David M. Byrne
Well-Known Member
Hello once again,
As mentioned to close out last week’s entry it has all been ruins & beach this past week, the ruins of Hampi in Karnataka & the beach of Goa. Two very different locals with contrasting fortunes photography wise – you’ll find a few pictures from Hampi but none from the beach. Read on to get the lowdown on week 30 of the trip, days 202 to 209 of this continuing Mave On The Move series.
Picture 140, Day 202 – Kadlekalu Ganesha, Hampi, Karnataka, India. September 23rd 2012
Having bid adieu at the end of last week’s entry to the city of Mysore it was time to head north to Hampi, somewhere firmly on the tourist trail. Hampi was the capital of the 15th century Hindu Vijayanagar empire & the surrounding landscape, a bizarre terrain of banana plantations & rock expanses dotted with gravity-defying boulders, temples & neglected ruins, is hard to describe in words and even harder to portray in images. Some of the 500+ ruins, about a tenth of them, attained UNESCO World Heritage status as far back as 1986 but having unrestricted, unmonitored access to all of them shows that the Indians really haven’t grasped the concept of preservation for the ages just yet. I spent a few hot days here this past week photographing the landscape, rocks (ones carved by man & by nature), temples, monkeys, sunsets & sunrises. This is a picture I took on day 202 of the trip, a picture of my girlfriend Mel looking at the monolithic Kadlekalu Ganesha, a 4.5 metre Hindu sculpture carved in situ out of a single boulder. Entrance to the chamber the sculpture is housed in is via a narrow opening down which light shines, meaning one can have some fun with lighting and shadows in here. I certainty did with Mel gallantly playing part of a scale prop.
Picture 141, Day 202 – Sunset on Hemakuta Hill, Hampi, Karnataka, India. September 23rd 2012
This picture was taken on Hemakuta Hill in Hampi, an area that personifies the bizarre Hampi landscape – a rocky expanse dotted with ruins & massive boulders. It’s also a great place to take in a Hampi sunset.
Picture 142, Day 203 – Dawn Light Smiles, Virupaksha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka, India. September 24th 2012
One final picture from Hampi is easily my favourite capture of the few days I spent there. It was taken shortly after sunrise (06:59) as a group of Indians were exiting the Virupaksha Temple, one of the oldest structures in Hampi. They were walking in unison through the temple’s main gopuram, a soaring pyramidal gateway tower marking the entrance to a temple complex, with the soft light of the rising sun (behind me & directly in front of them) illuminating the scene beautifully (the golden hour indeed). I only had a couple of seconds & fired off a ton of shots in that time span. As the group walked they began to collectively notice my presence they duly smiled (most of them did). I didn't think much of this image when I captured it but when I saw it on my computer screen I knew instantly I had a picture that I liked. Liked a lot.
Link: You can view more of my pictures from Hampi, including a picture of the aforementioned ruins & boulders of Hemakuta Hill, as uploaded to my 'Hampi, India' blog entry.
Picture 143, Day 205 – On the Hospet to Goa Train, September 26th 2012.
An 8-hour train ride took me west of Hampi & back to the Arabian Sea coast in Goa, somewhere – the beach - I wasn’t expecting to return to having left it some 10 days earlier (but that’s neither here nor there). I was sitting in the top berth of the sleeper carriage with the two ladies, as in the picture above, right below me. I was able to rest my camera between my knees and photograph at leisure (although I wasn't totally inconspicuous). The elevated & somewhat secretive viewpoint, colourful subjects & favouriable lighting from the train window (left of frame) had me excited.
Picture 144, Day 205 – On the Hospet to Hoa Train, September 26th 2012.
I took two images on that Hospet to Goa train trip that I really liked, the above two. I didn't know which one of the two to upload here to RPF so I decided to upload them both! I’d be interested to get feedback as to which picture of the two the community prefers.
Picture 145, Day 207 – Residential Panaji, Goa, India. September 28th 2012.
For the three nights I spent back by the beach, Ajuna Beach, in Goa I was holding out hope, forlorn hope as it turned out, for a good sunset to photograph - it’s a beach, and not a very picturesque one at that so there wasn’t really all that much to photograph there. It was a quiet few days photography wise. On day 207 of the trip I did drag myself away from the beach & paid a visit to the Goan state capital of Panaji. The Portuguese, former colonists in Goa, left behind, according to Lonely Planet, ‘atmospheric warrens of narrow, blue-and-white tiled streets lined with whitewashed churches, shuttered windows & overhanging balconies.’ All sounded very photogenic… except it wasn’t. My favourite picture of that walkabout in Panaji was from the inside of a church but I also liked this image of laundry out to dry in a very dilapidated residential part of the city.
Link: You can view the aforementioned picture from inside a church as uploaded to the ‘Goa, India’ entry of my photography blog.
What/Where Is Next?
Time to head north. I've spent three weeks now in India, all in the south. Next week I’ll be reporting from the northern state of Rajasthan, the land of the Rajput, scorching deserts & citadels. It should offer a slightly – maybe vast – change of scenery. Only time will tell.
dMb Travel
Don’t forget you can keep up to date with my trip on the dedicated travel page of my photography blog, a page I set up to specifically chronicle this trip.
