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.
A close up photo of a peacock. In this region inside the Sariska sanctuary, the peacocks are numerous and can be found on the road. The peacock (the male member of the species) has a beautiful tail used to attract female member of the species.
It feels nice traveling on such a road. There is not much traffic, and the surroundings on both side are liberally covered with greenery, with a fair amount of trees. You never get to see such a road in the cities.
This photo is a photo of a banyan tree that has just started to develop its roots. A banyan tree sends down additional roots from its branches for support that soon develop into thick structures. You can see in the photo as to how the roots are starting to develop.
This photo is a slightly better view of the Siliserh lake in district Alwar in Rajasthan. This lake is a man made lake constructed by the long ago ruler of the region, and now primarily serves as a tourist ride with boating and motor boats.
The last photo had the Government owned tourist house being shown from a distance. This photo takes a much closer view of the entire guest house, being taken from just below. This gives a slightly different perspective to the photo. The location is the lake called Siliserh lake in Alwar district of Rajasthan, India.
This is a terrific location for a Government rest house located just on the edge. Once you are in the guest house, you can view the lake from a good height, and also climb down steps such that you reach a boathouse from where you can take motorized or manual boats.
This is a lake that is surrounded by hills on all side. These are very old hills, part of the Aravalli chain that have been ground down by erosion over the millenia and hence are no longer lofty.
I like such kinds of photos. They give a feeling of serenity and are best when you are in some tension and need some sort of relaxation. This is a photo of a sunset over a lake in the state of Rajasthan in India.
It was a tiring day, we had taken a long drive to reach Sariska from Delhi, and were on the way back. And then we found out about this lake, just a few kilometers off the main highway, and off we went. Boating on this lake was so peaceful, seemed to take away all the tiredness we felt.
This is a photo of a sunset over a hill. I just love the types of photos where there are individual sun rays that can be seen in the photo. I have taken hundreds of such photos and most of them have the sun rays getting splotched or not coming out right in some way, but this one seems okay.
This is a photo of a location in Rajasthan, in Alwar district, on the way from Sariska to Delhi. There is a lake, and on one edge of the lake, there is this hill with a Government rest house on the top. This photo was taken while boating on the lake whereby you get a view of the sunset just happening over the hill and over the rest house.
Part of the enjoyment for small children at the Kikar Resort is in seeing these ducks. Children stare at them, and try to get closer, with the ducks trying to waddle away and make noises. It is a lot of fun, and gets the kid to break out in laughter.
There is this Kikar Resort located close to Chandigarh. It is located in its own large compound with a mixture of plains and hilly terrain, very good for a group to go and enjoy over a weekend. Over there, you can live in a cottage or a tent.
I like these kind of photos. This is actually a photo of money flowing from a pool at a higher level to a pool at a lower level. This is located in the Kikar Resort which is pretty close to Chandigarh. The water flowing with this volume tends to look nice, and many times, with light following on it, can form a good water-light interface.
This is a photo of a tangerine (Wikipedia), a small fruit belonging to the citrus family. It sure was hard getting this photo since the location of the plant was a bit awkward and in the end I had to squat while trying to take the photo (not something that I would really like to repeat)
This is a close up of a pink rose growing in a pot at home. I consider this photo more successful since the macro mode seems to have worked and the entire background is out of focus while the pink rose is clearly in focus.
This is a photo of the rose against a clear blue sky. I like such kind of photos, they seem to have the spirit of a flower rising on a thin support against the force of gravity and straining to touch the sky.
This is a photo of a red rose that had once seen better days, but as you now see the photo, it is a rose that is badly scarred; but no less beautiful to the insects that get their sustenance from it.
This is a striking photo of a red rose, and I was trying to test the macro mode to the maximum - objective being to get a close-up photo while avoiding blurring.
Inside the Taragarh Place Hotel near Palampur, there is a much older heritage building in the same compound. This is a much older building from the time when the British ruled India, and is well preserved.
This is another view of the inside structure of the Taragarh Palace. It seems very well maintained and clean, and when I went there, the place had a very good ambience, including an excellent buffet restaurant.
This is the inside view of the Taragarh Palace, a heritage hotel in Himachal Pradesh in India. The heritage hotel is located near Palampur and has a big compound, with around 16 rooms.
This is a photo of the beautiful path among trees in the Taragarh Palace compound in Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, India. When wandering among such a beautiful setting, you can easily forget about the various problems and tensions that you may have and enjoy the time you are spending in a serene location.
This is a line of tents at the Saatal jungle camp. There are a number of such tents located next to each other, each of them securely fastened to a concrete base, and decently comfortable. Each of them has 2 beds, and one lantern hanging outside for use at night.
RSS
