Debopriyo's Pictures

Saraswati Puja - Dhaka University Campus | Panasonic G1

2012-02-15T22:53:00.000+05:30

Saraswati Puja at the Dhaka University Campus. Its mid February and the deity still stands over a pond in the campus.

Panasonic G1 | 14-45mm

Flowers | Experiments with the Nikon 18-200 VR

2012-02-10T16:14:00.000+05:30

Winter flowers on the terrace. Experimental shot with the Nikon 18-200mm VR. I am still trying to get a feel of the lens. It is so much bigger and heavier than my 18-70mm.

Nikon D300 | Nikon 18-200 VR @ 200mm | 400 ASA | f5.6 | 1/125s

Delhi mornings | Panasonic G1

2012-02-09T21:30:00.000+05:30

Delhi morning. The view from the balcony at about 7.30 AM. The morning of the 3rd of February had all the promises of a clear day, free from the usual fog and haze.

Panasonic G1 | 14-45mm

The Big Chill Café, New Delhi

2012-02-05T21:38:00.000+05:30

Lunch with an old friend of mine at The Big Chill Café at Khan Market in New Delhi.

After navigating through the narrow alley between the two blocks of Khan Market and a wait of half an hour, during which we spent surfing the shops and munching on gooseberries, we finally got a table for two. The Big Chill Café turned out to be interesting retro themed restaurant with its funky orange walls, artfully plastered with old movie posters and a menu with a cover picture of Audrey Hepburn.

The pan roasted lamb with the blue cheese sauce served with couple of sides of veggies and penne dressed with the same blue cheese sauce was superb. A hunk of brown bread to scoop up the left over sauces was an interesting addition to the well executed dish.

Panasonic G1 | 14mm | f4 | 1/8s | 400 ASA

Calcutta Trams | Experiments with the Nikon 18-200 VR

2012-01-25T16:11:00.000+05:30

6.00 pm at the Park Street - AJC Bose crossing in Calcutta. All of a sudden, two trams come barreling out of the traffic at the intersection and continue their journey onwards, down Park Street.

Started in Calcutta in 1880, its been over 125 years that trams have been plying in Calcutta. Now, they are a dying breed, losing out in competition with buses and other forms of vehicular traffic.

Shot from the front seat of my car. Nikon D300 and Nikon 18-200 VR @ 200 ASA, 18mm and 1.0s at f5.6.

Yellow Marigold

2012-01-06T15:02:00.000+05:30

A yellow marigold in the winter morning light.

Shot on the Nikon D300 and the Micro Nikkor 60mm AFD.

Times have changed !

2012-01-01T13:51:00.000+05:30

We have rung out the old year and ushered in the new.

I was going through my pictures last night and came across the pictures of my trip to Egypt in 2008. Tahrir Square – at that time – was a quaint old square, smack in front of the Egyptian Museum. People came, sat and saw the world go by.

Never did we expect that the people's revolution with its epicenter at the same Tahrir Square would force Hosni Mubarak out of power in 2011. Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters there, intensified pressure on president Hosni Mubarak to step down. The square - according to the media reports - was flooded with an estimated 500,000 Egyptians clamouring for change.

We were not destined to see history in the making. May be it was better that way. The picture last night brought memories flooding back.

Tahrir Square circa May 2008
.

The world has changed since then. Starting with the Tunisia, we have seen revolutions across across Africa and the middle east. Whether the regime changes will work out for the better or the countries make a slow descend into a quagmire - only time will tell.

As conflicts rage on and with a few more wars on the anvil, how the world shapes up in the new year remains to be seen.

Anyway, lets wish the best for everyone. . .

Here’s to wishing all my dear readers a very happy new year.

Cheers,

Honey Bees : Micro Nikkor 60mm AFD

2011-12-30T21:24:00.000+05:30

The winter flowers has blossomed on the terrace. Unlike earlier years, there seems to be a profusion of honey bees busy collecting sap from the flowers.

I was really surprised at how sharp the 60mm AFD is.

The photos below have been taken with the Nikon D300 and the micro nikkor 60mm AFD.

200 ASA f6.7 1/500s
Perfectly formed. One wing fits perfectly over the other !

200 ASA f6.7 1/250s

200 ASA f6.7 1/350s

200 ASA f6.7 1/250s

Portrait

2011-12-27T20:48:00.001+05:30

A long discussion with two of my closest childhood friends post the Christmas lunch. The discussion centered around photography.

This photo was taken in ambient light with the D300 and the Nikon 18-70mm at 70mm at f4.5 and 1600 ASA.

Light & Dark

2011-12-23T12:28:00.000+05:30

Ringo (Dec 2011) on the bed. 12 C is too cold for him.

Shot in available light with the micro Nikkor 60 mm and the Nikon D300 at f3.2 and 1/45s.

Monochrome

2011-12-20T16:52:00.002+05:30

Poinsettia on the terrace.

Nikon D300 | Micro Nikkor 60mm @ 200 ASA

The Jazz Concert - Some new pictures

2011-12-02T00:10:00.001+05:30

Some new pictures from last week's concert at Dalhousie Institute.

Cropped shot of Izaline Calister during the sound check before the concert.

Shot with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 85mm f1.8 @ f2 and 800 ASA.

Monojit Datta of Los Amigos during the concert on Day 1 of the Congo Square and DI Jazz Fest 2011.

Shot with the D300 and the Nikon 50mm f1.4 @ f2 and 3200 ASA.

Jazz @ DI : Day 3

2011-11-28T14:55:00.001+05:30

The day 3 of the Congo Square & DI Jazz Fest 2011 had the Karnataka College of Percussion with Ramamani and TAS Mani teamed up with BuJazzO (a 21 piece youth jazz orchestra from Germany) to present a mix of Carnatic music and jazz fusion.

