Standing Tall

The tower on the hill has provided a lot of photo opportunities this year. It could also mean that I never really looked at it in a photographic sense before.

It's always nice to zoom in a get all the tiny details on the hill but sometimes it's nice to stay zoomed out and capture the entire scene because I like to capture what I see. This also seeps into my post-processing.

During the dramatic sunset it is very easy to just get caught up in the sunset itself and forget about all the other little things, like this tower. The sky is dramatic and the clouds sometimes extend towards the tower and create a dramatic scene worthy of a picture.

Growing In The Light

Trees need sunlight to grow and carry out various functions and processes. That is something we all know.

Now that I am done stating the obvious I'll tell you a little about the picture.

These "palm" trees kinda grow wild in our compound. The fruits are plenteous and quite tasty. Ok it's just the sap that is tasty but still, it is sweet.

They can grow quite tall and are always very thing. They sway dangerously in the wind but never actually break.

The Clouds Surround The Tower

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback on the picture I posted yesterday. I really appreciate that.

In case you guys were wondering I took that from Gangtok in Sikkim, India. I really love that place and I honestly didn't want to leave.

Anyway my short vacation is now over and it's time to move on.

Here is another picture of the tower on the hill. I've taken quite a few pictures of this tower this year and I think I'm going to dedicate a special album to it on Google+ as well as on my Facebook page.

Who Covers The Heavens With Clouds

I'm still tired after my short holiday but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The part that I enjoyed the most was the fellowship there. It was amazing. I wish I didn't have to return.

Anyway the view that had last week was just amazing. You had to see it to believe it because pictures don't do justice to it's awesomeness.

This particular morning the clouds were just clearing after the rain and as I looked towards the south I remember Psalm 147:8 which says
"Who covers the heavens with clouds,

Who prepares rains for the earth,

Who makes grass to grow on the mountains."

I wish I can go back there again soon.

Something Pretty

The picture I posted yesterday was taken from the place where I'm at now. The view is just amazing and you'd never get tired of it. The closer you look the more you get out of it.

Unfortunately with a view that amazing you tend to forget the pretty and beautiful things that are so close. They may be small but they are still pretty and beautiful and are certainly not to be missed.

This little flower is really tiny. I almost missed it because I was so engrossed in the view. I was able to get relatively close and take a picture of it.

Oh and this is how the picture actually is. The sun was so bright that the background was naturally underexposed when I exposed for the flower. It was pretty difficult getting a clear shot with the wind blowing and the DOF (depth of field) being really shallow. It took a while but it was totally worth it!

A Storm's Coming

This place has an amazing view that you have to see to believe. I tried a panorama but wasn't successful. I did get good pictures but wan't able to stitch them properly because of perspective shifts. I'll have to work on that.

Anyway towards the evening this cloud front began moving in. For a while it seemed like it would all go away but then in the distance we could see the torrential showers.

In case you are wondering - the grey streaks falling from the clouds towards the left is rain. I know I couldn't believe it when I was little but now I know what it is.

Unfortunately we got caught in the rain when we went out...

The Clouds Overrule

I'm now going to stop saying things about my captions and just talk about the picture.

I know a picture is supposed to speak for itself and I agree. It just that I like to give it a little context. What I was thinking or what was happening at that moment or which place it is, etc. You get the idea.

Anyway it looked like we would be able to see the sun set behind the hills because that part of the sky seemed clear. Then suddenly out of nowhere these clouds appeared and covered the hills.

The sunset we got was amazing and I'm not complaining :D

Btw I just went to the terrace of the house I'm in and the fog was rolling in. It was amazing. Unfortunately the SX50 HS isn't well suited for night photography so I wasn't able to get great shots but I'm happy with what I was able to get.

The Light Shines On Us

If you've seen an earlier picture of this sunset that I shared the day after said event, you'll agree that it was one beautiful sunset!

The light was shining directly on the fields and the houses around us and this made it all the more beautiful. It was stunning to say the least.

Anyway I should now go and get rid of that cockroach that is on my bed.

A Cloudy Ascent

The reason I'm going with a picture of the hills today is because I'm staying in a place right now that has an awesome view of the hills. Although I didn't take this picture from there it reminds me of the hills.

