carrotmadman6's photoblog

Helios 44M 2/58

2013-09-01T14:50:00.001+04:00

The $10 lens.

The Ге́лиос 44M ƒ2.0 58mm lens is a copy of the Carl Zeiss Biotar 2/58 lens and was made in the USSR between 1958 to 1992.

There exist several variants of the Helios 44 and they are most famous for:

Excellent center sharpness at all apertures.
"Dreamy" (cats-eye) bokeh when wide open.

The Helios 44M is mainly a portrait lens on 35mm film cameras & thus works best on FF cameras. On my crop DSLR, the focal length (92mm equivalent) is closer to the 85mm short telephoto prime lenses.

Made from aluminium, the Helios feels totally different from the other plastic lenses I own. The focus/aperture rings are stiff to turn and the glass probably contains some radioactive elements. However, the most impressive thing is its weight – it's quite heavy (325g) and feels as solidly built as a Soviet T-34 tank.

A proper vintage lens. Made in 1977. ;)

The 'coolest' thing about this prime lens is that it's totally manual. There is no Auto Focus. You have to turn a ring to change focus (from 55cm to ∞) and another ring to change the aperture (from ƒ/2 to ƒ/16). You can see the 8-bladed aperture above.

Although it has an Automatic/Manual switch, that doesn't work because it needs an adapter that can mechanically push a spring rod in the lens to stop down the aperture. Most DSLRs meter (i.e. measure the light input of the scene) with the lenses at their widest aperture and only changes the aperture to the desired one at the moment of taking the photo. The camera calculates the change in light when moving to a smaller aperture and compensates for it.

What this means on my Helios is that when I take a photo in Av-mode, with camera aperture set at ƒ/2 and lens aperture set at ƒ/2, the photo is correctly exposed.

However when I take a photo with camera aperture set at ƒ/4 and lens aperture set at ƒ/4, the camera goes bonkers and the photo is exceedingly bright. That's because the camera thinks that it's metering at ƒ/2 and over-compensates for ƒ/4.

The solution in Av-mode is to set in-camera aperture to ƒ/4, lock the exposure settings with the lens at ƒ/2, change the aperture of the lens to ƒ/4 and then take the photo. In practice, this two-stage photo-taking is cumbersome and only suitable for still-life scenes.

The other solution is to go full manual. Control aperture, shutter speed and ISO independently. :)

The Helios 44M 2/58 is a lens made for Zenit cameras with a M42 screw mount. To be able to fit it on my Canon, I had to buy an M42 adapter with AF confirmation (to shoot photos in non-Manual modes, the lens needs to send a signal back to the camera when the subject is in focus).

Instead of going for the cheap ones, I went for an EMF programmable M42 adapter. The programming, which may appear cryptic at first, allows me to add a maximum aperture (ƒ/2), focal length (58mm) and back/front focus compensation for the lens. The first 2 is only good for EXIF, but the back/front focus compensation is absolutely essential, especially for vintage lenses.

The problem with old lenses is that over time the optical parts inside move and when you try to focus using the viewfinder, the focus of the resulting photo may appear further back (back focus) or in front (front focus) of the desired focus point. On Canon bodies, thanks to AF micro adjustment compensation, we can fine-tune the final focus point (it's a focus plane BTW).

In the close-up focus range, the Helios does have some back focus issues and I did try to program-in the compensation for it… until I discovered a much better way to focus.

Using the Live View.

One of the reasons why I bought a Canon is because it's hackable. I can run custom firmware on it, like Magic Lantern, which adds a lot of useful features like an Intervalometer, RAW video, Kelvin white balance, Zebras, custom grids, Trap focus, etc. (exactly like CHDK on my S100). The feature that is most useful for manual lenses is focus peaking.

What focus peaking does is that it shades the areas that are currently in focus in Live View (it computes the focus according to its own algorithms). So all you have to do is look at the LCD, move the focus ring and take a photo when the part you want in focus becomes shaded.

The truth is that the viewfinder on DSLRs weren't designed for manual focusing. After using the focus peaking tweak, there's no way I'm using the viewfinder ever again (on manual lenses). The only inconvenience is that using the LCD drains down the battery faster than usual.

The Lens

So, how about the performance of the lens? The reason why most people love the Helios/Carl Zeiss Biotar vintage lenses is because of the swirly bokeh effect. Depending on the focus plane, the Helios delivers creamy to the dreamy bokeh.

Unfortunately, on a crop lens, the subject has to much further away to obtain the cats-eye bokeh. Somewhere between 1.5 to 2m, the perfect distance for portraits. So to capture this phenomenon, I had to do something I almost never do - shoot portraits.

Of pets, obviously. Portrait photogs love this lens because the bokeh surrounds the subject and gives more emphasis. The swirly bokeh is in fact due to a defect in the construction of the lens elements.

Before I discovered focus peaking, I was pretty disappointed with the sharpness. However, the lens is dead sharp at the centre and only loses sharpness at the corners when wide open.

One of the challenges while shooting wide open is that the focus plane is extremely narrow, less than 1cm for close-ups.

When shooting plants and flowers, I have to account for movements of the camera and wind moving the subject. Remember that there is no image stabilisation on the Helios.

In terms of colours, photos on the Helios 44 come out like pastel. The only thing I'd do in post would be to increase the contrast. Do note that all photos taken with Helios 44 in this post haven't been processed except for resizing.

Stopping down from ƒ/2 to ƒ/4. Notice the increase in sharpness and how the camera over-compensates.

When shooting at ƒ/2, flare is a problem. If there's too much light (something very common in Mauritius), the image loses sharpness and there is some purple fringing (due to the cheap lens coating).

Sometimes objects in focus may appear to glow. To avoid this, while shooting in direct sunlight, a lens hood is a must. Well, if you have a 50mm ƒ/1.8, there's a good news – the same lens hood (ES-62) also fits on the Helios 44.

