Still Picture

BEYOND SHOTZ

2006-02-08T02:30:00.000-08:00

We have launched an online monthly photography journal called BEYOND SHOTZ sometime back. Do have a look at it at here:
BEYOND SHOTZ . You can also download the previous issues by clicking on the links above!

Please spread the word around...if you are interested to contribute to the magazine, please write to :beyondshotz@gmail.com. Kindly give us your critical feedback...it helps in bringing out the best in us :). Thanks!

2005-10-11T00:56:00.000-07:00

Return to innocence...

Flickr has been an interesting find…since I don’t write much, it was only natural for me to get hooked….you can see my work here …
Do take time to check the works of some good photographers that I came across…India never looked so beautiful:

Claude
Sanzen
BabaSteve

Wish you all a Very Happy Dussera. Enjoy maadi ;)

2005-09-16T02:53:00.000-07:00

Hope...

Art is not just handicraft, its a transition of feeling - Tolstoy

2005-08-20T01:18:00.000-07:00

Where?

See through the wisdom of the endless past ,
far into the youths of heaven vast

A photograph on the occassion of World Photography Day - Aug 19th..I am late by a day, still greetings to you all. Shot this a few days back in Yellapura, near Sirsi..I had titled the photo "Affection"..now its changed...Uber, thanks a tonne for a fabulous title and a thought provoking caption..

I was tagged a couple of months back..was too lazy to make the list..finally here it is:

Total number of books I own: around 300...leaving out Tintin, Asterix and Amar Chitra Katha
The last book bought: Thoofan Mail by Jayanth Kaikini
The last book I read: Thuglaq by Girish Karnad
Books I am currently reading: Resurrection by Tolstoy, The Complete Edgar Allan Poe, Chanakya Neeti
Books I want to read: The world is flat by Thomas L. Friedman, Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian,Making History by Saki
Books that mean a lot to me: None so far
Books that mean something to me: A Homage to Karnataka, Marg publications
and tagging along: Vivek,Kishori,Jess,Mermaid,Neels,Vazu..take your own sweet time to enlist ;)

'Still picture' turned one a week back...thanks all fellow bloggers for keeping it alive :)

Cheers,
Sudu

2005-08-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

Pride

Wrath

Majesty

or is it Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram?..the Shivanasamudram falls...

This is BIAS speaking

2005-07-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

The time has come to ask, "Whose city is it, anyway?"

Leaving out some of the usual clichés, we could still yearn for a city that used to be, where there was time for libraries and literary debates, science fairs, Sunday beers, bicycles, Karaga, Christmas carols, Kadalekai parise, jazz evenings, dolls' exhibitions and the grace of it all. In a city of seven million, there should still be that "Island of One Million" that knows what Bangalore was, but more crucially to the point, what it ought to be. We believe this community of one million cares for a lifestyle of grace and charm beyond the transactional logic that threatens to become the sole basis of our civic society.

This is the community that is conscious of a heritage that makes Bangalore the liberal urban space that it deserves to be, because of its unique history of the Yelanka prabhus, Vijayanagar feudatories, Shahji Bhonsle and his son, the boy Shivaji, the Wodeyars, Haider and Tipu and the British. It is conscious of founders of the great legacy of Science and Technology. It understands there is only one way into the future Bangalore can enjoy its legacy of the city cosmopolitan - by being cosmopolitan.

The Bangalore community could well feel that it is now under seige. The city's sensibilities have been invaded by unfamiliar, sometimes unwelcome strains of attitude and affections. There are new people that now claim to represent Bangalore, but the Bangalore community is justified in feeling unrepresented. The direction and magnitude of the city's growth are not representative of the community's will or aspirations. Yesterday's boomtown could be in danger of exploding beyond retrieval or repair. Urbanisation and its attendant problems have caught the town planners wholly unprepared. There is chaos in the streets, panic at homes and distress in the community.

One question uniformly asked is: Is it time we gave up on Bangalore? On this count, opinions may differ. But there will be the Bangalore community that will continue to believe that Bangalore is a city whose future could be magnificent, a natural outcome of its history and an exemplar of the future cities of the world.

Bangalore Bias looks to speak for and with this community.

