Posts tagged ‘Photoblog’

January 21, 2011

Go with the Flow

There is something magical about water falls, yeah the falling water. It is so soothing, just to sit by the running water and let yourself flow. May be it is the fluid nature of water, may be it is trying to find your ever flowing inner self, may be its the calm that it brings, may be …
what ever it is, i always love to visit a waterfall …how about you !!!

The below is from a hike to Donut Falls – a gem hidden at the Big Cottonwood canyon, Salt Lake. It is always an ideal place to hike up and spend the afternoon, provided of course, the path is not covered with snow !

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Donut Falls, Big Cottonwood Canyon
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

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January 14, 2011

The New Dawn

Just a fortnight onto 2011 and I had a chance to make it to Nandi Hills twice clubbed with a hike. Great way to start a year ! But yeah both the times the security check at the foot hills jeopardized the sun raise shots , which was ridiculous. Anyway, the hike at Nandi hills today, with my bro was a real treat. We got to find some real sweet secret spots. Note to self : Plan for an overnight @ the place, to better leverage these view points and avoid the early morning check post trap !

Below shot – The New Dawn (as apt as it seem) – is from an un documented spot at Nandi Hills, which is around 60 kms from the maddening crowd of Bangalore. Being a week day not many people were around , allowing oneself to bathe in nature’s lap with out any disturbance. Though the sun was almost up , the blanket of fog was still covering the distant mountain ranges. It is worth checking out the larger version by clicking on the image below (like all other Photos , it would open up the larger version @ my dedicated photo site) to see around 10 mountains tips over at the horizon. The early morning dawn light with the for created an amazing splash of colors.

And Happy Sankaranthi (இனிய பொங்கல் வாழ்த்துக்கள்) to all. This is partly the Indian version of Thanks Giving for those who are not aware !

Buy Print Flickr Page Undocumented Location, Nandhi Hills
Near Bangalore, Karnataka, India
January 8, 2011

OutStanding – Wishing a very Happy 2011 Ahead

2010 had been a great year. Just that it flew fast, real fast ! Wishing a very happy and a prosperous 2011 to all my readers. And to me – hoping that I would keep pace with 2011 as much as I am wanting to. Though I had been blogging on and off for quiet some time now, I had not shared as much as I wanted to (oh no, not the rare ramblings, but atleast some inspiring photographs ! ).

This 2011 am planning to share atleast one photo every week this year [and yeah u can keep a tab on me :) ]

This week shot is from the numerous sunflower fields en’route Hampi to Bangalore. Hampi by itself is so majestic, that these travel experience are noting but an additional bonus!

It is not who you are that makes you stand out. It is what you do, with what happens to you , that makes the difference !!!

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Sunflower Fields
Enroute Hampi, Karnataka, India

November 14, 2010

The Flight

Vedanthangal sanctuary (@ Kanchipuram district, 90 kms of Chennai) , serves as a nesting home for many species of birds. The vegetation, the lake, the swampy land and the peaceful ambiance attracts and sustains the birds each year.  The birds nest here mainly from the months of November to February. Depending on the time of visit one could see groups of painted storks. The below shot is with the aid of my 18-270mm Tamron. After about 15 mins of chasing ;-) , managed to get this shot. Wish I had a 400mm, may be next time I make a visit, I should atleast rent one of those bazookas !!!

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Vedanthangal Sanctuary
Kanchipuram Dist, Chennai, India

November 1, 2010

Shivanasamudram (Bharachukki) Falls

This is one of the amazing falls @ 2-3 hrs drive from Bangalore. There are different names around this falls like Bluff, Shivanasamudram, Shivasamudram, Gaganachukki, Bharachukki. Mother Kaveri splits into two major branches creating Gaganachukki and Bharachukki falls. The below is that of Bharachukki , few kilometers to the south-west of the Gaganachukki falls. Even here, the falls is huge (roughly with a width of 850 mts). It is a beautiful panoramic view and with the full flow one can find different kinds of smaller falls. Like Jog falls, not sure if each of these have their own names :).  The center falls is very different in that it creates different levels before flowing and continuing down . To its left are couple of beautiful ones [not with too much of water] and lends itself for longer exposures even during early evenings (as it would be in shade :) ). Onto the right, the rock formation tends to create multiple stepped falls with the right amount of water [will post this some time in future !!!] .

Some suggest to get to the falls before noon as the light would directly be falling on the falls. But for me it is always the dreamy effect and the dusk light that creates the magic. Its worth checking out the larger versions by clicking on the below image.

It is also significant to note that the Asia’s fist hydro electric project was started here in the beginning of the century(1902).

Buy Print Flickr Page Bharachukki Falls
Shivanasamudram, Bangalore, India
October 17, 2010

Bhoganandishwara Temple

Bhoganandishwara Temple – This small unknown temple, near Nandhi hills, is perhaps one of the finest and ornate of the Dravidian temples that I came across in  Bangalore, Karnataka. There are three temples side by side , each having a slightly different style , probably built during different periods. The back wall of the temples was the most ornate, with very different sculptures like standing Ganesha among others.

