Papon Magic!

I thoroughly enjoy shooting live concerts and more so because music has been an integral part of my life too! The lights, the smoke and the energy of the performers always throw out such spectacular images. And my loyal Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS simply does its job really well. The large aperture throughout the zoom range and the premium optics lets me get the tack sharp shots.

This was at a concert by Anagrag Mahanta 'Papon', the effervescent lively artist from Assam, India who has made a mark in the world of Bollywood music scene. It's just a pleasure to see the young performer revamping folk songs from the North East India with touches of Reggae, Techno, Rock etc. and thus making them so appealing to the young crowd at large.

Guitars!

Guitars have always been a part of my life. The association with the six strings has seen me through the thick and thin of life. No matter however little I may have excelled at performing with it, the guitar has helped me gather friends, sail through the 'ragging' period in college with relative ease, getting invited to parties where lesser mortals like me would have been forgotten about otherwise and of course, the opportunity to play with a band which actually 'got paid' for its performances! Picture above was taken at the store 'Guitar Center' in Las Vegas.

The one below was taken at a rather a unusually decorated Ozzy store 'Kosmic Sound' in Perth.

But the fascination with this instrument for an enthusiast does not remain to playing and listening. The myriad models of the guitar out there in the market is simply mind blowing! As a matter of fact merely learning about and following the numerous styles, makes, 'editions', technologies, etc. of the instrument in itself can be an engrossing past time or hobby. And only a genuine enthusiast and connoisseur can understand the value of a $25,000 Eddie Van Halen Frankenstein replica or a $17,000 Fender Custom Shop Stevie Ray Vaughan Lenny Tribute Stratocaster (one of which I could touch at a Las Vegas 'Guitar Center'!)

There is even a parallel art form of making miniature scale replicas of guitars which are interesting collectors' items for guitarists as well as non-guitarist enthusiasts. The pictures below are of such beautiful and spectacular hand made scale models of various 'famous' models and 'editions' of guitars at one of those colourful 'bazaars' in Fremantle, Perth Australia.

The little girl in the frame will give you an idea of the scale of the miniature replica guitars.

My Fender Stratocaster

The iconic Fender Stratocaster electric guitar. Signature companions of legends like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Mark Knopfler, Robert Cray, David Gilmour and so many others. A dream possession of every guitarist. I too have one. So what if it's just a miniature replica! Anyways, was never that good a guitarist to own one. Nor that rich to buy one just for the heck of it!