My first post

I opened this blog to express what I see around through my eyes and my camera eye using text or/and picture as the medium. Though I would love to be regular I do not promise to be punctual as I usually find the life to be too busy. Chances are there that I may find myself regularly irregular.. :-D. Let me start it with a brief self introduction.


I am a Software Engineer by profession. Photography and Travel have been my passion since I was a kid. For me both are coexistent. I am a nature lover and without any doubt Nature and Wildlife are my favorite genre. I shoot people very rarely, you can say when there is one of my favorites in the background or foreground! I often forget my surroundings when I carry the camera and focus only on subjects. This may be one reason why some of my non-photographic friends don't love to go out with me.. jk. I usually try to be a perfectionist - I find the object, watch it from all possible angles, lock the target and fire. I normally shoot by single frames although I have set it to multiple burst in my camera. Having said that, I wouldn't recommend that as you might loose beauty of action pictures sometimes by sticking on to this plan. But, I prefer doing this myself taking up this risk as a challenge. The more I love photography I am lazy at post processing. Out of the hundreds of shots I click after missing thousands due to my strange habit and considering the chances of many of them not coming good anywhere near my expectation when tens of them come to my computer, I process only about half of them, say, 5-10 from a trip. I believe that I am no where in digital post processing and have to spend some time learning that better.

My growth in photography was gradual - from a Canon fixed focus film camera to a digital compact Sony DSC-P100 and then to a semi-manual model DSC-H1, again from Sony, and finally to the most awaited upgrade to a DSLR - D40x, it was an entry-level DSLR from Nikon - about three years ago. Nikon D300S is the first of my next targets but is still in the wish list as the funds are low!


Presently, my gears include:
1. Nikkor 18-55mm standard zoom kit lens
2. Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED
3. Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM
4. Lowepro Computrekker camera bag
5. Velbon Sherpa 750R tripod
6. Nikon ML-L3 IR remote controller
7. Additional EN-EL9 betteries
8. Couple of 52mm filter-sized UV filters
9. A CPL of 52mm filter-size
10. Cokin Filter system with a 2-stop ND and a Gradual ND filters

Atlas moth - World's biggest moth

Atlas moth - World's biggest moth
Originally uploaded by Rajani Chand

I definitely knew when I spotted her at Wayanad that she's unusually big. But, never expected she belongs to the biggest moth family.

2010/10/14 - week after coming back home

It's been a week after coming back home. Return journey was with a heavy luggage.. as Subi teased - with lots of smuggled items.. lol. About 13KG of chocolates, a bunch of ipods, the new Camera body D300s, a watch and some cheap electronic items.. I had to drop the plan of buying some compact cameras. Oh, I am surely not a smuggler, but was really heavy on luggage.

My little one's 2nd birthday was on last Saturday. Just a small get together with my friends and family at my apartment. She was very happy and was enjoying the fast songs we played along with her friends. It was a real fun to watch all kids dancing and having fun. I will be a little more busy in coming weeks with some additional job responsibilities.

The pics given above are some of my favorites among the first few test shots with D300s (my new companion) from the very first field shot (at Arboretum, LA, CA)

2010/09/30 - Some "Universal" snaps

Here are some shots taken at "Universal Studio - Hollywood". Most of them were shot at the Water World set. The temperature was somewhere at 103 degree Fahrenheit (39 degree celsius) and I was running in a hurry to visit as many spots I could see in one day. So, shots are not of very good quality.

	Terminator-V, right infront of the Terminator 3D/2D movie
	At the entrance of Unniversal Studio, Hollywood
	It is a set
	Live performance of Waterworld team
	Look again! It is a dive
	They crashed a dummy plane into the pool.. it was amazing.
	Climax scene of Water world
	Miniature ship used in a movie shoot

2010/09/26 - weekend funs - Universal studio and Arboretum

It was a very funny and tiring weekend. The whole day of Saturday at Universal studio of Hollywood and the Sunday at Arboretum. The temperature went as heigh as 103 degree faranheit (39 degree celsius) in this weekend and we were wandering with water bottles to keep ourselves hydrated all the time. I still have to look into my camera and check out the photos. Oh, I think I didn't mention about my newest buddy - the long waiting has finally ended.. I bought my new Nikon D300S - the monster of its class. Pictures coming soon... :)

