This is a photo of the twinkling of the sun through a London Eye capsule. I like this image due to the fact that the sun rays, when shining through the capsule, appear to be twinkling.
A photo of the sun shining through the spokes of the London Eye wheel. Given the clarity of the air, you can see the glint of the sun shine as well as the backdrop of a vapor trail (caused by a jet) in the sky
A view of some of the Bridges on the Thames as seen from a capsule of the London Eye. You get a good view from a height of quite a large area of London.
This is a photo of the view of the Thames river from a capsule of London Eye. We have just climbed a short height and are not very far above the river. From this point, one gets a good view of the buildings from that height, and if the angle is correct, one also gets a good view of the sun reflecting from the water.
This photo is more of an engineering photo. There are 2 sets of smaller wheels that make the giant wheel of London Eye turn, and you can see the entire contraption in this photo (the red part in the photo). These are powerful wheels that make the London Eye wheel turn at the rate of 0.9 km/h, allowing the wheel to complete one full turn in around 30 minutes.
This is yet another photo that gives a perspective of the height that the London Eye reaches. The London Eye reaches a height of 145 metres; what that means is that when you are on the Eye, you will go higher than almost all the structures in the vicinity. Here a capsule is seen way high over the London Aquarium.
From this angle, it seems like the capsule is straining to reach the sky. I like such kind of photos, you can think about lofty ambitions and goals when looking at such photos. From this angle, it almost seems like the people in the other capsule are looking to reach the sky.
It would be a travesty to call the London Eye as a big Ferris wheel. But essentially, that is what it is. However, traveling in it is very enjoyable. In this picture, I am almost at the top, and you can get an idea of the height by looking at the photo of the capsule against the background of London behind the capsule.
This is a photograph of the sun being visible from within one of the capsules of London Eye. This photograph was taken in the afternoon, and was when I was almost at the top. The view from that location is great and very clear, but what impressed me a lot was the way in which the next capsule had the sun shining right through the glass.
I have always been interested in taking photos such as this one. I was travelling in a car in the United Kingdom at night and trying to take a photo from inside the car through the windscreen. What I wanted was to be able to get the street lights, the road, and a faint outline of the magazine lying on the dashboard. I think I succeeded with this photo.
This is a diwali cracker (called a rocket) as it goes straight up with great speed. As the rocket is lighted, it makes a hissing noise as the wick lights up the powder, and then suddenly it moves up with great speed. A great thing to watch, although a bit noise.
Another photo of a Diwali sparkler. Watching these small rockets go straight up is fun, but pretty difficult to capture on photo because of the speed at which the rockets go straight up. I found this photo to be very interesting, given that it seems to have captured the movement of the rocket at various stages in one photo.
This is another photo of a colourful sparkler lighted on Diwali. The sparkler produces a burst of sparks and flames vertically; dangerous if you get too close but good to watch otherwise.
This is the photo of a typical Diwali cracker (firework); this is something called a 'Anar', a small cylinder or cone full of chemicals. You light the fuse, and you get some wonderful sparkles coming out of the cracker. You need to keep at a certain distance, but otherwise, it is beautiful to watch.
I am very proud of this photo. I was watching my nephew enjoy with some crackers (fireworks), and he was having fun enjoying these crackers and then seeing the photos that I was taking (I was using a great camera called the Sony DSC R1). Then he started lighting up these rockets; you light the fuse and they go straight up for a few hundred feet at a fast speed. So here I am holding a camera in my hand, trying to capture one of these rockets as they go without a tripod, and then I managed to time the release when the rocket was still on the ground, and the camera then managed to capture a photo that I had never expected.
This is an image of the reflection of the lamps (Diwali lamps) on a window. I have the quest to try and capture images that get reflected in a window at night (you know, when you look at a window from inside, and it reflects the things happening inside); so this photo was an attempt to try and capture what the light of the lamps look like when seen in the reflection on the window
As part of the prayer ceremony during Diwali, there are presentations of oil, sweets to gods and goddesses as part of the ceremony.
A small celebration of the Diwali ceremony at home, with images and statues of gods and goddesses along with lamps of different types
Some wonderful diyas (lamps) showing the true celebration of the spirit of Diwali.
This is a view of the lake inside the Nicco play park outside Calcutta. It is located outside Calcutta, and yet there are many many people to be found here, since the site gives games including boat rides and kids love it. This photo is of a time when we feared that it was about to rain, and I managed to get this shot of water against trees against angry clouds.
Part of the pleasure of going to a resort that is surrounded by some form of jungle is the ability to wander off into wilder areas. Here, this is a jungle trail (although the jungle here is actually wild grass) that soon started splitting into multiple trails, enough that we were in serious danger of getting lost.
A camp fire can be a wonderful thing to be standing or sitting around. You gather around the campfire with friends and family, with the beverage of your choice and spend some great time exchanging stories or jokes or the odd horror stories. Using logs to generate such a campfire gives a strong flame, one that lasts for quite some time.
This is a highway road in India, in the agrarian state of Punjab. The road is not too broad, but is adequate for the traffic that passes through. A lot of these roads are lined with trees on both sides, something that makes the road much better than the surroundings when the summer heat is raging.