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Bhoganandishwara Temple
Near Nandhi Hills, Bangalore, India

October 5, 2010

Sunset @ Santa Monica

When I flew down to meet my nephews at California, had a couple of pleasant surprises. Apart from the trip to Universal Studios, was able to plan out short drives to Santa Monica, long beach, Joshua tree national park etc [that was supposed to be teasers for future posts ;-)]. Driving thru the Pacific Coast Hwy, a sharp turn and was greeted with this pleasant sun set scene. Probably after the days hard work, some one was returning with the day’s catch.

Flickr Page Santa Monica
California, USA
September 25, 2010

What a place to write ur thoughts out …

This one is from the Hampi trip. It is one awesome place. It really deserves to be called the playground of kings & gods.

As I were enjoying the subtle sunset, saw this girl, all by herself, lost in writing something on her diary – may be something for her beloved

Was about to set the tripod for a classical sunset shot, just then the security rushed to indicate that the tripod was not allowed (as always, wonder where they come from !!!), not very lucky with that. Realized would not be able to capture the dusk, as the light was getting low. Then decided to increase the ISO and try out a diff angle. To compensate for the little noise tried out the textures. Really love the way it adds to the mode of the photo and how it came out.

Flickr Page Hampi Ruins
Karnataka, India
September 19, 2010

Temple guarded by Lions @ Kanchipuram

Kanchipuram (???????????) is rightly called the “City of 1000 temples”. Though we might not find 1000s of temples currently, there are atleast few hundreds. And a handful of them still active with rituals and pujas being performed on a daily basis. The below is from Kailashnath Temple. Accounting to Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at home (yeah yeah my laziness too added to the delay :))  ended up at this place just after noon- after an hour and half drive from Chennai. Though the sun was harsh, the shot came out really good as I was able to sneak and set the tripod in the extreme corner for an HDR shot.

Buy Print Flickr Page Kailashnath Temple, Kanchipuram
Chennai, India
May 30, 2010

Mahabalipuram – Panchapandava Rathas

The monolithic temples @ the Mahabalipuram are known as rathas as they resemble wooden chariot. It is an innovation of Pallava King Narasimhavarman-I (Mamalla) [AD 630-668]. A Huge rock sloping from south to north was utilized judiciously to cutout different forms of temple, besides few animal sculptures.

Though these monolithic temples are termed as panchapandava rathas, they have nothing to do with Mahabharatha. These rathas with their ekatala to tritala, vimanas and different in plan and elevation, exhibit splendid forms of south Indian art and architecture. The nakula-sahadeva ratha has apsidal vimana, a relief sculpture of ardhanariswara on the wall of Dharmaraja ratha, with perfect balancing of the masculine and feminine features. It is considered to be one of the finest specimen of the early Pallava art. The ratha also contains Pallava-Grantha, inscription recording the titles of Narasimavarman-I.

The group of the five rathas were executed as models of South Indian temples and were not consecrated as their stupas are still attached with the bed rock.

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Pancha Pandava Rathas, Mahabalipuram
Chennai, India

April 25, 2010

You just can’t Fence Nature !

Horsley Hills, Sunrise
Horsley Hills
Karnataka, India

Horsley Hills – a unexplored hill station – is around 160 kms from Bangalore. This kind of was a good place for a weekend outing. The guest house was really neat, cost effective and you can generally get custom food made, if you get the required things (chicken etc) and provide sufficient time !

The sunset point was really good and easily accessible – thought we actually missed the sunset due to timing. This also had a lot of potential for star gazing and star trail photography – the point being walkable from the guest house [do remember to carry a torch].

There is no specific sun rise view point, but you could go up for a small hike adjacent to the holiday inn (or something named similar, close to the Governors’ Bungalow, if you are an early bird !!!

April 18, 2010

Painted Hills


Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds
Eastern Oregon, USA

What is it made of

Layers of hard claystones which include ancient soils (palesols) and lake beds. Recently the surface of the hills had weathered into softer clay. The claystones were formed by several geographic events in the past 33 million yrs. the volcanic activity of cascade mountains (some 100 miles west) deposited layers of cooled ash. The atmosphere with the help of the plants and animals oxidized the ash. Ground water feed’ed the varied minerals. And in due course today’s claybeds were formed (wow what an amount of structural and chemical changes would have happened !!!!)

 

Colors of the Painted Hills

Aluminum, Silicon, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Sodium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Titanium, Potassium, Oxygen, Hydrogen – All this above and some additional elements by a very special secret recipe forms the beautiful colors of this wonderful scenery. Depending on the amount of moisture and the light available , the shades keeps varying thru the day and all seasons.

 

How come there is not much of flora on the hill

Its a interesting to note that there is not much of flora on the painted hills. And the reason is more interesting  – The clay on the painted hills has a great ability to absorb water and swell. And most of the plant are not able to compete with the soil for water. And the once that do, u can see them in the crevices and gullies of the red hills (the yellow ones that blossoms during the spring are chaenactis and bee-plant.

For the Flowers view of the mountain check this out !!!