Out of the compositions played, City Life (written by Louis Banks) was brilliant. The encore with chants of Govinda Jaye Jaye with sax and trumpets made an intriguing sound-scape.

I'm afraid that the pictures are not up to the mark. I was down with a severe cold and had an extremely runny nose and a pre-concert double shot of brandy with warm water was of no help at all.

The shots were predominantly taken with the Nikon 85mm f1.8 on the Nikon D300 along with a few shots taken with the Nikon 18-70mm.

Jazz @ DI : Day 2

2011-11-27T13:07:00.001+05:30

The second day of the Congo Square and the DI Jazz Fest 2011 turned out to be a wonderful evening. Old friends, good jazz (though Prasanna's music sounded more like heavy metal sometimes) and great food.

The plus point about concert photography is that one finds a first row seat and stays put there and that is exactly what I did.

I stuck to the trusted Nikon 85mm f1.8 with the Nikon D300. The light was not at all conducive to any sort of zooms except very fast zooms, which I don't have.

All pictures shot at 1600 ASA (very few at 400 ASA) and at f2 at shutter speeds between 1/45s and 1/250s.

The show started with Izaline Calister and her Trio with Latin Jazz & Caribbean music with Izaline Calister (Curacao/Netherlands) on Vocals, Yelman Aponte (Venezuela) on Bass, Enrique Firpi (Italy) on Drums and Marc Bischoff (Netherlands) on the Piano.

Her music - a mix of folk, jazz and Afro-Caribbean music - sung in a language called Papiementu was too good. She urged the audience to sing and dance along with her and soon the patrons were on their feet dancing and singing with her.

The next act was by the Prasanna and Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music Faculty in Concert with Prasanna (India) with Guitars/Vocals, Lara Bello (Spain) with Vocals and Derek Nievergelt (USA) on the Bass and Dafnis Prieto (Cuba) on the Drums.

Jazz @ DI : Day 1

2011-11-26T14:43:00.001+05:30

The music scene in Calcutta peaks in winter and among the best programs on the calendar is the Congo Square and DI Jazz Fest , held at Dalhousie Institute, Calcutta and this year it's on from the 25th till the 27th of November with promises of world class jazz.

This is my first experiments with concert photography.

Yesterday was Day 1.

Los Amigos - the Calcutta's own Latino Jazz band - played to the crowds.

Monojit Datta on the Cognas

Premjit Dutta on the Timbales

Pradyumna Singh Manot on the Piano


Sumit Ramachandran makes a guest appearance. Sarthok Chakraborty on the Bass is obscured by Sumit

This was followed by a concert by the Warren Walker Trio with Warren Walker (USA) on the saxophone, Mario Carrillo (Spain) on the double bass and Tarun Balani (India) on the drums.

Pictures with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 18-70 and 50mm f1.4.

Orchids 2

2011-11-16T23:22:00.001+05:30

Orchids again. At my friend's house in Calcutta.

Shot with the Nikon 18-70 lens and the Nikon D300 at 70mm, 200 ASA, f4.5 and 1/180s.

Diwali

2011-11-12T20:04:00.001+05:30

Sparklers lit on the terrace to usher in Deepawali - the festival of lights.

Shot on dynamic B&W setting on the Panasonic G1 at 45mm (90mm eq) at f5.6, 1/60s at 1600 ASA.

Durga Puja 2011

2011-11-06T19:59:00.001+05:30

Some remaining pictures from the Durga Puja 2011. These pictures are from the pandal on Lake Range, South Calcutta.

Of an unique open design, it was a celebration of red and orange.

The pictures were taken with a m4/3 Panasonic G1 with the kit 14-45 Vario lens.


The pandal against the sky

Faces

The myriad walls of the pandal

Mirrors, bangles and bottle caps used for the motifs

Motifs

Discarded

2011-10-30T22:36:00.000+05:30

On the 25th of October, a neighborhood driver cum durwan, his boss - the car owner, his sister-in-law and her son were traveling via Singur, West Bengal, when a truck laden with sand ploughed into the car. The car owner and his driver died in the crash.

The durwan had a pet dog "Lalu", who I'm told, had jumped on the bonnet of the car to stop them before they drove off to their destiny.

Lalu watches patiently as the durwan's family members gather up his clothes, his bric-a-brac and discard the rest before they leave for their hometown

Mourning as he lies among his master's discarded stuff

He had not eaten anything since morning except for some biscuits from his master's daughter and still refused to do so . . . preferring to curl up among his master's discarded junk.

The pictures have been taken with a Nokia E5 and hence the quality.

Back-lit

2011-10-16T17:21:00.001+05:30

Cosmos flower in the morning shot against the sun. An orange flower against the white sky.

Nikon D300 | Nikon 18-70mm zoom.

Bijoya Dashami - Bishorjon

2011-10-08T17:42:00.000+05:30

So, the four day celebrations comes to an end with our ritual gathering at our grandmother’s house in North Calcutta. The bishorjon pictures are from the Nawn family puja, who are relatives from my mother’s side.

The pictures have been shot with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 18-70mm zoom @ 1600 ASA.

Loading on to the trolley for the imersion

Tying the "Iswar Chandra Nawn Trust" banner

All set

The journey starts . . .

Puja 2011 : Sandhi Puja

2011-10-05T16:09:00.000+05:30

Sandhi Pujo at the New Alipore Association Puja yesterday night (or better very early morning today) between 00.50 Hrs and 01.38 Hrs. In contrast to the earlier years, the pandal seemed quite full, which was a surprise considering the time of the Pujo.

