Flights of Fantasy

I have been enamored by birds in flight for quite some time now. From a photographer’s point of view, it is somewhat of a challenge to get a good shot, since flying birds change their wing positions within the fraction of a second. This summer has seen me sitting by the beaches of Virginia, North Carolina, and Maine, trying to take some shots of flying birds. From my limited experience with shooting, I have realized that the best pictures are the ones where the birds either have their feathers held at the highest position or at the lowest position. Feathers parallel to the ground do not look that great, or perhaps it is just me. I do not have great zooming abilities (I take these pictures with my 55-300mm lens) and do not own a tripod yet. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not see much value in using a tripod when you shoot something that is fast in motion. So all I do is shoot in multiple frames, and shoot plenty.

Here are some of my favorite bird pictures from the summer of 2012. 

A bored afternoon by the York Beach in Maine, when my friends were taking a dip in the ocean and I was looking around for the perfect model to shoot.

A bored afternoon by the York Beach in Maine, when my friends were taking a dip in the ocean and I was looking around for the perfect model to shoot.

A bored afternoon by the York Beach in Maine, when my friends were taking a dip in the ocean and I was looking around for the perfect model to shoot.

A foodie birdie in Virginia Beach, flipping the food. Note that it is suspended mid-air when I got this shot during sunset.

I took this picture during sunrise, in Outer Banks, North Carolina.

I took this shot near the Japanese Garden in Richmond (Virginia)

Finally, angry birds :)


Devasmita

Day 10: Sunset at the Colosseum

Summers remind me of the great times I have had exploring Europe in the past, visiting so many countries and learning so much more, constantly pushing my boundaries and discovering new things. I have traveled in Europe mostly alone, and by choice. Traveling alone gives you a lot of freedom, and you can pace your time your way. I find it useful that I can have a plan, and not have a plan at the same time. For example, I can wake up really early to be able to watch something. And then I can deviate from the plan and spend as much time at a place as I would like to.

I am not traveling anywhere outside the US this summer. I am neck deep in research work, trying to finish my comprehensive exams, and come up with a plan for my dissertation. The travels I have done this summer are mostly local. Money is a constraint as well, which is ironic. The first time I visited Europe, I was unemployed. Literally unemployed. My job had recently left me, and I decided to travel Europe before I came back to start my PhD. I have always visited Europe in penury. And that is perhaps why I have fully explored Europe during my short visits. Living in youth hostels, eating at cheap restaurants, walking for hours every day, and taking the public transit has shown me a slice of Europe that affluent travelers might have missed.

This picture was taken inside the Colosseum in Rome (Italy), during sunset.

DC

July 4th Road Trip

Thus ends a 2,000 mile, 5 day road trip to Princeton (New Jersey) à Yale (Connecticut) à Boston (Massachusetts) à Mount Washington (New Hampshire) à Acadia National Park (Maine) à York (Maine) à Boston (Massachusetts) à Yale (Connecticut) à Princeton (New Jersey) à Virginia. I am glad I got some amazing shots of sunrise by the Cadillac Mountains, lighthouses, birds and flowers, and the Atlantic Ocean. The seafood was amazing, and so was the weather. I even visited the building that houses the world’s largest globe, a giant 60 feet structure as high as a three storey building. Stay tuned for a travelogue. In the meantime, here is a sneak peak into some of the pictures from the collection.  

Sunrise from the Cadillac Mountain.

The Bass Harbor lighthouse that obstructed the sunset.

Birds flying by the York beach.

DC

TOEFL Sunset

I had to take my TOEFL exams twice, once when I was applying to the US from Calcutta, and then four years later when I was applying to graduate school again. I was barely six months into driving, and there were no dates available in Seattle. The nearest available test location was in Portland (Oregon), a three hour drive from Seattle. God bless good friends, Deepak volunteered to rent a car and drive me and Sudip agreed to host me in Oregon.

Post-TOEFL, the three of us (all friends from the University of Washington, Seattle) decided to drive someplace nearby. We visited the Tilamook Cheese Factory, and the Cannon Beach. What I love and miss about the west coast are the fabulous sunsets. Now that I live in the east coast, I realize how motivated I need to be in order to wake up early and drive somewhere to see the sun rise by the ocean.

