Urban sprawl

The urban sprawl of Dhaka stretches to the horizon as the plane makes it final descent into Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport sometime in mid September this year.

Panasonic G1 | Lumix 14-45mm vario

Waiting . . .

Hours to kill before the next connection. The best place at the Doha International Airport,Qatar, is next to the huge windows that face the runway, watching aircraft landing and taking off.

Panasonic G1 | Lumix 14-45mm Vario

Dreams of home . . .

A traveler watches through the plate glass windows as a plane takes off at the Doha International Airport, Qatar.

Panasonic G1 | Lumix 14-45mm

The digital divide

An elderly traveler is engrossed in his paperback, while the younger one is on his digital gear at the lounge in the Doha International Airport, Qatar.

Panasonic G1 | Lumix 14-45mm

A tiger in the making . . .

Patuapara. Kalighat.

A tiger gets its first color coat in the run up to Jagaddhatri puja.

Nikon D300 and  Nikon 18-200mm VR

Leaves and Rust : Experiments with the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 ED

An experimental shot taken with the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 ED AF at f2.8 of pristine leaves growing next to a rusty fence.

Nikon D300 & Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 AF ED

Jazz again . . .

Critically acclaimed Norwegian saxophonist Frøy Aagre, known for her powerful compositions and her individual style of characteristically lyrical Nordic jazz, at the start of the Congo Square and DI Jazz Fest 2012.

Nikon D300 and Nikon 18-200 mm VR

The making of Jagadhatri 2

Patuapara, Kalighat.

The idol of Goddess Jagadhatri, under a leafy tree, being readied before the pujas. Shafts of light highlight through the foliage highlights parts of the idol.

Nikon D300 & Nikon 18-200mm VR

The making of Jagadhatri

Patuapara, Kalighat.

Artisans race against time to complete the idol of Goddess Jagadhatri before tomorrow's puja deadline.

Nikon D300 & Nikon 18-200mm VR. Processed in LR and Nik Silver Efex 2

Jazz in B&W

One more picture from the recent jazz concert.

Frederik Köster of the Fredrick Köster Quartet plays a number, accompanied by the bassist.

I have made a square crop of the image, reminiscent of older B&W square format images.

The picture has been cropped and processed in LR and B&W conversion in Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Nikon D300 & Nikon 18-200mm VR. 

The Festival of Lights

A child holding sparklers for the first time, supervised by his mother, on the night of Deepawali, the Festival of Lights.

Nikon D300 & Nikon 18-200mm VR

Diwali evening blues

One of my neighbours, in a pensive mood, on Diwali evening.

Nikon D300 & Nikon 18-200mm VR

Diwali 2012

Decorations for Diwali, the festival of lights, in north Calcutta.

Nikon D300 & Nikon 18-200mm VR

Fireworks!

Its 11.45 pm as I write this post. Crackers are being burst in wild abandon, the official deadline of 10.00 pm not withstanding. Its easy to blame the administration and police for not implementing the deadline, but the actual fault lies with the people, who think that they can get away with anything and flout any and every rule in the book.

Anyway, these pictures are from my first experiment of shooting fireworks, taken today evening with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 18-200mm VR.

 800 ISO, f3.5 and 1/6s

 800 ISO, f3.5 and 1/8s

800 ISO, f3.5 and 0.7s

1600 ISO, f3.5 and 1/90s

Happy Diwali everyone!


Nikon D300 & Nikon 18-200mm VR.

Diwali lights

Nawn er Kalibari, a 100+ year old temple, in north Calcutta, bedecked with lights on the occasion of Kali Puja.

Nikon D300 & Nikon 18-200mm VR

The run up to Diwali

Yesterday night. 10.30 PM. Central Avenue. Calcutta.

With the Kali Puja starting tomorrow, there is a rush in getting the idols to the pandals.

Shot from a moving car at 3200 ISO, 1/20s at f3.5, to capture the movement, the rush of transporting the idol of the goddess to the destination.

