While it seems like an easy enough task to visit one of the numerous historical monuments in Delhi and start shooting, there are certain things you need to keep in mind, even before you pack your camera gear. Hence I am listing 5 basic things you need to know about photographing monuments in Delhi, in order to ensure that you don’t come back disappointed.
Humayun’s Tomb
No tripods: That’s right; all monuments under the protection of ASI (Archeological Survey of India) do not allow tripods, unless you have written permission from ASI. So if you are planning to head to an ASI protected monument, leave your tripod at home and save yourself the trouble of heaving to lug dead weight. An exception to this rule is Lodi Garden, where you can use a tripod, though not inside the tombs.
Monument timings: While all monuments under the protection of ASI are supposed to be open from Sunrise to Sunset, ticket sellers rarely reports for duty before 6:30am (usually around 7am in winters) and only occasionally guards let you through without ticket. Also, majority of the monuments are closed on Mondays and on public holidays like Independence Day, Republic Day etc. so make sure you aren’t planning to visit them around that time.
Food and Water: Several of the monuments in Delhi do not have any food/water vendors inside the monument premises, and since photography takes time, it is best to take water and if needed, food with you on such photowalks.
Renovation and repairs: ASI along with NGOs is under taking extensive renovation and repair work of several of the monuments in Delhi. Hence it is a good idea to check check recent photographs of monuments you are planning to visit or ask fellow photogs on photography forums and groups about the status of the monument you are planning to shoot, so that you don’t end up with ugly construction work in your images.
Humayun’s Tomb under renovation in 2009
Go in the morning: While you would rarely get to shoot sunrise along with a monument, due to ticket sellers arriving late. Morning light is wonderful to work with and as a bonus, there are few if any people around to get in your frame, ensuring you get clear distraction free images.
While the above tips have been written keeping in mind monuments in Delhi, they also hold true for most of the monuments in India, irrespective of their location.
27 Comments
Yogesh, beautiful photographs. If you could insert captions and name these monuments, it would help the readers to identify with the monuments.
Good Post btw 🙂
Thank you Tarun, I will insert caption with the images. Btw it is Humayun Tomb in both the photographs, first one was taken recently and the second one was taken in 2009.
Thanks Yogesh! 🙂
Thanks for the info.
Thanks Jai, glad you found it useful 🙂
YS… another useful article..
Thanks Rahi 🙂
Your point about restoration and repair strikes a chord. I seem to have the uncanny ability to visit monuments every time the ASI is working on them! And then I have to struggle to ensure that the scaffolding doesn’t come in any of the snaps. Happened when I visited one of the main temples at Hampi, happened at the Brihadeswara temple at Tanjavur, happened in Jodhpur, and worst of all at the Taj!
But no complaints, ASI does a really great job at restoration. At Hampi, there were a series of photographs on display showing the various stages of restoration and boy do those guys do a fantastic job!
That’s too bad Amit. Though you are right about the quality of work being done, I especially love what they have done to Isa Khan Niazi’s Tomb.
Thank you for the information and nice pictures 🙂
Thanks Bharti
Hi,
I love taking pictures in Delhi, particularly because of the monuments, but once the pictures are taken, I am clueless about what to do next to process them properly. I don’t like overkilling pictures, but getting a fine balance between light and shadow is difficult. Like in your photographs, the darker regions are clear, but not at the cost of the bright regions. It doesn’t look burnt. Is that because of a filter?
Ujjwal, to a certain degree it is due to only shooting early in the morning or late in the evening, when there are few if any harsh shadows. Also since I shoot RAW, I am able to bring down highlights a little and brighten up the shadows during editing.
GND is difficult to use while shooting monuments and since tripods aren’t allowed, it is even tougher.
Awesome Snaps sir, However I would have preferred if the watermark had been somewhere on the top or bottom with a different font, I love the snaps but the watermark makes it “little” less perfect!! Hope you don’t mind my suggestion 🙂
Thanks Shantanu. That watermark is there thanks to several such incidents, http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2013/05/02/threatened-by-content-thief/
Hello Yogesh,
I recently moved to Delhi and am a self taught photographer. This article is so informative. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks Shaz, glad you found this article useful :).
Nice Info…Really Helpful
Thanks Shantanu.
Thanx yogesh for d info ..
do v need to take any kind of permission before shooting dere..
For commercial shoots you need permission from ASI
Thanks for this blog post Yogesh – I will be in Delhi for a few days soon and the issue of tripods has probably saved me a ton of unnecessary carrying !
Great Work….Yogesh…I really appreciate your work….but can u please tell me that is this place good for portfolio
Thanks for this useful information. You solved the doubts! Thanks a lot!
Do you happen to know why tripod is not allowed at someplaces?I went to GTB Memorial near Delhi Haryana border, and they wouldn’t even let me use a DSLR ,citing the reason that commercial photography is not allowed.According to them taking pictures through a DSLR is commercial,but if you do it with your mobile phone camera that’s okay! These rules are really killing the fun
There is no such rule, which prevents the usage of DSLR. I have had the same thing stated by an employee of Railway Museum; I stood my ground and told him it wasn’t for the commercial reasons. I phoned his superior; I spoke to him and then continued with my photography.
Having said that, generally if you have a large DSLR bag or multiple bodies and lens, they bother you. A single DSLR plus lens combo rarely attracts similar attention.
Great images Yogesh. I stumbled across this article after searching about use of tripod at historical monuments in Delhi. I would describe myself as an advanced amateur who is very passionate about landscape photography. I live in Los Angeles and have shot landscape all over US western coast, Southern and central England, Western and Southern Europe and no where have I found as restrictive attitude towards photographers as Delhi, my city of birth. Today, I braved the absurd humidity to go to Ugrasen ki Baoli, The lighting was quite harsh so to mitigate that I had a shot in mind where I use a 6 or 10 stop ND filter and use the motion blur caused by people wearing bright clothing. I hoped that would add some drama to the scene. Unfortunately I was not allowed to use the tripod (there is no notice saying that you are not allowed to use one). I went to the Archeological survey of India website and found this absurdly long form that one has to fill out justifying the use of tripod. Mind you, selfie sticks are also prohibited but no one stopped the kids taking selfies using them. Only the guy with a BIG camera is the one targeted. Later in the evening, I suffered similar fate at lotus temple. This despite a number of online forums telling me the tripod use is allowed on the grounds outside the temple proper. I am extremely disappointed in the way our country treats those who value such places and want to spread more information through our work (even though it is non commercial; I have not sold a single photograph in over 6 years of serious shooting). I have choices and as a traveler/photographer I can do without this negativity. There are a gazillion places where I could be spending my money and after this experience I will go elsewhere. I am off to Munnar next week, so hoping for better luck there.