I will be visiting Switzerland in late September. My schedule has one full day stops in Basel and Lucerne with two days in Zurich. I would like to make a day trip into the Alps from one of these locations to do some landscape photography. My interest is to see the classic valley scenes with green rolling meadows surrounded by mountain peaks. I am not interested in hiking any significant distance. I am looking for a guide to take my wife and I to accessible locations. Any suggestions on which city may offer the best departure point for accessing the alps and/or what guide/company I could contact?

Re: Technique vs. art. The way I look at it: If you want to take better pictures, stand in front of more interesting people or places. The thought is not original with me but it does make sense.

Unfortunately we will not be close enough to Hempi for a visit. Sounds fascinating. Thanks for the suggestion.

We have a very detailed tour arranged with driver and guide the whole way. We will be visiting almost all of the places you mentioned in the beginning of your post. Unfortunately, we will not have time for the southern most tip or Mysore. You are right about the people. We did 3 weeks in northern India last January and my photos of the people were wonderful. I have to leave my office in a few moments but I will share my favorite with you later.

Rooftop bars are the greatest. Here is a sunset photo I took in 2010 from a bar south of the Empire State Building looking north. Got there around 3:00 p.m. and decided to stay for the sunset. Did not expect to see this.

We spent 3 weeks in northern India last January and decided we wanted to return to see the south. This was one of the best trips we have ever taken and are hoping the south will be as photogenic and interesting. Not so interested in the wildlife. People and the culture will be our primary focus. I'll be sure to post photos on our return. However, I took 3,500 pics on the last trip and it will be several months before I edit and process my photos. Thank you for your good wishes.

The caves are on our itinerary and we are looking forward to our visit. From the photos if have seen they are spectacular. Thank you for confirming.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to reach Mysore as most of itinerary is more to the south and east. Thank you for your suggestion.

The laundry is on our list to visit. We visited a small laundry in New Delhi on our recent trip to northern India and it was very interesting so we are looking forward to Mumbai.

In a week, I will be leaving for a trip to southern India and visiting the following cities: Chennai, Mahabalipuram, Pondicherry, Tricky, Madurai, Munnar, Kumarakom, Cochin, Aurangabad and Mumbai. We have a detailed tour laid out to visit the most interesting and photogenic places at each destination. However, I am sure a few of the hogs have visited some places off the beaten path that might be fun to shoot. Would appreciate any suggestions for shooting locations or favorite stops.

I didn't know this feature is available. However, once a new UHH post comes out, as a practical matter do people go back and search old posts? I am guessing that it is highly unlikely.

If I had failed to respond with a thank you to anyone that took the time to respond to one of my posts, I am certainly happy to offer an apology. I have seen your posts quite frequently and know you to be very active on the site. What is the UHH etiquette for giving a response when there are multiple responses to a post, some of which don't directly address the subject of the post? Also, someone has responded to my post of today attributing my post to my need for popularity. I don't come to the UHH site to engage in this type of conversation. Is it OK to ignore such comments?

If I post a photo, I do so to hear the comments from photographers more qualified than myself. Isn't this the best way to learn and improve your art and skills? It makes no sense to post a few hours before my post will be deleted. If I want to be popular I will go back to high school.

My interest in this site is not to establish a presence. I find the site a great resource and frequently come across questions that I never thought about asking. I have only posted a couple of my own photos even though I have a fairly extensive collection. My goal is to better understand the site so that when I choose to share my work it doesn't appear just a few hours before the next UHH message comes in.

I look forward to seeing what concerns other UHH photographers around the world and the sharing of their handiwork. I am more an observer than a participant but from time to time I have questions that I know others can help with. In fact, I am sometimes amazed by the length to which some of the more technically skilled hogs will go to to help others.