Until next time. Regards from India.
David M
As mentioned to close out last week’s entry it has all been ruins & beach this past week, the ruins of Hampi in Karnataka & the beach of Goa. Two very different locals with contrasting fortunes photography wise – you’ll find a few pictures from Hampi but none from the beach. Read on to get the lowdown on week 30 of the trip, days 202 to 209 of this continuing Mave On The Move series.
Picture 140, Day 202 – Kadlekalu Ganesha, Hampi, Karnataka, India. September 23rd 2012
Having bid adieu at the end of last week’s entry to the city of Mysore it was time to head north to Hampi, somewhere firmly on the tourist trail. Hampi was the capital of the 15th century Hindu Vijayanagar empire & the surrounding landscape, a bizarre terrain of banana plantations & rock expanses dotted with gravity-defying boulders, temples & neglected ruins, is hard to describe in words and even harder to portray in images. Some of the 500+ ruins, about a tenth of them, attained UNESCO World Heritage status as far back as 1986 but having unrestricted, unmonitored access to all of them shows that the Indians really haven’t grasped the concept of preservation for the ages just yet. I spent a few hot days here this past week photographing the landscape, rocks (ones carved by man & by nature), temples, monkeys, sunsets & sunrises. This is a picture I took on day 202 of the trip, a picture of my girlfriend Mel looking at the monolithic Kadlekalu Ganesha, a 4.5 metre Hindu sculpture carved in situ out of a single boulder. Entrance to the chamber the sculpture is housed in is via a narrow opening down which light shines, meaning one can have some fun with lighting and shadows in here. I certainty did with Mel gallantly playing part of a scale prop.
Picture 141, Day 202 – Sunset on Hemakuta Hill, Hampi, Karnataka, India. September 23rd 2012
This picture was taken on Hemakuta Hill in Hampi, an area that personifies the bizarre Hampi landscape – a rocky expanse dotted with ruins & massive boulders. It’s also a great place to take in a Hampi sunset.
Picture 142, Day 203 – Dawn Light Smiles, Virupaksha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka, India. September 24th 2012
One final picture from Hampi is easily my favourite capture of the few days I spent there. It was taken shortly after sunrise (06:59) as a group of Indians were exiting the Virupaksha Temple, one of the oldest structures in Hampi. They were walking in unison through the temple’s main gopuram, a soaring pyramidal gateway tower marking the entrance to a temple complex, with the soft light of the rising sun (behind me & directly in front of them) illuminating the scene beautifully (the golden hour indeed). I only had a couple of seconds & fired off a ton of shots in that time span. As the group walked they began to collectively notice my presence they duly smiled (most of them did). I didn't think much of this image when I captured it but when I saw it on my computer screen I knew instantly I had a picture that I liked. Liked a lot.
Link: You can view more of my pictures from Hampi, including a picture of the aforementioned ruins & boulders of Hemakuta Hill, as uploaded to my 'Hampi, India' blog entry.
Picture 143, Day 205 – On the Hospet to Goa Train, September 26th 2012.
An 8-hour train ride took me west of Hampi & back to the Arabian Sea coast in Goa, somewhere – the beach - I wasn’t expecting to return to having left it some 10 days earlier (but that’s neither here nor there). I was sitting in the top berth of the sleeper carriage with the two ladies, as in the picture above, right below me. I was able to rest my camera between my knees and photograph at leisure (although I wasn't totally inconspicuous). The elevated & somewhat secretive viewpoint, colourful subjects & favouriable lighting from the train window (left of frame) had me excited.
Picture 144, Day 205 – On the Hospet to Hoa Train, September 26th 2012.
I took two images on that Hospet to Goa train trip that I really liked, the above two. I didn't know which one of the two to upload here to RPF so I decided to upload them both! I’d be interested to get feedback as to which picture of the two the community prefers.
Picture 145, Day 207 – Residential Panaji, Goa, India. September 28th 2012.
For the three nights I spent back by the beach, Ajuna Beach, in Goa I was holding out hope, forlorn hope as it turned out, for a good sunset to photograph - it’s a beach, and not a very picturesque one at that so there wasn’t really all that much to photograph there. It was a quiet few days photography wise. On day 207 of the trip I did drag myself away from the beach & paid a visit to the Goan state capital of Panaji. The Portuguese, former colonists in Goa, left behind, according to Lonely Planet, ‘atmospheric warrens of narrow, blue-and-white tiled streets lined with whitewashed churches, shuttered windows & overhanging balconies.’ All sounded very photogenic… except it wasn’t. My favourite picture of that walkabout in Panaji was from the inside of a church but I also liked this image of laundry out to dry in a very dilapidated residential part of the city.
Link: You can view the aforementioned picture from inside a church as uploaded to the ‘Goa, India’ entry of my photography blog.
What/Where Is Next?
Time to head north. I've spent three weeks now in India, all in the south. Next week I’ll be reporting from the northern state of Rajasthan, the land of the Rajput, scorching deserts & citadels. It should offer a slightly – maybe vast – change of scenery. Only time will tell.
dMb Travel
Don’t forget you can keep up to date with my trip on the dedicated travel page of my photography blog, a page I set up to specifically chronicle this trip.
Until next time. Regards from India.
David M
