Light can make even the mundane of things magical
– both external and internal.
Canon 7D : Canon 10-22 mm : ISO 100 : 22 mm : f4.5 : 1/90 sec
| Queen Annes Lace Along a hike, Tennessee, USA |
June 4, 2015
In search of light
May 25, 2015
Upper Mesa Falls from Idaho
The Upper Mesa Falls at 114 feet offer spectacular views in a beautiful forest setting. The Mesa Falls Scenic Byway mesmerizes travelers with a display in the midst of a truly back-country setting. Upper Mesa Falls is part of the Henry Fork of the Snake River and is 114 feet high and 200 feet wide with a flow of around 600 to 1500 cubic feet / second. Of course, it is difficult to think or even plan for these stops when you are headed to the much grandeur Tetons and Yellowstone which are on a totally different scale of awesomeness. But nevertheless this was a thing of beauty and well worth the stop. Just got to spend an hours or so as the sun was setting down, but we were glad we did stop out there !
Canon S2 : ISO 50 : 6 mm : f8.0 : 1.3 / 5.0 sec
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Upper Mesa Falls Targhee National Forest, Idaho, USA |
March 9, 2015
Contemplating by the Skyline
When ever I watch the skyscrapers of Chicago, I am reminded of the movie The Matrix. It definitely was a movie with deeply profound and meaningful threads of truth, at intense philosophical and spiritual levels. Reality in some sense is dictated by our beliefs and our environment. Truth then is a matter of becoming aware of what is and what is not. This for one went beyond just being a movie – to build the base from scriptures and different religions and cultures. It makes one wonder – at the end science and spiritually are just different ways to the same destination.
Do not try and bend the spoon, that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth … there is no spoon. Then you will see, it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.
As for this shot, it was a pleasant evening by the lake – cool breeze, majestic building, clear skies, some stars at a distance – but my mind kept coming back to how we are stuck with or sometimes within the system. It is all an illusion :)
Canon 7D : Tamron 18-270 mm : ISO 100 : 33 mm : f9.5.0 : 30 sec
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By the Lake, Shedd Aquarium Chicago, Illinois, USA |
December 16, 2014
Let it be
Just, Let it be …
Canon XSi : Tamron 10-270 mm : ISO 400 : 270 mm : f5.6 : 1/500 sec 
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Sunset by a Coconut Groove Chennai, Tamilnadu, India |
October 23, 2011
The Fall(s) in the fall
Fall season seems to be one of the best seasons to shoot waterfalls. The overcast days, just the right level of water, moderate temperatures that allow you to enjoy the hike up, the colors and leaves – all work in synergy. This week shot is from the Fairy falls from a late evening. The circular polarizer helped enhance the green & yellows, while the ND Filter helped capture the silky smooth water & the textures from the ferns and rocks.
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 Flickr Page |
Fairy Falls, Wahkeena Creek trail |
August 21, 2011
Life is Wonderful
When you are calm and centered inside,
noise is musical ; clouds are magical
stones are beautiful ; life itself is wonderful !
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Flickr Page |
Sunset, Mirror Lake Scenic Byway |
December 22, 2010
Pile of Rocks – Hampi [look again !!!]
A visit to Hampi, the capital of the erstwhile Vijayanagar Empire, will surely transport anyone to the ambience of a golden age. If even at ruins this attracts so much of visitors from across the world, wow, how grand it would have been at its peak. The ruins even at the current state speak eloquently of the past glory. This probably is the ‘largest open-air museum in the world’ . With over 2,000-listed monuments and many more unlisted ones, scattered over 25-30 sq km, this has treasures around every nook and corner.
Today I present to you – pile of rocks from Hampi. Yeah even a pile of rocks from Hampi is so mesmerizing. Look closely to identify two Nandi hidden among the rocks. This is part of the small hill that you cross when taking the coracle ride along the river side ruins. If u know your way around with the coracle guys, you can get them to stop by for a small trek, at any of these places :)
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Flickr Page |
River Side Ruins, Hampi |
December 13, 2010
Awesome Sunset @ Veli Beach
Veli is an awesome place, located at the outskirts of Trivandrum . It is a combination of lagoon, ponds, pools and the beach. It is a tourism village located at a place where the lagoon meets the Arabian see. It’s vicinity to the airport make me land here, as I had couple of hours to kill before the flight. Glad I did !
It was nice to take a walk around the lagoon, so vary aptly juxtaposed along the road and railway tracks. The place was so cool even in the afternoon sun. The leisurely stroll on the opposite side leads to the Veli beach – which, to my surprise, is not (yet) spoilt by crowd. Except for a couple here & there and few kids, had the complete beach to myself.
The entire visit was completed with one amazing sunset. Given the weather, it was an unexpected one for the day. The water was kind of Turquoise and graduated towards brown near the shore, taking up the rather brown beach sand color. Probably it was quiet shallow, but i did not give it a try. Its really nice when things just unfold for you to shoot , right :)
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Flickr Page |
Veli Beach, Veli Tourist Village |
October 7, 2007
Fall in Love with Nature
Alpine Scenic Loop
Provo, UT, USA
For the full set check this out.
May 6, 2007
First Day in Utah
It has been nearly 2 1/2 months and here I am writing about my first day @ Salt Lake City, UT.
Change is good, especially when you initiate it. Or atleast, better , accept and grow along. Change in location from Portland to Salt lake city was quiet exhaustive, with change in location, change in responsibilities and changes in my view of life !
Portland,OR with its year long pleasant (at times cold !) climate was in entire contrast with Utah’s climate. I read somewhere and laughed, but after being here for two months realized how very true it is
If u don’t like the climate , wait for 5 minutes ,
ur in Utah!
