The Lead Up

My apologies for not sharing anything lately even though I said I would. It's been a crazy week and while that has mostly been good it's not really ended well. I just lost one of the best friends I've ever had. Sure he wasn't a human being but it still hurts.

I've been sitting on this picture for a while now without really knowing what to say about it but I think I do now. There are times when you walk down a path thinking that you know for certain how or where you want to go only to find out once you've started that you have absolutely no clue how to proceed further. You have the end in sight and you kind of know what your goal is but there are problems along the way and there's a good chance that they've encompassed you and that's all you can focus on. I've been thinking a lot about the future lately and it is scary! Uncertainty is really scary but as I look upon the past I'm reassured. Why? Because I see how God has been working all along. I think one of the things that God is trying to teach me this year is to trust Him more even in the most trying of times. Every single time it's always been something good happening at the very last minute and that does go a long way in teaching me a lesson. We don't know the entire picture and that's OK. there this quote by Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that is quite poignant, "We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty."

It's OK not know exactly how to proceed. It's OK not having things in complete control. It's OK walking down a path that has problems but it's only OK if you look above. It's only OK if you look to God for His help. Only then will it actually lead to the peak you have in sight.

I have no idea why God decided that Dixie had served his purpose but the more I think about the future and the things ahead (that I'm aware of), the more I'm reassured that God's timing is perfect. Of course that doesn't take away from the fact that there's a cavity that's been created but it's reassuring and kind of makes it easier to deal with.

Although I wish I were there to say goodbye, the weird thing is the last time I was home I had this weird feeling that I would never see him again. I regret pushing aside that feeling now as I realise that was what I should have listened to but I look back fondly on the great memories I've had because of Dixie and how having him and watching him grow and growing alongside him has taught me so much. As I think about it all I can't help by thank God for bringing that precious little creature to live with us and bring that little extra joy in our lives when he was still there.

To you Dixie. My friend. My buddy. I will always miss you. Always and forever. Goodbye!

Concealing Glow

Exams are always a pain, especially when you're give the timetable just one week ahead and then you scramble for your books and barely manage to finish the syllabus the night before.

Sometimes in life nothing seems to be work out no matter what you try or how hard you work. I know this is something I've said before but it's exactly how I've felt for the past few weeks/months. However, ever so often I'm reminded of God's love and grace. Ever so often there are little things that remind me of how beautiful life is and keep me carrying on.

Someone called me a tree-hugger before as a joke but I think that might be true to a certain extent. The world around me fascinates me and God's creation is just amazing! Today's picture is another reminder of that. We were returning home after a rather not-so-exciting trip to the hills and the driver suggested we make one last stop before the final leg of the journey.

After much deliberation we agreed and I'm so glad that we made this stop to take in the view. The sunset did look amazing as we were travelling but I'd never seen this view before. The previous times I'd been here had been really cloudy and you could barely see a few meters ahead of you so this view was stunning to say the least and I hope the picture does it justice.

Things might not always be going the way you want to go or how you want them to be but you've always got to remember that clouds move and eventually they part enough to let the sun shine through and when it does you realise that it's going to be OK because at the end of the day you have a God who loves you and cares about you and only wants what's best for you.

Now I should start studying to tomorrow's paper and stop boring the few of you who actually take time to read my blog. Thank you guys! :)

Unsettled

We're having a long patch of bad weather. It's ok when you don't have to go out but when you do it really messes up your plans.

The clouds never seem to leave the sky and usually we get a monotonous colour across the entire sky which is really boring. The high winds seemed to clear some of the clouds around the horizon and it made for a really cool timelapse.

This is one of the many frames from the timelapse I'm working on.
I'll be out of town for a while so I won't be able to reply to emails, messages and comments immediately.

Hope you have a great week ahead! :)

Overlooking The Valley

Last week my cousin's husband and I decided to go for an early morning walk to the top of a nearby hill.

We had initially decided to go the week before that but the late nights made it really difficult for my to get up in the morning. We wanted to get there in time to watch the sunrise.

The day we finally made it up wasn't that great because of the fog and lack of clouds in the sky. If there were clouds in the sky I'm sure it would have been a spectacular sunrise.

The sun rose from behind the fog and slowly lit up everything. It was really beautiful and we decided to stay on the hill for a few more minutes before making it back down.

The fog (or smog) had slowly begun to lift and reveal the city as we descended. We stopped for a minute to take in this view. It makes you wonder how long the hill that's next to this sprawling city will remain untouched and for how long the hill will be allowed to retain it's natural beauty.

Picture details for those interested - 1/200sec f/8 ISO 100
Processed in Photoshop CS6 from a single RAW file.

Across The Hill

Someone told me that I should go back to landscape and nature photographs. Diversification is great! Just saying.
Yes, I do love photographing nature over other things because it reminds me and shows how amazing God's creation is but I can't help photographing other things as well - including people. After all people are God's own creation...created in his own image so that's amazing!

