tea gardens of munnar

nikon d300, 17mm, f8, 1/320sec, iso200

if there is one thing i can best describe with our stay in india, it would be “simply breathtaking.”  we visited the hills and mountains of munnar, the forest wildlife of thekkady, and the serene backwaters of kumarakom during the monsoon season. eventhough it was raining all day, we still enjoyed the cool climate of kerala.

lush green tea plantations are one of the common sights you’ll see when you visit munnar. these vast and picturesque landscape is unique in every bend of the road. aside from the plantations, munnar is enriched with wild and domestic animals where horses and cattle runs free, panoramic views of forests and lakes.

 

 

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24th July 2011 Sunday at 10:44 am
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ready for battle

nikon d300, 18mm, f5.3 1/15sec, iso400

finally, we’re ready for the much awaited adventure. it has been months and months of planning, research and challenges that we faced. and one of the challenges i mentioned is the packing stuff. we have to lay everything out from number of bags used, camera equipment (the most important! hehe), basic survival kit (knives, flint, meds), food, clothing, important documents and gifts.

like in my previous trips, i will try to post and announce the place where we landed. we’re hoping for less rain, photo fairies, friendly wildlife and smooth ride.

Pinne kanam!

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15th July 2011 Friday at 8:16 pm
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something fishy

nikon d300, 10mm, f8, 1/125sec, iso400

this was taken while touring the large aquarium at the atlantis hotel. it was nice to visit the place for fish lovers and photographers to capture some of the marine animals without getting wet or use of expensive underwater equipment. however, it takes patience to get an interesting and steady fish.

the advantage of using raw images is to correct what is necessary such as this one. the original photograph have a blue cast all-around. with the help of lightroom, i managed to correct the white balance of the image to make it more natural looking similar to what you see to the naked eye.

any idea of what type of fish is this? it looks good to eat. :D

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6th July 2011 Wednesday at 8:58 am
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relaxation @ shuiqi spa

nikon d300, 10mm, f4.5, 1/2sec, iso1000

it has been three years since i got a proper massage. i was fortunate to experience this gift to get an hour of treatment at the shuiqi spa and fitness at atlantis. shuiqi means water (shui) and the energy flow of activity (qi), which both are beautifully embodied in the spa’s concepts, colours and sounds.

i just made a few snapshots after my therapy. due to lowlight, i just relied on high iso, breathing techniques or relying on steady objects by leaning to them to get a few lucky snaps.

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3rd July 2011 Sunday at 3:13 pm
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autumn in the desert

nikon d70s, 10mm, f8, 1/250sec, iso200

lately, i’ve been practicing infrared outdoors where the sun was its peak. they say that in traditional photography, high noon doesn’t give the most creative light for landscape photographers but its a different story for ir. i decided to endure the 40-degree summer heat of the sandlands just for the sake of getting the right shot.

i got my chance to visit the atlantis hotel once more. based on my research, foliage such as grass and leaves reflects the most ir that gives maximum effect when composing shots. passing by the lobby was a breeze since i don’t carry suspicious equipment such as tripods; thinking that i’m just a guest taking snapshots of the scene.

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27th June 2011 Monday at 2:50 pm
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