A few days ago, a good friend asked me to share five landscapes images in five days on a social media platform. This, I did dutifully. Photographing landscapes has always been a meditative experience for me. People who know me often call me a lazy photographer, something that I wholeheartedly agree in most occasions. But when it comes to photographing landscapes, I am willing to go to the world’s end, climb a mountain or swim with the sharks if that’s what it takes. Well I haven’t gone swimming with the sharks, but I have endured frostbitesy weathers and stood on ice until my feet ached with cold, have walked for days in unforgiving places, have endured dozens of kilos on my back and dragged myself up on passes and sacrificed a million sugary morning dreams. And every single time I did this, I came back deeply satisfied, with renewed wish to do more of it. So when someone tags me to post image of landscapes there is only one thing to do – comply!
Here is the collection of images I posted in five days, put together.
1. Sunrise from Anjanadri, Hampi.
Here is first of the five images, made in Hampi. I thought it was going to be a simple, easy-to-shoot image catching the sun coming up on the hills of Hampi overlooking Tungabhadra. But I had to spend pretty much all of my brain and endure a bit of panic (about fast loosing the time) before finally managing this image.
2. Winter Landscape, Ladakh
Here is an image from Ladakh, during the winter months. Coping the cold in winter’s Ladakh is a big challenge. The weather is unforgiving. But the rewards are plenty as well. There is so much snow around that it can hurt the eye. Frost makes beautiful shapes. Frozen lakes form gigantic flat fields. Mountains are sprinkled with powdery snow. Most importantly, photographing landscapes here in the winter months is a gratifying experience.
Also see: Our photography tour to Myanmar
Yangon’s circular train serves local commuters by connecting the city with its surroundings. The passengers on board are usually workers who travel to the city from their homes in the suburbs or traders who sell farm produce in the markets. Much of Myanmar’s railway system is fairly old and the age shows in the coaches and the tracks. Until last year, the coaches with bench-style seating were very dated, but some of them are now replaced by new carriages. The atmosphere inside, however hasn’t changed much, making the ride still worth it.
The stations inside the city see urban population commuting on work, which slowly gets replaced by vegetable traders from the villages as the train approaches suburban wholesale markets. Occasional non-homo-sapience passengers are known to hop on board, mostly the harmless white winged variety rendered even less harmless by tying their legs. Other vendors walk in and out, often selling beetle nut leaves, quail eggs and cut fruits. The insides of the train gain a lot of colour in the suburbs, especially at a busy market that is so crowded that even the train tracks are occupied by sellers, briefly emptied for the passing train.
Apparently they now have air-con trains targeted at tourists, but taking one of those defeats the purpose of being there.
Here is a collection of images from Yangon’s Circular Train.
Trains begin and end at Yangon Central station, although strictly speaking, being a circular train there is no beginning and end. The train stops only a few minutes at Yangon Central before continuing to make another circle. In other stations, it stops barely long enough for the passengers to quickly alight and board.
Sunrise over the well-known Angkor Wat temple is a much photographed spectacle. On a morning when the air is still–it typically is–the spires of the temple reflect perfectly on a tank overlooking the edifice. If the clouds add to the drama, a superb show can be expected from the morning sun.
The photographer who first made this image and put an effort to publicize this must be a proud man. Every day, especially in the peak season, a thousand people land up in front of the lake with a hope to see and photograph the sunrise. When I was in Cambodia last week, I dutifully joined the crowds in putting my stamp on this much-photographed, much-visited and much-appreciated image of sunrise over Angkor. Cliched it may be, but can’t be missed or ignored.
Here is a collage of three images of reflection of Angkor Wat’s temple spires. First one was made well before sunrise, when a few stars were still flickering in the sky. The second one was just before sunrise, and the third one during sunset hours when you don’t have to jostle with 999 more photographers to claim your space.
And here is a photograph that might just discourage you from trying this morning adventure! Remember, this photograph only shows people to the right of me. To the left is an equally strong crowd waiting for the sun to show up.
The sunrise hour is so popular with visitors that a few restaurateurs nearby now offer chairs to people who arrive early. You can buy a coffee and get the chair complementary, or just pay for the chair! Enterprising!!