After a lot of thought, I put the D300 away and decided to experiment with the m4/3 Panasonic G1 for shooting during the Pujo. I am quite amazed at the quality of pictures that I have got. Needless to say, the VR in the lens also helped.

There you have it. Sandhi Pujo with a m 4/3 Panasonic G1.

This picture sums up the Sandhi Pujo. The 108 lamps and Debi Durga in the background during the rituals.

The start of the Sandhi Pujo

The rituals

Another angle. The dhaakis were too loud and hence the change in position !

The rituals again

The lighting of the 108 lamps

108 lotuses used during the pujas

Still lighting the 108 lamps

Aarati

Blessings

Puja

Durga Puja 2011 : Aastami Sandhya Arati

2011-10-04T21:19:00.000+05:30

Gone are the days of pandal hopping. Mahaastami Sandhya Aarati at my neighbour's house was a truly memorable experience.

Shot with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 18-70mm zoom @ 1600 ASA.

Durga Puja 2011

2011-10-04T14:43:00.000+05:30

I love to be at home at Calcutta during the pujas. This year – after a bout of viral fever – and with some other pending work gave the Saptami jaunt a pass.

These are the pictures taken at the New Alipore Association Puja today during the Mahaastami Pujo today morning.

These pictures are with the Panasonic G1. I am wondering whether to go with the m4/3 for the entire pujas or whether I should switch to the Nikon D300 for today’s evening pictures.

Pratima at the New Alipore Association

Astami Puja Arati

Arati

Vishwakarma Puja

2011-09-19T16:42:00.000+05:30

Just one shot in the late afternoon from the puja at our factory yesterday.

Nikon D300 | Nikon 18-70mm at 70mm; 200 ASA; f4.5 at 1/125s.

Macro Experiments

2011-09-12T17:51:00.001+05:30

Still experimenting with the Micro Nikkor 60mm AF-D. These are purslane (9 O’clock flower or Portulaca) flowers from our terrace garden.

Taken with the Nikon D300 and the Micro Nikkor 60mm AF-D.

Orchids

2011-09-04T18:19:00.000+05:30

Experiments with the new Micro Nikkor 60mm AF-D. Brilliant violet orchids at twilight. Shot at my friend's house in Bhowanipore, Calcutta.

Nikon D300 ; Micro Nikkor 60mm AF-D @ f3.2, 1/60s & 400 ASA.

Raindrops

2011-08-14T23:03:00.001+05:30

The last few days saw some torrential rainfall in Calcutta. Taking the camera out was out of the question. This was shot against the overcast sky from the terrace.

Panasonic G1 | 14-45 lens

Curves

2011-08-09T22:54:00.002+05:30

A close shot of flowers inspired by Edward Weston – Cabbage Leaf – 1931. Definitely not in the Weston class, but for me, its an interesting shot none the less.

Nikon D300 | Tamron 70-300 AF Zoom

Under the blue sky 2

2011-08-06T22:10:00.000+05:30

Two yellow flowers against a cloudy sky. Shot in Calcutta in July 2011.

Panasonic G1 with the Panasonic 14-45 lens.

Shades of Grey

2011-07-21T17:48:00.003+05:30

Some old pictures taken at Kalmatia Himalayan Sangam at Bhinsar in August 2007.
The foggy mornings, clouds and the incessant rains laid out a beautiful landscape in shades of grey.
Shot with a Panasonic FX-5.

Low light on the micro 4/3rd

2011-07-09T22:30:00.000+05:30

United Beach Camp in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Shot with the Panasonic G1 with the 14-45mm lens at 14mm, f11 and 8 seconds exposure at 400 ASA.

Macro photography with the Panasonic G1

2011-06-17T18:20:00.001+05:30

A Raymond Weil Parsifal GMT Chronometer shot in ambient light with the Panasonic G1 and the 14-45mm kit lens.

Panasonic G1 | Panasonic Vario 14-45mm kit lens

Lilies at home

2011-06-01T10:31:00.001+05:30

Orange lilies that bloomed today morning after the squall yesterday. Was wondering if I could shoot the lilies before I went off again.

This has been taken on the terrace of our house in New Alipore.

Shot with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 85mm f1.8 @ F2.8

Against the light

Close-up

Ringo | May 2011

2011-06-01T09:47:00.002+05:30

I am essentially dog-sitting at home (as opposed to baby-sitting). Mother, wifee and son are all on vacation.

This has been taken on the terrace of our house in New Alipore. Shot with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 85mm f1.8 @ F2.8

Sunflowers

2011-05-24T09:25:00.000+05:30

Sunflowers shot against a bright summer sky. On the terrace garden at our home in Calcutta.

Nikon D300 with the Nikon 85mm 1.8mm @ f5.6

Close-up

2011-05-24T09:18:00.000+05:30

Mother's garden on the terrace. The florets looked rather nice. Hence the picture.

Nikon D300 with the Tamron 70-300 AF on macro mode.

The raindrop

2011-05-22T00:01:00.001+05:30

Taken just after the torrential rain on Thursday last in Calcutta.

A drop of rain on the wet sunflowers.

Nikon D300 | Nikon 85mm f1.8 shot at f2.

Satyanaran Pooja

2011-04-11T23:46:00.000+05:30

At a recent Satyanarayan Pooja at a colleague's house.

Shot on the Panasonic G1 with the 14-45mm vario lens. Converted to B&W in Lightroom.

Flowers - More fun with the Panasonic G1

2011-03-12T23:03:00.000+05:30

Photographs of flowers taken on the last trip home. Experimented with the Panasonic G1 and slight mods with Lightroom.