No, I didn’t write all this...I have already told you that I cant write for nuts. This is a straight lift from the subscription form of Bangalore BIAS, a weekly news magazine, scheduled to launch this August. The paper has an impressive list of representatives (half of the them, I have no clue about): Vedam Jaishankar, Prakash Belawadi, Arundhati Nag, Belliappa, Brijesh Patel, Nandini Alva, Rajeev Gowda, Ramachandra Guha, Tushita Patel, Ajit Saldana, Aporup Acharya, Asha Thandani, Ashish Sen, Bhaktavatsala, Harish Bijoor, Jagadeesh M R, Janardhan Roye, Narasimhan V, Paul Fernandes, Peter Coalco, Rohini Nilekani, Suresh Menon etc.

So, I have taken all the above at face value and have paid an annual subscription fees of (just) Rs.500. If you think there is any stuff in whatever the entry form says (nicely copied by yours truly) you can send cheque(dont know about outstation cheques)/cash to:

Bias Communications Private Limited
5th Floor, Sona Towers, 71 Millers Road, Bangalore - 560 052
Tel: 080 5123 1207 / 080 2235 6262

Tied up with work..so no updates...had to dig up a picture from the archieves, this is one of my favs.

2005-06-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

Spooky!

Scary? Good. Here goes:
I was reading Reader's digest book INTO THE UNKNOWN and came across a section about ghosts. I saw many photographs similar to the one above and the photographers claimed that they hadnt quite seen any shadowy figures when they clicked. So wanted to try out something by myself and here's the result..I feel its good. This was developed on Fuji Slides Sensia 100, programmed exposure and no digital manipulation, no shadow play...I used a simple camera trick - Multiple exposure. When I procured my camera in Dec 04, I was going through the features of it and came across Multiple exposure...without understanding the concept I shot a few pictures and ended up with transparent objects..so when I read this article, I immediately knew how to achieve it. I made my friend Mahesh sleep for a few minutes without itching a muscle..took his photograph, wrapped myself in my mom's saree and sat beside him and exposed the same film again. So here I am, the new age Phantom, the ghost who blogs ;-)

2005-06-24T23:39:00.000-07:00

Tales from the African Jungle...

I thought I had captured one of the most dramatic sunsets...

when this happened...

and I was lucky to spot a lioness on the prowl...

and finally a rhino gave me what I was looking for.

Please do go through the DAY SHOT before you comment.

2005-06-21T23:40:00.000-07:00

Dawn, Mulliangiri...

Serenity...

Perched...

Damp...

Alone...

Shelved...

2005-06-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

Its fun to capture the play of light....

Day and natural...

Night and man made...

2005-06-11T02:18:00.000-07:00

Light & shadow and on Outlook's book on treks in India....

The book on trekking in India is out in the stands...on the brighter side, two guys whose work I always admired are featured...Vivek has written an article about Kanoor fort and needless to say, he has gone about it in a very professional way as always.Thanks Vivek for providing such a detailed route for the fort..and you can also find a photograph of Kishori in the same article...you can find lots of stuff about that place in Kishori's and Vivek's blog..and that's how I came to know about the world of blogging. Congratz guys. On a darker note, three of the most famous trails of Karnataka, Kumaraparvata, Kuduremukh, Narasimha parvata are not featured. Maybe the editor wanted to cover all grades of difficulty from toughest to the easiest and so might have omitted these three..anyways all you trekking enthusiasts, time to grab your copy :)

I have started experimenting with indoor lighting and this is the first from the series...thats my brother and he's actually posing for me :)

2005-06-06T23:35:00.000-07:00

A postcard from Madrid....

A splash of light... the city looks brilliant at night

I am not satisfied with this...I wish I had underexposed this further

2005-05-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

Hiding...

2005-05-24T01:40:00.000-07:00

A walk along MAIN...

'Main'hattan?

Another view of the bridge...

Settings: Kodak 100 slides
f/32, 30 s

2005-05-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

Yet another interesting face...

No..its not because of flash..this is one in a zillion case..this young beauty has a normal eye sight....one of her eyes is green(with a small patch) and the other is brown.

Have a look at her in color.

2005-05-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

Who are you?

Many people have asked if the old man was posing for me...the answer is no....if you look closely, you'll notice that he's not smiling but is infact frowning...the toothless face has nicely concealed his expression.
This was in Lalbagh..the camera shy Baba shooed me away when I approached him with a request for a photograph...I wanted a portrait very badly.. so kept behind him at a distance, looking for a chance. Finally he sat down in front of the Glass house fountain with his back to me...I metered.. f/5.6, 1/500..tip toed behind him and called " Baba..."...he turned, shielded his face from the sun and thankfully I heard the shutter close...said "shukriya" and walked away.

I changed the title from "Where are you" to "Who are you" after I read Harpreet's comment :.)

2005-05-12T01:19:00.000-07:00

Mischievous....

