Morning in Jamshedpur

A different view of the early morning environs of Jamshedpur, near the zoo, the wall and the tree borders the 'Marine Drive' ,the vegetation in the distance is across the Subarnrekha river not visible.

Mughal Architecture- Finer points

This is the intricate pattern on the wall of a room at the palace in Fatehpur Sikri

The Tamron 70-300mm

This was the first intent of the acquisition-Luna 101

The Tamron is still a great lens for long shots, however I'm sure there's no beating the 70-200 L by Canon

Lake Tahoe Revisited

A long forgotten photo, from the 2006 December California Trip, where 4 of us friends covered the length and breadth of the state in 8 days. Endless driving, changing weather, laughs and loads of snaps well archived.

Melbourne from Yarra River

Rendered in black and white, there's a lot of light to go around from the buildings even at nighttime

Camel Speed

Practicing panning, have a long way to go

The Irony of Age

Another experimental photo !

The Cellphone Camera and Picasa Collections

This is in St Andrew's Place, Melbourne, Australia.

The next is an evening shot in front of the GMP Cafeteria, Jamshedpur.

The third is that of approaching rain clouds taken from my aunt's house at Kharagpur.




Finally a photo rendered in black and white of the forest near Salwa, Kharagpur.

The photos are quite grainy for quality, but the captures from a 2 meg cell camera are interesting. And more often handy.

OLD SKOOL

Filmy Green

This is the jungle on the way to the watering hole of the elephants at Dalma. Shot atop a machan- viewing tower.

The Rolling Hills

On a clear summer day after a night of cyclonic rain, the sky gives a great view of the hills

Playing with Perspective Distortion

One famous construct within Fatehpur Sikri fort, probably a palace for Akbar's queen.

Got Featured at Webshots - Photo of the day

Well on the 27th of this month, this photo was top on the roster of Webshots home page. Feels great to finally have a featured pic. This one is of the Calangute beach , North Goa.

Heres the link to Webshots Featured Gallery

Some Odd Images of Taj Mahal

With the 10-22, its easy to capture wide angle distortion, and some odd views of a very familiar mausoleum.

Jubilee Park Statue

The statue is that of J.N. Tata, founder of Tata Steel, and one of the stalwarts of Indian Industry, and to whom Jamshedpur owes its namesake.

Cloud Collection Exhibit

Another sky scape captured at Dimna Lake nearing the cyclonic storm, heavy post processing especially with shadows and contrast.

The dark rain clouds are complemented by the wispy cumulus (have to brush up on clouds), against a setting sun. I think this kind of a view is easily snapped, and you don't need a lake and hilly surroundings for that, but just in case, such a setting does offer wide unrestricted space. Sometimes I am questioned about post -processing, but my answer to it is - this is another form of expression, and the camera never truly gives the dynamic range of the human eye.

Temple in Perspective

Another angle of the same temple at Dalma Top. Here's some more information from mapsofindia

"Located at a height of 3000 feet above sea level, the exotic ranges are at a short distance of just 13 km from the main city of Jamshedpur. "

Dalma Revisited

This is perhaps the side which is leeward to Jamshedpur, probably the district of Purulia of West Bengal, or Raghunathpur.

The haze is always there,and even on a hot sunny day, this place is breezy and cool.

The Mandir at Dalma Top

Thats some location for a temple. The light from this temple is visible all the way down at Jamshedpur, a small speck.

The Bigger Picture

The view is grand from here.

Tree Top again

I have a habit of posting photos of the same thing. But this place is really good, I thank the 10-22 lens for the views.

The Treetop at Dalma Top

This is a distinctive tree at the Dalma Top, the view is superb, and so is the temperature. This was my first visit to the Dalma peak in thirty years, there is both a Shiv Mandir and a Hanuman mandir at the top. The climb is quite gradual, one can easily bike-up or drive up. Dalma is famous for its elephants, but to our despair, we could not sight any !