This is a cottage in the tourist resort of Kikar. These are small one-room cottages, but they are big enough for 2 people to stay in good comfort, and have attached bathrooms for comfort. Overall, staying in this resort with friends was good.
This is a view of Alcatraz, also known as The Rock. For those who are not aware, this is an island in the San Francisco Harbour that was very famous for being a prison from which no one could escape and still be alive. It seems such a tranquil island from a distance.
Imagine standing on the deck of a ship, and trying to capture the image of a bird flying over the water in the opposite direction; this is an extremely difficult task. And in the end you can see that this is not a very good photo, but for getting a better shot, you will most probably need a much better camera.
I really like this photograph; it's a photo from right under the Golden Gate and the structure of the Bridge hides the sun. This gives a nice light shadow, and the sun also causes a shine on the water. Overall, I like this photograph.
I really have not seen too many photos of the Golden Gate Bridge from underneath, so here's one photo that displays the span of the Bridge. It was interesting to pass under the Bridge, and from this view, the central span looks so long.
In San Francisco, the Golden Gate is one of the most iconic monuments and tourist destinations. It looks spectacular, especially when taken from a distance, and where there is a faint mist over the water. This photo was taken with a Olympus 750UZ and on a ferry that takes people around the harbour in an hour.
Take a look at the sculpture depicted in this photo. It shows the intricate carving on the stones as well as the small statues inside the stone. It is indeed remarkable that these carvings have managed to make it through the centuries.
This is another view of the inside of the complex of the ancient Shiva Temple at Baijnath. The architecture and the stones give the impression of a centuries old monument, and even though there is no clarity about the actual age of the structure, many guesses go to the 15th century.
A couple of marigold flowers growing at home. Marigold flowers are very popular and used for a lot of festivities in India.
A couple of light pink flowers growing in a container at home. There were a number of such containers next to each other, and the whole place was full of these flowers, giving a beautiful look to the entire place.
A photo of a beautiful red flower in close up. Such flowers look perfectly formed and are a pleasure to look at. They last for only a few days, but in that time, light up the whole surrounding.
Roses sometimes can be so red, as can be seen from this photo. These are roses growing inside a container in my home, and we lavish great care on the roses. And when the roses come out like this and look so red and beautiful, it all seems worth it.
This is the road inside Sariska, a wildlife sanctuary in the state of Rajasthan, India. All visitors are only allowed to travel on this road, and not step outside the road and go wandering off; with one exception. You can go on a guided tour on a vehicle belonging to the sanctuary, and that will go off into the wilderness.
This is another view of the ancient Shiva Temple in Baijnath, from the front side. You can see the photo of Nandi as well as the main temple complex. It looks real good, and is very much respected by the devout.
This is a view of the ancient Shiva temple in Baijnath, that has been built many centuries ago and is revered by the local population and by religious folks from all over the country. It is now well preserved, and is in actual use.
When passing through, this was an excellent view. You could see the mountain stream through the midst of the greenery. At this time of the year, when it rains, the water tends to become much faster, something that you can see much more clearly as you head closer.
Once it rains, you can really see the growth of plants and trees, especially where man has allowed them to grow. So, this is a photo of the green cover for the valley in Dharamshala. Looks real good, given that we would never see such a green view in the city.
This is a photo of a small opening in the clouds in a hilly region. Since we had gone in the rainy season, there were plenty of clouds, and overall, it seemed like a very thick cloud cover. However, it did not rain too much, and we had a great time.
This is a photo of the Aravali Mountain Range in the Sariska sanctuary, as seen from a distance. In this photo, you can see the whole range of a mountain, with the entire front face of one rock structure clearly visible.
A slightly more distant photo of deer in Sariska. The deer in this case are much further from the road, and there are many more of them. They seem much more at ease with us, given that we are at a decent distance from them, far enough to not be considered a threat.
These are photos of deer in Sariska. The deer seem a bit rushed, could be because they were closer to the road, and as we came closer, they got startled and started rushing away.
It sure is good to see a location like this; the location is that of a place with less water and a hot climate. There are trees, but no lush greenery. The good point is that the growth is a natural growth, with very little human intervention.
This is a hilly structure in Sariska. The location is far enough that it is difficult to go closer to these hills, and inside a sanctuary, we are not allowed to step off the main road; otherwise it would have been good to go closer.
Water is one of the most important requirements for any living creature. As a result, inside a sanctuary, the watering hole is one of the most important places to find animals. This was the start of summer, and the rains had not come for many months, and the water level was low; further, this was daytime while animals usually come during morning of evening for water, hence you do not see any animals.
Sariska is located within the precints of the Aravali Hills and as you proceed into the sanctuary, you will see more evidence of the presence of hills. The path gets a slope, and there are numerous rocky regions that you can see such as the one in this photo. These are very old hills, and hence the rocks seem very worn out.
One of the advantages of having a natural wildlife sanctuary is that there will be a lot of greenery, and so it was in this case. You almost never come across kilometers of green areas inside major cities, and it felt good to see this large expanse of trees, shrubs and grasses.
Inside a wildlife sanctuary, you can expect to find numerous monkeys, and that is exactly what we found. There were monkeys everywhere, but we had been advised to stay away from them and even roll up the windows if the monkey comes close.
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