Pictures & More

Snoqualmie Falls, WA

2006-06-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

The famous 270 foot waterfall: Snoqualmie Falls, WA

2006-03-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

The Beach

To bee or not to bee

2006-02-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

Playing around with shutter priority (max) and a lot of luck yielded this picture

Dew on flowers

2006-02-28T13:28:00.001-08:00

Background to black to emphasize the flowers

Lone Tree

2006-02-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

Just liked the tree... :)

Tiny Flowers

2006-02-28T13:26:00.000-08:00

Aperture priority (Depth of field) yielded this picture.

karnaLa, Panvel, Maharashtra, India

2006-02-21T22:58:00.000-08:00

I snapped this picture of KarnaLa mountain from a car, travelling at 60 mph. The resultant (unintented) image was blurry lending an ethereal quality to the landscape.

Harriet Island, St. Paul, MN

2006-02-21T22:52:00.000-08:00

Fireworks, Fourth of July, 2005

David, slayer of Goliath

2006-02-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

David, outside Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV

Bellagio

2006-02-13T22:34:00.000-08:00

Fountain show outside the Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV

New York, New York Casino

2006-02-13T22:21:00.000-08:00

New York, New York, Las Vegas, NV, Dec 2005

And I have miles to go before I sleep...

2006-02-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

Bright Angel Trail

2006-02-12T21:27:00.000-08:00

Bright Angel Trail, South Rim, Grand Canyon, AZ

This trail has many charms:
The usual stupendous scenery and geology of the Grand Canyon.
The specific attractions along this trail (petroglyphs, the resthouses, Jacob's Ladder, Indian Gardens, the side-trip to Plateau Point, the Devil's Corkscrew, among others).
The clear visibility of many parts of the trail, especially from the upper parts of the trail, enhanced by the number of people and mules on the trail, allowing one to see where the trail is going.
The tremendous variety of people one encounters along the trail.

Look to la luna!

2006-02-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

It was a cold, cold night in Mounds View, MN with temperature about 7F. The moon looked pretty behind the leafless tree. Shutter speed = 4 sec; Aperture = Auto; Flash = ON. Still couldnt get the black spots on the moon to show. Still wondering how to do that......

Fast Food

2006-02-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

I love this picture: Perfect depth of field to accompany the high shutter speed (causes quickly moving objects to be frozen)

En route

2006-01-31T15:01:00.000-08:00

The scenery blurs as one plays with Shutter priority (Low shutter speed causes blurring)

2005-12-13T11:00:00.001-08:00

Niagara Falls at night

2005-12-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

Niagara Falls

2005-12-13T10:59:00.001-08:00

Niagara Falls lighted

2005-12-13T10:59:00.000-08:00

Fireworks over Niagara Falls

2005-10-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

Mt. Rushmore as seen through a tunnel in Iron Mountain, SD

I clicked this in May 2003 while driving through the Black Hills.

2005-10-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

Mt Rushmore as seen from Iron Mountain, SD

I clicked this in May 2003 while driving through the Black Hills. The trees portray depth in this picture. This location is just after you pass the tunnel in Iron Mountain (the previous picture)

Dynamite and Dreams: Crazy Horse Memorial

2005-10-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

Crazy Horse Memorial, Black Hills, SD

I took this picture in May 2003.
A scale model and the actual carving in the mountain. Crazy Horse Memorial is the largest mountain carving in world and is approximately 5 times bigger than Mt. Rushmore. The carving is dont privately without any government funding. Entrance fees (approx $10 per person) provides for the much of the money needed to carve the mountain.

Korczak (1908-1982) and Ruth Ziolkowski dedicated their lives to the creation of Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Honoring the Native American, the nonprofit educational and cultural project includes the colossal Crazy Horse mountain carving now in progress, the Indian Museum of North America and the planned Indian University of North America and Medical Training Center.

Many consider the colossal Crazy Horse mountain carving in progress to be one of the wonders of the modern world. When completed, the mountain memorial will depict for all ages Crazy Horse proclaiming, “My lands are where my dead lie buried.”

Korczak, the creator of Crazy Horse Memorial was completely self-taught. He never took a lesson in art, sculpture, architecture or engineering. At the invitation of the Lakota elders, Korczak in 1947 began Crazy Horse Memorial as a tribute to the Native American. The mountain carving is the largest sculptural undertaking the world has ever known.

The sculptor’s free enterprise financial philosophy prompted him to reject two offers of potential federal funding for the Memorial.