A toast to great friendships, fond memories of graduate school, and to the beauty of the west coast. Hopefully my next employment sees me in the west coast.

This picture was taken on a cold end of December sunset by the Pacific Ocean in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

DC 

Project 365: Day 9 (Another Sunrise)

The sun rises through cracks of opportunities. I took this picture two days ago near Yorktown Beach in Virginia. Waking up at 4am, driving an hour, and having my beach mat and towel stolen as I strolled off were worth it, although I wish the thief had left my Tommy Hilfiger beach towel alone.

If you are around Hampton or Virginia Beach and want a new perspective on sunrise, this is a fabulous location. The sun rises by the York river and not the ocean. The view of the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge from the beach looks amazing. There are small fishing piers, a long jogging/walking trail, and amazing opportunities of photographing the sunrise. Most importantly, it looks like a very safe residential area to stroll around that early in the morning.

DC

Project 365: Day 8 (Chikni the Chameleon)

Miss. Chikni the Chameleon reminds me of myself. There were a handful photographers and excited children huddled around to her, and here she was posing beautifully. She was so still that one would think it is a statue, but for the occasional flickering of the eyelid, nictitating membrane and all. God bless some of the words I still remember from the days when I used to study Zoology. This picture was taken on a warm late November afternoon in Bahia Honda State Park in Florida. It was my Thanksgiving trip, and my first trip to Florida.

DC

Project 365: Day 7 (Seeing it Together)

“I wanted to see the world with you. I knew things would look prettier that way.”

This is a shot of a random couple marveling at the beauty of the ocean. This picture was shot near Sintra, Portugal.

DC

Project 365: Day 6 (Driven)

Feeling driven enough? So where are you headed this summer? I might go to Baltimore, Boston, and Acadia National Park.

            DC

Project 365: Day 5 (Lafangey Parindey)

            I will never regret missing this sunrise, because what I got is this instead. Some of us friends were spending a weekend at the beach in Outer Banks, NC. I am a sunrise/sunset photography addict. I often have difficulty waking up for the 9 am class, but not at 6 am to catch the sunrise. The good thing about living in the west coast is that you can capture glorious sunsets without having to worry about your alarm clock not going off.

My roommate and I decided that we should wake up early on a Sunday morning and experience the sun coming up from the Atlantic. As luck would have it, it had rained the previous night, and there was still a thick cover of cloud where the sun would rise. Roommate strolled off to take a long walk by the beach, but being the sedentary person that I am, I stayed there with my camera gear and a book, hopeful that the sun will peak out from the cloud cover at some point of time. It did not, until it was way up in the sky. So I spotted random things like crabs, birds, and dogs, and started to take pictures of them. That was when I saw this bird flying by, casting a silhouette against the diffused and golden rays of the sun. Boy, I am glad I lived to take a picture of this.

            DC

Project 365: Day 4 (Cutting Corners)

A certain summer not so long ago saw me backpacking some of the European countries. Portugal turned out to be a favorite choice, and boy, I am glad I deviated from the trend of visiting the more popular places, and decided to do something offbeat. Here is a post I wrote about why globetrotters would love to see Portugal. The picture here is the westernmost tip of continental Europe.

DC

Project 365: Day 3 (Mirror Image)

As seen at the Capilano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver BC (Canada). This was during the AERA Conference earlier this year.

            DC

Project 365: Day 2 (Father-Daughter)

This is one of my favorite pictures, solely because of the subjects and the moment frozen. Once in a while, a magical moment passes by, and I thank God that I was ready somewhere with my camera. This was one such moment.

This picture was taken accidentally during the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. this spring. Daddy was happily taking her pictures while his daughter was happily posing. I was pointing at the beautiful cherry trees, barely aware of an even more beautiful picture awaiting me.

DC

Campus Love (Duke University)

I love visiting campuses. It is perhaps a reflection of who I am- an academic at the core. Perhaps it is also a function of where I come from- a city and a university that although rich in history and culture, could hardly boast of sprawling campuses with the kind of ambience many US campuses provide as a learning environment. The only campus I have found remotely interesting (architecture-wise) was the College Street campus of Calcutta University.

