The Digital Capture of Light

Moving!

2008-11-09T18:07:00.003-06:00

For those who have been following my blog here, I'm glad to announce our move to our own server, our own corner in this world wide web. Please continue visiting us at
http://www.ourowncorner.com

Temple Tales - 6: Rococo Architecture in the heart of Bavaria

2008-10-06T20:30:00.005-05:00

'Temple Tales' returns, this time with a look at Weiss Kirche (White Church), a classic small church in the middle of a meadow in the Bavarian countryside of Germany. The classic architecture of Bavaria is generally extremely ornate and exemplifies drama and grandeur. When this ornate 'Baroque' architecture is used with curves and shell-like structures, the architecture is termed 'Rococo' for a combination of the French Rocaille, or shell and the Italian Barocco, or baroque styles.

As you approach the Weiss Kirche, it looks like most of the churches in small-town Germany and shows nothing of the ornate sculptures it holds inside. Its only when you venture in that you're overwhelmed with the amount of rococo art.

The Church was built in 1746 AD and has an interesting story behind it as well. Apparently a carved figure of Jesus was dug up nearby in 1738 and it began crying real tears and the church was then built at this site. The church is today a UNESCO World heritage site. The large ceiling fresco depicts the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment.

The Weiss Kirche is located in the area called Pfaffenwinkel between Munich and Fuessen. If you take the Romantic Road bust tour in Germany, this is a stop on the way and well worth it. You spend about 30 minutes here and there is a nice cafe nearby with delicious local food.

Arabian Days and Nights

2008-09-27T13:49:00.016-05:00

This post has been a long time coming! We visited Dubai during the first week of July enroute to India. We came back to Houston on the first week of August and since then, I've been wanting to make this post - but after finally wading through all the 300+ photos I took in Dubai, here are some of the sights of Dubai.

Dubai can be distinctly divided into two parts: Old Dubai where the souqs are, and the general feel is like a typical Arabian city with mosques and bazaars galore. And then there is new Dubai, a showcase of the vibrant oil and tourism economy of Dubai and UAE. This side is represented by the skyscrapers, the hotels and the malls. Lets just say, in Dubai you can enjoy the best of both worlds!

Old Dubai:

Traditional Arabic architecture, Bastakia Quarters

Dhows bringing in goods to the souqs along the Dubai Creek

The Jumeirah Mosque

The ship of the desert

An interesting earthern lantern lights the desert camp

New Dubai:

The Wafi city mall has an Egytian theme

The Burj Dubai, soon to be the tallest building in the world

The medinat Jumeirah mall, themed on traditional souqs

The magnificent Burj-Al-Arab hotel

The Burj Dubai at night

As always, our travel blog contains more detailed travelogs about our visit. You can read about our Dubai visit here.

Nuts, Cheese and Crust

2008-09-27T10:58:00.005-05:00

This months' theme for the Click Photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi was "Crust". Details of the contest are here. Our entry for the contest is this photo of a Cannoli titled 'Nuts, Cheese and Crust'.

Last month, our entry 'Zen Orange' on the citrus theme was able to make the top 10 and also the top 5 for 'Most Drool-Worthy'. Thanks to the Jugalbandi team!

Ike's Destruction in Houston

2008-09-21T21:52:00.005-05:00

Below are some picture of scenes around my neighbourhood in Houston after Ike's Havoc.

Ike Time!

2008-09-12T14:27:00.005-05:00

Some photos taken around Houston on Thursday night and Friday noon as we get ready to take on Ike.

Stay safe Gulf Coast residents.

Images on the web and Copyright Infringement

2008-09-10T21:16:00.003-05:00

A hot button issue today, in the digital age is the menace of thievery. No, not theft of physical goods, but of copyrighted digital files - be it music, photos or any other medium. As a photographer, this has always been a matter of concern, but a spate of recent news has really caught my attention.

Two bloggers, Rang and Twilight Fairy have written about their photos from Flickr being used without their permission. The catch is that the culprits were not ignorant laymen, but renowned Indian Newspaper companies - Hindustan Times and Times of India. Read about their experiences in their own words here: Rang , Twilight Fairy

Just imagine what their reaction would be if they found one of their editorials plagiarized in someones website. However, their reaction to their transgressions has been to treat it as a triviality. The nerve!

We, as a photographic community have to stand up to these culprits and make sure they pay for their actions. I plan to do this by writing letters to the editors of the newspapers making my displeasure known. I hope a few of us doing our part can help the victims of this thievery and prevent future transgressions.

'Zen' Orange

2008-08-24T19:59:00.002-05:00

'Zen' Orange - our entry for the Click Contest

This photo of "Pickled Carrots with Orange" is our entry for this months Click Contest hosted by Jugalbandi. You can read more about the contest here . This is our second attempt at Click and we'd like to think we've learnt a bit about food photography during the process of planning and preparing for the photoshoot. Below is another photo showing the various ingredients that went into the final product. For more photos from this shoot, do visit my flickr page here.

Food Photography

2008-08-22T19:08:00.002-05:00

Food1, originally uploaded by sprajan.

I'm recently trying out my hand at food! I mean photographing them!! The tough part is setting up the composition to be pleasing! Thankfully V helps me out with that!

This picture was taken to show the ingredients that V used to make matter paneer following a friends recipe. For more photos and the story see here. Stay tuned for more food photographs on this site

Testing Flickr to Blogger

2008-08-13T20:43:00.001-05:00

Texas Wildflowers '08, originally uploaded by sprajan.

A photo, captured in Independence, TX

Back from the trip!

2008-08-10T17:45:00.006-05:00

Having settled back into routine life, here in Houston, it feels so good to sit back, look at the photos and remember those days... 30 days - 4 cities - almost 2000 pictures! Here's a brief glimpse into the places we visited. More photos of each place will follow later. Ofcourse, do visit Scary-on for our travelogues. The first write-up comparing the desert safari in Dubai to the luau in Hawaii is up here.

Old Dubai Architecture at the Bastakia Quarters...

...and the Burj-Al-Arab hotel showcasing Dubai's modern architecture

The gopurams of Srirangam, as seen from the Rockfort Templein Trichy

A view of Madurai from Pasumalai

Colorful plastic pots lined up ready for the water at a village near Madurai

The majestic architecture of Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal

A kingfisher spotted in the potramarai kulam of the Meenaksi Amman temple in Madurai

Jain Carvings at Thiruparankundram in Madurai

The unfinished Gopuram at Thenubureeshwarar Temple near Chennai

A percussionist practices on his drums at Dakshin Chitra near Chennai

A model Chettiar house at Dakshin Chitra near Chennai

A tranquil scene at Kovalam Beach near Chennai

Roadside Fruit Market at Pondy Bazaar, Chennai

You are invited!

2008-07-27T21:07:00.002-05:00

The Nutcracker invites you for tea with the Queen!

This is my first attempt for CLICK - food photography event hosted by Jugalbandi. The theme for the month of July is Tea and Coffee.

It was quite an experience and I'll write more about it once I am back home in Houston.

Blogging from vacation

2008-07-26T21:04:00.002-05:00

Howdy! I’m dropping in from my vacation to mention that I’m having great fun, enjoying my photography and can’t wait to share my photos. I've visited the cities of Dubai, Chennai, Trichy and Madurai during this vacation, and it has so far yielded a number of good photographs (around 2000 of them!!!). In one weeks time, I'll be back in Houston and the photos and travellogues from the trip should start rolling out. One thing I know for sure is that my 'Temple Tales' section will be busy with activity. So stay tuned - and keep visiting!

Temple Tales - 5: An arcitectural marvel in Houston

2008-06-14T17:26:00.008-05:00

After a brief break from posting, I'm back with another post in the series "Temple Tales". This time, the temple is one built in the classic North Indian Shikhara style, but in the USA. The temple featured in this issue is the BAPS Swaminarayan temple in Houston, Texas. From their website,

" The BAPS Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Houston is the first traditional Hindu Mandir of stone and marble to be constructed in the United States. Created entirely according to ancient Hindu architectural manuscripts known as the Shilpa-Shastras and meeting all the modern regulations of today, it was constructed in a mere 16 months starting from the day its first stone was laid. Limestone from Turkey and marble from Italy was shipped to India where it was hand-carved. More than 33,000 carved pieces were shipped from India to Houston to build such a beautiful Mandir. The Mandir opened to devotees, well-wishers, and visitors after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony performed by His Divine Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj on July 25, 2004. "

It is indeed a very beautiful Mandir, that showcases the intricacies of the North Indian style architecture. In a short amount of time since its completion, it has shot up the list of places to visit in Houston in a number of tourist guides!

Here are a few pictures from the Mandir. Currently, there is a lot of renovation work going on in the temple and hence you'll notice a lot of scaffolding in the images. Someday down the line, I will post more pictures once the scaffoldings have been removed and the renovations have been completed.

The Entrance Arch 17-35mm @17mm, f/5.6, 1/80s

Another view of the entrance arch 17-35mm @35mm, f/20, 1/4s

Abuilding in the complex 17-35mm @17mm, f/9, 1/80s

More views of the building, 17-35mm @17mm, f/20, 1/15s

17-35mm @35mm, f/20, 1/5s

The Mandir and its reflection, 17-35mm @24mm, f/20, 1/6s

The Shikaras with the scaffolding, 80-200mm @80mm, f/20, 1/3s

Intricate Carvings, 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/30s

807-200mm @155mm, f/2.8, 1/30s

80-200mm @200mm, f/2.8, 1/20s

The Mandir and its reflection, 17-35mm @25mm, f/5, 1/8s

New Lens Ordered!!

