Dubai is known for high rise skyscrapers and its views. But this one is special. This is probably what Tom Cruise would have seen, when maneuvering over Burj Khalifa, if he had done the same stunt by night :)
Canon 7D : Canon 10-22mm : ISO 100 : 10 mm : f4.5 : 30 sec
| Burj Khalifa Downtown, Dubai, UAE |
There is no other place like NYC :) Each visit brings an experience unto itself. Sometimes the best view is not from the tallest tower , but from the one just behind it !
Canon 7D : Tamron 18-270 mm : ISO 250 : 70 mm : f6.7 : 1/90 sec
| Empire State New York, New York, USA |
Initiated around 1793, the core building of The Capitol (Washington D.C) construction took 33 years. It was interesting to learn that the current dome of the capitol building was actually the second one. The original wooden dome was subsequently replaced as a precaution for fire.
Today it stands as the meeting place of the nation’s legislature. The Capitol also houses an important collection of American art, and it is an architectural achievement in its own right. The several blocks from Washington memorial to the capitol building houses the various Smithsonian museums and is a great place to take a walk !
Canon 7D : Tamron 18-270 mm : ISO 200 : 33 mm : f4.0 : 1.5 sec
| The Capitol Washington, D.C, USA |
Kanyakumari , the southern most tip of Incredible India, is well known for a handful of things – The Vivekananda Rock, Thiruvaluvar statue, the small fishing colony, Devi Kanyakumari Amman Temple on one end and Our lady Church on the other. But it all comes together during sunrise, when everyone gathers by the coast to witness the dynamic colors :)
Canon 7D : Canon 10-22 mm : ISO 100 : 10 mm : f4.5 : 0.3 sec
| Sunrise @ South Tip Kanyakumari, TamilNadu, India |
When I heard about the pineapple fountain, I was pretty exited. As per the name, it was quiet a fountain. Arrived before sunrise to shoot. Unfortunately the fountain was not turned on. It was surprising that the near by spider fountain was operational.
As I was walking by the gardens and enjoying the twilight, found a building opposite to the fountain. The high vintage from the steps gave a nice perspective. As I set the camera for the first rays, the fountain sprung to life !
Here is a Pineapple fountain, with sun cherry topping, for you :)
Canon 7D : Tamron 18-270 mm : ISO 100 : 85 mm : f27 : 1/125 sec
| Pineapple Fountain Charleston, South Carolina, USA |
Cloud gate, also affectionately called by the locals as bean is a lovely spot amidst downtown Chicago to spend an evening. As if the bean by itself is not interesting enough, there are numerous areas of interest near by, all walk able. Be it the amazing architecture or the beautiful fountains or interesting shows at Jay Pritzker Pavilion (mostly free) or the lovely lake – this spot has got it all !!!
Canon 7D : Canon 10-24 mm : ISO 100 : 10 mm : f8.0 : 30 sec 
| Cloud Gate Chicago, Illinois, USA |
Buckingham Fountain at Chicago, is seriously beautiful. A favorite spot in the city, one can literally spend hours hours watching the fountain. The backdrop of Chicago or the lake, behind the fountain make it even more gorgeous.
With 134 jets and a fountain water capacity of 1.5 million gallons, it roughly pumps 14,100 gallons of water per minute. Water is re-circulated from the base pool after the basins are filled and not drawn from the outside except to replace losses from wind and evaporation. Some amazing engineering – be it the stupendous architecture or the the lighting at the dusk or the synchronous music that goes along with the lighting. The fountain located in the shores of Lake Michigan also symbolizes the lake itself, with four pairs of sea horses representing the four states that border its shoreline.
It was really lovely to see the Cassiopeia (Constellation) shining atop, even amidst all that man made city light. By the by, that lovely blue building, that u see there – that is where I work out of, lucky me … or not ;-)
I present to you Sea horse, Skyline and some stars at Buckingham Fountain, Chicago. Definitely well worth checking out in large. How do u like it ?
Canon 7D : Canon 10-22 mm : ISO 100 : 13 mm : f8.0 : 10 sec 
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Buckingham Fountain Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA |
Last November (2012) got a chance to get up the Space Needle at Seattle. It is one of the best places to get the amazing city view of Seattle. Given the season and altitude, the chillness was quiet expected, but the night being so crisp and clear was a pleasant surprise.
As I was going up, I was cursing myself to have left the tripod at home. Luckily I was at least carrying the gorillapod and it turned out to be a blessing. The odd shape of the fencing at the watching balcony renders the tripod useless, unless you are using a long zoom. The gorillapod just snug to the rails and helped capture the nightscape in all its glory.
I was pretty surprised on how much details my nifty canon 10-22 mm lens was able to capture – if ur keen u can read the apartment names & ‘now leasing’ ads complete with phone numbers :) The lower Temperature (one of the key setting you can play with when shooting RAW) aided in enhancing the bluish futuristic glow. Though I like the beauty of the night lights, for some reason, this shot reminds me of the aimless pursuits that we manage to partake in our daily lives, systematic yet chaotic, with a goal but not knowing what next, so focused on the destination that we forget all about the journey … Wake Up before it is too late - oh well may be it is just me !!!
