Table Mountain

When I arrived at Cape Town, all I wanted to do was to go shoot the much talked about Table Mountain. I wanted to shoot it from a distance, with the sea in the foreground and the sun setting in the background. I havent got a chance to do that yet. But I did manage to go up Table mountain and shoot the city from top. I went there yesterday at about 12 noon. Came back a bit disappointed. Obviously I knew the light wasn't right. So I made a note to come back one evening during 5 and 6 to catch the light of the setting sun. 

At 5 pm I decided to leave the hotel to find a vantage point to shoot Table Mountain from a distance. I did a quick google and found that Blouberg strand would be a good place to start. I sat in the Audi, fed in Blouberg and zoomed away. Forty minuted later I was completely lost. Blouberg didnt look anything like the place I saw on the net. The sun was setting fast and I knew just had 50 minutes to get a few good shots in. Not wasting any time, I put the car on Sports mode and sprinted towards table mountain. Climbed up finally at 6.15 and managed to get a couple of decent shots. It was way too windy though. I even had trouble getting my tripod to stay still.

Camps Bay

Here's what I did. I rented an Audi. Rented a GPS unit, fed Camps Bay in it and took off. Its one hell of a drive. When driving past, you see mountains on your left and the sea on your right. One thing you got to make sure is that you get here during sunset. 

Now Camps Bay has these certain vantage points which offer you the best view from the top and you can see these when you drive. But forget about stopping and getting your camera out. There is absolutely no place to pull over. If you want to really enjoy it, make sure you take a 10 km walk downhill. It will be tiring but its definitely worth it. Make sure you're armed with a jacket and that you weigh well over 80 kgs. You dont want to get blown away from the strong wind.

I managed to pull over at a few places but wasnt really satisfied with my shots. Got back home and realised I was shooting at ISO 800. That was a bummer. Obviously I noticed a lot of grain in my pictures. Aaaahhh oh well. Here they are.   

What's the big deal?

I've spent 26 years of my life getting familiar with Bangalore. I studied at a college which was on Brigade Road for 2 years. I spent a hell lot of time walking up and down that high street. I've seen shops come and go. I was also around when the first CCD, then known as Cyber Cafe became a hangout for coffee connoisseurs. 

Yet, I have never seen Pecos or Fanoos. Didn't really understand what the big deal was. Given a choice I'd rather spend a hot sunny day, in campus playing a casual game of cricket with like minded teetotallers and vegetarians.  

They're both holes in the wall. And yet, when i tell a true patron that I havent been to either of these landmarks, I manage to elicit the following response everytime. "WHAT??? YOU HAVENT BEEN TO PECOS/FANOOS? HUMM...." 

Mysore as my base for the weekend - Day 2

On day two, we got in the car and visited the Gumbaz and Sangam which is about 15 kms from Mysore. Again, it was the wrong time of the day for pictures. 

I seemed to have planned my visits without thinking at all. 5 pm would've been apt. The sun wouldnt be too harsh, and we could really get some good golden hour pictures. To be frank,I  didnt really have the patience to ensure an early evening visit. Besides, driving at night is a pain. Anyway, managed to get some "for the sake of shooting" pictures at these two locations. 

Wevu being patiently cute while I walked off with my camera.
The Gumbaz sunbathing in the hot blazing sun.


Wevu on the banks of the river, sitting pretty.
Performing last rites.
Mixed emotions. Members of a family performing the last rites of a loved one while members of another family enjoying a ride on the coracle.









Chaddi pals.

Mysore as my base for the weekend - Day 1

Road trips are fun. They're fun cos you're on your own. They're fun coz you have the option of keeping a chiller stuffed with cold beers at the back. They're fun coz you dont have a definite agenda. And they're fun coz you dont have to put up with public transport in India. 

We sat in a car and drove to Mysore, stopping at Ranganthittu, a bird santuary to try our hands at shooting birds. Reached there and realised, we dont have a tele lens. We knew we wouldn't get good shots with an 18-135 at 3.5 - 5.6, but decided to rent out a private boat anyway. The timing was wrong. 11 am in the morning? What was I thinking? 

250 bucks lighter and 30 minutes later, we were less than happy with ameature looking pictures. I made a mental note of going back there with a tele some day.

We then drove another 10 km and shacked up at Ginger. That evening, we decided to go shoot Mysore palace during twilight. I love twilight shots. They give you brilliant results. We were at the gates at 6pm, set up the tripod, chose a good vantage point and started clicking. 2 and a half hours later we produced these...