Video performance? The stiff focus ring doesn't help. I still need a proper tripod.

The bokeh monster

The Helios 44M 2/58 is not really $10. If I account for the shipping & the M42 adapter (which is more expensive than the lens!), it cost me around $40. For that price & the bokeh I've been getting (rivaling the f/1.8s & f/1.4s), it's definitely a bargain. I've been so enamoured with the bokeh that every shot I've taken has been with the aperture wide open.

I'll be honest – it's not a lens you can use as a walkabout lens as the lack of AF is too much of an inconvenience. This lens is meant for situations where you can experiment and shoot at your own pace – portraits, still life and even street photography (you are forced to pause & observe).

The only negative thing about this lens is the fungus growing on it…

The web-like threads growing on the edges, at the back of the front element. Turns out fungus love Mauritius' climate. :(

Related:

Camerapedia – Helios-44
Pentax Forums - KMZ Helios 44-2 58mm F/2
JR Photography - Helios 44m-4 58mm f/2 review
Q8iEng - Swirly Bokeh
35photo.ru - Объектив Гелиос ГЕЛИОС 44-2 2/ 58 ММ
35photo.ru - Объектив Гелиос 44-2 58 мм

Pieter Both

2013-03-25T07:31:00.001+04:00

This is the most iconic mountain of Mauritius. A national symbol which features on the official logo of the Mauritius. At 820m, the 2nd highest mountain of the island has claimed many victims among the brave who dared to defy it…

So, how hard can it be?

To find out, a very long time ago, last year, we were on our way to the village of La Laura-Malenga.

On Wikiloc, there exist 3 different GPS tracks for Pieter Both (posted at the end of this post). Since I couldn't decide which one to follow, as you would expect, I loaded all 3 tracks at the same time.

After leaving the village of the Future (aka L'Avenir), we couldn't take the direct road because the bridges in the region were being reconstructed.

So we had to do a rather large detour to avoid the various construction sites. Kudos to the one who had the brilliant idea of burning all the bridges at the same time.

Cattle farms, flower plantation, crop fields & very narrow roads - La Laura-Malenga is the stereotypical Mauritian village. I'm sure the only means of transportation around here is the maroon taxi.

A sign of modernity - an area zip code!

A sea of cabbages.

The trail to Pieter Both starts at a turn near the end of the road (that goes nowhere as we found out).

There wasn't much parking space here, so we parked the car on the side of the road. Alternatively, you can park near the fields.

With the sun peaking out of the clouds, the weather was perfect to start on the trail. I had already warned the other two explorers that if it rained, the climb would have to be aborted...

The first part is a stroll through the fields. It turned out we made the right decision of not blocking the road. The vegetable planters did make use of it.

A typical farming scenery. The crops with the mountain in the background.

The flowers bordering the fields.

The harvested vegetables stored on the side.

&… a private cremation ground!

Long ago, people used to bury/cremate their deceased on the lands they cultivated. This practice, while very rare, is still alive today.

As we moved out of the trees, we got a clear view of Pieter Both & the V-gully we would be climbing.

There are various bedtime stories behind Pieter Both.

One of which is the tale of a milkman who stumbled across a secret ~~nude~~ fairy party & was forbidden to reveal it. & when he talked about it, his head swelled to become the rock.

Another story says that people were forbidden to go on the other side of the mountain. One day, a boy shepherd went after a sheep which crossed over the top & in the process was cursed by fairies to become the stone atop the mountain.

In fact, Pieter Both (1568-1615) was the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. In 1615, after relinquishing his position to Gerard Reynst, he left for the Netherlands with four ships. Two of the ships, including his ship Banda was shipwrecked near Mauritius and he drowned, with his body washing off near Baie du Tombeau. & thus Pieter Both was named after Pieter Both.

The path bordered by chayote plants gave way to one with heavy bushes.

With the path going into the trees, we sensed that the start of the climb was near.

As we moved through the trees, something colourful caught our eyes.

Upon closer investigation, it turned out to be one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen - a flower field on the flanks of the mountain.

With flowers of every possible colour.

With thousands of bees buzzing around.

The two camera-owning explorers were overjoyed by this discovery. It wasn’t surprising though. The region of Moka, St Pierre & La Laura-Malenga is ~~literally~~ figuratively the garden of Mauritius. Nearly all the flowers that are sold come from here.

We would have stayed here for quite a while if we weren't reminded that there was a mountain to climb.

We took a short breakfast break in this scenic location while I reminded the others of the difficulties that lay ahead. Boulders, the V-gully, rock faces, steep slopes, a traverse & wasp nests.

Unlike last time, we were fully prepared to face any challenge that laid in our way – Swiss knives, rope, matches, an old tshirt &… firecrackers.

The first 200m of the track was woody.

The path gently sloped up through the bushes & the rocks.

Until we reached a boulder, which was fairly easy to climb.

The boulder gave us a vantage point over the village of La Laura-Malenga.

From here on, the ascension became much harder. The ground climbed sharply.

Fortunately, our experience with 3 Mamelles had already conditioned us for that.

As we delved deeper into the undergrowth, the GPS signal got weaker. We were nearly in the V-gully, shielded by the mountains. It's easy to get lost at this point due to fake readings.

It also meant that we were barely moving, horizontally that is. We were gaining more in altitude than in distance covered.

The arduous climb came to a stop as we emerged right underneath the head of Pieter Both.

There was a rock face to climb before we could proceed any further. At first I thought I could do it bare-handed, but I quickly gave up after my first try.

There was no way I could do this without being roped up. Luckily, other people had already figured this out & had put anchors into the rock for ropes.

& that was how for the first time ever I used rope to climb a mountain. Under the laughing support of my comrades.

Made it. Looking down from the gully gave us the chills as to far we had climbed. We realised how any mishap could be fatal...

