Mission San Juan Capistrano

Cross
Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/60
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/11.0

About few weeks back my mom and I headed to a nearby missionary for capturing old buildings and architectures. California was discovered from Native Americans by the missionaries. I would never state it as discovered for the first time as there were people living in this land before white settlement. So these Missionaries, set out by these white settlers to spread Christianity as well as to find new land to settle in, are historic landmarks to view the lifestyle of the first white settlements in the west. The buildings and lifestyles are greatly influenced by the Native American living as well as the Mexican lifestyle. So enough said, here are the missionary pictures:

The Church
Focal length: 28mm
Shutter speed: 8sec
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/11.0

Holy water
Focal length: 65mm
Shutter speed: 2.5sec
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4.0

Pink Water Lilies
Focal length: 50mm
Shutter speed: 1/200
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/2.8

Purple Water Lily
Focal length: 105mm
Shutter speed: 1/125
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5.0

I won EarthShots.org Yesterday!

As my daily routine when i get online I check my emails and flickr explore. I also check National Geographic Photo of the Day and Earth Shots Photo of the Day. I feel like these websites have some of the best choices of Photography. The Photographers behind these photos have and are striving to bring some of the best captures of wonderful places or things in their everyday life.

So I hadn't checked Earth Shots for couple of days since my Internet was down. And this morning I decided to catch up on the winners and their websites. I was looking at today's winner and slowly scrolled down to find my picture. It took me a second to realize...that's my shot! This was a shot i had submitted a month ago and after submitting the picture they tell you the best way to see if your shot won is by checking this site everyday and most likely will appear in a month if you win. Back then I didn't think I had a chance to win on this website. But man was I so happy that I won yesterday! So I checked out my picture and the comments and rushed to tell my family and friends. I was so happy today for getting some recognition for my picture. I just wanted to say thank you Earth Shot for choosing my picture and thank you Earth Shot followers for wonderful comments. And as for you guys following my photo blog...i want to thank you as well for giving me comments from time to time. It really gives me a lot of inspiration when I get feedback. So check out Earth shot and my picture: Morning Bath

End to Vacation in India

One this most memorable day of my generations history, I would like to finish my Summer India Trip photos. So with just about a week left in India, we decided to just hang out with the relatives and visit some nearby places. Right after we got back from grandparents place, we visited another state- Andhrapradesh and its famous temple: Venkateswara Temple in Thirupati. We visited another beautiful temple, a.k.a. Arunachaleswara temple at Thiruvannamalai, only few hours from Chennai and saw some amazing architecture. At the temple, I was able to photograph some Sadhu's wandering and meditating as this was a famous site for pilgrimage. During this visit we were able to visit a nearby ashram and had a chance to capture free nature (wild animals roaming freely).

During the last week, we visited a museum with the different varieties of rural South Indian homes and lifestyles. This included weavers, potters, artisans, and other members of the society that brought their lifestyle into art. It was amazing to see them recreating some of these scenes with people from the same lifestyle. There were Saree makers, potters, and glass blowers, all following the old methods of making the traditional art. It was definitely a blast from the past scene. And the amazing part were the beautifully decorated houses dressed in its tradition. So here are the scenes from all these places. If you would like to know more about each picture, click on it so you can go to the Flickr link. Thanks and Enjoy! :)

An Indian Fast Food, Thirumala Venkateswara temple at Thirupathi
Focal length: 67mm
Shutter speed: 1/15
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4.0

A Welcoming Hand, Thirumala Venkateswara temple at Thirupathi
Focal length: 73mm
Shutter speed: 1/250
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/8.0

Brotherly Love, Temple Aashram at Thiruvannamali
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/100
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5.6

A Worried Mother, Temple Aashram at Thiruvannamali
Focal length: 330mm
Shutter speed: 1/100
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5.6

Peacock, Temple Aashram at Thiruvannamali
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/30
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5.6

An Orange Robe for the wise, Arunachaleswara Temple at Thiruvannamalai

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/30
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4.0

A White Gopuram, Aruachaleswara temple at Thiruvannamali

Focal length: 24mm

Shutter speed: 1/200
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/10.0

A Meditating Yogi, Arunachaleswara Temple at Thiruvannamalai
Focal length: 28mm
Shutter speed: 1/100
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/7.1

A Window to another world, Dhakshinchitra

Focal length: 28mm

Shutter speed: 1/10
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4.0

All eyes on you, Dhakshinchitra

Focal length: 73mm

Shutter speed: 1/15
ISO: 320
Aperture: f/4.0

Handcrafting a Saree, Dhakshinchitra

Focal length: 24mm

Shutter speed: 1/15
ISO: 320
Aperture: f/4.0


Blue Doors, Dhakshinchitra
Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/640
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4.0

Sunset in India, Tamil Nadu
Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/640
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/9.0

09/09/09

I decided to post on this day..since its one of those days that only happen in few decades...the 9/9/9. I remember the 6/6/6 was a bad luck day since people believed to be omen and so with 3/3/3. I find this unique since a lot of weddings get booked on such days for the couples to enjoy these memorable numbers. Is it goodluck or badluck? No one will know...but numbers and numerology are fun subjects that start up a good conversation. So today's post has nothing to do with these numbers but just did this for fun and capturing the time. After all photography is just that- Capturing a moment in time.

So I'm posting today about a clicker I bought this weekend: the Canon Timer Remote Controller - Canon TC 80N3. Its an amazing clicker as you can set timers. It can be used as a self timer, interval timer, long exposure timer, and also had exposure count setting. I haven't learnt much yet since I am still getting used to it but its a lot of fun so far. I had the most fun playing with torch lights at night to light only certain part of the frame. On the first night I used it at our local beach in San Diego and got few cool clicks. So here are those pics:

Lifeguard #4

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 38secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4

Lighting up the sky

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 30 secs
ISO: 500
Aperture: f/4