Cruise around the San Francisco Bay

Was visiting San Francisco for a couple of days, and wandered near the San Francisco Bay. There are these ferries over there that take people around the bay in a 1 hour trip, including a circle around The Rock and under the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a running commentary through radios that are provided, and overall, it seemed a nice 1 hour spent.
It whetted my appetite for spending a longer time on the harbour the next time and maybe actually visit The Rock.

Walking across the greens casually

If you take a look at this scene, this is not something that is easily visible in a city type of environment. This is a photo of a white bird casually walking across a lawn. This picture was taken near a monument, and the entire green area was fenced off.
Watching such a tranquil moment makes one want to just sit and watch for some time. I was at this place for around 10 minutes, and enjoyed every minute of it.

A white gladuli at night

This is a white gladuli flower that was put in a vase. Whenever anybody would walk into the room, they would be hit with the smell, a pretty strong smell. A nice smell, but very strong.
This flower was another of my experiment, trying to see whether I could get a good photograph at night with just the flash providing the light. I had to delete a number of photographs before I got one that was somewhat decent looking. It is for you to judge whether this photograph is decent enough.

The Taj with its foundation

As you can see from my earlier posts as well, I have been quite taken in by the Taj, hence the number of posts on the subject. This will be my last post on the Taj, but I do like this photo. Most photos of the Taj show it from the front side, and you almost never get to see the foundation of the Taj. It is positioned on a foundation, which also incorporates the basement where the actual graves are located. However, with the Taj facing a massive tourist arrival, the entrance to the basement is now sealed. I remember visiting the basement the last time I had gone there (which was actually more than 14 years back).

View from the Taj

This is a view from the Taj. It shows the fountains in front of the Taj as well as the monument that is the entrance to the Taj at the end. I also wanted to capture the droplets of water from the fountain, and if you click on the image to see a bigger detail, you will notice the droplets of water individually.

Angular view of the Taj

I really like this photo. It depicts an angular view of the Taj, and I took it without the help of any special lense, just stood at one corner (near the minaret) and took a series of photos. This one turned out fairly good.

Taj minaret in the light

This is one of the minarets of the Taj Mahal seen with a light effect. I like these kind of light effects, with a sparkle where the monument blocks the sun.
I was told by a guide that these minarets are built slightly sloping outwards so that in the event of an earthquake, if they crumble, they will crumble outwards and not fall on the central structure.

The Taj Mahal in all its splendour

During the Agra visit, I spent some hours at the Taj Mahal. Because of going during holidays, there was an immense crowd over there (as can be seen from the photo where you can see a large crowd at the bottom of the photo).

The Taj Mahal takes the breath away when you see it for the first time. It looks incredibly beautiful, and one is able to understand as to why it seen as one of the seven wonders of the world.

Front visage : Agra fort

This is a view of the front of Agra fort. It is maintained pretty neatly, although that can only be ensured by roping off sections so that people do not go there. I was there in the afternoon, and the sunlight displayed off the beauty of the fort architecture.

Diwan-e-aam at Agra Fort

This is the Diwan-e-aam inside the Agra fort. This is a structure where the mighty emperor would speak to his subjects and receive representations from them. It is an open hall supported by pillars. These were designed in an angular manner such that the emperor would be able to see almost everyone in the hall.