2008-06-14T08:30:00.002-05:00

Just ordered the phenomenal travel lens - Nikon 18-200 AFS DX VR !!! Sure to make my travel photography a lot easier!!!

Photographing events

2008-05-18T19:56:00.006-05:00

Though I primarily identify myself as a travel and wildlife photographer, I’ve had opportunities in the past couple of years to cover live events like cultural programs. This has widened my repertoire and helped me understand the facets of this type of photography.

Most of my experience covering events has been in covering Bharatanatyam performances dance recitals. There are a number of issues to be considered when preparing for a shoot of this nature that make it quite different than preparing for a nature or an architectural shoot.

The most important factor is the ambiance itself. The performances are usually in large auditoriums, with special lighting for the stage. One thing that matters a lot in photography that is not understood by many is the white balance and color temperature. To explain this in simple terms, you’d have noticed how the color of objects varies depending on the nature of light i.e. they look different in the direct sunlight, under the shade and in indoor fluorescent light, etc. The color composition of these various sources of lights are different due to the differences in the mix of wavelengths in them. This is what, when reflected of the object causes the difference in color appearance. Therefore it is important to understand that the photograph is going to be depend on the color composition of the stage light. If I know some detail about the light, I can dial in the color temperature in the White Balance setting of the camera. If I don’t have the information, I shoot in RAW with an auto White Balance setting. The camera usually gets it right, but I can still fine tune the results in my photo editing software.

The same photo at two different White Balance settings

The other factor is the program itself and knowing when to click. Over the years, experience has taught me when to anticipate a pose and that helps me get a good read to when to click. But still I try whenever possible to try and attend a rehearsal so I know what to expect in the dance. That also helps me anticipate the location I can shoot a scene from to get the best possible shot. I try to use my flash during the dance so I can freeze the action, but there are some performers who request no flash during the program. For those cases, I have to be very aware of when the poses occur and use a high iso setting in my camera to be able to get as fast a shutter speed as possible.

A photo pose during the dance

One more thing I’ve learnt to do over time is to try and compose some group photos of the performance and also get some individual pictures of the dances in close-up. I usually arrive at the venue early and scout the stage. I get myself a good seat and lay out my gear – a couple of lenses, my memory cards and take some preliminary photos to make sure there’s no problems with the camera or the lighting on stage. Then once the program starts, I’m off and running!

An individual picture

Temple Tales - 4: A small Hindu Temple in the middle of Texas

2008-04-27T08:02:00.008-05:00

For this edition of Temple Tales, I've chosen a temple not for its storied history or its architectural marvels, but for the sentimentality this Temple holds for me. When I first came to the US as a graduate engineering student, it felt like I was stepping into a whole different world. The customs and traditions of College Station Texas were certainly different from those of Madras or Madurai. The large Indian community at this university town however provided excellent guidance and helped me settle into my new surroundings. And that is how I came to know of Sri Omkarnath Temple at College Station, TX.

The University town of College Station and its twin city of Bryan have a total population of about 100,000. There is a thriving Indian community mostly made of doctors, professors and students. For a nice read on the Indian community here is a link to an old post by pooh. Like most US small town Hindu temples, this is a community run temple without a permanent priest and most of the work done on a voluntary basis. The activities and temple improvements are attended to by the Hindu Society of Brazos Valley. The temple itself is basically a single hall, with all the deities lined up on a pedestal along the wall. During the festival times, the community would organize special poojas at the temple and it would look like all the Indian population of College Station were gathered at the temple. Food cooked by the volunteers would be served as prasad, and this was an extra incentive for us, the poor college students to gather there.

When I attended Texas A&M University, me and my room-mates used to volunteer at the temple. On Fridays after school hours, we would drive to the temple and open its doors. Prayers done, we would wait till the next volunteers arrived and then we would go back to our apartments, cook Chicken Biryani and Tandoori Chicken and have feast!!

Since then, the temple Shikara on top of the temple has been constructed and an auditorium for community performances has been added. The story of the Sri Omkarnath Temple is truly one that keeps growing with the community that maintains it.

Previously in the Temple Tales series:
The Koln Cathedral, Koln, Germany
Sri Meenakshi Temple, Houston Texas
Erumbeeswarar Temple, Trichy

Hunting for color in the heart of Texas

2008-04-18T20:49:00.010-05:00

If you've ever driven through the roads of Texas, you'll know that the countryside has predominantly two colors - green during te spring and summer and brown during fall and winter. However for a couple of weeks before spring starts giving way to summer, the roads are lined with a colorful display of the wildflowers. The Bluebonnet, the state flower of Texas dominates the early wildflower season and then gives way to a multitude of colorful wildflower species.

This year, we decided to combine the hunt for wildflowers with a little bit of history as we spent a day around the town of Independence, TX. Along with wildflowers that we saw in abundance we also found some typical Texas landscape - small oil rigs, major agricultural fields and ghost towns. We also managed to get some time in an awesome Rose garden and immerse ourselves in some Texas History. You can read all about it in our travelogue here.

Bluebonnets the state flower of Texas, 80-200@200mm, f/2.8, 1/2500s

An oil rig stands functioning amidst a sea of green and a sprinkling of yellow, 17-35 @35mm, f/11, 1/320s

How do you irrigate the huge farms of Texas? 17-35 @35mm, f/11, 1/800s

Ghost Town Gas Station, 17-35 @17mm, f/11, 1/320s

While the fuel prices have skyrocketed, thank god the telephone rates have come down, 17-35 @17mm, f/11, 1/320s

Have you ever wondered what the inside of a gas pump looks like?, 17-35 @24mm, f/11, 1/320s

True to Texas: pipeline, farm and flowers, 17-35 @17mm, f/11, 1/320s

Blue and Green, 80-200@185mm, f/2.8, 1/2500s

The first Black Church in Texas, 17-35 @19mm, f/11, 1/640s

Independence Baptist Church, 17-35 @17mm, f/11, 1/640s

Welcome to the Antique Rose Emporium, 17-35 @35mm, f/11, 1/125s

Lovely in Pink, 17-35@35mm, f/11, 1/320s

The pavilion and fountain, 17-35 @35mm, f/18, 1/50s

Indian Paintbrush blowing in the wind, 80-200@200mm, f/3.2, 1/2000s

Red, Blue and Green, 80-200@80mm, f/3.2, 1/2000s

A funky looking flower, 80-200@145mm, f/3.2, 1/5000s

White Rose, , 80-200@200mm, f/3.2, 1/8000s

A nice setting for a statue, 80-200@155mm, f/3.2, 1/320s

An interesting doorway, 17-35 @19mm, f/11, 1/320s

The Luckemeyer general store in Independence, 17-35 @17mm, f/11, 1/100s

The Old Baylor University in Sepia tone, 17-35 @20mm, f/11, 1/320s

These four columns once held up the Womens College of Baylor University, 17-35 @17mm, f/11, 1/320s

The colorful field behind the old Baylor University, 80-200@86mm, f/3.2, 1/2000s

80-200@200mm, f/3.2, 1/2000s

The antique gas station by the old Baylor University - Notice the price of gas!!, 17-35 @17mm, f/8, 1/400s

Photographing Birds - Static Vs Dynamic Compositions

2008-04-06T20:50:00.005-05:00

As an amateur photographer, one of the subjects that really fascinates me is birds. For some photographers, the thrill is in capturing macro subjects, for others it is people and their emotions, for me personally, I could spend hours altogether in my own world when I'm photographing either ancient architecture or nature - especially birds. These are two completely different subjects and make me think and react in different ways.

While photographing temples and other architecture, I'm looking at a static image. Here my most important tools are the forms and the light. I'm always looking for the angles that will get me an interplay of light and shadow on the structure and make it stand out in the photograph. On the other hand while photographing birds or other wildlife for that matter, in addition to these composition techniques, I'm also looking for an opportunity to show the subject in action. I feel the addition of the action adds another dimension to the image that helps in connecting the viewer to the subject. I have a few photos to illustrate my point:

The first image is a static composition. It is a picture of a Neotropical Cormorant seated by the bay. It is a classic profile portrait composition with the bird looking into the frame. It showcases the jeweled eye that the bird is famous for and the exposure is on the mark to show details in the birds black feathers. While the photo itself is pleasing and nice, there is no drama or extra story to the picture that grabs the attention of the viewer.

Similarly another static composition is the American White Pelican below. Here I've gone for an unconventional composition with the bird looking away from me. I have the focus and exposure nailed and you can see the details in the white feathers, but again there is nothing beyond that.

