Digitally Exposed

First Impressions: Olympus E-P2

2011-09-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Olympus E-P2 with the 14-42 lens.

Holding a micro-third camera in my hand feels very strange. Owning a camera from Olympus or Panasonic (the 2 manufacturers who make the 4/3rd cameras) was never in my agenda. Last year when Sony announced their NEX cameras, I thought I had found my perfect travel camera, and almost purchased it. However, after reading couple of expert reviews, I decided against it.

My recent trekking trip to Kashmir made me realize that I really need a more compact camera. One that is small enough to carry - but does not compromise on quality.

My back and shoulders demanded a smaller and lighter camera - especially after carrying a 8 kg load for 7 days straight. A bit of research indicated that the micro 4/3 format has evolved and matured to a point, that investing in this format felt like a sound idea. I was further goaded into this purchase when Olympus suddenly dropped their price for the E-P2 from a lofty $899 to tantalizing $499. The reason for the price drop was the introduction of a newer model E-P3.

For my particular needs (a small backup camera), the E-P2 felt just right. My only concern before I hit the "Add to Cart" button was the one negative comment that was mentioned by most review sites - its slow focusing speed. (Micro 4/3rd cameras use a slower contrast detection system as opposed to the fast "phase detection" system used on traditional dSLR cameras). For $499, it seemed like a reasonable compromise so I went ahead and purchased it.

Sleek Retro look.

The camera looks slick with lots of buttons, and has a solid feel (thanks to the all-metal construction of the body). Compared to my D300, it looks like a tiny toy, and can easily be mistaken for a point & shoot camera.

My initial impression regarding the focusing speed is that it is pretty good. I read that Olympus released a firmware update to improve the focusing speed on the E-P2, and perhaps my copy has the latest firmware.

But what really made me buy the camera is this tiny $38 accessory.

Fotodiox Lens Mount Adapter, Nikon G-type lens to MFT Micro 4/3

The Fotodiox lens mount allows me to attach all my Nikon lenses to the Olympus E-P2, essentially making the Olympus a Nikon camera!. I do lose the ability to auto-focus, but as I am very comfortable with manual focusing, this makes the camera a very versatile tool.

Olympus E-P2 with the Nikkor 50mm f1.4

I suddenly find my 50mm f1.4 converted to a very useful portrait lens. The micro 4/3rd format have a smaller sensor size, and lenses mounted on the camera gives an effective focal length that is 2 times the stated focal length. In essence, the 50mm is now 100mm on the E-P2, which is the ideal focal length for portrait shots.

How about my monstrous 80-400mm lens? No problem.

Nikkor 80-400mm mounted on the E-P2.

The camera seems tiny when mounted on such a big lens.

The effective focal length here is 160mm to 800mm. Spying just got easier. Or perhaps I will use it for more mundane tasks such as better shots of the moon.

I haven't really got time to experiment with the camera. I will do that over the next few days and post a proper hands-on review of the camera with the different lenses.

Most importantly, I am waiting for the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake lens that is currently on its way to me. Once I get hold of that lens, I will really get to explore the potential of this camera.

Explore Karnataka: Hampi

2011-08-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Virupaksha Temple, Hampi

The historic city of Hampi is about 8 hours drive from Goa. My brother suggested that I would enjoy visiting the place, since I love photography. He even volunteered to drive me and my family to Hampi, and back.

I had never been to the place before, and did not know much about it. A quick Google search suggested that one should allocate at least 2 to 3 days to really explore the place. Unfortunately, we did not have that many days left in our schedule, so we decided to do a quick 1 day tour. One thing that worked in our favor is that most of the important places now have road access, so we could easily drive to different parts of the huge 26-square kilometer city.

We reached early in the morning and located a tourist guide. The guide traveled with us in the car explaining the history of the place - and the various places of interest.

Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagar empire that ruled South India from 1336 AD - 1565 AD. History of Hampi can be found here.

The first place we visited was the Vithala temple. Vithala temple was the epicenter of City. Even after centuries of being neglected, it still manages to show off its architectural marvels for the visitor.

Entrance of Vithala Temple, Hampi.

The first thing that a visitor encounters upon entering the temple is the giant stone chariot that has become the iconic image of Hampi. The stone chariot originally had carved horses in front, but they were damaged and were subsequently replaced by stone carved elephants.

Vitthala Temple Interior.

Stone Chariot at Vithala Temple, Hampi.

Intricate designs on the stone wheel.

The temple has various open halls that were dedicated for different activities. The main hall is called the musical hall, due to the fact that its pillars are designed in such a way that each pillar emits a different musical note when hit.

Carved stone pillars that emit different musical notes.

Close-up of musical pillar.

The other halls are equally impressive with their giant monolithic structures carved out of granite, and topped with intricate brick designs. While the granite structures will remain for a very long time, it is apparent that the brick carvings are crumbling and will need very delicate maintenance to keep them intact for future generations.

Prayer hall, Vithala Temple.

Brick carvings on the Temple roof. Crumbling away.

Outside of the temple, are the ruins of market place and other attractions. A large structure that used to be a giant weighing scale, and made of granite rock still stands intact. Legend has it that every year, the King of Viyanagar used to sit on one scale, and fill the other scale with gold and other precious ornaments. These would then be distributed to the poor.

Weighing Scale outside Vithala Temple.

The Vithala temple lies close to the Tungabara river. The river was the source for all the water needs of the city. The river now is just a shadow of its former self - as the water is now contained upstream by the Tungabara dam. Only the controlled water released by the dam flows through the river. The remnants of the bridge foundation, made from granite pillars, is still clearly visible.

Tungabara bridge.

A small temple by the riverside.

The next temple we visited was the Ram temple. The temple is located high up on the hill and provides a panoramic view of what used to be the city of Hampi.

Panoramic view of Hampi from Ram Temple

Our next visit was to a place called the Queens Bath. The place was used by the Queen for her daily bath and has a complex aqueduct system that feeds water from the Tungabara river to the pool, and the surrounding gardens.

Queens bath - now dry.

Hallway around the Queens bath.

If there is a Queens bath, then it goes without saying that somewhere nearby has to be Kings bath - and it has to be bigger than the Queens bath.

Kings Bath.

The Kings bath (located in the Royal Center) is about 60 meters in length - longer than the official size of Olympic swimming pool. Like the Queens bath, the place is dry, but one can see the aqueduct system that used to feed water into these pools.

Aqueduct system at Royal Center.

Close-up of Aqueduct System.

The Royal center also has a stepped well, that is still intact to this day.

Stepped Well.

Close to the Royal center is the Hazara Rama Temple. The temple was used by the King, and its distinct feature is the stories of Ramayana etched on the stone walls.

Walls of Hazara Rama Temple.

Interior - Hazara Rama Temple

Ramayana depicted on the walls of the temple.

Outer walls of the Temple

The entire wall of the temple is sculpted.

Wide-angle view of Hazara Rama temple.

A short walking distance from the temple is the Lotus Mahal, the summer residence of the queen of Vijayanagar. The place is ingenuously designed with water system that kept the place cool during the summer heat.

Lotus Mahal

Close-up of Lotus Mahal.

Interior of Lotus Mahal.

Another short walk from Lotus Mahal is the royal Elephant stable and a museum. The stable housed the Elephants used by royals.

Royal Elephant Stable

We next drove to another place that has a large monolithic statue of Lord Narasimhadeva. This place is visited by many devotees.

Lord Narasimhadeva

Next up, was the Krishna Temple. This temple looks similar to the Vithala temple, in terms of style and architechture.

Krishna Temple.

Interior - Krishna Temple

A large container, carved from granite.

Our final visit was to the main Hampi bazaar, and the Virupaksha Temple, that has come to symbolize the city of Hampi. This is the only temple that is still used for religious services.

Hampi Town and Virupaksha Temple.

Interior - Virupaksha Temple

A musician blowing his trumpet inside the temple.

Outside the temple, the Hampi Bazaar used to be a vibrant place. Unfortunately for us, just 2 weeks before our arrival in Hampi, the local administration destroyed most of the market place as the constructions were illegal. The bulldozers were still in action clearing the place up - and most of the people who used to work and live here, were left homeless.

Clearing up the illegal Hampi Bazaar.

It was getting late in the evening. We decided to climb up the nearby Matanga hill to view the sunset. It was a steep climb, but we were rewarded with a panoramic view of Hampi Town.

View of Hampi Town from Matanga Hill.

And with that, our trip to Hampi was over. There were a few more places we wanted to see, but we ran out of time.

Perhaps another time.

Explore Kashmir: Srinagar

2011-08-20T00:11:00.000-07:00

Panoramic view of Srinagar

After we completed our trekking trip in Kashmir, we had a few days left to spend in Srinagar, before returning back to Goa.

Aside from relaxing in a houseboat on the Dal Lake, we also took this time to explore some of the interesting places in Srinagar. Srinagar is famous for its Mughal gardens. These gardens were built by the Mughal kings, who used to travel here during summer, to escape the hot weather of Delhi.

The first garden we visited was the Shalimar Garden. This was the summer residence of Emperor Jehangir.

Shalimar Garden

Fountains in Shalimar Garden.

All of the Mughal gardens that we visited (including the Shalimar Garden) have one common design. Spring water is trapped a little high up on the mountain side, and then released through a series of slowly descending terraces. Water is released through pipes at each level, and the opening in the pipes creates natural water fountains. It is really an ingenious architectural marvel.

Wide-angle view of Shalimar Fountains.

Sadly, due to unstable security situation in the region, and the resulting lack of tourists, these gardens are not really well maintained.

Damaged pipes that create the natural fountains at Shalimar.

Even without proper maintenance, the garden still has a wide variety of flowers growing.

Flowers in Shalimar Garden

More flowers

Another beautiful flower.

One thing about Srinagar at this time of the year (June-July) is that it is full of greenery. Flowers grow everywhere, even on the road side.

Wild flowers growing on the road side.

Close-up of wild flowers.

The cool and lush weather is also conducive to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, especially apples. It seems like every house has an apple orchard.

A type of Kashmiri Apple

An apple about to ripen.

A random image I shot in the garden.

Another famous garden that we visited is the Chashme Shahi. This garden is a bit high up in the mountains and is named after the source of its spring. The water from the spring here is supposed to be full of healthy minerals. We were told that the water from this spring used to be shipped everyday to Jawaharlal Nehru, when he was the Prime Minister of India. Not sure how far that story is true.

Chashme Shahi garden, in the shadows of the Himalayan mountains.

Very close to the Chashme Shahi garden is Pari Mahal. Once a Buddhist monastery, it was later on converted to a school for astrology, by the Mughals. Pari Mahal provides a panoramic view of Dal Lake, and is a beautiful place to just sit and relax.

Pari Mahal.

View of Golf Course and the Dal Lake - from Pari Mahal.

The 3rd royal garden we visited was the Nishat Garden. Like the other gardens, it uses the same concept of terraces to create natural water fountains.

Nishat Garden

Our final visit was to Shankaracharya Temple. This temple sits on top of the mountain overlooking the whole of Srinagar (about1000 meters above Dal Lake). Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed inside the temple. On the way down, I saw a small opening in the forest that allowed me to take some nice panoramic shots of Dal Lake.

Sikharas and house boats in the calm Dal Lake.

A 3-shot panorama that you can zoom into.

Conclusion: If you want to escape the summer, there is no better place than Srinagar. I only hope that the security situation in the region improves soon - so that more people get to visit and enjoy this place.

