Self-drive Trips vs Trekking Group Trips

2 words.
Bangalore. Software/IT Professional.

A huge number of people like me, who carry the above tags, embark on trips during the weekends, for a myriad number of reasons. Just for the fun of it, let me list down a few…

• For a city like Bangalore, situated so close to the forest ranges of South India, you obviously find your Facebook timeline filled with posts from your friends, having fun around lakes, forests and hills.

Insert your friends here!

• Jokes apart, many of my fellow trip-mates tend to invoke sympathy, by weeping about the dreadful monotony of their trichromatic* offices, sitting in front of machines, for hours on end.
  * Somebody actually told me that. However, ‘colourfulness’ of offices may vary from company to company.

Don’t be fooled by this innocent looking work space!

• And then, there is always the soul searching person, who hopes to infuse his body and mind, with … ?? (Yes, the question marks are intentional)
• The guy/gal who just purchased a DSLR
• The photographers, botanists, bird-watchers, STEM curriculum … yada yada…
  Don’t take offence, I fall in this category.

Usually, I go on trips with various trekking groups. It’s an amazing way to meet new people, make friends, and of-course, have lots of fun! I am glad that this concept is really picking up pace in Bangalore.

Group games and dance are the highlights of group trips.

However, for a photographer, they pose their own set of problems…

By plural ‘we’ in the sentences below, I refer to ‘us photographers’.

• During most of the trek we match pace with the group, shooting pictures of our friends (a lot!), and of-course, showing them, how the picture turned out :)
  Since most of the itinerary is planned out in advance, specific time slots are allocated to each of the places.

Show me, show me, how it turned out!!

• We watch helplessly, as some beautiful scenes pass by, while travelling in the bus. You can’t be so selfish as to stop everyone for a photo!

I was lucky to capture this photo, from a bus, thanks to high shutter speed of modern cameras

• Paths (or timings) deemed too adventurous, is understood, amicably by all, as off limits. Of course, this is understandable, as the responsibility of the group, as a whole, lies on the organisers.

Heyy!! You!!! Come here ASAP! As expected, my friend (and my photo-prop), in the photo, got a good lecture afterwards

Hence, to get some me-time for photography, and a freedom of perspectives, I take my car or motorcycle out, and throttle away!

Read about my one such trip to Horsley Hills