While driving to Savandurga for a Billigudda trek, we stopped for a while at Manchinbele. The sky was clear blue with a hint of fluffy clouds and it was a perfect day for photography.

The hill forming the backdrop of Manchinbele reservoir is Savandurga. The pic is taken using the Canon EOS 7D, mounted with a Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom, fitted with a Tiffen 82mm Circular Polarizer filter. I used Av mode with f/16 and Auto ISO for a 1/40s, ISO-250 exposure.

Just before reaching Savandurga, there is a quarry from where one can get a good view of the Savandurga hills. The peak to the right side is Billigudda, while the one to the left is Karigudda. Karigudda trek is a little more harder and adventurous, as there is no proper trail leading to it. Meanwhile, Billigudda may be scaled through an easily identifiable trail used by many people.

This pic is also taken using the Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L and Tiffen 82mm CP filter combo. It is again in Av mode, auto-ISO, f/16 but for a 1/25s, ISO-160 exposure.

The last pic - again taken using the 7D + 16-35mm + CP combo - is of the Karigudda hills, from the top of Billigudda. This time I turned off auto-ISO and opted for ISO-100, but maintained the f/16, Av mode settings for a 1/25s exposure.

One of the things that caught my attention during my stay in Beijing was the door knobs used in some of the heritage centres.

This pic is from the Forbidden City (Palace Museum), taken using Canon EOS 7D, mounted with a Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II lens. I used Av mode, auto-ISO and f/6.3 for a 1/200s, ISO-500 exposure.

I saw a similar looking door knob, later at the Temple of Heaven. The pic above is also with Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II lens, at f/9, auto ISO, Av mode for a 1/160s, ISO-400 exposure.

The best part of my 10 day stay in Beijing was the opportunity to visit the Great Wall. I went for the Badaling section - which is touted as the most spectacular of all.

We walked up till the 8th tower, which is also the tallest tower at Badaling stretch. I was not very happy with the dull sky, but as we were on our way back, the sky turned bright and blue, to go with this frame of the 8th tower and the hoards of people heading towards it.

The pic is also taken using the Canon EOS 7D, mounted with a Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom. This time I used an f/11, Av mode and auto-ISO for a 1/60s and ISO-100 exposure.

The wall meanders through the mountains for some more distance and most of the crowd was returning after reaching the 8th tower. The lack of crowd made the stretch beyond 8th tower a little more interesting, but we had to return as it was already time - not before taking a few shots, though. I mounted the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II zoom lens at 70mm for this shot and again used a Av mode, f/11 and auto-ISO, for a ISO-160, 1/100s exposure.

Drives on Bangalore - Mysore road are always interesting, especially when I have the time to explore. The waterholes off the highway are full of avian life.

This pair of Spot Billed Ducks were found near a lake, just before Channapatna. Here, I used a manual exposure of f/8 and 1/640s, but with auto-ISO on with spot-metering, which ended up using ISO-160.

The three Green Bee Eaters are from a field between Channapatna and Maddur. This time I used Av mode, with f/6.3, auto-ISO and spot metering for a 1/500s and ISO-250 exposure.

This gang of Tricolored Munias were seen near a riverside just before Maddur. I used Av mode f/5.6 for these shots which in hindsight, looked inadequate for this frame. Enough light was available to give me a 1/1000s, ISO-100 exposure.

I was in the dragon land capital for about ten days (see 'Ten Days at Beijing') and got the chance to visit a few landmarks in Beijing. Here is two pics from that trip:

The picture is taken in the Av mode, with an aperture of f/6.3 and ISO-100, the camera picking up an exposure of 1/60s.

The 2nd one is the 'Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests' in Temple of Heaven. It is again using the Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens + Tiffen 82mm Circular Polarizer filter. This time I used a manual exposure with f/16, ISO-100 and 1/20s.

I had been taking regular drives on Mysore road last month and had ample time for pit stops. Water spots are the usual pit stop points giving me a chance to chase avian life. It is in one of those trips that I found a colony of Baya Weavers:

The colony had many of these birds and intricately carved nests hanging over a stream, from tree branches on both sides of the stream. I did visit the place a couple of times more, until the nests were abandoned.