When I moved to the US, I was awed at the sheer beauty of the campuses. One could literally spend days walking around or read books sprawled on the grass. University of Washington, my alma mater, will always remain one of my favorites, with the direct view of Mount Rainier from the Red Square. My love for photographing campuses is only seconded by my love for libraries. Needless to say, whenever I visit a new place, I make sure I take a walk by the campus and get some pictures as well. UW, UVA, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Duke, I have been fortunate to see it all, and walk the same paths that great visionaries have walked before.

Someday, I hope to photo shoot some of the renowned and beautiful campuses in India if I get a chance. Some names that I can think of right away are IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow, and St. Xavier’s College, Bombay. Any other suggestions?

This picture was taken on a cloudy morning in March at Duke University. I was on a work-related trip to the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill region (also known as the Research Triangle) in North Carolina. I had half a day off, and decided to spend it walking around the Duke campus. The spring flowers were beginning to bloom, and there were tulips everywhere. It was beautiful. Had the clouds not shrouded the sky, I would have had better pictures.

Do visit the Sarah P. Duke Gardens if you happen to be in the area. The sheer beauty of it makes me wish I can make another trip soon.

DC

Project 365: Day 1 (Camouflage)

It is something to read about camouflaging in nature from textbooks in biology and environmental sciences. It is something else to witness it firsthand. This picture was taken around sunrise on a cold December morning, in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

DC

Crazily Colorful

I was asked to take a few pictures with the theme “Conflict”. Needless to say, I was conflicted. My imagination failed to cooperate and I kept wondering, what could I click with that theme? Have you ever had that experience when you sit in an examination room, the question paper in hand, unable to remember the answer to any of the questions? You feel you have blanked out, and there you sit, trying to calm yourself and remember something. You reread the questions and slowly, the answers start to dawn on you one by one. I had the same feeling.

            I unpacked my collection of jewelry, stuff the ladies back at home have lovingly gifted me in the past. One by one, I put them all on my left hand. It reminded me of those TV contests where the participants had to do something crazy in a limited time. It was harder than I thought- collecting different bangles, bracelets, wristlets, and what not. Then there were rings, finger rings, ear rings, all forcibly fitted into each of my stubby fingers. Next, I sorted through the packs of “bindis” I had, and put them on the back of my hand, one by one. Finally, I had to hold on to lipsticks, eyeliners, and eye pencils.

            The photo shoot was not without some accidents. I went out in the sun to get some bright pictures. While taking close up pictures of my clownishly colorful left hand, I accidentally dropped my favorite lipstick on the floor, and lost a chunk of it. The eyeliner must have gone dry by the time I was done. Anyway, after a few dozen clicks, I was happy with a few of them. Here take a look at the craziest colorful conflicted picture I have.

DC

Introductions

My interest in photography is newfound. It started after I moved to a small town in Virginia for my doctoral studies. I soon started to miss the fast paced life that Seattle had provided me for four years. School kept me busy, but I started to look for something creative outside school. My training as a doctoral student also made me more receptive to noticing the finer details of things around me. I needed to do something different, when I was not taking courses or staring at data. I guess that is how it all started.

            My somewhat introverted nature also inspired me, although my roommates laugh their guts out and contradict me whenever I call myself introverted. I often enjoy driving and traveling by myself, taking solitary walks, reading a book, or going around with my camera taking pictures of things. Photography is a welcome respite from the need to socialize, make small talk, or going through the exercise of making yourself noticeable in a group.

            I have been an ardent Nikon fan since 2009, solely by default. My first DSLR was a Nikon D 40 bought in 2009. Three winters later, I upgraded to the Nikon D 5100, which is what I use. If I was not a poor graduate student, I would have perhaps acquired more camera gear, which is why I am thankful that I am a poor student. The addiction of buying shoes and clothes compares nothing to the addiction of buying camera gear.

            I started this blog after much prodding and arm twisting by my friends, who believed that I should start to showcase my work. Inertia is a hard obstacle to conquer, and it took me months to take their idea and make something out of it. I have finally managed to create this space, where I would share some of my photographic work, and perhaps chitchat about my experience with photography. I will look forward to your feedback.

            DC