2005-05-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Mahaballipuram...

Woke up at 4:30 AM to catch the sunrise...it was worth losing a few hours of sleep. I wasnt carrying a tripod...this was the best I could manage with a chair :-)

The settings:
First snap: 200, f/16, 1/8s
Second snap: 200, f/16, 1s
EV: I havent made a note..but I think both were 1/2 a stop underexposed.

Out of action!

2005-03-23T04:52:00.000-08:00

I wont be around for 3-4 weeks....till then, all of you take good care of yourselves.

Sudu

05-05-05

I am back after a looooong break...lots of catching up to do. Since Kishori mentioned about the dogs, I thought I will share this ...I had earlier posted the link on Satz blog. The cheese bag resting in the first snap is ahem..myself and shot by my friend Pradeep. Both the snaps are from Tadyendamol.

2005-03-18T22:53:00.000-08:00

Rural life....I envy those happy folks....

2005-03-03T21:40:00.000-08:00

Yakshagana, some facts you might not know

There are no rehearsals, no written script and the play goes on anywhere between 2 – 8 hrs without preparation…what makes it interesting is the way the actors try to pull down each other by use of spontaneous self made verses. You can know more here.
This is Mr. Ramachandra Bhat as Indra in the play Mahishsura Mardini staged at Kadi mela, troupe A.S.B.M.G. Yakshagana Kala Mandali, Udupi and the picture is composed by Sudarshan : P

2005-02-26T02:53:00.000-08:00

Tadyendamol: a heady mix of Sun, Mist, Sweat and Silence

2005-02-19T00:19:00.000-08:00

Adversity, thy name is Unity!!!?!?!

2005-02-14T00:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's!

2005-02-05T01:43:00.000-08:00

Flower show @ Lalbagh

2005-01-28T22:20:00.000-08:00

Emptiness....

Emptiness...room for so much stillness...so much peace...I am there! - Poeticmermaid

2005-01-21T01:20:00.000-08:00

Atop Omkar Hills....

The ever beautiful sunset as seen from Omkar hills...I cant think of a better place to watch the sun go down within Bangalore. Omkar hills is just 4 km off Mysore road.
I think I have posted enough landscape/nature pics...will start doing something different from my next post to change the mood of my blog...

2005-01-18T01:43:00.000-08:00

Enlightenment.....

"Fiery glow in the sky ... as the trees attempt to swallow the shrine whole and the silent one lost in a deep trance ... only to be unified and become one with this enlightened soul that beats in every heart and powers all existence ..."-Dr. Kishoremurthy

2005-01-10T23:09:00.000-08:00

Cold....

2005-01-10T23:06:00.000-08:00

A model posing for my new camera...

2005-01-10T23:01:00.000-08:00

This Winter....

2004-12-30T22:32:00.000-08:00

Thank you all!!...

Personally, 2004 was a potpourri of mixed fortunes...a tragedy in the family, ending my partnership ventures, a new found love in photography, stopped smoking ;) and of course got to know many many wonderful bloggers. Friends, I have been very lucky to have you people around me during those difficult times...I am indebted for your kind support... and blogging has been a great springboard to bring me back into life. Thank you fellow bloggers for showing me the way. Hope this New Year brings Happiness, Prosperity and Good Health to all of you...have a Wonderful New Year 2005!

2004-12-28T01:56:00.000-08:00

Praying for those who lost their near and dear ones and for those rendered homeless by the killer Tsunami..(pic courtesy:SIFY) unconfirmed reports put the death toll over 1,00,000 and the numbers affected or displaced above six million. Is this the worst disaster our generation has seen? Lets hope so. In India, its saddening to see the media becoming more and more irresponsible....on the second day of the disaster Barkha Dutta reported that over 50 bodies were unattended in a remote village and NDTV claimed proudly that they discovered over 50 bodies strewn all over and that the district collectors werent even aware of it. Wasnt it their responsibility to inform the respective authorities? Do they have to wait for a nice coverage and claim all credit and finally blame the administrators? Is this what they call responsible media? It's very easy to blame the authorities but people should wake up to the ground realities. The number of people injured or affected were 50 times more than the number of dead. What do you want the relief agents to do? Remove the dead bodies or pay attention to the ones still alive and suffering? In Andaman and Nicobar, one every three is dead and the other two are affected. In such situations what will happen to the unattended dead bodies? Should you show that on TV and claim that the relief operations are hampered because of the red tape? Finding mistakes is the most easiest, stupidest and the meanest thing in this world...but not now, please!