Now lets contrast that with the following picture of a Snowy Egret that has caught its breakfast.
I captured this picture early one morning, after I set up my tripod among the egrets and pelican that were foraging for their morning food. As I patiently waited, I caught a sight of this particular bird away from all the others hunting for a bite to eat. The early morning glow in the light was perfect. I fixed my focus on this bird and shot away as it went hither and tither looking for a fish. I couldn't contain my excitement as suddenly it locked in on its prey. My shutter went on a continuous fire as the egret plunged for the kill. This is probably my favorite frame in the sequence with a perfect focus as you can see the fish in the birds beak. I feel that the viewer of the photograph subconsciously feels the story behind the picture and thus it connects a lot more than a static composition would.

Here are a few more compositions that have a dynamic character to them.

This American Brown Pelican was seated on one of the pier on the Galveston Bay. It seemed to have something stuck to its beak, so it would scratch it against the pier repeatedly. The contortion of its head and the action make this photo for me.

Another foraging photo early in the morning. This time its a Black-Necked Stilt thats wading through the shallow marsh waters looking for an insect or a small fish to eat. The action, the reflection and the ripple in the waters make it an interesting composition.

This is another photo of a Snowy Egret. In this photo, the light was coming from behind the bird, and as such was not the best situation to photograph it. I have few pictures of the bird just sitting on the stick, doing pretty much nothing. Then suddenly, it spread its wings and appeared ready to take off. The light coming through the feathers caught my eye and I immediately captured this shot before it took off. This is one of my favorite pictures and one that connects almost universally with all who see it.

The dynamic composition doesnt come along easily. You have to wait for it and sometimes you wait and wait and it never comes along, but when it does, the photos you make from that instance are so rewarding that the wait is easily worth it!

Temple Tales 3 - The Cologne Cathedral

2008-03-29T21:28:00.019-05:00

When I started the series on "Temple Tales", I did not mean for it to be an exclusive on South Indian style temples or Hindu architecture for that matter. I had realized the various cultures and rulers around the world shared a common vision to showcase their skill and their devotion by constructing magnificent monuments to the Supreme. When I visited Cologne (Koln) and its awe-inspiring Cathedral, I was drawn to the many similarities between the structure and the temples of India.

The facade of the Koln Dom, 17-35 @17mm, f/9, 1/250s

The Dom as the cathedral is called is right on the city square as one steps out of the Koln Hauptbahnhof (Railway station). It is an imposing structure that can be seen from a large radius within the city. Infact, for four years between 1880 and 1884 it was the world's tallest structure.

I was intrigued about the history and mythology behind this this awesome structure. It is said that in the year 1164 AD, the Archbishop of Cologne, had acquired remains of the Three Kings (The Three Wise Men) and had this cathedral constructed to house the relics and bring pilgrims from all over Christendom. Also housed in the cathedral is the Gero-Crucifix, believed to have been commissioned for Archbishop Gero around 960AD. It is the oldest large crucifix north of the Alps and earliest known large free standing sculpture of the medieval period.

The Gero Crucifix inside the Cathedral, 17-35 @25mm, f/4, 1/4s

Work on the Cathedral started in 1248AD and the cathedral was envisioned in the Gothic style with the design based on the Amiens Cathedral in France. Work went on an off and on schedule, with the eastern arm being completed in 1322. Work was halted in 1473 and the structure remained almost as it was for about 400 years. A nineteenth century revival of saw the last stage of construction start around 1842, and the completion of the cathedral, the tallest structure in the world(at least for the next four years) was celebrated in 1880.

The towers in Black and White, 17-35 @17mm, f/8, 1/250s

During the World War II, the cathedral suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs. It did not collapse, but stood tall in an otherwise flattened city. Some would maintain it was divine intervention while the truth was a little different. In a world without GPS, the tall building was perfect for allied aircrafts as a landmark from which to calculate bearings to other bomb targets in Germany and southern Europe, and thus was left intact for use of pilots of future missions.

The repairs to the building from the war were completed in 1956. Some repair and maintenance work is almost constantly being carried out in some section of the building, which is almost never completely free of scaffolding, since wind, rain, and pollution slowly eat away at the stones.

The Dom and a nearby building, showing the scaffolding on the side of the church, 17-35 @17mm, f/8, 1/500s

On the exterior, the first thing you notice after the magnitude of the structure is the crowd milling in the city square right outside the cathedral. The crowd is predominantly made of tourists, but there are a lot of local population, picnickers with kids in tow, or a meeting with friends at the cafe at the square, the place is always busy. I guess that was the way our ancient temple courtyards functioned too... as the meeting place of the townsfolk to mingle and gather, or to see a performance...

Activity on the city square outside the Cathedral, 17-35 @25mm, f/8, 1/400s

"A German Kolam!!" I was struck by the pattern of stones on the courtyard and how they match with the stonework in our temple courtyards,
17-35 @22mm, f/8, 1/200s

Another feature of the cathedral that struck me was the numerous sculptures of men, gargoyles and scenes from the bible that lined the exterior walls of the church. That brought to my mind a parallel with the sculptures on our temples.

Sculptures above the grand entrance, 80-200 @80mm, f/8, 1/100s

17-35 @35mm, f/8, 1/125s

80-200 @80mm, f/8, 1/160s

A Gargoyle on the wall of the Cathedral, 80-200 @200mm, f/8, 1/100s

80-200 @80mm, f/8, 1/640s

The many spires over the Cathedral, 17-35 @17mm, f/8, 1/1600s

The Gothic Architecture featuring flying buttresses, 17-35 @17mm, f/4, 1/800s

An interesting modern day sculpture outside the cathedral, 17-35 @35mm, f/8, 1/250s

The interior of the cathedral is in fact as imposing as the exterior. As you enter the great doors, the noise and bustle outside gives way to a quiet and more serene atmosphere. As your eyes get accustomed to the dark surroundings inside, the one feature that catches everyones eyes is the amount of huge stained-glass paintings that decorate the walls of the really high vaulted architecture of the cathedral. Here I have a collection of photos of the stained-glass paintings.

The high vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows, 17-35 @17mm, f/4, 1/320s

17-35 @17mm, f/4, 1/125s

17-35 @17mm, f/4, 1/30s

17-35 @17mm, f/4, 1/125s

17-35 @35mm, f/4, 1/160s

17-35 @24mm, f/4, 1/13s

While the Dom in Koln is the main cathedral that attracts tourists in Cologne, it is hardly the only major or interesting church in the city. Just like in Madurai we refer to "Mukkuku oru kovil" or a temple at each block, there are a number of churches that catch the eye as you go around the town. Here are a couple of pictures from another church that piqued my interest.

17-35 @17mm, f/11, 1/500s

17-35 @35mm, f/8, 1/100s

Do visit our travel blog for more details and pictures from our trip to Germany.

Previously in the Temple Tales series:
Sri Meenakshi Temple, Houston Texas
Erumbeeswarar Temple, Trichy

Saddle Up Houston 2

2008-03-23T14:27:00.009-05:00

Called the oil and gas capital of US, Houston is just another metro city in the US 340 days a year - young chic professionals sipping Starbucks lattes, talking on their cell phones and walking past skyscrapers as Bollywood typically portrays any US city. But for the rest 20 days of the year, H-town is something out of a Clint Eastwood movie - cowboy hats and blue jeans, horses, goats, pigs and cattle, bronc riding and country music.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) is the third largest fair in North America and the biggest of its kind in the world. The mission and purpose of the HLSR, reads that it is organized for charitable, educational and scientific purposes to encourage and promote the breeding, raising and marketing of better livestock and farm products at public fairs and to promote and maintain research and educational functions within the livestock industry.

The rodeo and the livestock show continue to fascinate me, mainly because it is so different from the usual activities I frequent with my camera and friends. The smells, sights and sounds I associate with the HLSR are many-a-times ones I remember from my days in India, making me nostalgic. The 2008's events drew to an end on Saturday, and it was time for the Western movie set that had placed itself over Houston to move over.

Unlike the past years, when I typically used to buy a ticket for a day, this year I went ahead and brought a Funpass which entitles unlimited access. I visited the HLSR 3-4 times at different times of the day and during different events and here are a few photos from my visits to the HLSR this year.

The Rodeo Parade:

Pictures from the Rodeo Parade are here.

The BBQ Cook-off:

It is a known fact that we Texans take our barbecue quite seriously. And the cowboys take it to another level with an annual cook-off lasting over two days. It is just not the slow-smoked-food that attracts people, the decorated cook pits, the parties at the cook pits are all a part of the whole event.

The cowboy boot and the setting sun, 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/400s

Holy Goat! The cowboy idea of a cool decor? 80-200mm @165mm, f/2.8, 1/50s

Loved the Coldriver team's custom-made ironwork , 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/125s

The Carnival:

By far, this is my most favorite part of the HLSR. It takes me back to the summer exhibitions (chitirai porutkatchis) I used to go as a kid in Madurai. Miles away, years later, carnival food and rides still make me so happy. The oven-roasted corn, the deep-fried goodies, the fresh-spun cotton candies, the candy apples, the popcorn, the outrageously expensive bottle of water? Sounds familiar? I guess carnivals around the world are same yet different.

