Something out of nothing

Was at my cousin’s place at Angamali (Cochin) and had some time to kill as there were a few more hours for my flight.   While sitting outside in her courtyard I could see some leaves shining against the oblique sunlight.   I fetched my camera and clicked some pictures by placing the leaves in between the camera and the sunlight. 

The results were something better than what I expected and it reminded me of what Ambrose Bierce said “Photograph is a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art”

At the editing table I did a little bit of tweaking with the colour tones which further enhanced the quality of the pictures. 

In Japanese this is known as Komorebi. 
While clicking these pictures, these two guys were having a quick bath. Later they perched on a tree and dried themselves. Captured that in the video.

It will be interesting to know that all these pictures were clicked in the noon sunlight, something like 11.30 am. Playing with the Curve option in Photoshop gives wonderful results.

Talking of Photoshop, there was this photograph that I clicked at a wedding which was a total wash out. Clicked in a hurry without changing the settings and this was the result.  

Later while processing from raw, I was about to delete the picture when I thought “let me see what I can do with this”

I played around with Photoshop and this is what I got :

I gave it a nice white background and enhanced it a little more.

Then I eliminated each character from the picture and got three more photographs. 

Selected a good music and gave it a punch by matching each picture with the beat of the music. The final result is appealing to the ear and the eye. (see video)

Talk of making something out of nothing. 

The arteries of Life.

Last time when I had been to my home town, as I was approaching my ancestral house, I looked up to see if the mango tree was still there and found this wonderful sight. The leaves shimmering in the afternoon light. Later while looking at the photograph I was wondering if my grandfather too looked at the same tree early in the morning while dipping his hand in the uri. (an uri is a pot that is hung in the courtyard which contains coarse coal particles. This was used for brushing the teeth - before people could afford toothpaste)

Rarely do we stop and gaze at the trees. There is a lot of history written there. Its the mute spectator to all that's happened under its shade.
Recently while passing through one of the roads in Pune, I had to stop at a signal. A sideways glance showed this huge Canopy covering a huge space. Welcome shade for many. (the title of this post was derived from this picture)


Imagine if your city is covered by trees like these it could reduce the threat of global warming. (will it? I am no authority on that)
Luckily for Pune city, we still have many of them (and hope it remains that way)
The best is the road connecting the Kirkee War cemetery and the Holkar bridge. The trees on either side are huge and it is just wonderful to drive down. I clicked this on a rainy day.

Another place is the entrance road to the Agriculture college in Pune.
Very few know that this was used as a War Hospital from 1916 to 1919



On my way back from an overnight picnic near the Khadakwasla Dam I saw this lone Banyan tree, with its prop roots almost kissing the water. It made a perfect frame.
Incidentally this picture is used in the Wikipedia with proper credit.



Other one on the way up to the Singahad fort. With greenery like this around, I though its better to be at the foothills than climb the fort.



Then there are these trees with roots and roots hanging (you can hardly see the tree) These are the ones lining the race course road. Must have witnessed a lot of betting I suppose.



With the onset of spring in Pune, one can see some trees beautifully decorated with golden coloured flowers. This tree (Tabebuia Aurea) is a native of Argentina and Brazil in South America and it was brought to Bangalore, Calcutta and Pune. To know more about this tree, click on the picture below.



Rubber trees are seen mostly in the south and the procedure of extracting rubber is lengthy but its good to know.(click on picture)



A trip to the Vineyard is a must for those who visit Nasik which is about 190 kms from Pune. You get to learn a lot about Grapes and wine and Table Grapes. We had a good time there, apart from tashting a lot of...... hic, a lot of . . . . . . .hic, you know those colourful things in the colourful wine glass......hic.


OK coming back to Pune, nothing like having a view of a tree from the kitchen window.


(one of the reasons why we did not put up a frilly curtain there) but there is an added bonus when you have a good view of an eagle's nest from the kitchen window.
But more on that later in my next post (hope the eggs will hatch by then)