2004-12-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

Selfhelp...thats me, pretending to be brooding...just for my timer set cam

2004-12-10T23:49:00.001-08:00

Almonds of the poor...

2004-12-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

An ocean of people...

2004-12-10T23:47:00.000-08:00

Advertising...

2004-12-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

Colours of life....

Scenes from Kadle kai parishe (Groundnut fair) held on the last monday of Karthika month at Basavanagudi, Bangalore

2004-12-08T04:03:00.000-08:00

a wandering saint...

2004-12-01T00:11:00.000-08:00

Blue, blue and more blue

2004-11-24T23:35:00.000-08:00

Shadow....

2004-11-24T23:34:00.000-08:00

Return...

2004-11-19T03:30:00.000-08:00

AMSVP

2004-11-19T03:28:00.000-08:00

A frame for Jaggie's portrait

2004-11-16T03:08:00.000-08:00

Wasted...

Over 2% of everyday's catch is wasted..a price for our quality consciousness...

2004-11-15T01:04:00.000-08:00

Festival time...

"Happy Diw ALI and Happy RAM zan" (courtesy a poster displayed during Indo - Pak match)may this festival of light erase the darkness in your lives and the may the festival of ID brighten your souls

2004-11-09T23:03:00.000-08:00

Wish you all a very happy, joyous and a safe diwali!

2004-11-06T00:28:00.000-08:00

Morning...from Kuramgad

2004-10-30T05:04:00.000-07:00

Light...

2004-10-30T05:03:00.000-07:00

Sachi, Jags and Vishu discussing "life" over coffee

2004-10-30T05:01:00.000-07:00

solitude...

2004-10-28T05:33:00.000-07:00

.....

2004-10-28T05:21:00.000-07:00

Calangute

2004-10-28T05:19:00.000-07:00

Aditya......

2004-10-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

The road to survival is a long, harsh one...we supposedly lost close to 200 tigers in the last two years due to poaching................

2004-10-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

Posh and Manu...exchanging notes

2004-10-21T00:22:00.000-07:00

Evening...by the beach side..

2004-10-11T04:32:00.000-07:00

.......

2004-10-04T02:36:00.000-07:00

An evening to remember....we were very lucky to be present near this site on a full moon night

"Nothing is worth more than this day"

2004-10-01T03:52:00.000-07:00

Whizzing by.....

2004-09-29T23:52:00.000-07:00

Church ruins...Shettyhalli

2004-09-29T23:50:00.000-07:00

...Bisle ghats

2004-09-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

View point...Bisle

"What is lovely never dies, but passes on to other loveliness"

2004-09-29T05:20:00.000-07:00

Divine tunnel....as seen from Bisle

"Be still sad heart and cease repenting,
Behind every dark cloud is the sun still shining"

2004-09-28T02:51:00.000-07:00

Lakkavalli...

"Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep"

2004-09-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

Someshwara temple...

There are supposedly more than 200 temples which are over 700 years in Bangalore and Kolar districts alone. I happened to visit one such temple at Mulbagal,the Someshwara temple. This is supposedly over 700 years old and but its in a pathetic state. Forget being protected under Indian monuments act, this is not even protected under The Karnataka Monuments act. Like all such monuments, it has become a haven for rowdy elements and you can see splintered glass, cards strewn all around the place.

2004-09-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

Meghadoot...

The gale that blows eternally their guide,
High over the mountains the clouds divide
In parted masses, like the issuing smokeof incense
by the lattice-meshes broke:
Scattered they float, as if dispersed by fear,
Or conscious guilt spoke retribution near;
Their just award for showers that lately soiled
Some painted floor, or gilded roof despoiled

-- a piece from Kalidasa's Meghadoot

2004-09-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

Om.. Asatoma Sadgamaya
Tamasoma Jyoti Gamaya
Mrityoma Amritam Gamaya

From delusion lead me to Truth
From darkness lead me to Light
From death lead me to eternal life.

--Sanskrit prayer

2004-09-15T03:55:00.000-07:00

.......

Courage under fire

2004-09-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

One country one god
one caste, one mind
Brothers all of us
without difference
without doubt

this slogan coined by Veer Savarkar on Indian festivals became a unifying factor for all Indian students during the struggle for independence. The man who brought out authentic information regarding what the British termed as the Sipoy mutiny, which is now famous as the First war of Indian Independence, the man who made this book reach thousands of people world wide, the man who spent sixteen years in the cellular jail at Andaman for provocative speeches and sedition, is now being branded as a coward by a silly politician to please his leader!

