Lakeside long exposure - Image Breakdown

Scroll to see how this image was intentionally composed to look like a painting rather than like a photograph.

Time. An ever-onward flow of countless slivers of now. An unstoppable river that smears out momentary agitations, as distinct events are blurred into a haze of happening, and details are stripped away to reveal elemental primitives. Primitives that structure our experience. Gradients and lines.

This is a 4-minute long exposure of a field of flowers at the edge of a lake. With a strong wind blowing that day, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to create an abstract piece that looks like a painting. Most people who see this image have strong views about whether they would even consider this as a legitimate photograph. What is your view? Do you think this qualifies as a photograph?

Captured on the Canon 500D using the Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS lens at 18mm, f/16, 240 secs, ISO 400 and a 10-stop B+W ND filter.

Convict Lake Sunrise - Image Breakdown

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There are four dawns to a day. The first is barely noticeable, giving itself away only as it lightens a black night sky. The second solidifies structure and form, as darkness is peeled away to reveal horizons and shapes. The third breathes colour, not the vibrant kind, but shy, quiet hues; playful, like a tease. The fourth is bold, decisive, and sudden; it paints with broad strokes, of light and heat. And a new day is born.

Canon 500D and Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens at 10mm, f/16, 0.5 sec, ISO 100

Sunrise over the Annapurna mountain range - Image Breakdown

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The Ghorepani Poon Hill trek along the Annapurna circuit is a gorgeous 4-5 day climb in the Himalayas. Reaching a maximum elevation of about 3200 meters and covering a distance of roughly 50 kilometers, the highlight of this trek is without a doubt the unobstructed views of the Annapurna mountain range. Accommodation along the way is basic at best with hole-in-the-wall rooms, shared toilets and no guaranteed running water but the delicious home-cooked meals at tea houses along the trail and views of the towering Himalayas more than make up for the lack of comfort. The trek is of moderate difficulty and is especially recommended for families who want to expose kids to multi-day hikes in the mountains. We did this trek with three kids aged 12, 10 and 5 all of whom had a blast waking up early each morning to climb 2000+ feet to get to our next rest stop, surviving on maggi, momos and daal bhat during the climb. The image above is a view of the Annapurna mountain range as seen from Poon Hill, the highest point on the trek, during sunrise.

Canon500D and Tamron 18-200mm Di II VC lens at 28mm, 1.3 secs, f/13, ISO 100

Reflecting at Mt. Shasta - Image Breakdown

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Photography is the subtle science and the exact art of understanding light. Understanding it, shaping it and cajoling it to show your viewer a story that only you have envisioned. Landscape photographers paint with light and enjoy chasing it. We wake up at ungodly hours and hike with heavy loads under rain, sun and snow to make sure that we are at our chosen spot, sometimes hours before when we know the “right light” would grace the scene. And all this in pursuit of that one single image that will make the viewer say “wow!”.

This is not such an image. This spot was pretty easy to get to. I drove up to this lake from my motel which was all of 10 minutes away. But still.

This image was captured originally as a much larger vista. It was a 3-shot vertical panorama taken on the Canon500D with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS lens at 30mm, 1/10 secs, f/16, ISO 100. The final composition is a crop of the original pano.

Hot Air Balloon over the Masai Mara - Image Breakdown

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One of the best experiences while on safari in Kenya is an early morning hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara. You wake up early, well before the sun rises, and the wind chill freezes your ears while you drive out an hour and more to the middle of an open grassland. And then you see them. Magnificent, towering canopies of nylon being blast filled with hot air. You load back-first into the sturdy basket attached to one of these colourful balloons and it starts climbing. Higher and higher you soar as the sun starts rising over the Mara, warming everything that its rays touch. Quieter and quieter it gets, till its just you and the landscape.

Canon 500D and Canon EF 70-300mm IS USM lens at 70mm, 1/320 secs, f/8, ISO 800.