August25th
Finished editing all the photos from the Amritsar trip and thought I’d share just one of many to be posted once I finish compositing the entry.
For now, here’s a Sikh child getting all excited when he realizes there’s fish in the water! As a matter of fact, someone should have captured a photo when I spotted an actual Koi swimming around! The Golden Temple is simply beautiful structure on it’s own but it comes alive when being reflected by the sacred pool of the Harminder Sahib.
August13th
A Gurudwara is the holy temple of the Sikhs. But unlike Hindu temples and Christian churches a Gurudwara has no image of any guru or saint. There are also no statues or icons inside. The only object of worship in a Gurudwara is the Granth sahib the holy book of the Sikhs.
The tenth Guru Gobind Singh had decreed that after his death there would be no guru and all Sikhs were enjoined to worship the Granth sahib the holy book of the Sikhs. The Granth sahib written in a Hindi dialect of that period called the Braj Bhasa is a compilation of sacred writings and verses of the Sikh gurus and also includes Muslim and Hindu saint’s verses.
August11th
Jaisalmer “the Golden City” located in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan furthest west reaches. We arrived to the smallest station I’ve seen during the trip, just one track, a dead end and nothing but sand to show for. On the way to the hotel we met a lovely couple named Kim and Jason from the United States. The connected was instant, both sharing our the knowledge of traveling the globe gave a chance to learn off each other. As we arrived at the guesthouse, as a group we decided to booked our camel tip together for tomorrow.
Mel and I took separate ways in exploring the city today. The thing about Jaisalmer is, it’s a small desert city known best for it’s silver, camel leather/bone designs. Everything leather, wallets, bags, books, footwear, etc, it’s all made here. The city is comprised of two really famous attractions, the fort which towers over the town and the beautiful sandstone mansions of the Havelis. The Havelis were build in 1885 by rich merchants with intricate detail carvings right into the sandstone – for more info about them visit here. The city is also split into three sectors; outer wall, inner wall and the fortress itself. The outer wall is made up of all local shops/vendors and by venturing out further, it gets you away from the touristy spots. The inner walls are made of a lot of the hotels, stores and tourist safe dinning. The fort is a lot like the inner walls but built within the narrow paths of the fortress. You get lots of shopping to choose from, but don’t worry about the sellers, they aren’t as pushy as for example Agra or other major cities.
August5th
Another entry into my Fine Art section is a piece I call, the Doors of Jaisalmer from Rajasthan, India.
I remember walking around the Inner walls of the fort and finding all these unique looking doors, mostly around the Haveli’s actually. Initially I didn’t think I was going to actually turn this into anything but I thought i’d make a nice piece. A little disappointed with the amount of photos captured thinking it was well over twenty. With only a Canon 50mm 1.4 along side me, some of the tight allies proved a bit difficult to photograph a whole door from a few feet out.
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April25th
Welcome to the first Fine Art Category!
On here I’ll be featuring photos with more of artistic spin and creative bond between complementary photographs. As I focus more in this realm, I hope to produce pieces with a bit more connection to emotion, story or a place in time.
I present, “Faces of Jaisalmer”
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March17th
Today’s journey would lead us by car out of Udaipur and into the Indian countryside. We first stopped in Kumbhalgarh, a fort with the second longest wall in the world and the birth place of Maharana Pratap, the great king and warrior of Mewar. Second stop was Ranakpur, a small city which housed “the best” Jain temple in India – and once seen, no other lived up to its beauty. Finally, we would continue into Jodphur, but not without encountering a problem from the wildlife of India.
Train was the most optimal form of transportation within India, but Udaipur didn’t provide a great hub for transfer to Jodpur so the more expensive route by car was the only option. However, this worked out fine because by car we were opened up to India’s countryside and could call the shots to stop in certain areas if we wished. As a matter of fact, Mel made a call early along the trip when she spotted a nice valley over the hill. I’ve mentioned many times in my blog that as a photographer, when you see something along the road don’t hesitate about stopping. With luck, not only did the valley offer us a good landscape to shoot but we came across a mother with her child walking their goats, without housing or other life for kilometers around them.
March9th
One of my favourite destinations in Radjestan was the beautiful, peaceful, and exquisite Udaipur. I’ve compiled a two day journal in Udaipur into one blog entry – Enjoy.
Arrived really early that morning from an uncomfortable and cold train ride from Jaipur. Only thing on my mind after stepping off was only to jump into a hot shower. I remember this part o’so clearly because I remember using up all the hot water at the hotel that morning; boy did it fell good up until the water ran cold. Followed by a free breakfast provided by the lovely hotel stay, I wasted no time and took advantage of the early morning to start the day.
January23rd
Mel and I stayed the night at Hotel Pearl Palace were we enjoyed a peaceful breakfast up on their patio. Recommended by many travel sites and tourist if and when staying in Jaipur, do it here!
Ali was our driver for today. We met him the night before when he picked us up at the train station. He had a package available for us if we decided to go with him. At first we took his offer because the price seemed ok with us, but later into the trip we really found out how much people were really making on a monthly basis and this guy was doing really good for himself as a driver. The service was ok, we missed a couple spots on the map, I’ll get to that later, but when he found out he wasn’t getting a huge tip with his already high prices. It was like he didn’t even know us anymore once we paid him – pretty disappointing. Read More | Comments