BBQed Turkey Legs anyone? 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/80s

The grande wheel (that is how it was called this year!) at night. 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/160s

The second wheel, 17-35mm @17mm, f/8, 1/320s

A view from the top of the carnival grounds 17-35mm @17mm, f/8, 1/160s

Twilight at the Carnival 17-35mm @35mm, f/8, 1/40s

By far the most popular attraction, the mechanical bull. 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/500s

Budding cowboy! 80-200mm @92mm, f/2.8, 1/80s

Just for future cowboys and cowgals, pony rides 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/500s

And if you prefer something more exotic, try the camel rides 17-35mm @24mm, f/16, 1/80s

A patient cowboy waiting for the races to begin 17-35mm @35mm, f/3.2, 1/250s

Carnival rides - can you hear the screams? 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/250s

Sky ride across the fair grounds 17-35mm @17mm, f/8, 1/800s

Round and round we go! 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/125s

80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/40s

Jumping Jack? A enthusiastic carnival lover in one of the attractions 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/60s Flash

In action - caught somersaulting 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/60s Flash

Sliding down for fun. Reminds me of the concrete slides from those days. 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/60s Flash

Racing hearts, waiting for the ride to begin 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/25s

Lil cowboys love go-karts 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/20s

I think I am scared. Are you? Cliff hangers waiting to spread their wings 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/60s Flash

Racing pigs. Entertainment of the other kind 80-200mm @200mm, f/2.8, 1/50s

Found it too funny to resist. Seen on the pigs RV 80-200mm @80mm, f/2.8, 1/160s

Trucks a cowboy's best friend - worth its weight in gold 80-200mm @145mm, f/2.8, 1/1250s

For sale, the championship longhorn. FYI 2002's Grand Champion Steer purchased for $600,001. 17-35mm @26mm, f/2.8, 1/30s

Temple Tales 2 - Lord of the Ants!

2008-03-09T10:22:00.021-05:00

The Erumbeeswarar Temple, with an evening glow, 17-35mm lens@35mm, f/2.8, 1/60s

Continuing the series on "Temple Tales", today I introduce a feature on the "Erumbeeswarar Temple" at Thiruverumbur between Trichy and Thanjavur. The Trichy - Thanjavur belt, on the banks of the Cauvery River was the seat of power of the mighty Cholas who were great patrons of art. Under their rule, they built and revived innumerable temples like the Brihadeeshwarar temple, SriRanganathaswamy Temple. This area also has a lot of hidden treasures - small temples, seeping with history, and architecture. Many of these small temples are currently patronized by the locals of the area who take great pride in its history. One such temple is the Erumbeeswarar Temple located on top of a small hillock midway between Trichy and Thanjavur.

A panoramic view from the top of the hillock, 17-35mm@17mm, f/2.8, 1/100s

Literally translated, the word erumbu means ant in Tamil. The story goes that, the asura (demon) Karan captured the hillock temple of Lord Shiva and unleashed his tyranny on the local residents and prevented people from entering the temple. The worried devas (demi gods) assumed the form of ants and entered the temple premises, slipping past the guards. The Lord in the form of a Shiva Lingam transformed into an anthill to show that He heard their prayers and helped the devas overcome Karan. The Shiva Lingam today has a rough texure like an anthill.

Archaeologists trace the temple's construction to the 7th century and the site is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. The temple walls have numerous inscriptions from the Chola and Pandya eras. The temple is housed inside fortress like walls and one ascends a flight of granite steps to access the temple.

The flight of steps to climb to the top, 17-35mm@24mm, f/2.8, 1/60s

The temple walls are adorned with nandis, 17-35mm@35mm, f/2.8, 1/60s

A close-up view, 17-35mm@35mm, f/2.8, 1/80s

Like many smaller and lesser known temples, this temple also went through a phase of disrepair and neglect. But in the recent years, with local support and help from BHEL,Trichy (located a few miles away) the temple has been revived.

Due to the rocky nature of the granite hillock, irrigation and watering of the nandavanam plants was a problem and for many years it was just thorny brush. But with rainwater harvesting techniques to fill up the temple tank located at the foot of the hillock, drip irrigation facilities and use of specialized concrete ring pots the problems have been overcome. Technical and monetary support for these improvements came from BHEL.

The Temple Tank, 17-35mm@25mm, f/2.8, 1/250s

A view of the tank while climbing up the hillock, 17-35mm@35mm, f/2.8, 1/50s

The nandavanam inside the temple prakaram, 17-35mm@32mm, f/2.8, 1/60s

Today the temple is a thriving Saivite destination. The architecture and the views from the hillock attract me to this temple.

View of a ruin by the temple, 17-35mm@35mm, f/2.8, 1/125s

The ruins from another angle, 17-35mm@32mm,f/2.8, 1/40s

The shikaram over a subsidiary shrine, 17-35mm@17mm, f/2.8, 1/60s

The kalasam over te main shrine, 17-35mm@35mm, f/2.8, 1/50s

Coming up next in the temple tale series, Koln Cathedral

Previously in the series
Sri Meenakshi Temple, Houston, TX

Saddle Up Houston! - 1

2008-03-01T21:03:00.007-06:00

Today Houston is a bustling city of around 2 million. Ethnically diverse and from all walks of life we call Houston home. The largest medical center in the world, world-class educational institutes and a thriving oil and gas industry make Houston a cosmopolitan commercial city.

But for 20 days every Spring, Houstonians go back to their Texan roots. It is the time of the year when blue jeans and cowboy hats are seen everywhere. It is RODEO time in Houston! Houstonians take pride in their cowboy heritage and the rodeo is the world’s largest livestock exhibition, world’s richest regular-season rodeo and the Southwest’s premier entertainment event.

In its 76th year, Rodeo Houston is just getting started and it was kicked off by the ConocoPhillips Wheelchair and rodeo run through the streets of downtown followed by the rodeo parade this morning. The ConocoPhillips Wheelchair and rodeo run raises money for the Livestock Show and Rodeo Educational Fund.

A sunny 70+ morning, ideal for watching and cheering the parade participants, brought enthusiastic Houstonians to the streets of downtown. Amidst the towering skyscrapers, the hoof beats and marching bands was a treat for the eye and the camera. Here are some of my pictures from the rodeo parade this morning. Click them for a bigger image.

A young participant on the ConocoPhillips Rodeo run taking a bow to a radio talk show host.

I am an American, I am a Texan, I am a cowgirl!

A radio talk show host in his Western best.

Flags anyone?

Children in their Western attire were captivating.
Lost in thought, a young cowboy

The marching band from the University of Houston.

Congressman Al Green waving to spectators

A young horseman

Miniature horse carriage

Elsie - the Borden cow was also a part of the parade
Piyo glassful doodh..Mooo

Laugh away your worries - the rodeo clowns are here

A canine enjoying a ride on the Wells Fargo Stagecoach

My daddy strongest!
Mooo over Elsie, Schepps is here - the Schepps float

Lasso me - a young cowboy

I wanna be a cowboy when I grow up

More from the rodeo coming soon.

Introducing Temple Tales

2008-02-23T07:10:00.008-06:00

One of my favorite subjects to photograph is temples and their architecture. The fascination must have begun growing up in the temple town of Madurai, where we had an unobstructed view of the majestic gopurams of the Meenakshi Amman Kovil from our terrace. I have always been in awe of the grandeur and splendor of the ancient temples of India and that drives my passion for photographing them. Over the years I have come to appreciate the architecture of not only the large and grand temples, but also the intricacies of the smaller ones. Another dimension to the fascination is the local tales and mythology that is woven around the temples making it all the more interesting.

I'm starting up a series on "Temple Tales" with a temple that really doesn't have much in terms of architecture or mythology. Yet it is special to me as it is here in Houston, and presiding deity being Goddess Meenakshi, it takes me home every time I visit. The temple was conceived way back in the late 1970's to serve the growing Indian population of Houston. The Ganesh temple was first inaugurated in August '79. The main Meenakshi Temple was designed based on the Meenakshi Amman kovil at Madurai and the Mahakumbabhishekam was performed in June 1982. Of course, being built in another country and another era, there is no way it could compare with the original temple, but a lot of care and dedicated work was taken to keep proper temple architecture concepts in its construction. In the main temple are three deities, Lord Sundereshwar (Shiva), Goddess Meenakshi (Parvati) and Lord Balaji (Vishnu).

Lord Sundareshwar

Goddess Meenakshi

Nandi

Since its inceptions, over the years a lot of additions and improvements have helped the temple grow and serve the ever increasing Hindu population of Houston. In the early 2000s, a new Kalyana Mandapam and youth center were built featuring classes for kids and adults, a library and a canteen. In 2006, more improvements were made to the temple and the walls were decorated with typical temple motifs. Here are more pictures from during and after those improvements.

Temple motif created using a mold

Temple motifs erected on the walls

The improvements taking place...

... and on completion

The main Gopuram

Puja for Lord Muruga during Sashti

Got published!!!

2008-02-22T21:40:00.006-06:00

Woo hoo!! My photo of local dance instructor Sunanda Nair appeared on the cover of the "Fort Bend Reflections" a section of the Houston Chronicle. But they managed to muddle up the colors in the printing and the colors were even more off in their online scanned version!! I had previously been published in local desi newspapers like Voice of Asia and Indo-American News for covering local events.

Anyways here is the link to the article.

The image as published:
I'll be adding a post on my experiences with studio lighting and photography sometime soon.

Check this out!

2008-02-21T20:06:00.000-06:00

I came across an awesome photoblog by a fellow Houstonian. This post "Made in India" made my day!