Hills with fog make amazing photographs. The fog was really thick when we reached this place but it seemed to move away after a little while which is when I got this picture. Then it came back again and we couldn't see more than a few feet ahead of us.

Over The Hills

I still think about last week and the time we spent shooting in Darjeeling. It was truly an amazing experience. This was shot on an iPhone 3GS. We stopped at a place on the way to Darjeeling via Kurseong and decided to shoot a few scenes there. Just before we started shooting the storm clouds began rolling in and I was able to get this photograph.

This is looking towards Siliguri (the vast valley).

In Amazement

Now that was a week I'm going to remember for a really long time. It was really tiring but it was fun as well and I got to learn a lot.

We worked with a film crew from Calcutta (or Kolkata as it's now known) and it was good.

This was near on of the shooting locations. These are some of my classmates. It was a picturesque location. Definitely one of the best places I've been to in a long time. It was beautiful beyond words. So perfect! God's creation never ceases to amaze!

This was shot on a iPhone 3GS and processed in Snapseed.

The Rising Clouds

I haven't been able to maintain this "one picture a day" thing ever since the holiday in June. Anyway I've tried to be as consistent as possible but that difficult with the long college hours and the added assignments they give us everyday.

This photograph was taken the last time I saw this tower. I haven't seen it since because of the weather here. We've had rains everyday which is a good thing since it brings the temperatures down a bit but it's not that great when you have to get to class in the morning.

Ethereal Glow

We were on our way back from the Eco Park where I took the last picture I uploaded and this is the view we were treated to. It was amazing to say the least.

We ended up stopping quite a few times to take in the view. It was exquisite, to say the least!

Above

Met some good friends who I had visited earlier. This is the amazing view from the house. It's just amazing. This is looking west and the sunsets are almost always amazing!

Wake Up

This is what I saw when I woke up this morning. The sky was amazing. Unfortunately I had an exam I needed to prepare for so photography had to take a back seat.

The Dry Bed

We recently went for a picnic with the other members of the church here. The place was really nice and not crowded since we reached early.

The sun was bright and there were no clouds which was just perfect because it would have been freezing otherwise.

The river was almost completely dry expect for a small stream running through a massive river bed. It was kinda sad to see but come the rains, it'll be full again.

Rising Above

This one is definitely going to be added to my "The Tower On The Hill" series which isn't really progressing this time of year because of the fog. In the mean time I think I'll just try and come up with a better title for this project.

Anyway this was taken during a relatively cloudless day so the sunset didn't have tons of colours but the clouds around the tower caught the sunlight and looked pretty good along with the tower.

Also the "Best of 2013" video is nearly done. I'll try and have it up on Youtube by Monday.

The Rise

I'd almost forgotten that I had these pictures with me. Today was really cold which is kinda surprising because it was warm and sunny yesterday. The fog is thick and the mountains invisible.

This one is going to be added to my "The Tower On The Hill" series. I quite like this one because of the cloud that seems to be emanating from the tower itself.

I took this picture when I lost my way. Well not really lost because I know that area pretty well, it's just that I was supposed to meet a bunch of people who I thought were there but ended up being elsewhere. Not that they have magical powers or anything but they weren't specific as to where they would be.

Anyway the extra walk was worth it because I did get some really good pictures.

I almost forgot to mention that I will be releasing a "Best of 2013" slideshow during the first week of January on my Youtube channel so stay tuned for that.

Also I'm going to do my best to keep writing tutorials for this blog. The light painting tutorial I wrote (that's still there somewhere - click here) was well received so I plan to continue that. I might also start video tutorials again.

The Rolling Hills

On a recent trip we stopped at a place that had this amazing view. The last time I went there it was foggy and we couldn't even see more than a few feet in front of us but I did manage to get some good pictures. This picture was taken shortly after we reached this place.

You can see off into the distance at the never-ending hills. It is beautiful.

Getting rid of the lens flare was a pain. You can actually still see some artifacts there.

Hope you are all having great holidays :)

Guiding Light

This path was surprisingly isolated and we were the first ones there. The other people just stared at us as if we were criminals running off into the woods.

Soon after we walked down this path they followed us. Apparently they didn't know that we were allowed down this path.

Since it got crowded soon we turned right and walked up the hill following a tiny mud path. Those people watched us and then followed us. We gave up trying to find a quiet spot to rest because they followed us everywhere. So we turned back with quite a few good pictures.

Through The Foliage

Yup...another cheesy caption/title...I know. Kinda hit a block there with captions. Can't seem to come up with catchy non-cheesy ones.

Anyway back to the picture. I wouldn't have got this picture if I had lost my way. There was a football (soccer...for the others) match that I was supposed to by playing in and also take pictures when I wasn't and I didn't know where they'd gone to play.

I assumed they'd be at the usual place but when I got there they weren't there. Figuring I was too late to play anyway, I decided to take it slow and get some good landscape shots on the way to the place they were actually at.

I didn't get to play that day but I did get some good pictures.

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!

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!

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.