Cloud Collection Exhibit

Never seem to tire out of these, taken from the D-block terrace, summer skies are full of surprises, especially nearing monsoon.

Another View of the Same Place

We have to drive our way to the top someday soon.

NH33

The connection to Ranchi, Ramgarh and beyond

Dalma in Black and White

Just this morning I got a chance to visit the Deori Mandir, thanks to Deepak, Jai and Tarun, who woke me up early enough for the 130 + km drive. This was taken near the 10th Milestone hotel on the highway, actually near the petrol pump where Deepak's car has its refreshments before our long lunch and drive back home.

This view reminds me of the countless trips made to Ranchi from Jamshedpur during the engineering college days, along this road. In the background are the Dalma Hills, the foreground is branded !

Clouds in Grey Scale

A wide angle lens, cyclonic clouds and Dimna lake surroundings can create an ominous landscape if rendered in black and white !

Lone Tree, Australian Outback

On the way to the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne. The landscape is very similar to that near Jamshedpur, validating the Continental Drift !!!

I guess this is not even close to the real Australian outback, which I have not seen and therefore the benefit of doubt.

Taj Mahal, Agra

Always incredible ! Came back here after 20 years

Fatehpur Sikri

The outline of the fort against the setting sun.

The Hidden Minar

Fatehpur Sikri is a monumental landmark for the Mughal history. The minaret marks the resting place of Akbar's favorite elephant as per the guide. The fort also houses the famous Salim Chishti mosque and is defined by the imposing gateway known as the Buland Darwaza

Its a bird !

Yes, and enjoying itself by a fountain near Battery park, New York city. A very unusual theme for a photo, it's equally unusual for a bird to get itself photographed from such a close distance. 

Used the 17-85 at the longest setting, and it was close, believe me :), this was handheld with the IS on.

Obsessed with Clouds

The cyclonic conditions have subsided today, at least for now. But for the last 2 days, it was like living through the monsoons.

Here's a photo of Dimna Lake just before the storm hit Jamshedpur. A wide angle lens is very useful for the clouds !

The Learning Center, XLRI Jamshedpur

Thats where we had our classes

View from the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere

Here's another one from Rajneesh, thanks again boss !!

The location is the same- Sears Tower, the view is different. They say you haven't seen Chicago if you have not been here, what a building !!!

Here's the link to purchase tickets online for the observatory
http://www.theskydeck.com/

An old one - why is it a building when its already built ?

View from Top of the Sears Tower, Chicago

Taken by my friend, this is an amazing view from the tallest building in the USA. Definitely one of the places on my wish list, Chicago was the venue of the International Immersion Program for the GMP Batch -2008-09, specifically the Loyola School of Business. We had another group going to Tulane University and the rest either to Melbourne or Lille University France.

Thanks Rajneesh for this panoramic pic, lets get a few of XLRI !!!

Post Storm Session

The sunset sky and the post -storm clouds over the GMP block.

Another chance of photos and general wonder at the unnatural setting !

Lights, Camera, Action

Nature has her own ways of flash photography, but man has his failings. There's motion blur on the GMP block while I tried to get the lightning shot, thankfully the spark is still sharp.

Shelter From the Storm

The faculty block is in direct contrast with the fearsome storm clouds. Indeed water has many forms.

The GMP block is opposite to this, and on other days we'd be complaining of the searing heat of the summer sun. The weather has turned around just like the stock market in recent days, also the polls portend well for the future. As a passing fact, the poll counting center is just behind the perimeter wall near the faculty block.

The Pyramid of Khufu

Well, this is not Egypt but the Russi Mody Center For Excellence at Jamshedpur. The mornings near XLRI are great for snapping up the neighborhood, and a pyramid is always a welcome silhouette.

Here's some great pics of the same
http://www.indiabuildnet.com/arch/ahc_12.htm

Disarray of Clouds

A variety of forms and shapes on one specific September Evening last year in XLRI.

