Bong Shot Photography

The Himalayan Queen

2012-11-13T19:58:00.001+05:30

On a lazy November afternoon, Baishali and I found ourselves gazing out of the windows of the Himalayan Queen. Here is some of what we saw:

Lost in thought

Asking for alms at the station.

The mood inside the train

Gates to the underworld, Entering the tunnel

Reflections

This shot was badly out of focus, but Baishali's smile is always perfect, even out of focus.

Little girls with flowers

Where to, where from?

Dead Orange Tree

2012-02-24T21:42:00.001+05:30

DSCF1216 - Dead Orange Tree, a photo by sigill on Flickr.

This was one of my first shots with the camera.
This orange tree in my house is now cut down. It bore fruits for many years. Every year, we'd eat thousands of oranges from this tree.
I remember spending many afternoons on its branches sucking the sweet juice out of its oranges.
It is dead now. So are many other trees in my house. Some say it is the electromagnetic pollution from cellphone towers. Maybe its global warming. But whatever the reason, a lot of things are gone.

The Frowl

2012-02-24T21:39:00.001+05:30

DSCF2107 - The Frowl, a photo by sigill on Flickr.

Saw these huge earrings at the Surajkund fair. Mama Owl frowning on Papa Owl.

DSCF1962 - The Ugliness of Concrete Delhi

2012-01-23T10:14:00.001+05:30

DSCF1962 - The Ugliness of Concrete Delhi, a photo by sigill on Flickr.

The ugliness of concrete Delhi

DSCF1953 - Tibet in a Nutshell that is India OR Lhasa in Delhi

2012-01-21T21:00:00.001+05:30

DSCF1953 - Tibet in a Nutshell that is India OR Lhasa in Delhi, a photo by sigill on Flickr.

I captured my best street shot today, and I doubt if I'll shoot one as good as this in the near future.
Majnu ka Tilla is a concrete shanty in New Delhi that is the abode of Tibetan refugees. These refugees in exile follow the Dalai Lama and oppose the Chinese government. Often one can find them sporting "Free Tibet" T-shirts, and leading protests.
This photograph is taken just outside the temple at Majnu ka Tilla on a cold January afternoon. One can just see the temple and its painted pillars in the background. There are two monks seated behind, one monk in a traditional red dress (third from left) and another monk in a orange jacket (7th from left). One can often find Tibetan monks with the coolest of gadgets, or the most fashionable bags, but they never leave their crimson garb. The lady in the blue jacket (1st from left) can be seen with a cool gadget.
The man in the vest (2nd from left) is a striking figure, as he is not wearing anything warm on such a cold day.
There is an old lady with a rosary (8th from left) sporting western clothes, and she looks really smart, while just right to her one can see the back of another lady wearing a very traditional Tibetan dress. This lady has long hair tied into a ribbbon.
The temple walls are covered with political posters, one of them prays "Long Live The 14th Dalai Lama".
The dog sleeping at their feet was just a topping on the cake.
This picture so totally captures the essence of the life of Tibetan refugees staying in India.
Straight out of the camera, no editing applied.

DSCF9598 - Frozen in Time

2012-01-19T16:59:00.001+05:30

DSCF9598 - Fishing In the Moat, a photo by sigill on Flickr.

After a long day walking up Amer and Jaigarh fort, I took this shot towards the end of my day of photography. These fishermen were spending the last few hours of their day fishing in the moat in front of Amer Fort, Jaipur.
The fort and the moat are no longer used to keep people away as they were once used. Now they draw people in. However, I guess the moat has retained at least one of its original uses, to serve as a basin of fish. I guess even in its hey-days the moat was used for fishing as it is today. Even in those days, towards the evening, people would be rowing their boats and tugging fishing lines, I imagine.

DSCF9516 - No Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 OR The Chimpanzee Photographer

2012-01-17T21:48:00.001+05:30

DSCF9516, a photo by sigill on Flickr.

This photo was taken after a long day exploring Amer and Jaigarh forts at Jaipur. The day was closing to an end, and the light was just perfect to bring out the lovely geometry. What pleased me most was that this photograph looks so much like an abstract painting. I am a philistine, and I have rather strong views about such abstract painting. (No offence to you if you are an abstract art fan, just expressing my views, which may be wrong, but I'm still entitled to them). In one experiment, they gave brushes and paints to chimpanzees, and let them play with them. The result was shown to art connoisseurs, and it turned out that the art connoisseurs really liked those chimp paintings.
This is not to say Dali is crap. I love Dali. And I love surrealism. But maybe all I can ever become is one of those chimpanzees, albeit with a camera, not a brush and paints.
Palki suggests calling this photo "No Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2" :)

DSCF7436 - Train to Udaipur - Freedom From Behind The Bars

2012-01-16T11:05:00.001+05:30

DSCF7436 - Train to Udaipur, a photo by sigill on Flickr.

Last October, a friend and I had gone on a trip to Udaipur, Jaipur and Mount Abu.
We started our journey from the Sarai Rohilla railway station, a place where I would prefer not to start a journey from again. The station was really run-down, it had just two shops selling biscuits, no canteen from where one can buy a meal. As if that was not enough, the train that we were travelling by had no pantry car, which meant that we would have to survive the night on biscuits alone - something which I hate doing.
Food was not the only pain we had in our journey that night, we were not carrying a blanket or shawl, and it became freezing after midnight.
Anyway, somehow the biscuits saw to it that I had enough calories to burn to keep myself warm at night.
Morning was a completely different story. Seeing the countryside from the train had always fascinated me, but now that I had the camera, I spent an hour capturing the moving countryside. This photograph was one of the better ones from the morning.
Later, when I posted this on facebook, a friend remarked:
"How freedom looks from behind those bars, HUGE !!"

Sunset In The City

2012-01-15T01:56:00.001+05:30

DSCF7317 - Sunset In The City, a photo by sigill on Flickr.

One day on the way back from office, I saw the sun set behind the fly-over. On weekdays, I usually don't carry my camera, as I have a massive laptop bag to carry.
The same weekend, I came back to the spot, and clicked this shot as the sun was setting.
This shot creates the stark contrast between the ugliness of concrete Delhi against the beautiful sunshine. What is ironic is that the spread-out uniform orange colouration of the sky is the result of the evening delhi smoke.