Thursday, January 8, 2015

Outtakes from 2014 #2

Next: St. Thomas Mount, which is a hillock near the Chennai airport. Wiki link here. It boasts of a magnificent view of the Chennai skyline, and offers a quiet place to observe the busy city. The hillock is also home to St. Thomas Mount Church.

For the last two photos, I borrowed a friend's awesome lens.

Hello, up there. 

More shallow depth of field.

...


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Outtakes from 2014

It has been incredibly long since I put up any posts! But, having recently been infected with inspiration from a couple of friends' blogs, I am back from the hiatus, and begin here again.

Before starting any new "projects", it is only fair to close all unfinished business with the previous year. And so, I present: Outtakes from 2014. These are photos from places in and around Chennai.

In February of 2014, my friends and I visited a place called Broken Bridge, near Besant Nagar beach (known also as Bessie or Elliot's beach). Link to the wiki page is here. We went in the evening time, but I strongly advise going in the morning to see the sun rise. Also, I would advise going in a group, because I was told that the walk from the beach to this location and the bridge itself may have weird people hanging about.

This bridge was built in the '60s for fishermen to travel across the mouth of Adyar river. But by the '70s, the bridge could no longer stand the heavy Monsoon rains and strong river currents, and therefore collapsed. What remains is a portion jutting out from the side of Bessie beach, which has become a popular hang-out spot for young people, and what seemed like a lot of photography enthusiasts.

The photos:

     Dried shrub en route to the destination.
     My fascination with shallow depth of field photography continues.

     On the Broken Bridge.
     The crows are looking at... something.
     I tried following the rule of thirds with this one.

     Sunset over Adyar river.

     Bokeh bhutta-grilling at Bessie.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

That Madras Place

I recently had a meal at a restaurant called That Madras Place, in Adyar.
Slightly expensive, considering the portion size. We initially ordered three plates of pasta among half a dozen of us, and the waiter told us as politely as he could, "um, well, maybe you should order more. The portions are rather... private."
But, brilliant food! Brilliant ambiance!
And a brilliant place to take someone on a date ;)




Friday, January 17, 2014

Out and About

I have been in Chennai for over a year now, and I haven't explored the city much. My idea of an outing, so far, has been a visit to a good restaurant for respite from the food they serve in the hostel mess. But I realized that the past year and a half that I spent here has whizzed past, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke behind. So, instead of huffing at all that went by, I have decided that before my time runs out in Chennai, a little bit of tourist-yness must be experienced. And documented :)
And so, a couple of my friends and I strapped on our bag-packs, and cameras, and headed out.

First stop: the lighthouse at Marina beach.
I was told that it was not always open to the public, but it is now.

Down below, as we waited in line outside the gates of the lighthouse, vendors offered us food to feed our patience.

                                           I don't know what this is called, but it reminded me of sohan papdi.

                                                        And fresh fruit is always nice.

And from the top, all around:

                                           Lines leading to far away.

                                                                 The world looks small in the shadows.

                                           I wish I got a better picture with the clouds.


Later, we went to the beach for a stroll.

                                           The world looks as busy as it is, in reflections and shadows.

The evening ended with a visit to the Rain Forest. It isn't an actual forest; it is a restaurant in Adyar, and a pretty decent one at that.

                                                                  Lights at night in the rain forest.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

29th November 2013

Since I have no coursework these days, which means I have a little more time on hand than usual, it's a brilliant opportunity to get out the dusty camera and take it for a walk. But I've been out of touch, which means the few photographs that seemed to work back in the old days don't happen anymore.
Let's see how it goes now.

Camera: Canon EOS KissX2 (in other worlds and words, 450D).


     Flower-thela somewhere in Besant Nagar

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Red

A little bit of red...


... always cheers me up.


Monday, July 8, 2013

Food

Food photography: for the stomach and the eyes.
More to come!

      Onion rings