Beyond Taj is about discovering what lies beyond the obvious. We showcase India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal in depth, moving past standard landmarks to offer true cultural authenticity.
Travelers experience a curated blend of iconic locations in perfect light and hidden cultural treasures; from the Chhau Mask Festival in Bengal to the ancient Kalaripayattu warriors on Kerala's shores. To maintain an intimate, high-end experience, group sizes are strictly limited to a maximum of six people.
Every journey is officially operated and managed by our award-winning ground partner, Orange DMC. By combining their premier logistics with a dedicated network of regional photography specialists and local travel experts, we open doors that remain closed to ordinary visitors. This is designed for passionate creatives who want an authentic journey without compromising on comfort, safety, or premium accommodations.
I’m Runa, a passionate photographer whose fine-art photography of South Asia has been exhibited internationally. For the past 17 years, my deep love for travel across India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal has allowed me to build an extensive archive of visual stories and wonderful regional connections.
My creative insights have contributed to various tourism publications, digital travel platforms, and destination-marketing books. Beyond Taj Tours is the conceptual outcome of these years of exploration. It is designed from a genuine appreciation for the region's hidden beauty.
As the founder and creative force behind the platform, I focus entirely on the artistic direction and design of our itineraries. My goal is to ensure that photography enthusiasts find the perfect light and the space to create. The complete ground management and operational delivery of every journey are fully executed by our partner, Orange DMC.
This platform started organically through private photography trips with friends who shared the same passion. It was all about chasing light and moments in places that most tourists completely miss.
By 2019, word of mouth grew quickly as friends brought their friends along. What began as spontaneous adventures naturally evolved into dedicated workshops and specialized photo itineraries. The message from our community was clear. Photographers wanted something genuinely different from cookie-cutter group tours.
To elevate this vision, we officially brought in Orange DMC as our exclusive ground operations partner. They have been delivering exceptional travel experiences across Asia for years and instantly understood our creative goals. Today, Beyond Taj Tours combines their professional logistics and premium organization with our trusted network of regional photography experts. It is truly the best of both worlds.
Orange DMC is your premier destination management company specializing in tailor-made journeys and authentic travel experiences across Asia and beyond. We connect travelers with curated adventures, sustainable travel solutions, and local insights for unforgettable memories. We are a full-service destination management company specialising in Asia. Himalayan hideaways to romantic isles in the Indian Ocean, tiger habitats to whale migration routes, the Taj Mahal to Angkor Wat, we craft customised private journeys across the Indian Subcontinent, South-East Asia, and Japan, with a focus on seamless operations and authentic engagement that turn dreams into the journey of a lifetime.
A Growing Network of Visual Storytellers.
Our platform connects you with regional photo mentors and local specialists who know their destinations inside out. They share their deep knowledge of the region, helping you understand where to find the best perspectives, how to capture local culture respectfully, and what works best for visual storytelling in each unique location.
Danny spent his early career as a paramedic, which sounds like an odd runway into photography until you watch him work a street. Reading a scene fast, staying calm when things get chaotic, knowing exactly when to step in and when to hold back: it's the same instinct, just pointed at a camera instead of a stretcher. Originally from Australia and most recently based in Vietnam, Danny has spent years travelling with that instinct switched on, drawn less to postcard shots than to the raw, unscripted moments most people walk straight past. His style is documentary at heart: authentic, unpolished, more interested in truth than in perfection. What sets Danny apart is access. He's disarmingly easy to talk to, and that curiosity and warmth open doors a camera alone never could, letting him capture the kind of organic, intimate moments that usually stay just out of reach for a stranger with a lens. On tour, he brings that same ease to the group: if street photography makes you nervous (and let's be honest, walking up to a stranger and pointing a camera at their face never stops feeling a little terrifying), Danny is the one who'll get you past that hesitation. Pair that with genuinely deep technical knowledge, of camera systems and of the editing side, and he's as valuable in a debrief session as he is out on the street at golden hour.
Arpit came to the street by way of art school. He graduated from the College of Art, New Delhi, and you can see it in how he builds a frame: the composition is settled first, then he waits for someone to walk in and turn it into a story. For more than seven years he has worked urban spaces for candid moments, small gestures and the expressions people wear when they think nobody is looking. Everyday life is his subject, and he has a knack for finding the one frame in an ordinary afternoon that most of us would have walked straight past. The juries noticed. In 2017 he won both the World Photographic Forum Award and the India Photo Story Award, followed by the Street Photography India Awards (2020-2021) and, most recently, the AIFACS Award 2026 from the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society. He was a finalist at the Miami Street Photography Festival (2019), the APF International Street Photography Festival (2025) and the Street Macadam Awards for black and white (2025). His work has been shown at The Heart Space Gallery in Ahmedabad, at Nazrul Tirtha in Kolkata and at the Banaras Literature Festival in Varanasi. Alongside the street work, Arpit shoots documentary and commercial projects for brands and advertising agencies. So he can wait an hour for a picture, and he can also deliver one by Friday. The curiosity behind both, in his words, is the same: to observe, connect, and tell stories through images.
Most photographers learn to anticipate a moment by missing a few thousand of them. Vipin took the academic route. He holds a Ph.D. in Zoology, and his research in carnivore ecology and habitat monitoring meant long days in Rajasthan’s rugged backcountry, watching what an animal does just before it does something worth photographing. That fieldwork grew into Panthera Trails, the safari company he founded in Jaipur with fellow researcher Dr. Shivangee Bansal. Its home ground is Jhalana and Jawai, two of India’s most remarkable leopard habitats. Jhalana sits on the edge of Jaipur itself. In Jawai, the leopards live on granite hills directly above villages and grazing herds, and people there have shared the land with them for generations. Alongside the science, Vipin has photographed across India for decades, from wildlife documentation to cultural festivals. The skills transfer more directly than you would expect. A camel trader closing a deal at Pushkar gives you about as much warning as a leopard leaving its ridge, and Vipin will already have told you where to stand. On tour he is also the one who navigates. He handles the conversations that get a small group into a temple courtyard or to the front of a procession, and he is firm that nobody’s ritual gets interrupted for a frame. His technical coaching is clear and patient. And if you ask what that bird overhead was, you will get the full answer.
Are you a passionate photographer who loves to share knowledge? Our list of featured photo mentors is constantly growing, and we are always looking for inspiring visual storytellers to join our community. If you would like to contribute your expertise, share destination insights, or help guide others within our network, we would love to hear from you. Get in touch with us to apply.