I'll probably post a picture that I've taken from here tomorrow. I plan to be up early on the terrace and try and capture the early morning fog. That will be awesome! :D

Anyway I'm working on a really really slow internet connection so I'm unable to upload to Google+, Flickr and the other sites I usually use. It will just be the blog and nothing else until I can get a faster connection.

Stretch As Far As You Can

We were having breakfast one morning when suddenly we see this brown flash and this really pretty bird lands in the vacant plot adjacent to our house.

This was a pleasant surprise as I've only seen this bird once before and not for very long.

It stayed there and stretched its neck to a massive length that I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it. It was pretty. I had to run to the first floor to get a shot of the entire bird which I'll share in a few days.

Btw I might not be able to post everyday this week as I'll be away from home. I'll try my best to do so but I can't promise I'll be successful. My sincere apologies if I'm unable to post everyday.

The Clouds Rise Higher

I really like the way the clouds form around the hills when the sun sets. The pastel colours make the scene even better and really pretty.

The clouds that evening were really beautiful and they kinda looked like a colossal tower themselves. It all just fit together.

I would have loved to get some more detail in the hills but the light was too low and long exposures where a no-no because I didn't have a tripod with me at that moment.

I'm planning to create and album on Google+ called "The Tower On The Hills" because I've taken quite a few pictures which feature this tower. Just in case you were wondering that place on the hill is called Kurseong.

Creepy Crawlies

What's that? You don't like creepy crawlies? Ah well it's just a picture. Plus they weren't really crawling about. They were just huddled together.

Oriental Garden Lizards are great right? I had noticed this lizard on a tree and when I went to take a picture of it I noticed these caterpillars on the tree. They were huddled together. There is probably some scientific term from this but I don't know what it's called. Some kind soul on Google+ or Facebook might tell me what it is :D

Anyway I've seen this before but this time the group was really large and there were multiple on this tree. I'm told that they will eventually destroy this poor and helpless tree.

A Roof Of Clouds

Surprises are always awesome especially when it comes to stunning sunsets and beautiful clouds.

It had been raining the entire day and I honestly didn't expect to see the sun setting but God gave us a really really beautiful sunset. It was really stunning and to think that I almost missed it because I didn't expect it.

Anyway the view from our terrace is pretty good although we'll soon loose it because of all the houses coming up. Gotta enjoy it while it lasts :)

A Brewing Storm

The sunset was pretty awesome and was really stunning. For a minute or two the sun was hidden by some clouds but when it started coming out a beam of sunlight fell on the hills and illuminated it making it all the more pretty.

Picking a choosing what to add in the frame was difficult because everything looked really pretty and beautiful. The clouds were amazing and so were the hills so I decided to add both in the frame.

I shot RAW in order to capture as much light as I could so that the picture would resemble what I had seen in real life. Unfortunately my computer started acting up when I was processing the RAW file and I had to do it all over again and waste loads of time. It's still not working properly but I hope it does start working properly soon.

Btw if you are planning to use Adobe Lightroom then it would be wise to have at least 4 gigs of RAM.

Pretty In The Dark

Many people say I come up with unusual captions and I agree with them. Truth is my captions are actually the first words that pop into my head just before I write my daily blog post.

Anyway that's that. Now for today's picture. This little butterfly was in an overgrown part of our garden. I had just gone out to check the lock on the gate when I noticed this butterfly in the grass. So I got my torch out and tried to take a few pictures but ended up getting frustrated.

Finally I resorted to using the pop-up flash. I didn't want to use the pop-up flash (I had to manually make it "pop-up") because that would result in some really harsh light and I didn't want that. But that was all I had and it got the job done.

Quick tip. If you want a more diffused and soft light then place a sheet of paper in front of the flash and then make it fire. You'll end up with some really soft light. Remember that the paper does cut out some of the light so you might have to increase the flash power.

As Darkness Loomed

It's been raining almost everyday and this isn't always that great because spectacular sunsets are rare. This was the last spectacular sunset we had. It was pretty beautiful but lasted only a short while.

Usually the sun sets behind the hills this time of the year but the clouds had taken over and had hidden the hills so the sun was setting behind the clouds. I took this shot just after the ball of fire dipped behind the clouds.

The light was just lovely. The dark clouds stood in stark contrast to the very bright clouds that were lit by the setting sun. It was beautiful. I did take a few shots of the entire sunset but more often than not it is details like this that are really beautiful.

