India_2015- Village Life

Two weeks at my grandparents house flied (I forgot to mention, the town is named Porayar). What did we do? We traveled to other nearby towns to visit my relatives. We stayed home and helped my Grandmother with her saree business. We went to a near waterfall one day. We went to three different beaches. We went to several big, old, and historically  famous temples. We went to a market at night that is only held once a week. We spent time at our neighbors' homes. We spent quality time on the terrace. We played soccer on the roads. We heard the sad news of Dr. Abdul Kalam's death. We learned about the numerous fruit trees in the backyard. We took walks on the dirt roads. I learned how to ride an motorbike for the first time. I listened to my Grandma's stories at night before going to sleep. I learned to cook a few Indian recipes from my Grandmother. We got bit by mosquitos. We got hooked onto Indian tv shows for the time being (which aren't the best). We got bored at home (the kids had school). We did homework. We relaxed. We went shopping. We ate. We slept...etc.

We also went to a temple owned by our family, next to the beach. First off, it's a bumpy ride to get there. Real bumpy. They're in the process of putting roads around the temple. So when you jump out of the car barefoot (no shoes allowed in temples), you make a run to the temple floor. Why? Because the grass is super prickly and you have to watch out for goat leftovers... Once you successfully make it to the outside of the temple, you're next challenge is to bare the burning marble steps. These floors have been baked in the sun, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, etc. They are hot, period. You must challenge your feet to some pain for like 30 seconds, just until you get past the stairs. Once you're inside, it's super humid and hot. You make an agreement with your sweat glands to keep you cool, but not sweat like a pool. You take the unbearable heat for, let's say 15-20 minutes. While you're inside, you also witness a family of bats flying in and out. Yes. Small bats. They're a small nuisance, but you focus on prayers and finally get out. Phew. On a more serious note, I earned a ton of money while I was at my grandparent's place. We decided to give that money to the temple and put in 4 ceiling fans. So if you were looking forward to experiencing the ways of this temple, it's too late now because ceiling fans are on they're way!

I took this picture right outside the temple. (Yes, I had to stand in the prickly grass... ) They're putting a new road down for the local people. And by the way, the well in this picture is completely empty. It's a huge well but it's only filled with trash. And our temple is in a very rural area, very rural compared to our town. 

I tell you, this picture displays the simplest lifestyle you can find. You see women and men working on the road, manually. No tractors or bulldozers. (There's not enough money for big vehicles.) You can see the house in the back. Straw roof, clay/cement walls, dirt floor. It's very simple, and I have to say, and very easy to live in. Maybe they have simple electricity, the simplest ways of getting water. They live right next to the beach, so maybe they're fishers, and they get their money and food from fishing. Or they might work for someone else and get paid. They might have one motorbike per family, and send their kids to school by walking. 

This is how people get their water. They pump it and pump it and pump it.  They pump it into this water jug and the woman carries that on her waist. I don't know why, but a woman carrying a water jug on her waist is a pretty staple picture. By the way, the shadows are too much in this picture because there's too much direct sunlight. 

Another story to tag along is... we went to a different beach that's about an hour away called, Velankanni beach. This town is a very nice Christian area, with a lot of history and churches and tourism, but the beach itself is something completely different. The beach is gross. Once you come out of the car, you step on the sand and it's littered. Then you keep your hopes up for the water, and it all goes down the drain. The water isn't even blue. It's like a brown, gross color. The sand is littered with peanut shells and trash. (Why peanuts? Because they sell peanuts w/shells on the beach and people just throw away the shells on the sand.) There's probably more peanut shells than sand grains. Like, you can't even feel the sand anymore, you just feel peanut shells when you step down. Also the number of people at the beach is overflowing. I was speechless when I saw just how many people came to the beach. I seriously mean overflowing. The whole experience was honestly, so different. 

Another thing is that the network is pretty limited. The power went out often. Plus.. it's hot. So when the power went out, it was like being in the oven times two. Then the mosquito frenzy would get to you and you'd start to itch and panic. Other than those things, the food is great, and the village life is gooood.  

