dearchichi

Photography freaks!

2008-07-02T13:55:42Z

I took a handsome, young photographer out to dinner last week. Mahesh Shantaram quit his high-profile job in the IT industry in the U.S. to pursue his interest in photography fulltime. Conversations about his extensive travel experiences, his prior work on capturing lives in the metros around the world and his "zero-balance" lifestyle filled up the three hours that we were together. And, apart from picking up some clever ideas about his business - which he willingly shared with me -, I was introduced to the photography of Nick Brant and Martin Parr.

Nick Brant's work is exactly what I have been looking for all over the web for innovation in wildlife photography. Man, does he deliver! His black and white images of the big mammals in Africa are breathtaking with their lighting, composition and drama. Surely, his work points to a new frontier in capturing the natural wonders of the world on camera. After getting tired of seeing all labeled mugshots of creatures around - some of them no doubt wonderful-, I'm inspired by Nick's vision.

***

I browsed through Sandesh Kadur's work on the Sahyadris at a bookstore. I have heard of him in general photographic circles. He must have spent quite some time among in the ghats to capture many of the photographs in the book. While the print quality and layout of the coffee-table reference work is excellent, the textual matter that is supposed to augment and explain the photographs totally lack in breath and detail. And, the book costs a bomb. Many say their work is targeted at conservationists and at people who are willing to protect what we have left of the wild but who need some help to get started. I wonder how many such stripling guardians-of-nature would buy works like these.

Wassup!

2008-06-20T08:55:30Z

The last few weeks have afforded some eclectic experiences for me to pick up.

I road-tripped with my wife to Belur, Halebid and Chikmagalur in the first week of May. The lovely roads, the wonderful temples and great weather made some memorable photography possible.

I road-tripped with my wife to Pondicherry, Auroville, Mahabalipuram, Chidambaram, Tanjore, Trichy, Srirangam and Yercaud last week. And, like our trip to Mysore, Kodaikanal and Kookal in March, we drove almost a thousand miles this time too.

I developed and have launched my website dedicated to documentary wedding photography. I’m also done with my first such project, which I thoroughly enjoyed. If you have any comments about the website, please do let me have them at dearchichi@yahoo.com. I plan to open a website on Indian temples a few months from now.

I, of course, have been picking up books all the while. A few I am done with are:

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
Mavericks at Work by William Taylor and Polly LaBarre
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
How to be Rich by Paul Getty
How to Make Millions with Your Ideas by Dan Kennedy
Boom!: 7 Choices for Blowing the Doors Off Business-As-Usual by Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg

On the personal front, it’s been a ton of movies, food, chatter, laughs and shopping with friends and family. With a couple of road trips to Nandi Hills and CCDs thrown in.

Unfortunately, birdwatching and all other wildlife activities have taken a back seat. I really do need to get back to my feathered friends this weekend if I am free from all the obligations that a newly married couple is bound with.:) Deponti , could you please include me on one of the zillion trips that you manage to go on every week?

Would like to have some information

2008-04-17T05:55:13Z

I was wondering if anybody could provide me with some answers to the following:

1. How could I quickly and effectively learn to make movies with sound, using photographs, in Adobe Flash?
2. What are the procedures and legal requirements to register an online business?
3. Should products like CDs and DVDs shipped abroad for revenue pass through customs?
4. Is there a cap on the amount of foreign currency that a person residing in India could earn in a given time frame?

Any pointers or contacts that would help me out would be appreciated.

A few

2008-04-12T08:10:16Z

3 more

2008-04-12T07:50:43Z

Two old friends

2008-04-12T06:34:17Z

I'm back!

2008-04-10T06:51:17Z

Well, after about 6 months of a self-imposed hiatus, I'm back to my home on the Internet. And, apart from expressing myself in here about things I value, I sorely missed interacting with my LJ friends. And, just look at the stuff they have been up to, packing in vacations overseas, bird-watching trips, published articles, eco-tourism guidance to the uninitiated, purchases of status toys, visits to shacks that serve up delicious food and exchanging vows with their spouses all over again after decades of living with one another! It was a wonderful experience catching up with all the writing that they have put up while I was away.

The past months were used up to explore things that I haven't previously ventured into, like ingratiating myself with folks I would be seeing quite a bit, initiating myself with Kannada movies after years, learning about the components and textures of sarees, appreciating fine jewelery and their delicate construction, tuning my tone deaf ear to the phenomena of pitch variations in songs and having a close look at the lives of people who belong to the generations before mine. I have been exposed to some genuinely wealthy people and have sampled the lifestyles they lead, to those who are authentically generous at heart who don't twitch before splurging thousands on friends, to those who maintain a heartwarming camaraderie among their extended family members resulting in truly memorable bonding sessions. I have been witness to several demonstrations on the skill of nurturing a tremendous network of contacts, and how honest concern and genuine interest about the other person, put across through sweetly constructed sentences in an appropriately modulated tone, could win over people, whether they are film industry biggies, influential businessmen, retired super cops or the guy or girl next door. I have been awed by the affection showered upon the donors of monetary benefits by beneficiaries during their times of want even years after the events, by those who impress with their knowledge about maintaining huge agricultural estates while walking around in them and by the gay attitudes of those who have had to shoulder a cascade of soul-crushing troubles during their lives. I have valued my interaction with those who detail various facets of the plenty of food we have sampled, to those young kids who can strip you naked by accurately verbalizing your most private thoughts only by sitting in front of you and the hundreds of miles all of us have clocked together in my beloved car.

