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.

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.

Our garden at my Kozhikode home is an excellent place for chasing birds, butterflies and dragon flies. During our stay at Kozhikode, during Vishu, I spent condierable time at the garden and terrace expecting to find some colorful fauna.

The first good spotting was a Dragon fly - a Common Picture Wing female. It even stayed at this twig (of a tulsi plant) for a while and allowed me to get close enough for a frame filling shot. I used the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens for this shot, handheld in Av mode at f/6.3 and ISO-400 for a 1/125s exposure.

The damsel visited our house in the night and was hovering around the tube light at the sit-out. This, I believe is a Pigmy Dartlet (I guess, a male) and the bright green was too cute to ignore. I picked up the camera once again and mounted it with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens. It was hovering around the tube light and I used the pop-up flash as fill and used a manual mode exposure of f/6.3 and 1/200s at ISO-800.

One of my friends was asking if a Damsel fly is a female dragon fly! Infact, I too had this doubt for a very long time :) But for now, here is a female dragon fly and a male damsel fly!

Its been a while since I did any photography when I am not travelling. A beautiful evening and some free time in the office changed it!

I am guilty of not making good use of my macro lens - Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L. I have used it more for portraits and less for macros. Now, with the rain tree (Samanea Saman) next to our office terrace in full bloom, the lighting just about perfect and a tripod in my possession, it was time to try out the life size macro.

I mounted the macro lens on the Manfrotto 728B Digi tripod and used the manual mode. The best aperture width for this lens is around f/7.1 and it made sense for this shot as well. Even though, I had a tripod, it was slightly breezy and I had to choose a shutter speed of atleast 1/100s to avoid the blur. This meant that the ISO had to be kept at ISO-400.

This is also the time I realized that my camera (EOS 400D) is quite outdated. On trying out Amit's EOS 500D, I saw the benefits of upgrading - better ISO, a very bright display and amazing features like live preview. In his camera, I could go for a 10x zoom on the live preview and focus precisely on what I wanted. Anyways, the pic here is taken with my old EOS 400D after a few attempts to get the focus right. The aim was to get the pollens at the bottom in focus and get some bokeh for the ones at the top. Guess, I somehow managed that :)

During a trek to Kalladi from Muthappanpuzha, we passed through some un-spoilt forest region to the eastern side of Kozhikode district, adjoining Wayanad. It was raining for most part of the trek, making it a wet and wild trek! Though, we did not spot any wild life as such, it was quite an experience observing the small wonders of the forest. I was carrying only the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens as I normally do on most treks and was using it as portrait, macro as well as landscape. This is usually the only practically usable lens thanks to the low weight, good build, faster aperture and a reasonable macro:

The group of bracket fungi were right on our trail. Lighting was very minimal because of the thick canopy and the cloudy climate. But, the little sunlight which came through the canopy formed beautiful patterns after getting reflected from the wet floor. The camera was set to manual mode, handheld for a f/4, ISO-80, 1/20s exposure.

The millipede was spotted sitting on a tree trunk and while I was trying to get a full length shot of it, our guide Josettan moved it to a convenient location so that I can comfortably shoot! Immediately, it curled ... but well ... it still was not a bad frame. The light was even less for this shot and I had to move to ISO-1600 with a f/3.2 aperture for a 1/15s exposure. The settings were too blur-prone at 32mm focal length and I had to try a few times to get a usable shot.

After getting down on the Wayanad side on second day, we soon reached a jeep track connecting to the estates at Thollayiram. I spotted this colorful snail as we were nearing civilization at Kalladi village. Light was not as scarce here and I could use ISO-200 this time. I also chose a more appropriate f/6.3 (the lens performs best around this aperture) and settled down for a 1/15s exposure.

The pics would have come up a lot better, had I carried a macro lens and a tripod, but that was always diffcult for a hard trek, especially with rain thrown in to the mix! I would still happily take whatever pictures I got and the wonderful time we spent in the forest.

We had visited Soochipara falls a day before our trek to Chembra. The falls was a very good experience, especially the rollicking in the pool, with the early morning chill and the spray of water from the falls. But, my photo opportunity came on our way back, when I spotted water droplets accumulated on a spider web.

I took out the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens for the shot and then only realized that I had left the tripod in the car. Light was a little low for the shot I wanted, but with ISO-800 and a -2 step exposure compensation, I could manage some shots handheld in Av mode. With an aperture of f/7.1, the best for this lens, the exposure time came to 1/200s. In the end, I was glad to get this result without using a tripod.

This is one more picture from Leela Palace, Bengaluru, where we had a team get together:

The rose was kept on a table, with the dark night outside giving me the perfect black background. The picture is taken with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens, mounted on a Manfrotto 728B Digi tripod. In the first trial, the camera's metering system got it completely wrong and horribly over-exposed. Switching to partial metering mode didnt help either. So, I finally moved to the full manual mode and used ISO-100, f/8 and a 3.2 second exposure.

Visiting the Sabarimala temple was enlightning, as well as a humbling experience for me. One has to observe many austerities and regulations for about a month, to be even eligible to visit the sacred hills. Add to it, the rigours of walking barefoot for almost 48 kms from Erumeli till the Sabarimala, via the hilly and forest terrains of Azhutha, Karimala and Pampa. In olden days people used to walk from their homes and faced the risk of running into wild animals en route to Sabarimala. Now, with good roads all the way upto Pampa, good crowd and basic facilities all along the route, its actually become much easier.

Even nowadays, there are people who walk long distances and pass via many temples before reaching Sabarimala. Infact, on our way to Erumeli, I saw a lot of devotees walking along the highway, expected to reach only after days. A good amount of people start from Erumeli and reach Sabarimala via Karimala. For me, walking barefoot in a route filled with sharp stones was an extremely difficult exercise. But, it was an experience to see people placing their belief and faith ahead of everything else and overcome the pain and suffering. The whole philosophy is embodied in the chanting - 'Swami Saranam, Ayyappa Saranam', which practically means that come what may, lord Ayyappa is there for the rescue of a true devotee:

What you see in the pic is the facial features of a small Ayyappa idol, made of white metal, kept at our 'puja' room. The portion in the picture is really tiny (little more than an inch) and is photographed with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens from a distance of about half a meter for a full life size macro shot. I used a Manfrotto 728B Digi tripod and set the camera to Av mode, f/8 and ISO-100 for a 6s long exposure. The thin DoF even at f/8 should give an idea of how tiny the frame is.

After watching a Youtube video of the 'Suraj Ek Chanda Ek' song from DD days, if I am posting a butterfly picture - what else would you expect the title to be :)

This is the brightet butterfly I have ever seen - and I spotted it in a park at Mandya. It was a slow mover and kinda lazy - so getting a clean shot was not a problem either. But, I stopped soon when a few kids from the area joined me for photography and offered to catch the butterfly so that I can take a better shot!

The pic is taken with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens, handheld in Av mode, f/5.0, ISO-400 for a 1/160s exposure.

Note: Thanks to John and Roxy for identify the cutie as 'Crimson Rose'

Lalbagh flower show is a treat to all those who love to take macros. But, I didnt have my macro lens when it mattered. This forced me to try out something new:

This shot is from the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L ultra wide zoom lens, handheld at 35mm. The focus is obviously at the rightmost flower and the rest of the flowers are used for the background, with the wide angle allowing such a wider perspective. The camera was set in Av mode, f/2.8, ISO-200 and -1 stop exposure compensation for a 1/1250 exposure.