“Unity in diversity has been the true definition of Nepal for ages. Apart from catering thrilling adventurous activities, Nepal also has plenty of other interesting destinations that attract travelers having diverse preferences.”

Photography Tours in Nepal are one of the most emerging holiday products that has compelled many photographers to travel to this part of the world. Nepal is the melting point of Hinduism and Buddhism. Having said that Nepal does not only cater photography opportunities at Hindu and Buddhist revered sites. Having more than 100 ethnical tribes, soaring Himalayan peaks crowned atop lush vegetation and windswept highland deserts and scattered wildlife protected parks, Nepal is the ideal destination for different genres of photography.

“Based on writer’s experience during Nathan Horton Photography Tour 2015, in today’s post, we have included Nepal’s one of the most frequented destination by photographers. Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal is probably the best destination in Nepal for people photography”

Pashupatinath, the biggest Hindu Shrine at the bank of Holy Bagmati is the abode of Supreme God Shiva and his thousand followers who travel miles from Nepal and different parts of India attired like Shiva himself. The holiest place in Nepal for Hindu cremation, Pashupatinath is by far the best destination in Nepal for People Photography.

“However, photographing in Pashupatinath is not that easy.”

The first and the most important thing one needs to know is that you need to show enough respect to those faces (sadhus) whom you want to photograph. Most of the times gifts for them like money, cigarettes, and food items do the work. Do not forget to ask for the permission while photographing the interesting yet revered characters you see during the exploration of Pashupatinath.

“There are few sadhus who never want to be photographed, we suggest do not insist them or do not photograph despite their refusal- it is offensive. The best thing you can do is to hire a local guide who can arrange you enough opportunities to photograph these faces conveniently and at reasonable expense.”

“Neither the impact made by the powerful quake of April 25 2015, nor the fuel crisis resulted by Indian Blockade could stop passionate photographers to explore and photograph popular and off the beaten destinations of Nepal during Nathan Horton Nepal Photography Tour 2015.”

Prior to the official photography tour, Nathan Horton, Mark Bibby Jackson (Author of “Cooking the Spider” and also a British Journalist) and Peter Fransson explored and photographed the quake affected villages of Nuwakot. The four day tour of villages in Nuwakot from October 14 to October 17 covered Nuwakot Durbar, Samari and Kalabari along with the villages that we crossed by during the drive.

The motive of exploring the villages of Nuwakot with the journalist was to figure out the present status of the quake victims so that Mark could come up with the powerful article, which would eventually help the victims to achieve the support they deserve and need.

“After the Irish Photographers Paul Stanley and Helen Henafin, a young Slovakian photographer Liska Mirasolav and the Canadian Photographer Olivia Anne Robertson joined the group, Nathan Horton Nepal Photography Tour officially kicked off from 18^th October. Photographers keen on photographing people and their lifestyle had abundant opportunities to capture thousand shots during their 11 day Photography Tour of Nepal with Nathan Horton.”

The first four days of the tour covered the vibrant landmarks of Kathmandu Valley, which included Swayambhunath – the Monkey Temple, Patan Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu Durbar Square during Phoolpati procession, Kirtipur and Pashupatinath Temple. The tour also included the walk along the cobbled maze old town of Asan. Inside Kathmandu, the team of Photographers had the greatest time photographing sadhus in Pashupatinath.

On the main day of Dashain, the tour went beyond Kathmandu to Bandipur. While driving to Bandipur, we were doubtful if we could reach there on time so that we could photograph the small procession of Goddess Khadka Mai and surprisingly, we were there just few minutes before the procession started. The weather didn’t favor us at Bandipur and hence mountains hid behind the clouds denying us to capture the magnificence of Himalayas during the sunrise. However, we had few great shots of people and their lifestyle in Bandipur.

“Our next destination of Nepal Photography Tour was the lowland habitats of Tharu and Darai Tribes in Chitwan. En route to Chitwan we stopped at Devighat, where we captured photos of senior citizens living in the Ashrams of this sacred site. Paddling across Narayani River, we continued our drive to our resort in Chitwan National Park. Since this photography tour prioritized people and lifestyle, we focused on exploring tribal villages of Chitwan and yes the team of photographers had great experience shooting the people and their lifestyle in villages like Madi and Jagatpur, which were contrast to all the places we had visited earlier during the tour.”

After couple of days stay in Chitwan, the tour headed towards Pokhara. Once again the weather was not that good and once the mountains denied showing up disallowing us to photograph the mesmerizing views of Annapurna Massif and Fishtail so well blended with crystal clear Fewa Lake. However, the tour still had something very special aspect in Dhampus, the authentic tribal hamlet lying at the foothills of Himalayas. Capturing the people and their lifestyle in Dhampus was great and at times very touching observing the hardships people there endured for their livelihood. The early morning wake up in Dhampus paid us well as the wide range of Mountains from Annapurna South to Dhalaugiri with Fishtail and Nilgiri in between sprawled right before our eyes. After the short excursion of the village once again we drove back to Pokhara.

“On 28^th October we flew back to Kathmandu and on the same day we visited the largest Buddhist Stupa of the world, Boudhnath. At Boudhanath, we captured monks and nuns and their activities that demonstrated extreme devotion of Buddha. With the photography session in Boudhanath, Nepal Photography Tour with Nathan Horton officially ended.”

Throughout the tour the team experienced few minor hiccups. At places the team didn’t had great time as expected and at other places they had surprising wonderful times, which they had captured into their cameras to remember them forever.

Nathan Horton in hat- leading first photography group in Nepal

Nathan Horton is a graduate in Photographic Arts from the London Polytechnic. An expert photographer started his photography profession in 1990. He moved on his first photographic tour around Asia in 1992. His zeal in life has made him an extensively printed Photographer in the world. His photographic expertise generally excels in the major magazines and newspapers, advertising agencies, production agencies and commercial products. A professional photographer for 20 years, Mr. Nathan now enjoys teaching the Art of Travel Photography since 2006 in Cambodia.

Mr. Nathan Horton photographing a monk at a vicinity of Swayambhunath

Nathan Horton leads the Photography tour to Nepal and Explore Himalaya is privileged to achieve this opportunity to work with expert like Mr. Horton. His first photography tour to Nepal kicked off on March 26.

This is a special Photography  Tour under Mr. Nathan Horton, along with a group of other  photographers to give them an insightful tour to Kathmandu’s UNESCO World Heritage sites and various other places of Historic, Cultural and Religious importance around the valley. The tour will wander through ancient bazaars and medieval palace squares, explore ancient Newari villages which are breathing museums and shrines of the local deities. The tour also takes you to Nepal’s mid-hills and villages to experience country lifestyle and ethnic cultures of the Tamangs and Gurungs.

Nathan Horton and his team- flashes of cameras at Swayambhunath

The visit to Pokhara- a striking scenic lake town where nature is amplified with the views of majestic peaks, sparkling water lakes with boating and canoeing thrills will add on a greater value to your photographic tour. Witnessing some natural wonders of nature in waterfalls and gorges and magical dawns that light up the sky and the snowy Himalayan spires in hues of the rising sun and capturing these magical vistas and wonderful landscapes in your camera will obviously fulfill the expectations of an ideal Photographic tour.

Shooting the street vendors