Explore Kashmir: Dal Lake.

2011-08-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

The idyllic Dal Lake, Srinagar.

Our trip to Kashmir was primarily about our Trekking tour. When I was planning the trip, I was not sure how long the trek would last, so I had left ample room by booking some extra days in Srinagar. When our trek ended, we still had 3 more days to spend in Srinagar, before our return flight back to Goa. We decided to use these days to explore Srinagar a bit more.

You can't explore Srinagar without exploring Dal Lake. The whole city is built around the lake, and it is an integral part of Srinagar. It houses thousands of houseboats dotted around the lake. We decided to spend 2 nights in one of the houseboat, in order to unwind after our hard week in the mountains.

Baktoo Group, the company that organized our trek, also happens to own a couple of houseboats in the Nagin lake (which is sometimes referred as a separate lake, but is actually part of Dal Lake). We were invited to spend the 2 nights with them.

Our houseboat on Nagin Lake.

The houseboat is like a deluxe hotel with all the modern amenities (including a refrigerator filled with ice cold beer). We were given the deluxe room and left to our devices to relax and explore Dal lake.

The best (and perhaps the only way) to explore Dal Lake is by a small boat called a Sikhara. One hour ride in a Sikhara costs Rs. 400/- (about $10).

Sikhara Boat, Dal Lake.

Sitting inside the Sikhara, you can watch life pass you by, as you slowly travel on the still waters.

Dal Lake, overgrown with weeds.

The first thing you notice about Dal lake is the weeds. They have literally taken over the lake. I would be very scared to fall overboard here.

The government is doing everything it can to clear the lake of the weeds. It pays local people by the hour, to remove the weed out of the water, and keep the lake clean. Special machinery is also deployed to remove the weeds.

A local Kashmiri, removing the weed from the lake.

The lake is dotted with small islands that you can visit with the Sikhara.

An island on Dal Lake.

A fisherman on Dal Lake.

Houseboats lining up Dal Lake.

Since all the houseboats (and the tourists) live on water, it makes sense that the best way to do business on Dal lake is by boats. Everything from vegetables, flowers, arts and crafts comes to the houseboats on small boats.

The owner of our houseboat told me about this early morning vegetable market that is a must-see for a photographer. Only problem is.. I had to get up at 4:30 in the morning. I set my alarm at 4:15 a.m. and got myself ready.

Exactly at 4:30, the Sikhara driver came up to my room and we set off. It was totally dark, and I was very sleepy. I was wondering what kind of photographs I can take in total darkness.

After about 1 hour of riding in the Sikhara, we reached our destination. It was a cacophony of vendors on boats, bartering or selling/buying goods from their boats.

Early morning bartering at the Vegetable Market, Dal Lake.

It was still dark. For reasons that I cannot remember (perhaps I was too sleepy), I forgot to carry my tripod along with me. Shooting hand-held was out of the question due to lack of light. I managed to find a reasonably sturdy wall on which I placed the camera to get some decent shots.

As the dawn slowly made its way on the horizon, the light levels allowed me to shoot at a reasonably fast shutter speed to capture the essence of the Dal lake vegetable market.

Bartering in full-swing.

Some heavy discussions going on here.

Vendors heading off to sell their goods.

As each vendor filled his boat, he would head off into the lake - to sell his goods in the various houseboats. The market slowly started becoming empty as the sun rose on the horizon, and I decided to head back to the houseboat.

The Vegetable market slowly becoming empty.

As we headed back towards the houseboat, I could now see the route the Sikhara had taken in the total darkness. The lake here is almost completely filled with Lotus leaves. Only a small path exists for the boats to go through.

Paddling through the Lotus fields.

A family fishing in the early dawn.

Indian Lotus Flower in Dal Lake.

The lake is home to many different birds. If I was not sleepy and the Sikhara was not swaying so much, I would have spent more time on the lake trying to capture the different birds. I did manage to capture a few.

Kingfisher.

Needs to be identified.

Duck

A duck with its baby.

I finally reached our houseboat. The vendors who I had seen earlier in the morning were now hawking their wares at different houseboats.

A flower vendor.

The rest of our time on Dal lake was spent relaxing and unwinding - and finishing most of the beer in the refrigerator.

Trekking in Kashmir: Wrap-Up

2011-08-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

Gangbal Lake, Kashmir.

When I first traveled to Srinagar in July for our Trekking trip, I really had no idea what to expect. I had done all the ticket and hotel booking up to Srinagar and back. But what exactly would happen in Srinagar was a big mystery. My brother has friends in Kashmir, and he assured me that they would take care of the actual trek.

Ticket and hotel bookings were done using the online portal MakeMyTrip. A really excellent website for planning air travel and hotel bookings. Most of the air travel was done using IndiGo, but for some of the sectors, we used GoAir. Even though both the airlines are classified as "low-cost", they are both excellent and highly recommended.

Originally, our trekking party was 5 people (Myself, My son Shawn, My Brother Roy, and 2 of his friends). However, at the last minute, the friends had to drop out due to other commitments, which left just the 3 of us to do the trekking.

Roy's friends came through - and arranged for us a really fantastic 7 day trek, along with a great deal on the entire package. You can read about the details of the cost and track route here.

Here's the summary of the 7 days, as we traveled through the Himalayan mountain range starting from Naranag and ending at Sonamarg.

Day	Start Point	Destination	Distance	Difficulty	Blog Entry
1	Naranag	Trunkol	12k	Hard	Click to read
2	Trunkol	Gangbal	5k	Easy	Click to read
3	Gangbal	Gadsar	19k	Very Hard	Click to read
4	Gadsar	-	0k	-	Click to read
5	Gadsar	Vishnasar	16k	Very Hard	Click to read
6	Vishnasar	Shokhdari	19k	Hard	Click to read
7	Shokhdari	Sonamarg	5k	Easy	Click to read

As for the essential list of items to be carried for a trip such as this, my recommendations are as follows:

*Note: This assumes that you have booked a proper trekking tour, and the tent, sleeping bags, blankets and food will be taken care of by the tour operator*

1. TREKKING SHOES:
A good pair of trekking shoes is essential. The local Kashmiri people may be able to scale big mountains using simple plastic shoes, but we can't. We need all the help we can get - and a good pair of trekking shoes does exactly that. Protects you from slipping while ascending on descending on slippery trails.

"North Face" brand of trekking shoes.

I used the "North Face" trekking shoes. It does not really matter what brand you use - as long you find them comfortable, and they are specifically designed for trekking.

How do you know if the shoes are designed for trekking?. Well, they have special grooves on the soles to give proper grip while climbing or descending. Look at the sole of the shoe, and see if they have patterns as shown below.

Grooves on Trekking shoes.

As you can see, trekking shoes have special grooves. The grooves on the toes is the grip for climbing, and the grooves on the heels is the grip while descending.

2. WALKING STICKS:
Invest in a good pair of walking sticks. They are very useful to keep your balance on slippery trails.

Walking Sticks.

3. CAMERA:
This is a bit tricky. If you want the best pictures, you should obviously take the best camera you can afford. The only problem is the best cameras tend to be heavy - especially if you are are lugging a dSLR with different lenses.

Nikon D300

For example, I carried with me my Nikon D300 along with 2 very heavy lenses, plus batteries, filters, etc. The camera bag itself weighed around 8 Kg. This may not be a problem when trekking short distances, but when you are walking non-stop for 8 to 10 hours, those 8 Kilos end up being a heavy burden on your shoulders.

My suggestion is to carry something small - yet gives good pictures (because you will take lots of them). Perhaps one of those 4/3rd systems like the Panasonic GF3 or NEX-5 from Sony. Even a point and shoot camera will be fine because most of the pictures will be taken in daylight.

4. BACKPACK:
Since the backpack will be carried by the support team, the quality of the backpack is not that important. You should get a bag that is easy to organize your clothes, medicines, etc.

65-liter backpack (North Face)

I used a 65-liter backpack from North Face, which was just ideal to pack all the items required for the trek.

4. WHAT GOES IN THE BAG?
The following is a list of things I packed for our trek, based on the suggestion given to me by one of my experienced trekking friend. I found the list to be comprehensive.

CLOTHES	TOILETRY	MEDICINE	MISC
5 pair socks	Toilet Paper	Personal meds	Knee support
5 undies	Toothbrush + Paste	Painkillers (lots)	Sunscreen
4 t-shirts	Hair brush	Eye/Ear/Nose drops	Sun glasses
1 long-sleeved shirt	Shaving Kit	Plasters	Torch
1 jumper	Ear Buds	Tablets for Diarrhea	Washing Soap
1 jacket	Small Towel	Bandages	Pocket Knife
2 shorts	Soap	Antibiotics	Lighter
1 rain poncho	Lipstick (yes lipstick)	Electrolytes	Passport, Tickets
1 woolen cap		Vaseline	Water bottle
1 pair gloves			Chocolates
1 warm paint			Energy bars

That's about it. I encourage people to experience the beauty of Kashmir. You need to put in the effort of walking, because that's the only way you can reach these remote places. But the reward is a view of Heaven on Earth.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 7

2011-08-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Shokhdari (Table Top), near Sonamarg.

To read about our Day 6 adventures, click here.

On the 7th and last day of our trek, we relaxed in Shokhdari, before heading out to Sonamarg to be picked up by our car - for the drive back to Srinagar.

I went near the edge of Shokhdari, which provides a panoramic view of Sonamarg. The morning was misty and cloudy and I couldn't get any good pictures of Sonamarg from this vantage point.

View of Sonamarg as seen from Shokhdari.

Ever since we started our trek, this was the first morning where I was not greeted by blue skies and puffy clouds. Pictures that look like postcards was not going to happen today.

Sonamarg Mountain range covered in dark clouds.

The imposing Sonamarg mountain range peeping through the morning clouds.

Strangely enough, when I looked towards the north (the mountains which we had scaled the earlier days), the sky was the familiar blue with white clouds. I felt like heading back towards the mountains.

View from Shokhdari - North.

Shokhdari Forest.

We eventually packed our bags and started our trek towards Sonamarg. I estimated that it would take us around 2 hours to reach our destination. After 7 days in the mountains, I had become pretty good at estimating time required to ascend or descend a mountain!.

Getting ready to start the final leg of the trek.

Heading down towards a misty Sonamarg.

The weather up in the mountains looks its usual brilliant self.

The going downhill was very easy, but we still took frequent breaks to enjoy what would be our last day in the mountains.

Relaxing on the way down from Shokhdari to Sonamarg.

An elderly shepherd passing by.

Just as I had estimated, we reached Sonamarg after about 2 hours of trekking.

Sonamarg.

Sonamarg is a busy little place at this time of the year. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims flock to this town to start their pilgrimage to the Amarnath Temple - a holy place for Hindus.

Waiting for our car at Sonamarg. My brother seems sad to have left the mountains.

As we waited for our car to arrive at the pick-up point, we could not help but look back at the mountains that we had scaled over the last 1 week, the hardships we had gone through, and the tiredness we were feeling right now.

But there was no doubt in my mind that we would be soon visiting these magnificent mountains in the very near future.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 6

2011-08-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

Early morning at Vishnasar Lake

To read about our Day 5 adventures, click here.

Day 6 of our Kashmir trek can be best described as "The day of Shawn". This was the first time Shawn completed the entire trek without using his horse. A solid 8 hours of continuous trekking.