& that we were indeed in the V-gully. From this point, we would be climbing a near-vertical slope.

& by goodness was it tough! The ground here was slippery & without any trees, the only thing to grab for was grass.

As we made our slow progress, we heard a distress ~~scream~~ call from the one explorer who had confidently ventured forward without waiting for us.

Since I was the only one with a map, Indiana Clarkson obviously got lost. He had made a beeline for the summit & was now stuck just underneath the shoulder. After finding out he couldn't climb down, he was now begging for help to get him out of there.

As we climbed higher, we came across the traverse which fell straight into the gully & where there had been several landslides. We realised it was pretty much impossible to climb up to his help, as the earth was giving away at that area & there was nothing to hold on. Any fall will lead you straight into the gully & into an agonising death.

As we pondered whether to abandon him to his fate or send as SMS to the Special Mobile Force (SMF), Indiana Clarkson suddenly remembered he had a rope on him.

Hence he rolled his bag towards the bushes on the other side, attached the rope to a branch & managed to lower himself to the traverse.

But we still didn't know where to go next. The GPS track was useless as all it showed was that we were already at the summit. It was time to bring out the manual.

As it turned out, the way to the summit was just beyond the area above the gully, where the path had been hidden by the rockslides. I didn’t have this photo with me at that time, otherwise Indiana Clarkson wouldn’t have been stuck (just above of the dotted line).

& so badly shaken by this episode, at exactly noon, we finally managed to reach the summit.

Sorry, I mean the shoulder of Pieter Both. It had taken us 3 hours & a lot of poo in our pants. I know, there was still the head to climb, but we'll figure that out later.

The view up here was staggering.

Beyond us stretched the Northern plains, the East & the Plaines Wilhems. The only thing hidden from us was Port Louis.

We could catch only a glimpse of it...

La Nicolière as well was hidden behind that hill.

We could nearly see the Coin de Mire if it wasn’t for the haze.

Just below us was the village of Creve Coeur.

The Terre-Rouge-Verdun highway that was being built.

The St-Pierre-Verdun part of the highway which has already been completed by now.

St Pierre & Ebene.

The villages of La Laura-Malenga and the road we had used.

In between La Laura-Malenga & Creve Coeur was Deux Mamelles. A relatively easy peak to climb, judging by the tracks.

The other peaks that are along with Pieter Both & far behind them, Mt. Le Pouce.

On a rock on the shoulder, we found a bolt anchor used for rock climbing.

After the ordeal we had, the scenery was the best balm to soothe our nerves…

Time for a history lesson on the various ascents of Pieter Both.

The first person to climb it was a French sailor named Claude Peuthé, on September 8, 1790. Astonishingly, he managed that feat alone. After several unsuccesful attempts, he used an arrow to secure the rope around the head & managed to climb it. & thus the tricolored French flag was planted on the summit of Peterboot.

Claude Peuthé climbed Pieter Both again on the 29/30th October 1790, this time accompanied by a negro.

We had to wait until 7 September 1832 before the first English expedition climbed Pieter Both, headed by engineer John Augustus Lloyd. Several expeditions followed in 1848, 1858 & 1864. In 1885, a group of Victorian ~~hippies~~ explorers decided to set iron pegs into the rock to make the climbing easier.

In the 1970s, the SMF replaced these rusty 1885 spikes with stainless steel ones.

Source: Les ascensions du Pieter Both à l'époque coloniale – 2-part article by Week-End published on 16/09/2007 & 23/09/2007. & I’ve uploaded it as pdf in case it gets ‘lost.’

In my opening paragraph, I mentioned about the mountain having claimed several victims…

On 1 January 1971, a group of youths decided to mark the New Year by climbing Pieter Both. A violent thunderstorm ensued. Some members of the group were struck by lightning and suffered serious injuries. One of them, Kadress Chengapen, was knocked off balance and fell into a ravine. The SMF did not recover his body until 5 January.

Source: Mauritius 500 Early Postcards by Andre De Kervern, Yvan Martial

After having rested for a couple of hours, Indiana Clarkson was sent to investigate if it was possible to climb up to the head. Unfortunately, all the stainless steel rungs had rusted away, making ascent impossible without equipment.

If you look at this photo from 1980, you would notice the rungs holding firmly into the rock wall. & now they've completely disappeared. Some say that the SMF had to cut them off because it was unsafe.

Weirdly though, those on the head are still here…

It was indeed disappointing to come so close & not being able to climb it. But after the fearful event we just had, we had no more courage to make the attempt.

Hey, at least we made the shoulder. Close enough!

& so, tails between our legs, we started on the journey downwards.

We were apprehensive that we would face more difficulties below. Instead, all we had to do was crawl along on our behinds. I should probably warn that the ground around the V-gully was damp. If it was raining, all the water from mountain would have flowed through where we were climbing. That's why it is extremely dangerous to attempt the climb during a storm.

Once again, we had to use the rope here.

But otherwise the climbing down was uneventful, even boring.

We were going at such a leisurely pace that it took us nearly 2h to reach the boulder.

We rested for some time, admiring the flower fields of La Laura-Malenga.

While we were looking at Piton du Milieu, some clouds washed over the head & shoulders of Pieter Both. If we had stayed longer at the summit, perhaps we could have had experienced that…

While the ascent was among the hardest I’ve ever done, the descent was definitely the easiest.

Eventually, we reached the flower field.

As the last rays of the sun were disappearing behind mountains, it light up the beautiful mountain flanks.

& so, 2h 43 mins later, we were back to base.

Pieter Both… the only mountain which defeated us. Fair enough, we had to struggle in the V-gully and our episode with Indiana Clarkson trapping himself had sapped some of our mental strength. But without equipment, it was impossible to reach the summit.