India_2015- The beginning

The beginning of our India trip. We landed in the Bangalore airport and the first problem was... a suitcase missing... of course. We had a rest stop in Qatar for 12 hours and in those 12 hours, the airlines lost one of our suitcases! They had 12 hours to get it right (12 hours is a long time). Come on Qatar Airways!..Oh well.. we got the suitcase a day and a half later. We stayed at a cousins house for the day, and left for my dad's place (only my grandparents live there now) the next morning. He's from the state Tamil Nadu, and it's a 10 hour drive from Bangalore. My sister and I stayed at my dad's place for two weeks.  No matter how much time I spend there, it just doesn't feel enough.

Animals in India are a big thing. You don't even have to go to the zoo to see all the animals. Why? Because it's like all the animals in the zoo rebelled, escaped, and now living on the streets! The mommy-cat on the left picture paid a visit every day. It even had two kitties, but the mom took it elsewhere after sometime. On the right is a picture of a crow. Crows are a nuisance in India because there are way too many, they are too loud, they feed on trash, and steal food in kitchens. The lazy goats are on the bottom left picture. They just roam the streets and have nothing better to do than finding food. Lastly, the bottom right picture is of a cow. These cows trot the streets searching for food, just like the goats. And one of the ways it gets fed is by standing in front of a house. The people in the house will feed the cow and the cow will move on to the next house. (They're pretty smart ;)) For three days in a row, that cow in the picture came up to our house as soon as I stepped outside, and I fed it a banana once :).

Back in the old days, people universally use to collect their water from wells. But now, at least in India, wells are mostly dried up (there's just a little water left). My grandparents still use the water left in the well for various purposes. Although, the water is slightly salty since they are so close to the ocean. The funny thing is that every time I look into a well, my brain automatically goes into a think session. How would I get out if I accidentally fell in? 

Our grandparents house is reallly nice, inside and out. They have a huge backyard with so many different fruit trees. They have mango trees, eucalyptuses, lemon trees, banana trees, guava trees, coconut trees, etc... It's hard to maintain the whole garden, but it's worth it once all the fruits are ripe. Anyway, the point of this picture is to show just how many lemons can grow on a lemon tree. Literally bags full. My Grandmother gave them away to relatives because there were too many. What is she going to with all of them?

 This is the awesome view I enjoyed on top of the terrace. Our house, in my opinion, has the best view on the street because it's the tallest. You can see everything that's happening down on the road, in the backyard, around other houses... and this is the best spot at night too. You can see tooo many stars, like more than your brain can comprehend. And guess what?? There's a beautiful beach 2-3 kilometers away. We went to the beach many, many times throughout our stay. Oh and you can actually see where the beach is in this picture. It's a little past those tiny palm trees on the left side of the picture. The beach is actually really become popular to foreigners because of a New Jerusalem Church next to the beach and a Danish fort right next to that. This Danish fort is called Fort Dansborg and actually has a ton of history piled into it. First off, this was the first Danish settlement ever in India. This was also the first place newspaper was printed in India. And the fort is now an active museum. I walked inside for the first time and it's pretty neat. They have a ton of old artifacts in good condition, tours of the jail, kitchen, artillery, etc, and a great ocean view. Wikipedia states that "the fort is one of the most visited tourist landmarks in the region". Which is very cool since our grandparents live like two kilometers away. 

Coconut trees are like cars in america. They're everywhere. And what comes with coconut trees? Coconuts! Lots and lots and lots of them. There are venders who sell tender coconut water on the streets, which is very convenient. If you're driving, just take a pit stop on the side of the road,  and ask for some through the window. They use their huge knives to cut the top of the coconut, stick the straw in, and give it to you. Once you're done drinking, you give it back and they will cut the coconut in half to get the raw coconut inside. Plus, coconut water is super healthy and feels nice for the hot weather. Aren't there companies who package coconut water into disposable bottles? Well, fresh is definitely better. 