Camera : Canon 7D
Lens : Canon 10-22 mm
Filter : 3 stop ND Filter
ISO 100 : 22 mm : f8 : 15 sec
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Living Nightlights, View from Space Needle Seattle, Washington, USA |
Seattle is a such lively city especially for photographers – located adjacent to water, hills all around, lovely skyline, beautiful S-curves leading to the heart of the downtown area. Love the way how it comes alive at night. Here is one of the scenes for your to enjoy. You can get this view from around Dr Jose P Rizal Bridge. Check here for other shots of Seattle.
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Seattle Downtown Seattle, Washington, USA |
The last few weeks blog posts were related to waterscapes. It was not intentional and I was really surprised that all were from Oregon, very different perspectives of waterfalls and all were having variations of green. Yet each one was so unique. Even the greens within the same shots were so varied. Ah! the beauty of pacific northwest !!! I can go on and on about the northwest landscape, let me just stop there :)
In an attempt to diversify a bit, this week shot is from other extreme – an urban landscape – Night lit skyline of Salt Lake City. Incidentally it also kind of reflects my mood – scattered, hyper, juggling too many thing – hopeful of finding the calm within the chaos.
The dome without mistake is the state capitol building, which by itself has a wonderful architecture and elevation. If you look keen enough, you can notice the adjoining lawns that have nice evening picnic spots and views. On the right is the famed LDS Temple. The elevation of this temple is beautiful too. Click here to check out the close up shot of the Temple Square. This panoramic view is from somewhere around the Ensign Peak Nature Park. Read somewhere that the pioneer leaders envisioned Salt Lake City layout plans from this point. Now I know how SLC ended up with the boring co-ordinate road system :)
| View from Ensign Peak Nature Park Salt Lake City, Utah, USA |
A bit of fireworks, some snow, a trip to the rainforest, throw in some waterfalls on the way and a drive thru amazing 101 pacific coast highway. What a way to start a new year. Not all happened as planned, due to mother nature deciding to join us, in the last minute, in form of lashing rain. Nevertheless it was an awesome trip encircling the Olympic national park, Washington.
This shot is the first one I had taken for this year 2012 & am very pleased with results. It is a high dynamic range shot with multiple exposure to capture the reflections, highlights and fireworks. I really love to watch fireworks up and close at space needle-Seattle, but did not want to be spending 2-3 hours getting out of the downtown traffic once the show was over. Hence after a bit of help from Google Earth, settled for a spot from Hamilton View point park, West Seattle. But as we were driving to the park, the view from harbor avenue was so breath taking, that we decided to settle there for the fireworks show. Arriving at the spot early always has an advantage. As we strolled down the harbor lane, was able to locate a secret sweet spot just behind the parking lot of Salty’s seafood grill. The view was probably better than the deck at Salty’s. Of course we were not served beer ! To make it easier for you, here is the actual spot (47.586095,-122.375566). Just be careful of loose rocks. I had always wanted to shoot the Seattle skyline and this is probably the best view of the Seattle skyline that I had come across. Though an urban setting, it indeed was serene, with the cool breeze, reflections and background effects from sea lions.
If you are still reading … Sorry I had been away for almost a month with unplanned hiatus over here at the blog. I really did not want to start the year’s post with an apology hence pushed this to the later part of the post. It always makes me wonder how something that happens in one part of your life has so much of impacts on your actions, thoughts and eventually how it reflects on almost all other phases. Anyway life just goes on … For the last couple of weeks, I had not been very active here, but had been making changes slowly. You can now see that LikeTheOcean.com points to this very blog and photo.LikeTheOcean.com points to my smugmug portfolio site. Much easier to remember, right :). Hopefully, the new-non intrusive theme allows, to enjoy the photos directly form the blog. As before am definitely planning to share atleast one amazing travel photo, if not more, every week of 2012 too.
Thanks for sticking around and travelling with me ! Happy New Year to all.
P.S: Definitely best viewed at large. Seattle Skyline is available in Print as such or with customization. This would make a great wall frame as such or with a inspiration quote on the the bottom. Just drop me a note with the request if u want any customization.
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Fireworks @ Space Needle, Seattle Skyline |
If you had been following my blog, I bored you last week with my Seattle trip. Continuing that … … … With Sunday still left, decided to pursue the Seattle skyline shot. Decided that probably staying near downtown would help. Being Saturday evening and given the fact that all the hotels were booked, started looking out for options. That is when I came across Airbnb. Pretty interesting concept, where folks rent out their vacation homes or part of their homes. Stay options, with no frills. Though I was initially skeptical, worked out pretty good. Especially the vacation homes at the prime coastal areas are pretty good deals. May be should give it a try some time. Are you aware of this service ? Have you used the same ? what are your experiences ?
After researching a bit, the only option that seems to work out, with out a car, was Kerry Park, which was just 6-7 blocks away. That sounded pretty good and thought I could even walk down if the I decided to stick around, way past sun set. But, I did not realize there would be so many steps across each block, with such a elevation gain ! Lesson Learnt: When in Seattle, check altitude difference along with distance, if planning to walk :)
The overall walk or rather hike up was fruitful. It was indeed a peaceful stroll once you get to Kerry Park. The views were quiet awesome. As for the shot – it was 30 second exposure, taken few hours after sunset. This is indeed an HDR, to capture the low light and warmth of the scene.
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Space Needle @ Dusk |
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| Sathya on Venus on the swing |
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