Traveling to India for charity shoot -- advice?

[Steven Digges]

+1 What Chris and Paul said^^^^^^^^^^^!!!

[Steven Reid]

I didn't think this would be complex, but I do take the cautions to heart. I'll try again: my main profession is not videography, but I do own and use pro gear. Let's not get bogged down in what constitutes "professional." Here, I'm just a guy with a heart for helping this charity. I'm not a card-carrying member of the charity, I'm paying my own way, etc. Hence, I'd be entering India, like other yokels with some nice kit, wanting to travel around with some friends and to capture the sights and sounds. No business or commercial purpose underlies the trip. It is strictly personal. I'm tagging along and doing a favor for friends.

I've read a score of anecdotes elsewhere on the internet, mostly of photog tourists, who tote their DSLR's and piles of lenses into India with nary a glance or remark from Indian govt. officials. Taking the collective warnings here into consideration, I thought I might simply do the same, albeit with video and sound gear. Is that so naive?

[Steven Digges]

Steven,

This post is not specific to India or any other country or event. It is a general comment. No sarcasm or humor this time.

Above, you stated your intention for this trip. Lets say one of your "charitable friends does something the local authorities don't like" and YOU end up in a small room. Only this one has bars on it. Do you believe your good intent will be enough to save you from that situation? It is not within my capacity to advise you on that.

My personal opinion on Americans that become incarcerated in known hostile countries, (not saying India) and make national headlines for their cause.... I can not state here on this forum. They went there willingly to spread charity or the word of the Lord and now they are a poor innocent prisoner. Realy? Now it is time for our President to save them! Really? It is now time to sacrifice the lives of a few special operations guys to save that person! Realy?

This is your decision. Only you know if you are going there to be a tourist or a charitable person with a cause. I do know history says both have been locked up unjustifiably. I also know once they are locked up they are all innocent tourists....

No judgement, no advice....probably overstepping my boundaries for this forum. But it is also out of my scope of experience to advise you on your safety in India as a friend of charity.


Kind Regards,

Steve

[Steven Reid]

Steve, again thanks for taking the time to comment.

I think I've been fairly advised, and perhaps this thread has therefore reached its end. If I never post again on DVInfo, would someone please send Delta Force to India to check on my well being? ;)

[Steven Digges]

Thank you for the light hearted reply. I can be blunt and opinionated,,,,often. Just don't take me too seriously. I never mean to offend (-:

Kind Regards,

Steve

And please don't quit posting.....I would hate to be blamed for another death on DVinfo.net!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I am an Indian and based here in India and shoot throughout India. I have no idea in which kind of locations you are going to shoot. However, I can safely say that you are going to attract lot of attention.

When I shoot with a C300, people gather around me to see what I am doing. Foreigners means more people crowding around you. Some will try to start conversations with you, hoping to benefit in some manner and some simply out of curiosity. I have seen people walk up and start recording videos of me and/or my monitor with their mobile phones. So if you are shooting in a Public place 1) keep to a low profile ie use stripped down versions of equipment 2) shoot and move fast.

In streets, mostly I try to use my Gitzo photo tripod with a cheap manfrotto head. (The OConnor stays in the car. Sorry to Chris Soucy, our resident tripod Guru for disappointing you by shooting with cheap tripods) :)

The OConnors and Sachtlers attract too much of attention and screams professional. At times some of the street scenes, I also use my EOS 1DXII, so that people think I am just a photographer.

I find putting a lapel mic to be much better than asking a person to use the boom in the street. Having said that many Indian women wear Sari. It would be difficult to hide the lapel. Even my wife tells me that it is too much of a hassle in those situations and asks me to use a boom.

If shooting indoors then that is a different thing altogether.

Carry a DSLR if you want some timelapses.

People can easily make out a video bag from a normal backpack. And video means professional.

[Steven Reid]

Originally Posted by Sabyasachi Patra

I am an Indian and based here in India and shoot throughout India. I have no idea in which kind of locations you are going to shoot. However, I can safely say that you are going to attract lot of attention.

Hi Sabyasachi. Thanks so much for your insight. While my primary concern in recent posts was attracting attention from government officials at my point of entry, I don't at all discount your remarks about drawing attention from locals while traveling about. Nearly the entirety of my trip would consist of stops in a few rural villages, and even then I think most shooting would occur indoors, e.g., at a school, medical clinic, or orphanage. This isn't a sightseeing tour of your country's metropolitan centers and historical landmarks.

