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Short rest on a long journey I was traveling to Mussoorie for a family vacation. We took a train to Dehradun and then a taxi to our destination. We were in the chair car and I stepped out of the seating area to wash my hands. That’s when I found this unusual frame. For a second, I didn’t realise what I was looking at. And when I did, I quickly took my phone out of my pocket, kneeled down and captured the frame. Even today, when I look at this moment, it gives rise to a cocktail of emotions like #surprise , #shock , #laughter , #sadness , #wonderment , and above all, #empathy. Empathy for these two men who must have had put in God knows how many hours of hard work. All that work of moving across the vast space of multiple coaches and yet finding a small storage space good enough to give themselves much-deserved rest. #train #trainjourney #trainjourneys #sleeping #legshanging #photography #photoforlife #photography #barelysleeping #india #photographers_of_india #photographyart #_coi #_soi @colours.of.india — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/3gXvUc0

Youth Anywhere I look around, it reminds of the gloomiest phase of our lives that we are experiencing. TV, Google, Social Media, e-mails, WhatsApp messages, web chats and phone calls start with what’s going on. It’s understandable. But how quickly we, humans, tend to dumb down everything that it becomes a very shallow conversation in no time. Our collective coping mechanism is very mechanical instead of being spiritual. There’s pandemic? Let’s stock up on hand sanitizers, toilet papers, soap, food etc. Yes, it is about survival so we must do “the essentials” to ensure sustenance of our body. What about the sustenance of our spirituality? What are we doing to promote empathy, gratitude and hope? Well, that’s what the Governments and religious leaders are for! We need to be reminded by them. On one side, every business communication will start with “Hope you and your family well” or “You must take good care and relax”, but it will then be loaded with expectations. We would say something on end and do the exact opposite on the other. Hope. That is what each one of us hanging on to. It is what keeps us from going crazy. Unfortunately for us humans, evolution stagnated when we began to stand erect, because any challenge we face needs to be broken into mundaneness else we will fall apart. We all can move beyond it and embrace creativity. Create something that is young and fresh. Not only will it bring newness to our lives, it will renew hope, faith and trust in ourselves and the ones around us. Create, my fellow kind. It will save us all. #quarantineart #quarantinecontent #quarantinephotography #quarantineproject #covid19 #lockdownart #lockdowncontent #lockdownphotography #lockdownproject #leaf #leaves #leafs #leafly #buddingleaf #bud #plant #bnw #blackandwhite #bnwphotography #bnwmood #bnwphoto #bnwlife #bnwfanatics #photography #photoforlife #photography #photographers_of_india #photographyart #youth #hope #hopeful — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/3bdUzpS

Majestic Bird This lockdown has brought about many changes to our lives. There are a couple of negatives, but, quite many of them are positive, if you care to look. There are some obvious ones like drastic decline in pollution and morning traffic snarls. There are subtle changes, too, like the Nature claiming its place in our lives again. Rightfully. In the past few weeks, I have seen birds in my balcony that I had never seen before. I had never found dogs sleeping in the middle of the road (not uncommon to find street dogs in India). This whole pandemic situation, it seems, has forced humanity to retreat after centuries of environmental carnage. We can debate that. But I’m not inclined to because I love being closer to Nature even if it is forced. Case in point, this majestic bird. I had seen them gliding high above our house many times before. But it is only after the reduced density of vehicles and human presence that they she felt free to fly lower than the building height, right above the street below. Hunting for its prey. It’s cool to find them flying around. To add to that, my 6 year old is over-excited to see them. He had been after my life to capture their photograph but we would miss. That fortunate morning, there 5 or 6 of them in the sky. And he went crazy. “Look, there’s one!”, he would say pointing towards the sky. “Quick, take the photo”, he kept yelling. After many unsuccessful attempts, this one decided to sit atop the house diagonally opposite to ours. That’s when I managed to take this shot. When I showed this photo to my son, he felt victorious and gratified. It was as if he had got his own eagle for himself. Way to start the day, right? #quarantineart #quarantinecontent #quarantinephotography #quarantineproject #covid19 #lockdownart #lockdowncontent #lockdownphotography #lockdownproject #eagle #eagles #eaglez #soaringeagle #soaringhigher #soaring #flying #fly #birdsofinstagram #bird #birdsofprey #birds #photography #photoforlife #photography #photographers_of_india #photographyart — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/3fyratH

