Golden Bengal Photography Expedition
A unique photo experience in the heart of South Asia
Welcome to the enchanting world of Bangladesh’s Candle Lights Festival, where the air is filled with reverence and the interplay of light and shadow weaves a tapestry of enchanting beauty. As day turns to night, thousands of devotees gather around the holy shrine, their faces glowing with the warm flicker of countless candles.
We invite the World’s photographers to explore with embark on a visual pilgrimage, immerse themselves in the deep connection between the divine and the mortal, and be swept away by the enchantment of Bangladesh’s Candle Festival. The Golden Bengal Photography Tour is one of the best photography expeditions of Image Tours. This is the best photography season in Bangladesh. The most interesting things this season are the candlelight pray festival, Betel nut market, Fishing village, stone mine and more. In this expedition, you will explore Bangladesh’s riches Festivals, peoples, daily life, and culture with amazing photography opportunities.
Trip Date
Date: November 14-27, 2024
November 14-25, 2025
November 14-25, 2026
Duration: 12 Days 11 Nights
Extension: 2-5 Days Extension Available
Extension: Full Details
Tour Type & Group
Photography Tour & Workshop
Small Group
Maximum 8 Participants.
+ One Photographer Guide
+ One Tour Manager
Skill Level
Suitable for ALL Skill Levels,
Novice to Advanced or
Beginner to Professional Photographer.
Physical Fitness
Easy to Moderate,
Suitable For Any Mature Age Level.
Day 01: Arrival Dhaka, Bangladesh
An Image Tours representative will greet you at the airport and then take you to the hotel for check-in. This afternoon Introduce with our Photo guide, Mr. Yousuf Tushar followed by your first photoshoot at old Dhaka city, Peoples & their costume, rickshaws. Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh, the World’s most population-density city but people are the most friendly so it’s easier for you to capture people’s photos.
A special Welcome Dinner & Enjoy the slideshow presentation by Yousuf Tushar, Interact with Tushar you will get more information and ideas which will be helpful for your journey. (L.D.)
Photoshoot: Rikshaws (tri-wheeler bicycle), Peoples, Traditional Costumes, Streets Photography.
Day 02: Coal Labors – Candle Lights Festival
Morning session we will visit the riverside port where every day more than 3000 laborers come to unload black coals, bricks and sand carry on their heads from lighter vessels. Second session drive to Damrai Temples to explore the most exciting candlelight ritual festival. As day turns to night, thousands of devotees gather around the holy shrine, their faces glowing with the warm flicker of countless candles. In this mesmerizing realm, our lenses bear witness to the extraordinary convergence of faith, culture, and human spirit. Wisps of smoke rise, mingling with the luminous trails of candlelight, as if painting a portrait of devotion itself. And you will capture freeze fleeting moments of intense spirituality, encapsulating the transformative power of this cherished tradition. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Daily laborers carry coals on the head, Candlelight Festival.
Day 03: Batik Village & Rice Factories
Drive through to the Northeast districts, and on the way you will explore the largest tie-dying fabric center in all of Bangladesh, a place where workers dye fabrics by hand and spread them on the ground or on racks to dry in the baking sun. This riot of colour changes every day and we will spend some time creating images of the workers of the cloth while exploring lines and composition in photography. Continuing our visual odyssey, we delve into the captivating world of rice factories. Amidst the rhythmic symphony of bustling workers, our cameras artfully frame the choreography of labor, capturing the intricate processes that transform rice from field to table. The lines of rice paddies stretch their lush green hues, a testament to nature’s bounty. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Batik Village, Sun-dry rice process on country-yard.
Day 04: Stone Mine at Northeast Region
The Stone Mine is Located at the foothills of the beautiful Meghalaya Hills in the northeastern region of Bangladesh known for its lush green hills & Natural beauty, rolling tea gardens, and a mosaic of stones and rocks, where you will explore humanity and beauty merge into one. It is Every day at the crack of dawn, hundreds of little black and grey boats descend into the river. Laborers of all ages clamor about the river with buckets and spades in hand collecting the stones. They dig, pull out the stones, carry them on their heads and crush stones. More than 20,000 men, women, and children work as stone laborers. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Whole-day stone mine area.
Day 05: Garbage Field-South City
Drive through to the South City, on the way we will enter the enchanting realm of a dump yard. Here the ethereal blend of morning fog and swirling smoke of garbage fires creates a dramatic and evocative setting, offering photographers a unique opportunity to create visually striking and powerful compositions. You will explore unconventional landscapes, where the convergence of human perseverance and atmospheric elements reveals the extraordinary beauty hidden within the ordinary. On the way, we will also explore and photograph village life. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Garbage field and village life.
Day 06: South City – South Bay
Early in the morning, we will explore the country’s largest marine fish port and wholesale fish market. Every morning in this port is festive, where you will capture the enchanting scenes on camera. Fishermen, with weathered hands and unwavering determination unload fish from the boats, with meticulous attention they repair their fishing nets and dry nets in the sun. We will then drive to the South Bay, where the world’s longest sea beach stretches out in all its splendor. Here, we are immersed in a tapestry of fishing activities and the innocent joy of children at play. The rhythmic dance of fishermen casting their nets against the backdrop of crashing waves becomes a visual symphony. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Fishing port, fish market, seaside fishing & Sunset.