Nikon D300 & Nikon 18-200mm VR

Jazz in wide-angle

Outstanding Norwegian Saxoponist Frøy Aagre with her Quartet performs on 31st Oct at Jazz Fest 2012.

Frøy Aagre - Saxophone
Erlend Slettevoll - Piano
Audun Ellingsen - Bass
Jonas Barsten Johnsen - Drums

Taken with the Nikon D300 & Sigma 10-20mm at stage level. Handheld.

Jazz Fest – An Alternative View

Another shot of The Tarun Balani Collective playing at the Congo Square and Di Jazz Fest 2012.

Conversion to B&W done on Nik Viveza and then tweaked in LR. More drama, but slightly marred by the fact that the bassist is partly obscured by the cymbals.

Nikon D300
Nikon 18-200mm VR

Jazz Fest in B&W - 1

The Tarun Balani Collective plays at the Congo Square and DI Jazz Fest 2012.

Shot in color and converted to B&W on Nik Silver Efex Pro. Liked the spot-lit effect on the musicians.

Nikon D300
Nikon 18-20mm VR

Jazz Concert - 5

Noam Wiesenberg of the Tarun Balani Collective plays the Bass during the Congo Square and DI Jazz Fest 2012 at the Dalhousie Institute, Calcutta.

Nikon D300
Nikon 18-200mm VR

Jazz Concert - 4

The Fredrick Koster Quartet plays on Day 1 at the Congo Square & DI Jazz Fest 2012 at Dalhousie Institute.

Nikon D300
Nikon 85mm f1.8
ISO 800
1/250s at f2.4

Jazz Concert - 3

Frederik Köster of the Fredrick Koster Quartet plays at the Congo Square & DI Jazz Fest at Dalhousie Institute.

Nikon D300
Nikon 85mm f1.8D
ISO 800 | 1/1000s at f2.4

The Jazz Concert - 2

The Tarun Balani Collective performs on 31st of October at the Congo Square and DI Jazz Fest 2012 at the Dalhousie Institute.

Noam Wiesenberg (Israel) on the Bass during the concert.

This I think is my best concert picture till date. I had taken a risk and brought along my Nikon 18-200VR and it has definitely paid off, especially with the VR making the low light image possible.

Nikon D300
Nikon 18-200mm VR at 95mm
f9.5 | 1/45s | 1600 ISO

The Jazz Concert

Fredrick Koster Quartett, an award winning Jazz band from Cologne, Germany, plays at the Congo Square and DI JazzFest 2012 (Day 1).

Taken with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 85mm f1.8 D at 800 ISO, 1/350s at f2.4.

Spare a thought!

Bijoya Dashami morning 11 AM. Park Street - A J C Bose Road corner.

Nikon D300 | Nikon 18-200 VR

Durga Puja 2012 : Dashami

This year, things have been a bit different. With my grandmother not keeping well, our usual sojourn to North Calcutta did not happen this year. I made my trip to Bangur Avenue, where she has been residing with my aunt and cousin to meet her.

The pandal next to where they reside had some interesting motifs in burnt clay, that is a tradition of Bishnupur.

The facade of the pandal was also exquisitely decorated.

 

The ceiling motifs were rather interesting . . . 

While driving back, I was surprised that most of the pandals were virtually empty or had few worshipers. Compared to that, the Victoria Memorial had lots more visitors.

Changing times or more tourist inflow during the pujas? Or is it "poriborton"?


Nikon D300 | Nikon 18-200mm VR 

Durga Puja 2012 : Pandal hopping on Nabami

After the grandiose plans were changed to somewhat workable ones, we started with a lunch at Calcutta Club and then spent the rest of the afternoon pandal hopping, with the explicit constraint of visiting those with available parking close to the pandal.

The first was Harish Park.

The next one was 23 Pally. 23 Pally Durga Mandir on Harish Mukherjee Road is a popular place of worship among devotees in south Calcutta.

Tucked in a by-lane off Harish Mukherjee Road, we came across this magnificent pratima in full "dak-er-saaj"!

