The Greens

The paddy fields are always a welcome sight. The green during the day and it turns golden at sunset.

Amazing stuff really. I usually go into the fields to take a few shots but haven't been able to do so this time round. 

Hopefully I will get a glorious sunset when I do to.

Finding Beauty

This was tough one to title. I really have no particular reason why I went with this particular title.

This is the same fly that was featured in one of my previous photographs - the one with it at the edge of a leaf looking towards the mountains in the distance.

This fly wasn't shy and didn't really mind me going close with a camera so that made it easy. People were surprised that I was shooting the fly and not the landscape.

Up Above

For some reason this scene reminded me of the movie Up.

If you haven't watched it, you must. It's a really nice movie.

Ok enough about the movie. For some reason my iPhone camera always underexposes the scene. One reason could be because it is really old (read: no longer supported). I've tried tweaking the settings but that doesn't seem to help.

Getting Ready To Sleep

Bats have always amazed me because of the way they sleep. Upside down and never fall. That to me is a amazing. But today's picture isn't about bats...it's about Oriental Garden Lizards.

They lizards are somewhat like bats. They sleep on trees. They just hang on to a branch and sleep. They never fall off unless of course they had a nightmare and jumped right out of bead (read: branch).

I caught this juvenile asleep on a branch. Unfortunately the flash woke it up but it didn't seem to mind since it went back to sleep after I'd taken a couple of shots.

The Light Shines Through

Took this as the sun set after heavy and continuous rains. Fortunately they stopped just in time for a game of football.

Instead of watching the game I got distracted by the sunset and watched that instead. Took quite a few pictures too.

This one actually came out better than I expected. I think I'll tweak it a bit later.

Always Defensive

I was out shooting the mountains when I noticed this little insect crawling on the plant.

It was just moving in hap-hazard lines and didn't really seem to be going anywhere in particular so I decided I'd take a shot of it.

As I took the camera near it must have sensed my presence because it immediately raised it's pincers in the air and stayed like that till I move away.

BTW I've seen these insects before and trust me, you don't want to go near them when they are mad. It actually hurts a lot!

The Tower On The Hill

It's been a while since I've posted a picture of this tower.

This is one from the on-going series titled "The Tower On The Hill".

I don't think I'll ever put an end to the series - at least not as long as I'm in this place and able to take pictures of this tower.

On The Way Back

After a rather useless and tiring day at college the walk home is really something to look forward to even though it is a walk under the hot sun.

This particular scene was rather unexpected but I'm not complaining. It was amazing.

Fortunately this iPhone takes good pictures and Snapseed is a good post-processing app. Got to thank God for these pleasures.

Time For Rest

The sun was setting behind these two men who were sitting under this tree and watching the football match.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to shoot for and HDR image as the ball was sent flying in my direction and I had to get out of the way before I was trampled by the players.

The RAW file didn't do me much good either but I was able to get quite a bit from the shadows.

Left Alone

I'd recently been to a hill station and the view from the place I was stay at was just amazing to say the least.

I'd honestly never seen anything like it and I didn't really want to leave.

The fields were amazing too. The crops were green and still growing. It wasn't time for the harvest yet so the fields are just left alone and are deserted.

For some reason the minute people here see a camera pointed at them they just run away or get super angry. Or they just think you are some weirdo.

Light and Dark

We had heavy rains last week because of the cyclone that hit a nearby state and it looked like the weather wouldn't clear for days but after a couple of days the rains stopped.

And gave us one of the best sunsets we've had all year.

It was so amazing that instead of watching the football match I was watching the sunset.

Far Out

This plant was swaying in the breeze and this particular branch looked like it was an arm reaching out or pointing at something far out on the next hill.

It was a beautiful morning then and the clouds were really amazing. The blue in the sky was just amazing.

This was just the bluest blue you could get.

Playing Fields

As I mentioned before I've been busy this past week with something. Plus a few other things and didn't really get time to post on this blog or elsewhere and for that you have my apology.

Anyway this picture was taken this past week. I went to watch a football (or soccer...depending on where you live) match and the sky that evening was amazing so a picture was a must.

It actually turned out better than I'd expected.

A tip for people who shoot RAW and not HDR - If you are going to convert a single RAW file and are going to try and pull in as much detail as you can then I would recommend that you expose for the mid-tones. That will give you the most details in both the highlights and the shadows. Of course the image won't look good in-camera but will be amazing once you are done post-processing.
Also sometimes a single RAW file just doesn't cut it and you have to shoot multiple exposures. So don't shy away from multiple exposures.

Tea Plantation

Took this just after heavy rains. The clouds were clearing and were really great!

Red Bloom

It's late. I haven't slept well in days and I'm really tired so forgive me for mistakes.

This is an iPhone picture of a bunch (or single) of reddish-orange flowers that look really amazing.

The nectar is just as sweet as the flowers are beautiful.

Violet Beauty

Here is a pretty flower I came across one day.

This little beauty was the only flower that managed to make it over the wall.

It grows in the abandoned, overgrown plot of land that has a few beautiful as well as some dangerous creatures. The flowers aren't very many but this one is beautiful.

Natural Painting

Woke up one morning to this amazingly beautiful scene. It was really a scene beyond words.

The clouds in the sky were one colour but they still added a dynamic to the scene.

I thought they blended really well with the lay of the land.

Red And Green

This magnificent red dragonfly was perched on this plant. The plant has no leaves, only these thick, pointy stems.

On most evenings you can find dragonflies perched on the ends. Fortunately this evening it was red dragonfly. It stood out in stark contrast to the green background.

