Today’s photo – ghats of Varanasi glittering in high-power street lights.
Come evening, soon after the Ganga Aarti celebrations in Dasaswamedh Ghat ends, the generally busy ghats become quieter. The steps see no more than an occasional stroller and the river sees a drifting boat or two. Walking back after another day of witnessing the Aarti, this is what I saw.
It is time for me to head to Varanasi again, to witness the festivities of Karthika Poornima / Dev Diwali with a group of photography enthusiasts and subsequently work on a few stories.
Todays’s photo – when weather gods smiled over the pagodas of Bagan…
For those who haven’t heard of it, Bagan in Central Myanmar was the original capital of Myanmar Kings. In the days of glory, which started nearly a millennium ago, a slew of pagods were built along the plains of Bagan overlooking the Ayeyar River. About 2000 pagodas have survived the march of time, forming what looks like a miniature mountain-range raising from the otherwise prostrate landscape.
Ever since Myanmar opened up for visitors, Bagan has been one of the prime attractions, something like a crown jewel. It’s possible to climb over a few of these Pagodas, and Shwesandaw is the among taller and popular ones.
This photograph was made on a glorious October evening as the sun splattered his orange blaze over the pagodas, even as the eastern sky danced to a tune of the clouds. As you can guess, Shwesandaw’s shadow is right in front, giving a hint of its elevation against its smaller counterparts.
A few days ago, a good friend asked me to share five landscapes images in five days on a social media platform. This, I did dutifully. Photographing landscapes has always been a meditative experience for me. People who know me often call me a lazy photographer, something that I wholeheartedly agree in most occasions. But when it comes to photographing landscapes, I am willing to go to the world’s end, climb a mountain or swim with the sharks if that’s what it takes. Well I haven’t gone swimming with the sharks, but I have endured frostbitesy weathers and stood on ice until my feet ached with cold, have walked for days in unforgiving places, have endured dozens of kilos on my back and dragged myself up on passes and sacrificed a million sugary morning dreams. And every single time I did this, I came back deeply satisfied, with renewed wish to do more of it. So when someone tags me to post image of landscapes there is only one thing to do – comply!
Here is the collection of images I posted in five days, put together.
1. Sunrise from Anjanadri, Hampi.
Here is first of the five images, made in Hampi. I thought it was going to be a simple, easy-to-shoot image catching the sun coming up on the hills of Hampi overlooking Tungabhadra. But I had to spend pretty much all of my brain and endure a bit of panic (about fast loosing the time) before finally managing this image.
2. Winter Landscape, Ladakh
Here is an image from Ladakh, during the winter months. Coping the cold in winter’s Ladakh is a big challenge. The weather is unforgiving. But the rewards are plenty as well. There is so much snow around that it can hurt the eye. Frost makes beautiful shapes. Frozen lakes form gigantic flat fields. Mountains are sprinkled with powdery snow. Most importantly, photographing landscapes here in the winter months is a gratifying experience.