hazy .. night 17 Oct 2015 when a view like this is just a 10 mins run from home .. you run .. haze or not .. ten .. events 28 Sep 2015 a semi-aware choice turned out to be a great choice .. also, time flies .. august .. events, travel 28 Aug 2015 decisions made a decade ago rule the fundamentals till date and will probably do so forever .. to all the good things that came along and better things to come .. wintry .. cauldron, road-trip, travel 12 Jan 2014 all these winter news from the past few days remind me of my days stuck indoors in the winters .. heres is some pics of cold niagara taken around midnight during the winter .. patterns (more) .. photowalk 30 Dec 2013 arab street and gardens drive .. wetlands .. hdr, hiking, photowalk 16 Mar 2013 pics from the place thats either too cloudy or too sunny .. 0700 b/w 22 Sep 2012 covers .. hiking, road-trip 18 Dec 2011 wide angle landscapes .. and wide photos .. patterns .. cauldron, photowalk 03 Dec 2011 5+ hours of non-stop raining this saturday evening ensured i get something done .. a 6 storey building of just spiraling stairs and nothing else .. views from top and bottom and the long line-up in a strip mall timely .. night, photowalk 30 Aug 2011 another neat late-evening photowalk .. also .. a rare occurrence of editing the pics on the same day .. bridge to somewhere .. hiking, road-trip, travel 16 Jul 2011 early morning shot .. was taken on the first outing after winter .. [needless to mention, jpeg compression of a 140mb hdr image file into a 453kb file turns it into a piece of shit] skywards .. photowalk, road-trip, travel 16 Jul 2011 dramatic skies of the evening .. smells like vacation .. hiking, road-trip, travel 20 Jun 2011 neon .. photowalk, road-trip, travel 18 May 2011 freezing good times .. at the [canadian] niagara falls .. pics of the frozen falls to follow [hopefully soon] .. masked .. cauldron, photowalk 19 Feb 2011 i never put pics of people here .. but since they are masked im making the exception .. bike & hike .. cauldron, hiking 30 Jan 2011 there was also sailing involved before the bike & hike part .. icy .. photowalk 23 Jan 2011 well .. that was a very icy and very quick walk .. p. a. t. h. b/w, photowalk 16 Jan 2011 dreadfully empty on a sunday .. rooftop .. events 09 Jan 2011 new years eve .. yonge & dundas .. events, night, photowalk, travel 08 Jan 2011 this is the best shot i have of this place .. but at that angle where the iconic guitar becomes just a camouflaged line .. where the santa at .. archives, travel 26 Dec 2010 have you had a christmas that lasted 2 days long - i had one yesterday (i mean for the last 2 days) .. yepp - was flying +0800 to -0500 on christmas day .. also came with a layover .. this was some epic haze in hong kong .. visibility was as good as a blizzard .. blindingly bright over china .. colorful red sunset over japan .. so .. christmas day is kinda over .. and its early christmas morning again .. over the arctic region .. so .. where is the santa ?? [my eyes are now burning after 6 continuous movies .. and where is my breakfast .. ] so .. i am within the arctic circle over alaska / yukon / british colombia .. got treated to the awesome views of snow covered mountain ranges over sunrise .. i was driving around and camping in this awesome arctic wilderness in 2008 .. that trip needs to be repeated again .. also wanted to check-in at north pole on foursquare when the flight was close to north pole .. and didnt work as expected .. shooting the shooters .. night, photowalk 19 Dec 2010 urban .. archives, travel 10 Dec 2010 getting close to the civilization .. its 4 in the morning on a saturday .. and i got a whole day ahead o me .. trails .. archives, events, night, travel 20 Nov 2010 just leave the shutter open .. and have some fries .. b/w snakes .. archives, b/w, photowalk 16 Nov 2010 pics from the cauldron again .. this one was in a spot with the perfect lighting .. this one was hiding .. and this one was fancy & bling .. two more .. night, photowalk 07 Nov 2010 shooting in the dark without flash, hand held shot, not much ambient light .. @ an art gallery .. art, b/w 30 Oct 2010 the works were in the range $8,000 to $64,000 .. [no wonder they were giving out free drinks and cookies to anyone who walked-by..] @ an ethnic show .. events, travel 08 Oct 2010 that fireball is bigger than a person !! and .. travel 12 Sep 2010 ".. for once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return." -- Leonardo da Vinci [ ?? - its disputed apparently] [ waiting at the airports means i get to type shit on notepad, hoping