Born in Boston of Polish decent, Korczak carved his first marble at age 23. Moving to Connecticut, he became a well known New England sculptor. In 1939 his Italian marble won first prize by popular vote at the New York World’s Fair.

Korczak’s life and extensive sculpture have been honored in many ways, but often said his greatest satisfaction came for the army of grass roots support that was expressed during his decades of progress on Crazy Horse Memorial.

Ruth Ziolkowski is President of the Board of Directors and CEO of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, established in 1949 as the governing entity for Crazy Horse Memorial.

Ruth assumed leadership of the project following the 1982 death of her husband, Crazy Horse sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. Since then, she has directed all aspects of the progress at the Memorial both on and off the mountain carving. Ruth has also overseen the steady growth of the educational and cultural aspects of the humanitarian project. That includes the Crazy Horse Memorial Native American Scholarship Program primarily for students from the nine S.D. reservations.

Married in 1950, the Ziolkowski’s had five sons and five daughters, many of whom now work as a dynamic team to continue the steady growth and progress at Crazy Horse Memorial.

Korczak Ziolkowski

Without Korczak there would be no Crazy Horse Memorial. Its history always will revolve around his own extraordinary story, which is reflected in his log studio-home, workshop and sculptural galleries at Crazy Horse. His life and work are an inspiration to many, especially to young people.

Although he became most famous as a mountain carver, he was a noted studio sculptor and member of the National Sculpture Society before he came west. Crazy Horse represents only the second half of his life, and he said it was the collective experience of the difficult first half of his life which prepared him for Crazy Horse and which enabled him to prevail over the decades of financial hardship and racial prejudice he encountered trying to create an Indian memorial in the Black Hills.

Born in Boston of Polish descent, Korczak was orphaned at age one and grew up in a series of foster homes. As a boy he was badly mistreated, but he learned to work very hard. He also gained heavy construction and other skills helping his tough foster father. On his own at 16, he took odd jobs to put himself through Rindge Technical School in Cambridge, after which he became an apprentice patternmaker in the shipyards on the rough Boston waterfront.

He experimented with woodworking, making beautiful furniture. At age 18, he made a grandfather's clock hand-crafted from 55 pieces of Santa Domingo mahogany. Although he never took a lesson in art or sculpture, he studied the masters and began creating plaster and clay studies. In 1932 he used a coal chisel to carve his first portrait, a marble tribute to Judge Frederick Pickering Cabot, the famous Boston juvenile judge who had befriended and encouraged the gifted boy and introduced him to the world of fine arts.
Moving to West Hartford, Conn. Korczak launched a successful studio career doing commissioned sculpture throughout New England, Boston and New York. His Carrara marble portrait, PADEREWSKI, Study of an Immortal, won first prize by popular vote at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

A childhood dream came true when he was asked to assist Gutzon Borglum at Mt. Rushmore. The two sculptors became close friends during the summer of 1939 when Korczak was Mr. Borglum's assistant at Mt. Rushmore.

Back in Connecticut he spent two years carving his 13 1/2-foot Noah Webster Statue as a gift to West Hartford. The work drew national attention but embroiled the community and the sculptor in controversy, foreshadowing what was to come at Crazy Horse. At age 34 he volunteered for service in World War II. He landed on Omaha Beach and, later, was wounded.

At war's end he was invited to make government war memorials in Europe. but he had decided to accept the Indians' invitation and to dedicate the rest of his life to Crazy Horse Memorial.

During nearly 36 years he refused to take any salary at Crazy Horse Memorial, on which he worked until his death October 20, 1982 at age 74. He is buried in the tomb he and his sons blasted from a rock outcropping near which the permanent Indian museum will rise at the foot of the mountain carving. For the tomb door he wrote his own epitaph and cut it from three-quarter inch steel plate. It reads:

KORCZAK
Storyteller in Stone
May His Remains Be Left Unknown

2005-10-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

Sun and Shadows (Badlands, SD)

I like this picture since it captured shadow patterns on the horizon on a bright and sunny day in the Badlands, May 2003.