I had slept like a log the previous night - no doubt helped by the Rum that I had taken before dinner. When I got up in the morning, it was yet another beautiful Kashmir morning. Clear blue skies and puffy while clouds. I walked up to Vishinsar lake to take some early morning pictures. The water of the lake was very still, reflecting the mountains and making it look as if the lake has disappeared.

View of Krishnasar pass from Vishnasar lake.

From here, I could see the Krishnasar pass, that we had crossed the previous day. The mountain looks imposing from this distance.

Enjoying the early morning serene beauty of Vishnasar lake.

There were a smattering of trekkers camped at Vishnasar. I later learned that most trekkers prefer to trek from Sonamarg (our final destination) to Vishnasar and then return back to Sonamarg. This makes for a much easier trek than the one we undertook, and avoids the steep mountains that we had to climb and descend.

Vishnasar is a beautiful place to unwind and relax. I felt we could have easily spent a full day here - enjoying the 2 lakes. However, it was time to pack our bags and move on.

The beautiful Vishnasar Valley.

View from Vishnasar - North

View from Vishnasar - North East.

View from Vishnasar - East

We started off fairly early at 8:30 AM. Our destination was a place called Shokhdari (also called Table Top). Muzafar (our guide) assured us that we could finish the trek in around 4 hours but it took us just around 8 hours to complete the trek. Later on, Muzafar confided to my brother that he knew it would take us around 8 hours - but if we knew the trek was so long, we might have told him that we don't want to do it. He was right. We were tired from the previous days trek, and if we knew we had to cover a similar distance today, we would have surely insisted that we take a break at Vishnasar.

View of Vishnasar valley - heading towards Shokhdari.

Another beautiful view of Vishnasar valley.

Like the previous day, we set off with just some water, raincoats and chocolates, while the support team would pack everything and catch up with us.

Taking a break.

We took frequent breaks, as we started the gradual ascent up to Nichnai pass. This pass is not imposing as the ones we had scaled on Day 3 and Day 5. Shawn felt he could climb the pass without the use of his horse, so when our support team reached us, we told them to go on ahead and wait for us at the top of the pass.

Heading towards Nichnai pass

View of Vishnasar valley.

We finally reached Nichnai pass. Though it is not as high as Krishnasar and Zagibal pass, it was still a tough one to ascend and we needed frequent breaks before reaching the top.

At the top of Nichnai pass.

Shawn celebrating his achievement of ascending Nichnai pass.

The rest of the way was downhill or straight route. We thought we should spent some time relaxing at Nichnai pass, but Muzafar recommended that we get off the pass as quickly as possible as the clouds were turning dark, and it looked like rains will hit us any minute.

The climb down was pretty easy. More like a walk in the park when compared to the descent at Krishnasar pass.

Descent down Nichnai pass.

Nichnai Valley.

Fast flowing river in Nichnai Valley. ND filters used to slow down shutter speed.

As we reached the bottom of Nichnai pass, the clouds had turned really dark, and it started raining on and off. The problem with this is: When it was raining, we would put on the jacket to keep ourselves warm. But the moment the rains disappeared, we would start feeling hot. We were putting on our jackets and removing them every 10 minutes!.

The rains brought with it another problem. The trail had become wet and slippery. Even though we were walking a straight path, most of the trail is strewn with rocks which had now become slippery. Navigating these rocks was becoming a night mare.

The long road towards Shokdari.

The rocky trail is slippery after the rains.

It is at this stage that Shawn started getting really tired and must have regretted his decision to send the support team (along with his horse) ahead to Shokdari to setup the tent. Now he had no choice but to continue trekking with us. But one thing about Shawn is that once he decides to do something, he will do it - regardless of the hardships. Today, he had decided he would complete the whole trek, and he was determined he would do it.

Finally, after 8 hours of really tough trekking, we reached Shokhdari.

Shokhdari - overlooking Sonamarg.

Sonamarg mountain range.

Shokhdari is a small shepherd village that overlooks Sonamarg. After being in total wilderness for more than 6 days, we could see signs of civilization down in the valley. We were still not yet in the civilization, but the radio signals of the mobile phones reaches here - which means we could finally make the much awaited phone calls to our families who were completely out of touch with us for the past 6 days (we had lost the signal the moment we climbed Naranag mountain).

Our phone batteries were dead, but the local shepherds have moved along with the times and all carry mobiles. We borrowed a mobile from one of the shepherd and quickly made our calls letting our family know we are safe and sound.

That night, we slept like logs. W knew the trek was over. Only a short descent to Sonamarg awaited us the next day, but essentially, this was the end of the road.

You can read about our Day 7 by clicking here.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 5

2011-08-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Gadsar-Vishnasar Trek.

After a long and well deserved rest at Gadsar on Day 4, we mentally prepared ourselves for another long and hard trek on Day 5. As we did not want to get into the same sticky situation that we faced on Day 3 (i.e. not reaching our destination before sunset), we decided to start our trek early. It would later prove to be a very wise decision - though for a different reason.

We had our breakfast at 6:00 AM, and were ready to start off by 7:00 AM. It was a bright and beautiful morning. We packed only the raincoats, water and some chocolates and set off. The support team would pack everything and catch up with us. Those guys are really amazing. They make trekking look so effortless - and they don't have any fancy trekking gear.

Shawn has done more than 4 hours of trekking on Day 3, and we encouraged him to start off with us today - instead of using his horse.

After more than 2 hours of steady walking, we reached Gadsar lake. It's a small and peaceful looking lake with some frozen glaciers still floating in the water. We stopped for a short rest. The support team had not yet caught up with us, but we decided to push on, as we knew that they would catch up with us before long.

Gadsar Lake.

Frozen pieces of glacier floating in Gadsar lake.

View of Gadsar valley.

Pretty flowers in Gadsar valley.

After about 3 hours, the rest of the support team caught up with us and we continued on the easy trek for another one hour. So far, we had not seen any wildlife during our trek, so I was pleasantly surprised to finally come face to face with the Himalayan Marmot. I told everyone to stand still, while I quietly changed my lens from the wide angle 17-55mm to a more usable 80-400mm.

Himalayan Marmot.

The Gadsar valley is a truly beautiful place and the straight path meant that we could enjoy the surrounding scenery instead of worrying about ascending or descending huge mountains.

The peaceful Gadsar Valley.

Mountain range to the west of Gadsar Valley.

Mountain range to the East of Gadsar valley.

A picture-perfect postcard morning in Gadsar.

Since we had started off early, we took frequent breaks to just relax and enjoy the mountains and the glaciers.

My brother Roy sitting and enjoying the glacier filled mountains.

Roy and Shawn discussing the finer points of trekking.

Finally after 4 hours of trekking, we took our first proper break to have a quick lunch before starting with the difficult part of the trek - a steep ascent up Krishnasar pass. Shawn had become tired by now, and did not want to continue with the ascent on foot, so he hopped on his horse.

Lunch break, before starting ascent up Krishnasar pass.

Shawn decides to use the horse for the ascent up Krishnasar pass.

The Krishnasar pass looks deceptively small from this distance, but as we approached closer, we realized that we were in for a very hard climb.

Climbing up Krishnasar pass.

It's really amazing how fast the horses and the support team moves. They were already half-way up the mountain (those small specks is our team) while Roy & I were huffing and puffing trying to catch up. And we thought we were in good shape!.

After more than 2 hours of climbing, we finally reached the top of Krishnasar pass.

At the top of Krishnasar pass.

Krishnasar pass is 4100 meters above sea-level (about the same as Zagibal pass that we crossed on Day 3). The scenery from up here is just spectacular. We could clearly see the 2 famous lakes - Krishnasar and Vishnasar (named after the 2 Hindu Gods Krishna and Vishnu).

View of Vishnasar and Krishnasar lake from Krishnasar pass.

Taking a break on top of Krishnasar pass.

All we had to do now was climb down the pass and set our tent near Vishnasar lake (the one that is further away in the picture). There was a small problem though. Roy is afraid of heights, and the path down looked like it was a straight 90 degree drop. Roy's first reaction was "I can't do this", and he indicated as much to our guide, and suggested that we turn back and return to Naranag. Of course, that was not practical, as it would take us another 4 to 5 days to retrace our steps back to Naranag - while we could reach destination (Sonamarg) in only 2 days if we continued on our current route.

We finally convinced Roy that we could do it, and we started on the delicate job of descending the very scary Krishnasar mountain. Surprisingly, Shawn got off his horse and joined us in the descent and he was very comfortable climbing down. As for me, I packed my camera gear and did not take a single picture till we were safely down in the valley.

Starting the steep descent to Krishnasar lake.

At the bottom - near Krishnasar lake.

We finally reached the valley near Krishnasar lake, and proceeded to the nearby Vishnasar lake. As we reached our destination, it started raining heavily and this is where our decision to start early proved to be a wise decision. If the rain had caught us while descending the Krishnasar pass, we would have been in a very dangerous situation as the rain makes the trail slippery and wet.

Our destination for Day 5 - Vishnasar lake.

The rain was coming down hard and fast as we reached our tent. We were cold and shivering. Shawn and I just crashed into our warm and welcoming sleeping bags. I felt proud that Shawn did about 6.5 hours of solid trekking today (he used the horse only for the ascent up Krishnasar pass).

Roy, ever the avid angler, took his fishing rod and went trout fishing in the cold and miserable rain. This time, he caught a whole bunch of them which made for a delicious dinner, but I was too tired and cold to bother taking any pictures now. I had some Rum in my bag. I gulped down some of it and went into a deep sleep.

I vaguely remember getting up later in the night to eat dinner but don't remember what I ate. I am sure there was some fresh trout in there.

You can read about our Day 6 by clicking here.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 4

2011-08-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

A wet and cloudy morning in Gadsar.

After a hard and long trek on Day 3, we woke up to a cold, wet and cloudy morning in the valley of Gadsar. It had rained most of the night and we were shivering in our tents.

Our original plan was to do a short trek to Gadsar lake (around 2-3 hours trek from the valley), but our support team advised us that it would be better to stay put in Gadsar for the whole day - instead of venturing into the wet and slippery trail.

I liked the idea of a full day of rest. My bones were aching from the long trek the previous day, and looked forward to a day of lazing around the valley.

Shepherd houses in Gadsar valley.

Gadsar is home to many shepherds and their families. The houses are built using nearby stones and are small and cozy. We quickly became friends with the families living nearby, and they invited us into their house for tea. The children, initially shy, quickly warmed up to us - especially after we shared some biscuits and chocolates with them.

The children of Gadsar.

The early morning clouds were quickly dissipating, and the place was looking like a postcard that you see in the travel brochures.

Gadsar Valley. View of North.

Gadsar Valley. View of East.

I took the opportunity of a sunny day to wash our clothes in the nearby stream, and then headed off into the valley for a relaxing stroll.

After a short walk towards north, I noticed a fresh water stream gushing out from the mountain. Till now, we had been drinking fresh water directly from the stream (after boiling it), but I had never seen the original source of the water. When you drink water from a stream, there is always a chance of some contaminants, but water from the source should be pure and full of minerals. Most importantly, it should be safe to drink without boiling.

A fresh stream with the source at the side of the mountain.

I decided to climb to the source of the stream. It was a short but steep climb. The water was icy cold but it was the most delicious water I have ever tasted. I filled the water bottle to the brim to drink later.

Source of stream.

Fresh and tasty Himalayan mineral water.

A little further up north is a frozen glacier that covers the fast flowing river, and the water goes under the glacier. It was strange to see glaciers right down in the valley.

Frozen glacier at the bottom of Gadsar valley.