Panasonic Lumix G1 | 14-45 mm

Flowers under a blue sky

2011-03-04T19:54:00.000+05:30

Taken with the Panasonic G1 with the 14-45 mm Panasonic kit lens on my trip to Calcutta. The Jarbera flowers were shot on the terrace of our residence in New Alipore.

Thankfully, the sky was deep blue as opposed to the usual grey !

Calcutta shining?

2011-03-01T20:12:00.000+05:30

Calcutta shining?

Unfortunately, it is all from the sodium vapor street lamps !!!

Taken from inside a yellow cab near the Rashbehari crossing.

Panasonic G1

Dammam-Dubai-Kolkata

2011-03-01T00:22:00.000+05:30

Some photos from my recent trip home. Cramped seats, lousy food and an excruciating six hour layover at Dubai airport summed up the flight home.

Dammam Airport, KSA through the dirty window of the Emirates Boeing 777-300 ER for the Dammam-Dubai connection

The Irish Pub @ Dubai Airport

A pub, a business class lounge and a smoking room - the three most important things!

The Irish Pub - another shot

Two shots from the waiting area of Gate 122 (DXB)

The business end of the Dubai Airport

Leaving Dubai

Dubai from the air

Dubai from the air as the plane gains altitude

Somewhere over India - the sunrise

The sun rises from beneath the clouds

The wing !

Coming into Calcutta - you can see the 2nd Hooghly Bridge next to the engine nacelle

Over Calcutta

The final bank before touchdown

An evening in Al-Khobar, KSA

2011-02-12T00:22:00.001+05:30

Pictures from a trip to Al-Khobar in end-December 2010.

En-route to Al-Khobar

On the Jubail - Dammam highway

Did someone say that you can have trucks in any color as long they are blue?

At a gasoline station on the highway

The round about into Al-Khobar

Starbucks

The giant trolley outside Panda Hypermarket

Starbucks

Handheld @ 1/4s

Downtown traffic in Al-Khobar

Swedish Meatballs!

Dinner at IKEA in Al-Khobar

Dhahran Mall from a moving car

Panasonic G1

Low light fun with the G1

2011-02-11T23:30:00.000+05:30

Strong wind, rain and a damp 12 C evening. Not the representative weather in KSA in February.

I had a dinner invite and decided to lug along the Panasonic G1.

Al-Jubail @ 9.30 PM

Panasonic G1 | 14-45 mm @ 14 mm f7.1 400 ASA

Under the Blue Sky - Postcards from Jubail

2011-01-23T23:16:00.001+05:30

Somewhere along Jubail-Dammam highway last Friday. A wrong turn lead to a city called Qatif. We stopped here for a moment before getting back on the highway and driving towards Ras Tanura.

Taken with the Panasonic G1 through the car window.

More with the Panasonic G1

2010-12-26T23:29:00.000+05:30

Some more pictures with the Panasonic G1.

It was Christmas and by the time I landed home from office (it was a working day here in the KSA), the sun was setting with a lovely glow.

Sunset!

Sunset again.. with the sun slightly lower in the horizon

We had already planned to go out for dinner to a small but famous restaurant called "Baasha", famous for its pizzas.

Roast chicken with the Panasonic G1. Flash off. Shot in ambient light.

f4 1/20 s 400 ASA

Pizzas - Egg n Cheese & Chicken, Cheese and Olives

f4 1/15 s 400 ASA

Meat Bread - Meat and Meat Pizza

f4 1/15 s 400 ASA

The Pizza Chef!

f4 1/20 s 400 ASA

Shawarmas - no.. we were full and left that for another day . .

f4 1/20 s 400 ASA

Panasonic G1 | 14-45 mm kit lens

A portrait . . .

2010-12-24T19:07:00.000+05:30

Taken yesterday evening with the Panasonic G1.

1600 ASA | 1/15 sec | f5.6 handheld. B&W Dynamic mode set in camera.

Panasonic G1 | 14-45 mm kit lens

Panasonic G1 - first few shots

2010-12-22T01:42:00.000+05:30

The Panasonic G1 with the 14-45 mm arrived a couple of days ago.. delayed by a brief detour to Kuwait and the Christmas shipping delays. Anyway, it arrived just before Christmas as Amazon.com promised.

The first few shots . . .

Sunset in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia

Breaking the rules! No rule of thirds..

Rule of thirds!

Looks less dramatic than the earlier shot.

Afterglow

Shot from my kitchen window. It was too cold up on the roof!

Panasonic G1 | Panasonic 14-45 mm

Early Morning !

2010-12-08T01:48:00.000+05:30

Early morning in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The thin strip of light at the lower part of the frame is the sea glistening in the early morning sun.

Taken with a Panasonic FS62.

Random Calcutta - still more experiments with the D300

2010-12-02T19:00:00.002+05:30

Still experimenting. Some more off-beat pictures taken in Calcutta during early November 2010.

Taken with a Nikon D300 and Nikon 18-70 mm zoom.

Burnt out warehouse on Strand Road. Parts of the roof have collapsed.

Howrah Bridge.

Converted to B&W via Lightroom.

Howrah bridge again... choc-a-bloc with traffic

A sradh ceremony

St. Teresa's church in Moulali, Central Calcutta

Jagadharti Puja

Simla Street, North Calcutta

Flight through the clouds

2010-11-24T00:32:00.001+05:30

Some pictures from my trip to Chennai in September 2010. Taken from the aircraft with a Panasonic FS62.

Sometime during the flight, I was fiddling with the camera to see the pictures. An air-hostess came up to me and asked me whether I was taking pictures. I said no and was in two minds to tell her that air-hostesses on Jet used to be much better (looking) prior to the cost-cutting days...

