Spring or something like that

Over the past few days, I have been trying to better settle my hand at the camera. I am revising and revisiting the photography lessons I took half-a-decade ago. I am reading blogs, pre-ordering photography books and hoping that the renewed interest and effort in being a better photographer will show results soon. Of the recent photographs that I have taken, I loved this one of the hibiscus that bloomed in my small balcony garden and there is also a promise of one more flower in the bokeh'd background. This is the only sign of Spring that I experienced in Delhi this year that I have. And I am happy to share it with you :)

Owl on my balcony!

My obsession with owls and photography continues. Here is a picture of one of my favourite diffusers at home. I tried my hand at a little bokeh effect. 

Photography - Getting Started by Ashok Kochhar

Three years after its opening, I visited the Kunzum Travel Cafe again today. I had fallen in love with the cozy little cafe in June 2010 and unfortunately did not return till today.

A friend informed me about a 4-session photography workshop titled, Photography - Getting Started, by Mr Ashok Kochhar at Kunzum. The Facebook events page showed other members of the ClickWalk group would be attending as well. I decided to brave the sun and headed to the Hauz Khas Village. The talk was interesting and catching up with fellow ClickWalkers was fun.

This new experience left me thinking a lot about what is my photography ideology. Hopefully, I'll learn new techniques of photography and also find a new facet of my personality in the course of the next three sessions of the workshop.

Here are some of the clicks from the day.

Mr Ashok Kochhar

My seat

The Kunzum Mug

The attentive class

Child's Play

Photography Exhibition at India Habitat Centre

I went to India Habitat Centre after a very long time, today.

A few days back, Sherry Aggarwal mailed me asking me to visit and feature the exhibition cum sale of photographs clicked by the students of Delhi School of Photography on Delhi Photo Diary. I could not resist the temptation and went to see the exhibition. Some of the photographs were nice and it was an evening spent well.

Psychedelic Art

After lights, water took my fancy. I forced my mother to assist me and together both of us created a storm in a bowl and the end result were these psychedelic photographs.

Home Sweet Home

Some new things I added to the living room of my house recently.

Feeling Blue

This dome adorns the terrace of my maternal uncle's (mama) house. On my last trip to Jaipur the sky had turned the perfect shade of blue to make this capture possible.

Dream Shot!

Since the time I bought my camera, I have been trying to get the perfect shot of a honey bee on a flower. My aspirations were realized on my recent trip to Mussoorie. Hope all of you like this photograph as much as I love it.


Will bring more photographs from my trip in the days to come. This was the first outing my camera had out of Delhi!

You Are the Big Picture!

Delhi, like all metropolitan cities, is a very dynamic place. Somethings still surprise me while driving through the roads of Connaught Place, where I have spent the better part of my life. I have featured Statesman House a lot of times on this blog. The building makes one more appearance today as a host for a very innovative campaign.

Aviva has launched a campaign asking people to donate their pictures. For every uploaded picture, Aviva will donate GBP 1 or INR 60 to Save the Children in India. It was heartwarming to see people donate their pictures so generously.



After my hot cup of coffee in the Oxford Cha Bar, I clicked these two photographs to show you guys. Came home and first thing I did was upload my picture on their website www.youarethebigpicture.com I ask all of you to go and upload your picture to the site and help a great cause. Added bonus was this video that they made within minutes. Enjoy :-)

My first prints :-)

This is the Nai ka Makbara near Humayun's Tomb.



As most of you now know, I am taking a photography course. Here are the first two prints-- clicked, developed and printed by me :D I am very happy to share these and my excitement with you :-)

Shutter Mania

I was recently interviewed by Sukalp Sharma from the Financial Express. Here is the article for all of you to read. :-)

A lone visitor

While, I have just begun getting passionate about photography, most of the puritans say that it is a dying art.

I had recently gone to see an exhibition of black and white photographs by renowned photographers-Graciela Iturbide and Raghu Rai at the Instituto Cervantes, Connaught Place. The almost empty gallery further flamed my fears.

