Winter is here

I love mist. I simply love the feeling of being in mist. Everything around you would be dull and less contrasty and the mood is simply amazing.

After quite a good break I went back to my favorite photography backyard - TG Halli last weekend. As I was little late in reaching the place I had missed the morning mist. But while searching for a subject to work on when I lied down to the level of the grass the surrounding looked amazingly fresh. There were tiny droplets of the mist on these grass and the wings and the body of the damselfly was also having tiny sparkles of the mist. It was an amazing sight when I saw from the low angle.

Here I am presenting to you some of the images which I made on that morning. Nothing much to share in words.

Winter is here.... and.... I love it.


Cheers,
Ash 

Silent bells

It is a small village near Yellapur, a small town where I spent all my childhood. There is a temple of Ganapathi, which is popular among the people around Yellapur and Sirsi. The place is Chandguli. A serene and calm place amidst forest and it is one of the places which is closer to my heart. I had felt an unexplainable feeling when I had been there for the first time!

It was a feeling that I was there before. A feeling that I belong to that place! Never ever it happened to me till today in any other place! No, it was not a deja-vu (which I often experience on many occasions!). I had felt a connection. My faint memory says that I was in my 11th or 12th standard then.

The temple has several thousands of bells which devotees offer to the Lord when their wishes come true! A ritual which we see in several temples across India, in various other forms of offerings. The complete temple is completely surrounded and stuffed with bells. If they all make sound together then I bet many people from nearby villages also would go deaf! Yet they are all hanging there silently, without making any sound.

They just remind me of Buddhist monks or a Hindu saints who practice silence. These saints, though belong to the same kind - humans, who are making loud noise all over the world, they have realized that the inner peace is attained only in silence. These silent bells resemble those elegant people so much.

They are all celebrating silence at that place.

Please note that photography is prohibited at the place and I have made these images with prior permission from the staff there.

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Results of BBC Wildlife Photographer Of the Year are out. My dear friend Adithya Biloor has won the runner up award in the Nature in Black and White category for his wonderful image of an ant on the leaf. You can visit his site - Lens and Tales to view many of his wonderful images.

Another good friend of mine - Nilanjan, who had won the same title last year has another of his wonderful image winning a Highly Commended in the Behaviour-Birds category.

Feels great to see some Indian names in the winners list.

Heartily congratulations to Adithya and Nilanjan!


Cheers,
Ash