Photography

Turkmenistan was one of the “five ’Stans” that I visited on a group tour of Central Asia, Oct. 4-27, 2013. If you are planning to travel there, you may wish to take note of my experiences.

15-day, 14-night photo excursion through central India. Until June 2014. Highlights: Head from New Delhi to Khajuraho for temples and sound-and-light show / six days in Bandhavgarh National Park, with safaris, guided bird-watching, butterflies, tribal dance / five days in Kanha National Park for safaris, nature walk / in Jabalpur, Dhuandhar Falls / fly to New Delhi. Land, INR268,000 (about $4,260). Single cost, $3,500.

Wild Indian Safari (Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India; phone +91 761 4004141).

I recently reread the travel journal I wrote when my husband and I took a trip to Morocco in 1992. Even then, Moroccans did not want their photos taken.

So Steven Emmet’s experience in 2011 wasn’t new (“Found Moroccans Camera Averse,” Nov. ’13, pg. 54). It must be a cultural thing, like he said.

JO ANN MICHETTI

Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

by Susan Young; Los Angeles, CA

At the end of our December ’11 trip of 19 days, my husband, Fred, and I left Myanmar hungry for more of its sensuous beauty. We returned in February 2013 for a 14-day trip. 

10-day/9-night photography workshop in GUATEMALA with instructor David Wells, April 3-12, 2014. Highlights: In Antigua, capture photos of Lenten procession and flower carpets/in Santiago Atitlán, stay at Posada Santiago on Lake Atitlán/views of San Pedro Volcano and two other dormant volcanoes around the lake/travel by boat to San Juan la Laguna and other lake villages. Land, $1,995. Single supp., $250. Art Workshops in Guatemala (Minneapolis, MN; 612/825-0747).

Ken Mallory; Newton Highlands, MA

My wife and I travel to see interesting places and people and take lots of photos. If you like to do this too, do not go to Morocco! On our 2011 visit, people would run out of restaurants and physically accost us, demanding that we either erase the picture or give them money! 

This happened even at night in the big square filled with thousands of people. One man wouldn’t even let us take a picture of his cat!

I and five others joined Dee Ann Pederson for her photo tour of Iceland, June 22-July 5, 2013, operated by her company, Windows of Nature (Houston, TX; 713/526-0583). 

14-day/12-night tour with National Geographic photographer Steve Winter, Oct. 1-14, 2013. Highlights: In Istanbul, Old City, Hagia Sophia, Sirkeci quarter, Süleymaniye Mosque/walled city of Diyarbakır/stone carvings on houses in Midyat/beehive houses in Harran/Ionian city of Priene/Temple of Didyma/Ephesus/Selçuk Saturday market. Land, $6,795. Single supp., $675. Turkish Journeys (Medford, MA; 781/391-6183).

In South Africa, a photographic safari with a professional photographer that starts at lunchtime and ends 24 hours later can be prebooked by visitors to Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve (P.O. Box 52665, Saxonwold, 2132, South Africa; phone, in the US, 804/767-8770 or fax 877/297-4359).

Participants may bring cameras or will be provided with digital single-lens reflex cameras and lenses. At the end, after a session on photo retouching, guests will receive their photos on a CD or flash drive.