Are we forced to brand our freedom fighters based on which political party that is backing them. Is this why they gave up their lives, spent horrendous time in jails fighting for our future ? Is this the way we have to pay tribute to all their sacrifices?
Ok, you might have a choice of Congress, BJP, Janta party etc., but do we have to necessarily accept the party’s stance and force ourselves to brand our heroes based on the stance taken by these parties for their own political gains? All these political parties have an agenda and they stoop to any means to appease the clan that is backing them..but why adopt the stance that these partymen take? As Indians, it is our duty to independently oppose any person who bring disregard to our freedom fighters.
Don’t get me wrong and brand me a saffronist. As a responsible citizen of India I condemn those who bring disrespect to the people who sacrificed their lives in attaining freedom to the nation. Be it the despicable remarks of Mani Shanker Iyer on Savarkar, be it the silence of Sonia Gandhi when her irresponsible minister creates tantrum, or the stance of the BJP which doesn’t consider Gandhi as the father of the nation or whenever it tries to glorify Nathoram Godse.
Get this straight, you wont be branded as a saffronist if you protest the Congress’ stand on Savarker or as a congressite if you protest the BJP trying to gain political mileage out of this, but I strongly advocate that it the duty of every Indian to protest independently whenever our heroes are brought under fire.

signing off with

“down down Mani Shanker Aiyer
down down Sonia Gandhi”

photo and slogan courtesy: www.kamat.com/kalranga/itihas/vds.htm

2004-09-11T00:53:00.000-07:00

"Twaai"....poor Hande was not used to hostelites' pranks..
KK and myself executed it to perfection as Vinayak and Guru look on

2004-09-10T00:21:00.000-07:00

Majestic under pass...right hand drive...was this the earliest signs of Americanization?

Bandh....

2004-09-09T01:05:00.000-07:00

the inert street, the sleeping cart
been a dormant day, see a movement at last
the senses, anxious, glued to the aged window..
just a flutter of the poster and
the street's dark shadow....
is this the ego of the crown
or that of the men in saffron?
for the pupils' wasted season
a day killed for no reason

2004-09-08T04:29:00.000-07:00

Monster at Pondy

"The best way out of difficulty is through it"

2004-09-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Pondy...Johnny taking Shinde's snap

2004-09-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

Kuduremukh...dawn

2004-09-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

Kuduremukh peak...

"If you wish to reach the highest, start from the lowest"

2004-09-04T02:05:00.000-07:00

My passion....

Kuduremukh...on the way back...this is closest to my heart from this trek's collection...waited and captured Vinayak, Guru and Hande..felt as though they were moving inside a painting...KK is missing though....

"The poetry of the earth is never dead"

...silence

2004-08-28T02:24:00.000-07:00

...along Cauvery

Languid, by the stream
no shadows, a transient gleam,
the heavens, blue
were one, still, azure..
no sound or motion in anything
the mute rocks nor the latent bridge
but the river that flowed and roared
a witness, to an unending pleasure

2004-08-26T02:58:00.000-07:00

Vagator @ Goa...October 1998. Kiran, myself and posh...dream tour...Kiran claims F.Akthar was inspired by our trip and went on to make DCH...dont ask me who amongst us was inspirational to Saif's undoing ...not me of course!

2004-08-24T02:34:00.000-07:00

Siddha parvata...shot on a trek to Kumara Parvat...Christmas 1993

2004-08-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

water hole....cajoled the guard and took a walk inside Nagarhole

2004-08-20T03:50:00.000-07:00

Kodachadri.....

2004-08-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

Toppers...engrossed in top sight

2004-08-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

Monkeying during Kunoor trek - KK, Myself and Guru

"Is it only an uncivilized world that worship civilization?"

2004-08-19T01:21:00.000-07:00

Ajay at Honnemaradu hardly visible guess that's why we call him kalla

"Judge not by appearance"

2004-08-16T01:57:00.000-07:00

Maggie caught me contemplating to sit on the rock's edge..it would have made a wonderful snap but I finally decided against it

"A foot on the ground is better than two in air...when not flying"

Sea of Tranquility

2004-08-14T01:19:00.000-07:00

Manchanbele...it was awesome to sit and watch the clouds casting shadows,playing hide and seek with the sun ...

2004-08-14T01:18:00.000-07:00

Ideal spot for weekend getaways. Must camp here one of these days

Starting....

2004-08-14T01:04:00.000-07:00

To be honest I am very bad in writing...so I have decided to make my photographs to do the talking for me...