Fortunately this dragonfly didn't spook easily and I was able to get close so I got a nice bokeh.

Reaching For Blue

As the sun set the clouds were moving in and it almost looked like they would block out the potentially amazing sunset.

Fortunately they stopped just at the edge of the mountain and stayed there and looked pretty...and by pretty I mean pretty amazing!

This peak stood out and it almost made me want to go and stand on the top. Unfortunately I was miles away from that place. The blue in the sky added to the scene though.

Swaying In The Breeze

This plant was on a rooftop and for some reason it stood out even though it had no flowers and wasn't all that interesting to look at.

The contrast with the clouds in the sky really made it look good so a picture was a must.

This is another iPhone shot, in case you are interested.
But this one isn't processed in Snapseed.

Pretty Little Thing

I'm really into iPhone photography (or iPhonography as it's popularly called). Of course it's an old model but it's a massive step up from my previous phone.

Just love the macro capabilities of this camera. It's actually impressive and if not for image size there isn't really that big a difference between the SX50 HS and the iPhone when it comes to macro. Of course this is only at first glance and I'm referring to post-processed images here.

Btw I use Google's Snapseed to process most (if not all) of my pictures. I absolutely love that app. It is amazing and really easy to use. It's really fast too so that is an added bonus. I tried Photoshop Express but that is kinda slow and when you compare it to Snapseed, only then you know how slow it really is.

Sunburst

So one evening I just went up to the terrace to get some fresh air and the sun was setting. Now it wasn't really anything that great when I first went up but after a couple of minutes the scene was breathtaking.

Honestly no pictures do it justice. It was so stunning that I was honestly left staring at the sunset until someone suggested I go and get my camera.

Unfortunately the pictures didn't capture all the amazing colours in the sky that evening. The blues are all there but the yellows are all washed out and that is a tad disappointing to be honest. Maybe I should have gone the HDR route.

Pothole

So I recently joined Instagram (or IG as some call it). If you want to find me, my username is danielraghu or you can just click here.

This is one of the first pictures I posted there. This was taken one afternoon outside our gate when I got back from college.

I just thought the tones in the sky really made the green fields stand out. It wasn't a dramatic sky or anything like that but I just loved the view.

What It Feels Like

I don't usually add filters to pictures but today is going to be different.

So I decided to take a picture of a place that people don't really like. I won't tell you which place it is but suffice it to say that it feels dark and gloomy every single day.

This was processed entirely in Snapseed which is an awesome app.

The Rising Clouds

Remember the picture of the fly that I uploaded recently? A lot of you wanted a picture of the clouds since they looked really interesting.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of that exact scene but I did manage to find a picture of the clouds that very afternoon just as they were ascending as the temperature rose.

It is a really amazing sight to see these clouds rise. It would make for an amazing timelapse. Anyway you could actually spend hours just watching this scene unfold and I think that particular fly shared my sentiments :D

Calling Out

In the past we'd get a lot of birds everyday in our garden. On most days we would see rare and really beautiful birds that we didn't even know existed.

Sadly over the past few years the number of birds has come down as has the variety of birds that we see. The loss of habitat is the main problem but I guess that isn't something you can stop. The Jungle Babbler is a bird that we don't see much of nowadays.

This bird NEVER moves about alone. It is always with a group and boy are they noisy! The way they move about is quite interesting. I've never seen one of these birds walk in a straight line. They'll always hop about.

The best thing I like about these birds is their eyes. Those eyes remind me of eagle's eyes. They have this piercing feel to them. It looks like they haven't slept in a very long time. Almost like zombies (if zombies exist, that is).

One With Its Surroundings

Here is another picture of a dragonfly.

I never really got down to taking a lot of pictures of dragonflies in the past and now that I try to take pictures of these beautiful creatures, I realise that I should have started a long time ago.

This beautiful dragonfly is quite common in this area. It's the red and the orange ones that are really rare but nowadays you'd be lucky if you spotted one of these because there aren't very many.

There are too many houses coming up and so they've lost their habitat.

The Temple On The Hill

Thanks to the massive zoom on the SX50 HS I was able to get a good shot of this temple.

You can actually see it in the distance in the last panorama that I uploaded. It was really far off but with the SX50 HS that wasn't really a problem.

I'm guessing it's a Buddhist temple. I can only imagine how much work must have gone into that since it was built quite high. Other than the temple there weren't other buildings on that hill so I don't even know how people visit that place since there didn't seem to be a direct approach road that was obvious to me.

Time To Sleep

I went out to release the dog one night and I noticed something weird about one leaf on a branch.

It seemed to have an extra long pointy end. It kinda just tapered off like a tail. So I went close and sure enough there was this little juvenile Oriental Garden lizard there fast asleep. It was actually quite cute.

So obviously a picture was a necessity. The flash kinda woke it up for a moment but it soon went back to sleep. The next morning it was gone.

I did see another lizard a few days after this incident and I'm guessing it's the same one although I can't be sure.

Fellow Admirer

So I was up on the terrace during a recent vacation shooting the awesome hills and I noticed this fly there on this leaf.

It was right at the edge of the leaf. It wasn't moving or anything. It just stood there. So I bent down and it just seemed to be watching the scene along with me.

Looks like we aren't the only ones who enjoy the beauty of nature. It stayed there for a really long time and didn't move a single muscle. I just had to take a picture of this. Now maybe it was just enjoying the heat from the sun or whatever but it could have been doing it from anywhere.Why on the edge of this particular leaf?

It was great - the scene, that is.