Decided to go on a Kolkata photography tour since I only had one day and spent the entire day shooting. When you get out on the street, there’s not much need to walk around a whole lot because something of interest will present itself , literally almost every minute. You could easily stay in one place for an hour and come away with a bunch of different, interesting, and great shots. The Mullick Ghat Flower Market (find it on Toucan’s Map of Kolkata) is absolute chaos, teaming with people, but awesome for taking photos. I could have easily spent the entire day just there and been happy. From there walk to the Hooghly river and get the trademark shot of people washing in it with the Howrah Bridge in the background. Find a different view point because I bet almost all the Kolkata photography tours take you to the same place.
What I love about Kolkata, and most parts of India I’ve been, is the locals, in general, encourage you to take photos of them and many are disappointed if you don’t. They want to see photos of themselves so make sure you show them if you’re shooting digital. This is one place you don’t need to be afraid of taking photos and the Indians I found to be friendly and hospitable.
I took a Kolkata photography tour with Calcutta Walks (website here). These guys have some pretty good reviews and whilst I didn’t book a Kolkata photography tour specifically, you get to go pretty much all the same places. For me, it’s not really about learning more about photography, it’s more about finding a local who knows the city inside out, can take you to places that aren’t in the tourist guides, and can keep from you getting ripped off as well as showing you the best places and best times to go there. They can also plan an itinerary that will save you the most time, avoid traffic and get you from A to B with the least amount of stress. Anyway, tour guide was Ritwick, nice fella, knew a lot about the city and pleasant to be around the whole day, kind of let me do my thing while pointing me in the right direction, just what I wanted.
Again, Check out Toucan’s Map of Kolkata to find out the best places to go to take photos in Kolkata or get in touch with me if you need any help finding the right Kolkata photography tour.