Aliyar dam is one of the popular picnic spots en route Valparai and just before the ghat section begins. The place offers a good view of the dam cachement and the hills of Valparai:

Waking up at the top of a mountain, miles away from the civilization is one of the best experiences in life :) During our trek to Amedikallu, we experienced exactly the same!

When we woke up in the morning, sun had already cast its reddish hue at the horizon and clouds had all the surrounding hills covered. Only the tallest of the peaks jutted out of the clouds. In the first pic, the tallest of the peaks is Minchukallu Betta - one of the closest meighbours of Amedikallu.

The pic comes with the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM wide angle zoom len, which was the only lens I was carrying for the trek. There was no tripod and the shot comes handheldin Av mode, with a -1.3 steps exposure compensation. I used the exposure compensation - one because of the lack of light itself and the other because, a darker exposure would do more justice to the misty hills. Even with the exposure compensation, I had to go for a ISO-400 settings with a f/4, for a 1/25s exposure.

The most prominent peak in this shot - which resembles the hump of a bull is the Ettina Bhuja. One could spot many peaks from here. Just outside of this frame (to the right side) was Ombattu Gudda. Further right, at a considerable distance even the silhouette of Kumaraparvatha was visible. Talk about view from the top and having a clear day :)

We were on a trek to Amedikallu, passing through a Shola forest right under the peak. Sun was at its peak, when we came out of the Shola forest for a magnificient view of the valley. We climbed up on top of a rock for a better view of the hills on the other side of the valley. While Chennappa, our guide, was taking a look at the peak, I took this shot of him, set against the vertical face of Amedikallu and the sun:

I was carrying only the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM wide angle zoom lens for this trek. I used the lens at its widest focal length and a manual mode exposure of f/8, 1/2500s and ISO-100, to get this silhouette shot.

We reached the peak in another hour and was enjoying the sunset a little later. After the sunset, the sky had some beautiful cloud formation. Watching Chennappa walking on top of the peak, I composed the above shot, with the sky as the background.

This is also shot with the 16-35mm, once again at 16mm, manual mode, f/8 and ISO-100. But, the light was much lower than the earlier shot, so I used a 1/60s exposure.

After taking a few pictures during the solar eclipse (Jan, 15th, 2010), I could not help wondering, if I've photographed the moon or the sun. Check it out yourself:

I was at Palakkad, when the event happened and rued not driving to Thiruvananthapuram (aka Trivandrum), which is abt 6 hrs drive, to watch the full annular eclipse :(

I used the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L telephoto lens for this shot, mounted on a tripod, in full manual mode. I had an X-Ray film folded in to two to avoid over exposure and used the thinnest aperture (f/32) and the shortest exposure time (1/4000s) available. Ofcourse, I am not happy with the sharpness of the picture and lets blame it on diffraction caused by this very thin shutter - may be, I should have folded the film in to four! I also cropped the pic (3888px -> 1500px) to remove too much of empty space around the sun.

Sharing some more shots from our trek to Ettina Bhuja:

Almost halfway to the peak, we were at a grass land wading through shoulder-high thick grass. This valley offered us a good look at the vertical rock face of Ettina Bhuja, right ahead of us. The trail to the top of the peak goes around its rim, before going up from the slanting side.

I carried only the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens for the trek and this shot is taken at its widest focal length. I used A-Dep mode for this shot @ ISO-200 and the camera returned f/9 with a 1/50s exposure.

We were helped with very good climate at the top of the peak, next day morning. The blue sky had, just the right amount of white clouds. The sunshine was also just the way it should be - not too bright and not too dull. This pic is, once again, shot with the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens at its widest focal length, in A-Dep mode, ISO-100 for a f/6.3 and 1/800s exposure.

Here is an up close shot of the Ettina Bhuja peak, from its slopes, taken on our way down. This pic also comes from the 16-35mm lens, at its widest focal length, ISO-100, f/4 and 1/1600s exposure, as chosen by the A-Dep mode. The peak visible on the left side of Ettina Bhuja is Amedikallu, our next target!