to publish it later .. and then delete them all before boarding the flight .. ] the flight wings at sunrise time .. golden .. hdr, photowalk, travel 29 May 2010 i found this digging thru the hard drives .. again a 3-exposure .. i like the 3-d like appearance of the clouds at the upper left .. what now .. road-trip, travel 20 May 2010 awesome blue skies .. and ocean sized lakes .. and mountains that fade into the horizon .. that summer .. archives, events, travel 12 May 2010 the too-young-to-be-my-cousins were here .. and my place has literally been a day care for the past few days .. the tv played movies non-stop .. there were trips to places on bloody-hot-summery-afternoons .. there was all the games and screeching noises .. continuous consumption of junk food .. a photo-outing should be in order .. its been a while .. wanderlust .. photowalk, travel 08 May 2010 pricey lenses make fences disappear .. the mirage like cross near the beak is the fence .. would you have found it out if i didnt say so ? its surprising how royal and satisfying it feels to hold a unaffordable / pricey gadget .. this was the pic i took for world water day .. but its taken me so long to get to looking at this pic .. how the hell did i get here .. events, road-trip, travel 18 Apr 2010 underwhelmed .. just sayin .. prefferred .. archives, road-trip, travel 17 Apr 2010 @ pdy .. travel 12 Apr 2010 i hate the heat .. and the summer is here .. it was great to finally meet up with rbr and rksuper .. i miss the back-bencher days .. b/w .. travel 21 Mar 2010 the below two pics show why you should always use in-camera profiles instead of post-processing .. first one is shot in color and post-processed .. see how the sepia did not apply to the high-exposure parts of the pic .. stand here .. photowalk, road-trip, travel 27 Feb 2010 the work of a tourist friendly citizen of st.louis .. a neat idea to mark the perfect spot so tourists can get the entire background in their pictures .. about:radios .. hiking, road-trip, travel 23 Feb 2010 and who says animals cant / dont enjoy music .. [and yes if you see something in this posts title .. you are a geek ..] biker .. hiking, road-trip, travel 01 Feb 2010 two awesome and crazy long road trips on my motorbike .. but my back hurts so much now .. need the physical activities on a regular basis, which doesnt happen anymore .. also, i dont have a pic of my motorbike .. yet .. happy new year .. archives, events 01 Jan 2010 was watching the fireworks from the roof-top .. but did not realize i can just walk a few steps into my home and bring my camera .. by the time i did .. i could only take this pic .. blaaaahhhhh .. blaaaahh 22 Dec 2009 its been raining crazy .. and not a single instance where i could drive without being interrupted by the rain gods .. its awesome though .. flights and sunlight .. events, this sucks, travel 10 Dec 2009 homeless .. events, this sucks 30 Nov 2009 closed the lease on the apartment i lived for a good long time .. im gonna to be couching / crashing for the next 2 nights .. and then hop on the flight .. things are half-packed .. and some shopping done .. too little time .. too many things to do .. super excited .. events 09 Nov 2009 this is as abstract as a post can get .. if you know me .. you already know why im so excited now .. epic times ahead .. super excited .. an epic weekend .. photowalk, road-trip, travel 01 Nov 2009 this weekend was the busy kind .. the awesome busy kind .. all this in two short days -- -- b'day party and lunch with someone .. -- nocturnals photowalk on sat early morning .. -- the short road trip / photowalk on sunday morning to evening .. -- and went bowling on sunday night .. it was good times .. and a few shots from the weekend .. now that i have wandered as much as possible over the weekend .. i should really get some sleep before another work week starts in just 5 hours .. nocturnals photowalk .. cdp, night, photowalk 31 Oct 2009 a photo walk after a very very long time .. a bunch of nocturnals grouped up at windy lakefront at around 5 am .. when its windy and 29f outside .. also happens to be the first weekend in october when its not raining .. as we waited for the sunrise .. i was more interested in the warmth it was going to bring .. stand on the lakefront when it is freaking cold and windy .. and you will be more interested in the warmth than a colorful sunrise .. the birds graced us with their presence.. i wanted to take a pic with the silhouettes of a bunch of photogs .. but they were all way too scattered to get in a single frame .. saw this bike on my way toward the north-east end of the drive .. and the same bike while coming back .. and then .. on my way back .. stopped at the bean .. i guess there are not many crazy people outside at this early hour on a cold morning .. the bean was totally clean and shiny because of all the raining .. must have dried clean as it stopped raining last night .. by the time i finished my coffee .. a few tourists started to show up .. and thanks mike (cdp) for putting this photo walk together .. all gloomy again .. gotta run home before it starts to rain .. again .. ????????? events, this sucks 29 Oct 2009 im both anxious and relaxed .. weird .. i hope things get sorted out the way i want it to be .. (believe me .. its not something too much to ask for ..) another post on the same day .. road-trip 12 Oct 2009 was looking at the pics i took at rithi's b'day party .. and came across these pics that i took two months back .. i cant remember if those faces are really 3d .. or is it just awesome 2d paintings that are looking like 3d .. 2 more pics from the caves-hike .. and some random pics from the beer-bottling factory .. woah .. has it been that long already .. awesomeness, events 27 Aug 2009 a big yyaaaayyyy for all the new experiences .. epic places that have been visited & non-stop travelling, various people met, the things done, some awesome things done though unbelievable was done, some things screwed up, and what not .. its been really good times .. here is a equally awesome sunset .. from head-spinning heights .. on the roads .. after quite a while .... photowalk, road-trip, travel 24 Aug 2009 its been a while since i was on the roads .. so .. a quick 2 day, 3 stop, road-trip was in order .. did some shopping friday night .. and started to drive at the stroke of midnight .. went straight to st louis .. to atop the arch .. and then roamed around for a while .. this pic from atop the arch makes the building look like a miniature model .. may be i shud give this pic to D and ask her to do that photoshop thing, where it makes everything to look like miniature models .. [i dont do much of photo editing .. hence no photoshop for me .. ] then .. a 1.5 hrs drive to the caves .. the plan was a 1.5 hrs hike into the caves .. at the beginning it kinda was boring .. but as we hiked deep into the caves .. we got to see some interesting formations .. this formation was the most awesome amongst all .. and man .. 'caves-dark' is really dark .. and the reflections off the water gave cool illusions of the depth of the water .. now .. i am all tired .. and had to drive for quite some distance for food .. and then checked-in into the hotel for some good sleep .. a good long shower and a quick breakfast later .. i head to springfield where i tour'd the lincoln home .. the neighborhoods kept the old looks of the streets .. it was a very small tour though .. and had lots of time to kill around .. so .. drove to the capitol building .. and thats it !! there is nothing else in this place .. i mean this place is really miniscule to be called as the capital of the state .. then it was just a straight 5+ hrs drive home .. with some pizzas for lunch .. todays adventures .. cauldron, tech crap 05 Aug 2009 just a rant about my least adventurous day .. been staring at the computers for nearly 35 hrs in the past 48 hrs .. literally .. and its been more than 24 hours since i ate anything .. hoping that the weekend will be better than this .. and i am also thinking about getting some food .. looooooonnnnggggg pending stuff .. cauldron, tech crap 05 Aug 2009 so .. it has been a long time since i posted anything .. this is an update that i am *really* trying to fix my blogs (broken again) .. all the old posts are still sitting in the hard drive as xml files (luckily they have survived the time) .. one good thing is i can easily filter the old and stupid stuff now .. so the number of posts is gonna get halved i guess .. heres a year old pic anyway .. summer .. events, road-trip 20 Jul 2009 its all about the beaches .. boats .. and outdoor fun .. for a cause .. causes, events 06 May 2009 when the employer says the $150 will be sponsored if you run - you run .. this is a awesome thing that ual is doing .. i have been volunteering & donating wherever i can since i was a kid, but havent done anything for-a-cause in the past year .. paparazzi .. @ run for cancer awareness .. huge turnout @ run for cancer awareness .. even the dog got dressed in pink .. spring stroll .. archives, hiking 04 May 2009 ppl read this .. look around .... and feed