Roving Lenses

Along the Konkan Coast - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 05:36:00 +0000

Two days of seascape photography. Was I bored yet? Hell, no! I had shot close to 400 pics but I still did not have a picture which I was fully proud of. There was always something amiss. This was the last leg of my trip and my last chance (for some time at least) to capture something great.

Day 3 - Kapu Beach & Surathkal Beach
Gear - Canon EOS 550D, Canon 10-22mm, Hoya ND400

I took the train from Gokarna to Udupi. From there, I took a bus to Kapu (or Kaup as the Brits called it). Spent the night at a guest house and left early morning to the beach in hopes of taking some decent pictures before the light became harsh.

Seascapes at Kapu Beach

Around noon, took a bus from Kapu to Surathkal. The plan was to reach there by sunset (yep, for that elusive sunset shot).

Seascapes at Surathkal Beach

Once again, threats of rain cut my session short at the Surathkal Beach. I had rushed to the bus stand to get a bus to Mangalore, from where I had to take my bus back home.

Overall, I'd say it was a satisfactory trip. I enjoyed my time alone with the rig. I was without any annoyances or anyone to rush me (except the weather, of course) and I managed to get half-decent pictures. But, after all this, I'm still looking for that great elusive sunset seascape shot. Someday..... someday for sure ...

~AC

Along the Konkan Coast - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 05:03:00 +0000

There's something about sunsets in the sea that always .. ALWAYS .. makes for a great picture. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen pictures of seascapes during sunset and thought to myself - Wish I could take such pics!

The first leg of my journey had proven disappointing on that front. I was hoping the next leg would bring better luck.

Day 2 - Gokarna
Gear - Canon EOS 550D, Canon 10-22mm, Hoya ND400

I took the early morning train from Udupi to Gokarna. Reached the place by noon and checked into a beach side hotel. After an hour of rest, it was time to go out again!

Seascapes at Gokarna

As luck would have it, my dream of shooting a good seascape during sunset was washed away with the rain that started to pour just around the time of sunset. Next time...may be?

~AC

Along the Konkan Coast - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 04:21:00 +0000

This post has been long overdue. It's been almost a year since I took off towards the Konkan Coast on a semi-backpacking trip. I've been asked multiple times by different people about the lack of updates on my blog. Well, what can I say? My laziness had gotten the better of me, up until now, that is...

Anyway, without further ado, let me delve right into the details of the trip (or at least, what I can manage to remember of it).

Seascapes have always fascinated me. In a gallery full of pictures, I'll almost always end up picking a seascape as my favorite. How I wish I was staying in a sea-side town with regular access to the ocean - round the clock, through out the year. But having stayed all my life in a land-locked city, I felt I was being deprived of all the great seascape photography opportunity I was missing out on. And so, I decided to take a little trip along the western coastal line of India - The Konkan Coast.

Day 1 - Udupi - St.Mary's Island
Gear - Canon EOS 550D, Canon 10-22mm, Hoya ND400

After an overnight bus journey, I reached the temple town of Udupi in the morning. Checked into a hotel and after the daily ablutions, left for St.Mary's Island.

The island is 6kms from the mainland. Regular ferry services ply from the Malpe fishing harbor to the island.

Seascapes from St.Mary's Island

I would have loved to get shots of the sunset from this place. But, unfortunately, the ferry services don't run that late in the day and there's no place to stay on the island. Such a shame ...

~AC

At the Auto Show

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:03:00 +0000

When a meet up of the photography forum members from Bangalore did not take off, I decided to visit the Auto Show never the less. It was my first time shooting automobiles and I'm not particularly impressed with the results. Low light conditions and the reflections and glares off the metal made it rather difficult.

Location : Auto Mall 2011, Bangalore

Gear : EOS 550D, Canon 10-22mm, Canon 50mm f/1.8

~AC

Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:03:00 +0000

Continued from Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 3.

The final leg of the trip was also arguably the best. I had heard about the beauty and splendor of the Pangong Tso, made more famous by the movie 'Three Idiots'. My initial reaction on seeing it in the movie was - 'Definitely not real!'. What awaited me in Pangong Tso was a sweet surprise.

The lake was nothing like I had seen or imagined. It's blue waters complemented the surrounding mountains exquisitely. The sky, as always, was azure colored. The lake had several shades of blue within it. The shallow areas were a beautiful mixture of green and blue and as it got deeper, the tone of blue got darker. A surreal image!

En route Pangong Tso Lake

Pangong Tso Lake

Dusk at Pangong Tso

Dawn at Pangong Tso

A Pano of Pangong Tso

With this ends the accounts of one of the best trips I've ever taken. The place is any landscape photographers dream destination, a must go place. Being an avid landscape photography enthusiast myself, I'm glad I was able to visit these places. Would I go there again? - Absolutely!