San Antonio, Texas - Of Tex, Mex and History

2008-02-12T05:57:00.000-06:00

"Remember the Alamo" - That was the famous battle cry of the Texans as they fought for their independence from Mexico. A group of Texan revolutionaries had been laid siege at the fortress of the ancient mission of the Alamo (San Antonio de Valero Mission) in San Antonio by the Mexican forces. Heavily outnumbered, they fought a valiant battle until they couldn't hold out any longer. News of this massacre reached all corners of Texas and the famous battle cry came to life.

Today, the Alamo is a historic museum in downtown San Antonio that shows off the colonial Spanish architecture and also reminds us of the Texans' fight for independence.

The Alamo, 32mm, f/2.8, 1/60s

In the square outside the Alamo is a monument dedicated to the men and women who fought for a free Texas. This is called the Wall of History.

Wall of History, 50mm, f/4.5, 1/80s

There are four other ancient missions in the city, and they are all still operating churches, maintained by the National Parks Services. These missions, Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan and Mission Espada are all showcases of the colonial Spanish style of architecture.

A turret from Mission Concepcion, 50mm, f/9, 1/320s, desaturated to B&W

The dome at Mission San Jose, 17mm, f/7.1, 1/200s

Mission San Jose, 50mm, f/10, 1/400s

Of course, San Antonio has its modern attractions too. The Sea World and Schlitterbahn theme parks are fun for the family. There are numerous state parks on the outskirts of the city, but the one main attraction for visitors to San Antonio is the River Walk. Along the San Antonio river in downtown San Antonio, there is a pretty walkway along the river with boat cruises, malls, restaurants and shops. In the night it is all lit up very well and its quite a party atmosphere. A boat ride at night is a pretty romantic way to conclude a trip to San Antonio.

Lights under the bridge, from the boat on the San Antonio River in the River Walk,
35mm, f/2.8, 1/8s

Let there be Light!

2008-01-24T06:16:00.000-06:00

Taken at the Mission Nuestra Señora de la Concepción de Acuña, San Antonio. (Mission of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and Juan de Acuña, the Marqués de Casafuerte)

San Antonio, Texas is known for three things - The River Walk - a Venice imitation, the Spurs and their spanish influenced missions. There are 5 existing missions of which the Alamo is the most famous. The others are Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan and Mission Espada. Each of these mission showcase the colonial spanish architecture.

I noticed the way the light illuminated the walls of the mission.
Taken with my 50mm lens at f5, 1/100s

Hawaii-9: The Last go around

2008-01-18T06:25:00.000-06:00

The last day on Hawaii was spent touring the Island of Oahu. We spent some time in Honolulu's Chinatown, the Dole Plantations and the beaches of the North Shore. You can read more about our day here.

The Courthouse:
17-35mm lens @17mm, f/11, 1/200s

China town store: I de-saturated this image a little to give it an old-time look.
17-35mm lens @22mm, f/22, 1/160s

The market:
17-35mm lens @35mm, f/11, 1/25s

The entrance to Chinatown:
17-35mm lens @17mm, f/8, 1/500s

Pipelines: We were fortunate to hit the Northshore at the time of the Pipeline Masters surfing competition. We had front row seats to the event!!!

17-35mm lens @35mm, f/8, 1/1250s

The Show at the contest:
17-35mm lens @17mm, f/8, 1/800s

Hawaii-8: Kauai by air and the sea

2008-01-09T21:05:00.001-06:00

Kauai, the Garden Isle was our final port-of-call on the cruise. We had planned to take a Helicopter ride over it and you can read more about it here. We then also had a chance to observe the famed Na'apali coast from sea as our cruise ship sailed that way.

Photographing from a Helicopter is an experience. You see vistas you can never dream of from the ground. However, you can only photograph from the window on your side and try to avoid glares and reflections from the glass.

The lighthouse: This is one of my favorites from the air. I think that's because of the composition of the land and ocean and the colors in the water and the surf.

17-35mm lens @35mm, f/8, 1/400s

The Famed Waimea Canyon: Waimea means "Red water", It is also referred to as the Grand Canyon of Hawaii.
17-35mm lens @26mm, f/8, 1/400s

Na'apali from air: I love this photo for its color.
17-35mm lens @17mm, f/8, 1/250s

Waterfall group: The rains had got all the waterfalls flowing and it was a treat
17-35mm lens @35mm, f/8, 1/250s

The wet valley: Kauai is one of the rainiest places on earth and sure enough it was raining. The greenery and the mist created a beautiful mood that I tried to capture in this frame.
17-35mm lens @28mm, f/8, 1/50s

Fantasy Island Falls: Apparently, this waterfalls is featured in a TV serial called Fantasy Island.
17-35mm lens @35mm, f/8, 1/125s

Na'apali from the sea: The sharp edged cliffs are amazing. And so was the light for just this instant before the rains came down again!
17-35mm lens @20mm, f/5.6, 1/400s

Double Rainbow: One of the constants at Kauai was the rainbow (and the rains).
17-35mm lens @17mm, f/5.6, 1/800s

Hawaii-7: The Road to Hana

2008-01-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

The road to Hana was a dream come true for me and it sure did not disappoint. You can read about our drive through this 50 mile stretch here.

Hoopika Outlook:
A wind-surfer's paradise
17-35mm @17mm, f/8, 1/400s

Along the way: The Scenery was breathtaking all along the road.
17-35mm @17mm, f/11, 1/125s

A distant falls: We stopped at one of the vista points, and off in the distance, we spotted this falls. I brought out my 400mm lens and clicked it. It was a bit foggy, so I had to turn up the contrast while post-processing to get this image.
400mm lens on tripod, f/8, 1/100s

Black Sand Beach: after the rains
17-35mm @35mm, f/8, 1/320s

Colors at the Black Sand beach: The vivid blues and greens on the black background really stand out, especially after the rains
17-35mm @35mm, f/8, 1/400s

One of the many falls along the way.
17-35mm @17mm, f/5.6, 1/100s

At the O'heo Gulch - Also called the seven sacred pools - a series of waterfalls and pools drain the water from the Haleakala Volcanic region to the ocean.
17-35mm @35mm, f/3.2, 1/400s

Hawaii-6: Akaka Falls, Big Island

2008-01-01T06:42:00.000-06:00

Akaka Falls is a magnificent 420 ft drop just half an hour out of Hilo. There is a little 5 minute trek to get to the falls, and on the way you see another smaller, but pretty falls.

The smaller fall on the way:
17-35 mm lens @ 35mm on tripod, f/4.5, 1/13s

Akaka:
17-35 mm @ 35mm on tripod, f/4.5, 1/60s

Akaka - used a slow sutter speed to get a silky effect on the water:
17-35mm @ 20mm on tripod, f/22, 1/4s

Hawaii-5: Volcanoes National Park, Big Island

2007-12-29T09:04:00.000-06:00

Our first port of call on the Pride of Hawaii was at Hilo, Big Island. And our plan was to visit the Volcanoes National Park first and then, depending on the time we had go to other places. As always we have a write-up on our travel blog here.

The steam vents: The earth is so hot just a few layers below the surface and as a result you see steam coming out from the fissures in the soil. An impressive sight. Also, due to the heat underground, trees do not grow in this area, only grass and shrubs.

17-35mm lens@17mm, f/2.8, 1/2000s

A Lehua blossom(The shrub - called O'hia is native to Hawaii).
17-35mm lens@ 35mm, f/2.8, 1/500s

The Kilauaea crater: This is an active volcanic crater in the park.
17-35mm lens@ 32mm, f/8, 1/400s

An offering to the goddess of fire, Pele.
17-35mm lens@ 17mm, f/8, 1/125s

A romantic statement using leis
17-35mm lens@ 35mm, f/8, 1/200s

Volcanic rocks showing patterns from the lava flow
17-35mm lens@ 35mm, f/8, 1/40s

Volcanic rocks showing colors from the various minerals
17-35mm lens@ 35mm, f/8, 1/40s

A Sculpture of Nature:
This sea arch was formed by sea erosion of the volcanic rock formed when the hot lava flowed into the ocean.
17-35mm lens@ 30mm, f/8, 1/160s

Hawaii-4: Hiking Diamond Head

2007-12-29T08:24:00.000-06:00

You can read about our hike up Diamond head crater here.

It was a nice hike - good weather and good scenery all along the hike. It does get hot at the peak, so plan to start early.

Koko head view from near the base of the hike:
17-35mm lens@35mm, f/4, 1/1000s

The coastline from the peak:
17-35mm lens@28mm, f/18, 1/160s

View of Honolulu & Waikiki from Diamond head:
17-35mm lens@17mm, f/18, 1/100s

In the write-up we mentioned that we had to crawl through a really small opening to get to the peak - Here it is:
17-35mm lens@17mm, f/18, 1/50s

Hawaii-3: The Luau

2007-12-27T20:43:00.000-06:00

A few photos from Germaine's Luau:

The start: 17-35mm lens handheld @35mm, f/2.8, 1/50s

The pig being brought up from the imu (underground oven). Notice the colors of the sky
17-35mm lens handheld @35mm, f/2.8, 1/50s

The fire-dancer:
17-35mm lens handheld @35mm, f/2.8, 1/20s
Our account of this day of our vacation can be read here.