For the record, this was the 2nd mountain (after Lion Mountain) where we didn’t encounter any fellow mountaineers. In some ways, we were glad to have met no one. Anyone would have been ashamed to have come so close & yet be so far from achieving their objective…

Our only respite were the fantastic landscapes. Well worth the hike & all its troubles.

As it turned out, even for the worst explorers in history, it was… too hard.

Related:

Tracks:

Wikiloc - Pieter Both mountain track by thermo
Wikiloc - Pieter Both by hikemu
Wikiloc - Pieter Both - 05-JUN-11 13:31:14 by pascalllc
Fitsy - Pieter Both Mountain GPS route

Photos:

expedition.toptotop.org - Mountain Peter Both
coeser.de/showcase - Pieter Both Mountain
TrekEarth - Pieter Both Mountain by HARDCHRIS
FB - Pieter Both Mountain, LET's Hike. by La Laura Malenga Mauritius
FB - Pieter Both Mountain photographs clicked from different Places by La Laura Malenga Mauritius
FB - Cloud HUGS - Peak of Pieter Both Mountain 02112012 by La Laura Malenga Mauritius
500px - Pieter Both by Gilbert Therese
Flickr - Pieter Both mountain .. by Mauritius100
Flickr - Pieter Both by Ploughman
Flickr - Pieter Both by rubared
Flickr - Pieter Both by Joachim S. Müller
Flickr - Mount Pieter Both by Daniel Alvarez Arribas
Flickr - Montagnes autour de P.Louis by Christian Bossu-Picat
Flickr - 2009-03-01_07-02-29 by Avinash Meetoo
Flickr - nandgaon-Mauritius by cidanandas
Flickr - Peter Both mountain by Loutron Glouton
Flickr - Paysage Peter Both by IamSly
Flickr - Peter Both by kati.e75

Videos:

YouTube - Clouds Hugs - Pieter Both Mountain Nov 2012
YouTube - TOPtoTOP on top of Peter Both Mountain, Mauritius
YouTube - 2011-07-17 - PatLoisirs Pieter Both - Deux Mamelles - Photoed/Videoed/TimeLapsed
YouTube - paragliding mauritius le Pouce-Pieter Both
YouTube - Maurice-état : Le Pieter Both

Maha Shivratri 2013

2013-03-18T22:16:00.001+04:00

A week before the festival was to be celebrated, I was on my way to the annual pilgrimage to Ganga Talao…

Ganga Talao

I’ve already covered the festival over the last 2 years. So, if you’re looking for a more comprehensive account of the pilgrimage, the links have been posted at the end of this post.

Because I went a week early, the total number of pilgrims that were marching on the roads was… zero.

Instead, we found ourselves amongst the great minds who had similar ideas of avoiding the peak-time crowd. There wasn’t much of a crowd to be honest, mainly due to the intermittent heavy rain.

& what a rain it was. Sometimes you had the lake engulfed by a mist.

Followed a few moments later by sunshine chasing it away.

It went on & off.

Well, you get the idea…

That however didn’t stop some people from braving the rain.

Or from venturing out knee-deep into the lake.

As it has been the case for many years, the lake was literally over-flowing…

… with fishes. I don’t know if it’s normal behaviour for the fishes to surface to breathe or that overpopulation has exhausted nearly all the oxygen in the water.

At least, it made someone very happy. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any of the gigantic eels.

Since there was a queue at the temple down here, we decided to walk over to the upper one.

This part of the lake was nearly deserted due to the water having overflown up to the pavement.

In the upper temple, I found out that the electricity supply had been cut off.

Because works were still being done in installing the street lighting & various spotlights.

Preparations were still on-going to accommodate the 400,000 people that would be coming to Grand Bassin. I do pity the people having to work in these conditions.

Up the hill, the mist didn’t discourage anyone from taking photos.

As the rain paused for a while, I went down to the lake.

Here also, people were offering their prayers.

The Fire services were pumping out the water while the NCG had a lifeboat ready to go onto the island & the police had put tape to prevent anyone from drowning themselves.

With the prayers nearly done, there was only one thing left do… climb the hill. :)

It was very windy up here.

Ganga Talao.

If you compare it with this photo from 1986/1987, it’s apparent how much it has changed in 27 years.

A lot of new structures have been constructed. Like this temple. The area around the lake is much safer now.

You could even say there are too many buildings now. I bet the parking wasn’t bursting like this at that time…

& of course, instead of a wind turbine, we now have the Mangal Mahadev & the new statue.

The isle in the middle of the lake now has three more “arbres du voyageur.” The once crystal clear blue lake has turned into a murky brown swamp. Perhaps they should invest more into cleaning the lake than erecting new statues…

& the temple on the hill as well has been renovated.

Obviously, the rain came & I couldn’t resist the opportunity to brave the adverse conditions to take this shot.

As soon as the weather cleared out, I went down to the lake again.

The crowd numbers had swelled now that they had been joined by tourists.

There were still two things to do before we set off for home. One of which was visiting the Somnath Spiritual Park, near the parking.

Inside the massive building, still under construction, were 108 Shivlings.

Surrounded by the effigies of the avatars of Vishnu, including that of Narasimha.

I didn’t count it, but I suppose there were less than 108 bells.

Why the number 108? Well, I have no idea, except from what I’ve read on Wikipedia…

The distance of the Sun from the Earth divided by the diameter of the Sun and the distance of the Moon from the Earth divided by the diameter of the Moon is approximately equal to 108.
For example, Google Search provides the "distance between Sun and Earth" as 149,600,000 km and the "diameter of Sun" as 1,391,000 kilometers. So, we get the ratio as: 107.548526240115, which can be approximated to 108 by rounding above. Also, Google Search provides the "distance between Moon and Earth" as 384,400 km and the "diameter of Moon" as 3 474.8 kilometers. So, we get the ratio as: 110.6250719465869, which when approximated to 111 is near 108 by 3.
It is claimed that the great sires of Vedanta knew this relationship and thus 108 is a very important number in Vedantic chantings.