~AC

Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:56:00 +0000

Continuing from Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 2.

After visiting Hunder, we headed towards the Diskit Monastery. This place was famed for its 32 meter tall stature of Maitreya Buddha. The view from atop the monastery was awe inspiring.

Location : Diskit, Khardong, Lamayuru, Shanti Stupa

Gear : Canon 550D, Canon 10-22mm

Diskit

En Route Khardong La

Lamayuru

Shanti Stupa

Coming up - pictures from the beautiful Pangong Tso lake. To be continued in - Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 4

~AC

Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 05:20:00 +0000

Continuing from Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 1

Day 3 was a day of varying landscapes and climatic extremes. The weather in Leh was moderate with a slight drizzle at dawn. As we moved towards Khardung La (aka Highest Motor-able Pass in the world) sitting at 18380 ft, the temperature was sub-zero as it began to snow. By the end of the day we were passing through the white sand dunes of Diskit and Hunder. Talk about variety ...

Location : Khardong, Khalsar, Nubra Vallyey, Hunder

Gear : Canon 550D, Canon 10-22mm

Tsoling Buddha Park (After Khardung La Pass)

Khardong, Khalsar and Nubra Valley

The Dunes of Hunder

Panorama of the Landscape near Khardong

Still to come - Diskit, Lamayuru, Alchi. To be continued in Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 3

~AC

Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:50:00 +0000

I've always loved the mountains. It's always a great feeling to be high up on one and seeing the beautifully laid landscape that surrounds it. The view, almost always is breath taking. It was no different in Ladakh. If anything, it was only better. Ladakh, has been a dream destination for me for a while now. And finally, I was headed there ...This post will be split into several parts as this was a week long trip with tonnes of pictures.

Day 1 & Day 2

Location : Leh (Leh Palace, Shey Palace, Hemis Monastery, Thiksay Monastrey, Stok Palace)

Gear : Canon 550D, Canon 10-22mm, Canon Speedlite 430 EX II

Note: Click on the images to see larger image.

Around Leh

Hemis Monastery

Thiksay Monastery

Stok Palace

At a traditional Ladakhi House

Indian Army - Hall of Fame , Leh

This was just the beginning of what was to be a great trip. Still to come pics from pictures from Khardungla Pass, Nubra Valley, Diskit Monastery, Hunder Village...

To be continued in Ladakh - A land of mountains and monasteries - Part 2

~AC

Planet Insecta - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:05:00 +0000

Continued from Planet Insecta - Part 1 ..

First serious insect macro photography sure was a lot of fun. What was funnier was the glares and stares I got from other visitors in the museum. I'm sure they were wondering what I was up to in the bushes, when the museum exhibits were in the other direction ...

~AC

Planet Insecta - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:00:00 +0000

When someone enters an Aerospace Museum, people expect him to get tonnes of pictures of planes and choppers. It was a little different for me. Although I did spend a good part of an hour snapping planes, I found something which was more interesting.

Amongst the numerous flowers and plants which lined up inside the museum was a whole new world. A world which I had only seen in great photographs, a world which I had always aspired of capturing in my pictures and a world which was usually ignored by all other visitors. Welcome to Planet Insecta!

Location : HAL Aerospace Museum, Bangalore

Gear : EOS 550D, Canon 100mm f/2.8, Canon Speedlite 430 EX II

Continued in Planet Insecta - Part 2

~AC

Wings of Protection

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:31:00 +0000

This place has been there for over a decade. I pass by this place every day for the past three years. It's 10 minutes away from my house. And yet, today was the first time I entered there. I've always loved aircrafts. Which makes this even more baffling as to why I could not bring myself to go to this place earlier.

The place I'm talking about is the HAL Aerospace Museum. I needed a test ground for my two new lenses - The 10-22mm Wide Angle and the 100mm f/2.8 macro. Being only a few minutes drive from home, I figured this would be the best place.

Location : HAL Aerospace Museum, Bangalore

Gear : EOS 550D, Canon 10-22mm UWA Lens.

The pics that follow are of the metal birds housed in this museum.

It was fun seeing so many planes under one roof. But, little did I know that the fun part of the day was yet to come ....

~AC

At the Flower Show... Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 16:17:00 +0000

Continued from At the Flower Show - Part 2 ...

The new macro lens is sure going to be fun to play with. I can only hope I'll be able use it to it's full potential. Only time will tell, I guess....

~AC

At the Flower Show... Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 16:09:00 +0000

Continued from At the Flower Show - Part 1 ...

To be continued in At the Flower Show - Part 3 ...

