Highway Wanderings

The good weather is upon us people, bringing with it long aimless drives and impromptu photography expeditions. We have been taking full advantage of it. Driving out of Bangalore, leaving behind "Namma" dust and "Namma" potholes is a real joy.

We have 8 little Ferrari models from Shell (you get one when you do a full tank)
that bear testimony to the amount of fuel that has been consumed recently.


This panorama is by keshav, click to see a bigger image on his site

At almost every turn the scenery is breathtaking, Karnataka is a beautiful state. The period after the monsoon is my favorite. Here's a small sampling of some of what we have seen so far. There are times when I want to stop every few meters to capture it all.



Some of the snaps were taken with my Motorola Milestone because I couldn't be bothered to get the camera out of the boot. Ive also borrowed some from Keshav.


Taken with Motorola Milestone

Having a pocketable camera phone that takes fairly decent photos is a nice experience. I have also tried taking photos through the windshield, and while the vehicle is at higher speeds - quite interesting effects can be achieved. And I get to upload them instantly too! Waiting for 3G.


Taken using the Milestone

Ofcourse, quality of camera and skill makes a huge difference. Compare with Keshav's version of the same field below, achieved after 20 minutes spent squatting in various yogic poses in the mud that had the farmer beginning to look concerned.


This one is by keshav, click to see a bigger image on his site

Sometimes though with luck and prayer, even the careless and the impatient can chance on a nice frame. I like the one below as well.



So get out there, with camera and a map (my phone has MotoNav GPS turn by turn directions, so we skip this). Charge your phone, carry some change for the toll gates, take a bottle of water along ( you wont really need it ).
For bathroom breaks stop at the A2B outlets near petrol bunks. Coffee days are also great for this, but the food is awful, so just buy water, use the loo and head to a Kamat upchar. :)

Diwali Wishes

Everyone is preparing for Diwali, even the spiders. :) The owner of this art work is a large signature spider who had put this up on a nearby tree. She must have been at it all night and the gentle drizzle in the morning made it very festive. Her photo is present at the bottom of this post.

This blog post is to wish you all a very happy and prosperous Diwali from K and myself.

For those wondering where Ive been the last few months, given the silence on both Flickr and Blogger, Im alive and kicking. Drowning in a stream of endless work; both professional and personal.



Since our short trip to Chennai and Mahab. in Aug ( photos are on Flickr, trickling out slowly but surely. ) I haven't found much time to process or post, and as a result there has not been much to blog about.

The photos featured in this post are from last year's diwali, and were taken with my old Canon S3. After using a DSLR, there is no way Im going back to that, I can tell you. Makes a world of difference not only to the quality of the shot but also the experience of shooting the subject, whatever it be.



K has been working very hard on revamping his new website, my only contribution being the design of his logo and a few photos. Do check out some of our recent snaps from Somnathpura,KA at the site. More photos as time permits.



The artist herself. Im guessing that this is a female, since the males are very puny and this was a large spider. Signature spiders are called so because they have a large X like signature in the center of their webs, the X is added to warn larger animals and birds so that they don't accidentally walk/fly through the web. They keep their legs in pairs so that they appear to have only 4 legs. Their venom is harmless to humans. The live on wasps and other insects.

Source and read more: http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/the-signature-spider/