Holi

[Manfred M]

We just got back from three days of shooting Holi, the Hindu festival of colours. We went to what is reputedly the oldest and largest festival, Rang Leela, which is held in the towns of Nandgaon and Barsana, in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. Holi is celebrated here one week earlier than elsewhere. These two towns are located roughly half way between Delhi and Agra.

Nandgaon is the birthplace of both Hinduism and the god Krishna. The nearby town of Barsana is where Krishna's consort, the goddess Radha comes from.

During the second day of the festival brightly coloured gulal powder is thrown or smeared on the attendees. On the third day brightly coloured water (mostly red, but other colours as well are sprayed on the attendees. Shooting on the second and third day required full protective covers on the camera gear and disposable clothing on the part of the people that attended. Shooting was extremely difficult as it was very difficult to see through the viewfinder and one was always protecting the camera gear (the front of the lens mostly) from the flying colours!

I'm going to be posting quite a few images on this thread as I go through the many hundreds of shots I took. Here are a couple to start with...


1. Me towards the end of the second day of shooting. I was well covered by gulal!





2. A youngster surrounded by adults, well drenched in red and yellow gulal and liquid colours.





3. Holi activities and the flying gulal in the main courtyard of the Nandji Temple in Nandgaon. Yes - it is wet and super slippery down there! My feet still look orange after 5 or 6 washings, two days later.





4. Closeup of one of the dancers on the first day of the festival. This was what the floor of the Nandji Temple (shown in #3) looked like before people went wild with the water and gulal.

[Shadowman]

Nice series, I try to avoid those colors as much as possible and prefer shooting with a longer lens. I know that it is nearly impossible during the festival as unsuspecting wanderers can get waylaid at any moment. Really like the last image.

[Sergio M.]

Nice series. I particularly like #3. The wide angle view shows all the commotion and activity with the bright colors and cloud.

Sergio

[Dave A]

Wow wonderful series with such great colors.

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

All are fine images but the second and third one are stunning showstoppers for me.

[Rainforest]

Wonderful shots! Looking forward to seeing more. I especially like the crowd shot - every shade of red and more.

[rpcrowe]

Great series Manfred... How did you protect your camera/lens (and yourself - if at all) from the colored dust and the colored water. I see that you didn't protect yourself all that thoroughly

We have several of these celebrations here in Southern California but, I have always avoided them in view of equipment safety.

However, I have an old Canon 30D and and older 28-135mm IS lens that I could use...

[Manfred M]

How did you protect your camera/lens.

A rain cover that left only the lens hood and front of the lens, that was covered with a clear filter was left exposed, as can be seen in this image:



Everyone had head coverings and we completely slathered on the coconut oil to help remove the colours in the shower. Clothing etc was disposed of...

[Mike Buckley]

Am I correct that your camera bag and camera's shoulder strap now have a new and permanent color design?

[FootLoose]

The first shot would make a good avatar.

[skitterbug]

I love the color of these shots! And I chuckled when I saw your own pic #1. I thought about those paint by number oil paint kits and someone going wild with colors other than what was recommended! I agree with Greg, you ought to use it as your avatar!
Beautiful work!

[Rita]

Always knew you were a colourful character

I love the view in #3. Really gives a feel for what it must have been like to be there.

[rpcrowe]

A rain cover that left only the lens hood and front of the lens, that was covered with a clear filter was left exposed, as can be seen in this image:



Everyone had head coverings and we completely slathered on the coconut oil to help remove the colours in the shower. Clothing etc was disposed of...

Thanks Manfred. This image gives me an idea of what it is like. If I were in India, I'd definitely want to attend this celebration but, I think that I can skip the Southern California celebrations...

[Manfred M]

Am I correct that your camera bag and camera's shoulder strap now have a new and permanent color design?

I had an old backpack along, rather than a camera bag, and that did not make it home. Neither did the clothes I was wearing. The camera strap (being a BlackRapid sling) cleaned up rather nicely as did the camera rain cover. The suitcase was definitely a bit lighter on the way back..

[Manfred M]

Okay Greg and Sandy - I have a new avatar as per your suggestions.

[skitterbug]

Perfect!

[Wavelength]

I love all those images...but #3 is a million dollar one!!!!!

[John 2]

Ah, missed this post somehow. Answers the Q about your new avatar. Looks like you had a wonderful time. Not too sure about the first image but the rest are alright. Great set really and well worth the prep and post event scrub.