The glacier is almost black from all the mud and contaminants as people use the glacier as a bridge to cross the river. My brother and Shawn decided to gingerly test how well the glacier holds as they cross it.

Roy and Shawn walking on the frozen glacier.

We went back to our tent for a hot lunch and some more lazing around in the tent. Nearby, the soldiers at the military check post were playing cricket. If I was good at cricket, I would have surely joined them.

Military check-post at Gadsar valley.

Sheep, and lots of them at Gadsar valley.

We suddenly felt the urge to eat some fresh mutton - probably as a reflex reaction to seeing so many sheep grazing around. Our guide Muzafar assured us that he can score some fresh mutton from a shepherd who lives up on a hill and sells fresh meat. We bought a huge quantity of mutton and shared it with the military outpost. The soldiers thanked us profusely for the kind gesture.

We again visited the shepherd family to sit with them, and observe how they create strong ropes using the long hairs of goats.

Shepherd family enjoying the warm sunny day and making ropes from sheep hair.

Close-up of how a rope is made.

The day was drawing to a close. As I still had some reasonable amount of battery power left in my camera, I decided to do a time-lapse photography to show the dramatic clouds at sunset moving over the Gadsar valley. To make this 11-second video, I shot 349 pictures. I would have loved to continue doing this till night fall, but my battery ran out and I did not want to drain my remaining batteries as we still had 3 days ahead of us. The worst thing that could happen for me would be to run out of battery power in the middle of nowhere.

And with that video, our day was over. A long trek awaited us the next day, and we decided to hit the bed early to prepare ourselves for the long walk ahead.

You can read about our Day 5 by clicking here.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 3

2011-08-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

Another glorious morning at Gangbal lake with the imposing Harmukh peak.

After a relaxing second day, we woke up to yet another glorious Kashmir morning on the 3rd day of our trek. We were well rested and anxious to start the "serious" portion of our trek. A long trek from Gangbal lake to Gadsar. We would need to first cross the steep Zagibal pass (4000 meters above sea level), and then move to Satsar (Seven lakes), and finally skirt the Poshpatri (valley of flowers) mountain to reach our destination Gadsar.

If only we knew how hard this day was going to be, we would have most likely abandoned the whole idea of trekking and headed back home.

Trek heading towards Zagibal Pass.

The mountains ahead of us looked deceptively small and inviting. We packed our bags and started early in the morning at around 9 a.m. - after a nice and hot breakfast.

Half an hour into our trek, I knew this was going to be tougher than our first day. The path is steep and full of loose rocks.

Heading towards Zagibal pass.

It is at times like these - that I started to appreciate my dedicated trekking shoes, and the walking sticks. The shoes are solid and grip the rock like glue, while the sticks help stabilize when I stepped on the loose surface.

My "North Face" trekking shoes.

As we climbed higher up the Zagibal pass, we could clearly see the twin Gangbal lakes from our high position.

The twin Gangbal lakes.

My brother taking a break on Zagibal Mountain.

The steep ascent was making us tired fast and we needed to take frequent breaks. The rest of our team had passed us (including my son on his horse) and were waiting for us to catch up with them at the top of the mountain.

The small speck on top is Shawn's horse - waiting for us to catch up.

After more than 1 hour of laborious ascent, we finally caught up with the rest of the team on top of Zagibal pass. The altitude here is supposed to be 4150 above sea level. My Casio shows 3955.

At the top of Zagibal peak.

The top of the Zagibal peak still had some frozen snow that had not yet melted. This was my brothers first encounter with snow and he was clearly excited at the opportunity.

Checking out the frozen snow on top of Zagibal pass.

View of Gangbal lakes from top of Zagibal pass.

It was now time to climb down on the other side of the Zagibal pass heading towards Satsar (Seven lakes). It looked like we had done the hard part and the rest would be an easy descent.

Heading down Zagibal pass.

The horses move a lot faster than us.

Beautiful views from Zagibal pass.

Our hopes for a smooth trek were dashed as we reached near the bottom of Zagibal valley. The place is full of rocks that need to be navigated gingerly. It was hard work and my mind had literally shut down. I was no longer interested in reaching our destination. I just wanted to cross the next rock, and the one after that. It was mind-numbing and tiring work, and took us nearly 2 hours to navigate through the rocky valley.

Navigating through the rocks.

We finally reached Satsar at around 1 p.m. and stopped for a much needed rest - and some food. Satsar is made up of 7 lakes in chain formation. It would have been great to set up our tent here and relax for the day - but apparently it's not a good place to stay during the night due to unpredictable weather - especially rains.

Satsar (Seven Lakes)

Our guide assured us that the worst part of the trek is really over, and the rest of the way is smooth sailing. What he conveniently forget to tell us was how long that smooth sailing was going to last!.

A short ascent up the Satsar lake, and we came across our first Indian military check-post. We had to give detailed information as to what we were doing in the valley, where we were heading and provide photo identification for everyone. The process took nearly 1 hour but the soldiers were very helpful and provided us with hot water to drink and a much needed hot tea.

The stop at the check-point plus the hot tea renewed our energy and we continued on with our journey. We were very near the Pakistan border now and we could clearly see the mountains in the Pakistan - just 2 mountain ranges away.

Pakistan is just across the mountains in front.

The trek now was indeed very easy. We had to skirt around Poshpatri (valley of flowers) mountain. Even Shawn got off his horse and started trekking with us - giving his horse a much needed break.

Easy trek around Poshpatri mountain.

Along the route, we came across Dupta Pani (hiding water). According to our guide, the water from this stream goes inside the mountain and then comes out in Pakistan. That must be one heck of a long underground tunnel.

Dupta Pani (hiding water). An underground water tunnel.

As we reached the other side of Poshpatri, we were awestruck by the sheer beauty of the mountain. The entire mountain is covered in flowers from the bottom to the top. No wonder it is called the valley of flowers.

Poshpatri (The Valley of Flowers)

Path cut through the flowers of Poshpatri mountain.

Poshpatri valley with a fast flowing stream.

Our team with the horses had gone ahead to setup the tent and keep it ready for us. It was getting dark and we were getting worried because our destination was nowhere in sight and we did not want to get stuck on the middle of the mountain. We decided to quicken our pace.

Sunset on Poshpatri.

After nearly 11 hours on the trek, we finally reached our destination. We were dead tired and just wanted to crash into the welcoming tent.

However, there was still one final task to be done. At the bottom of Gadsar is another military check-point. We had to go to the check-point and again give all our details - which were then cross checked with the details provided at the first check point over wireless radio by the military. Once they were satisfied, they welcomed us to Gadsar and we proceeded into our tent, where we had a hot dinner and just crashed into our sleeping tents.

You can read about our Day 4 by clicking here.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 2

2011-08-06T06:59:00.000-07:00

Harmukh Mountain - as seen from Trunkol.

If the first day of the our Kashmir trek was mother nature testing our strength and determination, then the second day of our trek can only be described as mother nature apologizing for the hardships thrown at us the previous day, and showing us the beauty that it had kept hidden from us the first day

We woke up and were greeted to a glorious Kashmir morning. Harmukh peak, that was hidden by clouds the previous evening, dominated the landscape with a background that can only be describe as a picture perfect postcard. The sky was a brilliant blue with white puffy clouds. We were awestruck and just wandered around our tent enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Close-up of Harmukh Peak.

Early morning scenery at Trunkol.

Our second day schedule was just an easy trek from Trunkol to Gangbal lake. We were in no hurry to either start the trek or to reach our destination. Our guides cooked us a hot breakfast and we just lazed around the Trunkol meadow. I kept on clicking the pictures.

Another dramatic view of Harmukh peak.

Trunkol is a tiny village with few shepherd houses and plenty of sheep that graze on the fresh grass. The children of the village are always running around, curious to see the few visitors. Prepare to carry plenty of pain killer medicines in your bag - because every other shepherd that you come across will ask you for pain medication and they appreciate the small gesture when you hand them a strip of paracetamol.

A local shepherd girl at Trunkol - accompanied by her father.

We eventually packed our bags and headed off towards Gangbal lake. There was no climbing today. Just walking in the green meadows. If we walked briskly, we could have covered the distance in 1 hour, but since we were in no hurry, it took us around 2 hours to reach Gangbal. The trail is around the Harimukh mountain -- skirting the bottom of the mountain from one side to the other side.

Compared to day 1, this was going to be a joy ride.

My son navigating through the lush green meadows.

You get a sense of deja-vu when you reach Gangbal lake and look at Harmukh peak. It looks exactly the same as it did from Trunkol. Later on, I came to learn that the mountain is named because of this peculiarity. Harmukh in Hindi means "same face".

Harmukh peak overlooking Lake Gangbal.

The glaciers from the Harimukh peak melt and flow down to form the Gangbal lake, and the excess water flows downstream to eventually form into rivers.

The water from Lake Gangbal flowing off into icy cold streams.

To reach our tent area, we had to cross one of the stream. The only problem is the water is icy cold. My legs were frozen to the bone by the time I reached the other side. I quickly dried myself and put on my shoes.

We had to cross this icy cold stream.

We had the whole day to relax at Gangbal. My brother (who is a passionante angler), wasted no time getting his fishing gear to catch some rainbow trout from the fast flowing stream. He had never done fly fishing before, but he still managed to catch 3 rainbow trouts which ended up on our dinner plate later on in the evening.

My brother fishing for Trout fish.

I decided to check out the twin Gangbal lake that sits across a small peak. The trek from one lake to the other is no more than 20 minutes. One of the guides came along with me to ensure that I don't get lost.

The twin Gangbal Lake.

The second lake is much bigger than the first one. True to its name, Harmukh peak again looks the same from this side as the other 2 sides. I spent an hour around the bigger lake, just exploring the surrounding area. The sun was going down so we decided to head back to the tent.

View of Harmukh peak from the bigger of the Gangbal lake.

Some campers around the bigger Gangbal lake.

My guide relaxing - while I do the hard work.

Our hot dinner was accompanied by the fresh trout caught by my brother. We hit the bed early in order to get some strength for the tough day ahead for Day 3. As it turned out, we would need it.

But not before I spent some time playing with long exposure shots in the dark.

Surreal view of Lake Gangbal at night.

That was the end of Day 2. A very easy and relaxing day. To read about Day 3, click here.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 1

2011-08-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

Packed and ready to go for the trek.

We started our 6-night, 7-day trek (that would take us from Naranag to Sonmarg) on a cold Saturday morning on 16th July. We were supposed to be picked up from our house at 6 A.M., but the vehicle was delayed and reached only by 7:30 A.M.

It was a 3-hour drive to Naranag with frequent delays at various security check points in Srinagar. At one check point, the cops were actually refusing to let us through - due to the unstable weather in the mountains, but our guide Muzafar (who was also with us in the car) managed to convince the security that he knew what he is doing, and they let us through.

Naranag, Kashmir.

We reached Naranag at 10:30 A.M. Naranag is a small town at the base on the Naranag mountain. Naranag is approximately 2200 meters above sea level. Muzafar happens to have a house there, and he invited us into his house for a quick and hot breakfast prepared by his wife.

After breakfast, we immediately started our trek. Muzafar had to pack all the horses with provisions (Gas cylinder, stove, tents, sleeping bags, food and even some live chicken). He instructed us to start the trek with just 2 of the horses (one for Shawn, and the other containing basis necessities). Muzafar would come with the rest of the horses (after packing and loading the rest of the stuff).

The steep trek up Naranag Mountain.