Okay.

One last thing…

The 108 ft statue of Durga that is currently being built.

& here’s what it’ll look like.

The Mangal Mahadev, which as you already know, is also 108 ft tall.

There is an enormous amount of iconography associated with Shiva. Here’s a few of them:

The blue throat (Neelkanth) when Shiva drank poison & held it in this throat to prevent it from spreading in the universe.
The serpent as a garland, symbol of wisdom & eternity.
The crescent moon, sign of the cycle of creation.
The 3rd eye, burning lust to ashes.
The Ganges in the hair (they hadn’t turned on the tap), representing the flow of immortality.

iPad as a camera, symbol of human stupidity.

I’ve had seen enough for the day.

In Plaine Champagne, sightings of Chinese guavas in the bushes forced us to stop. Unfortunately, most of them weren’t ripe yet, but I still managed to taste one. ;)

The next stop was at Mare aux Vacoas.

Which was nearly deserted apart from some fishermen. Since we were already in the region of Henrietta, I wanted to visit one place where my zoom lens would be handy…

The Tamarind Falls.

More commonly known as Sept Cascades.

I’m pretty sure these are not all of the 7 waterfalls. Only one way to find out…

There was also another waterfall opposite to the viewpoint.

A passing farmer suggested us to go further ahead near a CEB station for a better view of the area.

By the time we reached that spot, it already started raining & there was nothing much to be seen.

Apart from another waterfall which came from Henrietta!

& that was the end of our trip to Ganga Talao, with a short stop at Henrietta to recon the area for a future trip… ;)

(I should probably ask for a free trip in exchange of an epic ad post.)

Pilgrimage

I didn’t get any opportunity to shoot the pilgrims, except on the day before Maha Shivratri, where I caught up with a handful of them returning to Triolet.

People queuing up to distribute refreshments.

& that is why there should be a maximum height for kanwars.

Maha Shivratri

Celebrating the festival at the Maheswarnath Mandir.

We reached the temple early enough when the queues hadn’t been formed yet.

Inside the main temple & the decorative tiger that is still worshipped.

Clearly a lot of people have a weak grasp of English…

(& it’s called incense sticks FYI.)

Doing the aarti of the gatekeeper.

The only place where there was a queue was at the Hanuman temple.

An e-pilgrim. A lot of pilgrims rest overnight at the temple. Obviously, they need some form of entertainment.

With prayers over, I turned my mind towards more pressing concerns, i.e. shooting the beautiful kanwars.

If you look though the 2011/2012 posts, you will see a lot of kanwars that look familiar. That’s because they are recycled every year. The statues and structures are kept & fitted with new decorations. Surely, they can do better than that…

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any new ones. Here are a few of them.

Another thing I noticed was that the names of the groups do sound similar…

Some of the more traditional ones… :)

Hey, I know this one!

& here’s the most extravagant one – Nandi, the bull, pulling a chariot.

What I liked the most about the kanwars was the attention to details.

Well, not here…

But rather in the decorations.

Look at those details!

Nothing to see here.

& then amongst all those amazing things, this was the one that got me. Please stop this.

That was my cue to leave. But before that I went to get some free refreshments.

It was nearly 9 am & the crowd had swelled up, causing the MBC to appear out of nowhere. Even more reason to leave.

No comments.

That was my account of the festival of Maha Shivratri. I’m a bit disappointed that I went too early to Ganga Talao & didn’t to capture any of the actual pilgrimage. Now that I have a camera (with the proper lens), I’m considering a night trip next year. That should be fantastic, judging by these photos… :)

Related:

My First DSLR

2013-03-10T00:48:00.001+04:00

It was only a couple of 6 months ago that I bought the Canon S100. & now I’ve bought yet another Canon.

The EOS Canon Rebel 600T Digital D3i.

Disclaimer: I’ve never used a DSLR before.

That is, until I got the Canon EOS D600 which I’ve been using it for over a month. & it’s now time for me to review it, Top Gear-style. If you want a technical review, head over to DPReview.

Does it come in black?

Yep.

EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS II, the kitty lens.

EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS II, nicknamed the pervert lens.

Can it take close-up shots of flowers?

Yes.

Bokeh?

Bokehlicious!

Can you shoot a cat, while behind bars?

Yes.

How far does the zoom go?

To find out, I went to the biggest lake/reservoir in Mauritius & wondered if the camera can see the other side? Clear enough.

How about watching people climbing down a waterfall? Yes, I can see them.

But I needed to be even more ambitious. Can I shoot the Alcatraz prison in San Francisco? Yes.

So, the zoom is very good & goes very far.

Is it good enough to capture kittens playing?

Awww.

How wide is 18mm?

There was only one place to test that - the straightest straight road in Mauritius. Yes, you can capture both sides of the road.

But is it wide enough to shoot the two sides underneath a bridge? Yes.

Can it take a photo of a moving plane?

Yes.

Can it take a picture of a moving car?

Yeah!

Can it take a picture of a moving supercar in low-light?

Close enough.

Is the pop-up flash good?

To find out, I went to the darkest cave in Mauritius. Alright, it’s a bit weak.

Can you see yourself in the eyes of a cat?

Yes.

Can it do portraits of pixelated people?

Yep. Excellent.

Can it take a photo of road signs?

Ok.

What if I want a picture of kids jumping in the water?

Ha. Checkmate creationists.

Can you take a night photo handheld?

Eurgh. Nothing to see here.

Can it shoot the moon on a tripod worth less than $10?

Yes.

Can it shoot the Milky Way?

Awww yeaaahhhh!

& a sunset?

Perfect.

Double rainbows!!?!?!

Of course.

Can it do LEGO photography?

Yes.

Can it take a photo of it taking a photo?