Hawaii-2: Pearl Harbor

2007-12-22T21:20:00.001-06:00

Here are some photos from Pearl Harbor and Arizona Memorial.

A view of the Arizona Memorial from Pearl Harbor visitor center. Taken handheld with my 17-35mm lens @35mm, f/5.6, 1/100s

Inside the Arizona memorial: 17-35mm lens @ 17mm, f/8, 1/400s

17-35mm lens @ 22mm, f/2.8, 1/3200s. I took this photo at the exposure mentioned to get keep the detail in the landscape outside the window. Ofcourse the room inside was underexposed. I later used the Shadow tool in Aperture to pull out the detail in the room.

Hawaii-1: Waikiki Beach

2007-12-20T06:38:00.000-06:00

I'm looking forward to posting a number of photos from our Hawaii vacation. The first part today is from Waikiki beach in Honolulu.

The Duke: A statue of Duke Kahanamoku, the legendary swimmer and surfer from Waikiki.
taken with my 17-35mm lens @24mm, handheld, using spot meter for proper exposure, f/5 @ 1/100s

Diamond Head view from Waikiki:
handheld, 17-35mm lens @26mm, f/4.5 @ 1/160s

Its Cruise Time again!

2007-12-06T06:34:00.001-06:00

I'm getting all excited as we get set for our next trip - A cruise in Hawaii! I'm hoping to get a number of photos to share here in this blog. Of course, trip details and travelogues will be posted on our travel blog as usual.

For now, I'll leave you with a photo from our previous cruise to the carribean. This is the port of Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras. The water was so green and clear - beautiful! and the verdant landscape reminded us of Kerala.

On the Romantische Strasse

2007-11-19T06:35:00.001-06:00

A photo of a typical German small-town square taken on the Romantic Road. This is the town square of Landsberg Am Lech, famous for its patrician style buildings.
Small town Germany is very fascinating with its unique architecture and style.

Taken with my 17-35mm handheld @ 17mm, f/8, 1/500s

More Colors!

2007-11-15T06:39:00.001-06:00

Here are a few more photographs from our October trip to New England. It seemed the best way to see fall colors in Vermont was to just get on the road! Anywhere we drove we saw trees with leaves of green, orange, yellow and red!

House on the Lake: This shot was taken near Quechee on Rt.4 in Vermont.
Hand-held with my 17-35mm lens at 28mm, f/11, 1/200s

A roadside pond in New Hampshire:
hand-held, 17-35mm @17mm f/22, 1/13s

Most of the time in New Hampshire, there was a roadside stream that offered good views and photo ops. Here the meandering stream provides a perfect setting for a fall scenic

hand-held, 17-35mm@17mm, f/8, 1/80s

This one is from the famed Kancamagus Hwy in New Hampshire. The colors were strong in the lower elevations, but as we climbed higher, we realized it was past peak.

Hand-held, 17-35mm@35mm, f/8, 1/80s

The Fall Colors

2007-11-09T06:42:00.001-06:00

The primary focus of the New England trip was to check out the impressive fall colors that part of the country is famous for. Having presented some other photos from the trip, finally here are some pictures showcasing the changing colors of the leaves.

A small-town scene in Vermont: This photo taken in Townsend, VT shows a typical village square in rural Vermont. An interesting tit-bit: The gazebo seen here is not a part of the original town. It was added for a movie scene. It felt asif it had been there for years and so they left it there!

Taken hand-held with my 17-35mm lens @ 17mm, f/2.8, 1/125s

A typical scene driving through the back-roads of Vermont. The colors were at their peak.
Taken hand-held with my 17-35mm lens @ 24mm, f/8 1/50s

Two more from Chatham

2007-10-26T19:54:00.001-05:00

Here are two more photos from Chatham Beach at Cape Cod. This was my favorite photo-op during te trip as the light was perfect during sunset. In both the photos, the light and the colors painted by the setting sun were the primary focus of the scene. I would certainly appreciate any comments on these photos.

Reflections: 17-35mm lens at 17mm, hand held, f/11 at 1/40s

Fade to pink: 17-35mm lens at 17mm, handheld, f/5.6 at 1/25s

A couple from the Northeast

2007-10-22T18:47:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple from our trip to New England. The fall colors were in full force, and those photos will be published soon... but first here are two photos from Boston and Cape Cod.

The first photo is actually a parking Garage! I was impressed with the looks of the building as we came up from the basement parking.
Taken with my 17-35mm lens at 17mm, handheld. I used a large aperture (f/2.8) to keep the shutter speed fast enough (1/30s) to capture this handheld.

One of my favorite locations to photograph during the trip was at the beach at Chatham. It helped that I reached the location just before sunset when the sun's golden rays blanketed the beach with their glow. The wisps of clouds and gentle waters only added to the serenity of the scene. Taken handheld with an aperture of f/8 and shutter speed of 1/160s

Kathak and Kuchipudi

2007-10-09T06:45:00.001-05:00

I have been photographing Bharatanatyam performances for the past few years. By watching and observing a number of performances, I have honed my skill to anticipate the poses and be ready to take the photo at the appopriate time. Even then, sometimes the dancer doesn't allow the use of flash and photography becomes tougher given the unique lighting conditions on stage.

Recently, I had the chance to photograph two other forms of Indian classical dances, Kathak and Kuchipudi. Sunanda Nair, a Bharatanatyam instructor her in Houston had brought over two artistes from India to showcase their dance styles.

Uma Dogra is an exponent of Kathak, a dance from Uttar Pradesh. Unlike most other classical forms I've seen, the emphasis is on the beat of the foot. Infact, Ms Dogra compared the dance to tapdance and said it also had elements of jazz to it! As a photographer it is almost impossible to capture the essence of the foot movement on camera, but what can be captured is the twirling of the skirt as the dancer spins around.

The other dance form of the day was Kuchipudi, performed by Vyjayanthi Kashi. Kuchipudi has a lot of elements of Bharatanatyam, as they were developed in neighboouring states, Bharatanatyam in Tamil Nadu and Kuchipudi in Andhra Pradesh. Hence it was easier to photograph this dance form as I could expect the timing of the poses.

400 places to see...

2007-09-27T15:58:00.000-05:00

We are celebrating the World Tourism day today by listing 400 places to see around the world in our travel blog. Check it out here!

Modern Ruins

2007-09-20T06:38:00.000-05:00

An abandoned car and a beat down shed highlight this scene caught near the base of the North Cascade Mountains along Hwy 2 in Washington.
What caught my eye was the absolute beauty of the place with all the trees and the green lawn and how much that beauty contrasted with the chaos of the scene. This was captured with my 17-35 lens at 17mm, handheld and then cropped to a panaromic scale.

Ganapati Bapa Moriya!

2007-09-14T06:28:00.001-05:00

Wishing all of you a happy Ganesh Chaturthi. This photo was taken last year when we were in India during the festival. We were walking towards the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai early in the morning, when we came across this roadside idol of Ganapathi in very striking colors.

The Pacific Northwest - pt1

2007-09-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos from our recent trip to Seattle and the state of Washington.

Deception falls, a roadside falls on Hwy-2 on the way to Leavenworth:
The idea here was to get a silky effect on the flowing water by using a slow shutter speed. At the same time, I wanted to provide an anchor point for the image. I chose the pedestrian bridge and placed it in the corner of my composition so that it provided a strong tie with the direction of the flowing water.

On a tripod, Aperture: f/22, Shutter speed: 1/5 s

An interesting feature at Ohme Gardens, Wenatchee:
In a garden full of tall trees and pools, this detail of a smaller scale caught my eye. The arrangement was very aesthetic and pleasing. I wanted to make the plant in the middle the subject of this photo and use the wooden piece as a decorative accent.

On a tripod, Aperture: f/4, Shutter speed: 1/80s

Roadside vista of the Columbia river near Chelan:
Driving along the Columbia river on Hwy-97 A, we spotted two huge chunks of rocks jutting out of the water. Immediately, we exited from the freeway and drove along a side road to see if we could get a good viewpoint. At this point, only one rock was visible, but the curving railway line, with the mountain on one side and the river on the other provided a really pleasing composition for this photo.

Handheld, Aperture: f/11, Shutter speed: 1/250s with a warming polarizer filter.

More to come... You can read more about the trip on our new travel blog: http://scary-on.blogspot.com/
Specifically the posts are:
day1: http://scary-on.blogspot.com/2007/09/day-one-roadtrip-1.html
day2: http://scary-on.blogspot.com/2007/09/day-two-roadtrip1.html
days 3 and 4: coming up

Scary-on

2007-08-29T19:19:00.000-05:00

After a number of blotched attempts I am off for a mini-vacation! And with the vacation comes in my new venture, scary-on. If you have ever traveled with a photographer, you know how much they treasure their camera and their lens and how worried they are traveling with them. And have you seen their camera bags? Big bulky ones which can never fit in the carry-on overhead cabins and that exactly is what scary-on is all about. All of my travels include a big scary-on camera bag and lots of fun and adventures

Welcome to scary-on and take a look into the vistas I discover...

This day last year

2007-08-22T05:54:00.000-05:00

Last year this time, we celebrated our anniversary by taking a trip around Germany. Here are some memories from that trip.

