Cityscapes

Courting the Registan

I turned around the corner on a hot and dusty day in the city of Samarkhand in Uzbekistan. And the ensemble of madrasas came into view, carrying the impressive name Registan, meaning the "Sandy Place". And I had to pause a moment, nay many, to admir…

I turned around the corner on a hot and dusty day in the city of Samarkhand in Uzbekistan. And the ensemble of madrasas came into view, carrying the impressive name Registan, meaning the "Sandy Place". And I had to pause a moment, nay many, to admire the scene that unfolded in front of me.

As I was working my way from West to East along the Silk Route, the historical monuments I had visited became more impressive with each new one. It, however, truly culminated in the Registan, the heart of the ancient city of Samarkand of the Timurid dynasty, which dated back to the 14th-16th century. The trifecta of three madrasas, the Ulugh Bek Madrasah, the Tilya Kori Madrasa, and the Sher-Dor Madrasa, suffered heavily from a lack of maintenance over the last few centuries, and it was the heavy-handed Soviet-era restoration that brought these beautiful edifices back to their former glories.

I returned back to the Registan during a summer evening, and I was surprised to see rare cloud formations take over the sky. As the sun slowly set and lent a bit of color to the sky, the lights of the Registan turned on, and provided it with its nightly attire. It was this that I had hoped to capture. And even with a wide field of view of the 16mm lens, the grand scene in front of me was hard to capture completely.

This image is a 3-image HDR composite shot at 17mm and F11 at ISO 100

Registan
Samarkand Uzbekistan

The path of prayers

Deep in the heart of mystical Kyoto lies the Fushimi Inari shrine, made famous by the thousands of vermilion torii that line the various concrete pathways that snake up the hill. Perhaps they serve as an object of devotion, or perhaps as objects of …

Deep in the heart of mystical Kyoto lies the Fushimi Inari shrine, made famous by the thousands of vermilion torii that line the various concrete pathways that snake up the hill. Perhaps they serve as an object of devotion, or perhaps as objects of donations by wealthy patrons. Whatever it may be, walking through the hallowed portals, each one just slightly different from the next, but all in the brilliant vermilion, was quite an experience.

There were some sections so dense with the torii that the world outside barely peeped in, whereas there were others where the soft glint of the warm afternoon sun highlighted the vibrant colors of the torii. Every turn presented a new composition or a new perspective, and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the different nooks and crannies of this beautiful shinto shrine.

Shot at ISO 3200, F9 at 1/13s (handheld). I had to edit to remove a person from the scene as well.

Fushimi Inari-taisha
Kyoto Japan

 

Adventures in Travel

Wandering through the narrow and crooked cobblestone streets of a old city, with the Gothic architecture of the cathedral playing hide-and-seek with my camera, I began to wonder what is it that drives me to travel, and in search of new adventures. And after a lot of introspection, I realized that, it is not the popularity of the destination that draws me out there, but rather the journey I hope to have there.

I experienced this time and again, from the 4-day hike through the Colombian rain-forests in Parque Tayrona, to exploring hidden valleys and mountaintops in the Black Forest of Germany, and navigating the innumerable fjords in Westfjords of Iceland. As well as in the crooked cobblestone streets of Strasbourg, with the Gothic architecture of the cathedral playing hide-and-seek with my camera.

Strasbourg
France

The Beauty and the Bay

Over the last few weeks, I have had chats with several people about their summer experience in the Bay Area of California, mainly to get an understanding of what they thought of this vibrant region. That led me back to my own attraction to this place. Sure, the thriving career prospects, the people, the food are big draws. But beyond that is the unique combination of the beauty and the bay.

In order to capture this beauty, I had ventured to Treasure Island, offset from San Francisco by a mile-and-a-half of the Bay, on a beautiful spring evening. Here, I could capture the glittering skyline of the city, and the graceful arches of the Bay Bridge. Twilight represented the perfect time to capture a smooth long exposure of this scene without worrying about the sky getting over-exposed. This was the scene that resulted.

And for me, this scene represents the unique juxtaposition of civilization and nature in the heart of a thriving cityscape. And it brings back wonderful memories of my time in the Bay spent exploring the nooks and crannies of the region!

San Francisco
CA USA

The City by the Bay

There are many reasons why the City by the Bay (San Francisco) is as popular as it is. Perhaps it is the location, at the confluence of rolling landscape and the calm oceans, or perhaps it is the beautiful architecture and cityscape that makes it quite distinct from any other city, or maybe it is the jobs, industry, and people, which make it a dynamic and thriving destination to live, visit, or explore.

Whatever it may be, there is no doubt that the city by the bay is a stunning city, especially when viewed from outside. As I was hiking in the Marin headlands north of the city on a rather smoggy winter day, I turned around and this beautiful blue silhouette came into view, highlighting the distinct skyline, the many rolling hills, the beautiful Bay bridge in the background, and a smattering of ships making their way to the Port of Oakland.

These are the views that enamor me to come back to the city by the Bay.

Marin Headlands
CA USA

Albuquerque Balloon Festival

"Raaaaaaawr"
"Raaaaaaaaaawr"
The clock monster with its crooked face devastated the fiesta park, stomping on unsuspecting tourists and odd-shaped rival balloons. It left a trail of destruction that only a tornado could match.
It was unstoppable.
And it was heading towards me.

These were the thoughts and stories springing in my head as I watched this crazy clock-shaped balloon inflate up and sway in the mild morning breeze blowing through the fiesta park. Thankfully, those thoughts didn't materialize and those calamitous events didn't come to pass. Nevertheless, it was hilarious to watch the enormous congregation of balloons of various shapes, sizes and colors taking shape on the grounds of the Balloon Fiesta.

The crowds can attest to how popular this event is!

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park
NM USA

 

I had seen some impressive images of the Milan Galleria before: a beautiful 19th century neo-classical edifice with a palazzo-like facade and glass-vaulted arcades. However, it was not until I actually got to stand underneath the towering glass dome…

I had seen some impressive images of the Milan Galleria before: a beautiful 19th century neo-classical edifice with a palazzo-like facade and glass-vaulted arcades. However, it was not until I actually got to stand underneath the towering glass dome and get a 360 view amidst the throngs walking all around, did I get the import of this marvelous structure and its role in Milan.

Part of its allure was the rows of tastefully decorated luxury retail shops (whose lack of affordability stymies me), but the allure also stemmed from the symmetry of the architecture - the endless repeating yet complex patterns, the central atrium under the towering dome, the graceful lighting that fit the architecture and stucco artwork on the walls all around.

I stopped by for the second time at twilight, hoping to catch a deep blue through the glass dome when the inside was fully lit up. A 16mm wide angle lens enabled me to capture as much of the symmetry as possible.

Milan
Lombardy IT