Sailing below the Golden Gate

The Golden Gate in San Francisco is barely visible in the clouds. But otherwise it was a great sunny day.

Sea gulls, ferry to Sausolito

Sea gulls tailing our ferry from Sausolito to SF. Am happy with the first shot. Steady in midflight.

Play with rocks, Sausolito

Is this just centre of gravity at work? Rock balancing in Sausolito.

San Francisco skyline

Since I couldn't get the famous New York skyline, here's San Francisco's.

Anti-war protests, San Francisco

Wish protests in India were fun like this anti-war protest in San Francisco... music and drums and no fear of police lathi-charging :-)

Skyscrapers in downtown San Francisco

	A few of the sights in downtown San Francisco. Since SF is a quake prone area, the skyscrapers are not that tall, maybe when compared to others in the US.

University of California, Berkeley

A church inside the campus of University of California, Berkeley. The time was about sunset, and mark the clear difference in the lighting on the adjacent sides of the tower.

Near Jack London Park

I like this canopy formed by the trees, and ironically I think it looks better without the leaves.

Lake at Camp Sawyer, California

A lake by Camp Sawyer where my friend used to abandon me while he went jogging. No way I was following him in the 12-mile jog, so I meandered my way with my camera.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Pescadero, California

The bird was a lucky catch. Not a pigeon, though! At the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Pescadero, California.

Scenic route (Pacific coast)

On the 17-mile scenic route on Highway 1 beside the Pacific, in California. Interesting geographical formations... don't get to see cliffs on the shore in India.

Clouds - II

I usually put up my cloud pics in my Cloudland site, but a few special ones I felt like putting here too. Sun behind clouds almost always results in some spectacular lighting. I couldn't believe the abrupt transitions in the shades of blue in the sky because of the cloud.

Temple, Kota

A temple (whose name I have forgotten) right in front of our home at Kota. The white gopuram contrasted well with the murky skies.

Amer fort

The gateway inside Amer fort housing Sheesh Mahal and the Diwan-i-khas.

Amer and Jaigarh forts

What's Rajasthan without forts? The upper one is the Amer residential fort at Amber (pronounced Amer) about 11 km from Jaipur. The lower one is the Jaigarh fort used for defence. The largest cannon in the world is there, though I didn't see it myself.

Hawa Mahal, Jaipur

Not much scope to try out different angles. I could find only this position to get a picture of the complete wall without a tree or a lamppost coming in between. Hawa Mahal, Jaipur.

Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

A photographer's delight. Exotic shapes and constructions at the Jantar Mantar, Jaipur. Didn't quite understand the working of the different sundials but they looked impressive.

Gurdwara, Pushkar

Gurdwara at Pushkar.
It just so happened that on this trip we visited a dargah, a gurdwara, a Jain temple, and a number of Hindu temples too. And plenty of churches on the trip to Goa. So that's me, the secular Indian!

Pushkar lake

Pushkar lake with the ghats in the background. Peaceful place but for the overbearing "priests".

Brahma temple, Pushkar

A temple for Brahma is unique because he was cursed that in spite of being a god he wouldn't be worshipped. The temple isn't all that grand; its uniqueness lies in its being a temple of Brahma (in Pushkar).

Dhai din ka jhonpra, Ajmer

Dhai din ka jhonpra is a neglected monument close to the dargah. This was a Sanskrit college until it was converted to a mosque courtesy Muhammad Ghori. The complete span of the seven arches could be captured only from this angle.

Dargah of Moinuddin Chisti, Ajmer

Didn't remember to take shots inside the Dargah of Moinuddin Chisti, Ajmer. And I wasn't sure whether it was ok to do so, it being a holy place and all that. So just this one from the outside, with this the only viewpoint possible in the alley.

Ishwari Minar Swarga Tal, Ajmer

The Ishwari Minar at Ajmer. Good for getting a bird's eye view of the city. Very curious kind of steps inside the tower.

Sunset at Ana Sagar, Ajmer

Sunsets at lakes are getting to be a cliche. You really have to louse things up to make a sunset at lake photo come out bad. At Ana Sagar lake, Ajmer.

Nasiyan Jain temple, Ajmer

A gold-plated representation of Jain philosophy. Shown here is Mount Sumeru inside the Nasiyan Jain temple, Ajmer. The whole hall can only be seen through windows so this picture too is taken with the camera outside the window.

Pigeons

Pigeons roosting on lampposts or antenna elements. Had to use flash in the last two pics or the underside of the pigeons comes out too dark. Didn't have the luxury of using a stand for more exposure.

Peacocks

Proud peacocks at the JK guest house in Jaipur. I don't believe I fluffed most of the peacock pics by not focussing properly. Guess I was in too much of a hurry. These are the best ones of the lot.

Dushera at Kota

The victory of good over evil is about to commence. Ravan, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad at the Dushera grounds in Kota.

Squirrel

This defiant squirrel stands its ground. Well the only reason this picture is here is because I have never photographed a squirrel before.

Spider web

The trick was in focussing on the web and not the trees far away beyond it. So hit upon the idea of focussing on the railing next to the web, it being on the same plane, and using that focus to shoot the web. Will look out for a bigger web next time.

More wasps

My house sure looks like a wasp-y place! Same nest, different wasp (not a yellowjacket as seen in an earlier pic.) I am more pleased with the second photo: yet another wasp, this time on the tinted window of my car. I wasn't expecting the reflections to come out so clearly. Guess I got lucky.

Clouds - I

For some reason, I am getting fascinated by clouds these days. One subject here which looks good when backlit. I am not yet at the level where I can classify clouds as cumulus or nimbus, but hope to learn that soon. In the second pic, would have liked the cottony clouds on the left side to cover the full scene, but unfortunately they were obscured by the nimbus on the right (there, showing off my new learnt cloud knowledge ;-)

Update: Since I am so hooked on to clouds, have decided to have my cloud pics on a separate place. Visit Cloudland by Paritosh Uttam