Golden Lining It was a tough day. This whole quarantine/lockdown situation kept bothering me every now and then. There would be days when I would find it all bothersome. It was just one of those days. I have always believed that art and creativity can save us from almost any challenge we face. It has been very true for me, at least. May be because I mindfully begin to seek a creative outlet in difficult situations. It works in two ways for me - it becomes a healthy distraction from the negativity that begins to seep in, and secondly, pursuing any art form forces me to connect with a part of myself that spawns fresh thinking. The challenging times this pandemic has brought us all into needs a fitting response. And that response, according to me, is creativity. And this is exactly what I did. I was working all day. Exhausted and mentally drained I stepped out in the evening looking for a soothing creative experience. And there it was - Plant leaves kissed by sunlight at the golden hour. It felt as if Nature did that to cheer me up. I got what I was truly seeking for myself that evening. It was nothing short of a miracle. That moment culminating into this photo was all I needed to fight the onset of lockdown gloom. It was my golden lining. #quarantineart #quarantinecontent #quarantinephotography #quarantineproject #covid19 #lockdownart #lockdowncontent #lockdownphotography #lockdownproject #leaf #leaves #plant #backlit #goldenlining #goldenhour #sunlight #evening #macro #macrophotography #backlitphotography #backlitleaf #photography #photoforlife #photography #photographers_of_india #photographyart — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/35IP69c

How’s this? Every now and then every photographer gets that “money shot”. Such shots appear to be driven by luck more than anything else. It’s true. Luck plays its part. But, I feel it also has a lot to do with intent. Intent to be at the right place and right time. Intent to recognise that opportune moment. And most importantly, intent to act with wholeheartedness. In that moment of intent, nothing matters more than what one wants to do. This fellow was flying back and forth on my balcony. He had this playful energy. He would sit at one corner of my balcony and stare at me till I was still. The moment I would pick up my camera to take a shot, he would fly away. He kept doing that for a while and then disappeared. In the midst of all this, I wanted to capture his photo. It was like the child in me wanted to something he was unable to get, and what I was getting was not good enough. I found a couple of frames but I didn’t bother capturing them. Disappointed, I kept the camera on the stool in the balcony, sat on the chair next to it and picked up the book I was reading. The book was captivating enough to make me pause reading and think about something of the things it talked about. I must have read the book for, say, 10 or 12 minutes. I had completely forgot about the shot the child in me wanted to take. And suddenly, out of nowhere, this guy flies in and sits on the awning above the opposite balcony. I kept the book on thr stool, picked up my camera and started to focus. Missing the shot was not an option. This time, this fellow also didn’t move much. Rather, it chose to stare at me. And when I took 1-2 test shots, he would look at me with his right eye and pause. Then he would take one step forward, look from the other eye and pause again. It was almost as if he was posing. That day, in that moment, the photographer, that child, found his object of interest. Rest was for the right index finger and the camera to do. #quarantineart #quarantinecontent #quarantinephotography #quarantineproject #covid19 #lockdownart #lockdowncontent #lockdownphotography #lockdownproject #pigeon #pigeons #posing #birdpose #birdposes #birdposer #birdposers #awning #balcony # — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2xJfN1d

📸: @fidalgophoto⠀ ⠀ #nature #water #whirlpool #hurricane — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2JkZD00

📸: @tinmanlee ⠀ ⠀ #wildlifephotography #owl #openwings #goldenhour — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2JmV3hH

📸: @big_6pat ⠀ ⠀ #nature #mountains #cloud #landscapephotography #landscape — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2Ui2rBv

📸: @lessday ⠀ ⠀ #nature #mountains #cloud #landscapephotography #landscape #bluedress — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2xiFTHI

📸: @beckylynnsim ⠀ ⠀ #landscapephotography #landscape #slowshutter #nightphotography #nightsky — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2xiV9Eq

📸: @vineet_vohra ⠀ ⠀ #streetphotography #rooster #forcedperspective — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/3baweld

📸: @dr.bergkind ⠀ ⠀ #horsephotograpy #horserider #mountains #landscapephotography #landscape #mountainlife — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2WstSKr

📸: @bejamin ⠀ ⠀ #nature #hill #cloud #landscapephotography #landscape — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2wlDlZh

📸: @rui_palha ⠀ ⠀ #streetphotography #rainyday #rains #bnwphotography #bnw — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2QiiT2f

📸: @devdxb ⠀ ⠀ #kid #kidsrunning #leap #forcedperspective #mumbai — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2QmlOa5

📸: @karen_claudia_ ⠀ ⠀ #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #cyclist #goldenhourphotography #goldenhour — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2U62izw