Nandakini River on the Kuari Pass Trek

Nandakini river in the village of Ghat, Uttaranchal

Nandakini river in the village of Ghat, Uttaranchal

Ghat is a tiny village in Uttaranchal. Most travelers here are on their way to Kuari Pass. When we stopped overnight at Ghat in 2009, we too were embarking on the trek to Kuari Pass. A taxi dropped us off the next morning where the road ended – and from there we set off on foot to the village of Ramni where we camped in the open. What followed was 3 days of hiking deep in the jungles of the Himalayas, and then the ecstasy of reaching Kuari Pass.

This photograph was taken at the banks of the Nandkini river in Ghat. The river was in full force, carrying icy cold water from the upper Himalayas. Earlier that day, we left the noisy town of Srinagar (not the one in Kashmir!) to reach Ghat. Visiting the river gave us a chance to shake away memories of the city and get closer to nature. A precursor to the next few days we would spend hiking. The village kids joined us as we set up our tripods to shoot. We probably gave them good entertainment for the evening. I have one other frame from this shoot when the sun turned a little more golden. You can see it in the portfolio section.

Savandurga, Karnataka

A view of the monolithic Savandurga

A view of the monolithic Savandurga

Savandurga is a popular trekking spot close to Bangalore. Considered as one of the largest monolithic rock formations, it takes about 2 hours to climb up. This makes for an easy day trip. When my friend Arun Bhat and I were figuring out places around Bangalore for landscape photography, Savandurga emerged as a suggestion. We studied Google maps and realized that the place has good potential due to the presence of a lake in the vicinity of the mountain.

With two other friends, we set out early from Bangalore, as always, to make the best of morning light. Our first stop was Manchinbele dam. The authorities do not allow public near the water, so we hiked up the hillock which is close to the road, hoping to photograph the Arkavathy river during sunrise. Being monsoon, there was nothing exciting about the sun rising. Except for a brief moment of blue skies and white clouds, Manchinebele did not have anything great to offer. We continued the journey to Savandurga, and reached at around 8 am. In between we had excellent thatte idlies at a small shack on the Ramnagara Magadi road. We were one of the early visitors and certainly the only ones with tripods and DSLRs. After making some inquiries, we parked the car and began walking towards the lake. The entrance to the lake is gated, and you first need to cross a nursery and a children’s park (that looked unused). The area is housed within an electric fence, suggesting the presence of elephants. The lake is in the Savandurga State Forest.

We spent close to an hour shooting near the lake. In this frame, I have tried to include the vegetation and flowers that we saw at the banks of the lake. Plenty of Blue Tiger butterflies were resting on these flowers, but it wasn’t easy to include them in the compositions. In another photo I shot here, I included a rock in the foreground. After taking the time to get satisfactory photos, we recee’ed a larger area, before returning to Bangalore. It was a good day photographically speaking, and I was happy to find one more beautiful spot close to Bangalore.

Crimson Passion Flower

Crimson Passion Flower

Crimson Passion Flower
A red crimson passion flower shot using focus stacking technique.

I used a technique called focus stacking to shoot this macro photo of a Crimson Passion Flower. I found this beautiful ornamental flower in the gardens of the guest house called Cassiopeia in the Niligiris. Focus stacking is a technique to increase the depth of field, while maintaining a low aperture. In this case, I shot at an aperture of f/10, and the stamen are all in focus. This is a blend of four photos. This photo was possible because of the ample time we had at the guest house. Focus stacking requires concentration, and the use of a sturdy tripod. We had the guest house to ourselves, so I had pretty much no distraction. Perhaps, the biggest challenge was the heavy wind. Because we overlap the individual photos during focus stacking, the photos must align as closely as possible.