However, the spectacular array of black and white images restored my faith that till the time there is a camera and people keen to capture a moment in time... photography will live a luxurious life.

I Shoot!

I have always been the kind of person who loves to have all the accessories before beginning an actual job/class/hobby. This time it is no different. I have joined photography classes, a friend has been generous enough to lend me his film SLR camera and another insisted that I take his tripod. So all the things in place and around 6 photographs later, I realised that I did not have a cool customised T-shirt about being a photographer.








Without wasting any time I ordered a T-shirt which has a huge camera in the front and I Shoot! written at the back.

The only disappointment is that the material of the T-shirt is not very good and hence I cannot wear it to office or when I go out with friends to shoot :( But at least I did experiment and learnt from my mistake :-)

All said and done, I like my new purchase. It made for an interesting blog post.

P.S: For customised T-shirts, bags, batches and ceramic mugs, you too can log onto: www.myntra.com

Shades of the evening

This is the selection of my favourite photographs of the Delhi sky that I clicked over the last week. Waiting to hear what you think of these photographs :-)

Peck on the cheek

Grandfather's spectacles

Swinging on the clouds

Doggy tales

Read this board at the Lodhi Garden entrance. I really liked the illustration of the dog on the board.

Then met this cute little fellow. He had lost his leash it seems but his collar was intact. He had decided to laze on the Sunday morning even as photographers went mad clicking pictures all around him.

Ideas Selling Cheap

An interesting display of photographs that I spotted in the Phool Mandi or Flower Market in Connaught Place. The shopkeeper was selling stacks of 100 photographs for merely INR 50. On a closer look I found out that he was selling ideas for floral arrangements which can be used for parties, weddings etc.

Photography Exhibition

This was a photography exhibition I saw at India Habitat Centre recently. Loved the colours and expressions captured in this selection of photographs.

Red Fort, New Delhi

I saw this sunrise today, just outside the Rajiv Chowk, Metro Station. I was up this early for a reason :-) A school-time friend of mine, Sunaina (who is officially the most funny person I know), had a fortnight ago passed around an invite for a tweet-up. This is how it worked, some photography enthusiasts thought of arranging a photo shoot at Red Fort. Since I had not been able to get the Red Fort on Delhi Photo Diary (DPD) until now, I jumped at the chance.
So a bunch of people, all strangers for me (except for Sunaina), met at the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station. From there we boarded a train to Chandni Chowk.


Chandni Chowk is the old part of the Delhi. The lanes are narrow, the buildings are in dilapidated condition and the crowd is intimidating because of the sheer number of people in the area.

We walked from the Chandni Chowk Metro Station to the Red Fort or the Lal Qila (Hindi).

I really liked the 'modernity meets history' vibe of this building. Sunaina made some astute observations about the name of the shops and had me in splits.

A few more steps and we were outside the Sheesh Ganj Gurudwara.


There is no place around the world, which is more secular. We were going to Red Fort, which houses within its campus, Moti Masjid (Islamic place of worship). On our way we crossed a Gurudwara (Sikh temple) and the Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir, which is the oldest and best known Jain temple in Delhi. The Lal Mandir is exactly opposite to the Red Fort.And finally, the group reached Red Fort. When we reached the place, the sun was on our faces so we managed to get silhouettes.

After some more 'sunny' photos, we proceeded inside. I will bring more photos in the coming days.
Since I have mentioned her name so many times in this post, here is Sunaina. Actually 2 of her!

Art: Two's Company

Artists and their work. The man is a photographer, Agnimirh Basu, who recently displayed a series of nudes at an exhibition. The lady is his wife, Arundyuti Basu, who is a painter and also models for her husband. I have known Agnimirh since the last five years and it was a pleasure to meet him after a long time and see his work displayed on the walls. I wish both my friends the best of luck for their future. :-)