November 22, 2009

Mahabalipuram – Arjuna’s Penance


Arjuna’s Penance

Mahabalipuram, India

Arjuna’s Penance, as locally known as , is located in Mamallapuram or Mahaballipuram [???????????](60 kms from Chennai enroute to Pondicherry). It is believed to be from 7th century, measuring 96 feet long by 43 feet high.

Arjuna’s Penance, perhaps the world’s largest bas-relief, is the universe itself in stone, throbbing with a vastness of conception. Legend has it something close the tale of Noah, but differs in its cast of characters. It goes like that, King Bhagirath brought down the Ganges from Heaven to purify the souls of his ancestors. His plan went awry when he realized that the flood would inundate the earth, so he had to undergo a penance to convince Shiva to intervene, who came down to earth and let the flood trickle through his hair, dispersing the waters safely in innumerable streams all over the world.

 


Arjuna’s Penance
Mahabalipuram, India

Arjuna’s Penance has the magically sculpted scene, which opens the doors of cosmic imagination, it has over 100 figures of gods and celestial creatures, birds and beasts, man and saint.

Mamallapuram is 60 kms from Chennai and connected by a good road that runs along the coast. It a good one day trip, or probably a weekend drive if clubbed with Pondicherry from Chennai.

August 5, 2008

American Southwest – Monument Valley


Three Mittens, Monument Valley Navajo Park
UT , USA

 

Monument Valley is not really a valley, but an upwarp of sedimentary rock that is at least 260 million years old, surrounded by sentinels that have yet to fully erode. The floor itself is more than a mile high, part of the 130,000 square-mile Colorado Plateau. Sandstone is easily eroded, and the wind, rain, cycles of frost and heat have been at work, cracking and chiseling the valley to its present form.

October 7, 2007

Fall in Love with Nature


Alpine Scenic Loop
Provo, UT, USA

For the full set check this out.

September 29, 2007

Ancient Drawing Board

Lower Calf Creek Trail
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Utah, USA

It was an amazing experience just walking between mineral-streaked cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, beaver ponds and pre-historic rock art sites en route to the 126-foot-high Lower Calf Creek Falls. The total roundtrip distance to the falls is 5-1/2 miles. Though the summer sun was above and my (a little over a year old) son was on the backpack, the hike was pretty enjoyable with very little elevation change. Most of the trail is sandy & that slows the pace, at times !

The most interesting part of the hike were the wall paintings and the Indian granaries (zoom in & zoom out) and of course the jewel of the crown being the lower falls itself.

On an entirely different perspective, we travel so far, hike so long to get a peek into the lives of the Anasazi Indians. These petroglyph on the walls of the canyons does provide the glimpse. But you know what, in most of these trails you see a notice that there are messages that indicate a heavy penalty if you make new makings (or painting) on these canyon walls (of course !!!)

We do have the technology to make new painting on these walls, that could last more the existing ones. If we are not allowed to make new paintings today how would people, 800 – 1000 years from get a glimpse onto ours lives …… right :-)

Wrong !!! As technology grows, live changes and so is the medium. Who knows even the blog(s) like these -yeah the same one u r reading now ;-) could serve the purpose of providing the window to our lives, in future. Time’s Person of the year , 2006 clearly indicated the significance of the user generated content (if you already don’t know Times Person of the year 2006 is YOU) .

The count of blogs, as of writing this post, just on WordPress.com alone is 1,562,804 blogs with 53,197 new posts today. Even after dropping off the test blogs and the inactive ones, it is still quiet a number – the point is there is a good amount of user content getting generated every day on the Internet.

What would happen to these valuable user generated content, once the user is no more ?Even if someone decides to manage and maintain a users content after user’s time, On what basis would the user account details be shared with the family or friends ? May be the blog or the site could be graciously closed, but what if the users demise is not expected ? Would these become asserts of the individuate and hence be part of his Will ? How would we differentiate between the valuable and junk out of these content ?

So many things to ponder about ….

October 19, 2006

The World as I see

I am a kind word uttered and repeated
By the voice of Nature;
I am a star fallen from the
Blue tent upon the green carpet.
I am the daughter of the elements
With whom Winter conceived;
To whom Spring gave birth; I was
Reared in the lap of Summer and I
Slept in the bed of Autumn.

At dawn I unite with the breeze
To announce the coming of light;
At eventide I join the birds
In bidding the light farewell.

The plains are decorated with
My beautiful colors, and the air
Is scented with my fragrance.

As I embrace Slumber the eyes of
Night watch over me, and as I
Awaken I stare at the sun, which is
The only eye of the day.

 

I drink dew for wine, and hearken to
The voices of the birds, and dance
To the rhythmic swaying of the grass.

 

I am the lover’s gift; I am the wedding wreath;
I am the memory of a moment of happiness;
I am the last gift of the living to the dead;
I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow.

But I look up high to see only the light,
And never look down to see my shadow.
This is wisdom which man must learn.

– Poem by Khalil Gibran

I liked the poem, thought I really do not concur with the poet on the last para