Thanks for the remarks about women wearing saris and lapel mics. I hadn't considered that. I won't have have a sound person and, hence, I won't have a boom option, so an on-camera mic <shudder> will have to suffice in situations where my wireless lav can't be pressed into service.

Steve

[Peter Rummel]

I had a couple of shoots in India about 10 years ago. On both trips I got ill, on the last trip I got very ill and was out of commission for a day. I would pack remedies for an upset tummy all the way through to serious antibiotics. And some electrolyte powder for rehydration.
I would also attract a crowd. At first this truly bugged me, but I came to see it as a golden opportunity to shoot tights of faces - useful in any edit.
Have a great time. I enjoyed the heck out of India and would go back in a heartbeat.

[Chris Soucy]

Hi, Steven

Apologies for not getting back sooner, life just got in the way.

It would appear there was some excitement whilst I was absent, you don't often get midnight mails from the DVinfo wranglers saying " the miscreant has been nailed and quarantined, possibly for ever".

Er, what miscreant? What did they say, about whom? (Dumb question: if the wranglers mailed me, it was obviously me, duh!)

Another reason for dallying was trying to think of something really useful to add to what I had already said.

The only one that really sticks is the age old one of hot/ humid climate vs air con room. I don't know who's paying for what; if they are, it probably won't be, if you are, it possibly will.

Take a camera system out into a hot/ humid atmosphere ( 38C & 99% is not unknown) for a days shooting, return to your air-con room at 21C & 50% and all that water vapour IN your camera has to go somewhere.

Yep, condense all over whatever in your camera cools down first. Give it a week and all of a sudden camera has nervous breakdown as it and the lens system are full of liquid water.

More than that I shall not say, precautions will have to be taken is all.

Lastly - enjoy! It's a truly fabulous country, the people are amazing, the food is glorious, it's chaotic, noisy, polluted and, and, and, there is an indefinable about it that I have still not, having spent two years there, been able to distill into cogent words.

It will get into your very soul and then you'll be an India junkie - else you'll run screaming for the first flight home (I've seen it happen). I doubt you'll be the latter.

Have fun.

Regards,


CS

PS: A late addition. I have just finished reading an amazing book by Malcolm Gladwell, titled "Blink - the Power of Thinking without Thinking". He's a US based author, has sold millions of books and ain't no kook, everything he writes about is peer reviewed scientific observation.

A large part of the book is about "reading" faces, what they are REALLY saying even if the owner is not. The most startling fact for me is that all the expressions the human face can produce - hundreds - are the same world wide, the same grimace/ smile/ snarl from an Arctic Inuit is the same as from a South African Zulu. It might be worth giving it a shot and practicing, it could come in handy.

[Steven Reid]

Originally Posted by Peter Rummel

I had a couple of shoots in India about 10 years ago. On both trips I got ill, on the last trip I got very ill and was out of commission for a day. I would pack remedies for an upset tummy all the way through to serious antibiotics. And some electrolyte powder for rehydration.
I would also attract a crowd. At first this truly bugged me, but I came to see it as a golden opportunity to shoot tights of faces - useful in any edit.
Have a great time. I enjoyed the heck out of India and would go back in a heartbeat.

Thanks for chiming in with a good word, Peter.

[Steven Reid]

Originally Posted by Chris Soucy

It would appear there was some excitement whilst I was absent, you don't often get midnight mails from the DVinfo wranglers saying " the miscreant has been nailed and quarantined, possibly for ever".

Er, what miscreant? What did they say, about whom? (Dumb question: if the wranglers mailed me, it was obviously me, duh!)

Chris, thanks for coming back with comments. As to yours above, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Did someone think I got a boo-boo? No excitement here, just move along folks, nothing to see. You can look up my day job. I have a very thick skin. I really like this community, so I'm going nowhere, except maybe to India.

Yes, thanks for the remark about gear and humidity. I once traveled around a Central American country and used, to great effect, a gigantic zip-loc bag: cam got ziplocked inside my air-conditioned room, I moved it to the humid and warm outdoors to reach ambient temp, then unzipped it. No condensation problem. The other direction that you mentioned isn't a problem, so long as the cooler target environment is drier --> prevents condensation.

Cheers.