the elk .... this is how it works .. mile 2 of 18 .. this is gonna be awesome .. rock star .. night 27 Apr 2009 this is what happens when kids play too much of 'gta' .. im myself a huge fan of the game though .. :) spring .. supposedly .. hiking, road-trip 02 Apr 2009 so .. its second day of spring .. and it snowed .. message - 'it aint over until i say its over' .. guess what i found .. blaaaahh 29 Mar 2009 paint the city green .. events, photowalk 25 Mar 2009 hope y'all had a great st. patricks day .. [michelle's cake] a while .. tech crap 15 Mar 2009 ski and freeze .. awesomeness, hiking, road-trip, travel 28 Feb 2009 late night skiing this weekend .. i had to take a larger than normal sized skii today .. and that means extra speed .. woot .. the temperatures dropped and sitting in the lift froze my hand and i was not even able to remove my headphones .. though i had fun .. was terribly cold .. must have waited for a better day .. stalled .. night, this sucks, travel 31 Jan 2009 stalled traffic on i-90 .. freaking snow storm .. cold .. this sucks, travel 30 Jan 2009 record low temperatures today .. - 36'c (minus 36 freaking celsius !!) and add winds of 40-50 mph .. this is a 3 storied building .. look at those icicles .. its as tall as atleast 9 feet .. this was at around 2 am .. they switched off the lights and closed the alley too .. if i dont get out now .. they will come and kick butt .. photochallenge .. photowalk 10 Jan 2009 late .. awesomeness, photowalk 14 Oct 2008 past sunset @ forest preserves .. rushing to get out before a cop shows up .. .. cauldron, road-trip, travel 07 Oct 2008 im not sure if i will ever get around to the pics from new york, florida, etc , etc , etc .. that is one very very rarely used kitchen .. does keeping milk in refrigerator count as using the kitchen .. blinding .. hiking, photowalk 04 Oct 2008 bright sunlight in winter is blinding .. and again .. in b/w .. b/w, cdp, photowalk 29 Sep 2008 b/w pics from the cdp photowalk .. the bug that kept moving .. cdp .. cdp, photowalk 28 Sep 2008 i should try and hang out with the photogs more often for two reasons .. first, its okay be lying flat on the road with a camera when you are in a group of people who are doing something similar .. and second, this might be only boost i have gotten so far to go out and take pics of random things (which is what i actually want to do, but havent gotten around to even after having the camera for a while now) .. i dont like editing pics .. but in this case i need to remove the bird poop in the pic .. this is the road to hell right at this moment .. we walked till the end .. and now there was nothing else to shoot at .. photowalk .. cdp, photowalk 22 Sep 2008 .. with cdp .. im already planning to hang out with the photogs next weekend too .. perfect reflections .. noise .. photowalk 18 Sep 2008 an old pic (one of the firsts with the new camera) .. noise reduction in dpp does seem to work .. or does it ?? awesomeness .. awesomeness, travel 05 Sep 2008 .. really .. if you have visited alaska, you already know what i am talking about .. if you havent yet .. you really should visit this unbelievably beautiful place .. so .. it has been a full week of some extra-ordinary travel .. a little bit of crazy things .. (hiking a glacier in the dark so i can see the sunrise from atop, bear in the parking lot) .. and traveling solo means a whole world of freedom too .. however i am totally drained out .. and this is going to be a post of just few words - an epic trip and i will be back in alaska again sometime .. i cant wait to see the pics i took .. atleast a few should resemble the awesomeness this place is .. update: pics are now in the gallery .. the neighbourhood .. photowalk 07 Jul 2008 walking around the neighborhood .. @ the local fest .. dangerously close ?? if you are wondering .. archives, cauldron, tech crap 15 Nov 2007 if you are wondering why the posts here have no continuity .. well there is a bunch of the old posts (from 2005 - now) that *might* be moved from the old site .. its been a while since the old blog went down .. and now its all just a bunch of xml files .. i have been thinking about rewriting the whole photo-blog thing .. so i could make it easy to move around different hosting services without having to sweat about it .. i am already gathering some ideas about what / how i want it look like .. lots of researching and learning new stuff ahead .. and i am looking at blogs of tons of people .. pick out whatever i like for appearance / themes / ui / etc .. lets see how this turns out ..