Photographs, Travel Stories from India
Nikon D7000 Test Shots (Jul ’11)
Finally laid my hands on the most awaited gear ‘Nikon D7000’. A special thanks to my wife who has gifted this… It’s a big leap from D60 and it has got umpteen controls to use and I started loving my new gear. I got this set with 18-105mm lens & 50mm 1.8 lens for some portrait photography. I didn’t get a good sleep last night and on the road around 4 AM itself. Roamed around Marina and took some test shots.
An encounter with Taylor Bird @ Home (Jul ’11)
Recently, while cleaning our house, a small ‘Taylor Bird’ fell from a mango tree. Initially I thought it would fly on its own, but it struggled and crows around starting shouting. Sensing danger, I took the little one in my hand and it stayed quiet for a while. It didn’t try to fly away, so took some snaps. My partner was happy to have the little one as long as she could.
After sometime, we heard sounds from the parent birds and we put it on the ground. Then the parent birds flew down and taught the little one on how to fly step by step and up went the birds. It was nice little encounter with the Taylor Bird.
An Early Morning Visit to Kolavai Lake, Chengalpattu (Jul ’11)
This was rather a quick trip to the lake, which is around some 60km from Chennai. I have been hearing about this place quite a while and planned to pay a visit this weekend. Spoke with couple of friends and finally 5 of us from different parts of city decided to assemble just after Tambaram. It rained last night and I am bit worried about making it to the place and also worried about sunrise as the condition seemed overcast. When inquired about the condition in Porur, my friend confirmed it’s not raining in Porur and decided to start as planned.
This place lies on Chennai – Trichy highway and can be reached easily in an hour from Chennai. If you are interested to see sunrise from different places around Chennai, then this is just another perfect place. We all assembled at the place just after Tambaram around 4.40 and from there we reached the lake around 5.20. Parked our vehicles and went to the spot around 5.30, perfect time for shooting.
While my friends were checking out different vantage points around the lake, I tried to venture out another point, which is just opposite the lake. But you need to climb a rocky hill. I told my friends about this and started to climb the hill. When climbing, I got a very good view of the entire lake and a shot which will show the ‘S’ curve and the lake together, where morning trains will pass through quite frequently. A passing train on the ‘S’ curve will be a nice shot. But as expected, we couldn’t witness the perfect sunrise but it played cat and mouse with the clouds and we got some superb sun rays shot. Also, got one of my favorite shot of a train passing the ‘S’ curve.
Overall, a very satisfying outing with my friends….
Now enjoy the pictures and post your valuable comments 🙂
Around Kanyakumari – Eraniel Palace – Colachal Port – Muttom Beach – Kovalam Beach (Jun ’11)
Sunrise-Sunset Pictures from Kanyakumari (Jun ’11)
This was rather an unexpected trip, as I was supposed to be in Jammu & Kashmir these days. But then, sudden change of family commitments, I had to drop the plan and cancelled flight/train tickets.
Don’t want to waste the leaves already booked – decided to head a place where I haven’t been. Idea of Kanyakumari stroke, as my wife headed to Srinagar.
Wouldn’t it be nice to think of us both at the far ends of India at the same time?
Driving/Riding was not an option as the distance is too far, and I have only 2 days with me to explore. Hence booked return tickets from SRM Transports on a Multi-Axle Volvo from Chennai to Nagarcoil.
It was a different experience for me, as I mostly prefer to travel on my own vehicle. Though I have rough idea of the places I planned to visit, it was quite difficult to carry out the plan with public transports (read bus).
The journey on Volvo was quite good and it reached Nagercoil at 5.45 AM. That’s pretty quick and I immediately took a bus to Kanyakumari to capture Sunrise. But then the climate was little hazy and couldn’t get what I wanted and also Sun was already out and it’s not worth spending time there for capturing Sunrise. So, went back to Nagercoil to catch bus to other places in my to-do list. Details of the places I visited will come in my next post.
