The vast outlands of Kyrgyztan look like no man's land, where vast summer meadows stretch to the horizon, demarcated by rugged snow-capped peaks in every direction. This tiny landlocked country at the confluence of 158 mountain ranges, has many such vast high altitude regions that ought to be devoid of human
life, and yet it thrives here. Every few miles on the freshly paved tarmac, one can encounter a tiny nomadic village in the summer, replete with a few yurts, dozens of heads of cattle, the free-spirited Kyrgyz horses, and a beaten up pickup or two.
These nomadic herders move with the season, leading their cattle to their favored grazing grounds across the vast hinterlands of this Central Asian nation, seemingly oblivious of the natural beauty of this timeless landscape and slice of humanity that the photographer in my finds endearing. It is this juxtaposition of the fragile human life against the harshness of the outlands that draws me to come back again to this beautiful country.
Chatyr Kol
Naryn Province, Kyrgyzstan
Highway to the Danger Zone
I was revving up the engine of the tiny Hyundai up the inner edge of a sharp hair-pin bend, struggling to time the gear change just right so that I wouldn't lose momentum and stall on the steep ascent. This was my first solo road trip in a foriegn country with chaotic traffic in a car with manual transmission (aka a stick shift), and this location which looked intimidating from the air, was a place where I was pushed to the limits of my driving skills.
I had spotted this sinuous segment of tarmac years ago while scouting Google Earth for strange places on the planet. I had parked this location in my mind, not giving it a second thought until I was planning a trip to the very location, the Dades Gorge. The drive up to it had been fairly smooth, and apart from dealing with the unpredictable traffic, with pedestrians and animals using the road as their personal highway, wasn't too challenging.
But once the vertical walls of the canyon closed in, leaving no room for the road to straddle the fast flowing river, it was forced to climb up the red sandstone to higher grounds. And that was where I found myself on that fateful day. Thankfully, I pulled through, praying that my path downhill wouldn't be so nerve wracking.
When I did reach the top, I turned back to capture the scale of this deep scar on the earths surface, with the tiny remnant of human civilization winding through it.
Dades Gorge
Morocco
The Women of my Life
There have been many incredible women who have been part of my life, women who have struggled and succeeded against many odds. But perhaps one person I continue to admire every single day is my partner, whether it be her zest for life, her curiosity to travel, her openness to new adventures, or her passion for social causes. Every single day, I get to learn new stories about her past, and the challenges she has faced in getting to where she is today.
This is dedicated to her tenacity to see and set the world right, and to the other women who have endeavored to do so in their own way.
White Sands National Park
NM USA
Hoodoos of Cappadocia
The sandstone formations of the Cappadocia region are as unique as they are varied. Hoodoos of assorted shapes and sizes dominate the landscape, with each river valley characterized by varied formations of different color. This has led to various imaginative names such as the Love Valley, Pigeon Valley, Rose Valley, Red Valley, Monks Valley, and many more.
This particular group is from the Rose Valley, though the rose color was nowhere to be found in the mid-day sun.
Cappadocia
Nevsehir Turkey
Pillars of Winter
The winter leaves precious few opportunities to get out into the wilderness, especially during the severe winter storms which kicks avalanche dangers up a notch. This frozen lake is probably one of the few that are still accessible. But when I set out to this frozen lake under overcast conditions and gloomy skies, I wasn't expecting much. But nature can sometimes through a surprise.
The frozen lake was a white winter wonderland. Fresh snowfall had layered all the trees with a thick coating of wet snow, which were now drooping down with this new weight. And even though the granite peaks that normally tower over the frozen lake were obscured by a thick layer of clouds that absorbed all the color from the sky, the snowscape was pristine. And just as I was ready to turn around and head back, the low clouds slowly lifted, revealing the three pillars of rock so characteristic of this place.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
Desert Silhouettes
After a mere 4 hours of sleep, I thought I was seeing things when the eastern horizon started glowing in a pale shade of orange. But I wasn't, and dawn in Joshua Tree National Park was shaping up to be very colorful. The small gap on the horizon meant that it wouldn't last too long, and as soon as I got a chance, I pulled over to capture a silhouette of the classic Joshua Tree landscape. The pale orange slowly changed to a deep shade of pink that framed the spiny shape of the desert cacti. The moment didn't last long, but for those few moments, the scene was sublime.
Life is full of such fleeting moments that you have got to seek out, else they don't wait for you. And this is never more truer than it is for a photographer, where you have to be at the right place at the right time. After all, the object of art is to make eternal the desperately fleeting moment.
Joshua Tree National Park
CA USA
Coral Dreams
When I first stepped on cobblestone shoreline, I was greeted by an amalgam of blue beach stones. But as I kept walking down the shore, I spotted a few white ones in the mix: a composite of different types of wave-smoothened coral rocks. It took me a while to realize the scale of this: a vast beach littered with thousands of these corals, and that meant I was seeing the remains of a rich coral reef ecosystem that over the years had slowly died off.
It made me realize the fragility of this ecosystem, which, over the last few years has slowly died off due to the direct and indirect effect of human activities. While snorkeling in different parts of the Virgin Islands, all I encountered were dead and dying reefs, and except for a few stragglers, the ocean floor was fairly barren, and sad. Seeing this all over the island, I wondered if this region would ever recover.
Virgin Islands National Park
USVI
Caribbean Paradise
After going through multiple days of cold winter weather, including what has been the snowiest day in over 30 years, I cannot wait for the days to get longer and warmer. And even though the winter isn't yet over, the signs of spring are just beginning to blossom everywhere. Pretty soon, we will witness colorful blooms, meadows of fresh grass, carpets of wildflowers and more.
But until that occurs, I keep myself hopeful with my travel memories accumulated over the years, including this one from the beautiful tropical beaches of Virgin Islands National Park. Here, the azure blue waters dotted with catamarans and sailboats meet the white sands of a palm-fringed beach that anchors this part of the mountainous island. I delighted in driving around the island, seeing these blissful vistas, and creating soul-enriching imprints that I would treasure for a lifetime.
Virgin Islands National Park
USVI
Spirit of the Lake
Have you been to Mt St Helens National Monument, and visited the remnants of a volcano that exploded under 40 years ago, a mere blink of an eye on the geological timescale?
The explosion downed trees on the slopes for miles, and on Spirit Lake, which was formed when the explosion dammed the outlet of the old lake, vast treemats formed of those downed trees still remain. Every time I visit this remarkable monument, I learn something new about this volcano, and I hope my future visits will be no less educational.
Mt St Helens
WA USA
Of Sandstorms and Windy sunsets
One of the country's newest National Parks has something going for it that no other place on this planet can lay a claim on - the largest gypsum sand basin. And that lends this place a surrealism like no other. While most visitors only spend the daylight hours here, the time for photography in this place when the sun crests below the San Andres mountains, and the predawn hours when everything lays still.
At sunset, in the shadow of the mountains, the white sands take on an unnatural blue hue, which, combined with strong winds at dusk, lend an ethereal soft glow to the undulating striations on the dunes. And on those rare occasions, all these happen with a sky lighting up for sunset, like in this scene above.
This park holds within it many such unique photographic opportunities, and I really do hope I can get back there, if only to spend one more night at this amazing National Park
White Sands National Park
NM USA