Landscape images of India
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.Â
3. Efflorescence at Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh
If there is one region that has given me innumerable number of landscape photography opportunities, it has to be Trans-Himalayas. Spiti has played a key-role in helping me evolve as a landscape photographer. Each time I have travelled there–I go every year–I find something new and interesting. This year was no exception. Here is an image of efflorescence from Spiti Valley.
4. Efflorescence of Nilakurinji flowers at Bababudangiri Hills, Chikmagalur
This image of Kurinji blooms during sunset, shot at Bababudangiri, is one of my early serious attempts into landscape photography. One October morning eight years ago, I set out from Bangalore all alone with a camera and tripod, planning to spend three to four days just shooting landscapes and efflorescence in the hills of Chikmagalur. It was a rewarding experience, especially when the resulting images immediately made way to a cover-story in a small travel magazine. That was one of my first published works.
5. Sunrise from Matanga Hill, Hampi
Here is a pre-dawn image from Hampi, a photograph I really enjoyed making. The gentle fog at the base of the hill completely changes the look of the place, without which this image may not have been much fun. I made this four years ago. Subsequently, I have visited this place about 6-7 times, but haven’t been able to make anymore images this beautiful.
Now, this is open for everyone to take this forward. Would you like to post your 5 best landscape images on your blog?