After visiting as many places as I can, it’s time for lunch and I couldn’t find a restaurant in Muttom Beach. It’s a shame that they haven’t developed the place as this was the beautiful place among the one’s I visited on Day 1. So, headed back to Nagercoil and had lunch there. Unfortunately charge of the camera battery has gone down and I had to recharge it before Sunset.
So, took a bus to Kanyakumari and hunted for an accomodation. To my surprise they all denied accommodation quoting I am single and they are not supposed to accommodate single. I was very much annoyed and got the same answer from other 4 hotels I enquired (this includes TTDC, Hotel SeaView, Hotel TriSea). Finally, managed to get an accommodation in a hotel showing my return journey ticket and business card.
An hour passed by and the Sun was already in descent. Took quick shower and left to capture Sunset, but then it was all over before I reach the place. So, waited for the lights to lit up and captured some night shots of Vivekanda Rock & Valluvar Statue. It was quite difficult to get long exposure shots, as I didn’t carry a tripod with me. So, had to use pillars around to capture the beauty.
After an hour of shooting, went back to hotel and dozed off with plans of capturing Sunrise the next day. Sunrise was amazing even though there were some clouds around which ruined the possibility of capturing Sunrise from Horizon. After an hour of shooting, left the place with satisfaction and headed to Kovalam in Kerala, after which, I took bus back to Chennai.
Quick Drive to Palamathi Hills (Jun ’11)
Quick Visit to Dakshina Chitra (May ’11)
This was a quick trip to Dakshina Chitra without any plans. It’s hard to ride on this scorching Chennai heat and an additional layer to protect my tees doesn’t help the cause. Started off around 10 AM and tanked up the bike and quickly off the road. The traffic from CMBT till Guindy was pretty hectic due to the Metro Rail construction and after that the ride was as good as anything. Stopped over for a breakfast at Hotchips around Palavakkam and quickly filled my tummy and reached Dakshina Chitra at 11.15 AM.
In a nutsheell, this is an attempt to showcase the bygone era of some southindian living by setting up traditional homes of South India (Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala & Andhra Pradesh). Tamilnadu section possess Chettinad House, Ambur House, Potter’s House etc., & Ilkal, Weaver’s House in Karnataka Section, ILkat Weaker’s House, Coastal Andhra Thatch House in Andhra Section & Hindhu House, Syrian Christian House from Kerala Section. You can easily spend couple of house visiting the various houses and try your hands on the activities (pottery, painting, weaving etc.,) setup in various points.
After visiting these sections, finally visited Mask Exhibition where famous sound indian masks were on display. Had a quick visit at the exhibition and moved on.
There are few shops setup in the premises for the people who are interested in purchasing handicrafts & souveniers. There is a craft shop as well and unfortunately it was closed for lunch when I reached there. After you done all these activities, I am sure you will be hungry enough and there is an restaurant right inside Dakshina Chitra and they serve Veg/Non-Veg.
After spending quiet few hours in Dakshina Chitra, left the place with no heart. This is a must visit place if you are looking for some quite and calm place to spend your weekend.
Sky Watch – Night Shots @ Chennai Bypass (May ’11)
It’s been quite a while that I went out for a photo shoot. So, decided to checkout Maduravoyal-Tambaram bypass where there is a possibility of shooting sunset. But I started bit late and missed out the sunset, then thought of checking out points along the road where I can capture sunset shots. Got a very good point mid way between Tambaram & Porur. Sun was already down and had to use a bit of high ISO and hence the pictures are little bit noisy. Shot couple of night shots as well @ Porur & Maduravoyal junction.
Photoshop Experiments – Tilt Shift Photography
Not a perfect subject for this experiment. But still tried to see the effect on it.
New Pets @ Home
Never thought of having a fish tank @ home, but then suddenly last weekend brought a new fish tank with few variety of fishes. It’s fascinating to watch these small creatures roaming around the water. Had to learn quickly about them and their habits.
Sharing few pictures taken today…Hope you all like them !!!