We had been warned that the first day would be difficult, and I could now understand why. It is a very steep ascent up the mountain. After about 10 minutes into the trek, my son Shawn gave up saying it is too hard. I felt relieved that we had the foresight to have a riding horse added to our package. We signaled the horseman and Shawn immediately jumped on the horse, while we toiled upwards.

Shawn taking the easy way out on Day 1.

After nearly 2 hours of hard climbing, we reached our first (and much-needed) rest point on top of Naranag Mountain.

Taking a break.

After a quick snack and some rest, we continued with our trek. It had started raining now and the trail was becoming slippery and dangerous, while we were feeling cold and miserable. It was important that we reach our destination before it becomes dark, so our guides urged us to move a bit faster. I was beginning to wonder what the heck I was doing here, climbing steep mountains when I could be sitting in a cozy houseboat in Srinagar - enjoying the calm lake and a cold beer. I shut my mind and continued on.

Nasty and miserable weather in Naranag Mountain.

It was at this time that I realized the importance of good trekking shoes and walking sticks. The shoes and the sticks helped us to keep a good grip on the trail and avoid slipping and falling.

The rainy clouds make the mountains look dark and ominous.

After 6 hours of trekking, we could finally see our destination. The only problem was our path was blocked by a series of boulders.

Wet and slippery rocks block our path.

On a normal (dry) day, it would be a simple matter of navigating through these rocks. However, today was no ordinary day. The rains had made the rocks slippery. Navigating each rock was a task in itself and our trekking shoes were no match for the smooth and slippery surface of each rock. It took us nearly 1 hour to navigate through this tiny section of our route.

Tronkul - overshadowed by the mighty Harimukh peak.

We finally reached our destination. Tronkul, a small gypsy town that is dominated by the mighty Harmukh mountain that sits 5,500 meters above sea level.

Shawn shivering from the cold and the rains.

Cold, hungry and miserable - we waited for Muzafar to come with the rest of the horses that contained our provisions and the very important tent that would protect us from the cold and the rain.

Our tent getting ready.

Muzafar finally reached and the rest of the crew quickly set up the tent. We rushed into the tent and huddled inside our warm sleeping bags hoping the rest of the trek was not going to be this hard.

I managed to take this final picture before zipping up the tent and going to sleep.

The beautiful Himalayan Range covered in clouds.

You can read about our Day 2 adventures by clicking here.

Trekking in Kashmir: Route Selection.

2011-07-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

Our trekking route from Naranag to Sonamarg.

When we first arrived in Srinagar, we had no clear idea what trek we would undertake. The only thing I had set as an objective was that the trek should last around 5-6 days, and that it should be challenging enough to make the trip worthwhile.

My brother has a lot of friends in Kashmir, and they hooked us up with Baktoo Group, which organizes professional and customized trekking trips and also offers relaxing houseboats on the Dal/Nagin Lake.

I explained our objectives for the trek, and they immediately came up with a suggestion of a moderate to tough trek that would last 6 nights and 7 days. We were warned that the trek would be tough in some stages.

The itinerary of our trek would be as follows:

DAY 1: Pick-up from Srinagar by car. Drive to Naranag and start the steep ascent from Naranag to Trunkol.

DAY 2: Short trek from Trunkol to Gangbal lake overlooking the imposing Harmukh peak. Relax at Gangbal lake. Trout fishing in the lake.

DAY 3: Tough trek from Gangbal lake to Gadsar. Steep climb up the Zagibal peak (4200 meters) that provides a stunning view of the Gangbal lake and the Harmukh peak.

DAY 4: Rest in Gadsar.

DAY 5: Another tough trek from Gadsar to Vishnasar. Steep climb up Krishnasar pass at 4100 meters.

DAY 6: Trek from to Shokhdari (table top).

DAY 7: Short trek from Shokhdari to Sonamarg. Transfer by car to Srinagar.

This itinerary matched with my expectations and we immediately decided to go ahead with this option. The tour operator would arrange for tents, guide, porters etc. All we had to do was carry a bottle of water and walk. And walk.....

I was a little concerned about my 12-year old son who was also joining me on the trek. The tour operator suggested that I add an extra riding horse to the package so that if my son feels tired, he could just hop on to the horse and we could continue with the trek. I immediately felt relieved.

Treks such as this cost around $35 to $40 per person per night. Since we were referred by a close friend, we got an excellent deal. The package that we took would normally cost in the range of Rs. 45,000 to Rs. 50,000 for the whole 7-day package for 3 persons (Me, my brother and my son). You can negotiate a better deal if there are more persons trekking. The package included:

1. One Guide
2. Two Porters
3. Six horses (5 for carrying all the luggage and 1 for my son).
4. Tent, Sleeping bags, blankets, etc.
5. All food.
6. Transport to and from Srinagar.

The trek was everything I had hoped for, and more. I shot over 1000 pictures during the 7 days. As and when I get the time, I plan to post a separate entry for each day explaining our exhilarating and exhausting journey through the great Himalayan range.

First Impressions: Kodak EasyShare Sport C123

2011-07-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Kodak EasyShare Sport c123.

I had purchased this cheap little camera last week to take with me on my Kashmir trip. I got my first chance to test its waterproof capabilities when I went out for an early morning run in heavy rains. I wanted to see if it could stand the test of the heavy Goa Monsoons.

The camera has almost no manual settings, and it has no zoom or auto-focus. It's the very definition of point and shoot. I took my first picture of the wet and gloomy road as I started my run.

Shutter 1/100, f4.5, ISO 360.

The image is horribly noisy as the camera automatically pushed the ISO to compensate for the low lights.

Shutter 1/200, f4.5, ISO 80.

In this picture, there was sufficient light for the camera to switch to its base ISO of 80 with a relatively fast shutter speed. The difference is immediately obvious. The picture is nice and crisp.

In essence, that is the end of the review of the camera. If you have good lighting, you will get decent results. Poor lighting will yield poor results.

A fisherman casting his net.

Reasonably decent response from the shutter to capture action scenes.

The dark rain filled clouds.

Up to now, I had managed to get some nice shots but not exactly what I had in mind. The promise of rain was in the sky, but so far, no actual rain was falling for me to test its waterproof abilities. I finished my rain and was about to go home when I saw some local fishermen pushing their boat in the water to cast their net. I asked them if I could hop on the boat and they let me. In exchange for getting the privilege of shooting pictures from the boat, I had to do my part in rowing the boat. That seemed like a fair exchange. Also, I had not done any resistance workouts for nearly a week, so this would give my body a nice workout.

Fishermen pushing the boat in the rough Arabian sea.

Heavy rains.

At last, the promised rain came pouring down as we were rowing the boat, and I quickly took out the camera and took a few shots with one hand - while rowing with the other. The lens had fogged a bit due to the moisture, but the pictures still came out reasonably decent.

In the deep sea now.

We finally reached the shore, after casting the net. Now it was time to pull it towards the shore. The rains had disappeared, and the dark clouds were suddenly replaced by clear skies.

Pulling the fishing net in.

This is hard work.

The net finally rolls in.

Pulling the net now.

The circling birds is a good indication that the catch will be good.

Lots of fish trapped in the net.

Trapped fish.

Pulling the fish ashore.

As expected, a good catch.

Fresh catch of the day.

All in all, a good early morning adventure. I got to enjoy a lovely run on the beach, got a good full-body workout with boat rowing, and pulling the net, and was also rewarded for my efforts with some fresh fish.

And of course, took some pictures.

On the way back, I passed by some lovely scenery of rain-filled puddles and tiny lakes with lush greenery everywhere - something we don't see in Kuwait.

Tiny lakes formed by the monsoon rains.

Lush greenery everywhere.

The ubiquitous Holy cross.

In summary, the Kodak EasyShare Sport c123 is a useful and affordable camera for situations where you would never dream of taking your expensive dSLR.

I have yet to test its under-water capabilities and I leave that for another post - once I get some opportunity to shoot under-water.

Trekking in Kashmir.

2011-07-01T02:50:00.000-07:00

Trekking gear by North Face.

I love the idea of Trekking. Walking in the wild and enjoying nature - and most importantly, being able to photograph nature.

I have not done any serious trekking till now - but it was something that was always on my mind. I had made plans last year (even booked my tickets from Kuwait to Kashmir). But those plans were foiled when trouble erupted in the Kashmir region, and we cancelled our plans at the last minute.

This year, the situation in Kashmir is stable, so we revived our plans to go for a trek there. I will be joined by my 12-year old son, my brother, and 2 other friends. One of the friend (Richard) is a very experienced trekker - which will make our life easier in terms of planning and deciding what to take on the trek. In fact, it was Richard, who had given me very precise instructions when I did the 1-day trek to Dudhsagar.

We fly to Srinagar on 13th July, and we will be there for about 10 days. The exact trekking route is not yet decided, but we plan to do a moderate-to-strenuous trek that lasts anything between 5 to 7 days. The rest of the days would be spent relaxing and enjoying Srinagar and the surrounding areas.

I can't wait.

Perfect White Balance and Exposure with the Spyder 3 Cube.

2011-04-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

Sypder 3 Cube

I have always relied on manual white balance whenever I wanted to get the perfect white balance under difficult lighting conditions. I explained about manual white balance here.

Also, when it comes to getting the correct exposure (where white comes out as white), a 18% grey card is the photographers choice tool for getting that perfect exposure. I explained about the 18% grey card here.

A reader of the blog made a very interesting comment on the 18% grey card post - He proposed that a better solution would be to use a card that includes White, Black and neutral Grey which a RAW converter could then use to sample all three colors and make a more accurate exposure.

I did not pay much attention to the above comment since I was quite comfortable with the Grey card solution. That is..until I came across the Spyder 3 Cube. I was actually looking for a color calibration tool on Amazon. When I selected the Spyder 3 Express (which I reviewed here), Amazon suggested that I might be interested in the Sypder Cube. After reading what it does, I thought my photography might benefit so I decided to add it to the cart.

I don't know what I was expecting. Perhaps a fancy electronic gizmo? Certainly it was more than the 1.5 inch plastic box that I received with a small steel ball on top. I paid $40 bucks for this?

Anyway, if this tiny plastic box could solve both my White balance AND Exposure problems, I wouldn't mind having spent the money. I decided to give my new toy a trial.

The basic idea of the Spyder 3 cube is very simple:
1. Place the cube in the frame where you will take the picture (you can place it on a flat surface or it can be placed on a tripod as it has a tripod thread at the bottom. You can also hand it anywhere using the supplied loop)
2. Take the RAW picture making sure that the cube is in focus.
3. Remove the cube and continue shooting in RAW.
4. If the lighting conditions change, repeat the above steps.

I decided to test it with my daughters Barbie doll.

Original image straight from the camera.

Using the RAW processing software, you will first load the image that contains the cube

In my example, it is evident that the white balance is off. The white does not look white. Correcting the white balance is as simple as clicking on the neutral Grey color. And Voila!

Correct White Balance.

Since all the 3 colors are available in the image, exposure can be easily corrected by watching the histogram as you adjust both the highlights and the shadows. The cube has a black trap in the front (a small circle that is absolute black).

White Balance & Exposure corrected.

Once you are happy with the settings, you apply them to all the other pictures that were shot under the same lighting conditions (without the cube in the picture, of course).

Final image with correct white balance & exposure.

So there you have it. 40 dollars for a tiny piece of plastic. Is it worth it? If you are a serious photographer, then the answer is yes. Since it solves 2 problems at one time. i.e. Solves the White balance problem and the Exposure problem.

