Autumn

It was Denver when I saw the colors and was completely awestruck with what nature has to and can offer.  After about 3 years I see the magic being recreated around me once again... wonderful & beautiful Boston.

Its amazing how colorful it gets... Greens, Orange, Yellow, Red and Browns all around you... its sad that an absolutely colorless time will follow this time of the year very soon.

For now, I would just enjoy the most colorful time of the year with the chilly breeze around, the green leaves turning yellow and orange and the darker green turning red, the colors perfectly placed against white, black and blue (when sunny) backgrounds, different shapes & sizes and to top it all its Halloween.

My experience in Denver was completely different than in Boston and every city has its own character.  Pictures don't do much justice and as someone told me once; at times you just need to witness and leave your camera behind...

For more pictures my photostream on flickr and facebook

The Bison

Kabini has been one of my favorite escapades over the last few years!  The lush green forest is about a good 4 hour drive from Bangalore and extremely rich in flora and fauna.  However, one thing that Kabini has to offer apart from this is the amazing landscapes during monsoon season.

Overcast most of the time, if you are on the banks of Kabini river, you can see dark grey clouds just about 20-25 feet above the river and mostly raining.  You wont see any colors apart from green, brown and grey.  But anything that you come across appears to be bright and for some reason happy.  Maybe its the rain!

For a change it was "The Bison" resort and not Jungle Lodges that we parked ourselves.  A little bit pricey but extremely friendly and happy staff always there to help you with.  There was no point in taking the safari since I was sure to spot only deers and cows at this point of the year.  However the trek through the few human settlements around was amazing with lovely green-yellow fields that grew tomatoes, ginger and chillies together - sounds more like growing a curry.

The Bison is a tented resort and as they rightly quote "the decor and ambiance of the camp recreates the adventurous decadence of a bygone era".  Wooden floors, some wonderful artifacts and some really good antiques add more to the beautiful "tents".  Perfect place to just sit and relax and listen to the silent kabini river.

The one thing that I enjoyed the most was the Coracle ride - just hoped that he would start singing.

Some more pictures from Kabini on my flickr Photostream!

San Francisco

I remember my first trip to this city where I was stuck at Oakland at 12 AM with no clue what BART was... I couldn't see much of the city the last time I visited... rather I only saw the SFO International Airport and Highway 101...

I was getting back to San Francisco after 3 years and just hoped I could see the much awaited and talked about mega structure "The Golden Gate"

San Francisco is a popular international tourist destination, renowned for its "chilly summer fog" (it really does get chilly), steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture and cable cars and the Chinatown. Apart from being a major banking and finance center, San Francisco is also home to tonnes of Bio Tech companies and stands 18th in the world's top producing cities, 9th in the US and 15th in the top 20 Global Financial Centers. Its hard to believe the success the city has had so far was almost destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake.

Mark Twain once quoted "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." It was summer time when I was visiting SF and considering the city surrounded with ocean on three sides I thought it might be cold but not so much. Well the Pacific Ocean currents are cool enough to send those shivers down your body - Windy and Cold is all I say. Along with the chilly weather comes the fog, doesn't matter what time of the day it really is, you can see fog almost all day. This is one reason downtown San Francisco looks beautiful because most of the sky scrappers are hidden in fog - Mesmerizing. Standing down at a 100 story building and following the building to the top you would notice the top vanish.

I had been waiting for this moment all my life - the moment we hit the ramp on the Golden Gate Bridge a few moments you just don't feel like doing anything, the sheer size of the bridge hits your brains so hard that you just want to gaze at it. I clicked a few snaps from the moving car, but I was enjoying the ride more than anything. I wanted to capture more of the bridge but sometimes its just good to witness then capture them. It was Awesome!

Sausalito is a San Francisco Bay area city located in the Marina county near the northern end of the Golden Gate bridge. Because of its geographical location the city is always sunny. It’s about 8 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge but has nohas fog what so ever. The beauty of this city is that you can stand on the beach and enjoy a clear view of San Francisco downtown immersed in fog!  But you really don't want too much fog that it’s completely hidden.  It wasn’t my lucky day!

On my way back to the city, there are a couple of spots from where you can view the Golden Gate bridge.

Note: These spots once used by the US Army during the World War II

Apart from The Golden Gate bridge, the other places to go are the pieers at Fisherman's Wharf and the San Mateo Bridge (its magnificent). If the fog stays away, walking along Fisherman's wharf would get you to see the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz Island and also the Golden Gate bridge from the beaches or pier.