The Universal studio of Hollywood - the center of world commercial movies - is something that everyone who visit California should never miss. It is a very rare chance to feel closely the technology used in Hollywood movies, the ultimate 3D and 4D cinemas, the sets where some of the box office hit movies were shot and more. There is also a theme park associated with it where one can experience some deadly moments with dangerous rides like Mummy, Jurassic Park etc. During the studio tour you will witness some of the great events in hollywood movies as you are also a part of the movie. The live show performed by the artists at "Water world" set was another item that impressed. They brought in front of us some live sequences from the hit movie that Kevin Costner had made a duper hit. The flexibility and timing of the artists and technology used were amazing. I will upload some snaps shortly.

2010/09/20 - Counting down hours in Carlsbad

So, finally it's time to say 'bye' to Carlsbad. I will be flying to San Jose from San Diego tomorrow evening to reach our GA offices (Santa Clara) and Sunnyvale Head office. I am excited that I will be soon at our global Head office though will be missing Carlsbad. I will be there at Santa Clara and Sunnyvale just for a single day and then will be heading to Burbank and be there until finally fly back home on first week of October. Well, it has been a very short trip and too many places to go. But, I can at least say I have travelled across California multiple times.

I had an outing on Sunday and could do some exploration at Encinitas beach a.k.a Swami's beach. The name Swami's beach because, there was a temple founded by Guru Paramahamsa

Yogananda (Not the same Guru to whom Swami Vivekananda was a disciple to) very close to the beach. The temple was later destroyed by salt corrosion. But, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), the trust founded by the Swmiji, has built a beautiful small park at the place where the temple was located. Here's the SRF official website and Swamij's biography for those who are interested - www.yogananda-srf.org.

Well, I must also say that this beach is a very popular Surfing spot - a sport that I witnessed the first time in my life, though have seen in pictures and movies before.

I found this bird with sharp features along with some similar looking birds at the beach. I wrongly identified it as a sandpiper. Finally, folks at INW corrected it as Bristle-thighed Curlew. Thanks to INW team for the right id.

Again, the below ones look to be Sandpipers to me. I had left my handbook at home as I never expected that I would be able to go for a birding without my 150-500mm monster with me. Hope any of my gurus if happen to visit this blog would correct me if I am wrong. Or else I would bug them once back in India.

2010/09/18 - BBQ and Beaches in Carlsbad

Without a cellphone and a vehicle I had been completely handicapped or paralyzed for a week. Looking back to the school and college days, where cellphones were not there or uncommon, it is hard to believe that we existed in such a time. It is sure to be one of the greatest inventions of the humans although it has its own bad sides as well. As a matter, any invention has its own goods and bads. We have seen the evil side of the greatest invention that a man has ever done - nuclear energy. Well, coming back to the present, I bought T Mobile's prepaid sim card for my phone today to come out of the paralysis.. well at least partially.

There are many people from Mexico over here. Mexicans are all basically hardworking, easy-

going and music-loving. There are some Mexicans in the hotel crew especially in the kitchen. They play music, sing along with it and dance to the rhythm.. all along with their work. They are loyal to the job they are into and do complete it on time. Mexican food is world famous. We had a team offsite (picnic) from Yahoo yesterday to Aviara community park. It's a large, well-maintained park where there are separate places for playing baseball, soccer etc, walking and partying. There were some BBQ and other dishes made in the Mexican way. It takes up to half an hour for making a Mexican BBQ burger in the classical way. That is, by exposing it to prolonged heat in low-intensity.

Carlsbad is in the west cost of US along Pacific Ocean. It has a very long coastal area. A drive

along the freeway that goes along the beaches would be an unforgettable experience for anyone. I was lucky enough to have two of my colleagues coming forward and offering me to take me out to the beaches. I would likely try to make it myself again tomorrow.