Being a travel enthusiast, Ladakh had been on my wish list for quite some time. And how thrilled was I the day I received a call for a shoot in Ladakh, a shoot for Royal Enfield. Royal Enfield organises Moto Himalaya every year, where many foreign riders come to ride the Royal Enfield in the beautiful valleys of Ladakh. And I was called there to cover it.
It was only a 2 person crew, my second camera operator Bhrigu and me. And we were travelling with one Canon 5D mark4, and one Canon 1DX mark2, along with few block and zoom lenses. We also carried gimbal-crane2, go pros, and other basic accessories. This project had to be done with no camera attendants. We initially thought it would be an easy shoot, but once we were in Ladakh the situation was completely different.
As soon as we landed in Leh and reached the hotel, a room was alloted to us on 2nd floor, with no lift. Carrying all the equipments to our room took us about 3 trips from the reception to the room. After which we immediately left for Leh market to have lunch. The moment we reached the market, I started feeling dizzy (some sort of a high). To be more precise, it was the feeling of being stoned, and it kept increasing to the point that there was complete darkness in front of my eyes. And it was at that time that I knew what it feels like to have less oxygen in your body. It took me about 15-20 mins for my mind to become normal. Later when the doctor visited the hotel to check the bodily oxygen count of all riders as well as the crew members, he said that my count was around 90, which was good enough. But still he advised me to take blood thinner pills for next 2 days as a precaution.
Travel shoot stories in hills have their own beauty. Every place we passed looked like a frame. However we couldn't stop for every frame. Royal Enfield had given us a vehicle so that we could jumpstart our journey 30 min before the riders and find a point from where we could capture them. There were also times when we would follow the riders in a car.
Our first major route passed through Khardung La, the world's highest motorable pass with an elevation of 17,582 feet. It was slightly snowing that day, and we could capture the beautiful light. Less oxygen and no attendants had definitely reduced our speed but we got some beautiful shots.
The most blissful moment was our first glimpse of the Pangong lake, visible between two mountains. I had never seen such a sight. I think out of all the places that I have ever travelled to, Pangong was by far the most beautiful place I had ever seen. My camera was not able to do justice to the varying shades of blue you could see in the water with naked eyes. We got some extraordinary beautiful shots on that day, and then drove to our campsite right besides the lake.
Capturing the lives of these riders during and after the days ride used to be on our minds. This takes a lot of patience as you have to wait for such candid moments wherein you can capture the riders in their natural and true element. I remember this one time, when we were riding through the valleys and at one point came across a major water crossing, causing many riders were fall while riding the bikes. So we waiting in the water to capture some naturally falling shots. By the end we were completely drenched, but our shots were totally worth it.
If you want to shoot in Leh Ladakh, August is the most beautiful time. It is not very cold, all roads are open, and the skies are just beautiful with a lot of white clouds.
Mohit Kakodkar
Director of Photography
http://www.mohitkakodkar.com/
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