Alright, I’ll show myself out now…

No more fooling around. I know what you’re expecting me to do… & here we go.

Step 1: Buy a DSLR. Done.

Step 2: Take a self-portrait in the mirror. Done.

Step 3: Done. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baton-Mouroum-Photography/572248949471304

(I was confused between Fresh Bokeh Creations & Baton Mouroum Photography, but went with the latter.)

If you don’t get the reference...

Review

Alright, enough of trolling, here’s my actual review. :)

I’ve always wanted a DSLR ever since I read a review of the Nikon D90 on Engadget. I’ve been shooting with compact cameras since 3 years now & I always knew that one day I’ll have to move to the next level - DSLRs. Reading through hundreds of reviews, comments on Reddit & discussions on Facebook, I understood that going from P&S to DSLR will be a massive leap. What I didn’t know was just how tremendous that leap would be…

Why Canon? Although, I already shoot Canon, the choice of which DSLR to buy was up in the air. On one hand, Nikon has better sensors & glass, on the other hand, Canon cameras are more hackable & have more features. The two cameras within my budget were the D5100 & 600D/650D. The lack of motors in the D5100 put me off & given that Canons are more popular in the States, I went with Canon.

Why the 600D/T3i? Actually, the 650D was around $100-$150 more expensive than the 600D. But I was saving up to buy another lens – the nifty fifty 50mm f1.8. Unfortunately, it was out of stock & I didn’t get it.

Stepping into the world of DSLRs.

When I first used the 600D, I was surprised by how heavy it is (remember, this was the first time I was touching a DSLR). With 55-250mm lens, it weighs more than 1kg. It’s not a complaint, just an observation. The heavy weight does help a lot to reduce camera shake. & because the body is so big, it’s easier to get a firm grip.

The next thing that shocked me was the AF speed. Both by how uber-fast it is when using the viewfinder & how super-slow it is during Liveview (even my L20 focused faster!). I thought that I would need some time to adapt to the viewfinder. In fact, I was astonished as to how easily I forgot the use of the screen. The only thing I miss is the grid – it’s a lot more difficult to make horizons horizontal on the viewfinder.

& then there was the mirror/shutter. My goodness is it loud! Chak chak chak! It’s as if I was slicing vegetables on a cutting board. No more discrete photography.

That was followed by the awkward motion of changing lenses. If anything, that would be the biggest drawback of DSLRs – while changing lenses, there’s a chance of dust getting on the sensor. & dust on the sensor causes spots to appear on photos. I’ve already had to use my blower a couple of times to get rid of them…

Another disadvantage is that until you can change lenses as fast as your shadow, time will not suspend itself. & that happened quite often as I changed the 18-55 for the 55-250 only for the subject to be gone (or the scene change) before I could take the shot. One alternative is to have only one lens on the body, like the 18-200 which covers the whole zoom range. Of course, that isn’t a cheap solution.

The best feature of DSLRs are the controls. ISO, exposure compensation, aperture, AF control, white balance, shooting mode – everything within the grasp of your thumb. It’s so easy to change settings on the fly.

However, I do find one thing missing on the 600D. It doesn’t have the scroll wheel which I absolutely love on my S100. Moving through pictures with the direction keys is a pain on the thumb.

There’s also the Menu & Options keys that are positioned on the opposite side, forcing two-handed use.

The 600D like the 60D has an articulated screen. & it’s absolutely wonderful for doing various shots from the ground. Though, it means I can’t put glass screen protectors on it otherwise it won’t close. So I went with film screen protectors. The UI is ok, but I do think they could have improved on it…

Photos

The depth of field. I think that’s what gets everyone hooked on DSLRs. With my very first shot, I realised the compositional freedom I had to frame my subjects. There’s absolutely no comparison with compacts. I’ve never really ventured into portraits with my compacts, but the shallow DOF I get with the 55-250 makes me want to go out & shoot people…

Of course, the first thing that jumps to the eyes when pixel peeping is the dynamic range. Followed by the sharpness of the images. But what pleased me most was the grain. Even while shooting at high ISO, the grain is natural, not some blocky multicoloured pixels. The 600D can easily do up to ISO 6400 which is acceptable & even pleasant (if you’re into uploading to Instagram).

If you look at the above photos, I think there’s no doubt that there’s a gigantic leap in quality between the S100 & the 600D. I have absolutely no regrets purchasing them. Yeah, both of them.

The 600D has an 18MP APS-C sensor with a crop factor of 1.6x. Which is why the focal length of 18-55mm is actually more like 29-88mm (this is not correct explanation, but I'm going with that for simplification), while the 55-250 is closer to 88-400mm, which is massive! I’ve already had so many OMG moments with the 250mm. Like the first time I shot a sugarcane field & saw workers in there that I would have never seen with my naked eyes. Or when I observed the rotation of the Earth while staring at the full moon…

Hence, that’s why the 55-250 is now my walkabout lens. I don’t use the 18-55 a lot, because the S100 already has a wider angle 24mm. In low-light no-tripod conditions, it’s no surprise that the S100 f.20 beats the 600D 18-55 f3.5. Until I get a prime lens that is…

Final thoughts

Yes, I have zero regrets purchasing a DSLR over a PC. Which also means for the time being, I can’t shoot RAW because post-processing it will be too slow. The only thing I haven’t mentioned yet is battery life. On a single charge, it can easily do between 600-750 shots, which is more than enough. I never have to worry about running out of juice.

Given that I have an APS-C DSLR, I’m already thinking of the next evolution, that is Full Frame. Just kidding. Right now, I do badly need to work on my composition. I’m not talking only about experimenting with DOF. Using the 55-250 at all times is challenging as you can’t just go wide and start snapping away. & beyond that there’s so much more to learn – manipulating light using flashes, shooting manual, using filters, prime lenses, etc, etc.

