Photography in Nepal

[Simon Mortlock]

Hi All
Im going to Nepal at the End of December. I was wondering what type of film is best for the lighting conditions at that time of year. Presumably if the light is very bright I will need ISO 100. However if the light is poorer I will need a more light sensitive film such as ISO 400. What is everyones experiences of taking photos?
Thanks Simon

[Andrées]

The bigest problem in Nepal is that you you have a very strong contrast between sunlight and shadow. The reason ist partially that you are nearer to the equator and mainly that you will be at higher in altitude. Expecially when trecking above 3000 m contrast is the major problem. Our eyes still see a normal sceenery but the film will change every light shadow into deep black wich gives you black stripes in landscapes and portraits, where you often just can see a half of the face. Films with low ISO, e.G. 50 ISO tend to be very hard, so that they even worsen the contrast. ISO 200 is far better, they are softer, ISO 400 would be even softer.
Another problem, expecially in december is the lack of light. For people who are trecking, the sun dispears quiet often already at 2 -3 pm behind the huge mountains. And the sky is much darker than in our countrys, so <uo sun get trouble with the light. If you dont use a lens with good light factor, it is better to have ISO 200 ore more. I for instance use an normal Tamron Zoom and definitively prefer ISO 200. In december you will also have little light in the morning in places like Kathmandu.
I´m a photographer and show a proffesionel slide show about in Germany, so I tried a lot of different films and even made sometimes the same pictures with different films to compare the result. You can see some of my pictures about annapurnregion in www.nepal-dia.de
I wish good luck and many good picturers Andrées