photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Phil Douglis | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fifty Six: The bus-bound travel image tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Gallery Fifty Six: The bus-bound travel image



Those who travel with escorted tours as I often do must be able to make use of tour bus windows and doors as photographic vantage points. Although most tours make photo-stops, there are also many wonderful opportunities to make expressive photographs from a moving or stationary bus itself. There are three kinds of vantage points from a tour bus. The most common is through a side window. However it is very difficult to frame and focus on a side-window subject because it appears so suddenly. By the time you see it, the moment may be gone forever. The only way to get effective shots from a side window is to angle the camera slightly forward and use a wideangle focal length for deep focusing, as well as multiple exposure burst shooting. Avoid shooting through windows that reflect things on the inside of the bus. If such reflections are present, try to find a seat on the other side of the bus. When you see something coming that may be worth shooting, press the shutter button and hold it down, and the camera will begin to make pictures. By the time your burst fires its second or third shot, the subject will be closer. Because you are using a wideangle focal length, your image will probably be in focus. If you use either shutter priority or manual shooting mode, you can choose a shutter speed that will compensate for the speed of the moving bus and thereby avoid blurred pictures due to camera shake. You can get faster shutter speeds, as well as choose smaller f/stops for greater depth of focus, by using higher ISO sensor settings. Expect a high failure rate – if you shoot 100 pictures out of a side window of a moving bus, you might get a couple that will work for you. Digital imaging is essentially free –you can shoot as many pictures as you need in order to get what you want. You can always delete the failures to make room on the memory card.

The second vantage point from a tour bus is through its front window. Try to choose a front seat if you can. Or if that is unavailable, ask if you can sit up front next to the bus driver. With a huge picture to shoot through, you can see what is coming from a long way off. You don’t have to use as fast a shutter speed because the subject is moving towards the camera instead of horizontally.

The third bus-bound vantage point is a rarity --- getting to shoot through an open bus door. The bus must be stopped for a few minutes – in a traffic jam, or during a brief stop while tolls are being paid, at borders or check points, or during supply stops. The open bus door offers reflection-free shooting and a high platform. Because the bus is always standing still whenever its doors are open, we can avoid focusing, framing, or camera shake problems. In this gallery, I offer examples of all three kinds of bus-bound shooting.

I present this gallery, as usual, in "blog" style. A large thumbnail is displayed for each image, along with a caption explaining how I intended to express my ideas. If you click on the large thumbnail, you can see it in its full size, as well as leave comments and read the comments of others. I hope you will be able to participate in the dialogue. I welcome your comments, suggestions, ideas, and questions, and will be delighted to respond.



comment | share
Phil Douglis23-Feb-2012 17:18
Thanks, Mark, for your comment. I am glad you find my images from India of value -- and agree with you that India is not an easy place to photograph because much of it seems to be chaotic, and things are hard to sort out and simplify. On the other hand, nowhere else in the world are colors as vibrant -- because of the constant smoke and dust in the air, the light is amazingly warm as well. I have photographed there twice, and each visit proved to be milestone in my development as an expressive photographer. You can see more than 100 of my recent pictures from India grouped together in my photo archive athttp://pnd1.smugmug.com/Travel/Exploring-India-life-on-the/4769462_3v6jf2#!i=282977195&k=pxDWh
Mark 23-Feb-2012 07:36
I just been to India on a tour (with Intrepid)the group was boring and decided to sleep or close the curtains while we were on the bus traveling to destination to destination, but i took the opportunity to seat in my seat and take some photos most of them came out blurry and others I missed those perfect shots believe me that was a real disappointment, but I mange to get a few really good shots which i am proud of but wish i could have done better like seeing your photos they are so great you have many interesting subjects, i love them all they have full emotion and captures the culture and way of life of the locals in India. i found India very hard to photograph because there is so much stuff going on at once and sometimes you miss your change or there is to much stuff going on in the image.

anyway I love your photos they are wonderful with full of emotion and culture of India. Well done
Phil Douglis01-May-2008 17:49
Thanks, Celia, for these observations. You sum up the advantages of "from the bus" shooting beautifully, and underscore them by citing examples from this gallery. If we list disadvantages of bus-bound photography such as the inability to stick with subject for more than an instant, the light and exposure demands of shooting something while moving at 50 miles an hour, the dirty windows, the always difficult reflections, the problem of not being able to properly anticipate what is going to come into view, and then weigh them against the advantages we get from shooting from a bus, such as a high shooting platform, safe havens for otherwise dangerous viewpoints, and an abundance of ever changing subjects, I think there are more blessings than curses here. You are right -- if we keep our cameras ready, set for burst shooting, and find the best window for a vantage point, we can come out ahead of the game.
Cecilia Lim01-May-2008 11:07
Shooting from a bus or any moving vehicle can present some difficult challenges including distracting reflections/glare and dirty windows on top of the other problems you mentioned. But the upside is that you get to see a lot and have really interesting vantage points that are not possible from the ground. As an example, you put us on the edge of our seats just looking at "Road Risk", where it's as if we were standing in the middle of the road taking the same risks as the sari-ed women! But you're actually able to shoot this from the safety of your bus!

I also like the higher vantage point that you shot from for the "Evening of Bonfires" image. From this high-up, we're able to see the circular ring of people crowding around the fire, conveying the sense of unity and the coming together of a community to share in this celebration. And the blur certainly works in your favour because to me, it expresses the spiritual energy flowing throughout the people during this religious festival as they cast out the devil with sticks and fire.

You've shown us with this wonderful array of images that there are infinite possibilities for making images from a bus. Drive-by shooting does take some skill but it really just boils down to being observant and ready to take advantage of the opportunity when it comes!

Phil Douglis22-Apr-2008 17:33
You are right, Alina -- riding the bus, particularly in a strange place, is indeed never boring. Bus photography is difficult because you have little control over your vantage point, since it is usually moving and carrying you along with it. But you take what you can get and make the best of it. Doing that is what this gallery is all about.
Alina22-Apr-2008 08:23
The motto to the gallery is “Riding bus is never boring”. Thank you for sharing with us your ideas how to shot such interesting pictures.
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment
click on thumbnails for full image