Travelogues & Guides

Welcome to the photography website of Vijoy and Rachna, a photographer couple working out of South San Jose, in the greater San Francisco Bay Area region. They have been photographing landscapes, cityscapes and contemporary man-nature interactions for the past 10+ years, and have exhaustively covered a large number of US and Canadian National Parks, US cities and Regions, Central Europe and some cities of India. Our website has been categorized into two main (and related) sections - Photography and Travel. The photography section contains an exhibition of some of our favorite photographs from over 20,000 images in our stock portfolio. You can purchase fine art photography prints from the galleries, or ask permission for non-profit use in web pages, by sending us an email. Additionally, that section has articles on learning how to photograph and primers and cookbooks on managing large photography collections.

Travelogues & Guides

Writing travelogues of your trips is an excellent idea if you can bring yourself to do it. Not only does it give other potential visitors a chance to read about the place and plan accordingly, it also serves as a diary of your own trips which you might find very intriguing to read after a couple of years. The travelogues on this website also range from the comprehensive (Germany) to the minimalistic ( Lake Tahoe region). Photos on this website have been arranged by the region visited, a categorization that also appears on the left hand side menu. Broadly, the images and travelogues are arranged as Europe (Germany, Switzerland and Austria), Canada (Banff and Jasper National Parks, Vancouver, Ottawa and the Niagara Falls), US National Parks (mostly in California and Utah), US Regions (States and Cities), and India (my hometown of Calcutta and Rachna's home town of Bhopal). A short blurb appears in the list below describing what is available on each page - whether just pictures or photographs plus travel information.

Central Europe	Germany (Bavaria), Switzerland (Appenzell) & Austria September 2-13, 2003 Castles, churches, chocolates and cheese - A trip through Germany, Switzerland and Austria. For our first trip into this continent, we rented a car and drove through Bavaria into eastern Switzerland and then cut across the heart of Austria from Innsbruck through Salzburg, to Vienna. Lindau, Lucerne and Innsbruck were the favorites.
Photographs & Info	Banff and Jasper National Parks, Alberta, Canada August 19-24, 2004 The Canadian Rockies - By far the most fascinating natural splendour I have ever experienced in my lifetime. In the middle of August, Banff National Park was teaming with tourists and tourist buses, but at the same time managed to provide places of extreme solitude. Jasper National Park was more rustic, peaceful and rugged. It rained uncontrollably for a day and drizzled naggingly for 3 of our 5 day stay. Nonetheless, these parks provided an exceptional experience.
Photographs & Info	Oh Canada! March 16-18, 2001 November 11-18, 2002 Ottawa, Toronto and Niagara Falls, Canada Vancouver and Whistler, Canada In recent times, we have either been to Vancouver for visa related issues, or to Ottawa, for Nortel related work. Combined with these trips have been detours to Whistler, Toronto and Niagara Falls (the Canadian side).
Photos & Travelogue	Death Valley National Park July 7-8, 2001 March 11-13, 2004 Death Valley National Park The first trip we made to Death Valley was in the middle of summer, when the place was deserted and temperatures soared to 118 F. Thunderstorms struck the valley late afternoon, giving us the spookiest experience of our lifetime. The second trip was in mid-March. Temperatures were a pleasant 85 F, and the sky was crystal blue. Tourists and photographers were flocking to every nook and corner of the park.
Photographs & Info	Bryce Canyon and Zion Canyon National Park December 16-19, 2002 December 24-29, 2001 Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah Zion Canyon National Park, Utah We have visited Zion Canyon and Bryce Canyon twice, making it a ritual for every time that we visit Las Vegas, or is it the other way around? Being a warm-blooded Desi and being unprepared for any kind of snow, it was an arduous task pointing the camera at anything. The last time around, we followed the biggest Pacific winter storm of 2002-2003 which drenched us at Kings Canyon, and dropped snow at Zion and Bryce for 2 days.
Photos & Travelogue	Redwood National Park July 3-6, 2002 Redwood National and State Parks, California Coupled with Lassen Volcanic National National Park, Redwood has been the most serene experience I have had. Lush Velvia countryside, the mighty Pacific, the imposing redwood trees, and the sparse (tourist) population made it a trip to remember.
Photos & Travelogue	Point Reyes National Seashore April 20-21, 2002 Point Reyes National Seashore, California The good - fabulous wildflowers in April, excellent opportunities to go tidepooling and discover the marine world naturally. The bad - loud Bay Area tourists who consider it to be their backyard picnic ground. If it is the rugged Pacific coastline you are looking for, I would suggest either the Pacific Northwest (Northern California or Oregon) or the Big Sur coastline.
Photographs only	The Windy City - Chicago, Illinois June 7-11, 2005 Chicago, Illinois Sparkling, beautiful, hot and humid.
Photos & Travelogue	Sin City - Las Vegas, Nevada December 24-29, 2001 December 15-21, 2002 Las Vegas, Nevada Disneyland for adults. Everything is fake, but you like it anyway. The first trip is always impressive, especially if you drive in at night from Arizona along I-15. There is a point when you descend from the rolling hills around 15 minutes east of Vegas, and the sprawling city just emerges from the darkness in front of you.
Photographs only	East Coast - New York, New York, and Washington DC December 8-16, 2003 A Quick One through Washington DC, New York and an hour in Boston. Nortel shipped me across to the East Coast to attend a DARPA sponsored IPv6 Summit in Washington DC. After spending 5 days at the conference, we slipped in 2 days for New York City, covering the touristy spots, and then drove on to Providence and Boston, to meet a friend.
Photographs only	North-East California September 1-3, 2001 May 24-26, 2003 Lassen Volcanic National Park Lava Beds National Monument These are by far the most peaceful National Parks in my experience. In addition to the intriguing geology of Lava Beds and the tranquil lakes of Lassen Volcanic, there is also the picturesue Klamath Wildlife Refuge which spans a large chunk of the north-eastern border between California and Oregon.
Photos & Info	Sierra Nevada, California Any chance we get Eastern Sierras Yosemite National Park Kings Canyon National Park Lake Tahoe Region A region that Ansel Adams, John Muir and countless others made famous is now just 4 hours from my neck of the woods. The drawback is that you shoot one cliché after another, even though the vistas never fail to impress. Proximity has also bred indifference, which is why slides go unscanned and travelogues go unwritten year after year.
Photographs only	Calcutta (Kolkata), India [Part I] [Part II] Afternoon Siestas Election Fever Along the Hooghly Dakhineshwar Glimpses from the Streets Victoria Memorial North Calcutta Architecture Dalhousie Square (BBD Bag)
Photos & Info	Los Angeles and Southern California Most of the time Los Angeles Solvang San Diego Los Angeles has always been associated with everything glamorous. For its completely non-glamorous and socially dead sister, the San Francisco Bay Area, LA has served as a weekend getaway for quite some time. Proof? If you look at traffic flowing in and out of CA-152, there is always a traffic snarl towards Los Anegeles on Friday nights; never towards the Bay Area.
Photos & Info	San Francisco and Bay Area Anytime, All the time San Francisco, California General Information The San Francisco Zoo Museum of Modern Art
Photos & Info	Central Pacific Coast Anytime, All the time The Central Pacific Coast Point Lobos State Reserve, California Andrew Molera State Park, California Big Sur Monterey, Carmel Local, San Jose