Kerala
- Thomas Paine.
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Sorry for being absent from flickr for a while, due to some unforeseen complications at work I was forced to take a quick trip back to India. Even though I had plans for extensive photo trips across the country, reality intervened and I had to settle for just one trip.
This is a pano shot I made at Munnar, which translates to three rivers, is a popular hill station in the south western state of Kerala. Its known for tea and spices like cardamom and is also home of the tallest peak in India outside of the Himalayas. This shot was taken close to sunset when the setting sun gave the thick fog a tobacco glow. Thanks for visiting hope everyone likes the shot..
Tea Plant Garden, Top Station Taxi Trip, Munnar, Kerala, India
From my Kerala archives, I needed a break from my cityscape shots! For this one, I did a mix of tone-mapped HDR (9 exposures) and Digital Blending.
India Set | HDR Set | Earth - Water - Sky Set | Vertoramas Set
Tea Garden Plant in Suryanelli, Jeep Journey from Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut to Munnar, Munnar, Kerala, India
Old Dutch cemetery, Cochin.
Tea Plant Garden in Kannan Devan Hills near Western Ghats, Taxi Journey from Munnar to Coimbatore, Munnar, Kerala, India
- Hannah Arendt.
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Back from Munnar to my home village in Kerala. I have always been proud of how diverse Kerala's topography is and how often it changes even within couple of miles. My home is located on a hill side and as you get more to the valleys of these hills the topography changes to rice fields and marshlands. These marsh lands have tiny islands in them called "thuruths" they look their best in rainy season when they truly look like islands in massive bodies of water.
Unfortunately I was there in the winter/ dry season so the marshlands were just that instead of shallow lakes. Thankfully I got to be there during sunset in between visiting relatives and got to spend some time taking photographs of this beautiful location.
The Chinese fishing nets (Cheena vala) of Fort Kochi (Fort Cochin) in the City of Kochi (Cochin), in the Indian State of Kerala, are fixed land installations for an unusual form of fishing — shore operated lift nets. Huge mechanical contrivances hold out horizontal nets of 20 m or more across. Each structure is at least 10 m high and comprises a cantilever with an outstretched net suspended over the sea and large stones suspended from ropes as counterweights at the other end. Each installation is operated by a team of up to six fishermen. (Source: Wikipedia)
Hello my Dear Friends, I am back from a short trip to the south of India. Thanks to my friend Raju for arranging all the photographic outings!
Digital Blending of a 30 seconds exposure at f/22 (with ND 400 filter), mixed with two exposures without ND 400 at f/8 (1/500 and 1/2000 seconds).
Tea Plant Garden in Kannan Devan Hills near Western Ghats, Taxi Journey from Munnar to Coimbatore, Munnar, Kerala, India
Tea Garden Plant in Suryanelli, Jeep Journey from Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut to Munnar, Munnar, Kerala, India
Tea Garden Plant in Suryanelli, Taking Jeep from Muunhar to Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut, Munnar, Kerala, India
HDR, Tea Garden Plant in Suryanelli, Taking Jeep from Muunhar to Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut, Munnar, Kerala, India
Blue Hour at Kovalam Beach, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Kovalam was brought to the public eye by the Maharaja of Travancore. The European guests of the then Travancore kingdom discovered the potentiality of Kovalam beach as a tourist destination in the 1930s. However, Kovalam shot into limelight in the early seventies with arrivals of the masses of hippies. That started the transformation of a casual fishing village of Kerala into one of the most important tourist destinations in all India- the Kovalam beach. (Source: Wikipedia)
6 exposures Digital Blending, I did change the white balance for the sand only as it was looking totally blue.
Devikulam Tea Plant Garden, Taking Jeep from Muunhar to Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut, Munnar, Kerala, India
- Jim Rohn.
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The wonderful Kannan Devan hills of Munnar, Kerala. These are the tea plantations which the western Ghats of India are famous for. Even though this area is close to the Equator and generally have a tropical climate the hills tend to be cool and crisp because of the altitude. This makes the hills stations of Kerala a hot spot of tourist activity as warm tropical beaches are only about 70 miles away.
Hope you all like this shot, thanks for visiting..
- Friedrich Schiller.
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Another shot from Munnar trip. The name Munnar translates to three rivers and as the name suggests its located at the coast of three small rivers and this small check dam act as a check point for the ravine to slow down. I took this shot from the small road leading up to our hotel just after noon. That’s how much we had to wait for the fog to clear. I like that how the small dam gives a miniaturized effect to the whole scene. Thanks for visiting.
- Muhammad Ali.
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Another shot from my Kerala trip. The peak you see is called Anamudi which literally translates as (Elephant hair) and is the highest peak outside of the Himalayan range. It derived its peculiar name from the resemblance it has to the Asian elephant's forehead. Its located quite near to Munnar and you can do a 3 mile hike to the top of the granite dome.
It’s a must visit especially if you want to escape the searing tropical heat of the backwaters and the beaches of Kerala for a while.
- Georgia O'Keeffe.
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Its been a while since I posted an image from my home state of Kerala. During our last trip, I went and visited a nearby town famous for their tea plantations. The name of the town is Munnar, and in the past couple of decades, it has transformed from a sleepy little village in the mountains to a thriving holiday destination. Unfortunately, this is not a story of mindful development, but commercialism running amok destroying a lot of the pristine nature around the area. I had to drive a bit away from the popular tourist spot to find a scene untouched by huge billboards, random “tourist resorts,” motels, restaurants that seems to pop up everywhere.
The tea plantations and the fog seems to confuse the auto white balance on the D800. I had to do quite a bit of finagling to get the white balance accurate. I visited during the off-season, and usually, you only get a few hours of clear view a day before fog rolls in and blocks everything. The fog here is quite extraordinary, its so thick you will not see another person standing six feet away from you. The local name for the fog is kodamanju, and it is romanticized quite a lot in our literature. While it’s challenging, I think the offseason reveals the true beauty of the mountains. The layers of rolling hills and mountains play nicely with the fog. Plus, the tea picking is slow during the off-season, allowing us to see the light green foliage, which is not the case during peak tea picking season.
Tea Garden Plant in Suryanelli, Taking Jeep from Muunhar to Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut, Munnar, Kerala, India
Tea Garden Plant in Suryanelli, Jeep Journey from Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut to Munnar, Munnar, Kerala, India
A deserted beach in Kaniyapuram, Kerala, India. There are a lot of boats on the beaches of Kerala, so be prepared to see more boat shots! ;-)
A good old tone-mapped HDR (handheld, 7 exposures). I wanted something dramatic and surreal for a change! Because of the harsh light, there was no other way to process this shot anyway.
A bridge as basic as can be.
- Robert Smithson.
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Another face of Munnar, these are the valley villages where the tea plantation workers live. Often under horrible conditions, called "layams". It's no wonder the word is also used to call horse stables, only recently did these workers got their due increase in salaries. After strikes by women who work these tea plantations which bought Munnar to a standstill as they fought both the managements and the political readers who claim to represent them.
More details can be found here 'http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/munnar-tea-estate-workers-end-nine-day-long-agitation/".
Devikulam Tea Plant Garden, Taking Jeep from Muunhar to Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut, Munnar, Kerala, India
Panorama View of Tea Garden Plant in Suryanelli, Jeep Journey from Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut to Munnar, Munnar, Kerala, India
Morning Walk at Kolukkumalai Tea Estate, Kottagudi, Tamil Nadu, India
Thanks to all Phoide contributors to Kerala!
Most notably Wallace, Sandeep Thomas, Daniel Cheong, Pierre Heimann and Rob Oo.