रुबाई - Rubaai: March 2016

Wandering Destination: Bireswar Temple

Bireswar Temple is dedicated to lord shiva. It is situated at a scenic place, called Birtola near Darjing, on the banks of the river Brahmani.

Rourkelaites are fond of the destination for a weekend picnic. The reflections of sun setting is spectacular to watch.

Colorful rocks here is another attraction. Rocks facets patterns, metallic finish and variety of colors indeed is an attraction for nature lovers.

The Banyan trees penetrating the limestone rocks

On the opposite bank of river situates the Bamra range forest which hosts a variety of trees including Mahua, Tendu, and Saal. The river can be crossed with the help of seasonal fishermen here.

Some family of fisherman lives in the dried up river bed and earns by selling the river fish.

How to reach:

Bireswar temple is located at Birtola on the SH23 highway, about 48 Km from Rourkela. It can be approached by road.

Wandering Destination : Elephanta Caves

Elephant caves alias Gharapurichi Leni - are located near Mumbai. It is the first is a large group of five Hindu caves dedicated to lord Shiva, the second, a smaller group of two Buddhist caves. Caves carved in Besalt rock dates back to somewhere between 5th to 8th century. It was designated UNESCO heritage site and now maintained by ASI.

Main cave : Shiva Cave. It is the largest among all whose roof is supported by rock columns

Each wall of main cave has large carvings of Shiva. The famous Trimurti is located on the south wall.

Main cave shine of Lord Shiva

The other caves ahead of main cave

Some caves are unfinished, some got destroyed

Lots of monkeys re found the on the island. As happens everywhere, monkeys snatch food items from the hands of travelers and enjoy themselves.

Just after the last cave, a nature trail goes ahead to the top of the Island. Hardly visitors take this path. Don't miss this, go ahead to see the beauty of the surroundings.

Left of this trek you can see Elephanta Dam

Canon trek: Most of the path is build with concrete, thus walking is easy

Beginning of summer - trees shade their leaves.

Canon Point: A historical canon installed by Portuguese is preserved. Many Hindi movies from early 90's are shot here, as I was told.

Tata power plant located in Uran. Bay of Uran is famous for Bird watching, especially Greater Flamingos.

JNP seaport on Nhava Sheva Island. Sea in this part of Arabian sea is very busy due to Naval HQ at Gate way of India, private yachts, tourists for Elephanta, and a lot of good transport ships. On the travel to Elephanta from Gate way one can capture the variety of ships. Check my earlier posts about "Ship watch at Gateway"

The skyline of the great Mumbai seen from the top

Idols of Hindu god and goddesses for sale. Bids and other jewelry is also available at the shops near the entrance to the caves. I found it costlier than at the main land, advice not to buy.

Entrance fee:

Citizen of South Asian countries : 10/-
Other countries: 250 /-
Children below 15 years : free

Timing

Open from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
Closed on Monday

How to reach

Elephanta Island is located near the Appolo Bandar (ner Gateway of India) and can be reached by a ferry boat from Gate way of India in less than half an hour. On the way you can shoot some outstanding variety of ships anchored.

Childhood means simplicity !

" Childhood means simplicity.

Look at the world with the child's eye

- it is very beautiful. "

- Kailash Satyarthi

I would love to read the captions and readers experience about fairs !

BnW photography with Mobile

Too early for an Air India Flight ! At Kolkata Airport.

Check in at Delhi Metro Station and then a bag-less travel on Delhi Metro !

From the desk of a nurse !

The wait is over !

The modern Chitragupt - the record keeping clerk

All the photos are captured with MotoG (1st Gen) having 5 MP camera.

Oil and water

Setup for Oil and water:

Setting up to capture oil emulsified in the water certainly is fun and creative. With a simple setup explained below gives the opportunity for capturing infinite combinations of colors and patters at home. The philosophy of shoot is similar shooting smoke from scent-stick.

In a glass bowl/dish, mix equal amount of water and oil
Keep the bowl/dish at some height.
Keep a colorful paper/design with bright colors in the space between the bowl and table
Use flash to light the background i.e.the colorful paper
Shoot from top, perpendicular to the plane of the liquid to use least depth of field and maximum shutter speed. Higher depth of field may be avoided.

Tips for better results:

Use a dedicated macro lens and accessories
Clean the glassware before use
Use bright multi-colored paper / design for background. I used magenta bottle for some photos.
Try different backgrounds
Keep the water/oil mixture stirring periodically
Use a strong daylight - setup should be near a window
Shoot handheld, tripod might be irritating to handle since need to change the composition and place of interest frequently
However, take advantage of both.
Try using design on the glassware as well instead of simple plan glass
As always shoot RAW and edit them