Mad King Ludwig's Castle: Schloss Neushwanstein near Fussen. This awesome structure is the inspiration for Disney's Castle at Disneyland.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is the best preserved medieval town in Germany. Rich with history, and at the same time very romantic it was one of the great towns we visited on the romantic road in Germany

The Main river as seen from the Mainbruecke at Wurzburg.

The eye

2007-08-20T21:27:00.000-05:00

The American brown pelican is one of two species of pelicans in the US (The other being the American white pelican). While the white pelicans are present all over the country, including inland lakes, the brown variety is predominantly seen in the sea shores.

This particular one was photographed resting on the shore at Pier 20 in Galveston, Texas, an hour away from Houston. A huge colony of brown and white pelicans reside by the pier, along with a group of great blue herons, snowy egrets and neotropic cormorants waiting for the fishermen to throw them a bite. Photographed with my Nikon D70 with a Nikkor 80-200 f2.8 lens at 200mm.

Kaaval Deivam temple at Kochadai

2007-08-17T06:14:00.000-05:00

These photos were taken at the Villayuthamudaiya Ayyanar temple, a Kaaval deivam temple at Kochadai on the outskirts of Madurai. Kaaval deivam (literally means protector God)temples are an interesting feature of the villages of Tamil Nadu. The deities are considered guardians of the village and are depicted with huge and fierce statues. A typical kaaval deivam temple has 21 guardian deities and 61 servant deities. These temples date back to older than the Vedic period and have been in existence since the Sangam period (200 BC) and the worship at these temples are by means of folk songs and folk art forms.

While growing up these temples were a source of fascination and fear and the last time I was in India I clicked these pictures at the Villayuthamudaiya Ayyanar kovil.

Deck the Walls

2007-08-13T06:22:00.000-05:00

This weekend's project was to re-decorate our home, by hanging up some of my photos. I had them converted to B&W to give a classic feel. Here are the photos I've used:

A decorative feature in the Universal Studios theme park - Florida

Schloss Neuschwanstein, the Mad King castle and Disney inspiration, near Fussen, Germany

A German imbibing his favorite spirit, Market place, Munich, Germany

State Capitol of Louisiana at Baton Rougue

Sam Houston at the Hermann Park, Houston

An artistic sculpture at the Hermann Park, Houston

The Victorial Memorial, Kolkotta

Goats and the car, Thanjavur, India

A Chinese soldier sculpture, Forbidden Gardens, Katy, Texas and a scaled-down replica of the tomb of Emperor Qin

Pollination

2007-08-03T06:38:00.000-05:00

This photo taken in March a few years ago, I think brings the season of spring to mind immediately. Flowers in bloom and bees flitting from one to the other!

Taken with my D70 and 80-200 F2.8 lens on a tripod at Independance, TX

Apple Aperture

2007-07-17T21:19:00.001-05:00

First, This is neither a product review nor a tutorial. You can find them elsewhere online - just google. This is a piece on how Aperture has drastically changed my workflow.

The new millennium brought about a major change in photography world as digital media started making major inroads in the business. One of the biggest question for professional photographers was how to adapt their workflow to the new situation.

Let me explain the predominant workflow in the film era. Slide film was the medium of choice for most of the professional photographers. On getting the processed slides back, they would be culled to discard the bad slides and then entered into a database, giving it a unique number and some keywords to reference it. Then the slides were put in a sleeve and in a file. The better slides were scanned into a tiff file that could be used for printing or web publishing. When the client wanted some specific pictures, a search of the database using the keywords would lead to the required photos.

When digital first arrived, photographers were ecstatic - no more slide sleeves and hanging files. Everything was on their hard-drives in neat little folders. But the problem was keeping the different versions of the file together. The original raw file being the digital negative, had to be stored carefully and backed up. Tiff files were then created and all required digital corrections performed on a software like photoshop. Most adjustments were done using layers to be able to go back and revert if necessary, but some changes like cropping were permanent. So if one decides to try cropping a different way, the original raw file has to be opened again and converted. Finally the tiffs were saved as a jpeg for printing or web publishing purposes.

Sensing the need for a more streamlined photographer's software Apple came with Aperture, followed soon by Adobe with Lightroom. Both software perform a similar task. The raw file is first imported in. This file always stays as is. Any manipulations done on it are stored in a separate file and applied whenever the raw file is opened. Different versions of manipulations can be saved together. Finally a jpeg can be exported whenever needed.

Aperture also has a strong database to keep track of images. Further keywords can be used to create smartalbums automatically. Also the preview images are saved as high quality jpegs that can be used for anything from a client slideshow to an attachment to an email or a picture in a word document....

There is a lot more to Aperture that I'm still learning! One thing or sure, it makes it a lot more fun to work on the digital photos after the photoshoot.

Vacation-5b

2007-07-08T20:50:00.000-05:00

Some more pics from the trip:

A two horned rhino:

A mother and baby goat: (Doesn't he look like a little devil :) )

A cute Canadian gosling:

A moose shedding its fur:

A bison, also shedding its fur:

Vacation-5a

2007-07-08T19:32:00.000-05:00

While visiting Niagara Falls, we planned a day trip to an 'African Safari' which was situated 1-1/2 hrs from there. It was a pleasant ride through the Canadian countryside. As always, Pooh's excellent account of the trip can be read here. Here are some pictures from that trip.

The elephants were lead for their daily swim:

The lion was lazing around regally, sitting on his throne.

The lion cubs were playing around jumping on each other:

This Giraffe was rather inquisitive. "Watcha lookin at??" He seems to be asking us!

Vacation-4b

2007-07-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

More pics from Niagara:

The butterflies at the butterfly conservatory found a nice seat on V's granny's hand

The Niagara river flows from the falls through a gorge and ends up at the Lake Ontario.

Niagara at night

Vacation-4a

2007-07-04T06:52:00.000-05:00

From New York, we drove 7hrs to our final destination, Niagara Falls, Ontario. As always you can read pooh's account of our trip here. Niagara falls is a beautiful place showcasing the force of nature and also the resourcefulness of man marketing and hyping it! Anyways, here are a set of pics from Niagara Falls, ON.

The Horseshoe falls as seen from the Canadian side.

Boston Pizza and sky wheel in the town of Niagara falls.

The American, Bridal and Horseshoe falls all seen together from the Canadian side

The Greenhouse

Vacation-3b

2007-06-26T06:09:00.000-05:00

Some more pics from New York:

Manhattan as seen from the Empire State Bldg.
(Can you spot the Chryssler Bldg.?)

The Empire State Building

Ground Zero

We had previously driven by ground zero, and all we had was a glimpse of the work going on. The next day, we took the subway to ground zero. I had no idea that the subway station was exactly at ground zero. Coming up and out, one can see the enormity of the site and all the work going on in rebuilding the area. Its a pretty moving sight.

Vacation-3a

2007-06-25T19:20:00.000-05:00

First, an apology for the delay in posting, since I was starting on a new project at work!

We made our way from Mechanicsburg to the Big Apple and you can read about our impressions here. Well, for all it is and isnt, New York has no scarcity for landmarks. Here are a few of them below:

The Brooklyn Bridge
NYSE on Wall Street

Lady Liberty

Vacation - 2

2007-06-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos from Hershey, the sweetest place on earth! Details about the trip are here. I'm not much of a flower photographer, but I found the garden irresistable and here are my favorites from the trip.

Vacation - 1

2007-06-06T06:35:00.000-05:00

I had been out all last week on vacation, travelling around the country with family. You can read more about the trip here. I carried all my camera equipment including my tripod and had a ball. Here are some photos of the State Capitol in Harrisburg,PA. These pictures were taken in the evening time.

A view from the back

I love the colors the trees add to the picture. They add an interesting focal point to the photo.

And there were these lush green trees framing the dome on the other side.

My favorite photo from the set. The setting sun creates a wonderful feel. This was taken from the Walnut Street Bridge across the Susquehanna River. It is the oldest surviving bridge across the river and one of the remaining multi-span Phoenix truss bridges in the US. It is now used as a pedestrian walkway to City Island.

Next stop Hershey, PA - the sweetest place on Earth!

Watch tower at Desert View point - Grand Canyon

2007-05-24T05:41:00.000-05:00

A classic view of the watch tower at sunset. The exposure was created using digital blending technique.

Grand Canyon - 3

2007-05-20T21:29:00.000-05:00

This photo of the Grand Canyon presented yet another view of the awesome work of Mother Nature. The colors, the shadows cast by the clouds add the magnificience of the scene.

Grand Canyon - 2

2007-05-15T19:53:00.000-05:00

Another shot of the Grand Canyon from one of the numerous lookout points. I wanted to make the tree an interesting framing element for this picture. Take a look at the cloud formations, they are really interesting. I went low to capture this image so that the perspective of the tree is captured as such and not angled.

Grand Vistas, Grand Canyon

2007-05-09T05:32:00.000-05:00

A play of light and shadows along the Desert View Drive at the Grand Canyon. The Canyon offers a veritable feast of light play as the sun travels from dawn to dusk. I had been to the Grand Canyon last weekend and you can read about our trip here. This was taken with my 17-35mm lens on a tripod.

I'll try to post more pictures from this trip and my trip to High Island soon.

