In the Spotlight - Desi Traveler, An inspiring Traveler & Photographer with his unique Desi Style

1. About you: Tell us about yourself    I have lived all over India, and I think myself as a 100 % desi .. I am your regular guy who went to college, took up a job, rose in position, worked all over India and traveled for work and business to US, UK, etc.

In our popular series "In the Spotlight" , we bring you another inspiring interview with Mr. Prasad NP, who popularly known as 'Desi Traveler' in Travel Blogging community. Without saying much, let's hear about him in his own words...



1. About you: Tell us about yourself 

I have lived all over India, and I think myself as a 100 % desi .. I am your regular guy who went to college, took up a job, rose in position, worked all over India and traveled for work and business to US, UK, etc. 



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The #Naga warriors were both feared and respected even by their enemies. The #Hornbillfestival is an attempt to revive the unique cultural #Heritage of Naga #tribes. This elder warrior has seen his world change in a generation what others have seen in 1000 years. It was very kind of him to agree to be photographed by me for this portrait. We could barely understand each other, that is when the magic happened. A little girl from his tribe emerged from nowhere and acted as our interpreter ☺. There is never a dull moment in #NorthEast ================================================= Check out this and some of the other pictures in my story on #Hornbill festival in the December edition of @airasia inflight magazine in India. . . . . . . . . #IncredibleIndia #StreetsofIndia #SmilesofIndia #colorsofindia #IndiaTravel #NorthEast #tribes #tribesofworld #LPMI #desi_diaries #clickitshareit #huffpostgram #travel #travelpics #india #portraits #desiHumans #desiFaces #desiSmiles #Kohima #Nagaland
A post shared by Prasad Np (@desitraveler) on 

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2. Your Photography/Travel experience: Tell us since when you've been taking pictures or started exploring places. When did you start taking photography/Travel seriously? 

I think I have liked taking pics since I was a kid and loved handling my uncle's Yashica Camera. My first serious camera was a Nikon film way back in 97, when I spent all my money on this camera on my trip to USA. I must have clicked 20 + rolls during that trip to the USA, some of the images I still remember like clicking helicopters hovering over skyscrapers in Chicago and the Niagra Falls for which I specially bought a waterproof camera. 


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Ladakh 6/15 Sometimes even a monk is in a hurry, especially when he is running away from paparazzi. But trust me i was not even trying to click him, I was concentrating on the rich colors of the Hemis Monastery and struggling with camera settings to get the bright sky also in its azure magnificence in the frame. In rushed the monk in and out of frame in a split second, but lucky me I got my shot better than I had conceived it. Call it luck of the desi Traveler :) ==================================================== PS: In the other news we have some awesome pictures for the October edition of desi Travel digest. Are you desi enough to join it ? Check the link in bio for details. Waise it is not tough to join just follow & tag @desiTraveler ( humaree koi branch nahi hai or na hee koi plural wala account hai ) and use #desiTraveler in your images. Chalo happy weekend hai jee, the last date for October edition is 31st of October. Happy Travels . . . . . . . . #Ladakh #Leh #Monastery #Monk #colorsofindia #incredibleIndia #desiHumans #desi_diaries #discover_India #_soi #streetsofIndia #Buddhism #TravelBlogger #everydayindia #ISBTraveler #CNTGiveitashot #bbctravel #travelrealindia
A post shared by Prasad Np (@desitraveler) on 

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3. What are your key areas of photography - travel/street/landscape/ wildlife/wedding/portraits/commercial? What makes you click? What have been your biggest achievements so far? What camera/lenses do you use and why? 

I am yet to discover my true calling so i click almost all genres of photography ..but what I truly enjoy is travel, street, and food photography. In travel, I love clicking places I visit in the night as it brings the magic of the place like nothing you can never get in the day. 


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4. What is so special about your city/country and its life/culture? Has photography changed your outlook/vision about your surroundings? 

Yes Japan has Sakura Festival & our very own Uttrakhand adorns a floral blanket of Red Rhododendron flowers. ( Check DT for pics), but , But, BUT all these are cooler places. It is Saddi Delhi that blinds you with Golden Showers of Amaltas aka Cassia fistula in the peak of the Summers. Yes the Red Gulmohurs are also gorgeous, but they are a Madagascar import and first one to get uprooted in the May thunderstorms that wreck havoc in north India. So if you are in Delhi NCR in the month of May get out of your air conditioned cocoons and check out the most gorgeous Golden #Amaltas flowers. ⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #gurgaon⠀ #sodelhi⠀ #lbb⠀ #streetsofdelhi⠀ #_soi⠀ #_moi⠀ #incredibleIndia⠀ #flowersofinstagram⠀ #flowerstagram⠀ #trees⠀ #treesofinstagram⠀ #desi_diaries⠀ #dfordelhi⠀ #goldenshower⠀ #treescape⠀ #treestagram⠀ #treesofinstagram⠀ #8mm⠀ #fisheye⠀ #fisheyelens⠀ #rokinon⠀ #jj_forum_2251 ⠀ #yellow⠀ #treesofindia⠀ #treesofdelhi #lpmi #cntgiveitashot
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India is a land of a billion smiles and you are never far from friends you have never met. I have never felt welcome even in the remotest of places and always found that people like to connect and share their stories. I think photography has a very important role to play not just as an art form but also for documenting our surroundings specially as a travel photographer it makes perfect sense to capture the damage caused by indiscriminate tourism and rally like-minded people to raise their voice for collective corrective action both by travelers and authorities to reverse the damage we have caused. 