The aircraft is almost making for the break in the clouds!

The same picture converted to B&W by Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Almost frightening in appearance..

Blue sky @ 35,000 ft

En route to Chennai... little tufts of clouds

'Whatcha doing'?

2010-11-13T22:14:00.000+05:30

Ringo in November 2010. Quizzically looking at me trying to take a photo of him.

In fact, I was shooting some flowers and it was quite warm in the sun. Ringo was waiting for me to go down to the cooler comfort of our apartment downstairs.

Shot with a Nikon D300 with a Tamron 70-300 AF at 300 mm f5.6 and 1/90s.

D300 : More experiments

2010-11-06T19:18:00.001+05:30

Still trying out the Nikon D300's capabilities.

The shot has been taken with the Nikon 50mm f1.4 AFD @ f2.8.

The same shot converted to B&W!

I personally like the B&W better.

D300

Experiments with the Nikon D300

2010-11-05T18:29:00.001+05:30

Finally got hold of the Nikon D300 this afternoon.

Some set-up is still required. The picture settings are set to neutral. Tried it out with a variety of lenses and some crazy shots.

a pigeon on a roof

Nikon D300; Tamron AF 70-300 DI @ 190 mm; 200 ASA; f4.8; 1/350s

pink hibiscus

Nikon D300; Nikon 50 mm AFD; 200 ASA; f1.4; 1/250s

Backlit with the evening sun. Loved the bokeh!

Pink hisbiscus

Nikon D300; Tamron AF 70-300 DI @ 190 mm; 560 ASA; f4.8; 1/180s

The spots on the flower are natural!

Ringo - September 2010

2010-09-16T20:38:00.000+05:30

His Naughty-ness - Ringo, on the sofa at my residence in Calcutta. The sofas - he considers - to be his private preserve. It is rather difficult to photograph him sitting still as he keeps on gallivanting around the house.

On the larger sofa this time round.

Asleep in the dining room after his morning walk

Fully charged up and sitting on the bed, playing with my son

Panasonic FS62 compact

Calcutta - a set of random images

2010-09-07T00:01:00.000+05:30

A set of pictures taken at random in Calcutta during the last two weeks. There is no thread nor are the pictures connected in any way . . . except for the fact that the common theme is Calcutta.

New Town .. taken when coming home from the airport. Have been hearing lately that this is to be named Jyoti Basu Nagar.

Isn't it rather apt?

Built on fertile multi-crop land and handed to developers - throwing aside the idea of the land ceiling act - who are building condos that sell for close to a crore. A real case of neo-liberalization?

Next to the Race Course. A green Calcutta?

Park Street on a Sunday

Esplanade. In front of the new Police Memorial.

Taken during a brief lull from the rains. The Esplanade Mansions under an azure blue sky.

A heritage building on Park Street

Devilled Crabs at Mocambo

The skies over Calcutta on Sunday last

Panasonic FS62

Zenia

2010-08-20T19:15:00.000+05:30

Another series of pictures taken in Calcutta during late March - early April 2010 with the Nikon D200 and Tamron 70-300 mm on macro mode.

These are Zenias from our terrace garden.

Nikon D200; Tamron 70-300 mm AF Macro

Thursday outings . . .

2010-08-01T00:35:00.001+05:30

Just a collection of pictures from my escapades on Thursdays (being an off-day) to nearby locations.

Pictures shot on a Panasonic FS-62 compact.

At the private beach of the Intercontinental, Jubail

Late evening on the beach

Inside the TexMex Restaurant of the Intercontinental

1/2 pounder burger @ the Intercontinental

Waiting at a signal in Al-Khobar

@ 160 kmph on Dammam-Khobar Highway. It is 12.15 AM and being a Thursday night, there is still a lot of traffic

Morning light . . .

2010-07-18T23:09:00.001+05:30

Shot in the early morning during end-March to early April this year. The rising sun gives a golden hue to the Pumerias.

Shot with the Nikon D200 and Tamron 70-300 mm zoom on macro mode at 200 mm, 100 ASA, f4.8 and 1/2000 s.

Pumerias in the morning light

Nikon D200; Tamron 70-300mm zoom

Yellow!

2010-07-15T13:32:00.002+05:30

Another of the set of pictures taken in Calcutta around the 1st week of April this year. Loved the brilliant yellow color.

Nikon D200 with a Tamron 70-300 mm zoom on macro mode, shot in the early morning light.

Nikon D200; Tamron 70-300 macro zoom.

Orchids

2010-07-01T23:44:00.002+05:30

This is a part of the series of pictures of flowers taken in Calcutta during the period of end-March to early April 2010 during my trip home.

Taken early in the morning, the colors of the orchids change with the colors of light. Shot with my Nikon D200 and Tamron 70-300 mm zoom on macro mode.

Glowing in the pink morning light

Same shot again.. 15 minutes later

Orchids again

Orchid

Nikon D200; Tamron 70-300 zoom

Al-Fateh Grand Mosque, Bahrain in color

2010-05-21T18:00:00.008+05:30

These are the remaining pictures from my earlier post.

We got to the grand mosque late afternoon when the sun was already relatively low. The light in the mosque was really amazing, deep yellow creating an amazing play of shadow and light.

The main courtyard of the mosque

Another angle

The dome peeping behind the imposing courtyard facade

The minaret (minara) framed by the arch

A window framed by the arch

The corridor to the Minaret. The reflections are amazing.