Glass and Nails Don't Break My Bones

I find it amazing how these lizards are able to walk on the walls that are lined with broken glass pieces and rusty nails without a single injury.

It's not just maneuvering around these potentially dangerous objects but also the speed that amazes me because they can actually run on these walls. It's amazing. Even birds and cats do the same.

This little Oriental Garden Lizard was looking at me as if to say, "If you don't stay away you'll get the nail."
He had every right to be scared because I was pretty close. 

Buff Striped Keelback

Some kind souls on Facebook ID'd this beautiful snake for me. I didn't know it had such a cool name!

Buff Striped Keelback! I mean, Come On! That is cool! :D

We get a lot of these snakes here but it's very difficult to get a good look at them because they quickly go and hid in some bush and since there are a lot of bushes here, they have loads of places to hide.

The Blue Tower

Well, it's not really a blue tower in real life but it sure looks like it on most days.

It's probably because of the clouds or the light playing tricks that it looks blue. I haven't seen it in real life but it must be red and white or just plain silver (like most of these towers usually are).

The sunset two days back was pretty amazing because there was a rainbow and that made it just beautiful.

I have a lot to learn and I tried my best to bring out the rainbow in the pictures that I took but I wasn't successful (the clouds looks amazing though) :( So if any of you have an tips, I would be happy to learn!

The Curve

Remember the Oriental Garden Lizards that I spoke of in an earlier post? The ones that were fighting? Well this is one of the lizards that fought (probably a territory related fight).

This is the one that won and then went and climbed that fence and joined that other lizard on the fence. Which made me imagine that that fence was some sort of victory stand.

I really like the position this lizard was in and I wanted to capture the cure of the its body. It stood still for a while before running off. Haven't seen it since.

A Harmless Visitor

My dog started barking a lot so when I went out to see why I saw this little snake in front of his kennel. It wasn't really bothered by the dog but it tried to get away when I went close.

I grabbed the camera and got a few quick shots before it went away. We get a lot of these here specially during the rainy season and I enjoy them. Although I don't really like it when cobras come close...

A few weeks back there was this snake that was trying to eat this frog that was a whole lot bigger than it's own mouth. I threw a stone somewhere near the snake and it slithered away really fast and left the stunned frog behind. The frog hopped away and was never seen again.

The Sun Has Gone To Sleep

The sunset that day lasted for a long time and it was really beautiful even after the sun went down.

I noticed this temple on the hill and there was this clouds above it which I liked so I took a picture of it with the hill as a silhouette and it came out pretty nice.

Some have already ordered prints and I thank them for that :)

Dramatic Clouds

If that title doesn't make sense I apologise. It's probably my medicines doing the typing today so it probably won't make much sense.

I think I posted another angle of this sunset a few days back and people loved it. I did too. Unfortunately the actual sunset was way more beautiful, dramatic and stunning that the picture. There were so many colours in the sky and it was really difficult to post-process because it kinda looks unreal but I assure you that this is how it was. Actually it was even better.

So there you have it. Another view of the dramatic sky. A lot of people thought I'd added in the yellow and the blue and other colours but you have my word that I didn't mess with the colours..not one bit.

Eye Contact

A lizard picture for today. An Oriental Garden Lizard to be precise.

I have really grown to like these lizards. They fascinated me for the moment I saw then when I was very little. I'll admit I was scared to go near them in the beginning but now I really enjoy it. Watching them is so much fun. Seeing how they behave and go about things is cool.

This particular fellow wasn't really shy. He kept looking up at the camera as is he was a model bathed in floodlights (in this case the morning sunshine). He allowed me to take some really good pictures. I had to stand in a weird positing and steady myself with one hand which meant I had only one hand to hold the camera with and that made getting a good steady shot difficult. I must admit that there was one particular moment that I missed and that would have made a perfect shot.

Here's hoping that I get another opportunity :)

After The Sun Goes Down

The sunset was beautiful. The colours were vivid and the sky was dynamic. Soon after the sun set I noticed that this part looked particularly good.

So using the SX50's massive zoom I zoomed in fully to capture this particular minimalistic landscape shot.

Notice the little temple on the hill? I'm guessing it's not so little in real life but here it looks really tiny and minuscule (miniscule...whatever).