5. What are your sources of inspirations? Do you have some favorite photographers/Bloggers? How do you keep yourself motivated? How do you approach people for their pictures? 
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What most consider wasteland is home to the once highly endangered Asiatic Wild Ass in the Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, India. Thanks to lack of natural predators like big cats & there refusal to all attempt to domestication combined with salty land that is not good for agriculture the last population of Asiatic Wild Ass has found a sweet spot in the salt marsh of the Rann and there population is slowly but steadily now out of danger. Another wonderful way mother nature casts her magic spell.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #silhoutte⠀ #visitGujarat⠀ #incredibleindia⠀ #jj_forum_2260 #rannofkutch⠀ #sunset⠀ #wildlife⠀ #wildlifephotography⠀ #nature⠀ #outdoors⠀ #hipaae⠀ #HIPAContest_Silhouette ⠀ #desi_diaries⠀ #discover_india⠀ #_coi⠀ #cntgiveitashot⠀ #desitraveler⠀ #yourshotIndia⠀ #natgeo⠀ #bbctravel⠀ #huffpostgram⠀ #sanctuaryasia⠀ #wildlifeonearth⠀ #wildanimals
A post shared by Prasad Np (@desitraveler) on
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My source of inspiration is life around us. No matter where you go you will find interesting people, rituals, festivals around you. I love to capture all the colors of life around us.  Among Indian photographers, I admire >  Raghubir Singh, Raghu Rai, Prashant Godbole, Arun Bhat, internationally I like Josef Koudelka, Steve McCurry, Ed Kashi, Sebastião Salgado, Art Wolfe, Noriko Hayashi, Thomas Leuthard, Eric Kim etc. just to name a few.  As far as approaching people for photographs is concerned, I am yet to overcome my fear of photographing strangers, but there are times when you just can't move without clicking a person, in those situations I just muster courage, and bring on my widest, though nervous smile and just walk to the person and say " you have wonderful face/ eyes/ jacket / wrinkles/ .... whatever caught my attention and request for a picture " rarely people say no.

6. What piece of advice do you wish to give to aspiring/budding photographers/bloggers, fans, and readers of the post? 

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Well I am nobody to give Gyan to others. I can share the process I follow... and it is very simple " Rome was not built in a day, if you believe in what you are doing keep on doing it, success, money, and fame ( followers in today's influencer infested world ) are all a byproduct of consistently producing good work.

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Taron Bharee Raat at a Billion Star Hotel is how I would like to describe my experience of clicking #startrails at Lakshman Sagar in Rajasthan. In this picture, you see the concentric star trails with both the Mardana and Zanana Mahal in the frame. It was a cold cold night in January and many a time I wanted to just quit and go back to sleep in my luxurious room but good sense prevailed and we made this and some other images of star trails. ⠀ Head to desi Traveler to find out how the images were clicked as the post has a basic tutorial on clicking star trails.⠀ ==========================⠀ >⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ ⠀ #architecture⠀⠀⠀⠀ #artofvisuals⠀⠀ #bbctravel⠀ #CNTgiveitashot⠀⠀⠀⠀ #desi_diaries⠀⠀⠀⠀ #discover_india⠀⠀⠀⠀ #IncredibleIndia⠀⠀⠀⠀ #longexposure_shots⠀⠀ #longexposure⠀⠀⠀⠀ #lpmi⠀⠀⠀⠀ #luxuryhotels⠀⠀⠀⠀ #Luxury⠀⠀⠀⠀ #mypixeldiaries⠀⠀⠀⠀ #nightphotography⠀ #rajasthan_igers⠀⠀⠀⠀ #Rajasthandiaries⠀⠀⠀⠀ #Rajasthantourism⠀⠀⠀⠀ #stars⠀⠀ #startrails⠀⠀ #padharomharedes⠀⠀ #wearerajasthan⠀⠀⠀⠀ #Rajasthantourism ⠀ #hipaae⠀ #picofthenight⠀ ====================================⠀ PS: Tag & follow @desiTraveler for a feature. Use #desiTraveler
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Do check-out more about Desi Traveler on following links -


http://desitraveler.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheDesiTraveler
https://www.instagram.com/desitraveler/
https://twitter.com/desitraveler

The iconic #Singapore #Merlion is a mythical creature, half fish half lion and is a must visit and photograph when you are in Singapore. But when it is night the Merlion transforms from a mythical creature from deep blue oceans to a mystical one from a Galaxy far far away, thanks to the sound and light show. Don't miss this free show in the evening at the Merlion Park as you will see a different avatar of the Merlion.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #VisitSingapore⠀ #merlionpark⠀ #longexposure⠀ #photoofthenight⠀ #travelphotography⠀ #nightphotography⠀ #passionmadepossible⠀ #asiantraveler⠀ #CNTGiveitashot⠀ #bbctraveler⠀ #desitraveler⠀ #nightout⠀ #urbanandstreet⠀ #artofvisuals⠀ #earthpix⠀ #cityscape⠀ #_soi⠀ #_moi #longexposure #slowshutter #picofthenight
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If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -

  1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter
  2. Use dustbins. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
  3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
  4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
  5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite

Comments

rupam sarma said…
Great to read Prasad NP's interview. One of my favorite photo blogger.
Loved his photography, Blog/Instagram posts.
Thank for the post. Keep inspiring.
Sachin Baikar said…
Nice interview of Mr. Prasad NP 👍
Thanks for sharing 🙂
awesome pictures sharing
Travelure said…
Nice responses! Enjoyed reading them. Rock on, VJ and Prasad!
Thanks Rupam, Sachin Pushpendra and Travelure !

Rupam - one of my fav too.

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