~AC

At the Flower Show... Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 16:05:00 +0000

This one was purely by chance. I was to pick my 100mm macro lens today. I was waiting for this the whole week. I had originally planned to hit the local park to test some macro flower/insect shots. But, as luck would have it, a friend told me about the flower show that was to happen in Lalbagh. What better place to test drive the macro lens, I thought.

Honestly, I'm not happy with the pics. Made a critical mistake - did not use flashgun even though I was carrying it, resulted in shooting pics with ISO800 - noise, grain, loss of info in noise reduction in PP. Annoyed!

Here are a few pics from the day.

Location : Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, Bangalore

Gear : Canon EOS 550D, Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens

To be continued in Part 2 ...

~AC

Dance of the Droplets! - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 17:40:00 +0000

Continued from Part 1 ...

Dance of the Droplets! - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 16:36:00 +0000

It's amazing how interesting snapping water droplets can be. After my first tryst with droplet photography, I decided to have a go at it again. I must admit, it fascinating to see the droplets taking so many different formations with every snap. It's like watching them dance ...

Gear : Canon EOS 550D, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Canon Speedlite 430 EX II with wireless trigger

Continued in Part 2 ...

~AC

Of flowers, bees and butterflies ... - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:50:00 +0000

Continuing from Part 2 ...

And that brings to end an interesting weekend for me. I'm quite happy with the way some pics have come out, but rather disappointed with the sharpness on many others. May be... a macro lens will improve my fortunes. Who knows ...

~AC

Of flowers, bees and butterflies ... - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:48:00 +0000

Continuing from Part 1 ...

The last set in Part 3 ...

~AC

Of flowers, bees and butterflies ... - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:44:00 +0000

After a two week long break from photography, I was raring to go out and click some pictures. I had been planning this for a few days and was quite excited when Saturday finally arrived.

Destination : Butterfly Park Bannerghatta, Bangalore

About the place : This is part of the Bannerghatta Biological Park which includes the zoo and the national park. While most visitors come here to see the larger animals in the zoo and the "safari", many either don't even know or ignore the Butterfly Park. I thought the place was quite okay. Nothing too fancy, but with nothing else to compare against, I'll take what we have here. This place had about 3~4 different varieties of butterflies and apparently more in their laboratory/nursery.

Gear : Due to lack of a dedicated macro lens, I was mainly shooting with my Canon 55-250mm lens. (Note to self : Add macro lens to wishlist! )

Continued in Part 2...

~AC

Solo Saturday - Part 4 - Brindavan Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 04:20:00 +0000

So, off to my final destination for the day - Brindavan Gardens in Mysore.

And finally, I decided to wrap up the day with an HDR of the sunset.

From photography perspective, this wasn't as bad an outing as I had feared it would be. I ended up with some decent pictures and some much needed time out with the gear ...

~AC

Solo Saturday - Part 3 - Ranganathittu

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 04:10:00 +0000

After a dose of historic places, it was time for a change. It was time to hit Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary.

Here are the pics ...

At the end of this, I realized one thing. Bird photography with a 55-250mm lens leaves a lot to be desired ...

Coming up .. Brindavan Gardens

~AC

Solo Saturday - Part 2 - Srirangapatna

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:26:00 +0000

Continuing from my last post ...

Next stop was Gumbaz and Capt. Bailey's Dungeon.

Gumbaz is the tomb of Tipu Sultan and his family. I must say, I was impressed by the monument. I had to get the Gumbaz with the blue sky in the background. I decided to try an HDR photo and the results weren't all that bad ...

Gumbaz, the tomb of Tipu Sultan.

My first shot at an HDR image

Captain Bailey's Dungeon

I was quite excited at the prospect of getting pictures inside a dungeon. However, it wasn't quite the dungeon I had imagined ... I had thought it'd be a dark and creepy place ... but this turned out a lot less creepy than I had wanted it to be ...

Coming up ... Ranganathittu

~AC

Solo Saturday - Part 1 - Srirangapatna

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:19:00 +0000

In the aftermath of a cancelled trip to Kodaikanal, I decided to take off alone and take some pictures. A friend of mine had earlier told me about the photographic content in the historical town of Srirangapatna, near Mysore. This town was the capital of Mysore during the pre-independent ages and is home to places and buildings of historic and religious importance. Last Saturday, I decided to give the place a shot ...

Dariya Daulat Baug (The summer palace of Tipu Sultan)

It was interesting being in a historic place. It had a lot to offer for the lens. If only photography was allowed inside the palace ....

Coming up ... pics from the remainder of the day ..

First experiments with an off-camera flash unit

noreply@blogger.com (Anoop Chinnan) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:16:00 +0000

I recently got myself a Canon Speedlite 430 EX II. These pics were the results of my first experimentation with the flash. I used the 18-55mm kit lens for these pics.

The full set can be seen here : http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvnA7vQ

~AC