Saturday 10 November 2018

Cincinnati

Downtown Cincinnati across the Ohio river on a Windy
Link to more photos from Cincinnati for better resolution

My recent visit to Cincinnati presented me with some good opportunities to explore the place and click some photographs. So decided to start with my favorite - the view of the downtown from across the Ohio river in the evening.

It was a very windy evening with the temperature hovering about 10 degree C / 40 degree F. Wind was over a 80kmph and literally throwing us off balance in the Roebling Suspension bridge and the weather taking only seconds to numb the exposed fingers.

I was lucky to find a place where I can keep the camera sturdily and click this 20 second exposure (Above).

Same place - Different view and different time

One of the most popular features of the city is the river walk. This extends from Cincinnati in Ohio state across the river into the towns of Covington and Newport in the Kentucky. The walk way presents a lot of beautiful views of the Cincinnati downtown!

Small artificial fall in Cincinnati Zoo

If there is one place that is a must visit in Cincinnati, that is the zoo. One of the most popular and the well maintained places in the country. It houses a wide range of animals and birds from all over the world. I also learnt that the zoo does a lot of bird and animal rescues and lets them back in the wild after giving the necessary protection.

Red Cardinal - Cincinnati Zoo

I generally do not photograph birds or animals that are in captive. But this one is was no way in the captive, even though it was photographed in a zoo.

Prisoner's Lake
Not sure what or who gave the lake its name, but it did captivate me with its splendor! Beautiful lake with an equally beautiful backdrop. If one has the time and patience, this is a good place for some birds and animals watch.

Fountain Square - Downtown

The most lively place in the downtown. The place comes live during the weekends, in an otherwise conservative downtown.

Mausoleum - Spring Grove Cemetery

It is not often we come across a cemetery that is also maintained as an arboretum, at least not in India. So it came as a huge pleasant surprise when I visited this place.

Lake 1 - Spring Grove Cemetery

It was also not devoid of water bodies. These water bodies, apart from serving as water source for these trees, also are home to lot of birds.

The change of colours - Spring Grove Cemetery

It was here where I first got a glimpse of the changing colours in nature in the fall. Though it was a bit late this year, it was really colourful when it arrived.

Hide and Seek - Spring Grove Cemetery

Fall, apart from bringing the colours, also brings this hide and seek game with the clouds and the sun alternating with each other.

Full spectrum of colour at Mt. Airy forest

Cincinnati is also known as the city of seven hills. This is because the city itself sits snuggly in a valley surrounded by seven hills, of which Mt. Airy forest is one. the fall brought out the full spectrum in a small lake at the Mt. Airy forest.

Colouful trails

Mt. Airy also seems to be the most preferred place for joggers and bikers. This is due to numerous trails this place have, that are also well marked.

View of the Covington, KY across Ohio river

The river walk spans across Cincinnati in Ohio to Covington and Newport in Kentucky. It provides lot of beautiful view of the city and the beautiful surroundings.

One of the best here is the Roebling's Suspension Bridge that is built across the Ohio river. This happens to be the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

There are more such wonderful places that you can visit in Cincinnati and the surrounding places. But with the limited time I had, I tried to represent the beauty of the city as much as I can. Happy exploring while you are there!

Sunset and downtown Cincinnati across Ohio River.

Thursday 13 September 2018

Mobile Landscapes

Secret Ivory Resort

Landscapes have been one of my favorites in photography after Birds and Macros. But, I have never been a great fan of mobile photography until recently.

Though I used to take some photos using my mobile with some decent outputs, never had taken it seriously, for various reasons. That changed recently, when I bought the Huawei P20 Pro with its critically acclaimed camera.

What you see here are from the phone camera, some shot in RAW and processed in Adobe Lightroom for Android.

Cottage

I found the dynamic range on that one quite good, for a small sensor in the mobile phone . It was shot early morning during the golden hours, with the sun well behind. The cottage was well in the shade. All I had to do was use the native the HDR settings and push up the shadows in the native editing tool.

Pond

Due to the recent rains in some parts of the Western Ghats, some of the water bodies that were dried up have come back to life. Not sure how long it will sustain, but why not enjoy the view while it lasts! The gentle breeze creating a nice texture in the water and reflecting the trees as a mosaic.


Valley View

While on the way to Kallatti village in the Nilgiris, just stopped briefly in a place called Sholar. The valley view from there was way different from the common scenes of the Ooty that most tourists would have seen.

Lake - RAW

There was a lake somewhere near a dam and the evening hours brought out some incredible colours of the water and the landscape. This was shot in RAW and converted to JPEG.

Lake - JPEG

Yeah, exactly the same scene, but this one is the JPEG right out of the phone camera. The colours are more saturated and vibrant. Cannot say that the colours are true or accurate, but I guess it looks livelier nevertheless!

Old Lighthouse - Pondicherry

How does the camera do in low light situations? Well this was one of the biggest selling points of the phone, and it lived up to the hype - mostly, I would say.

That's a regular weekend at the Pondicherry beach. The place is always full of life and relaxation. A distant away from the hurried life!


Gandhi Memorial - Pondicherry

Another landmark at the Pondicherry beach is the Gandhi Statue.

Panoramic City View

For most of the times I found myself shooting a panorama shot and this is one such shot from my work place. After weeks of gloomy weather the sky opened up to the blue hue and I did not hesitate to make use of the it.

The regular view

May not be exactly a postcard view, but that is one picture that is etched into my mind. This is the one I wake up to everyday and I wish it remains!

My outlook of the mobile photography changed completely with these photos. What do you think?


One Panoramic View - 3 states!

Tuesday 14 August 2018

The Neighbours


The Neighbourhood


Back with a  after a very long hibernation. Not sure if I will continue, even though I would very much want to.

This time around, a shorter blog with some of the beautiful neighbours I share my home with. Now, I am not talking about the people, but about the others.

As a depart from the norm, the blog is neither about photography, nor about any of my travels. But you will be seeing some photos of the neighbours and the neighbourhood for sure, although it may not be strictly a very good photo.

The morning alarm. This guy is most often the one that wakes me up, hence the moniker!

Common Tailor Bird


The Noisy Neighbour. Keeps shrilling at the top of the voice most of the day!

Ashy Prinia


The high flier. Rain or Shine keeps soaring high!

Black Kite


The elusive fellow. But on this rainy day decided to get a bit social and posed for photo for a long time!

Southern Coucal

The singer. It is always a treat to listen these fellows sing in that melodious tone!

Red-whiskered Bulbul

The common type. I am yet to come across an apartment devoid of these types! A common fixture.

Blue rock Pigeon

The beautiful ones! No matter how small or how short lived, these fellas make the place more beautiful and colourful!

Spotless Grass Yellow

Great Eggfly

Lemon Pansy


Well, hope you enjoyed been introduced to some of my beautiful neighbours.

Note: I have not been able to make justice to the beauty of the birds, due to my lack of proper equipment for photograph them. But will definitely make amends sooner and make sure you are treated with better photographs of these friends!

On a rainy evening!