hints, allegations and things left unsaid...: Hampi Visit- V. Doppio Movimento (in pictures)

hints, allegations and things left unsaid...

Hampi Visit- V. Doppio Movimento (in pictures)

There were small clouds there and the sun, after making a momentary appearance, hid behind them. After a long wait it emerged again only to be shrouded in clouds once more, though partially. So by the time it finally arose clear of the cloud cover in east, too bright to click or stare into, it felt like I had seen two sunrises instead of one.

A cloud moved in front of the sun, and the sunbeams escaping from behind it, gave it eerie appearance of an imaginary sun-devouring bird. As the sun descended even lower than the cloud, into another elongated patch of cloud, it felt as if this bird was laying a golden egg in its nest (or perhaps it found sun too hot to handle).

posted: 28.2.05

9 Comments

Nice pics... your previous post was just as graphic in description. The pics bear you out.

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Anonymous, at 28.2.05

The photographs back up your account beautifully - dunno which is better! :-)

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G Shrivastava, at 28.2.05

These are pretty terible pictures - inadequate exposure, chopped off trees, electric poles galore. The sad thing about non-photographer friends is that they will set you on a straight trajectory to mediocrity. Speaking as a professional photographer, let me help you here -
1. Become a member of photosig. Every day you can post a picture & get it graded by pros. A picture like these would get you minus points, but you will get feedback on how to make better pictures.
2. If you find photosig too harsh, try the competition sites - they are gentler, albeit less useful.

ofcourse if the intention is to simply take pictures that support your blog narrative ( like Kiruba ) then there are no issues.

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Anonymous, at 2.3.05

Thanks Avis!

Thanks Geets!

Thanks Anonymous for your candid feedback. Not sure if you follow my blog but these pictures are here merely to bolster my account otherwise I wouldn't be putting so much text around them in italics. Most of the pictures I took at Hampi were weak even by my humble dilettantish standing and I won't (can't) defend them. I still have lot to learn and compliments from friends, acquaintances don't come in way of that.

The view that my vantage point afforded for sunrise was a disappointment for me too. I had to make the odd choice between getting an ugly "Syntex" water tank with even uglier plumbing protrusions or getting the trees into the frame albeit cropped.

That said, I will still debate the last shots from a compostional standpoint. Though again, the composition was partly limited by the narrow bridge I stood on, the inclusion of the high tension cables and the power tower was to an extent intentional one. They were, despite being an eyesore, inseparable part of the landscape, the sunset at that moment in time and space. So why not include them? Just because they don't appeal to our conventional sense of aesthetics?

Lastly, I'll feel a lot comfortable heeding to your kind advice if you were to shed the cloak of anonymity. After all, I don't bite :-).

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Deepak, at 2.3.05

Nice narrative and pictures. I saw from your previous blogs that you love the piano. Here are a few links you might love:
1. http://www.gprime.net/video/blindfoldedmariopianist2.php
2. http://www.gprime.net/video.php/airplatformtheme
3. http://gprime.net/video.php/imaginebackwards
4. http://www.gprime.net/video.php/aladdin
5. http://www.jokaroo.com/extremevideos/thislovemaroon5.html

And sorry if the comment is out-of-context. I couldn't wait till u post something on pianos.
-siriusB

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Anonymous, at 3.3.05

Hello Deepak I am the original "anonymous", the one who left "candid feedback". The reason I am anonymous is because my online presence caused a lot of trauma in the past few years and I don't want to be scarred again.
However, I do enjoy reading your blog, so if you don't mind, I will comment from time to time, anonymously of course.
My first suggestion is to buy a circular polarizer & some sky filters. Without that, the reflections from coulds will kill most of your good work.
Secondly, nature is inherently beautiful, but man puts high tension power cables & spoils that beauty. To argue that power cables are inherent part of landscape is kinda silly - we put them there. So there's no harm in erasing them using photoshop.
Later.

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Anonymous, at 3.3.05

Thanks for the links SiriusB - I haven't had a chance to look at them but will definitely check them out sometime next week.

Hello Anonymous. You have your reasons for maintaining anonymity which I'll respect.

Firstly, I use a Minolta DiMage XT - one of those 3 MP pocket cameras that I picked a year ago. The entire lens assembly is mounted inside a 2cm thick aluminium case so I don't think I can attach a circular polarizer or sky filter to it :-). Perhaps I should buy a better camera to start with!

Seconldy I don't think it is "kinda silly" - it is just another viewpoint, different from yours. We are not dealing here with a mathematical theorem so there are no absolute rights or wrongs. There is a particular context to these photographs - that of a hydroelectric power plant - and power cables, high-tension power towers are all part of the "natural" landscape. I see the same true for nature photography in urban context. There are times when our urban artifacts cannot be excluded from a frame and I don't feel apologetic about them - they are, like nature - part of the habitat. Doesn't matter who made them (I could also argue that since man is nature's creation, all creation of man is nature's creation too but I won't go that far ;-)). The truth is that they are there and I don't see a need to tamper with it.

If I am creating a work of art out of a photograph I would consider taking generous assistance from photoshop. But since I am merely presenting a record of what I observe I leave them 'al naturale'.

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Deepak, at 5.3.05

Mr.Anonymous (the first one) - perhaps you should consider that people *don't* want to be professional. Perhaps Deepak is just doing it because he enjoys it. Unlike most 'professional' photographs, his photos have an amazing and endearing spontaneity to them. I would rather him continuing along the same lines rather than worrying about exposure times and flashes.

And if the photosig members are anything like you, I would rather that he steer clear of them.

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Sriram, at 5.3.05

Messrs Sriram & Deepak, I truly apologize. I seem to have touched some raw nerve. I was just trying to help out since this chap Deepak gets to travel to all these exotic locations, but always takes washed out pictures - perhaps if he underexposed one stop and used an ND filter, and certainly a circ polarizer would cut down on those reflections, so we'd end up with some truly stunning pictures...but again, his minolta dimage won't permit any such outfittings, so let me wait until he acquires a decent D70 or EOS and then butt in. Until then, please, take it easy! No need to get so uppity! You are taking pictures & putting them out for public display, obviously people who care about pictures will comment. Exposure times are worrisome only until you get the hang of it. Anyway this is all moot since dimage doesn't support any of this.
Keep shooting. Cheers!

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Anonymous, at 5.3.05