Escaping the rain

Kyrgyzstan is a Colorado-sized country with mountains run amok, with giant lakes nestled wherever there is space. It is a truly unique travel destination with no other parallels.

One of the unique destinations I visited was the Song-kol lake, a 25km by 40km lake at 3000m surround by snow-capped peaks all over. Driving around the lake, I spotted a viewpoint that provided an eagle's eye view of a landscape, that rose from a steep river canyon that formed the outflow of the Songkol Lake, all the way to the 12000ft towering snow-capped peaks and glacier-carved valleys lined with just a carpet of lush green grass.

Standing on that vista point and admiring this jaw-dropping view with absolutely no sign of civilization anywhere sans the sinous road that made its way down, I felt lost in the sheer magnificence of this place. But I was snapped back into reality by a pelting hailstorm (whose beginnings you see above). This was ensued by a mad dash back to the car and a hair-raising drive down the sharp hair-pins to escape the brunt of impending storm. Nevertheless, that image was forever etched in my mind.

This was a single fram exposure at F11, ISO 800, 1/400s with a Graduated ND filter to control the exposure.

Songkol
Kyrgyzstan

Memories of Michigan

As I get ready to pack up and leave from the mid-west, I looked back to see what my photographic journey over the last 18 months has been. While the process of getting another graduate degree has occupied much of my time, I have realized that I have managed to sneak in a few photography trips in the Midwest, apart from the grand travel adventures that have spanned multiple continents.

Perhaps one of my most memorable ones was a trip to the Michigan Upper Peninsula during the tail end of Fall of 2016. While the foliage in many parts of the Upper Peninsula had progressed too far to make for worthwhile imagery, there were certain locations which would remain forever indelible, including a drive in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

As I drove around the curve, a long straight stretch of tarmac appeared, lined on either side by the vibrant golds and yellows of peak fall foliage. A gentle fog added a sense of aura and mystery to the colorful forest punctuated only by the blue tarmac and matching yellow lines snaking through the middle of the highway. While I never made the connection then, this long line of Yellow and Blue stretching to the horizon portends my long relationship with the maize and blue of the University of Michigan.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
MI USA

Lion's Head

As I turned around the corner deep in the bowels of Lower Antelope Canyon, I came across the Lion's Head, a natural formation in striated walls of the twisted canyon. Seeing this almost organic form set in the inorganic structure of sandstone took me by surprise. The strange forces of erosion had sculpted this unique canvas into such a familiar shape.

Perhaps what added to the atmosphere was one of the nearby tour-guides who scrambled up a nearby wall and started playing his Native American flute. A soothing melody filled in the small cavernous space around, increasing in clarity and meaning as the crowd grew silent trying to catch the song. The mellifluous song transported me to the past, to an age sans civilization, to an age of nature.

While I could never hope to capture that otherworldly feel in a static photograph, I did the best in capturing the essence of the Lion's Head that day in Lower Antelope Canyon

Lower Antelope Canyon
Page AZ

Misty Mountains

'Far over the Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day
To find our long forgotten gold'

As I watched the misty fog roll over the steep ravines of the mountains yonder, this ode to the dwarves popped into my head, and I was instantly transported to Middle Earth. I imagined the ragged valleys through which the orcs would attack, the meandering rivers over which the elves and the dwarves would team up to defend, and the distant peaks from which the nazgul and the great eagles would watch the entire show.

Then the seemingly out-of-place picnic bench came into view, transporting me back to reality. Nevertheless, I spent many an hour mesmerized by the motion of the clouds and entranced by the soothing sounds of gurgling water. And to this day, photos like this made me realize why it was so hard to bid adieu to the land of Middle Earth.

Lake Tekapo
Canterbury, New Zealand

The Blue Yonder

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I had climbed high above the small notch of land that stood between two glaciers. The land stretching out in front of me was flat, providing unhampered visibility into the far blue yonder. From here, I could spy one of the glaciers slowly melting out onto its own lake, with fragments of ice slowly making their way to the other end. Tiny tributaries drained the murky waters into dozens of windy rivulets that meandered their way to the distant shores of the Atlantic a dozen miles away.

Meanwhile, the clouds marched in the opposite direction - a mixture of rain-bearing cumulus and strato-cumulus clouds drifted in from the south, threatening rain for the latter half of the day. Nevertheless, I continued forward on this trail in Skaftafell National Park, which climbed up and over this notch of land, making its way from the lip of one glacier to the remnants of the other glacier, over rocky scree, velvety-soft green grass, and slushy swamps. And all along that 10 mile hike, I got to witness a beautiful untouched landscape in this geologically young island, a landscape that lent well to amazing photographic opportunities.

Skaftafell National Park
Iceland

Windowed Dolomites

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It was day 4 of the rifugio to rifugio hike in the Dolomites. I ducked and crawled through a rocky tunnel high up in the heart of the rocky mountains. Through the small openings, I could garner glimpses of craggy peaks reaching for the clouds, and of forested valleys reaching down to lush green meadows.

