Saturday, December 24, 2016

Landscapes of Ladakh



I happened to visit Ladakh in the last week of September this year.  I had strong desire to be in the mountain ranges of Himalayas at least once in my life time.  When Nikon School of photography announced ‘Advanced Landscape Photography workshop in Ladakh’ I grabbed the opportunity to visit the place.  Though I was meddling with the basics of DSLR I decided to join the group to travel through picturesque Ladakh and pick up few tips from some of the best photographers in India working with Nikon School.

The mentors team was good and helpful.  There were four of them.  They were all friendly, helpful and enthusiastic in teaching the techniques of photography.  I did grasp few points and understood how manual settings in photography can help towards becoming a better photographer.

Here are few photographs of travel through Ladakh.

Though the greater part of journey was on well laid road
occasionally we had to travel on rough terrain

At Khardung La
This is supposed to be highest motorable road in the world
                         
Nubra valley - Cold desert with sand dunes and water bodies
formed due to melted snow

Photographers trying to capture landscapes in twilight


Shyok river


Kids waving as we are passing from a School in
Nubra valley

Maitri Budha at Diskit


Diskit Monastry


A scene in Turtuk village, the last village in India bordering Pakistan 



Pangong Tso lake
The mystic lake between India and China


Night Skies at Pangong Tso


Trying to capture morning colors


A restaurant at Pangong Tso


Clear waters of Pangong Tso


On the way from Pangong Tso to Tsomoriri
through Tsagala and Chusul


Black necked crane

The only shop seen on the way to Tsomoriri

Tractor with a flour mill at Tsomoriri

Early morning view at Tsomoriri


Tsomoriri lake in dawn

Tsomoriri village

Marmot native to mountain ranges of Himalayas


At Tsokar Lake

Photographers trying to capture Nature, Wild life and Landscapes


The person lying down is one of the mentors. 
May he wanted to capture some unique feature of horses!

Army memorial at Chusul

Last capture with NikonD on the way back to Leh

Monday, November 7, 2016

Beautiful Boston


Boston Harbor

In the month of February this year-2016, I was in Boston.  The weather was cold often snowfall.  One day there was even alert that due to extreme cold people should not go outdoors unless it is an emergency. 


My favourite pastime would be to watch through window
and click these squirrel



 Occasionally there would be sunshine but the temperatures would be very low.  Whenever I had to go out I would go in full winter wear just my eyes exposed, that too covered with my spectacles. The glasses would get misty due to my breath.  I also constantly would have leaking nose when outside. 

As it was sunny, I went for a walk along the river.
For the first time I experienced the power of wind.


Because of cold weather I could not go out much.  On sunny days I used to walk along the roads of Cambridge (stayed near Harvard square in Cambridge) watching students and other people going about their chores. 



Church in Harvard

Boston is a beautiful city along the banks of River Charles.  It is the hub of educational institutions; the world best institutes Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are situated here.  The old and new buildings of these premier institutes are architectural splendours. I had a free tour at MIT and toured alone amidst Harvard buildings.
One of the MIT buildings

View opposite MIT library

 My visits were to the museums and an aquarium.  I also visited a chocolate factory in the city outskirts. 

Cocoa pods

Here are few photographs of my Boston visit.

Museum of Fine Arts:








This exhibit impressed me a lot.  I went round and round about it.
Tried to take a photograph without my appearance in it.
But could not.


The beads of this necklace are made of human hair

Foog Harvard Art Museum:                                                                                                             
                                                                                                   

The exhibits of  modern art are awesome at mfa and foog HMA

Made with discarded articles


Harvard Museum of Natural History:                                                                                                          
                                                                                       


Glass exhibits were simply marvellous




Fossil





The mineral rock exhibits are wonderful

New England Aquarium:                                                                                                                            
Creation of sea environment in the aquarium

A colorful fish, there were hundreds of different fish

Sea horse, so tiny

Penguins having a meeting!

Feeding the penguins in order
?Coaxing the turtle to its place above







The red fruits against the lush green leaves attracted me