ramki | leica photography: Recently Added Galleries and Collections

Islay, Scotland, Dec 2012

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 07:40:48 GMT

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Chilika fishing Feb 2012

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 15:40:51 GMT

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France, Sept 2011

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:16:52 GMT

]]>These are images from a 2-week long trip to Paris, Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, Castellane (Gorges du Verdon), Mt. Vesubi and St. Boreon (Mercantour National Park).

The album is arranged in no particular order but covers cafes, general street stuff, museums, stores, churches, vineyards trains & stations, and outdoor countryside.

Some Eiffel Tower images are also thrown in!

All pictures with a Leica M9 camera and 50mm f1.4 and 28mm f2 lenses.

Some 'Silly' pictures

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:15:47 GMT

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Manas, Assam Apr 2010

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:16:58 GMT

]]>I always wanted to go to Manas in Assam and finally the chance came when it was chosen as the best location to photograph the critically threatened Bengal Florican -- the world's rarest bustard. What started out as an effort to photograph the florican became a week-long trip covering all parts of the park -- Koklabari in the east, Mothanguri in central and Ulta pani in the west. Manas easily is one of the best wildlife parks in India for sheer beauty and biodiversity and the great news is that just now it has been taken off the 'danger list' of Unesco's world heritage sites. Read my full trip report here: http://wildventures.com/

Sela Pass & beyond, Arunachal June 2011

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 07:06:27 GMT

]]>A trip to the high (W) Arunachal covering Sela pass (4,170 metres / 13,680 ft), Mandala, Jang and Tawang monastery.

A Chevy Fleetmaster, Ooty, April 2011

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:57:46 GMT

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People

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:01:06 GMT

]]>Friends, relatives, desis, new yorkers, romans, chinese...

Nagaland & Assam May 2011

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:56:37 GMT

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Chambal, Bharatpur & Kanha Dec 2010 & Jan 2011

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 11:47:11 GMT

]]>The annual winter / New Year trip this year was multi-destination for Swarna and me. We started with Chambal on the MP / UP border and then on to Bharatpur in Rajasthan and finally Kanha in MP. Three very different sanctuaries. The first one a spectacular landscape adjoining the Chambal and Yamuna rivers, the second one of India's oldest and finest wetlands and bird sanctuary and finally, Kanha a breathtaking tiger reserve. Post Kanha, Swarna headed back to Bangalore and I continued on to Mizoram (via Kolkata).

The wildlife images will soon be up on wildventures.com.

We stayed at Laxmi Vilas Palace Hotel, Chambal Safari Lodge and
Kipling camp respectively -- each a destination in its own right.

For the Kanha leg, we joined Bikram & Alpana and their wonderful friends from the UK and Ireland.

Mizoram Jan 2011

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:25:16 GMT

]]>In January 2011, after many months of planning we made a trip to Murlen National Park in E Mizoram close to the Myanmar border for a bird survey. We were assisted by the forest dept. who helped us access this remote park. Further, we got tremendous support from Sankte in Singapore (and Champai native) who helped us organize (remotely) the entire trip including transport, accommodation and delicious food!

Murlen is in the Eastern edge of Mizoram and is more than a day's journey from Aizawl (the capital and airport town -- notorious for delayed and canceled flights). We traveled a full day from Aizawl to Champai (at the base of the mountain range in which Murlen National park is located). At Champai, we stayed with Sankte's wonderful parents and family -- our first taste (literally!) of great Mizo hospitality.

Murlen was a few hours uphill (and further east) of Champai, not far but totally mud roads after Rapar town.

Murlen is a small village nestled in a valley amidst verdant mountains of the Eastern Himalaya. The range extends into Chin Hills of Myanmar. Sankte had arranged for us to stay with her cousin Munga -- a hardworking farmer, devout christian and fantastic human being.

We stayed with Munga for several days whose house was basically one large, clean and spacious room shared by eight family members. With us eleven plus our driver! we spead sleeping bags on the floor. The wooden walls and flooring did well to insulate us from the cold.

Operating from Munga's home, we covered the nearby forests and mountains including a full-day climb to Tlangsam peak (~2000m) through some splendid jungle.

