dslrBlog » Travel

Kavitha Subramaniam: Land Of A Million Elephants

DSLRBlog Editor — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:35:42 +0000

In a time where fast cars and a need for speed dominate our lives, it’s nice to step back and take a nice leisurely ride on an elephant. What’s even more fun is trying to capture decent pictures from above. With one hand holding on to a seat and two bags, and the other with a camera, it was a miracle that nothing came crashing down to earth, yours truly included. “Pai, pai, Kamdi….pai pai!!” We were delightfully screaming out these words to our elephant Kamdi in the middle of the jungle, urging her to go forward. Anyone else would have thought we were crazy, but that’s just how it goes in the “Land of A Million Elephants” – Laos.

Sitting on a fixed seat that’s perched on an elephant is all well and good, but there comes a moment when the Mowgli in you just wants to jump up and sit upfront with your legs behind its ears – wild and carefree. And boy, was it amazing! Nothing beats the feeling of Kamdi’s ears flapping against my legs as she made her way through seemingly impossible routes.
As I was taking a back seat to my friend’s adventure up front, I decided to focus on how her hands looked against Kamdi’s hard skin. It seemed to resonate with me; here is this amazingly strong creature, yet she’s so fragile. After all, we were instructing her where to go, which way to turn and when it was time to eat. When I think about it now, I do feel a little sad for Kamdi. But at that very moment, all I felt was love and respect for this beautiful creature.

I’m just glad that Kamdi is in good hands with the lovely people at the elephant camp. It was a joy talking to her and feeding her loads of sugar cane. Just being in her presence was an experience I’ll never forget. For a short moment, we were both creatures connecting in a foreign land. I hope she felt the same way too.

Kavitha is an amateur photographer who loves to travel and connect with the local folks.

Website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/redbohemia/

Cool Travel Panorama Photographs

DSLRBlog Editors — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:33:23 +0000

Check out these brilliant Panorama Photographs taken by Lee & Sachi during their world travels. It's almost like being there but without the dodgy digestion, mosquitoes and sunburn, heh. Here is a small selection to show you what I mean ...

Via: DarrenBarefoot

Technorati Tags: panoramic, photographs, travel, photography, news

Thinking of flying from the UK with your camera kit?

DSLRBlog Editors — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 11:24:37 +0000

Reading Dan Chungs blog has alerted me to the news, for the time being at least, due to anti-terror rules just announced, you will not be able to take carry on, so your camera equipment will not be able to go onto the plane with you. This is bad news as anyone who has had delicate electrical equipment broken in the hold (or through rough baggage handling) will tell you.

More details at the BBC

Passengers are not allowed to take any hand luggage on to any flights in the UK, the department said.

Dan has a solution, though an expensive one:

I’d been thinking for a while about ordering a case that allows me to check my equipment in the hold if I have to. A solution used by many pros is the Pelican case. There are many different models in all shapes and sizes. Anticipating high demand for these cases in the next few days I’ve ordered 1620 and 1510 models; both have wheels and are large enough for a reasonable camera kit. One photographic dealer I contacted said he had already received seven orders by 9.30am this morning

Damian has a couple of these cases and they are really good. I am not a jet setter but I do fly every few months, I might have to invest in one of these myself.

Technorati Tags: photography, airports, airlines, terrorism, news