
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| Table top Panorama |
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| Green and cloud panorama |
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| Sahyadri Panorama |