This particular pic comes from the Canon EOS 7D and Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L, handheld in Manual mode. I had set a f/6.3 aperture and a 1/640 shutter with Auto-ISO and camera using ISO-200.

Also ... wishing everybody a sparkling Diwali!

After a trip to Kollur, we decided to return via Agumbe - Sringeri. The roads were not all that good, including the ghat section leading up to Agumbe. The day was quite hot too ... but, the views made up for all that! To compliment the greenery, the sky was clear with its share of clouds floating around. We had a stop at the view point and took a few shots, but I got a better view just after the view point.

I hope that the use of the branches to frame the view worked well. The pic was taken using the Canon EF 16-35mm wide angle zoom lens, mounted on the EOS 7D and fitted with a Tiffen 82mm Circular Polarizer filter. I used manual mode exposure, handheld at f/16, 1/30s and ISO-100.

It was a beautiful morning at Devarayanadurga, when Amit and me took the steps to the top of the peak. I was looking around for birds when I spotted this beautiful pearl drop at the tip of a grass blade.

We had left the tripod in the car at the parking lot. But, this was a shot that I could not miss. So, I had to go down again and get the tripod. Was it not worth it?

The pic is taken using the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L USM macro lens, mounted on Canon EOS 7D, setup on a Manfrotto 728B Digi tripod and triggered using a Canon RC-6 wireless remote. I used Av mode with f/8.0 and ISO-100 for a 0.8s exposure. As usual with macro shots of still life, I used manual focus to set the lens at the minimum focusing distance (0.48m) and moved the tripod manually to focus on the water drop. To make sure that the focusing is right, I used live view with a 10x magnification.

With a good amount of breeze, the whole process took a while. The water drop is quite tiny - only about an mm in diameter - and I cropped the pic further (5184px to 2589px) for a tighter frame.

On our way back from Devarayanadurga, Amit and Me took a small break near a canal and ventured in to the fields chasing birds.

I had been wondering how all my bird models prefer sitting in electric wires. Every time, I get a decent bird shot, the bird is usually sitting in electric wires! But, this shot was slightly better in that aspect, as I atleast managed to shoot it against some trees to get a green background - far better than the dull white backgrounds that I usually manage!

The pic is taken with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L tele photo lens, mounted on the Canon EOS 7D, handheld in Av mode and Auto-ISO. I had chosen a f/6.3 and the camera picked up a 1/640s exposure at ISO-400.

After hanging around for some more time, I soon got an opportunity to shoot another Green Bee Eater sitting in a branch. I stealthily got very close to the bird and managed to get a few shots - but I did not get any catch light in the bird's eyes and the lighting was a bit harsher. Nevertheless, this is so far my best non-electric-wire picture of a Green Bee Eater!

This pic comes with the same equipment and settings as the previous shot, but the lighting was bit harsher and the camera picked up 1/500s exposure at ISO-250.

I enjoy my drives along Mysore road due to various reasons. Nowadays, it is the new water bodies I discovered along the way. First two while approaching Channapatna and the third one near Maddur. It was at the third spot that I spotted these dragon flies in a heap.

Majority of the population here was Scarlet Skimmers (or Ruddy Marsh Skimmer or Crimson Darter - scientific name Crocothemis Servilia) and Common Picture Wings (see 'Male damsel and female dragon'). But, the prettiest of them all was this golden colored lady perched on top of a small twig, giving me ample time for a shot.

I had the Canon EF 180mm f3.5L macro lens mounted on Canon EOS 7D, set to a Manual mode exposure of 1/200s and f/6.3. The ISO was in 'Auto', which I found to be a very useful setting missing in EOS 400D and now available with the 7D. I can now set the exposure of my choice and let the camera choose the ISO. In this particular case, light was good enough and the camera opted for ISO-100 only.

The male Scarlet Skimmer looks totally different from the female and has a reddish body. I found a few males as well in the same area, but the one that caught my attention was this fella striking a 'Sirsasana' pose. This pic was also taken with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens, but this time in a manual mode, f/7.1, 1/640s exposure and an auto-ISO of 320. The faster shutter speed is because of a futile attempt to catch another dragon fly in-flight and I forgot to change it back later. Nevertheless, I did not have much noise at ISO-320 as well, so this lapse hardly mattered.