2005-10-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

En route to Windcave National Park, SD

The Long and Winding Road (to Windcave National Park)

2005-09-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

Camels in Egypt

Tierra del Fuego, Chile

2005-09-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Tierra del Fuego

Fall Splendor

2005-09-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

Fall in White Mountains, Vermont

2005-09-23T12:01:00.001-07:00

2005-09-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

Dal Lake, Srinagar, Kashmir, India

2005-09-23T12:00:00.003-07:00

Castle Mountain

2005-09-23T12:00:00.002-07:00

Rock Climber

2005-09-23T12:00:00.001-07:00

Desert

2005-09-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Canyon

2005-09-23T11:59:00.002-07:00

Lake in the Adirondack Mountains, NY

2005-09-23T11:59:00.001-07:00

Winter in MN

2005-09-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Wolves in Ely, MN

2005-09-23T11:58:00.003-07:00

Mountain

2005-09-23T11:58:00.002-07:00

Island

2005-09-23T11:58:00.001-07:00

Crater Lake Oregon

2005-09-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone National Park

Cave

2005-09-23T11:57:00.001-07:00

Mt Fuji, Japan

2005-09-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

Mt. Rushmore

2005-09-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Mt. Rushmore, Black Hills, SD, May 2003

I clicked four pictures of Mt Rushmore on a bright and sunny day in May 2003. I later spliced them together to create a panoramic picture. I was lucky to have a jet flying overhead leaving smoke trails in the sky making it look like the jet had touched Thomas Jefferson's head.

The original dimensions are 2700 x 900 pixels. Blogger limits the picture size. Cant make it big :(

View from the top of the world

2005-09-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

Blogger does not show this picture in its original size, and makes it look very small. Yet its quite a nice picture considering the fact that only a handful of people have stood on Mt Everest and seen this sight.

The Eye of God?

2005-09-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

Helix Nebula NGC 7293

The Helix nebula (New General Catalog number 7293) is estimated to be a mere 450 light-years from the Sun, in the direction of the constellation Aquarius. At that distance it may well be the closest planetary nebula, offering a dramatic snapshot of a brief final evolutionary stage in the life of a solar-type star. In this color image the nebula glows red in the light of nitrogen and hydrogen atoms energized by the ultraviolet radiation from the central star. The main rings themselves, though faint, have an angular size about half that of the full moon and span about 1.5 light-years. Because it is so close, it is a prime subject for study by astronomers. When the Hubble Space Telescope was focused near the inner edge of the main ring, at about the 12 o'clock position in the above image, it resolved some of the spoke like radial structures visible into intriguing cometary knots.

Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee

2005-09-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee

The Cherokee people called this area Shacomage, or "Place of Blue Smoke." The bluish mist, which clings to the mountainsides and fills the valleys, gives the park its name and remains its most distinctive feature.
Ridge upon ridge of endless forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the largest protected areas in the Eastern United States.

Taj Mahal

2005-09-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Taj Mahal, Agra, India

Agra was once the capital of the Mughal Empire during the 16th and early 18th centuries. Tourists from all over the world visit Agra not to see the ruins of the red sandstone fortress built by the Mughal emperors but to make a pilgrimage to Taj Mahal, India’s most famous architectural wonder, in a land where magnificent temples and edificies abound to remind visitors about the rich civilization of a country that is slowly but surely lifting itself into an industrialized society.

The postcard picture of Taj Mahal does not adequately convey the legend, the poetry and the romance that shroud what Rabindranath Tagore calls "a teardrop on the cheek of time". Taj Mahal means "Crown Palace" and is in fact the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the world. It is best described by the English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold, as "Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones." It is a celebration of woman built in marble and that’s the way to appreciate it.

Taj Mahal stands on the bank of River Yamuna, which otherwise serves as a wide moat defending the Great Red Fort of Agra, the center of the Mughal emperors until they moved their capital to Delhi in 1637. It was built by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess. She died while accompanying her husband in Burhanpur in a campaign to crush a rebellion after giving birth to their 14th child. The death so crushed the emperor that all his hair and beard were said to have grown snow white in a few months.

When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises from the emperor: first, that he build the Taj; second, that he should marry again; third, that he be kind to their children; and fourth, that he visit the tomb on her death anniversary. He kept the first and second promises. Construction began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty thousand people were deployed to work on it. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site. It was designed by the Iranian architect Ustad Isa and it is best appreciated when the architecture and its adornments are linked to the passion that inspired it. It is a "symbol of eternal love".

The Taj rises on a high red sandstone base topped by a huge white marble terrace on which rests the famous dome flanked by four tapering minarets. Within the dome lies the jewel-inlaid cenotaph of the queen. So exquisite is the workmanship that the Taj has been described as "having been designed by giants and finished by jewellers". The only asymmetrical object in the Taj is the casket of the emperor which was built beside the queen’s as an afterthought. The emperor was deposed by his son, Aurangzeb, and imprisoned in the Great Red Fort for eight years but was buried in the Taj. During his imprisonment, he had a view of the Taj.

