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| Friday, 28-Jan-2005 00:00 |
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Dalian in B&W
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The last of the buildings from the ZhongShan Square but, not the last of Dalian, yet! Here, in some of the photos, I've tried to show the modern style with the more classical style of building and, in some, you can actually see the tall modern, functional buildings looming over the more classical buildings.
Did I mention that the pictures were taken in the afternoon. The day was actually rather sunny but, the light was soft and hazy. Quite unlike the sun we have in India. A few entries from now, I will put up some old shots from India, so that you will really get to see the contrast between soft daylight versus strong daylight. The effect is quite dramatic when doing black and white photography.
The girls really are tall and good looking. The next time I go to Dalian, I will focus on them!! 
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| Tuesday, 25-Jan-2005 00:00 |
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Dalian in Colour -1
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Dalian is a pretty young city. It's a pretty city, pretty clean and, it's one of the few cities where the Chinese are not generally adverse to the Japanese.
It also has some very, very good looking girls!! Tall and, good looking  .
I was there in July last year and, got a couple of hours off, to wander around a part of the city. The one that I found most interesting was this one -Zhongshan Square. It's actually a big roundabout and, the buildings on the perimeter of the circle are neo-classical, neo-old European, in a sense. In the middle of all of this, you have the newer stuff, which can be a bit strange. Look at that huge screen on top of that building. And, you also see lot's of new, bright and shiny cars as well.
But, that's the life! The classical gives way to the modern, which in turn will be deemed to be classical by future generations.
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| Wednesday, 19-Jan-2005 00:00 |
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Me and My Shadow in # 500
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Me And My Shadow.
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This is my 60th entry and, picture # 500. So, I figured, what the hell. Why not put up something of me? Something cool, something mysterious. And, if you remember that old story of the man and his shadow, the one where the shadow acquired a life of it's own. Where the man ultimately became the shadow of the shadow. This one is'nt too bad!! 
The picture is cool, because I took this shadow at the Forbidden Palace two weeks ago. The temperature at that time was much below zero!!
Talking of shadows, there is another story that I read in my younger days, when I was very much into the occult arts. This story is, allegedly about Lao Tzu who had a dream one night, that he was a butterfly. When he awoke, he asked himself the question - Am I Lao Tzu dreaming I am a butterfly or, am I a butterfly dreaming I am Lao Tzu?
Am I me or, am I the shadow of me?
Life is sad  . I was to go to Harbin next week - again - to see the ice festival. But, we have a new project starting up and, I need to be in Shanghai. Ah well!!
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| Thursday, 13-Jan-2005 00:00 |
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Faces Through The Ages - 4. Hong Kong
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I start with a quotation, this time:
["A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other."
"In any of the burial-places of this city through which I pass, is there a sleeper more inscrutable than its busy inhabitants are, in their innermost personality, to me, or than I am to them?".
from "A Tale of two Cities". Charles Dickens]
The dominant theme of this entry, is that we are now, as in the 1800's or even earlier, essentially alone. Despite the increase in modern gadgets of communication and entertainment, as we bustle along in or day to day lives, we are always alone with our thoughts or, buried deep in them. We are normally not aware of the people around us and, we avoid eye contact, for fear of violating each other's personal space. In animalistic terms, we say that a dog pees to mark it's territory or, that other animals do other things to mark their territory. As our population explodes and, our territory or, private space, shrinks, we go deeper into ourselves.
Am I right? Or, am I indulging in psycho babble? Does'nt matter. Anyway, this is one of the reasons I like street photography. As I grow older and older, I find the human face and, human interaction more and more fascinating.
A note on the photographs. This was also a bit of a lesson for me. Even though it was a bright day, I was photographing in shadow, as the tall sky scrapers had cut off the light and, I chose the wrong film for the black and white stuff. I chose a 100 ASA film, resulting in slow shutter speed, resulting in a bit of blur. I should have used the 400 ASA film that was in my bag.
The one colour shot, was taken from my D70, which is a "faster" camera than the F 75, due to the wider lens, which takes in more light.
Anyway, blur or no blur, here are the pics, warts and all!!
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| Thursday, 6-Jan-2005 00:00 |
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The Last of Kota Kinabalu - From the Air
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Okay, this is the last set from Kota Kinabalu. I was lucky to get these shots. I was invited up for a helicopter ride. 15 minutes, I think. Boy, was I close to heaven. Literally and, figuratively. I was, kind of, half hanging out of the helicopter to get these shots.
The heaven. Being up there in space gives you an idea of the immensity of space and, the sea. It puts you in your place. For all the great stuff we humans do, and for all the crap that we do to nature, it is. Nature is. Simply, it is. We are a part of it and, we do not control it. We merely have the illusion that we do.