On the way out of Murlen there were some torrential downpours that converted the roads into gravy. We faced several tricky moments with our heavy Scorpio sliding dangerously till we reached the metalled road at Rapar.

Nagaland Hornbill Festival, Dec 2010

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:04:40 GMT

]]>Taking a break from birding and photography, we attended the annual Hornbill Festival in Nagaland this December. We were absolutely blown away by the event -- the performances, the arrangements, the stalls, and the overall attitude of every tribe (and tribal) that participated.

The event offers a fabulous insight into tribal life and is beautifully put together over just a few days. This should be on the 'must attend' list for every Indian!

More details of the festival (extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagaland and http://goo.gl/RgisR)

The (14) tribes of Nagaland are Angami Naga, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Lotha, Phom, Pochury, Rengma, Sangtam, Sumi, Yimchungrü, and Zeliang, of which the Konyaks, Angamis, Aos, Lothas, and Sumis are the largest Naga tribes. Tribe and clan traditions and loyalties play an important part in the life of Naga.

To encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland, the Government of Nagaland organizes the Hornbill Festival every year in the first week of December.

Organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments, Hornbill Festival showcases a mélange of cultural displays under one roof. This festival takes place between the 1st and the 7th of December every year at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama which is about 12 km from Kohima. All the tribes of Nagaland take part in this festival with gusto and fervour. The aim of the festival is to revive and protect the rich culture of Nagaland and display its extravaganza and traditions.

Here are some of the sights of the festival. I have processed just a fraction of the images I made using three cameras (Leica M8/M9 and Canon EOS-1D Mark IV). The images here are from the Leicas using 35mm and 75mm 'cron lenses.

Mudumalai & Bandipur Nov 2010

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:37:23 GMT

]]>Swarna, Silly and I spent a weekend in the Nilgiris -- one night in Bandipur in Karnataka and the next in adjoining Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu. In Bandipur, we stayed at the new wing of Jungle Lodges Bandipur Safari Lodge and in Mudumalai in the fantastic Wilds at Northern Hay coffee estate that was once an ancestral coffee warehouse. Activities in Bandipur consisted of a couple of jeep safaris. In the Wilds, we did an evening / night jeep safari and the following morning did a long walk through coffee estates to the Singara dam. On our way back to Bangalore, we stopped for lunch at the customary Lalit Mahal Palace.

New Gallery

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:29:45 GMT

Doddamakali fishing camp Nov 2010

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:20:01 GMT

]]>Spent a weekend in remotest of the three fishing camps on the beautiful Cauvery river. It rained, and the camp was brilliant!

Sri Lanka coast

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 05:38:26 GMT

]]>I joined fellow birder from Delhi Atul Jain on a pelagic birding trip off the coast of Beruwala in Sri Lanka. Pelagic birds (also called oceanic birds) are birds (for reasons best known to them) that live on the open sea for months returning to land only for breeding. We made two sorties to discover a very rough sea / ocean. It was a thrilling experience to be out at sea in a small fishing boat especially in rough weather! Ten minutes into each boat trip my stomach transformed into a washing machine churning acid and bile. Photography (even with a small camera) was virtually impossible because of the turbulent waters.

We stayed at the popular Serendib beach resort in Bentota near Beruwala (90km south of Colombo).

I stayed at my favorite Galle Face Hotel (old wing) in Colombo on my way back to Bangalore.

Street, building & interior

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:48:19 GMT

]]>Random images taken indoors and some outdoors. No particular theme or focus.

Nagaland again! May 2010

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 13:53:22 GMT

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Altaghat July 2009

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:31:13 GMT

]]>Altaghat is coffee estate high-up in the mountains of Anamalais. It is set amidst rainforest and other estates and it is our pilot site for a rainforest restoration program. We keep visiting this place every month and these are some images during the monsoon...

Slideshow

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:20:46 GMT

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Coorg & the Cauvery Apr 2010

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:08:15 GMT

]]>I made a 'family' trip to Talacauvery -- the place that is generally considered to be the source of the Cauvery River. It is located in the Brahmagiri hill (not to be confused with the Brahmagiri range further South) near Bhagamandala in Kodagu (Coorg) district, Karnataka, 1,276 m. above sea level. We drove to Talacauvery via Bhagamandala and stayed at the wonderful little homestay called Raksh near Siddapur. Run by couple Sujay Subaiah & Deena Sujay, the homestay provides fantastic hospitality and fabulous food (even for us veggies in Coorg!). After our Talacauvery visit, we had time to interact with camp elephants at the Dubare Elephant Camp run by Jungle Lodges.