Looking To The Skies

Remember the dramatic sunset I spoke off a while back? It was really dramatic where the sun was setting and I almost missed the other side.

I happened to turn around and I was in complete awe of what I say. It was beautiful. So I decided to go and get my tripod and take a couple of self-portraits.

Post-processing was real pain because my laptop kept hanging and then finally crashed. Thankfully it was just a temporary crash and it rebooted. I'm quite happy with this anyway.

Splits

I tend to photograph these Oriental Garden Lizards every chance I get. Why? Simply because I find these creatures beautiful that God has created even though many find lizard in general repulsive.

This little fellow was quite happy to stay and pose for the camera. He didn't even mind me getting close. Honestly this lizard allowed me to get closer than any other lizard has before which was quite surprising. He did run off when this other person (who shall remain unnamed) approached.4

He ran off to a bamboo fens and maintained this pose for quite a while as if he was working out or something.

On a side note - I'm planning to do a self-portrait Game Of Thrones style. Nothing fancy - just going to try and get the effect that they had on their poster. Remember the characters all had faces that were half blue? That's what I'm going to try and create. Still looking out for fake armor for the neck though.

The Light On The Hills

I love surprises...especially good ones. It had been raining here continuously for days and showed no signs of respite that morning either. So I didn't expect to get a good sunset and I definitely did not expect to see the hills so clearly.

It's always a treat to be able to see the hills so clearly because they are beautiful. As always God surprised me (and I'm sure the others as well) with one of the most dramatic and long-lasting sunsets of this year. It was just beautiful.

The hills in particular were beautiful because they were bathed in warm sunlight while the clouds behind them were just beautiful and had so many different shades. The clouds were a little dark but still dramatic and just added to the beauty of the scene.

The more I look at this picture, the more I fall in love with it. Is it weird that I just want to get it framed? Am I being ostentatious?

I'm All Eyes

One night when it was raining my dog, Dixie started barking his lungs out. Now he has very different barks for specific things. For example if he wants food then he barks in a certain way. If he sees a stranger he barks in very different way...and so on. So this particular bark could either mean a snake or a some other creature that he didn't like.

I immediately rushed out to his kennel with a torch and a stick in my hand because it was dark and I didn't know what had riled him. He was looking at this little puddle and barking at it. I pointed the torch beam towards that puddle and all I could see were two very large eyes looking straight at me.

That could only mean on thing - a frog. From a few previous encounters I knew that he didn't quite like this particular frog. He was fine with other species of frogs and toads but for some reason didn't like this particular one. So I dropped the stick and ran inside to grab the camera instead because I knew this was a rare photo opportunity.

I was able to get some good shots because the water was muddy and the reflection was crystal clear. The frog just kept staring at me (or the camera, I couldn't tell). The mosquitoes gave me a really hard time. My legs were covered in mosquito bites and blood (from ones that I managed to squish) by the time I had taken only a couple of shots. It was worth it because I just love the shots I got :)

Monsoon Advantage

Personally I don't mind the rain when I'm in the house but I also don't like it if I have to get to college in my uniform and it's raining. But of the things I absolutely love about the monsoons is the amazing sunsets.

We don't get beautiful sunsets all year round. It's only during the monsoons that we get such beautiful views. God has been really kind this year and has given us some of the best sunsets I have ever seen in this area.

Of course we don't get beautiful sunsets everyday as the sky is a dull monotonous shade of grey on most days but when we do get amazing sunset - Man! Oh Man! Are then stunning! I've spent hours on the terrace just watching the sky and the sun as it sets behind the hills. It's just beautiful...what else can I say?

Staring Back

Remember the Oriental Garden Lizard (I just feel the need to keep typing the entire name and not just "lizard" for some reason) fight I spoke of, a couple of posts back? No? Well you should go and read that post then :)

This little fellow wasn't involved in the fight and was on the fence the whole time but he was the only lizard there that seemed happy to be photographed. He stood perfectly still (as long as I was at least one meter away) and kept posing.

I was really really happy with this picture because this, to me, seems so natural. The lizard is looking back at me and it's got its tail up in the air. At the same time its limbs are in a such a position that it can easily run off as soon as it senses danger (read: photographer - in this case, me). It held this pose long enough for me to get down on the ground in front of it and get this shot.