The beauty of the ocean was breathtaking. I was stunned. And, the beauty and, calmness of the earth and, the oceans hides a force that, if turned against us, can overwhelm us. The earthquake and tsunami are reminders of this.
Remember that song 'The Ocean' by Led Zeppelin? Or, the book ' The Old Man and the Sea'.?I think that books like 'The Old Man and the Sea' and, 'Moby Dick' capture the essence of the ocean.
Personally, I think that this is true religion. Not the crap that we sometimes make of it. Hemingway caught it in his book. So did Melville. So did the ancients.
And, here's a humbling thought for me. The tsunami did not hit Sabah. But, it could have. And, on the 16th December, when I was there.
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| Friday, 31-Dec-2004 00:00 |
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Happy New Year to Ye All - from Shanghai.
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I still have one entry pending from Kota Kinabalu. I'll put it up early next week. But, for now, it's Shanghai.
Yesterday, we had what, I was told, was the heaviest snowfall in Shanghai for the last 10 years. In winter, it rains in Shanghai. All the time. And, the clouds come into your life all the time.  It normally makes you want to get into bed and, warm your toes. 
This morning, I was out of the house at 6:30 am to take these pics. It was cold- below zero, wet and windy. Fun times. 
Happy New Year to all of you and, I shall surf all your pages over the weekend. That is a resolution to be proud of!! 
Oh yes, here's a nasty little quiz. Three of the photo titles pertain to famous groups/singers of old. The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull. Guess which ones!!!  
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| Monday, 27-Dec-2004 00:00 |
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The Hill on the Island
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Two entries ago ( I need to figure out how to create a link to a previous entry!), I put up pictures of the boat ride to one of the islands near Kota Kinabalu and, the beach on the island.
These islands have small hills and, are densely wooded. I am not sure if they are classified as rain forest but, if not, they must be a pretty close relative. While my Chinese colleagues frolicked in the water and, on the beach, I climbed up the hill.
I climbed up by one of the many water channels and then, cut across the hill face. Focussing on the trees was extremely difficult, because they are all so densely packed together and, they don't let in much light, as you will see from the first two pictures. Also, walking across the hill face is not easy, as you have lots of twigs, branches and general undergrowth cutting across your path. But, it was a great climb up. I did not see any animal life, except for one ferret like creature that scampered off at great speed.
The cobwebs were cool. Tough to photograph, because they kep moving in the gentle breeze; the background made them tough to focus on as well.
Oh yes, the lighting in these pics is natural light. The light filtering through the trees.
All in all, a better experience than playing cards on the beach. At least, I have put up different photos compared to the stuff that all of you have seen from me!!
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| Friday, 24-Dec-2004 00:00 |
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Lonely Santa wishes all of you a Merry Christmas
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Lonely Santa
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This is a street shot that I took in Hong Kong about a week ago. You'll see a lonely model of Santa Claus on top of a shop awning!!
Merry Christmas  to all of you.
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| Thursday, 23-Dec-2004 00:00 |
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Kota Kinabalu - II. To the Island and on the Beach.
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As I sit here, and look out of my window, I see dark storm clouds. It's dark, it's wet, it's windy and, chilly. The temperature is okay - about 7 degrees centigrade but, the winter in Shanghai is chilly, because of the damp and the strong, wet wind.
So, I got to musing about my recent past and, the few, very few days, that I spent in Kota Kinabalu. This is the second instalment of a total set of 4, from Kota Kinabalu.
We went to one of the several islands that they have there. The first four photographs were taken from the boat, while we were on the way to one of the islands. The next 5 or 6 are photographs taken are photos of the beach. Well, all ye who are freezing your little tootsies, I hope that this set helps to warm you up a little bit. Summer is just another 6 months away!! 
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| Monday, 20-Dec-2004 00:00 |
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From the Freezer to the Heater - Kota Kinabalu
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After my last entries, at minus 10 degrees Celsius, these next entries have an average temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. And, now, I am not your normal Indian!! For me, it was bloody hot! I thought that I would melt. On the bright side, I know that I will lose weight. All the fat that I have, will melt away, and I will become slim, trim and handsome  .
So, what was I doing in Kota Kinabalu? I was with my team on an incentive trip to Kota Kinabalu and Hong Kong. That life can be so kind sometimes, is wonderful.
I was in KK in March this year and, this time I got to see a little bit of the place. Not enough, mind you. My team was not in the mood to go up the mountain, sadly. I believe that it is incredible.
These pictures were taken, from the balcony of my hotel room. Amazing, beautiful view. The happy life. Really, the happy life. 
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mention? That was just a question. Splendid, and you do know how to talk about your photos. 