Jamnagar & Pirotan Island, Apr 2010

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:24:04 GMT

]]>I was always wishing to to make a trip to one of the Islands off the Jamnagar coast in the Gulf of Kutch to photograph the wader migration. Thanks to wader expert Arpit Deomurari, I finally got an opportunity in the first week of April. Arpit had secured permission for me and Krishnan to spend a couple of days on Pirotan Island, of course, to be ably led by Arpit.

It was a great photographic trip to the island, getting in and out at 2:00am to ride the high tide. The wader densities were phenomenal though it was tremendous hard work dragging equipment through mud in the hot sun.

In addition, we birded in many parts of the Jamnagar coast including a long drive to the Charakla salt pans (owned by Tata Chemicals) via Khambalia.

Namdapha Feb 2010

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:54:38 GMT

]]>Namdapha National Park is the largest 'protected' area in the Eastern Himalaya and is located in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. It is also the largest national park in India in terms of area (1983 sq. kms) and is recognized as one of the richest areas in biodiversity in India.

Shashank Dalvi and I made a week's trip to Namdapha in February to try and get some avian specialities before the rains. It was my maiden trip to the park and Shashank's third. Namdapha is all hiking and the last a jeep can take you (currently) is Deban which is kind of the 'base camp' as well as the administrative headquarters to the park.

Our logistics was excellently organized by Phupla Singpo (based in Miao about 25 kms before Deban) who helps birders with porters, guides and cooks. We had a 11-member team (to assist two guests!). Birding was challenging and photography even more so. It also rained heavily a couple of days keeping us inside tents for most of the time.

Nagaland Jan 2010

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:08:54 GMT

]]>Nagaland is a hill state located in the far north-eastern part of India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Burma to the east and Manipur to the south. The state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur. With a population of nearly two million people, it has a total area of 16,579 km² — making it one of the smallest states of India.

We recently undertook a bird survey supported by the Nagaland govt. covering parts of west and south Nagaland. The key birding sites we covered were Khonoma, Benrue and Inthanki. The birding part of the trip (along with the bird pictures) will go up on wildventures.com soon while this gallery focuses on the land and the people of Nagaland. While most of our time was spent in remote jungles, we did get a chance to soak urban Nagaland in Kohima and DImapur.

Kohima has a large cemetery for the Allied war dead maintained by the Commonwealth Graves Commission -- easily one of the the most impressive monuments in India. The cemetery lies on the slopes of Garrison Hill which was the scene of intense fighting -- the Battle of the Tennis Court. The cemetery commemorates the memories of the officers and men who sacrificed their lives during World War II. The Battle of Kohima was the turning point in the Burma Campaign where this bitter hand-to-hand battle and slaughter prevented the Japanese from gaining across the extensive flatlands of India. The famous inscription written on the War Memorial stone reads: When you go home Tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today.

West Rajasthan Dec 2009

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:17:07 GMT

]]>We visited Western Rajasthan in November for a week-long birding trip. We visited Tal Chhapar, Kheechan and Desert National Park for birding and also visited the towns of Sujangarh, Phalodi, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur for non-birding reasons. The street life, the cultural heritage, the architecture of the Maharajas are all spectacular best depicted through images. Here are a few of them.

Colombo, Nov 2009

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:16:49 GMT

]]>I spent 48-hours in Colombo last weekend on an unplanned trip and hardly stepped out of the Galle Face Hotel -- one of Asia’s oldest and most famed landmarks. The hote, founded in 1864, is the oldest hotel east of Suez. It is located off Galle Road, the main highway in Colombo, by the side of the panoramic Indian Ocean. The hotel is now managed by the Ceylon Hotels Corporation.

Guests of the Galle Face Hotel have included Richard Nixon, Indira Gandhi, Javaharlal Neru, Emperor Hirohito, Roger Moore and Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel in space!

