Against The Setting Sun

Today was quite a good sunset. We had clouds after a very long time (the longest I can remember actually). I did get some cool pictures but that's for another day.

This picture is also from today just after the sun dipped below the clouds and just before it dipped below the horizon. It was definitely a sight to behold so I decided to take a short walk from home to see what I could get.

I would have loved to just go up to the terrace and take a few shots from there but these buildings get in the way now and ruin shots unfortunately so I had to go the fields. Unfortunately they've already harvested their crop so I just relied on the weeds growing there to provided for a interesting foreground subjects.

The Other Side

A while back I uploaded a picture of the front of my house. I think it's time people saw the view we have from the terrace.

It's amazing, I know but would you believe it if I told you that just two years ago there was not a single house in that direction. All that is new and I'm not sure I quite like it.

I know it's inevitable but we'll soon loose our view. We just lost out view of the sunrise and I'm afraid that withing the new few years we'll loose the sunset as well :(

The Sparkle

Bear with me for a bit because I'll be uploading quite a few pictures from our recent trip.

The sun was shining bright and warm that morning and that was more than welcome as it's getting cold so the warm sunlight is always welcome.

We were walking around this little man-made lake in a place called Mirik when I noticed the sun light sparkling on the water. It was beautiful...like something straight out of a poem :D

Missing A Piece

It's been a while since I last uploaded a picture of a dragonfly. One of the many reasons is that winter is coming and so we don't see dragonflies this time of the year.

Which is also why you'll see more landscape photographs from me now.

Anyway back to the dragonfly. This little beauty was having a feast that afternoon. It kept flying off and returning with something between it's feet and then eating that.

Somehow it managed to stay still for a minute which is when I was able to get close and take this photograph. I used the flash to darken the background. Unfortunately that caused a hard reflection in both its compound eyes. Note to self- build a diffuser for macro shots.

It was only when I was post processing this photograph that I noticed that it's right wing was torn.

The Path To History

So there is this war memorial at a place called Batasia Loop in Darjeeling and this the path that leads up to it. You can actually see the top of the memorial towards the bottom-right of the picture.

That's also where you'll get a great view of Kanchenjunga and also of the tiny little steam engine that operates in that area.

Little Wonder

If you'd pointed to this particular plant a month back and told me that it would flower soon I would have thought you'd gone bonkers because we've had it for many years without any flowers.

Surprisingly the day i decided to wander around the garden I came across this unassuming plant with these tiny flowers that were just stunning and I'm not in the least bit joking.

Dusty

So today was a tiring day. We went to a place about 3-4 hours away from where we live.

A nice place for sure but the roads were horrible. We were all sore by the time we reached back home.

High Alert

I came across this juvenile Oriental Garden Lizard and it was really shy. This meant that getting a picture was going to be a real challenge.

Surprisingly the more it tried to hide, the better photo opportunities it provided so that was really good.

I just thought I'd go with a lizard picture today as I hadn't uploaded one in a while.

Stay tuned for pictures from today. We went to Darjeeling and got some really nice pictures which I'll upload sometime soon - just as soon as I finish post-processing.

Shining Light

I really like these lamps. Whenever I see these lamps I always remember Bible verses.

Quite a few verses come to mind but on this particular occasion was Matthew 5:16 that says "Let your light so shine before me that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Radiance

Got this picture just before the sun dipped behind the tree line.

The sunset was amazing that evening and instead of taking pictures of the football (soccer) match I'd gone to watch, I ended up taking more pictures of the sunset.

The lens flare came out quite well I think. Now I know a lot of people just hate lens flare but in this particular instance I actually like it.

Bed Of Flowers

We came across this bed of flowers and we just had to stop to take in the amazing view.

Of course the others where gazing at the mountains in the distance but I couldn't help but look down and take a few shots of these flowers.

They were just so pretty and there were hundreds of them. It was great!

Busy As A Bee

We'd gone sightseeing to a nearby hill-station called Darjeeling, perhaps you've heard of it or better still been there yourself.

There is this place where the "toy train" stops for a while and you can get a few good pictures. We didn't travel by train but we hoped we would be able to see it at the loop. The train, we were told, had left just a couple of minutes before we'd arrived there which was unfortunate.

Anyway what caught my eye was this lady there picking something off the sides of the wall (if you can call it that). She seemed like she'd been there for quite a while and so I wondered if she'd been working when the train passed behind here, which would have been dangerous, in my opinion. Then again, these people on the hills are sure-footed.

Clear View

Took this when I was bored in class. Honestly the only thing keeping me sane is this view. Thank God for this!

Rays Of Hope

This was taken a while back but today's amazing sunset reminded me of it.

From my previous blog post you'll know that the past few days have been cloudless so it was a bit of a surprise when we saw clouds today.

Frankly in winter I'd rather have a cloudless sky than a dramatic sunset.

Juxtaposition

Took this from the terrace one evening after the sun had set. The paddy fields against the background of the high-rise buildings made an interesting picture.

It's only a matter of time before these fields are gone and we have building instead.

Truth is, about 5 years back you wouldn't even see those electric poles. The buildings are taking over!

The Path To Follow

Another iPhone picture. This time of the road from out house to the main road.

One of the advantages of this clear weather is the colour in the sky at sunset. It's really beautiful. Like a gradient stretched across the sky.

Final Peek

I wanted to title this "wisps of darkness" but changed my mind. The reason I wanted to do that was because the branches look like a prefect holder for the red ball of fire.

Honestly, I've taken quite a few pictures of the sun just as it dips below the horizon but the colours that evening were just amazing.

We've had pretty good weather these past few days and that is probably why.