Nikon D200 ; Nikon 18-70 Zoom

Al-Fateh Grand Mosque, Bahrain in B&W

2010-04-16T00:17:00.006+05:30

The Al-Fateh Mosque (also known as Al-Fateh Islamic Center & Al Fateh Grand Mosque) is one of the largest mosques in the world, capable of accommodating over 7,000 worshippers at a time.

I visited Al-Fateh Grand Mosque @ Bahrain on my way to the airport to catch the flight to Bombay and took time to take some shots in B&W.

I will post the rest of the pictures in a subsequent post.

The Grand Mosque

An entrance and a corridoor

Corridor leading up to the Minara

Another shot

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70 f3.5-3.5

Red and White

2010-04-15T19:00:00.005+05:30

A series of pictures taken with the D200 and the Tamron 70-300 AF on macro in the early morning and late morning. Interesting colors !!

Thanks to Ringo, who managed to wake me up quite early, the day after I reached Calcutta.

Early morning.. a sort of golden yellow light

Still early morning.. the sun is finally up.. a golden glow

Abstract... close up

Slightly different angles.. could not decide which to post.. so I am posting both

Nikon D200; Tamron 70-300 D AF

King Fahd Causeway and Bahrain

2010-04-01T12:23:00.020+05:30

A series of pictures taken on my way home via Bahrain.

The connection to Bahrain is via the 28 km King Fahd Causeway connecting Al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Wednesday afternoon... empty before the weekend rush

Towards the border crossing

Nassan Island, Bahrain

Bahrain

Bahrain again

hard selling Bahrain

Bahrain Chamber of Commerce

BWTC

Ringo : March 2010

2010-04-01T10:58:00.008+05:30

Ringo @ 1 year and 8 months. Still has 90% of his puppy characteristics. Ringo listens to some commands when he feels like. The rest of the times, he does what he pleases and manages to drive both my mother and my wife nuts.

Pictures taken with the Nikon D200 and the Tamron 70-300mm AF zoom.

Cutie !!!

Sweet innocent face...

Whats keeping ya?

Was playing with me on the terrace.. when I stopped to take pictures of some flowers and got this expression..

Not very happy...

Falcons

2010-03-14T00:59:00.010+05:30

Got a chance to photograph these top-birds at our ‘Open Day’ programme organized by our Company at the beach camp.

Falconery is still in practice in the Middle East and is used for hunting small game and birds. These falcons are used for hunting.

.Sitting calmly on a perch in a traditional Arab tent

Hooded.. so that they keep calm

Almost regal

Embossed hood !

Trying to listen to the conversation... almost !

This one is almost regal in appearance..

Another view

A pale colored falcon

Close up of the hood..

These birds (probably sand grouse), according to the falconeer, was captured by the falcons last weekend

Falcons in the traditional Arab tent

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5 @ 400 ASA

Guitars and all that . . .

2010-02-18T19:54:00.009+05:30

This is a shop near to where I live, that sells pro-audio equipment along with guitars, synths and audio gear (Bose, Yamaha and Jamo).

There is a nice display of Fender and Yamaha guitars. I dropped in there today morning to have a look at some audio equipment and had my camera with me today.

Yamaha acoustic guitars

Close up..

Forgot to notice the make... reminds me of the heavy metal bands

Fenders

Yamaha guitars again..

The shop !!

Fenders on discount !

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5 zoom

Flowers again . . .

2010-02-14T23:34:00.002+05:30

Couple of pictures taken during my trip home during November 2009.

Been too lazy to pull out my Tamron macro. Shot with the 18-70 mm Nikon zoom.

Pink flowers !!!

an ant and a rain drop

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5 zoom

The 100th Post - Some recent interesting pictures

2009-12-24T18:37:00.008+05:30

This blog is a few pitstops along life's road... some people, pets, places and times that mattered... With this post, it has reached a 100 post milestone. I never expected to continue on for so long as it all started out as an experiment.

As it stands, it has been an interesting journey so far and I hope to continue on.

Anyway, these are two interesting pictures that I had taken during the Pujas this year taken during Sandhi Puja . . .

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70mm f3.5-4.5

White on white

2009-12-10T21:30:00.001+05:30

A white flower against a white sky . . .

Nikon D200 ; Nikon 18-70 mm f3.5-4.5 ED Zoom

Ringo @ 1 year and 4 months

2009-12-03T16:01:00.006+05:30

Ringo is now really more adolescent than puppy, which has its ups and its downs and is evident in just about every aspect of his life.

He is more confident and independent and although Ringo is no longer growing at a gallop, he weighs more than 28 kilos.

The teenage rebelliousness has set in right after his puppy training was over. The trainer also seems to have given up on trying to teach him new tricks, since he only does them when the trainer is around and promptly forgets as soon as the trainer leaves.

Decided to wait only for a second for his photo and then came bounding over

and was more interested in the camera strap than he was of his picture taken . . .

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5 Zoom

Bahrain Landmarks

2009-11-30T17:02:00.004+05:30

On the way home, we decided to drive to Bahrain and take our flight from the BIA (Bahrain International Airport). Took some pictures with the Panasonic Fx-5 that I was carrying during the times we were stuck in a jam on the way to the airport.

Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Bahrain's iconic World Trade Center

It is the first skyscraper in the world to integrate wind turbines into its design.

The two towers are linked via three skybridges, each holding a 225KW wind turbine, totalling to 675kW of wind power production. Each of these turbines measure 29 m (95 ft) in diameter, and is aligned north, which is the direction from which air from the Persian Gulf blows in.

The sail-shaped buildings on either side are designed to funnel wind through the gap to provide accelerated wind passing through the turbines. This was confirmed by wind tunnel tests, which showed that the buildings create an S-shaped flow, ensuring that any wind coming within a 45° angle to either side of the central axis will create a wind stream that remains perpendicular to the turbines. This significantly increases their potential to generate electricity.