Big events in India are a common thing. What does that mean? You have to mass produce food for everyone. When we hosted a big event, my grandmother hired some cooks to mass cook the food in the backyard. They used these huge pots to cook everything. In this picture, the cook is frying chicken. Speaking of chicken, non-vegetarian food, especially seafood is pretty popular in the coastal areas. You can get the freshest seafood with the best spices! On some days, there are vendors who walk the streets selling fresh shrimp, crab, or fish. A big fish market also exists close by, and i'll tell you,  it's something very interesting... they sell huge fish, small fish, sliced fish, jumbo shrimp, tiny shrimp, crabs, and even octopus. All fresh.. it's pretty crazy.

A common way of eating meals are on banana leaves, and a lot of restaurants serve food on banana leaves too.  I've seen some banana farms and the farms are huge. I assume that's where they chop the banana leaves for these meals. When you sit down to eat, the servers go around in a line and serve one dish/side-dish at a time. It's much different than the way Americans serve food.

This is just the beginning, there are plenty more pictures coming up (from our trip) soon! :)

Past Dinner Time in Belgium

Airplane tickets to India are expensive even though airline companies are finally making profit. Qatar Airways was the cheapest deal, at a fantastic price, but we had to pay a different price too- a 12 hour pit stop. Our first flight was 13 hours, then a stop in Qatar for 12 hours, and then a final flight of 4 hours. I traveled with my sister, my aunt, her 2 sons, and a friend. The first flight was very long but never boring because time flies when you have countless movies to watch in front of you. But phew it was a long ride.

We took off in the morning from Philadelphia. We saw the sun set on Europe, and rise again on the Middle East.  I took this picture somewhere over Belgium, near Brussels to be exact. And you could see city lights in every direction. Very cool view. The sun is just starting to set, I'd say I took this at 8 o'clock there. Just past dinner time. 

I took the picture above (original) with my iPod because I didn't have my camera with me. I was sitting in the middle on the left section of the plane, so I had to lean over to take the picture. I didn't try to focus or anything. Just snap and done. Once I took the picture, I saw that it was too dark and you couldn't see the lights. Again, iPod quality. I didn't delete it because I thought I could always edit it later. Once we landed, and when I was stuck with jetlag, I edited the picture above. The main thing I did was add exposure, and tadaa, you can see Belgium! Buut it's not that great because it's iPod quality. 

Oh and by the way, the 12 hour wait in Qatar was boring. 12 hours is a long time in an airport and it was day time there too, but we just slept. Our food and sleep schedule was really messed up. The next 4 hour plane wasn't great because the number of movies was very limited. Qatar airways has pretty good service, not so great food, all for a good price. 

Dragonflies

I was raking the grass one afternoon, and I noticed a few dragonflies were attracted to the grass. A few days later, I went to the edge of the woods where we dispose of the grass.  I saw some more dragonflies, and decided to go get my camera. I got my camera and went back. I wasn't worried about the dragonflies leaving because there were so many. They were just clinging on to the heaps of dead grass. I came closer and closer, to see if they would fly away. Nope, they were too busy doing whatever they do.  

I got this one on a flower weed. I came closer and closer and it didn't move (which was good on my case). Either way, I had my big lens on, so I could stand farther and still zoom in. This type of dragonfly is called the blue-fronted dancer (argia apicalis). 

I admit, I cheated on this picture. My camera could have never zoomed in that much. Or I don't know how. I just cropped up another picture so that it would zoom in like this. I was glad that the picture was still very clear after cropping. Some pictures have very poor resolution and becomes grainy if you zoom in. Oh and this picture is spiced up a bit. A little contrast, highlights, temperature, shadows, and saturation. 

Is it there? Is it not? I thought this picture was really cool. You can describe what's going on in two ways: a dragonfly unfocused or of dead grass. I got by being too close to the dragonfly. I wanted to zoom in as much as I can, but the camera couldn't focus any more, so it started to focus on the grass back there. 

I cheated on this one too :( Cropped a different picture, just like the other one. Only because I had no way of getting a closer, clearer view of the insect. And I think this looks really good. The detail of the grassy weed thing and the dragonfly. 

