Autumn in London

Hyde Park - Early Nov2011. Since Oct, I was just searching for locations around Woking to catch Autumn colors. I was new to UK and was asking friends and colleagues, but did not get a convincing answer. I also tried Westonbirt Arboretum for their Oct event, but was hugely disappointing as colors had not started (maybe not as much as I expected) even when the website claimed it had. So, come Nov, I had given up hope and thought I had missed Autumn in UK.
It was unexpected landing at Hyde park, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. 

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Morning Walk

Periyar Lake - The early morning boat ride gave us this view of a group of Sambars. It was a very calm morning at the lake. The views just reminded of what we miss in our hectic life in the city and why we need to stay in harmony with nature.

Location - Same as previous one.

Bhatghar Dam

During my childhood I had been hearing about Bhor-Bhatghar - a very popular place for school trips. My cousins used to mention it and about all the fun they had. I never got an opportunity to visit the place after 15 years. So when my family asked for a drive during a lazy weekend, I seized the opportunity to visit it. It was very pleasant to drive through the country side and finally land up at the banks of this dam. There is a small garden maintained by the dam which I guess must have been the place where school picnics would have happened. At the time of our visit, this was closed and so was the area around the dam due to security reasons. It was only a few moments I got to steal this picture.

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Age

I was taking a walk one morning in a camping trip (I think this was in the Pinnacles national monument). Don't know how old this tree could be but the patterns on it made me think that it must have been a very old tree.

The Green Tunnel

One of the bus trips to Suratkal. We were looking for a short-cut the beach from the bus-stop. found this path leading towards the beach. As we reached other end, it was closed with huge iron gate. We did some gate-climbing to drop onto the beach.

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The Boo ...

The small bush seems to have scared the leaves off the tree. This was caught on the Shakespeare Arch trail - the only natural arch of Kodachrome basin.

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Autumn Twilight

Redmond, WA driveway of one of the Microsoft buildings - The image in my mind of working in Redmond is that of vibrant autumn. It was a pleasure to walk out of office after a long day and let the view take away all the stress.

Who Paints a Tree on a Rock ?

... but this is not a crazy artist. This is mother earth. The Zion canyon and the high sandstone walls provide some of the amazing formations that even a green tree on a rock is possible!

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Fire and Ice

What all do these guys have to stand! They had been charred by fire from lightning and now have been subject to the chill of winters.

We had started to complete the loop of hwy 180 in Sequoia National Park, however at the visitor center were told that there was snow during the week and the road was closed. Grant Groove was the only place we could visit.

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Backlit Cholla Cacti

The thin spikes on Cholla Cacti looked very nice - back-lit in the setting sun. The desert landscape in Joshua Tree National Park has three striking vegetation - Joshua trees, Ocotillos and Cholla Cacti and interestingly they seem to occupy independent territories.

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Ocotillos in Joshua Tree National Park

The flaming ocotillo's looked very pleasing - though I think red color would have suited them more :).The desert landscape in Joshua Tree National Park has three striking vegetation - Joshua trees, Ocotillos and Cholla Cacti and interestingly they seem to occupy independent territories.

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Leaning Trees and Mountains

The desert landscape in Joshua Tree National Park has three striking vegetation - Joshua trees, Ocotillos and Cholla Cacti and interestingly they seem to occupy independent territories.


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Joshua Tree Landscape - Night

This could have been the night landscape - but the pic was taken during broad daylight with the min exposure settings ! This looks like the trees are trying to find the fellow trees in the dark.

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Joshua Tree Landscape - Evening

It was late winter (Feb10). The evening light was very warm. As the the shadows elongated the landscape turned into "statued" Joshuas in the cold dry desert.

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Joshua Tree Landscape - Day

It was a cloudy day as we entered the Joshua Tree National Park. This was what was presented to us during the day time.

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Remnants of Disaster

Yellowstone national park - This is at Mammoth Hot Springs - our first pit-stop at Yellowstone as we entered via the North Entrance. The huge caldera of Yellowstone has a variety of geo-thermal phenomenons. Our visit was around summer ... and this was mid day and very hot when we visited this location. These dry tree trunks try to tell us the story of the past.

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Are you lonely?

Seems the lone tree is waiting for the spring and sunshine ... This was at St. Mary's Lake in Glacier National Park. Members of our group have a mixed feeling on the timing when we visited the park - some say it was not good as most of the time it was cloudy and drizzling. I consider it was a great time to visit the park to view the raw and natural ambiance it gave in the cloudy and rainy environment - an experience of being humbled and being helpless - the constant fear of making sure shelter is around ... The nature's beauty is just amazing ...

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So cool .. !

So very tempting ! It seems like the tree is inviting me for a relaxing nap. So very perfect, green, calm - I can smell the grass, hear the birds ... just need a bedsheet, a pillow and a book.

The Guardian

May2008-Glacier National Park: This picture strikes multiple notes and thus am confused as what to name it. Just look and it gives a feeling of fresh rain on thirsty tree. Keep looking and it seems the lone tree has overcome a struggle and now rising among the lowely twigs or other way round seems to be the guardian of the small twigs. The flower in the background speaks of new life amongst the dried twigs.
Technically - I liked the bokeh and the DOF. Seems a bit underexposed- tried to increase brightness, but was losing the background effect, hence left as-is.

Lost in the woods

Mt. Si in Mar'08: After long winter hibernation, I was looking out for a hiking trail without snow. The winter was unusually long and most of the trails in Snoqualmie had snow. Picking Mt. Si as the first hiking trail of the season proved to be difficult. After about 2.5mi we got snow on the trail and the trail was also climbing steeply. 50% of group stayed behind and 50% continued. The trail was a bit boring for a photography trip - all the while it went through pine trees and no open view of the mountains and just no colors. This was one shot I was happy about - specifically since I was experimenting with DOF and f values on newly acquired 30D.