Thanks Rinkoo, but next time I hope the fog is a little less :)

Visit my flickr photostream for more pictures from my trip to San Francisco

Manchanbele

This trip had to happen - come what may! Having watched Prince of Persia and seeing off Sujith at 12:30 AM it was decided to meet up at 4 AM for a bike trip to Manchanbele. I made it at 4:30 AM though (half sleepy)

Manchanbele is about 30 Kms. from Bangalore, on the Bangalore - Magadi main road near the Thippagondanahalli Reservoir. Surrounded with lush greenery and hills in every direction, Manchanbele is one of the hot spots for serious birders.

Because of its geographical location with hills all around, once can see beautiful landscapes all around. Early mornings are beautiful with the sun rising behind the hills and gives you a clear view from the top of the many hills around and not to forget Manchanbele is infested with colorful Dragonflies and Butterflies apart from a dozen species of birds.

What I have always enjoyed about Manchanbele are the beautiful landscapes with lush greenery around the water body, blue skies and puff of clouds. Its quite a wait for the nature to build this up, however its worth the wait.

I have been to Manchanbele quite a few times. Its been a good get away form Bangalore apart form Nandi Hills. Its amazing to experience the serene atmosphere even if you are not with your camera here. The water is not too deep, so if you are a good swimmer, you can for sure take a plunge in the water. Kayaking is something that people have been coming to Manchanbele (I would definitely want to give it a try).

Its once place where you can take your time, set up a frame and CLICK! (what say Sujith :))

Was a great experience specially riding the Avenger to Manchanbele at 4:30 AM, chasing the sunrise after crossing the Big Banyan Tree, waiting for the blue sky, waiting for the puffed clouds, clicked the patterns and a sore arse by the time we reached Costa. All worth it!

Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills, an ancient hill fortress is about 60 kms from Bangalore used to be a retreat for the British and now Bangaloreans. Blessed with an amazing climate at the top of the hill pulls in a lot of people right from horticulturists to students to serious photography enthusiasts. Apart from a lot of things that Nandi hills is known for, the most interesting that has amazed me is the Tipu's drop (where Tippu Sultan threw his condemned prisoners to death) and the Secret Escape Route.

I have been to Nandi hills a lot of times and this place has always amazed me with its morning beauty. The best time I think is to go during the monsoon season, the climate at the hill is pretty clear and humid however the morning sunrise through the clounds is breathtaking.

Nandi hills is pretty much covered in mist or fog for about 8-9 months in the year (thanks to global warming, summers are absolutely clear and filled wiht haze). The trees, benches and flowers covered in mist is worht the sight. The temperatures are pretty low with the constant breeze sending you goose bumps all over.

Nandi hills has been a sight worth the visit every time I have come here. Its one place where I would keep coming back to capture the magical morning landscapes, beautiful flora and some macro photography.

Had a great time with Chitresh, Jatin, Souparna, Sujith, Megha and Yachna this time.  Yachna & Megha I know you people were completely bugged and bored given that 4:30 AM was a little to early.
Souparna, got to go climb that tower once again and yes with your batteries charged and my camera out.  I was just stunned with the view from up there.  Sujith, I think June/July should be the earliest possible time for some good amount of fog.  Jatin, thanks for the pose, some people found it funny but I loved it and its Christelle's blackberry wallpaper.

been a long time...

It's been a very long time since my last post.  I promised that I did be back after my trip to Rajasthan, however work got the better side of me.

I got married last year, December 29th to be precise and was of to Rajasthan.  Had a great time traveling around Jaisalmer, Udaipur and a bit of Jodhpur.  The sand dunes of Hudi (Jaisalmer) were just brilliant and had the a very different feeling knowing the fact that I was just 50 kms away from Pakistan.  Wonder if I ever would make it to that part of the world, so near yet so far.

Apart from the trip to Rajasthan haven't been to many shoots but a couple of them.  Introduce a few of my colleagues at work to Pottery Town - yup the shutter bug has bit them.

More soon!  Enjoy a few of my snaps from my archives.

back from my long break

Was on a break for a very long time.. back in town with some good pictures form my trip to Ahmedabad, Jaisalmer and Udaipur.

will update soon ... ... ...

Photography...

I got interested in photography as a kid by reading National Geographic as a kid.  I started learning photography by doing a simple homework for 30 minutes a day.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/ - 30 minutes a day (especially if you are interested in wildlife)

http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/ - 30 minutes a day (might have some stupid images at times but a good place to learn)

A photographer (don’t remember who) once said, the best way to learn photography is to look at photographs.