There is much more to a Landscape image than just a pretty sight. In this Visual Verse I have explored the "Life " that goes behind every landscape. This is the LIVING LANDSCAPE . Please click on the image to view it full screen to see the story unfold.

In my earlier blog about Why visit the same place again ? I had mentioned my reason of visiting a place over and over. At the end of the blog post I had indicated that I would surely be visiting Sathoddi again in the future and I was sure that it would throw one or the other surprises. Few months back it happened again. I was there to witness the beauty of the falls again. This time it was the end of summer and the first showers were yet to wet the ground. The water was almost at its lowest but flowing. I found it little difficult in the beginning to come out from the traditional shots and it took some real good amount of time before I zeroed in onto a place which was giving me a different perspective of the falls. The below image...

  We often encounter cluttered / muddled environment especially in the tropics and at times in temperate ecosystems. Making a good landscape image, isolating the elements in such a scenario is not an easy task. Things get harder if it is your first trip to such a place. I encountered one such scenario recently during one of my trips to the Western Ghats. As landscape photographers, what we often intend to portray is THE essence of the subject or a place. With experience, we tend to add/eliminate elements into or out of the frame to have a composition that brings the best out of us as well as the place. Arrangement of elements is key to good compositions. While we are involved in experiencing the scene and arranging the elements ont...

Normal tendency of photographers is - to  visit a beautiful place, spend time shooting and move on to another one. They make images which are offered at that point in time. Sometimes, they tend to get some amazing images which can be  kind of attributed to their sheer (good) luck! Then, there are those who spend weeks and months together in one place before they leave the place. These photographers know what they are up to and do not compromise on what they exactly want. Most of the times they tend to return with no "fruitful" result BUT they do return home with tonnes of experience that will go a long way in shaping their approach and field knowledge, going forward. Going home empty handed do not deter these people from achieving what t...

Sand, Sea, Sky & Serenity is a montage of video and timelapse sequences shot at the Andaman Islands ( India ). The main idea of this video is to showcase the beauty and the serenity of this place which is formed by three of its key elements - sand, sea & sky. Most of the footage and timelapse sequences were shot at places like Chidiyatapu, Portblair, Ross Island, Viper Island, Havelock Island, Radhanagar beach, Dolphin Beach, Kalapattar Beach and few surrounding places.

Ever since I remember I have been an Astro buff. And if it’s got anything to do with either an Eclipse or a Meteor Shower, then mark my words, I am there to follow it. Dec 10 2011 was a special day with this regard as it promised my two fascinations stacked up together! Of course the much publicized Lunar Eclipse was always exciting enough for me, but what made it even better was the little known fact that this week also happens to be the week to watch out for the Geminid Meteor Showers . These Meteor showers peak on Dec 14 and there was always a fair chance that I would catch a few “Early” meteors if I was lucky. And to catch a meteor during the Eclipse would be sheer brilliance. I was planning on compiling a Timelapse of the entire eclips...

Layered Architecture - A term so common in software? Well, when seriously thought about, it was nature who had already created and we just copied the concept and contrived the 'design' ! What a wonderful analogy isn't it? Non-software people - kindly excuse if you are unable to relate what I am talking here. IF you insist and is interested in reading through some basic concepts of what I am referring, you can read through it on the wiki  - here Western ghats is the place that mesmerises and rejuvenates me all the time. I am really grateful and gifted to be born in the close vicinity of this bio-diversity hot spot. Below is yet another image from Kumaraparvatha and I had written a small blog post about it here . Kumaraparvata in the ...

Reminiscing on my past treks and ventures into the western ghats wilderness. It has been more than two years and I still have the vivid memories of my trek to Kumaraparvata. Pristine evergreen forest, music of the endemic birds of the Westernghats, tall trees, sunlight just manage to penetrate through dense canopy. As we navigate through the thick jungle, we are gifted with some idyllic views that fuels our souls. Physical exhaustion vanish. Such is the power of mother nature! After an ardous 6 hour trek to the summit, I just bowed down and offered my prayers to mother earth for making it possible. Extreme windy situations and trekking team dispersed over the summit area,  looking for an ideal place to camp. We pitched our tents midst ...

Wind, Rain & Bloom   What good is the Wind, if not for fetching the rain? What good is the Rain, if not for fostering the bloom? and What good is the Bloom, if not for dancing in the wind? Over the last two years I have abused my camera gear to such an extent that I am surprised that it still clicks at all! All this while I have been involved in an amazing expedition, that required me to trek into the depths of some of the wettest rain forests in India. While our main objective was to document the fabled glow of luminous fungi, I could not fail but notice just how beautiful and serene the forests were in this rain soaked country. The rains have a dramatic effect on the landscape, turning everything green. The flowers ...

Ptolemy was a brilliant astronomer and a very diligent observer. Ever since I was introduced to this grand statement I was captivated by his wordings, and was curious to know how he had visualized this statement? I wanted to explore what exactly he meant when he said “my feet no longer touch the Earth” ? When he observed “stars in their circular course” he was referring to Star Trails, but what was the scale of his Trails, given that he referred to the entire night sky with the “serried multitude of stars” ? And finally how did he factor in our existence in the grand scheme of things, when he humbly stated "Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day" ?  Is a Night Sky image as grand as his imagination possible? If it is, what...

Adventures in a Landscape! Nature is all about the outdoors. One reason why I love Nature Photography so much is because of my inherent love for the Outdoors. But being Outdoors is only half the fun for me if I am not having the excitement of Adventure to spice up the deal. And of all the genres of Nature photography I have tried, “Landscape Photography” is probably where I got closest to Nature and its elements. There has always been an immense sense of accomplishment and adventure with all my unseen landscape images. Whether it was braving the deep dark jungles in rain to find that hidden patch of forest with glowing fungi, or roughing it out in the middle of elephant country to photograph meteor showers at midnight. Doing the un-done and...