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.

Its been a while, since I was thinking about an upgrade. Was dreaming about owning a full-frame, ever since I heard rumours about the release of a certain 5D Mark II. If not for some bad reviews about the AF, I might have bought it too, even with a very hefty price tag. I even contemplated waiting for a 5D Mark III. But, I badly needed an upgrade and settled again for an APS-C camera, which I believe is quite brilliant otherwise.

So, let me introduce - the Canon EOS 7D and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM. I had been trying out this camera with the new and old lenses for couple of weeks and now feel ready to start using it regularly. I still have the Canon EOS 400D, until I am sure that I dont need a second DSLR.

The pic is taken with the Canon EOS 400D, fitted with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L lens. The reflections on the lens is of a PhotoPro 300D compact studio flash light, which I baught along with the new camera and lens. I used the flash directly, without a softbox to get the reflections. To soften the light, I placed its pair fitted with the umbrella at the right side of the camera - also to make sure that the name tag is visible!

The light from the main flash, which caused the reflections, is pretty strong and harsh. With the flash sync speed of about 1/200s, I could not have gone faster than a 1/200s shutter. Even with ISO-100, the reflections on the lens was over-exposed, until I reduced the aperture to f/16 - a very low aperture that I generally avoid using.

One of the PhotoPro 300D lights fitted with the umbrella joins the frame in the second picture. The gap between the light holder and the shade is intentional and I used the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle lens to make it a star light. Here also, the main light source is the PhotoPro 300D at the front, which is getting reflected from the lens. The settings are same - f/16, 1/200s and ISO-100 - for this shot as well.

I have updated my Equipments and Notes page with all the new purchases and the rationale behind it, along with a few other general notes. The first observation is that the EOS 7D is making my existing lens kit even better and the EF 70-200mm is a beautiful lens!

While checking out the Hoysala Village Resort, we were at the recreation area, which was under renovation, where I spotted these lanterns:

The pic is taken using the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens, handheld in Av mode. I used a -1 Ev exposure compensation, with ISO-200 and a f/6.3 aperture for a 1/25s exposure. I feel some people would feel that the red wall is a distraction, for which I tried out the monochrome mode. But, in the monochrome version, the contrast is not good between the roof and the lantern. I, finally opted for the color version, after slightly cropping the picture to reduce the wall area.

Saw this little sprout on the rock, when we stopped for a bath at a stream near Kalladi, after an awesome trek to Wayanadan Mala.

I tend to like the tinge of green set against a wet and dark background. I guess the pic looks similar to one I have posted earlier (see the first pic of 'Water water everywhere ...'), but the green is smaller this time!

The pic is taken using the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens. I was not carrying any macro lens and clicked this at almost the minimum focusing distance of this lens. This took me a while to get the focus right. Since the light was low, it took me a while to get the exposure right as well. Finally, the pic comes at manual mode, ISO-800, f/5.6 and 1/25s at 20mm.

On our way back from Wayanadan Mala, we were looking for the stream (assuming that we can follow the stream to reach the village) and finally found it after crawling through thick jungle for almost two hours. It was such a relief when we saw that the stream indeed had some water, as we were already out of water. While resting near the stream, Ramettan picked up something hiding in between the rocks - a crab!

This is actually not the first time we spotted crabs in this trek. We had seen a couple of them near our camping site in the previous site, while digging for water. But, at that time it was already dark and any photography was impossible. This time, while Ramettan expertly picked up the crab, I grabbed the camera for a shot.

I used the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens for this shot at 35mm, handheld in Av mode. The light was quite low and I ended up using a shutter speed of 1/20s even at ISO-800, f/6.3. That should explain the blur!

As a side note, crab is probably the tastiest of all sea foods. Have you tried it yet?

It has happened a zillion times ... everytime I am on the road and I meet the rain ... it feels like its the first time. So, till I meet the next first time ...

Presenting two of Preethu's paintings:

This is a Tanjore style painting of Sita, Preethu did under the guidance of Ms Premalatha. The gold foils and stones are typical of Tanjore painting.

The pic was taken with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L (macro) lens, mounted on a Manfrotto 728B Digi tripod. I used Av mode at f/7.1 (the sweet spot of this lens) and ISO-100, with a exposure compensation of -2 Ev. The exposure time was 1s.

The second one is an oil painting, again by Preethu, under the guidance of Mr Ashok. This is based on the painting, 'Mayur Pankh', done by G S Khetanchi.

The pic is taken using the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens @ 35mm, mounted on a Manfrotto 728B Digi tripod.  Camera was set in Av mode, f/6.3, ISO-100 with an exposure compensation of -2 Ev. The exposure time came to about 5s.

Originally, both the pictures looked a little dull compared to the painting and I did the following processing in GIMP for both the pictures:

1. Duplicate layer (Ctrl-L, in the layer window that comes up, right click on the background layer -> duplicate)
2. Select the new layer (Click on the new layer)
3. Increase brightness for the new layer (Colors -> Curves -> adjust curves for higher brightness)
4. Set layer mode to 'Soft Light'. (Go to layers window, select Mode as 'Soft Light')

It was a beautiful sunset at the Besant Nagar beach, Chennai and as usual I looked around for something to frame around the sun :) This time I ended up at a Chilly 'Bhajji' stall, where the chillies were kept as a garland hanging from the top of the stall:

The pic is taken with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM telephoto lens, handheld in manual mode, f/6.3 and 1/640s, ISO-100.

This time it is a stack of glassware from Leela palace, Bengaluru, where we had a team dinner:

The pic is shot with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L lens mounted on the Manfrotto 728B Digi tripod. I used the Av mode, with ISO-100, f/8 for a 1s exposure.

Saw this at Kadampuzha, a famous temple town in Malappuram district, Kerala - stacks of coconut kept at shops outside the temple complex for offering to the diety by devotees: