New York!

Call it the big apple or the city that never sleeps; its always exciting when you are visiting New York... alone or with friends.
2011 was a good year and good amount of time that I spent in NYC and here are some clicks...

In and around Times Square
 






The MET


On the way to Staten Island




Union Square & Wall Street
 

Top of the Rock

Fading Colors

Autumn is back... The fading colors, the chill in the wind, the early morning fog, the frosted glass and to experience it all a phone with a decent camera...

The autumn is passing by, the colors have almost gone, the weather is cold, mornings are lazy, and the glass still remains frosted...

Last day of Summer, 2011

I have been away for a while since I have been busy with a lot of shifting; a different place as well as a new job but yes in the midst have had a chance to spend some time on photography - more updates later.

Interestingly while driving down to work I happened to notice the date and I realized that its almost the last day of summer.  Remembering my school days where I studied that the sun's illusionary path in the sky is right over the equator and that marks the end of summer, seasons change in the northern and southern hemisphere and the days get shorter.  Well back in India day's didn't get that short but yes the change in the US is sudden and the days tend to get noticeably shorter.

Looking forward to the autumn equinox and here's something to mark the end of summer 2011.  

Brilliant dark grey skies, beautiful weather, plenty of sunshine and a traffic jam to realize its the last day of summer.

By the way the summer ends on September 23 at 5:05 AM.

Winter

You walk out to your balcony on a chilly morning with a hot cup of coffee and you notice the absolutely clear blue skies and the entire city in front of you covered in a blanket of white soft cotton, the sun beaming down, following squirrel trains left on them and suddenly a chill hits you giving you goose bumps all over.

It's beautiful unless the white color gets over you; but also gives you a lot of reason for colorful mufflers and sweaters keeping you warm and as someone truly quoted "if it weren't for winter the spring would not have been pleasant".  Days are short and when the sun is out the evenings are beautiful with skies filled with shades of orange and red.

I spent an entire winter in Denver a couple of years back and later in Boston and all I can say is there is lot of snow.  With Denver having more harsh weather compared to Boston, both places had one thing in common; they look absolutely beautiful under snow.

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.

My very short trip to Boston

I am finally on my way to Bangalore, after a real short trip to Boston, MA for an official assignment.  With just a couple of weeks to go for my wedding, this trip came in as a good little break from the proceedings and running around for the wedding back home. 

Well you don't get much time for photography on short official trips so didn't have much time for photography or to go around in Boston.  However, the weekend turned out to be quite interesting I must say.

Boston - just one word... Beautiful.  From all the cities that I have travelled in the US, Boston was one of the cities that really impressed me.  A very vintage city with amazing architecture around you - Cathedrals, Churches, Government Buildings, all of them about 150 years old; vintage America.  Narrow roads covered with trees on both the sides.  Well the leaves had already withered away but I am sure, autumns would be extremely beautiful.

I was visiting a few to-be-in-laws in Boston where I passed Medford and Salem on the way.  One very interesting fact that I got to know about Medford was, it’s the birth place of the "Jingle Bells" jingle.  Medford and Salem both were important places in the American Revolution which again started in Boston.  A lot of American history awaits you in MA.

My sister visited me in the last few days to see me off... After a very long time almost 13 years, it was the first time we spent time together.  Day one it was Cuban food at Naked fish and the next two days we spent shopping and it really was the most wonderful time of the year.

I did learn the secret behind hunting down the sales hidden in the stores... Miss you a lot sis!

Boston Downtown on my final day gave the finishing touches to my trip.  Already impressed by the city, Boston Downtown was brilliant.  Beautiful Architecture all around you, the concrete jungle is difficult to leave behind.  Finally got my hands on some Orange chicken at Panda Express and once again some amazing discounts at Oakley!  Well the holiday season definitely got some amazing deals.

For some reason, I always make it to the US during the winter time.  The weather back in Boston was COLD, with a few rough days.  It’s pretty interesting to see the weather change in Boston, from crazy snow in the morning to maddening rain in the afternoon - Amazing.

All in all, I had a great time at Boston, some good work, some quality time with my sister, some amazing shopping and finally got my hands on White Chocolate Mocha at Logan International Airport.

Err... while ranting about Boston on my blog at Logan International Airport, a grocky voice announced Desai, Vandan in a heavy American accent.  Not sure what the announcement was for; I hurried my way to Gate 7A and viola... I got an upgrade to Business Class for some extremely strange reason which I have no clue and I didn't bother to ask for.  The icing on the cake was when I realized after boarding the flight that I was flying Business Class throughout the trip :)

Hello Bangalore, I'm back!!!

out of action

A month back I injured my knee and was diagnosed with an ACL tear in my left knee.  Photography has taken the back seat for a while, however just couldn't stop myself to go to Hebbal last week after I saw a few black and white birds flying over Hebbal lake.  Had a quick 30 minute shoot before my knee gave in.

So out of action for a few more weeks before I start traveling and photography soon :)

Frames of Mind 2009

Finally my frame made it to the Annual Photography Exhibition Frames of Mind held by Bangalore Photography Club this year.  It was a great feeling to see my frame up there this weekend - couldn't spend much time at the exhibition, but have been receiving loads of messages about the frame.  Thanks a lot everyone for your wishes.

Here's my exhibit displayed at Frames of Mind 2009

Nature Nirvana - A trip amidst clouds

The excitement was high and it was too late to take a nap. The clock stuck 4:30 AM and we were on our way to Chickmagalur. The journey was getting dull with nothing to see, no one to race with, no more choices of songs and no FM radio with completely confusing route markers. And suddenly you are traveling amidst clouds and the weather takes a 360 degree turn - chilly, misty and the clouds just embrace your face.

The energy is on an all time high and the excitement is building up. The journey amidst the clouds continue for a while on mud roads through coffee plantations and we reach Nature Nirvana.

Cricket, Volleyball, Basketball, Carrom, Scrabble, Hiking, Trekking, Sleeping, Eating, Dancing and loud Music hit Nature Nirvana for 23 hours.

Its been the most amazing two days this year for me. Not much of photography this time - thanks to the rain, however a portfolio shoot, new ways of taking pictures in absolute darkness and tons of fun.

Suraj, Madhu, Vishal, Sharath, Shashwath, Sudhi, Parari

Vandan, Manu, Amitha, Sharnitha, Christelle, Ruby, Nishchith, Krishna

read more on Christelle's blog