Kolkata Maidan in winter through my camera

Living in Kolkata, the city of joy, is truly a delightful experience. One could compare this experience to that of devouring a beautiful piece of cake, where the cherry on top is analogous to the city in Winter. Everything looks magical and dreamlike in the winter spell. Mornings are misty, and the afternoons warm, perks of living in the tropical savannah.

One fine day, I felt the winter spirit creep up on me and thought to pay a visit to the famous Maidan of my beloved city, to experience some of the happenings and possibly make some good photographs out of it. The Kolkata Maidan is such a versatile place. You can spot all sorts of people around here, no age bar! There are people going about their business who will snap at you if you are in their way, but there are also people who would share life stories over a cup of tea and the morning newspaper. Kolkata is more than a city, it's a being of eternal charm and happiness! We love our football, we love to keep our bodies fit but we also love our adda and would never say no to teley-bhaja and jilipi from Bhaipo-r dokan! That's what Bangaliyana is.

In order to see the fog-wrapped misty charm of Maidan, you need to sacrifice dear-sleep and wake up early to reach there by 6.30 in the morn. So I took a train at 5 am and reached Howrah Station at 6. The Howrah Station was busy as a bee even in the wee hours of the morning! People everywhere. Bus conductors shouting stoppage-names in your face, surreal. I boarded a bus that passes through Maidan and reached there in under 20 mins then walked for 5mins to enter the area. The beauty and serenity of Maidan overwhelmed me. I stood still for few minutes, then took out my camera and walked across the damp green stretch, photographing moments that caught my eye. Maidan has become a hotspot for photographers in the city, with an amazing platform like Instagram to share their work. But still there are few photographers who have a very different perspective and make some incredible photographs rather than taking the usual worn-down cliches.

The idea behind writing this post was to share these beautiful landscapes and photographs I took, because many of us have tight schedules which do not allow us to wander around the city at 6 am in the morning, so allow me to satisfy your wanderlust.

As I walked across Maidan, I saw many groups playing footbal and cricket, few older individuals were into yoga, meditation and free hand exercises. It was all so picturesque with the wintry touch. The skyline of Kolkata has had a slight upgrade, what with the 260 meters high skyscraper The 42, which funnily consists of 62 floors, now being considered as the city's highest building. And Victoria Memorial at the backdrop always adds that flavour to the images of Kolkata, it's iconic elegance.

This place is one of the best to photograph silhouette images. Against the highlighted fog and the people or the trees in the front, takes your breath away, doesn't it? Everywhere you look is appealing. All you need is the perspective to convert it into a beautiful image. Photographing people and activities is not as easy as it sounds, rather on the contrary in my humble opinion. You need patience to be able to take a good photograph. In no way do I consider myself an ace in photographing people and street activities, I speak from experience and not arrogance. I shot a few black and white images. Check them out below:

Lately I've been admiring the works of some eminent photographers who shoot panoramic film images. Their work really inspired me and I thought about clicking some panoramas. Although I don't own a panoramic film camera, but still used my Lightroom-editing skills and cropped a few images to make panoramic photographs, the simplest way I could convert a normal photograph to panoramic one. Here are those photographs!

Camera Information

All images were shot on a Canon 60D body
with lens Tamron 17-50mm f./2.8 and Canon 18-135mm

Kolkata is a beautiful city which is unsurprisingly very photogenic. Do not be a sheep and go where the herd carries you. Be different, run the opposite direction. Go out there and explore all the nooks and streets. You'll be surprised at what you might find.

Popular Photography Places in Kolkata: Maidan, Ghats of Kolkata, Burrabazar, South Kolkata, Esplanade, Dharmatala, New Market, Chitpore, Princep Ghat, Kumortuli, Mullick Ghat Flower Market, North Kolkata lanes etc.

Happy clicking!
Happy Travelling!

THANK YOU