The place where I’ve moved – Midvale (probably denotes middle of the valley), is surrounded by snow covered mountains, they are just gorgeous. It is just wonderful to drive around. I were told that, Utah basically being a desert, turns really really hot in summer. Hope it is not too hot this year !
Watch out for my travel blog for travelogues around UT.
January 17, 2007
Better know if ur after the coffee or the cup !
And btb knowing and not applying is actually not knowing at all in the first place.
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee."
"The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."
– Anonymous
January 2, 2007
The Quest – HDR & Night Photography
I am beginning to like the combination of HDR and long exposures. If you have not heard of HDR u might want to check this, this and this.
I challenged if, the indoor (the bookshelf with the lighting), the street in the back and the statue with the appropriate lighting could be captured, with out being washed out or under expososed. After a couple of long exposure , I decided to go with HDR and this is the result. How do u like it ?
This marble state is in front of the Standard Insurance building, Portland, OR (pushpin 1 – wow this is amazing, u could see where this statue is located, Tx live) . Though this is named "The Quest", I read the locals call it "The Three Groins in a Fountain".
Not sure y this statue is so notorious , while most of the other art work at Portland get much applause.
P.S : when I was looking for some information on the above , Google , yahoo and live.com failed to return appropriate results for "Portland statue" "Portland white marble stature" "Portland nude statue" and all combination. I finally got the information I was looking for from Flickr. Yes Flickr !!! – the photo sharing site.
Though the same in Google Image search and Live Image returned one of two images of the above , those sites did not have much information. In some cases it was a cached copy.
On the other had the tag search in Flickr gave the most appropriate results. Once I got the name of the statue (converted it to text – "The Quest" from the above image) Google was the King.
Flickr (and most of the social networking sites) are building up so much data around them and have a great potential to deliver things the machines are not yet able to perform well. Looking forward to how Yahoo (yes if u r not aware Flickr is part of yahoo) would leverage this toward Image Search.
December 8, 2006
Getting Noticed – Kicks ur ego
I have been featured at Best Blogs of WordPress. Really liked that way that the essence of the blog was captured. I think it was reviewed by Michael (not sure though)
Think of Like the Ocean as something like one part photo blog, and one part technology blog with a dash of personality mixed in for flavor.
– Best Blog on WordPress – Unofficial blog review site for wordpress
Best Blog of WordPress – Thanks for featuring and keep up the great work. I found a couple of good blogs going through your site.
Thanks Tylor, for giving me a heads up on it. And folks, Keep visiting for interesting photographs and tech stuffs !!!
And btb getting noticed, does boost ones ego, atleast in a subtle way. Regardless, feels nice to be appreciated. Thanks.
September 4, 2006
Seth on Compromise
Came across this thought provoking post, by Seth. Wow what a great way of conveying a message. Initially Seth really convinced me that, he has the same breakfast, almost everyday. Even, if he has (or he makes the same), I am least bothered (after reading his post), since that was not the actual message.
A good aphorism, wrapped up in something that every one can relate to, made this a great post to read, and of course think about !!!
If I ever need to make a compromise, It would never be on the point ‘less the compromise, better the work’.
August 7, 2006
What would u Decide ?
I got an interesting E-mail (rarely u do get some good stuff forwarded !!! )
It really does give a great insight into one’s decision making. This is how it goes
A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track. The train came, and you were just beside the track interchange. You could make the train change its course to the disused track and saved most of the kids.
However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?
Wait. Just take a sec and decide what you would have done in such a scenario, before reading further.
Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child (were u one of them). Why? because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally. But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?
Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.
The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.The person who wrote the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train’s sirens.
If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.
How very true that at times we do not realize the importance of the day-to-day decisions we make. We are so much used to the system that we are not even aware, on what values our decision are based upon. Wake Up.
August 6, 2006
The Search is On ….
It has been more than 2 months , I seem to have choked , even before starting (to blog).
I was just wondering, may be postponing this online stuff all these days were not due to pain in the tech , but may be just my lazyness. Or was it !!!!
These two months I was mainly bothered by two lines of thought, regarding this online blog !!!!
Do I really want to create an alias to myself or just go with the original self. I saw that I was totally aginst going by an alias, which would eventually build a virtual alter for me. Was there something to loose, going by my real self !!! As Scott McNealy points, ‘Your Privacy is already lost. Get over it.’.
The other one was , is this really adding value to what I am in search of …. the search for that something which gives meaning to your life. I realised that this would be a great window to the world, adding more values to my life, than the routine asks that I find difficult escape.
I came across a wounderful (blog) person , Scoble, while searching online for some stuff. The beauty of blogsphere – links – brought to my attention, a couple of more bloggers – people who by sharing their experince and learning make a difference to the world. I am learning that blogging if done in the right way, would help you build a network to learn / share experiences that would enrich everyones day to day lives.
So here I am , let us see how this round goes ….
BTB the Search is still on …..
May 17, 2006
Hello World
Hello My World !!!
As any IT professional here is my first blog entry and hence the title Hello World
I had been ,to say, postponing this for couple of years. Each time I start (tried a couple of them from lycos, yahoo, prohosting etc.) I would go till the level of designing the web site and probably drop it, when it comes to hosting, due to various issues like (Ads hovering over my page , no FTP etc , slow page loads, not enough bandwidth etc. etc.)
I had known about blogging for quiet a while , but I stayed a bit away from it, cause it was bit difficult to manage and maintain ur stuff in order. When I came across WordPress. I was quiet surprised with the results. It had the right balance of Web Hosting and Blogging (I would rather write about this in detail later). I am sure with the ease of wordpress, it should not be that pressing on me to have this current ….
Hence here I am, happy with my first blog entry. Wish me the very best. I am planning to add a couple of more static pages as I complete putting my stuff togather.
…….. Keep Visiting ………
Like the Ocean 