Today we had our graduation, and everyone shared the photos at the end of the day. As per a due-diligence, and a lot of requests, I was scanning for relvant photos to share with the batch, when I came across this one.

File Photo

Balance of power, the smoke of fossil fuel in exchange for alternating current ?
Well not quite, this plume is a highly redone version of a common open waste incineration viewed from my room at XLRI Jamshedpur. The pylon co-incidentally walked into the scene.

Blurry Eyed

Any event in time, is essentially fleeting, and in our memory, hazy. The quiet road at the side of our GMP residence completely transforms to a busy walkway at evening.

The Colors of Winter

Another shot from the dusty archives, What an awesome place !

Last Evening at Melbourne

As part of our MBA program, we had a 3 week tour to Melbourne, RMIT. On the last evening, the evening sky presented with glorious colours. This was shot from the Flinders Street Station entrance. Melbourne is a city of trams, I have never seen so many in a single city.

The Real West

This photo is the cover of my featured album at Webshots . Heres, the feature link:The American West

Also this same photo was accepted in About.com submission: About.com

It's one of my favourite photos, owing to the setting. Its an offbeat filming location in California called Lone Pine, As per Wiki, many westerns were actually shot here. There's a diner on the main street, which has photos of movie biggies who frequented the joint.

Lone Pine Link in Wikipedia

Wild West ?

Taken at a gold mine museum in Victoria , Australia, the settings are so like those of frontier western towns. The museum is quite famous for its functioning gold mine. Great live shows of redcoats marching in town, extraction of real gold. And of course, lots of souvenir shops for keepsakes to take back home !

Fiery Lake Tahoe

Punching up the color in Picasa gave the strange effects of a Lake Tahoe sunrise. The thrill of being the only group out on the lake perimeter road so early in the morning battling a chilly gusty wind was memorable. Never before had I been in such a situation, especially to snap a lake !!!

The First and the Last Steps

I got a copy of Max, and wanted to create just about anything ! So, took out the tutorials for rendering a glass, then went trigger happy, created this assortment of useless glass objects on a rusty table. Just realized that a blog is perfect for bringing out the old stuff stowed away in the dark depths of an aging computer. 

Well, to end the note, I never really got to learning Max after this one afternoon in Jan 2007. Hopefully, someday I can manage more useful stuff. Max is addictive, I am an exception :)

Waah Taj !!!

The Evening Haze of Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur is my hometown. And I am back here after a break of almost seven years. Time does stop here too just as Ruskin Bond claimed for Shamli. The sights and sounds have not changed much all most these thirty years. Its like a portal to the past, except many known faces are not around, but not a cause for worry. Jubilee Park is one of the attractions of this place, and this part of the park is known as the Mughal Gardens, modelled after the Brindavan Gardens of Bangalore.

A Mughal Moment

Humayun's Tomb is now a Heritage Monument, and it is an awe inspiring mausoleum. The area has many other intricate mausoleums of other Mughal kith and kin. If you are in Delhi, then this place is a must see. Actually in Delhi, one can bump into history at every other corner. There are so many ruins of old forts, mansions and gateways. No wonder, knowing that Delhi has been habited since at least the 6th century BC, according to archaeological evidence(as per wiki).

The Delhi Rail Museum

Steam engines are like tapirs, getting extinct !!! My childhood fascination for them has diminished a lot. However, last Christmas , I got a chance to visit the rail museum with my sisters family. This photo is of one of the aging beauties, sepia toned for the vintage effect. The museum features two train rides, one driven by a really ancient mono rail engine, which huffs and puffs in a circle, much to the enjoyment of my nieces !!!

I visited this place after twenty years, of course nothing like O'Henry's story, and was pleasantly surprised to see improvements in the museum.
There was a sapera right outside the gates. Definitely a great attraction for the kids and the young at heart. So much for a promotion campaign.