Aero India 2019 (23 Feb 2019)

Introduction

I attended Aero India 2019 on Saturday, 23 Feb 2019 at Yelahanka AB, Bengaluru (Bangalore).

Sandakphu Trek (26-28 Sep 2018)

Introduction

Towards the end of September 2018, I did a short 3-day trek to Sandakphu (elevation 11,700'), West Bengal, India. 

From Sandakphu, weather permitting, one can see 4 of the 5 highest peaks in the world - Mt. Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse and Makalu, in addition to a host of 7,000m and 6,000m peaks in the eastern Himalayas.

Singapore Airshow 2018

Introduction

I attended the Singapore Airshow, 2018 edition, on 10th Feb 2018. This post is a bit about the airshow, mainly from a photography point of view.

Photographing the Total Lunar Eclipse, 31 Jan 2018

Introduction

The night of 31st January 2018 was special as it was a Total Lunar Eclipse and it was also a Supermoon, Blue Moon and Blood Moon ! 

Of the four, the first two have a physical basis i.e. the moon transiting the Earth's shadow and it being at the perigee (closest to the Earth) of its orbit. The third is an artefact of the Gregorian Calendar being used by most of the world and the fourth would seem redundant as the moon would appear reddish in all total eclipses, due to Rayleigh scattering, I presume :)

Aero India 2017 (and Field Test of the Sony RX10 III)

Introduction

I attended Aero India 2017 on 18th February 2017. Having been bitten by the Ultralight philosophy, this time around I decided to shoot the whole airshow with a relatively small fixed-lens camera and a minimum number of accessories. Enter the Sony RX10 III 1" sensor superzoom bridge camera.

Thangsing Trek (21 - 27 Nov 2015)

Introduction

Me and some friends decided to trek to Goecha La, a high altitude pass (elevation 16,207') in West Sikkim, in late November 2015. This pass is 7 km, as the crow flies, from the base of the south face of Kangchenjunga. 

The Ideal Camera for Trekking - a wishlist

Background

I recently did a high altitude trek in Sikkim.  I had a full-frame DSLR (Nikon D750) for photography/videography along with a general purpose zoom lens (Nikon 28-300 mm), a wide-angle fisheye lens (Samyang 8mm), spare batteries and a circular polarizer.

I carried the lot in a Lowepro toploader Zoom 55 bag, slung crosswise from the shoulder and clipped with a carabiner to one of my backpack's straps, to prevent it swinging around. It all weighed 2.75 kg (6 lbs). This was quite heavy and cumbersome to lug around, which got me thinking about the perfect small and light camera for trekking.

OnePlus One Smartphone Camera Tests

Introduction

I have the Nokia 808 Smartphone, which has one of the best, if not the best, camera in any phone past or present. Unfortunately, its use as a multi-purpose device has become limited due to non-availability of newer apps on its Symbian Operating System. Also, the relatively small sized screen and resolution, coupled with an older CPU and limited RAM, makes reading documents on it a slow and painful experience.

After checking out the different models on offer, i decided to get the OnePlus One

Journey to Gurudongmar Lake, North Sikkim (28 - 30 April 2015)

Overview

I needed to go to Kalimpong, West Bengal, for some personal work, during the end of April 2015.
I had  always wanted to go closer to the High Himalayas, and on to the Tibetan plateau. Having read a lot about Gurudongmar Lake on the net, i decided to pay a visit,

Aero India 2015

Introduction

Some countries have an airshow every weekend during the airshow season. That's not the case here. There's just 1 (one) airshow in the whole country, held once every 2 (two) years. So for us types that like photographing flying aircraft, you can bet that attending Aero India is right up at the top of the Todo list.

Travel lens Focal lengths - some statistics

I had recently gone on a fortnight long business trip. Before leaving, i was deciding on which lens to take with me to serve as a single multipurpose lens. I wanted a small and light lens, but with a good enough focal length range to serve most of my shooting needs. I wanted a single lens as i find it tiring to lug around a backpack full of camera gear, and fiddly and inconvenient to be changing lenses while on the move.

Aero India 2013 - Airshow Photography (and some Videography)

Introduction

 I attended Aero India 2013 airshow on 10th Feb at Air Force Station Yelahanka, Bangalore.  This was the first airshow i attended with a 'proper' camera i.e. a DSLR :).  This was also the first airshow i attended in which a significant part of the air display comprised modern fast jets.  This post is about my experience photographing (and some video shooting) the airshow and lessons that i learned.