NOTE: The Sypder 3 cube is suitable when you are shooting static subjects under similar lighting conditions. It is not suitable for dynamic situations where the subject is constantly moving or the lighting conditions are changing rapidly.

Importance of Calibrating your Monitor.

2011-04-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

LG Flatron 24" Display Monitor.

I recently purchased a 24 inch display, the LG Flatron W248GL. The first thing I noticed is that the colors seemed a little off. I tried tweaking the settings in the menu, but just couldn't get the right feel.

Since I plan to use the monitor for photo-editing, I was worried about color distortion. For example, I might edit the image thinking it is one color, but another person seeing the same image on another monitor might see it as a slightly different color.

Traditionally, graphic editors and professional photographers ensure that they are always working on a calibrated display. In other words, when you see the color red on the screen, it is actually red - and not a whim of the display adjustment. Question is: How do you ensure you are working on a correctly calibrated display?

There are many color calibration tools that cost anything from a hundred dollars to several hundred dollars. A professional may use something like the Sypder 3 Studio system that costs around $500. I wanted something affordable, yet provides a high degree of color accuracy. After looking around, I chose the budget Spyder 3 Express. ($70 on Amazon).

The Spyder 3 Express is a very simple and easy-to-use color calibration tool. It is designed to calibrate only the display (the studio version allows you to calibrate your printer too).

To calibrate your monitor:

a. Install the software that comes with the device.

b. Connect the color sensor and place it in front of the monitor.

c. Click a few buttons and wait while the device measures the color output from your monitor and then automatically creates a proper calibrated profile.

Spyder 3 Color Calibration in progress.

It takes a few minutes for the entire calibration process to complete. The program shows you the "before" and "after" pictures. Click "Finish" and the monitor automatically switches to calibrated mode.

Here's my "Before" and "After" images.

Uncalibrated Display.

Calibrated Display.

My uncalibrated display was clearly on the reddish side. You can clearly see that in the 3rd picture of the woman. Editing on this uncalibrated monitor might have given completely unnatural results in skin tones.

So if you are a photographer, make sure you calibrate your monitor. That way, what you see is what others will see.

Explore Maharashtra : Mahabaleshwar

2011-04-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

Up in the Clouds: Mahabaleshwar.

It was my sons idea that we travel to Mahabaleshwar for a few days. Since we had a few days in Pune, before our return back to Kuwait, we decided to check out the place since we've never been there.

We hired a car that would take us to Mahabaleshwar, and then drive us around during our stay there. This way, we wouldn't have to worry about transport.

We started early morning at around 7 a.m. The drive is around 5 hours long - most of it in the winding and dangerous looking Sayadri mountains. We had booked a hotel online so we drove straight to the hotel.

The first thing we noticed in Mahabaleshwar is Strawberries. Lots and lots of Strawberries. You find them everywhere. Perhaps it was the season in January. The first thing we did was stop by the roadside and pick up a big box of fresh strawberries. They were the best strawberries I have ever tasted; and my daughter agreed as she gobbled them up. All the restaurants serve "Strawberry Cream" as dessert. We overloaded on it during our stay there.

Strawberry Cream - Speciality in Mahabaleshwar.

Once we settled down, we decided to check out the place. All of the interesting places in Mahabaleshwar are called "points". Elephant Point, Tiger Point, Lord Wick Point etc. Since we had our own car, we could explore these "points" at our own time.

We decided to hire a guide to accompany us and he explained to us the history behind each "point". The only problem was that he spoke only in Hindi, so my wife acted as an interpreter for me.

View from Lord Wick's point.

The place is really beautiful and a trekker's dream. If I had more time, I would have certainly attempted some of the challenging treks. As it is, you still need to do a lot of walking to see most of the points, as cars are not allowed there, and I had a tough time convincing Erika (my 7-year old daughter) to trek with us.

Trail leading to Elephant Point.

Elephant Point

This place is called "Elephant Point" because the formation looks eerily like the head of an elephant - including the eyes. The views from here are truly beautiful. The day we visited, it was a bit misty so we could not really appreciate the full beauty of the Sayadri mountain range, but it was still an awe-inspiring view; and a bit scary for those suffering from Vertigo.

The majesty of Sayadri Mountain range.

From the Elephant Point, one can see the Moray Village. The village is named after Moray - who fought with Shivaji.

Moray Village.

We next drove over to the other side of the mountain, which has interesting points like Monkey Point, Tiger Point etc.

A very misty day in Mahabaleshwar.

Tiger Point

This place is called Tiger Point, because Tigers used to come here in the early morning for a fresh drink. Not sure if they still do. This lady serves the fresh water that comes out of the mountain spring. I am usually very particular about the water that I drink in India, but I did not hesitate to quench my thirst with the tasty sweet water.

Hot Treats

A little further up, you can find hot treats for those who get hungry. All fresh and tasty.

Near Monkey Point

The monkey point is another interesting point that shows off a natural rock formation, which looks somewhat like the famous 3 monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil..).

The 3 Monkey rock formation.

You can see the rock formation here in the middle of this vast mountain range. Here is a 100% crop of the center of the image.

The Three Monkey rock formation.

One of the problems in Mahabaleshwar is the very very narrow roads. Anytime 2 buses want to cross, it is a recipe for disaster, such as this one.

A close shave for the buses.

The next day, we decided to visit the nearby Tapoli lake. Tapoli lake is a man-made lake formed by the building of the Kohina Dam. We originally thought we would get to see the dam, but found out that it is around 6 hours ride by boat - something we would not be able to do.

View of the lake formed by the Kohina dam.

Tapoli lake.

Tapoli lake is referred to as the Mini Kashmir. But frankly, I was quiet disappointed as there is nothing special in this place. We took a 30 minute ride in the boat. Other than that, there is nothing else to do here. We decided to head back to Mahabaleshwar.

Road from Tapoli-Mahabaleshwar.

The roads are very picturesque - though a bit on the scary side.

Our last visit in Mahabaleshwar was the nearby Panchgini. Panchgini is famous for its international boarding schools.

An interesting place in Panchgini is Table Land. The name comes due to the natural rock formation of a flat land (that looks like a table). Panchgini has 5 such places. Since 5 means Panch in Hindi, the place is called Panchgini.

Table land in Panchgini.

Horse drawn carriages at Table Land (Panchgini)

View from Table Land overlooking Panchgini.

This is definitely a place to go and unwind (especially during the hot summers), and a place that I plan to visit many times in future.

SIDE NOTE: As I was writing this post, 90% of my mind was focused on the very tense world cup cricket match between India and Sri-Lanka. As I finish the post, I am basking in the warm glow of a world cup victory for India - watching MS Dhoni holding the trophy high up as a billion people start celebrating.

Explore Maharashtra : Bibi-Ka-Maqbara

2011-03-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

Bibi-Ka-Maqbara, Aurangabad City, India.

If you did a double-take and wondered what the heck happened to the beautiful Taj Mahal, you wouldn't be the first.

During our trip to Aurangabad, to see the famous Ellora and Ajanta Caves, our driver suggested that we stop by and have a look at Bibi-Ka-Maqbar, a sort of a replica of the Taj Mahal. Since it was very close to where we were staying, we decided to visit it and check it out.

Here's an inscription that is posted at the gate of Bibi-Ka-Maqbar and gives a historical explanation of this monument.

The beautiful mausoleum of Aurangzeb's wife is believed to have been constructed by Prince Azam Shah in memory of his mother Rabia-ul Durrani Alias Dilras Banu Begum between circa 1651-1661 A.D. An inscription on the main entrance mentions that, this mausoleum was designed and erected by Ata-Ulla, an Architect and Hanspat Rai, an Engineer. As the mausoleum architecturally resembles the Taj-Mahal of Agra (1631-1653) it is known as "Taj of Deccan"
The mausoleum stands within an enclosed area measuring 458x257 meters approximately. The main entrance is on the southern side of the outer wall, and at the center of the three remaining walls are open pavilions, which were used as Mosque, Diwan-e-Am, and Diwan-e-Khas. These buildings contain beautiful paintings of Mughal and Nizam periods.
The mausoleum is built at the center of a high platform, with four minarets at its corners. The lower body and the dome of the building are made up of pure marble, decorated with beautiful carvings, whereas the middle portion is of basaltic trap, covered with fine plaster, rendered with a marble finish and adorned with stucco work. The grave is simple, devoid of any ornamentation, surrounded with marble screens of exquisite design.
The Mughal garden, Living Water Management System, Pavements which are ornamented with little kiosks, finely worked brass doors, Stucco floral motifs on the shell lime plaster, rank Maqbarra among the best of the "Beautiful Mughal buildings of Deccan"
From a design perspective, it looks exactly like the Taj Mahal without the expensive marble that makes Taj Mahal a wonder of the world. Bibi-Ka-Maqbara follows the same architectural elements of symmetry and even the look and feel of the place is exactly like Taj Mahal. If I am not mistaken, even the size of the structure and the surrounding area is similar to Taj Mahal.

The Mausoleum.

The Mausoleum is the main building structure. Like the Taj Mahal, it is now empty. People are allowed to enter the Mausoleum but photography is not allowed inside.

Mughal Gardens.

At the rear of the Mausoleum are the Mughal Gardens. Again, like the Taj Mahal, everything is symmetrical.

Mughal Gardens - Detailed.

School children visiting Bibi-Ka-Maqbara on a school trip.

Obligatory tourist-shot with my daughter.

It was a very short trip. We spent less than 30 minutes at the place. It is an interesting place. But for those who have visited Taj Mahal, it is like a bride who is told to wear imitation jewelery.

Explore Maharashtra : The Great Ajanta Caves.

2011-03-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

First view of Ajanta Caves.

If our trip to the Ellora caves wowed us with their grandeur and intricate carvings, our trip to the Ajanta caves was even more satisfying. We managed to spend an entire day at the caves, but still felt that there was so much left to explore.

Ajanta caves are more than 2 hours drive from the city of Aurangabad. We left early in the morning and reached Ajanta at around 10 a.m. The whole site is a UNESCO world heritage site and private vehicles are not allowed near the caves. You need to take a special bus that winds through the mountains for about 10 minutes before you reach the caves.

The main difference between Ellora and Ajanta caves is that Ellora caves are spread over different mountains and have influences of 3 different religions (Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism). The Ajanta caves, on the other hand, are all from the Buddhist influence. More historical information about the caves can be found on this wikipedia page.

Ajanta caves had colorful paintings, which have faded now..

The colorful ceilings.

Another major difference between the Ellora and Ajanta caves is the color. Many of the Ajanta caves were colorfully painted. The color was created using a mixture of different muds from the surrounding areas.

The first thing we did after reaching the caves is hire a guide - and its a good idea, because a guide can point our minute details that we would miss otherwise. For example, he pointed out some paintings on the ceiling that are designed in such a way that if you look at it from different points, it shows a different effect. The optical illusion is created by a 3D effect in the painting. Very clever.

A section of the ceiling that is better preserved than the rest.

Similar to the Ellora caves, each cave had a different purpose. The prayer hall generally has a stupa or a statue of Buddha. Caves that were meant for living quarters are designed differently.

Prayer hall with a stupa.

Detailed and exquisite carvings on the cave exterior.

More detailed carvings.

Most of the caves are not lighted. The guides show you around these caves using flash lights. This is one of the few caves that is lighted.

One of the few caves with lighting inside.

Statue of Buddha.