This is of a different dragonfly. This was the odd brown one out of the whole flock. It was also a little harder to get too because it kept moving around. Unlike the blue dragonfly, this didn't stay in a spot for long. I waited for a good 5 minutes for it to find a spot, and when it did, it was too far. I had to stamp my way through some dead grass and crouch down to get a good angle. Even then, the camera couldn't focus on the dragonfly because there was too much going on behind it. 

Tips from Firsthand Experience

Hello! I'm going to throw some helpful tips and hints based off of my past experiences.

What I would to suggest anyone when they first get their camera is, to learn the camera. Learn your camera from the manual, maybe some videos, or experiment with it. It's best to familiarize with it first instead of missing great shots later on.

 Here, I'll tell you a short story. It was July fourth, American Independence Day, which means fireworks! We went to New York City and New Jersey that day, and I didn't get the opportunity to take pictures. We came back home for the fireworks in our township, and bam! Perfect opportunity for pictures! I didn't bother to research how to take good firework pictures. I just assumed that I should take it on night mode. But when I got there, night mode was terrrible. Half way through the fireworks, I switched to manual. And I set it up manual, but it still wasn't the best. A little later, I tried sports mode, and, bam! I took some spectacular shots. Lesson learned, learn the camera first. 

Treat your camera like a year-old baby! I use to take care of my camera like it was a newborn baby, but there's no need to be so careful. Cameras are designed to experience some rough and tear. Buuut that doesn't mean you shouldn't take care of it at all. Do not damage it, let it swing around, let it immerse in water, or even drop it. Treat it like it's a one-year old. Wipe the lens, filters, and even sensors once in a while. (Sensors are a  little tricky to clean so search up how to online before you clean it.) Store the camera safely and don't let it lay around. Do not let the lens get scratched up or get bashed around in a bag. I recommend you specify a bag for your camera and other materials.

Anytime you head out the door with a camera, make sure you have what you need. Do you have a bag? Is the camera even in the bag? Is the battery charged? Is the battery even in the camera? Do you have a memory card in the camera? Does that memory card have any available space? Do you need a backup memory card? Is the lens clean? Do you have all your lenses ( if you own more than one lense)? Do you need to bring the charger? Do you need a tripod? Do you need a cloth (to clean up the camera)? Do you need to bring a manual? Take what you need before heading out the door. And remember to charge your camera the night before. True story: in the morning on July 4th, I realized that my camera was dead. We had to leave soon for NYC, so I quickly charged the battery for 20 minutes. The camera was half charged throughout the day and thank goodness it lasted me through the fireworks. I learned my lesson there. 

I know I've said this in a lot of my posts, but it's very important; Take more pictures than you need. Taking more pictures than what you need is definitely better than not taking enough. It's ok if you take too many pictures. There's something called the delete button right? Just go back and delete the ones you don't like. I find myself "cleansing" my camera very often. And it's important to be like Stalin (who was responsible for about 50 million deaths directly) and kill any unimportant pictures. 

When I go through my camera to delete pictures, I go through it at least 2 times. The first round consists of deleting the obvious. The pictures the were taken by accident, or the blurry ones, etc. Then I go through them again to compare. For example, if I have ten pictures of the same subject, I'll find the best one and delete the rest. I may go through them a third time to be strict about which pictures to keep and delete. 

After taking all those firework pictures, I had to sit and go through all of them. And the funny thing was, I knew it was going to be a pain to delete some of it, yet I still kept taking more. That's because you should take more than what you need in case some don't turn out the way you want. You're left with options to choose from, which could be a good or bad thing. 

This picture down here was after round two. I still have so many left! I have to go through them once again. :(

There's also something else I learned recently when taking pictures. I find myself never looking at pictures as soon as I take them. I just keep clicking and move on. I'll take a picture of a flower and keep walking, assuming that the picture was good. Later when I look back at the flower picture, whoops, it's blurry. It happened at the July 4th fireworks too. If I hadn't look at my pictures while I was in night mode, then all my pictures would've been blurry. So make sure you reward yourself with instant feedback.

