DUCKS IN THE TIME OF ELECTIONS....

It was election season in Mumbai recently.

 And I am sure the ducks housed in our guest house premises by the lakeside and pondside, were, as they say, "seized" of the matter.

 One kept hearing about election commissioners, codes of conduct, candidates following it, some defying it, and so on. 

It even affected the ducks.

 Clicked on my Canon EOS 1100D

As commissioner, I must remain alert at all times. Never know what these ducks

are up to.

   A quickly organized cleanup by the candidates, before the TV people come. Earlier we scratched each others backs.  Now it's difficult to reach our own ....

          We always, but always, Follow Our  Leader....

Of course there are same money minded unscrupulous types, who fly the coop to other parties...

And then some really nice, quiet, obedient ones, who quietly sit and wait for an opportunity to shine

Of course, even there, there are some restless types who gossip among themselves  right under someone else's nose.......

     And finally, an observer-duck ! This guy takes rounds around all the voting booths to ensure there is no hanky panky happening.   Amidst all the qualified candidates, sometimes, you end up  hearing a loud quack !

Captions by Suranga Date 

Art at the Fair.....

Jewellery captures at the Kala Ghoda Art fair on February 11, 2012. 

Went to the Fair and was so thrilled with all this traditional jewellery for sale in many stalls .   Bangles, pendants, necklaces, anklets, armbands, and hordes of young girls and women crowding around . The prices though, were not so user friendly. 

Though the visuals were....

Clicked on my Canon EOS 1100D.

Kashele Trees .....

We walked a good 45 minutes between Kashele and Kavthewadi, to do some tests with a contraption designed by my friend, which would help with  the water carrying load of the adivasi and rural women of the region. More photos may be seen here. 

We normally do not have an autumn season, but one such, seems to be running late (into February)  here. Our walk between Kashele and Kavthewadi  was full of  so many leafless trees, standing tall.   So many bearing flowers, all in earth colors.

The first one here almost resembles a  classical dance pose .  

Clicked on my Canon EOS 1100D .

 

Kashele Blooms......

On a visit to the Kashele area in the Karjat region (in the district adjoining the Mumbai district), here are some flowers from the garden, of an NGO called Shabari Seva Kendra.  We were on a visit to Kavthewadi and this NGO .

Many of these NGO's work with rural and tribal children and women. There are facilities, and people, who help in the education of the local youth , as well as conduct all kinds of useful training for girls, whereby, they learn a skill. I saw a big room, where students were busy with studies, and another where some girls were getting training on sewing machines. Did not want to disturb them, so did not take photographs there. 

But their garden was full of color....

Photographs clicked on my Canon EOS 1100D

Kashele Folks

Recently visited a village called Kashele, near Karjat in the district adjoining Mumbai ,  accompanying  someone who was working on a project concerning carrying of drinking water by women in villages, and making things a bit easier for them.   

These are photographs taken around 8 am. The children were up and about, and very curious as to what we were up to.   

This area is usually very green, at the year end.  With the approaching spring and summer, it gets  a golden tinge, thanks to the harsh sun and depleting water.

Clicked on my Canon EOS 1100D

Magic Drops

 Gutta cavat lapidem (Dripping water hollows out a stone)
        -  Ovid, Epistulae Ex Ponto, Book 3, no. 10, 1. 5

I've always been fascinated by water drops.

More so when I try to photograph them. 

The following is an experiment I did,  trying out High Speed photography.  

This is a photograph of a water drop falling from a tap into a very plain glass bowl.

Taken on my Canon EOS  1100D.

Light Painting Photography.

Light painting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source or by moving the camera. 

 By moving the light source, the light can be used to selectively illuminate parts of the subject or to "paint" a picture by shining it directly into the camera lens. Light painting requires a slow shutter speed, usually a second or more. Light painting can take on the characteristics of a quick pencil sketch.

Taken on my Canon EOS 1100D DSLR camera.

Long Exposure Night Shots.

Long-exposure photography or time-exposure photography involves using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring the moving elements.

 Long exposures are easiest to accomplish in low-light conditions, but can be done in brighter light using specially designed cameras.

 Long-exposure photography is often used in a night-time setting in order to produce a near daytime effect in the photo. By leaving the camera's shutter open for an extended period of time, more light is absorbed, creating a brighter product. If the camera is stationary for the entire period of time that the shutter is open, a very vibrant and clear photograph can be produced.

Taken on my Canon EOS 1100D SLR camera between 19:00 hrs and 19:30 hrs today.

As seen from the campus guesthouse.

A small pond on the opposite side of the guesthouse.