The dome is made of white marble, but the tomb is set against the plain across the river and it is this background that works its magic of colours that, through their reflection, change the view of the Taj. The colours change at different hours of the day and during different seasons. Like a jewel, the Taj sparkles in moonlight when the semi-precious stones inlaid into the white marble on the main mausoleum catch the glow of the moon. The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines. These changes, they say, depict the different moods of woman.

Different people have different views of the Taj but it would be enough to say that the Taj has a life of its own that leaps out of marble. As an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or subtracted from it. It is faultless.

2005-09-18T23:54:00.000-07:00

Neuchwanstein Castle nestled in the Alps

Neuchwanstein Castle

2005-09-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

Neuchwanstein Castle

(The castle is in the background... up in the mountains)

"Eulogy in stone to a musical genius, Neuchwanstein Castle beckons from its Alpine setting far behind a country church near Füssen. Bavaria's King Ludwig II was so taken with Richard Wagner's operas that he built this castle expressly to capture the spirit of their soaring romantic strains."

—From "West Germany: Continuing Miracle," August 1977, National Geographic magazine

Plate full of Strawberrries

2005-09-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

Luscious Strawberries

This picture was taken Dec 2004 at Mahabaleshwar, (Maharashtra, India), a hill station famous for its jams, jellies, honey and of course strawberries. These strawberries were the best that I have ever eaten. Perfect texture and sweet as nectar. How I wish I could just pick one up from the picture and pop it in my mouth :-)

Cliffs overlooking Lake Superior

2005-09-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

The weather beaten cliffs of Palisades, Lake Superior, Duluth, MN

Palisades, quite popular with rock climbers is also my favorite spot in Duluth. 400 feet of sheer rock braving the icy cold winds blowing over Lake Superior. In the middle of May 2004, when I took this picture, the temperature was a balmy 25 Farenheit. The cliffs were keeping a lone vigil over the lake. There were no rock climbers, kayakers or picnickers to disturb the serenity.

The Awesome Royal Bengal Tiger

2005-09-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

This one is from National Geographic. Photographed in Bandhavgarh National park in Umaria district, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Best Time to Visit - Bandavgarh National Park
The visiting season of Bandhavgarh national park starts from Mid-November to June, as the park remains closed during the monsoon months from July to early November.

How to Get there
Air : Khajurao at 230-kms is the most convenient airport connected by various domestic airline services with Agra, Delhi, Varanasi.

Rail : The nearest railhead Umaria at 30-kms is on the Katni-Bilaspur section of South-Eastern Railway. Another convenient railhead Satna (117-kms) is on the Bombay-Howrah main line of the Central Railway.

Road : Bandhavgarh National Park is situated on the Satna-Umaria & Rewa-Umaria highway. Some of the important road distances are: Khajuraho (via Satna)230-kms, Varanasi (via Rewa) 340-kms, Katni 75-kms, Rewa 115-kms, Umaria 30-kms, Kanha 250-kms. Madhya Pradesh State Transport Bus Services are also available from Rewa, Satna, Katni and Umaria.

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The natural heritage in India is as rich and diverse as the cultural heritage. The wildlife sanctuaries and the national parks here give you an essence of the same. Nestled in this rich land is the Royal Bengal Tiger, the only home to the Royal Tiger Cat. The largest living member of the cat family has a rather graceful built and gait. Bengal Tiger is the fastest running animal. Its length can measure up to 10 feet and has a weight ranging from 180 to 260 kgs.

The habitat of this elegant swift mammal (Bengal Tiger) varies from the swamps of the Sunderbans to the desert land at Ranthambore, from the foothills of Himalayas at Corbett National Park to Bandipur in the peninsular India. In 1973 was launched the Project Tiger to get hold of the dwindling count of the indian tigers. Around 9 wildlife sanctuaries were declared as tiger reserves, which has now increases to 19 covering an area of 33,000 sq. kms in 14 states. The beauty of the royal bengal cat can now be seen in its natural surroundings in these conserved areas.

If you are fascinated by the royal Bengal tiger and wish to see it in its natural surroundings, a visit to these tiger reserves is bound to be an enchanting one. All these reserves have the facility of tours to the forested area to watch Bengal Tiger. One can choose a suitable mode to tour. It can be by jeep or on the elephant backs. Corbett National Park was the first one covered under the Project Tiger. Named after the famous environmentalist Jim Corbett, it houses diverse flora and fauna and has weather suited for flourishing wildlife.

And the road becomes my bride.......

2005-09-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Suzuki Hayabusa: Discover yourself!