Tips from this post:

Learn the camera

Treat your camera like a one-year old baby

Have what you need

Take more pictures than you need

Be strict about which pictures to keep and delete

Instant feedback

Puzzling Pieces

On a scavenger hunt to find tips for a different blog post, I came across something called "joiners photography". When I first looked at joiners photography, it looked so fascinating. I immediately thought I should try something like that, but how? After some thought, I realized it's very easy to produce. It is just a mumbo-jumbo of smaller pictures making up a scene. Not exactly like a collage but like a puzzle. There are small pictures, like puzzle pieces, that make a picture like an entire puzzle. So you know how in puzzles, the lighting matches throughout the picture? In joiners photography, that's not necessary. lighting can be different from picture to picture. One picture can be darker than its neighbor, in my opinion, it looks cooler that way. I googled some more examples and alot of the images look so cool. I recommend you look some up now to get an idea. 

This picture is an example of joiners photography, taken outside of the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. The Rodin Museum has all these different statues inside, but I didn't go in there. I just looked at the museum from the outside. The statue outside, sitting in the middle there, is called, The Thinker. It was sculpted by the Frenchman named Rodin. The sculpture standing there is not the original, just some random replica, so it's not valuable. I believe the original sculpture is in a museum dedicated to Rodin in Paris.

 

How do you do joiners photography might you ask? I'll tell you how how I did the Rodin Museum one down there. So I stood on the road opposite the museum and took pictures of each section. What I mean by that is that I took a picture of each individual area moving from up to down, left to right. So I took seperate pictures of the road, the sculpture, the lamppost, the bench, the buildings in the back, the trees, etc. I made sure I covered the entire area without moving from my spot. Once I got home, I connected my camera's memory card to the laptop and opened up powerpoint. I located the pictures of this scene and just copied it into powerpoint. I'll tell you now that powerpoint is not the best way to join pictures together, but it works for me. I'm sure there are softwares out there that make this process a whole lot easier, but PowerPoint seems simple enough. 

Sitting at the top step at the art museum on the edge is so cool. You just sit there at the top and stare out into Philadelphia, observing every little detail on the Ben Franklin Parkway. The people walking on the sidewalk, the constant traffic of cars passing by the lights. It's quite a sight. You can also see every building in the distance from your perspective.

 Along with that, I took this in joiners photography form because the scene was too wide to take just one picture of the entire view. 

 Another thing is that it's important to make sure you take lots of pictures when you do this project. As you can see in this picture, there is one hole and a lot of gaps on the edges. That's because I don't have a picture of that part. So it's important to take a picture of the entire scene because once you move out of your spot, it's almost impossible to get the same scene in the same angle.  

Tips: 

Take a picture of every little detail. Don't miss a spot, otherwise you'll get a hole. 

Joiners photography is great for taking pictures of a wide-spread area, like a panorama. You can even make an artsy creation of a person. 

Have fun with it!

The 5-minute Rainbow

Finally!!! I found the rainbow!!! It was in prefect timing too. We were driving home and I see this huge, dark rain cloud, only on top of our development. It was pretty cool. As we were driving into the community, I was waiting for the moment when the cloud would just spit out. We got home, parked the car, and I went inside to put my bags away when I hear the rain pour! Our house was on the edge of the rain cloud, so I wanted to see if I could see the edge of the rain. (weird wants). But I couldn't find the edge because it was POURING too hard! It poured with large quantity and bad quality (because it was destructively heavy). So after the rain started gushing, I grabbed an umbrella and went outside for fun. It was rainy and sunny... which meant... sun + rain =rainbow! I decided to find a rainbow, and there it was! I made a split second decision to get my camera, and I came back out with the umbrella to take a picture. Pretty cool huh?

This was under the rainbow under the umbrella. Those black dots are the design on the rainbow and you can also faintly see the rainbow back there too. I took this picture with an art bold effect, meaning that it made all the colors more vibrant. Which is why you can see the sky a lot brighter than it is in the previous picture. 

It's funny to see how fast these rain storms come and go. Well, they aren't even storms then because they're so short. This one lasted literally 5-10 minutes. It spanned from the time I got home, run out with an umbrella, run back out with a camera, to the time I finished taking my pictures. By the time I was done, the clouds were almost gone! It was like it never rained, (except there was obviously rain on the ground).