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Although I consider myself to be a techie, I never showed any interest in modern digital photography and never bothered to buy a camera. (DISCLOSURE: I know nothing about traditional film-based photography either.) In November 2009, I bought a Sony 10x zoom camera and I have had a good time with it. In this page, you can check the results. I have photos of Diwali fireworks, Indian birds, wild animals from the Bannerghatta National Park (both zoo and safari), our satellite moon, and Bangalore.
Although my camera has a special "Fireworks" mode, I fiddled with the "Manual" mode and long exposures, and got totally unexpected results. Without a tripod, the shots suffered from plenty of shake. With shots like this, I am not complaining.
Diwali fireworks - October 2009
Diwali fireworks - October 2009
All of these birds were shot in in my wife's home in Palakkad, Kerala.
A Rufous Treepie (Sc: Dendrocitta vagabunda; M: Olen nali, Kanakkan; Sa: Krushakut; T: Kanakkan kuruvi, Vaal kaakai;) This is a member of the crow family.
An Oriental Magpie Robin (Sc: Copsychus saularis; M: Mannattipeechi; Sa: Bharat dadhyak; T: Gundu-kavitchan, Vannati-kuruvi, Pattukari kuruvi;) This bird belongs to the thrush family.
Another Oriental Magpie Robin. This one was shot by my wife.
A Small Green Barbet or White-cheeked Barbet (Sc: Megalaima viridis). This is a mainly arboreal bird. It is rarely seen on the ground.
Buses leave once every 15 or 20 minutes to and from Brigade Road. The place is open to the public from 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. on all days except Tuesdays. I spent only three hours there. For best results, spend the whole day there. There is also a Jungle Lodges facility for overnight stay.
In February 2010, I went to Bannerghatta Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangalore. (Officially, I am oppossed to zoos. I haven't been on a holiday in several years. So, I forgave myself.) The Bannerghatta Zoo ("Biological Park") has limited facilities but they are not as cramped as the boxes in Vandalur Zoo, Madras. Outside the zoo, the authorities organize a "Grand Safari" in vans. Contrary to popular disinformation, you can take good shots of big game including tigers (even white ones), deer, sloth bears, and lions. Some of the wild animals have been rescued from roadside circuses. Outside of the zoo and the sanctuary, there is also a new butterfly park. In April, I went again to snap animals I had missed earlier.
One of the three panthers in the Bannerghatta zoo. On my first trip, they were very playful. On my second trip, they were in a unusual thoughtful mood.
Peeing in the pool is not a problem for hippopotamuses. Or, is it hippopotami?
Their enclosure is very huge. It was still sad to see the beautiful night herons closetted inside the cage.
This is a "Pied" Cockatiel. Regular cockatiels are grey. "Pied" ones have a recessive gene that causes their feathers to be mostly white or yellow with minimal grey.
Deer in the zoo seem very used to humans.
This imported zebra looked pretty lonely. It too comes near the fence, looking for handouts from visitors.
How often do you see eye to eye with a tiger? This one shot made the whole trip worth it.
Another majestic shot of a tiger. There are several of them in the tiger enclosure.
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This shot of a imported Siberian white tiger shows how close you can get to them. Tigers are really huge. Unless you see them for real, you will not be able to appreciate how big they are. Photos and videos lie.
An overzealous member of the Safari staff plucked the camera off my hands and took some shots of this lion. After grabbing the camera back, I had to settle for this shot through a glass door. Stay away from those jerks.
The Chittal, famous for giving comfort to forest-dwelling damsels in distress Sita and Shakuntala, are quite dwarfed by the Barasingha.
India is home to the most number of species of deer - including Sambar, Spotted Chittal, and Barasingha. Deer horn is made of solid bone, unlike other cud-chewing animals such as the goat. The Bannerghatta staff had put some fresh-cut green grass alongside the route so that we could spot the deer. Similarly, watering holes near the root bring animals such as bear within camera range.
The glass-covered Butterfly Park has better facilities but I wasn't lucky enough to find unusual specimen.
I wanted to take a macro shot of a caterpillar hanging in mid-air but a cranky kid and crankier wife (lunch time) wouldn't let that happen. This shot too suffered from poor angle and focus.
If you are used to only red shoeflowers, then white hibiscus will stun you.
Because of an optical illusion, the moon appears larger to the naked eye than on photos. And, it ain't pretty when you get very close.
The full moon lets you appreciate the mother-and-baby shadow. Also, note the lunar rays emnating from Tycho crater on the right side of the moon.
You see more relief on the lunar landscape in the middle of the lunar cycle - thanks to the long shadows caused by the Sun.
Our folks can't tell a Lamborghini from a Chevrolet that looks a New York taxicab. Mantri Mall at Malleswaram is really the biggest mall in India. Think big big big shops. Hey, don't miss Scare House!
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This article was first published in November 2009.
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© V. Subhash, 2010. All rights reserved.
Moral Volcano is the work of an Indian, thinker, astrologer, software programmer, GNU/Linux user, web designer, technical writer, lexicographer, hacker, gamer, pioneer IE Blocker, amateur photographer, and somewhat podcast transcriptionist. named V. Subhash (Me). I have written a fake American Policy for Dummies book. My e-book How To Invest In Stocks PDF eBook is free but not fake. So, I my PDF eBook version of Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary, which was created using the all-text original provided by the Guttenberg project and a free software HTMLDoc.
I do not have any time for social notworking sites such as Facebook. They cause a huge loss of productivity in offices where employees have access to Internet. I had a Johnny Bravo fan site but that was gone when Yahoo closed Geocities. Sites such as Facebook, Linked-In, MySpace, Orkut, and Twitter thrive only because spies and marketers feel there is a great need for easy access to demographic and personal information. "Free" pretends to be free for a reason. Otherwise, everything comes with a price tag.
Finally, this website blocks Internet Explorer - all versions, not just IE6. This is the first website on the Internet to do so. If you have a website, I welcome you to do so.
