Storm in the Arashan

It was easy to see why this resort village, the Altyn Arashan, situated at the heart of the Central Tien Shan mountains, was purported to have restorative powers. It was partly the breath-taking surroundings of this pastoral camp, and partly due to the smattering of natural hot-water springs fed by the mineral rich waters of the region. But for me, it was the setting that took my breath away

Dramatic mountain ranges hemmed in V-shaped canyons draped with a patchwork lush green meadows and pristine coniferous forests that crept up the steep slopes on either side. A rough tumbling mud-track paralleled a narrow river carrying gurgling glacial-melt down the mountains, along which lay many traditional yurts and rustic lodges. Hiking and climbing opportunities were abound in this region, with every peak and every valley presenting new adventures.

It was indeed so breathtaking that I chose to spend an extra day here (and would have spent more time here exploring the beautiful landscape were it not for other constraints). And once I got out, I longed to go back to this paradise. And as a farewell, the sky presented this beautiful thunderstorm cell lighting up during sunset. I used a graduated ND filter in this single-exposure image shot at F11 at ISO 200 for 1.3s

Altyn Arashan
Kyrgyzstan

Hayfield in Twilight

It was 9pm in eastern Montana. Miles and miles of nothingness stretched all around me. And piercing through it towards the western horizon was the long silvery snake of pavement. Interspersed between undulating hayfields and cattle ranches were tiny farmsteads and rolling hills, gradually leading to the snow-capped massif of the Rockies, the spine of the country.

I had a couple of hours of driving left, but the sun was already taking its last glance at the landscape all around me. But as the road rose above a small hill, the scene opened up, and I finally reached a vantage point that captured the essense of the pastoral scene so characteristic of eastern Montana. A tight crop with a telephoto lens captured the rolling landscape with bales of hay randomly scattered on the fields. At ISO 3200 and 1/80mm at F9, it was a noisy shot, but it did allow me to capture the colors well.

Great Falls
MT USA

Wild Sky

The gentle breeze brushed against my face as I turned towards the eastern horizon. Down below, the sleep villages of Cappadocia had barely woken up on this cloudy dawn, and the windy roads that threaded their ways through the unique formations remained fairly empty. While up here, in the domain of the clouds, the beautiful vista of the still morning was occasionally interrupted by the gush of burning propane, reminding me that I had not transformed into a bird, but that I was merely a passenger in a giant balloon, drifting over the landscape and catching the directional winds.

Whilst past sunrise, the dense patch of clouds had obscured the sun, leaving behind silhouettes and shadows of the unique topography of the region. From my vantage point, I could make out volcanic cones, twisted canyons, ragged cliffs, and smooth farmland all set in a very complex and folded landscape. And all around, dozens of balloons swirled around and bobbed up and down depending on the vagaries of the present air current.

This experience was a dream come true, and I did not want the ride to end. But alas, all good things must. Touchdown was a mere 30 minutes later, but the hour-long sojourn into the sky felt like eternity. This image was shot with a 3-stop Grad ND filter at F11, ISO 1600 at 1/80s

Goreme
Cappadocia Turkey

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