The wind turbines are expected to provide 11% to 15% of the towers' total power consumption, or approximately 1.1 to 1.3 GWh a year. This is equivalent to providing the lighting for about 300 homes annually. The three turbines were turned on for the first time on the 8th of April, 2008. They are expected to operate 50% of the time on an average day.

BWTC and the moon

Fiery Sky

2009-11-23T01:54:00.003+05:30

Fiery sky....taken on 19.11.2009 at about 4.30 PM .

Panasonic FX-5

Sunset @ Jubail

2009-11-08T00:41:00.004+05:30

Photos taken last Friday (06.11.2009) at a Bijoya Get-together at the Petrokemya Beach Camp in Jubail, KSA.

The sun sets . . .

Lights against an azure sky

Panasonic FX-5, 4 MP circa 2004

Flowers 2

2009-10-30T02:43:00.003+05:30

Flowers again . . . please click on the pictures to see the full size

Cropped to a square format

Orange glow !!

Nikon D200; 18-55 Nikon

Flowers

2009-10-26T01:09:00.007+05:30

Flowers again...

A close-up of a red hibiscus

Yellow hibiscus

A pink flower

Nikon D200 ; Tamron 70-300 on macro mode

Experiments

2009-10-25T01:39:00.006+05:30

Some experiments with Adobe Lightroom Beta 3 . . .

These pictures were taken several months before.

Flowers

Nikon D200; Tamron 70-300 zoom on macro mode

Flower

Nikon D200; Tamron 70-300 zoom on macro mode

Flame of the Forest

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-55 f3.5-5.6

Nikon D200; Tamron 70-300 zoom on macro mode

Durga Pujo 2009 - Pandal hopping on the day after the pujas

2009-09-29T21:11:00.007+05:30

We decided to visit some award winning pandals on the day after the pujas. This is the great part of being on vacation and one has all the free time in the world while people are slogging at their offices after the puja break.

Shib Mandir
The entire pandal is made out of banana stems, bark and leaves

A slightly more dramatic angle

Motifs @ Shib Mandir
Experimental shot . . . with a bit of photo manipulation

The Pratima

.Musicians . .

A definitely better framed shot than the previous one!

The other one we visited was the one called Suruchi Sangha, that was voted as the best and most innovative pandal this year.

The pandal depicts a Jharkhand tribal village and showcasing how they lived in close proximity to nature.

While the pandal has been modelled on a kumbha, the house of Birhors made of leaves and lush green creepers, ethnic Sohrai and Kohbar paintings find place in the interior mandap.

The idol

The painted roof

Durga Pujo 2009 - Dashami & Bishorjon

2009-09-29T20:42:00.015+05:30

The 4 days of Durga Puja are nearly over. Our customary trip to my grandmother's house in North Calcutta for Bijoya is the culmination of the pujas for our family.

Blue skies after a rain drenched pujo

Esplanade ... under the blue sky as opposed to the usual grey

Deserted College Street on Dashami afternoon

Vivekananda Sporting Club

Amra Sabai

Bisorjon - Nawn e der Pujo

Central Avenue with the Puja decorations

Empty Esplanade Crossing on Bijoya evening

Bisorjon

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5

Durga Pujo 2009 - Dashami Pujo

2009-09-29T20:23:00.005+05:30

Was invited for Dashami Puja at my neighbour's residence, opposite to our house in New Alipore. Some pictures . . .

Dashami Pujo

Pujo in progress

A different view

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5

Sandhi Pujo

2009-09-27T15:41:00.012+05:30

Sandhi Puja is an important ritual performed during Durga Puja. It is performed at the juncture of Ashtami and Navami. It is believed that Goddess Chamunda emerged at this moment to kill Chando and Mundo, the two generals of the demon king Mahishasur. Some pictures of the Sandhi Pujo at the New Alipore Association . . .

At the start of the Pujo

Crowding to light the 108 lamps

Lighting the lamps

Ma lighting the lamps

Another view

Close up of the lamp

Sandhi Pujo in progress

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5 handheld

Durga Puja 2009 in Calcutta

2009-09-26T13:18:00.008+05:30

A very traditional puja in New Alipore organized by the New Alipore Association.

Saptami evening

Close up

Horse drawn carriages for the old-world feel of moving between pandals

Nikon D200; Nikon 18-70 F3.5-4.5

Day trip to Fanateer

2009-08-07T21:37:00.011+05:30

We took advantage of a Friday holiday to visit the Royal Commission Area (commonly called Fanateer) and to visit a colleague and generally drive around.

Nakheel beach. … deserted in the late morning. Temperature was hovering in the low 40 Cs.

Driving away from Nakheel Beach

Fanateer

You can see SABIC Building in the background.

Fanateer Mall and a view of the locality.
Fanateer Mall happens to be one of the most upmarket malls in Al-Jubail

The Marina

Another view of the Marina. The boat restaurant is visible in the distance.

Another view

The boat restaurant

The Fanateer Mall

Interesting architecture

SABIC Building in Fanateer

A new block of flats in the Fanateer area

En-route to our colleagues residence

Not the Hollywood Boulevard
.. but one of the access roads in the Royal Commission Area

On the way out of Fanateer Mall post lunch

Another view

The Fanateer Mall car park

Nikon D200 & Nikon 18-55 lens

Trip to Khobar

2009-07-03T03:04:00.008+05:30

The Bongyo Samaj, Eastern Province (Saudi Arabia) had organized a Nobo Borsho cum Rabindra Jayanti Programme at Al-Khobar, 140 km from Jubail.