Wet 'n Wild they were - on the forest floor adjascent to Kapila river, enduring the heavy rains in the last few months. We were on our way to the top of Ettina Bhuja, when I saw these wild Bracket Fungi. The canopy was thick and the available light was low - but whatever sun came in was shining from the rain water collected in these mini pots:

We saw more of these beauties later in our trek ... and the one here was a lot smaller than the first one. Once again, I used the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens at its widest focal length. Camera was set to Av mode, ISO-800 and f/2.8 with an exposure compensation of -1 step, giving me an exposure time of 1/60s.

A weekend at my home town, Eranhikkal, Kozhikode, Kerala, after a long time was well spent ... and I did find some time for photography too ... like being there for a sunset at the river bed:

The Korappuzha river and the Canoli Canal is an integral part of the Eranhikkal's landscape and this pic is from the point where Canoli Canal merges with Korappuzha. One can find a lot of birds in this area and I had spent a lot of time trying to shoot birds and other landscape here (See 'Scenes from the River side' and 'Kingfishers @ Eranhikkal'). I guess the birds in this pic are Black Cormorant (the one on the pole) and a Pond Heron.

The picture is shot with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L telephoto, set on a tripod, with the camera setting reading Av mode, ISO-100, f/11 and 1/400s.

After (what felt like) a very long time, I did some kind of travel. Driving upto Kozhikode with my parents and back to Bangalore, alone. Heavy rains greeted us throughout the journey. How I love the way it rains in Kerala :)

We also got some time without rain while passing along Gundulpet and the place was so beautiful with Marigolds and Sunflowers in full bloom. I've tried shooting Marigold and Sunflower fields innumerable times and have always ended up disappointed. This time also, after taking so many shots, I was not sure if I should post them. But, finally I am posting a few of what I liked most:

This shot is with my recently acquired Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens. Hand-held @ 19mm and A-DEP / automatic DOF) mode. The camera selected f/11 and 1/125s at ISO-100.

Obviously, I've still not figured out how to shoot landscape, especially with a wide angle lens :( Hence, just to be sure I got some shots with the tele photo as well (Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L telephoto lens). I was trying to get the fence as well as some flowers in focus but that required a very narrow aperture, which the available light and the long focal length did not permit. Finally, I used Av mode for this shot with the car window as the support (guess, this works well ... atleast as good as a monopod). At f/8 and ISO-400, I got an exposure time of 1/125s and the pic was sharp enough, in spite of the long focal length.

Guess I have a long way to go before getting satisfactory landscape shots!

Update: Yet another picture, this time of a dreamy little house right in the middle of the fields with Marigolds in full bloom.

This is yet another shot with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L telephoto, hand-held in Av mode. I used f/8 and ISO-800 for a 1/400s exposure.

The picture is shot with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L (macro) lens, hand held, Av mode, f/6.3, ISO-100 and -1 EV exposure compensation for a 1/250s exposure. I used the exposure compensation, since I felt that the red color came out better with a little under exposure.

Update: Just wanted to add that my intention was not to oppose the Metro rail construction. I believe that these are sacrifices we need to make for clean and more efficient transport. Instead of crying about the trees which are being cut, let us all pledge to use more public transport and reduce the congestion and polution, which will save some of these trees.

This is a bad pic as far as the technical details go ... Av mode f/5.6 (too small a DOF for this landscape ... I should have atleast used the A-Dep mode) ... so I dont have the faraway peak in focus. I would have loved getting a sharper background. It was not the best time for a landscape pic either, with the afternoon sun blazing down.

The pic is taken with the Canon EF-s 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens @ 18mm, handheld with an exposure time of 1/250s. But, somehow, I liked the frame and Preethu liked it too ... So, I ended up doing some brightness / contrast / color adjustment to salvage the picture and this is what I got.

By the way ... the peak in the background is Chembra, the tallest in Wayanad @ 2100m.