I couldn't resist one quick visit to the Gallery cafe designed by Sri Lankan Architect Geoffrey Bawa -- regarded as one of the most important and influential Asian architects of the 20th century.

Rishikesh -- Holy City on the Ganges

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:47:37 GMT

]]>Rishikesh (Hindi: ऋषिकेश) is a city in the Northern Indian state of Uttarakhand in the foothills of the Himalaya. It is holy city for Hindus and a famous pilgrimage centre. It is also known as the gateway to the Himalayas and is located around 25 kilometres away from another holy city, Haridwar.

The sacred river Ganga (Ganges) flows through Rishikesh. In fact, it is here that the river leaves the Shivalik mountains in the Himalayas and flows out into the plains of northern India. Several temples, ancient as well as new, can be found along the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh. The city attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists each year, from within India, as well as from other countries. It is believed that meditation in Hrishikesh brings one closer to attainment of moksha, as does a dip in the holy river that flows through it. It is also becoming a popular spot for white water rafting enthusiasts, both from India and abroad, as it offers medium to rough rapids in the course of river Ganges.

We had just finished, in Oct 2008, a 2-day rafting trip (Shivpuri to Kaudiyala to Rishkesh) that ended in Rishikesh and these images are from a few hours spent that evening before we left for Delhi.

Kolkata & Sundarbans

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:02:16 GMT

]]>These are images from my frequent trips to Kolkata and my Dec 08 trip to Bali island, Sundarbans.

Kolkata formerly Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. When referred to as Calcutta, it usually includes the suburbs, and thus its population exceeds 15 million, making it India's third-largest metropolitan area and urban agglomeration as well as the world's 8th largest agglomeration. Kolkata served as the capital of India during the British Raj until 1911. Once the centre of modern education, industry, science, culture and politics in India, Kolkata has witnessed intense political violence, clashes and economic stagnation since 1954. Like other metropolitan cities in India, Kolkata continues to struggle with the problems of urbanisation: poverty, pollution and traffic congestion. Kolkata is noted for its revolutionary history, ranging from the Indian struggle for independence to the leftist and trade union movements.

The Sundarbans is the largest single block of tidal mangrove forest in the world. The name Sundarban can be literally translated as "beautiful jungle" or "beautiful forest" in the Bengali language. But the generally accepted view is the one associated with Sundari trees. The forest lies at the feet of the Ganges and is spread across areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, forming the seaward fringe of the delta.

Dibru & crossing the Bramhaputra, March 2009

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:57:10 GMT

]]>In March, as part of a month-long North East India birding trip, we visited the eastern most part of Assam before proceeding to Mishmi Hills in Arunchal Pradesh. In Assam, we explored the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park spectacularly located on the floodplains of the Debang, Lohit, Dibru and the Brahmaputra Rivers. This habitat is very unique and water is a very significant part of daily life. Therefore, river crossings are inevitable to reach any place and are either done on foot (especially during birding) or by boat.

The only way to Arunachal Pradesh from Dibru-Saikhowa is to cross the mighty Brahmaputra River at Saikhowa Ghat (near Tinsukhia town) in a ferry (unless you charter a chopper). Buses, cars, cargo, cattle, everything is loaded on ferries for the crossing which can take upto a couple of hours and this offers a a great opportunity for people-watching. The take-off and landing spots vary by the week because of the shifting banks of the Bramhaputra and the whole infrastructure (hotels, ferry companies, etc.) moves on both sides to keep the crossing short. It was fun to do the journey both ways (not that we had an option!)

I have also included some pictures of Roing town at the base of Mishmi Hills in Arunachal Pradesh. Kept these images in color for obvious reasons!

On the way back from Mishmi Hills (after re-crossing the Bramhaputra), we stopped at the Dihing River Resort near Dibrugarh and the community-run resort had very kindly and thoughtfully arranged an elaborate Bihu folk dance.

Bharatpur & Kumaon Himalaya

ramki@wildventures.com (ramki | leica photography) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:57:43 GMT

]]>In February 2009, I made a long birding trip to Bharatpur (in Rajasthan) and parts of the Kumaon Himalaya (Corbett, Sat Tal and Pangot). These are some images from the trip.