The journey starts now. :)

Trois Mamelles

2012-12-06T10:46:00.001+04:00

Strictly speaking, it should be 1 Mamelle because we climbed only one of the 3 breasts...

The last time I had climbed a mountain was Corps de Garde, last year. Hence 2 months ago, thanks to the GPS tracks provided by fitsy.com, I ventured towards my first trek of 2012.

Time to get back in the game.

The start of the trail starts at Bassin, near Palma. While following the Phoenix/Beaux Songes link road, turn left towards Bassin at the only roundabout.

The road towards the mountains is pretty much unmissable.

Unless you're using Apple maps for navigation. Most of these "roads" are not driveable. Certainly not the one below which actually cuts through the mountain. Even Google maps has non-existent roads, but not to the same extent as Apple maps.

I would recommend leaving your vehicle at the houses near the first bridge before following the track.

Plus, there’s a tap at the place of worship next to the river bank, which you'll eventually need after the climb.

The J.Nehru/Holyrood road is a very busy one. Keep a watch for the sugarcane lorries barrelling up the narrow road.

After leaving the 1950 bridge over Rivière Bassin, there'll be some more bridges up ahead.

Spooky. Did someone die here?

Perhaps a coincidence, but were we to take the suggested Palma road in the GPS track, we would have probably come across a body…

One side of this bridge was built in 1953 and the other was completed in 1958. Can’t believe people were so lazy back then.

Yet another stream under the shadow of palm trees.

At the end of the road, there were some warehouses storing heavy machinery.

& a checkpoint for a private road used by Medine Sugar Estate. The fields in this region as well as the mountains all belong to the Medine S.E.

Amidst the coming & going of the sugarcane lorries, heavy machinery were at work clearing the land for a residential project.

The path to follow was straight ahead.

The iconic Montagne du Rempart, most commonly seen from Tamarin.

& the Mamelle we would be climbing, the centre peak, at a height of 666 m. You read that right. 666 m according to the atlas I have. Some books report it as 629 m. Looking into the GPS trail file, it was 675 m.

Up ahead, we came across yet another religious shrine.

Mauritians pretend to be very religious. Yet, the same cannot be said for their grasp of grammar.

More nearly dried streams. All of them eventually end up as Rivière du Rempart.

Having emerged from the clump of trees, we could now ponder on the monumental climb that lay ahead of us.

Oh, the things a photographer will do…

… to get a picture while…

… putting himself at risk.

As we trudged along, we met a group of cyclists going the opposite way. I’ve always wanted to do one of these bike trips. Well, one day…

Although mechanization may have taken over sugarcane harvesting, there remain plots of uneven land where manual labour is still necessary.

In my childhood, that was how I remembered the harvesting season. The workers (using that special ladder) or very rarely, the machine, would load the carrier and the Bedford truck would pull it onto itself.

At this point, my map reading skills failed me & I couldn't decide where to go next. So I grabbed my N900 & fired up the GPS tracking to follow the trail.

It's very easy to get lost in these parts, especially when the sugarcane hasn't been harvested and where every other turn looks the same. Our journey till now had been a steady climb and as we were nearing the mountain, the road turned rockier.

The start of the mountain climb was supposed to be around this boulder, but I couldn't locate it.

After taking a short break to stabilise the GPS signal, I discovered it was only a few metres away.

The entrance was indeed very well hidden & easy to overlook with so many trees & bushes in the way.

The track looked very much like the one on Lion Mountain - barely used & unkempt.

Alas, that meant we had to forge our path through the low-hanging branches and treacherous boulders. More than once, we got stuck or bashed our heads in the branches.

The GPS signal under the trees wasn’t great. Fortunately, the way was indicated by blue markers spray painted on rocks.

Our first rock climb of the day, with one of my pixelised friends taking photos of my plight.

The view on Bassin/Candos.

Not having hiked for months, the climb was brutal, for me.

Made even more gruelling with the sun shining overhead and no wind coming through the trees.

Of course, I had to stop time and again to take ~~a rest~~ panoramas.

The trail was peppered with aloe plants, mostly the Mauritius Hemp, useful to hoist ourselves. As my hands painfully discovered, some of them do come with thorns.

As is ~~always~~ the case in these adventures, I usually lag behind because I take too many photos. Which often means the other two moving ahead, losing the trail & going off in the wrong direction.

& that was exactly what happened here. They were attempting to climb a rock facade...

... while the trail was up ahead. Definitely the worst explorers in history.

To be fair, the path at this point had narrowed down to a few feet, with a deep gully just a metre away.

Just a plane. To give you a break from these monotonous green photos.

Incidentally, Trois Mamelles (like Corps de Garde) is near one of the waypoints used by air traffic for landing procedures. Namely IPL13 & PLS31.

Back in the undergrowth.

We were now approaching the shoulder of the mountain, between the middle & west Mamelles.

Up this high, the view was mind-blowing.

On the other side though, we found an even more fabulous sight of the South-West regions.

The savannah-like regions of Bon Asile, Magenta & Yemen stretched for kilometres before us.

Suddenly, an unknown cry repeatedly pierced the winds. We saw a monkey & fruit bats hovering in the forest canopy, but we couldn't figure out the source.

I can confirm it wasn’t a deer. We saw none of them. Nice mirador.

The two Mamelles lay on either side of us.

However, only one of them can be climbed. The climb from here looked pretty straight-forward.

Or so we thought.

As we climbed higher, the scenery became even more spectacular.

Obligatory video.

So far, we hadn’t encountered any difficulties.

Until here, where the path narrowed with nothing on either side and a rock wall to climb.

To my utter shame, even with the rung in the rock, I had to call one of the explorers who were stuck ahead to give me a hand to hoist myself up.

& then I discovered why they were stuck. The blue arrow indicated the way & right in the middle was... a wasp nest.