Evening Glow

These past few days have been great. The skies are clear and we can see the snow capped mountains in the distance.

As the sun sets you can see a gradient in the sky. It changes from an orange just above the horizon to a blue above your head.

High Rise

One of the things I absolutely love about this time of the year is the fact that the sky is crystal clear. You won't see a single cloud in the sky. Now, I know I've said that clouds are awesome but just hear me out here.

The reason that a cloudless sky is great here is because we get to see the mighty Kanchenjunga range which has the world's 3rd highest peak. It's 8,586 feet high and we don't even have to step out of our homes to see it.

It is an amazing sight. You can even see the orange tones as the sun sets. It is amazing. I was able to get these shots before it went completely dark.

Yellow and Tiny

I was walking home for college (or university...depending on where you're from) and I came across this plant growing in the wild with these pretty little flowers.

It looked amazing against the setting sun. I hadn't really noticed it before but now with the flowers on it, you just couldn't miss it.

These flowers were tiny yet beautiful. Beauty is always there, sometimes you just have to look harder to find it.

No End In Sight

If you have been following my blog you'll know that I recently visited a nearby hill-station called Darjeeling. You'll also know that the weather wasn't really good so we didn't see much.

On the way we stopped at this view point that overlooks the tea covered hills. The fog was thick and we couldn't see much. It cleared for a couple of minutes which is when I grabbed this quick shot.

Again, I shot RAW as I had to other option. The noise was again terrible so I had to crank up the noise reduction a great deal which meant a great loss in details if you zoom in.

Anyway I was pretty pleased with this picture as I was able to get it really close to what we actually saw.

I just love the hills. They just stretch on for ever and ever. And are so very beautiful!

An Unnoticed Weed

Now when I say "weed" I'm referring to unwanted plants growing in a garden...nothing else.

We don't really take a moment to look at these plants, do we? I mean we just uproot 'em and hope they never grow back.

Truth is they have their own beauty and they are home to many different insects (ok, pests...but still). I'm just waiting to get my hands on a DSLR and delve into macro photography because what I've seen with the SX50 has been amazing so I can only imagine what it will be like when I can go closer.

The Eyes Have It

A while back I started an album on Facebook titled "The Eyes Have It". Where I would upload pictures of the eyes of various creatures and have people guess what they were.

It didn't go on for too long though but if it was still on I would have added this picture to that as well.

My dog hates this bullfrog for some reason. He has no problem with other types of frogs and toads but he hates bullfrogs. I have no idea why but he just does.

Ghastly Appearance

When I say this door and the way it was pointed straight at the roof and the sky I knew I had to get someone to pose in the doorway to create a picture like this.

Fortunately someone did, which was a surprise since people here don't like to pose for pictures.

Anyway a little bit of post really made the sky look like the real thing - the way I remember it.

Away From Danger

It's probably just me but I think the population of Oriental Garden Lizards has gone done in this area this year. One of the main reasons would be loss of habitat as overgrown areas are cleared and houses are built.

It's sad but it is inevitable. So I'v really tried searching for these lizards and photographing them before they all disappear for good.

Finding this lizard was a surprise (as they most often are). I was photographing these flowers against the sun when I noticed this unusually thick branch. When I went close I knew why it seemed thick. This lizard was perfectly camouflaged on this branch.

Red Beauty

We'd gone to Darjeeling recently but the weather was horrible so we couldn't see anything. The clouds would only clear for a few seconds and the fog just wouldn't go away.

So instead of trying to shoot the landscape I decided to switch to flowers. Plus there were quite a few there so that was good because we couldn't see more than a few meters ahead.

Plus the mist that was there made the flowers look really nice with the water droplets on them.

The Details

Ever heard the saying "The Devil Is In The Details". It's quite a common saying/quote and a good one at that too.

On my birthday we went to Darjeeling with a visitor and went to this Tibetan Refugee Center. They used to have all kinds of awesome handicrafts but this time they seemed to have closed down quite a few workshops.

There was only one lady painting and she was so engrossed in her work that she didn't even look up at us when we entered to watch her.

The work that she was doing was so detailed that I'm sure I would mess up on the first stroke itself. She had to paint in colour over a previously painted (by her, I think) pattern. We just stood there admiring her work. It was amazing!

I was really disappointed with the SX50 HS this time. It's low light performance is absolutely horrible. The noise is terrible! Even in a RAW file the noise is a BIG problem even if it was shot at ISO 80. Bring up the shadows and you have noise that you can't get rid of even if you crank the noise reduction all the way up!

Other than that I like it but I'm still waiting to get a DSLR that doesn't have a massive problem with noise or low-light situations.

Light Of The World

The minute I stepped onto the terrace (roof) of the house I was staying at and saw this scene John 14:6 was the verse that came to mind.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

The sun does give us light and heat but it is just part of God's amazing creation. Unfortunately many give creation credit instead of the Creator!

It took me a while to get down to processing this panorama. I'd shot it in Gangtok during my last visit there but didn't really get a chance to process it until today.

I took 16 vertical shots in all. 8 for the foreground (the mountains) and 8 for the sky. I'm just getting started so I seem to have made them overlap a little too much (which isn't really bad) but since I wanted much more of the sky I couldn't get it. Anyway the content aware in Photoshop did an excellent job in filling in the edges!

The Only Solace

Those of us in college have always maintained that its more like a prison than anything else.

There is almost nothing to like about it except this view.

But today I just wanna thank God for everything these past 19 years and also for a new year on this beautiful planet.

Glow of Life

Just saw the sun shining behind this wild flower. I say wild flower because it is quite common here.

The glow around the edges was great too and I just had to take a picture.