When you stand inside a massive cave like this, the first thought that goes through your mind is "How the heck did they manage to do this, hundreds of years ago, with just a chisel and some basic tools?". You listen to the guide telling you that it took hundreds of years to finish these caves, with the knowledge and plans passed from generation to generation, and your brain tries to comprehend something this massive being constructed without any of the modern tools that we are used to.

It seems just too incredible.

Rock carved like arches.

We were very tired with all the walking. I noticed that some people were walking up on one side of the mountain. I inquired with the guide as to where the trail leads. Turns out that there is another way to get out of Ajanta. A trek straight to the top of the mountain.

An alternate exit out of Ajanta.

Trekking?. My interest was piqued even though I was tired. Our guide was puzzled as to why we would choose to trek for more than 1 hour straight up the mountain when we had a nice cozy car waiting for us at the gate.

I told my wife to take our daughter Erika and go with the driver in the car - since the trek would be too tiring for them. They would meet me and Shawn at the top of the mountain (called the viewpoint). Though it was a straight trek for us, it would take them nearly 2 hours to reach the same point because they had to take the bus, and go to the gate where the car was parked, and then drive across the mountain to reach the viewpoint.

We took some water and headed off.

Panoramic view of Ajanta caves - on our way to the top.

The vast size of the caves can be appreciated from this distance.

Another section of the caves.

Full view of the caves.

Seven waterfalls.

Half-way up the mountain, we came across this "seven waterfalls". It's basically a waterfall whose drop is broken down into 7 distinct places.

Viewpoint.

Finally, after a hard 1 hour trek, we finally reached the top of the mountain. The place is called "view point" and this is supposedly the place where an Englishman named John Smith first discovered the caves while hunting for tigers.

View of the caves from the viewpoint.

View of the valley and the river that cuts through the mountain.

Shawn relaxing after a hard trek, and enjoying the view.

Colorful mountain side at Ajanta.

Finally after more than 1 hour, our car arrived at the view point. We spent some more time just relaxing and enjoying the view and then headed back to Aurangabad.

It was definitely a memorable visit. If I get a chance to visit the place again, I most certainly will.

Explore Maharashtra : Rajgad Fort

2011-02-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

View of Rajgad Fort from the base of the mountain.

I read about Rajgad fort, while looking for interesting places to visit during my holiday in Pune. Rajgad Fort (which means King of forts), is about 2 hours drive from Pune city (Maharashtra, India). The fort is approximately 4,250 feet above sea level.

There is no direct access to the fort except trekking trails, and the trek can only be described as strenuous. It is definitely not recommended unless you are physically fit. Also, due to the steep and dangerous trails, it is also not recommended for children.

I decided to do the challenge along with my 12-year old son Shawn. Initially, I had some misgivings taking Shawn along with me as I had read about the treacherous trail, but he insisted he is up for the challenge. I thought this would be a great opportunity for some father son bonding and I kept the option of turning back, if I felt that the trail was getting dangerous.

We started off early in the morning from our house in Kondhwa. We wanted to catch the first bus from Swaraj Gate. When we reached the bus station, I had a tough time figuring out which bus to take - and more importantly, when the bus would leave. My lack of knowledge of the local language (Marathi) was not helping me here.

I decided not to waste my time and looked around for other options. There was this guy who was inquiring about people travelling to Rajgad and I figured that he had a private vehicle. He was looking for 10 passengers to cram into his 4x4. I told him that I will pay the cost of all the 10 passengers - and we were off.

Our ride from Pune City to Rajgad Village.

We reached the base of the fort at around 10 am (after a tasty Maharashtra-style breakfast on the way). We were given basic instructions on plastic disposal by the security, and our bags were checked to ensure that there is no alcohol (Alcohol and dangerous trekking don't go hand in hand)

I carried only water and some energy bars in order to keep the weight of the bag down. I also packed only one lens (the superlative Nikkor 17-55 f2.8).

The peak of the fort looks very very distant.

When I first looked at the top of the mountain, my first thought was "How the heck are we going to reach that place in one day?". I knew this was going to be a very challenging trek.

Shawn looks determined to complete the trek.

The trail is steep and slippery. Good trekking shoes are essential.

Local elderly woman selling Limbu Sherbat.

Villagers try to etch out an living by selling food and drink to tired trekkers along the way. This elderly woman was selling Limbu Sherbat (a drink made of lime juice and water).

About half-way point to the fort.

After about 1 hour of laborious walking, we reached what looked like the half-way point. The view was amazing, but the camera could not capture the majesty of the Sayadri mountains range because of all the fog.

The majestic Sayadri Mountains.

We paused here to enjoy the range of colors of the mountains - from the dry yellow grass, to the green carpet of trees to the cloudy blue skies (now filed with fog).

At 1000 meters above sea level.

After some refreshments and water, we carried on. My trusty Casio indicated that we have reached an altitude of 1000 meters.

The dangerous part of the trek.

If the trekking was hard till now, it was about the get harder. The track suddenly becomes almost vertical. Some of the really dangerous locations are fixed with iron railings - but most of them are damaged so you basically climb the steep trek holding on to pieces of rusted iron.

This was the point I had to make a decision whether to carry on with Shawn or return back. Shawn insisted that he could do it. The only catch was that I had to carry his backpack!. So for the remainder of the trek, I was carrying both my camera backpack as well as Shawn's backpack.

Chor Darwaza at Padmavati Machee.

We finally reached the north-end sub-plateau (known as the Machee). The fort has three of these Machees that act as fortification for the main fort which sits in the middle of these 3 Machees. From here, it is about another 200 meters straight up to reach the fort. There is a rest place at the Machee and many trekkers choose to stay overnight here in tents. However, you have to bring all your food and water - as nothing is available here.

Ghod Tale (Horse Lake) at Padmavati Machee.

This small lake collects rain water right on top of the mountain and looks refreshingly cool for a dip. I assume it was used as a source of drinking water during the time when people lived here.

I again asked Shawn whether we should turn back or climb the remaining (almost vertical) 200 meters to reach the top of the fort. He wanted to complete the challenge.

Shawn surveying the vast Sayadris from the top of the Rajgad Fort.

That's it. After more than 2 hours of hard trekking, we finally reached the fort. Surprisingly, we could get clear reception on my mobile (we couldn't get any during the whole trek). Shawn immediately made a call to his Mom to tell her of his achievement.

The altitude at the top of the Rajgad Fort.

View of Suvela Machi

Water Cistern at the top of the fort - Balle Killa (Center)

Beautiful wild grass at the top of the fort.

Honey bee doing its thing at the top of the Rajgad fort.

We took a 15 minutes well-deserved rest and then started retracing our steps back to the base of the mountain. The return journey was harder than going up - because it was slippery and the chance of falling was always there. It actually took us 3 hours for the return journey - where our driver was waiting for us to shuttle us back home.

This was definitely a trek worth remembering.

Photographing Fireworks.

2011-02-26T04:15:00.000-08:00

Kuwait's 50th anniversary of Independence.

Fireworks is one of the most photo-friendly activity because it is so dramatic and colorful. However, getting the right picture requires a little bit of planning, the right equipment and a little bit of luck.

Why luck?, you may ask. The reason is that fireworks generate lights of different intensity, and at random intervals. Your camera cannot do the calculations quickly enough to get the right exposure because the fireworks will be over before the camera computes the correct exposure. When shooting fireworks, almost everything has to be done manually.

Here's what you need to capture great pictures of fireworks.
   1. Tripod.
   2. Camera (preferably a dSLR) that can be set to "bulb" mode.
   3. A cable release (or a remote) that can activate the shutter and then close the shutter when you decide that the right amount of light has reached the sensor.
   4. Patience
   5. Bit of luck.

Nikon D300, f8, 5.2 seconds, ISO 200, 18mm, EV +0.5.

To get the above picture, I made sure that I found myself a nice uninterrupted view and set up my tripod 2 hours before the start of the show. During the entire period, I stood there making sure nobody else came and took my place.

Nikon D300, f2.8, 1/6th Second, ISO 400, 18mm, EV +0.5

To get the "right" type of picture, you need to figure out approximately what shutter speed is needed to get the correct picture - based on your current aperture and ISO.

If you are fairly close to the action, my recommendation is to go low on the ISO (in order to reduce noise), and a fairly decent aperture to get your object in sharp focus. I love to set my aperture to around f8 when shooting fireworks - though I may change this depending on the needs.

As for focusing, It is recommended to use manual focusing unless you are able to get the camera to focus on an object close to where the fireworks are going to happen. In my examples above, the Kuwait Towers was visible even when the fireworks were not going off - so I set my camera's focusing point on the tower and kept it on auto-focus. If there is no visible object for focusing (when there are no fireworks), manual focusing should be used.

Nikon D300, f8, 3.9 seconds, ISO 200, 18mm, EV +0.5

The good thing about a cable release is that you get to enjoy the fireworks instead of focusing on the camera. When you see the fireworks starting, you hit the cable release to open the shutter, and then based on your judgement, you release the cable release to close the shutter.

Don't hesitate taking multiple exposures and experiment with different shutter speeds. In the 1 hour that I stood looking at the awesome display put up by the Kuwait government on the commemoration of its 50th anniversary of Independence, I took exactly 603 pictures. Did they all come out this good? Definitely no. Some were over-exposed and some were under-exposed, but more than half of them were usable pictures. That's a lot of pictures of the fireworks.

Here are some more of the pictures that I processed from the lot.

And here's a video mash-up I did of all the 603 photos compressed in 3 and half minutes.

360 degree Panoramas

2011-02-17T12:19:00.000-08:00

Image created using 360 panorama.

360 Panorama is a fun little application that I found for the iPhone. My experience with panoramas up till now has been to take a series of images and then stitch them together using various stitching programs such as Photoshop, Auto-Stitch etc. Here is an interesting example of a very large panorama that I did last year.

The problem with stitching software is that you have to load all the images into a computer and let the software do the magic of stitching. This means that any problems are identified only after the stitching, when it is too late.

What makes 360 Panorama interesting is that you do the stitching in real time. You launch the app, and a series of grids are displayed. You just move the camera in a 360 degree circle to fill up all the grids, and the app stitches the images as you move the camera. Really amazing.

Once the stitching is complete, you have various options of saving the images.

1. As a proper 360 panorama that requires you to go to the occipital website to view the panorama. Here's an example that I shot while sitting inside the Hard Rock Cafe.

2. As a flat image. This is an example of the 360 degree view as a flat image.

3. And finally, you have the option of flattening out the 360 panorama into a stereoscopic image. This is an example of the same interior shot of Hard Rock cafe flattened into a stereoscopic image.

I love the stereoscopic effect the best, because it is something totally out of the ordinary and definitely fun to experiment with.

Explore Maharashtra: The Great Ellora Caves

2011-01-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

When I decided to explore a bit of Maharashtra with my family, the first thing that came to my mind was to see the famous Ellora & Ajanta caves. Though both the caves are in Aurangabad, they are actually quite far away from each other - so visiting both the caves on the same day is not possible.

We decided to explore Ellora caves on the first day. I had learned about Ellora in school - as part of our history lessons, but I only had a vague idea how it look in real life. I guess I should have just hit Google or Wikipedia before visiting the caves. In a way, I am glad that I did not do my usual research before visiting Ellora. The sheer magnificence can only be appreciated once you stand in front of the amazing structures.

Cave 29 (Hindu Cave) - Click photo to view large size.