Yep, in that hole. & we didn't bring any fire with us. No matches, no lighter, no magnifier, no steel wool...

After debating for a while, the other two decided to go further to the left & climb from there. After unsuccessfully attempting that detour, I had no other choice but to sneak past the wasp nest.

So much ado about nothing - the wasps didn't even care.

That was instantly forgotten as I saw what was ahead.

By far the most terrifying part of the climb. Only the rock to hold as I had to feel my way around that rock shelf.

With the void just one arm length away.

Further ahead, there was only 30 cm of space allowing single file movement.

If you overcome this part, the rest of the climb becomes a lot easier. But only if you build up the courage necessary to overcome it…

A short rest to slow down our heart rate & stem our adrenaline rush as we admired the landscape.

We resumed the climb, stopping briefly to admire these steps carved by nature.

The summit was well within reach.

Just a few more steps…

First!

Oh my…

Breathtaking!

Literally.

Wait, what? Aliens!

Having set off at 8:10, it took us nearly 3 hours to reach the summit at 11:17. 2h 18 min spent on the climb.

Worth every second of it. For this.

A 360º bird’s eye view of the island.

Paradise on Earth, etc, etc…

The plains of Bon Asile, Magenta & Yemen. & to the left, the Tamarind Falls.

This is where the Sept Cascades are found. One of the remaining areas of Mauritius which we haven't explored yet.

Le Morne & Montagne Tamarin are another of them. The haze at this altitude was very bad. All these photos had to be lengthily post-processed.

The East Mamelle. With almost no clouds, we were getting roasted up top, even with the copious amount of sunscreen. Not a complaint, just an observation. I’ll take sunny over cloudy any day.

Curepipe. Trou aux Cerfs to the right. The Bambous mountains far behind.

Piton du Milieu. & Vacoas.

The Holyrood road that goes up to Glen Park.

Bassin. Those colours are unreal.

& those textures.

Corps de Garde and Candos Hill.

The area being cleared by Medine SE.

The path we had taken to reach the foot of the mountain.

The one thing I hadn’t mentioned until now were the Paille-en-Queue birds circling around us throughout the entire climb. The White-tailed Tropicbirds were very hard to capture, even with focus-tracking.

Pigeons! Every single mountain we’ve climbed so far, we’ve come across them.

Montagne Rempart, which definitely looks climbable. & the nipples on the third Mamelle.

Our peaceful observation of the vistas was interrupted when we noticed a group of 3 tourists also making the climb. Later on during our descent we would come across another couple. When did the mountain become so crowded?

That was our cue to start the journey downwards. While we waited for them to reach the top, I took this video.

After spending 1h 20 min on the summit, we started down. (& in case you’re wondering, none of the tourists had been stung by wasps.)

While I was dreading going by the rock shelf, it wasn’t scary at all. Probably because we had already done it once. Or that climbing down is a lot easier than climbing up.

Well, not really. The only difficulty I had (once again) was at the rung. Because I couldn't see where I had to place my foot, I had to let myself be guided by my friends. It turned out to be easier than expected.

Going further down involved more crawling than climbing down. & a lot of groping at branches, shrubs and plants.

A necessary stop. Because… what a sight!

Well, time to get back to the track. There was still a long way to go.

By this time, the climb had already exacted its toll on my body and each downward step strained every last muscle.

Not to forget the lack of wind in the dense foliage.

At last, rays of light pierced the forest, as a portal appeared to announce the end of the climb.

Time taken - 1h 45 min. Not bad.

Our agony wasn't over; we still had to go through the rocky sugarcane roads.

The workers had disappeared. Probably because of the sun. Even we couldn’t wait to join the shade of the trees.

Even though we longed for a splash of water, these stagnant streams weren’t very appealing.

We had one last stretch of land to cross before we could rest. & this is where we encountered a new difficulty – the sand-like dried earth seeping though our shoes.

Finally, civilization.

What a climb that had been. In terms of difficulty, I would place Trois Mamelles in the same bracket as Corps de Garde. Mostly because of the uncovered nature of the terrain. But slightly more difficult due to some parts that required climbing with the utmost concentration. The reward though far exceeds the efforts – the spine-tingling landscapes. If only I had a CPL to remove haze, all these photos would look twice better. The lesson I learnt that day is to always keep a matchbox or lighter with you. You may never know when you’ll need to start a fire. & some old clothes to burn if you expect to encounter wasps.

To sum up, don’t climb Trois Mamelles unless:

You have a GPS device to follow the track.
You bring rope & fire.
You have proper protection against the sun.
You are a goat.

Yes. Of all the things we saw that day, this was the biggest surprise of all. A goat climbing Trois Mamelles alone by jumping on the near-vertical rocks. Wow!

Related:

Fitsy.com - Trois Mamelles, Centre Peak
Wikiloc - Trois Mamelles - Centre Peak
Oddjam - Les Trois Mamelles & Walks Through The Sugar Cane Fields
Red Needle Tropical Passion - The first walk (hike) of the season - Part 2 / Hindu temple
Flickr - Trois Mamelles by rubared
Flickr - Trois Mamelles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 by yanature
Flickr - Trois Mamelles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 by Cassiya
Flickr - Trois Mamelles V.A.-010 305x215 by Christian Bossu-Picat
Flickr - Les Trois Mamelles, Mauritius 1975 by NettyA
Flickr - Drive to Les Trois Mamelles, Les Trois Mamelles by anunaya chaubey
Flickr - Les Trois Mamelles by michaeal.1973
Flickr - Les Trois Mamelles by nadzof
Flickr - Trois Mamelles by jeffjuncal
Flickr - Les Trois Mamelles by Santosha Guides
Flickr - Trois Mamelles y Rempart by David Arne Olufsen
YouTube - 3 Mamelles by yanature
YouTube - Trois Mamelles by st0ner0se