Day 07: South Bay World’s Longest Sea Beach
The morning session drive to Chokoria local market to explore the biggest betel nut market in Bangladesh. Hundreds of villagers carry betel nuts to the market for selling, it’s a wonderful scene, the market is filled to the brim with colorful betel nuts. Next, we will drive to the Moheskhali sea beach where Hundreds of colorful moon-shaped fishing boats line the shore, fishermen pulling fishing nets full of fish out of the sea, making fishing boats, silhouettes on fishermen, their nets stretching gracefully across the water’s edge, become ethereal forms against the vibrant hues of the setting sun. These images, infused with a sense of serenity and reverence, evoke the timeless connection between humanity and the sea. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Betel Nut Market, Fishing, Moon Shape Boats & Sunset on The Beach.
Day 08: Dry Fish Village – Dhaka
In the morning we will turn our lens to the largest dry fish village in the country, where around 30,000 workers, with two-thirds women, work in 1,040 dried fish processing units and most of them work on a daily wage basis. The activities of their drying process, the arrangement of dried fish on the rows of bamboo, children playing under the decorated dry fish, fish eyes and human eyes merge together all together to create a wonderful and charming atmosphere. After the morning session, we will come back to Dhaka by flight. After arriving at Dhaka Street Photography in the central city area. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Dry fish process and Street Photography.
Day 09: Plastic Recycling & Candle Light Festival
In the morning session, we will visit the old Dhaka city where people work on plastic recycling, sitting in stacks of plastic bottles cleaning and sorting thousands of plastic bottles. Next, visit the leather processing area. Today we will drive to another temple in the second session to explore the most interesting candlelight ritual ceremony. In this temple adding a different dimension to the prayers, Devotees who come here to celebrate the candlelight ritual ceremony lighting lamps and candles from just sunset with some gift (fruits, sweets, coconut, cow milk, etc.) for their belief in God. And every fan keeps themselves fasting until the lamps burn out. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Old Dhaka, Leather processing area, and Candlelight Festival.
Day 10: Asia’s Largest Shipyard
IIn the morning explore the old Dhaka city riverside, you will capture hundreds of people crossing the river by local small boats and many boats anchored like flowers on the river bed, also capturing the markets and activities of the riverside. Next, we will enter the Shipyard, a slum home to Asia’s largest shipyard. A labyrinth-like city in which giant skeletons of old ships provide work for around 15,000 workers, with the task of dismantling ships, repairing and creating new boats with the recovered parts. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Riverside life, Country boats. ship making, dismantling & repair.
Day 11: Brick Factories, Dhaka
Around 300 brick fields surround Dhaka city, where brick laborers make brick by hand in traditional processes. Clay to red brick-making process using the mold, you will explore every step of brick-making. After making raw bricks by hand stack them in rows to dry in the sun, after drying in the sun raw bricks are carried by workers on head to the brick kiln by a line for burning. You will also capture portraits of workers with red dust covering their faces, brick laborers living conditions in small slums around the brick field. Next, explores the local train station and street photography. (B.L.D.)
Photoshoot: Brick-field, Red bricks carry by the head, Train station & Street.
Day 14: Chicken Market- Departure
Early Morning Explore the chicken market. In this market poultry vendors display live chickens in pyramid-shaped baskets made of twine so that customers can buy the chicken of their choice. After breakfast prepare to check out the hotel. According to your individual Flight departure time, we will drop you at the airport and bid a fond farewell. We hope your unforgettable memories call you again to this land and show up your Bangladesh’s great images. (B.)
Photoshoot: Chicken Market.
Learn post-processing like a pro
We know what your images need
Bring the touch of perfection to your digital images
Our photography expeditions are not only a simple photo trip it’s a photography workshop. Whether you are a beginner, keen amateur or professional photographer we want you to get the best possible pictures on every tour. Each of our participants will get the right infield guidance from understanding all camera settings, creating outstanding compositions, perfect exposer to the different light conditions, developing a personal style to finalizing ideas in image editing software.
We also put emphasis on Image Post-Processing which is extremely important nowadays. We will hold post-processing panels where we will teach you the workflows in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom and some additional plug-ins we use to make your pictures stand well apart from the rest. We will try to allow enough time for you to post-process your pictures while on the tour, and hopefully, you will go home with your prime shots ready for the showcase.
You will learn how to
Included in the Cost
Not Included in the Cost
Recommended Gear and Other Information
Yousuf Tushar EFIAP, Tour Leader
Tushar is recognized as one of the leading freelance documentary photographers based in Bangladesh. As well as he is a Travel & Art photographer, writer, instructor, organizer, and judge of National & international photography competitions. He has years of experience guiding photo tours & workshops. His wide & long-time experience in Travel photography, Organizing, teaching, and prestigious international award-winning made him one of the best photographers in Bangladesh. He has excellent knowledge about the perfect places to capture a photo of every location in Bangladesh. He loves to help with hands-on experience in a Creative learning environment while out in the field, and he absolutely loves leading photo tours! Since 2000 he has been working full-time professional photographer, he has traveled to many countries as a travel photographer. His works have been published in Times UK, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Forbes magazine, BBC, National Geographic, Daily Mail, Sunday Post, Express UK, The Sun, The Atlantic, USA Today, and renowned international photo agencies. His photographs were exhibited in different international photo exhibitions in Asia, Europe & USA. He has owned more than a hundred National & International prestigious photographic awards including HPA-UNESCO china, Emirates photo contest, Asahi Shimbun Japan, United Nations IYC Singapore, People & Planet Australia, PX3 Paris, CBRE Urban photographer of the year, Link Lady, SIENA International, A Photo Reporter, New York-Manhattan, celebrating Life Bangladesh and numerous FIAP & PSA patronage Award. Presently he is the Secretary-General & FIAP Liaison officer of the Bangladesh Photographic Society. More Details about him
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Related Images of this trip
Gallery | Golden Bengal Photo Tour & Workshop