I pressed on. I had been promised a vista of epic proportions as I neared the location of the famed Rifugio Lagazuoi. I had learnt about a number of tunnels that were dug through the Dolomites during the peak of World War I as the Italians fought the Austrians in rather difficult terrain. These tunnels, and other structures, kept changing as the line of battle shifted through the war. But now, during times of peace, these edifices were places to study the history, and to admire the beauty of the harsh terrain all around.

Eventually, the views opened up. One such window provided a grand view of the tumultuous landscape all around: ridges of endless peaks reaching for the sky, rockfalls and avalanches pockmarking the landscape criss-crossed by innumerable trails switch-backing to the high mountain passes, and puffy white clouds making their way across and over the spine of the continent

Lagazuoi
Cortina Italy

A Different Bliss

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As I was looking through my archives for images that portrayed the theme of bliss, I realized that the perfect location was the lush green rolling landscape of Palouse in eastern Washington. I often describe this location as a place known by only two kinds of people - farmers and photographers. In fact, during my 3-day exploration of this place a few years back, those were the only living souls I met in this blissful landscape.

I spent many an hour exploring lonely dirt roads winding their way along and up curvy hills carpeted with green, and dotted with the occasional oak tree, a rustic yet colorful barn, an old farmstead, or even the infrequent windmill rusting away. This dilapidated shack was awaiting me at the end of one such dirt road. But perhaps what captivated my attention then was the blissful combination of lush green landscape and the puffy white clouds suspended in the robin egg blue sky. That was a scene that became etched in my mind as the ideal pastoral landscape.

The transient lighting conditions necessitated quick photography to time the exposure correctly. This was one such exposure showcasing the beauty of the wheat bowl of USA

Palouse
WA USA

California Greens

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The Golden State has a remarkable ability of turning green during spring. Rolling landscapes take on a green sheen as the winter turns to spring, paving way for the black oaks to sprout new leaves, and for colorful wildflowers to paint the landscape with a palette of pink, purple, blue, red, yellow and white. With a bountiful winter rain this year signaling the end of the drought, the parched landscape has once again renewed its cycle afresh.

Seeing images of the California greens brought back wonderful memories of a hike I took a couple of years ago in the hillscapes of Pacheco State Park nestled amidst the Diablo Range near Central California. I still vividly remember the journey as the trail wound its way around the parks' many geographical features. Every turn brought surprising delights, whether it was a small rancher's pond, replete with quacking mallards and dancing dragonflies, or a small gorge filled with multi-colored shooting stars glowing in the warm afternoon sunlight, or ridge-top vistas of the vast rolling scenery landscape with budding oak trees as far as the eye could see.

Here was one such vista taken in the late afternoon light, as the the slowly setting sun lengthened the shadows the oak trees cast on the green meadows all around, while patches of wildflowers colored the landscape yellow, orange and pink.

Pacheco State Park
CA USA

Winter Solitude in Yosemite

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It has been 4 years since the magical winter weekend under the towering walls of the Yosemite Valley, yet I remember it as though it were yesterday. I remember wandering through the pine forest, the scrunching sounds of snow, ice and pine needles breaking from the solitude of winter in the valley. As I approached the riverbank, I ran into familiar faces from the California photography community, with the clicks from their camera shutters signaling their intent to capture the glorious scene that you see above.

Yosemite National Park holds a special place in my heart, partly because it opened my eyes to wilderness that most people see, but not observe. By spending more time in this National park over multiple seasons than any other, I was able to explore and re-explore some of the innumerable nooks and crannies in every valley, meadow, crag, gorge, and mountaintop that abound in one of the most photogenic sections of the Sierra Nevada. Over this long period of time, it exposed me to the true impact and learnings of life in the outdoors, and to understand and appreciate the rekindling of the spirit that comes about from just spending time outside normal creature comforts.

This image captures the quintessence of what makes that step outside into nature so powerful. I look forward to spending more time reconnecting with the outdoors in Yosemite, as well as the innumerable other National Parks of this land.

Yosemite National Park
CA
USA

Ray of Light

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The Black Forest of Germany, while not wild uninhabited wilderness like the grand forested regions of Canada and Russia, is still a picturesque, bucolic alternative to the densely populated urban regions of the country. And in a way, its beauty is enhanced, not diminished by gentle anthropomorphic changes, whether it be rustic villages scattered on its many hillsides, tiny barns with serene ponds or flower-strewn meadows on rolling landscapes.

I looked forward to every turn on that windy mountain road that brought about new vistas, and for every cloud that added to the shimmering ephemeral glow of the grassy meadows and reflective ponds. I yearned for all the hiking paths that I could see disappearing into the clouds of the Schwarzwald.

As I made my way from one village to another, I was enthralled by the pastoral nature of the landscape. One such spot between St. Peter and St. Morgan was lit by a fleeting ray of light, highlighting an old barn set amidst a green meadow thereby riveting my attention to this beautiful scene. I realized I had to stop and capture the moment before it was gone, hence freezing that instance of time.

Sankt Morgan

Baden-Wurttemberg Germany