Ellora is a set of 34 different caves. The caves are neatly numbered based on who constructed the caves. More details of the numbering and the religious influence of each cave can be found here.

Visiting all the 34 caves on foot is not practical (especially with a family). The caves are spread far apart. The easiest way to see the most important caves is to hire a rickshaw that will drive you around for a nominal price of Rs. 200 (less than $5). The rickshaw driver also acts as a guide giving you important details of each cave that you are visiting.

Inside cave 29. Click photo to view large size.

Ellora caves is a monolithic structure (carved out of a single piece of rock). Everything you see inside the caves (pillars, carvings, intricate designs) are all created by carving the rock. Imagining the amount of work that was involved simply boggles the mind. Some of the caves took hundreds of years to complete.

Interior of Cave 29. Click photo to view large size.

Intricate designs inside the cave.

The vastness of the caves can only be experience when you stand on top of the mountain and look at a panoramic view of the caves. And this is just a few of the caves, not all of them.

Some of the Ellora caves. Click photo to view large size.

More interior views. Click on photo to view large size.

The Jain caves are equally impressive, with some of them having double-floored structure.

Cave 32 (Jain Caves). Click on photo to view large size.

Some of the caves were abandoned before completion, and accessing these caves requires a little bit of climbing.

Climbing to see some of the unfinished caves.

The center-piece of Ellora caves has to be Cave 16, designed to recall Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva.

Cave 16. Click photo to view large size.

There is a track which allows you to climb on top of the hill overlooking cave 16 in all its magnificence.

Birds eye view of Cave 16. Click photo to view large size.

A very tiring day, but well worth the effort. I would definitely want to visit this place again to spend more time exploring all the caves in more detail.

Explore Maharashtra: Introduction.

2011-01-12T02:43:00.000-08:00

An elderly lady selling limbu sherbat on the way to Rajgad Fort.

When I went down to India for a much-needed break, I basically had 2 objectives:
1. Explore Goa on my own - preferably on a bike.
2. Travel to Pune (Maharashtra) to meetup with my family (who were flying directly from Kuwait to Pune), and spend some quality time with them.

As far as sight-seeing or photography goes, I did not have any expectations regarding Maharashtra. I find the place over-crowded, unhygienic, and communication with the people is a hassle as I don't know Marathi, and my knowledge of Hindi is very limited.

The only concrete plan I had made regarding Maharashtra was that I would try to do the "Rajgad Fort" trek - which is supposed to be a very challenging one-day trek. I also had some vague idea of spending a few days in Lonavla or a similar hill station - just to unwind myself.

Once I landed in Pune, I learned 2 things:
1. Maharashtra has massive history dating back to thousands of years. It also has an amazing natural beauty crafted by the Sayadhri mountains range.
2. For a decent amount (around Rs. 3000/- per day), you can hire a good car (such as the Toyota Innova) plus the driver - and drive anywhere you want.

I wasted no time in plotting a sight-seeing agenda that included historical places like Ajanta and Ellora Caves, challenging treks to various forts, and of course, unwinding in the beautiful hill stations of Mahabaleshwar & Lonavla.

It ended up being the most interesting time for the whole family. Long drives, interesting places and people, eating strawberries fresh from the garden, food poisoning and even a theft of my beloved Nike running shoes.

Over the coming few days, I'll try to sort out all the photos and organize them by place. Stay tuned.

Explore Goa: Old Goa

2011-01-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

A trip to Goa would not be complete without visiting Old Goa. My original plan was to Visit Old Goa on 3rd December, which is the feast of the church and its patron saint - St. Francis Xavier. It would have been fun shooting the throngs of people who gather on the feast day, dressed in their finest clothes. Unfortunately, due to scheduling problems, I landed in Goa after the feast day.

Old Goa, also known as Velha Goa, was the former capital of the Portuguese India from the 16th to the 18th century, until it was abandoned due to plague and the capital was moved to Panaji.

Old Goa houses some very important catholic churches, the most famous being the "Basilica of Bom Jesus", which has the remains of St. Francis Xavier.

Basilica of Bom Jesus

Intricate facade of Bom Jesus Church

The Church of Bom Jesus is a UNESCO world heritage site. Regular masses are conducted in this church and it is considered a privilege to get married in this church.

Interior of Basilica of Bom Jesus.

Close-up of the Altar.

Confessional box.

Cistern for holy water - not used anymore.

Remains of St. Francis Xavier.

Across from the Bom Jesus church is the Se Cathedral, one of the most oldest and most religious building in Goa, and is one of the largest churches in Asia.

Se Cathedral - Old Goa.

Sacred heart statue outside Se Cathedral.

Front facade of Se Cathedral.

Interior of Se Cathedral.

Traditional water well outside Se Cathedral.

Cross outside Se Cathedral.

Church of St. Catherine.

Nearby Se Cathedral is the church of St. Catherine, built in 1510 AD by Afonso de Albuquerque, to commemorate his entry into the city on St. Catherine's day.

I had planned to explore some more of Old Goa, but the weather was against me. It was extremely hot and I was getting tired of all the walking. I decided to call it quits and headed over to Panjim to cool down with a chilled beer with my friend.

Explore Goa: Bird-Watching

2010-12-19T19:45:00.000-08:00

Juvenile Brahminy Kit

I am on vacation. I go to sleep late at night and I would like to stay in bed till noon. But every morning, I end up being forced out of bed at 5 a.m., when it is still pitch black outside. That is the price I have to pay for living in a tropical paradise. The cacophony of thousand birds screaming their guts out means that morning sleep is just not possible.

Yesterday morning, I decided to take my revenge on the noisy birds by fixing the newly acquired 80-400mm lens and going out and shooting all the birds I could see. The biggest noise making culprits are, of course, the crows. There are thousands of crows screaming all day long. However, I was astonished to see the varied bird life that exists in Mobor. I managed to get the following captures in just 1 hour. I can only imagine what an avid birder can find here.

My brother Roy, besides being an avid angler, is also passionate about his birds. He identified all the birds that I captured without even giving it a second thought. He know which ones are local, and which are migratory.

Asian Koel.

The Asian Koel is a very common bird in Mobor.

Black Capped Kingfisher

According to Roy, the black-capped kingfisher is a very shy bird and he was surprised that I managed to get close to one. This one is in a hunched position and hence the white neck is almost hidden.

Brahminy Kite

Brahminy Kites in flight.

The Brahminy kites are very common in Mobor. They hunt for fish in River Sal, while the crows keep bothering them in order to get an easy lunch by stealing their catch.

Juvenile Brahminy Kite being bothered by crows.

Juvenile Brahminy Kite

Mobor also hosts many species of bulbul.

Bulbul

Yellow throated Bulbul

Red whiskered Bulbul

Another view of the Red whiskered Bulbul.

I found chestnut headed bee eaters all over the place - mostly resting on the electricity cables.

Chestnut headed bee eater.

Plus a whole lot of other types of birds.

Common mynah

Comorant.

Another view of a Comorant

Egret

Pied Robin

Pond Heron

White Breasted Kingfisher.

Another view of the white breasted kingfisher.

I finally got to put the 80-400 lens to some good use. I wish I had the patience and the time to take more pictures of bird life in Goa. Perhaps on my next trip.

Explore Goa: Margao to Panjim.

2010-12-19T01:42:00.000-08:00

National Highway NH17 connecting Margao to Panjim.

I decided to cycle from Margao to Panjim. Margao is the commercial hub of Goa, while Panjim is the capital of Goa. Since the distance is relatively short, I thought it might be a good idea to check out some of the places near Vasco (named after Vasco-da-Gama).

The weather was hazy without any clouds, so I knew in advance that my landscape photography was not going to be anything spectacular. I decided to focus on the journey. The route I followed is marked on the map in red.

Route from Panjim to Margao via Vasco.

The first village I reached is Nuvem. Nuvem is a relatively poor village and this poverty is reflected in the run-down Nuvem Church.

Nuvem Church.

All the schools that I visited recently seem to be practicing for their Sports Day, and Nuvem School was not an exception. All the students were outside on the grounds practicing their drill. A small group of students were sitting around and invited me to take their portrait. I was about to click the shutter when their teacher barked at them and my shutter click coincided with them scooting off to their designated places in the sports drill.

Nuvem School Students.

The next village after Nuvem is the village of Verna. Verna is a prosperous village and houses the Verna Industrial Estate, home to many large industrial houses and companies. The prosperity is reflected in this "subway" that residents use to cross the Verna road from one side to the other.

Verna sub-way on the busy NH-17.

I climbed the steep Verna hill and reached Kesarval spring. Like most springs in Goa, people claim that Kesarval spring water has medicinal qualities and it used to be a popular place for people to come here for a bath in its icy cold water. As it was still early morning, I only saw a few local residents at the spring - washing their clothes and brushing their teeth using the fresh spring water.

Kesarval Springs, Verna.

After a short rest at Kesarval, I decided to cycle towards the Airport road because I wanted to check out the Naval Aviation Museum. The sun was getting higher (and hotter) and the lack of clouds meant that my skin was slowly getting burned. I regretted not applying a sunblock and I was getting worried that my wife & children will fail to recognize me when I meet them next week in Pune.

On the way to the Airport, I noticed the Cuelim hill in Cansaulim and a structure that looked like a Church. I've passed by this road many times and always wondered what was on top of that hill. I thought this would be a good day as any to check it out. The climb to the top of the hill was hard, but well worth the effort. The hill houses "Remedious Chapel" at the top and offers a spectacular view of all the nearby villages.

Remedios Chapel, Quelim - Cansaulim.

View of Zuarinagar from Cuelim hill.

I love how the Cansaulim Church in the picture below seems to peep out of the thousands of coconut tree plantation.

Cansaulim Church in the midst of greenery.

After zipping down the hill, I eventually reached the Naval Aviation Museum. To reach the place, you have to exit from the Airport road and head towards Bogmalo beach. The Museum is just 1 kilometer before the beach.

Entrance to the Naval museum is Rs. 25/- and I had to pay an additional Rs. 10/- for the camera. The museum houses a number of old aircrafts and offers an audio-visual tour of the history of the Indian Navy. It's a must-see for anyone who loves aircrafts.

Aircraft on display at the Naval Aviation Museum, Goa.

Close-up of an Aircraft Engine.

Next, I visited the St. Jacinto Island. It's a small island between Vasco and Cortalim and is entirely owned by the Church and the local villagers.

St. Jacinto Island.

St. Jacinto Church.

The sun was getting really hot now. I decided to ride out the heat by sitting in a nearby restaurant enjoying a cool beer and a traditional dish of Fish, Curry and Rice. I was too tired to take pictures by this time.

The beer and the food rejuvenated me and I decided to continue my journey. A little further down, I saw a board marked "Protected Site" and my curiosity was aroused. I went inside a small road leading to this amazing architectural beauty.

Original Sancoale Church - now in ruins.

A local clued me about the Church and some of the folklore. For example, the villagers are convinced that a Nag & Nagin (Cobra family) have made their home at the top of the church steeple. And even though the Church has been moved elsewhere, there is a small chapel behind where they hold masses and celebrate the feast every year. Some workers were busy cleaning and whitewashing the facade. I hope that the villagers have given them fair warning about that Cobra family.

Workers cleaning the Church facade.

Since the sun was not very cooperative, I decided to skip all further adventures and proceeded straight to Panjim. I decided to stop by Dona Paula for a last photo-op before crashing at my Friend Cecil's place in Panjim.

Dona Paula Bay

Sculpture of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Knox at Dona Paula.