Auspicious Metaphors...

Emirates Palace - Abu Dhabi

The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. Quite a symbol of Arab Opulence. Built at a cost of $ 3 Billion, the Palace occupies 850,000m² of floor space. Underground parking allows housing for 2,500 vehicles. Built as a Palace but now converted to a super luxury hotel. Wonder if I can ever make it to stay there...



This picture below is of the lobby area and if you look at it twice you will find it a bit surreal! You can see the elaborate ceiling and the reception counter on the same plane! Well actually, I did some 'photostitching', i.e., put together about 5 pictures to create it! I so wanted to capture the whole ambience out there!
Most digital cameras come with some or the other 'photostitching' software these days. Of course, you can use one of those wide angle or 'fish eye' lenses. But again they have their limitations too.

The 'Mekhala Chador' Comes of Age

During the last trip home it was a pleasant surprise to see the new avatar of the Assamese ‘Mekhala Chador’, the two piece form of the saree. It was in the newly done up silk store of ‘Silkalay’ in Guwahati, Assam that I came across these lovely new designs of the Mekhala Chadors put up in a very professional display on mannequins.
The unique blend of the traditional and modern made out of the finest Assamese silks of ‘Mugaa’ and ‘Paat’ is indeed impressive and will go a long way in preserving the affinity for this ancient attire even among the younger generations.

Okay, okay, I will try to get hold of some lovely live models to do the shots next time!

Xewali (Night Jasmine)

The 'Xewali' or 'Parijat' or The Night Jasmine... I wished I could write in Assamese to express the divine enchantment this fragrant flower brings with the onset of winter in Assam. The private ritual of the ladies of the household to pick up the dew soaked foliage and bringing then into the home in the morning for offering the deities or merely for the fragrance is something which, I am sure, every Assamese holds close to his/her heart.
Folklore and mythology has it that this is one the five divine flowers brought into the earth from the gardens of King Indra of the heavens and believed to be eternally so pure that it can be offered to the deities even if fallen to the grounds. No wonder, it has been inspiration to so many a poets and lyricists in Assam and around.

'Bokakhator Puri' - Simply Irresistible!

Any feeling of extreme urge to splurge on this exquisite cuisine (sic) is purely intentional. I am sure, dead sure that 90% of Assamese or residents of Assam simply cant resist this!
This 'puri' and watery potato curry served with a chilly chutney served in a particular non-descript restaurant on banana leaves in the town of Bokakhat in Assam is an irresistible favourite of any traveller passing by.

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!

Lure of the Azure

The love of the seas is enduring in Kuwait. Pearl diving and sea trade with the ‘dhows’, as the traditional wooden ships are called here, were central to the Kuwaiti way of life. Those were the difficult yet adventurous ways of life here before oil. But the lure of marine life survives in the contemporary ways among the young Kuwaitis though not particularly for any commercial purposes.

Dashing young dudes with the coolest hairstyles and worked out bodies whizzing about in the seas on jet skis or sailing into the horizon on the snazzy modern yachts with all the paraphernalia like GPS navigation systems, entertainment gizmos, angling gear and other cool stuff I may not even have an inkling of!

And contrary to popular beliefs, you can even find girls speeding away on these mean jet skis.

The slightly older generations are ardent fishing aficionados and good at that too. Like, I saw this gentleman on the marina at the Khiran Resort waiting patiently with a bare fishing line (without a rod) and pulling out that wriggling silver prize, and the pride showed!

My Experiments with HDR

My first HDR images for you.

High Dynamic Range (HDR), as it is called, is a new technique in photography which can create outstanding images by merging multiple images of a photograph taken at different exposure settings. The resulting images reproduce a very high range of tonality and detail.
Generally while taking a picture with a very high range of lighting and illumination, it is extremely difficult to capture all the details as the highly illuminated highlights may get burnt out (washed out) due to over-exposure while the darker details of the shadows may remain under-exposed. So to get over this dilemma we can take the photograph with at least three different exposure settings to capture maximum illumination and lighting detail in three different images. These different images can then be merged with HDR software to create a resulting image reproducing maximum tonal range and detail.

The best thing about this technique is that we can create images closest to the resolution of the human eye in terms of response to light and may be even beyond. On the other side, with the liberties of creative expression of the modern day, one can take it to extremes and result in creations of very surreal and ‘ghostly’ images. Some artists also create images that have an interestingly peculiar painting-like effect.