It was an interesting programme with performances by members and their children. About 200 plus Bengalis attended the programme. The programme started at 5.00 PM was followed by an Indian dinner and we came back at 1.15 AM.

En route to Khobar... somewhere along the Jubail-Dammam highway

Khobar
The design of the building is a copy of a similar building I saw in Beijing... could be the same architect

Another interesting looking building

Nobo Borsho programme . . . a dance recital

"Bhushundir Math" a play by the Jubail contingent

Flowers

2009-04-30T21:18:00.005+05:30

A couple of pictures taken on the recent trip home.

Both the compositions looked interesting.

Taken with the 18-55mm Nikon lens as I was too lazy to pull out the macro to shoot the flowers.

Click on the pictures to see the larger image.

Nikon D200 18-55 mm Nikon

Ringo (@ 9 months)

2009-04-25T00:51:00.013+05:30

Ringo is growing up fast. At 9 months, he is a 28 kilo puppy. Loves to fool around and get in everybody's way and manages to nick anything that one accidentally drops.

What are you trying to do???

Seriously busy chewing a thick twig that he has managed to get hold of..

I was reading a blog called http://riviera-dogs.blogspot.com/ and its main site http://www.pensionmilou.com/ and came across these interesting quotes:

One reason a dog is such a lovable creature is his tail wags instead of his tongue.
~ Author Unknown

All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers, is contained in the dog.
~ Franz Kafka

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
~ Bern Williams

Nikon D200 18-55mm Nikon

Home and away

2009-04-24T21:40:00.021+05:30

Just a series of interesting pictures taken during my trip home. I had hoped that my next seat would be occupied by someone whom I could chat up with during the long flight.

But that was not to be. It was an office boy on his annual leave from Muscat to Delhi via Bahrain, traveling on his company paid ticket. Nice chap but not one whom you could carry out intelligent conversation.

The Spicejet flight from Delhi to Kolkata was worse. The flight had less than 50% occupancy and as a result, my next 5 seats were empty. So, I did what I could … clicked away and then plugged in my ipod and fell asleep helped by couple of rounds of Smirnoff.

Business end of Bahrain Airport - 12.10 AM

Decending into New Delhi Airport... about 5.30 AM

Spicejet 9.35 AM shuttle from Delhi to Calcutta

The cloud cover was there from Delhi to about 150 km from Calcutta.

No pictures of the drive home from the airport. Jubail was 18 C when I left and it was a blazing 37 C in Calcutta. It was like a heat shock.

It was more or less the same case on my way back . . . The chap had his fill of scotch and promptly fell of to sleep . . .

Flying out of Mumbai on my way back to Bahrain

Over the Arabian Sea, with the sun setting

Cruising at 37,000 ft . . . about 2 hours out of Mumbai

Nikon D200 18-55 mm Nikon

Bahrain F1

2009-04-18T23:32:00.021+05:30

The Bahrain F1 Championship flyer in the seat pocket of the A340 flight from Bahrain to New Delhi had an interesting point - the Bahrain F1 contributed 3% of Bahrain’s GDP last year. So, this year Bahrain has gone the whole hog to promote the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix.

Click on the pictures to see the larger image.

The promotion at the Bahrain Airport was brilliant, with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari F1 car on display inside the Airport terminal, next to the Bahrain Duty Free.

Felipe Massa's Ferrari F1 Car. on display at Bahrain Airport.
This was my first view of a F1 car from inches away.. a real touch but not try!!!

A low slung 600 hp monster

Ferrari !!!

This is how it looks from close to the driver seat.

Oooops . . . way too many buttons . . .

Will the white knob in the center of the steering wheel with the Ferrari logo start the car???

A really small cockpit...

Can you read it??? It says "Massa"

You can win this car for BD50.
The Merc was on display when I transited through Bahrain Airport en route to Kolkata

Looks familiar... this is just next to the Bahrain Duty Free shops selling chocolates and drinks...

It is nearly a year after our Egypt trip and I was feeling that I was missing my old colleagues.

F1 t-shirts on sale

Bahrain Duty Free

Nikon D200 18-55 Nikon Lens

Sky

2009-04-18T22:21:00.003+05:30

Another stunning sunset . . .

Shot from my witchen window

Nikon D200 100 ASA 1/40s 18-55 Nikon Lens

China House, Al-Jubail

2009-02-27T01:38:00.007+05:30

China House - a Chinese and Filipino restaurant is our regular weekend haunt. Owned and run by a Bangladeshi family in Saudi Arabia and with Filipino cooks and frequented by Europeans, Indians, Saudis and of course Filipinos . . . it is a true symbol of globalization.

A Chinese lantern in the restaurant

The Giordano boutique is visible from across the road

Waiting for the food to arrive

Nikon D200, 18-55 lens, 400 ASA

cuisine gastronomique

2009-02-20T21:29:00.003+05:30

With ample time at my disposal and most of the best produce available here (barring hams etc. etc.), I have started experimenting with gourmet cusine.

The first experiment of Pasta with cheese sauce and beef mortadella went off with flying colors. The only problem was that it got a bit cold since our Thursday lunch was delayed by a technician, who was fixing our cable connections for us to get some more movie channels.

Nikon D200 with 18-55 mm lens

Sand storms

2009-02-12T02:26:00.005+05:30

After the photographs of the pink sky in my previous post, this seems quite a change.

This is the scene today evening. In the morning on our way to office, the visibility was down to about 25m. High winds had whipped up the sand and dust. It improved in the evening.. and this is the picture.

Another view of Jubail

Nikon D200 Nikon 18-55 400 ASA