High Island Birds - 1

2007-05-01T05:54:00.000-05:00

As I had mentioned in my previous post, I made a trip to High Island Sunday morning. We woke up really early and were there by 6.30am. High Island is a prime destination for birders and bird photographers along the Gulf Coast. Especially in April and May, the rookery comes alive with the sounds of the newborn egrets and herons. It is a haven for nature lovers. Trekking the trails, birdwatching, photographing, identification of plant species there is something for everyone there.
For me, the best part of a trip to High Island is the presence of so many birds easily photographable from the many observation decks along the heron lake. These decks are ideal to set up my tripod. Once there on the observation deck, I am totally in an another world as my wife says. Do check out the pictures she took while I was in my own photography world.
The main challenge at High Island has always been isolating a bird or two from the crowd. Another issue that can create problems is the lighting. Sunday was a foggy morning but I was hoping it would be better as the sun came up. Unfortunately, when the fog cleared and the sun came up, it was directly behind the birds. Art Morris says always position yourself between the sun and the bird, and that was not possible here. So I had to do the best with what was available.
Seen below is the Reddish Egret. The reflection on the lake makes a good composition.
More photos coming up soon!

Birding trip coming up tomorrow!

2007-04-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I'm headed to High Island to do some birding and bird photography. High Island is a small village on the Texas coast across the Galveston Bay. It is famous for the egret rookery and for the huge numbers of migratory birds. I'll be sure to share some of my photos after I get back.

For now, here are a couple of photos from my last trip there, May 2004.

Noise reduction using Neat Image

2007-04-28T06:04:00.000-05:00

Noise/Grain is one of the distractions sometimes found in an otherwise excellent image. Grain comes from the film cameras where the development of slide film (especially fast film) leads to its formation. This also shows up in scanned images. In digital photography, though there are no grains to worry about, the electronics of the sensor causes noise especially when low levels of light are amplified by the sensor. This is more prominent when printing enlargements of the photo.
There are two really good tools that help photographers reduce the noise or grain. They are Noise Ninja and Neat Image.
Neat Image comes in two flavors, a stand-alone version and a plug-in for Photoshop. It is available for $30 or you can download a trial version with less features. I have been fiddling with the trial version and here is a demo.
I started with a scanned image of the state capitol of Texas at Austin. This is really not a great image but will serve the purpose for the demo. It was taken with my old N-70 camera and Nikkor 28mm lens. It was handled, just after the rains and shot on a Provia 100 film. This was later scanned as a tiff image at 4000 dpi using my Poloroid Sprintscan. As you can see the grain is very obvious even in this scaled down picture. It is even more obvious at full resolution.

After running it through Neat Image, this is what we get. Do click on the pictures to notice the difference.

To show a more detailed view of the difference look at the before and after pictures below.

Before:

After:

Obviously, the difference is striking in the detailed view. Whenever I plan to print a large photo which has noticeable noise, a quick run through Neat Image always does the trick and gives better results.

An important note:
Like any noise reduction algorithm Neat Image slightly softens the image. So an unsharp mask in Photoshop will quickly sharpen the photo again.

Tanjore series - The finale

2007-04-26T07:04:00.000-05:00

Early morning after the visit to the temple, we spent some time picnicing by the river. This is a tributary to the river Kaveri. What I tried to capture here is the idyllic village life, still surrounded by trees and a gentle stream flowing by.

Outside the palace and museum, these goats find a little snack!

A view of the Thanjavur palace from the Saraswathi mahal

The Art Gallery in Thanjavur

2007-04-24T04:38:00.000-05:00

The watch tower at Tanjore

Statue of Rajah Serfoji, a Maratha King. The Marathas ruled from Tanjore from 1777 to 1855 AD. Rajah Serfoji made big contributions to arts. He collected numerous manuscripts, paintings, books and articrafts for his library. These can be seen at the Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Saraswati Mahal Library.

The old stained glass window caught my eye, in need of repairs and a fresh lease on life!

More from Tanjore

2007-04-22T09:50:00.000-05:00

Another classic view of the temple. I like the the dramatic effect of the sky and the color of the temple stones. All these pictures were taken early in the morning around sun rise.

I love the peace and serenity of the Brihadeeswara Temple in the early morning hours before the tourists arrive. The grandeur and size of the temple make me feel humble and small before God. This group of devotees, chanting bhajaans and walking around the temple praharam caught my attention.

This is one of the numerous intricate scultpures on the temple walls. What makes this image, to me is the red flower on the lap of the Godess. It creates an interesting focal point that grabs your eye and pulls you into the image. As a photographer, that is one of the important things I look for in an image.

Divine light

2007-04-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

This is a more classical view of the Thanjavur Brihadeeswara Temple. Converted to black and white to give an old look.

Did you know that the temple is one of the Indian monuments on the UNESCO’s World Heritage list of historical sites and monuments?

And here is a bit of gossip about the temple, inspite of its grandeur and spectacular architecture, locals don't frequent the temple. Reason, Lord Brihadeeswara is considered not so powerful. Locals say that people who pray at the temple face some unexpected hurdles and problems. Interesting? The temple is filled with tourists and locals making merry. Devotees actually are very less. If you had been to the temple think back, did you go there on a pilgrimage or was it a tourist visit which ended up offering prayers to Lord Brihadeeswara. Do let us know about your trip to Thanjavur

More pictures from Thanjavur coming up!

Morning in Thanjavur

2007-04-19T05:46:00.000-05:00

Morning light bathing the gopurams of the Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur, India. The typical photos of this temple, showcase the gigantic main gopuram over the sanctum santorum. This was a different composition due to the light and the symmetry of the two gopurams.

Earth day Competition

2007-04-17T18:30:00.000-05:00

At our other blog we have started this environment awareness competition, please participate!

April 22nd is Earth Day intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment. The environment has been a source of inspiration for all of us. And currently V has been motivated by Mr.Blackburn to take a look at environmental law. The buzz words in the current US environmental law scenario being global warming, carbon dioxide emissions and sustainable development. But I know it and you know it, India has a long way to go in protecting its unique, diverse environment and it is the duty of every citizen to take small steps there.

And for the next week, our blog will discuss a lot of environmental issues, global and local. Special focus on issues pertaining to India and how we can go about doing the same.

And to get everybody thinking and spread awareness, we at Poohsden have decided to have a competition. Here are the details,

“What do you think needs to be done to get Indians more aware of their environment and how do we go about protecting it? What in your opinion will be the ideal law to get things moving in the right direction?”

You can post your views in your blog and email a link to poohsden@gmail.com.

The winner will be decided by a poll starting from April 23rd. The winner gets to choose a 16x20 enlarged, mounted photo by R (from his blog), shipped anywhere in the US or India. We can work out something for people from other countries.

It would be great if you can spread word around, might be a link in your blog. All entries will be posted on the poohsden.

Do you bit, for a greener, cleaner earth for the future generations

Snowy Egret at Dawn

2007-04-15T18:19:00.000-05:00

Snowy Egret in Galveston early one morning near Pier 20. Taken with my 80-200mm lens - Yes it was close enough! Notice the little fish caught in its beak?

Towering High

2007-04-11T05:14:00.000-05:00

The West Gopuram at the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple. This was taken handheld with my 17-35mm lens early in the morning. The level of detail captured in this picture is amazing.

Colonial India

2007-04-04T05:33:00.000-05:00

The famous Victoria Memorial in Kolkotta, India. It was built in the early 1900's. Taken in the evening hours using my 17-35mm lens. An interesting titbit - The sculpture of the angel at the top is a replica of the one at Buckingham Palace.

A blast from the past

2007-04-03T05:34:00.000-05:00

This is a photo from the good old film days, shot using my N90s and Velvia film. Trekking around the Smoky Mountains, we came across this antique car abandoned in a field. There was a fence and a few trees that made composition a tough proposition but I was able to get a clear picture from this angle.

Fields of Blue

2007-03-30T05:35:00.000-05:00

March-April is Bluebonnet season here in Texas. Infact, Bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas. This photo was taken a few years ago around the Brenham area. The fence and the road are the main compositional elements in this image, leading you into the photo.

Houston Downtown

2007-03-28T07:13:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting photo. Seasoned photographers would instantly recognize this as a composite. Since this was taken early in the morning, there wasn’t enough light to expose the foreground and the background both correctly. While old film shooters have to fiddle with a graduated neutral density filter, I took two shots with my digital camera-one properly exposing the foreground and the other the background. I then combined the two in Photoshop to get this pleasing exposure.

Reflections in Germany

2007-03-26T07:07:00.000-05:00

The lil angel

2007-03-22T20:02:00.000-05:00

Snowy Egret - Galveston TX

2007-03-14T19:17:00.000-05:00

One of my first photos with the D70. This snowy egret was photographed early one overcast morning at Galveston. Out of the many photos from this trip, this one is my favorite for the action - The spread wings of the egret and the way the light comes through it.

Taken from my car window using my Sigma 400 5.6 lens, supported on a beanbag. A car makes an excellent hide while trying to capture skittish birds.

Sailing into photography!!

2007-03-14T19:06:00.000-05:00

Lets get this blog started with a photo from a year ago. Taken during our cruise on the Norwegian Dream. This was taken from the shore at Cozumel, Mexico as we returned to board our ship.