My partner and I have experienced a "rainbow of emotions" the past few months, from helplessness due the general stressors of wedding events and the work leading up to it, to the joy of discovering a soul with whom each could express and realize oneself. And, together with my Mother-about whom I have discovered quite a bit more through the eyes of my wife-, we hope to lead lives less ordinary.

At Priya Simran's

2008-01-24T20:42:59Z

Saree Trial

A few common ones

2008-01-24T19:22:07Z

On turning 30...

2007-12-08T09:02:00Z

The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits. - Teddy Roosevelt

***

My new toy, among the most timely and useful of gifts I have received. Thanks a lot, Archi! :-)

Mr. Sleek

2007-12-03T21:05:47Z

A River Tern with it's catch.

Addicted to Ashu

2007-12-03T18:18:48Z

We had a rocking time today on the terrace with him! :-)

In the air at T G Halli

2007-12-02T18:05:29Z

A Common Krestel captured while hovering above ground, keeping its head still while scanning the land below for prey.

A few more of Ashu! :-)

2007-11-30T20:39:29Z

With Dad

With Archana

Shankar weds Manasa

2007-11-25T20:43:29Z

Archana and I attended my college buddy's wedding reception yesterday in Girinagar last evening. Shankar has been a close friend since our first meet a decade ago during our first year in engineering. His quick wit, sharp mind and refreshing presence of mind made him a delightful person to hang out with, and all our tricks played out in the electronics laboratory for three years would be etched in my memory due to his commentary on them. His folks have always received me warmly during my visits to his house were we used to brainstorm several times before exams. Manasa sure would be glad to have made such a fine conquest. God bless the couple.

My Sweets

2007-11-21T20:16:47Z

Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki,
Na Jaane Tum Kab Aaoge...

***

Archi! Interacting with her is like facing a firing squad. You are first stunned by the ethereal glow that rests softly on her person as she walks across sections of dappled sunlight beneath the trees around college, with the pretty patterns formed by columns of luminous sunshine gliding over her face and her luxuriant hair . The next blow is delivered when she breaks into her radiant smile in the midst of her rolling out those polished sentences, with the two senses of ours that catch such moments flushing us wonder. And, the knockout punch is delivered when she considers what you have to say with a gleam in those kindly eyes, when she offers her thoughts on the subject with all the surrounding logic that makes it valuable and when she laughs with you at your attempts at humor. And after the show's over, we can only limp back dazed into our insipid world consisting of the same old tired cares, wistfully longing to have a part of her for ourselves so as to inject some of that divine spark into our days.

Into the distance...

2007-11-08T21:05:32Z

War dance in the air

2007-11-08T21:01:54Z

Black Kites roughing it out

Blood & Guts

2007-10-25T21:26:25Z

There are few pursuits in the world that give me as much pleasure as bodybuilding. It's one of those sports where you compete with yourself every time you do it, daring those weights you have set about to conquer, ripping apart every fibre of the muscle group you focus on by bombing it lifeless with sets whose final few repetitions are pure agony, when you simply have to push past the intense burn caused by the lactic acid that pools around the working fibres. That's when the growth is triggered, and thats when you feel like you have made it all worthwhile. And, ofcouse, grunting it out in the inspired presence of my all time favorite bodybuilder, the strong and silent one with a Ph.D. in pain, 6x Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates, would make it fun. And this, ofcourse, is my favorite post on bodybuilding. :-)

The gym at Bowring Institute has reopened and I sure am gonna give those weights some serious knocking. They had better be ready!

A few friends

2007-10-22T21:15:58Z

Calling me all kinds of names to get me to post this photograph online, which he finds very heartwarming for some reason, Rohit finally had his way! :-)
From the left, that's Ravi, Malini, her husband Mukund and myself. This photograph was taken by my sister at Ashu's birthday party on the 21st.

Malini, Mukund, Maddy and Ashu

2007-10-22T20:42:09Z

Quite a handful!

More of Ashu

2007-10-22T20:31:31Z

Nah, no flat tyre!

Viru

2007-10-18T20:59:42Z

Flexing it a little!

Just before the make up session on the day of his marriage

Maddy again!

2007-10-18T19:44:57Z

Mr. Cute!

With Mommy

And Daddy

The master at work

2007-10-18T19:27:31Z

Dr. Kumar Ghorpade, entomologist and ornithologist, collecting insects atop Nandi Hills. Bee flies, Horse Flies and Hover Flies were some of what he collected.

Here he is disseminating some of his knowledge to us amateurs.