The pandal structure in 'Goal Math' was shaped like a grain silo of yesteryears and the ceiling was covered with painted clouds and LED stars.

 This pandal in Bhawanipore was made entirely of fishnets!

Bengal United Club's pandal at Lake Range. The entire pandal was made of papier-mâché balloons and toys.

The day done, it was an arduous drive home, with the roads completely jam-packed with people on a pandal hopping spree.

Nikon D300 | Sigma 10-20mm

Durga Puja 2012 : Sandhi Pujo

Flames leap up from the 108 lamps during Sandhi Pujo!

Nikon D300 | Nikon 18-200mm VR 

Durga Puja 2012 : Sandhi Pujo

Age of convergence!

As the sacred flame is handed around during Sandhi Puja at the New Alipore Association Puja, there are people who are busy photographing the flame on their phones.

 Nikon D300 | Nikon 18-200 VR

Durga Puja 2012 : Sandhi Pujo

Sandhi Pujo at the New Alipore Association at New Alipore.

On Ashtami, an integral and important part of the Puja is, Sandhii Puja. This is performed at the juncture of the 8th and 9th lunar day. The last 24 minutes of Ashtami and the first 24 minutes of Navami, a total of 48 minutes between the two lunar days, constitute the Sandhi or Sandhikhan,the Sacred Juncture. It is considered to be a most auspicious time. At this time Durga is worshipped as Chamunda ,that is, Kali who killed the demon Chanda and Munda.This Puja is considered to be the highest point in the whole Durga Puja and the most important ritual.

(From Aloke Kumar : https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=440493152652672&set=a.255656731136316.52988.254856831216306&type=1&theater)

 
Nikon D300 | Nikon 18-200mm VR

Durga Puja 2012 : Maha Astami

A close up of the Goddess Durga during the Maha Astami aarati.

Nikon D300 | Nikon 18-200mm VR

Durga Puja 2012 : Maha Saptami - Dhaaki r Naach

Maha Saptami Puja. The dhaaki dances during the puja on Saptami night.

Nikon D300 | Sigma 10-20mm

Durga Puja 2012 : Maha Saptami

Puja on Maha Saptami night at my friend's residence.

Nikon D300 | Sigma 10-20mm

Durga Puja 2012 : Maha Sasthi

Maha Sasthi.

The pandal of the New Alipore Association at New Alipore during the inauguration today evening.

This year the organizers have done a fantastic job in the decoration of the pandal with frescoes of the traditional Bengali folk art – pat chitra or pat of Kalighat.

Nikon D300 | Sigma 10-20mm

Durga Puja 2012 : Panchami

Panchami.

The Goddess Durga arrives at my neighbour's residence.

Nikon D300 | Sigma 10-20mm

Morning banter

Morning banter at the breakfast table.

I am still trying to experiment with the Sigma 10-20mm ultra wide to get interesting photographs. My previous experiment was a near disaster.

Shot with the Nikon D300 and the Sigma 10-20mm at 1600 ASA, 1/ 125s at f4 and 10mm.

Leaf

Experimenting with the micro Nikkor 60mm AFD lens.

A shot of an orchid leaf glistening in the morning sun.

Nikon D300 with the micro Nikkor 60mm AFD @ 1/250s at f3.2

Expectation

A child looks at a shiny new car from a ramshackle bus window in the sweltering Dhaka traffic.

Panasonic G1 | Panasonic 14-45mm kit zoom

Meeting by the sea

A couple, framed by two coconut trees, watches the waves breaking around the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai.

Shot from a moving taxi on Lala Lajpatrai Marg on a recent trip to Mumbai.

Panasonic G1 | Lumix 14-45mm kit zoom

The making of Ganesha

With just 2 days to go for Ganesha puja, patuapara in Kalighat is buzzing with activity. Artisans are fighting the odds to meet the deadlines. But frequent rains are giving them the jitters. The Ganesha idol was drying in the late afternoon sun. I liked the soft directional light.

Shot from the back of a taxi with the Panasonic G1 and the 14-45mm kit lens at 45mm and 1600 ASA.