Spotlight #22 - Lost

It's almost been a year since I took that incredible trip to Ladakh. 

I remember prior to setting off, having butterflies flutter around like a whirlwind in my tummy. It was my first real road trip in ages, and I hadn't prepared myself nearly as much as I wanted to. 

Eventually once I got on the road, time seemed to fly back, and out of nowhere what was supposed to be a 14 day trip seemed like a weekend. 

This picture was taken sometime into the trip - the day after an 18 hour drive day.

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We had spent the night at a tiny little village set in between two extremely nauseating mountains. When we got in, the temperature had dropped perilously close to freezing (it was mid summer, by the way), and the altitude (over 5000m) had started to take it's toll on a couple of us. 

Needless to say, the night turned out to be a restless one - me, with a migraine so painful it felt as if my brain was imploding. 

We were quick to get up and leave the next day, just after sunrise. This picture was taken a kilometer or two outside of the village where after one of the most traumatic nights, the surreal landscape blew us away. 

Spotlight #20 - Pondicherry

Bringing back Spotlight this week with a stunning shot taking by Rohan during his time in Pondicherry. 

Rohan has been featured on here before. He specializes in landscape shots, and with good reason. Check out his picture below and see what he has to say about it. 

"Pondicherry is one of my favorite places to be in South India. ALong with it’s beautiful french architecture that dates back to 100s of years, it is also home to Rocky Beach and that is what you see in this image. Rocks lined along the coast, lighthouse right behind you, tourists walking, eating and enjoying, locals walking their dogs or running. Diversity is my favorite element at Rocky Beach.  

This shot was taken right before sunset and there was ample light in the sky. I wanted the waves to look dynamic in the pictures and went for a nice long exposure at a low aperture as I had forgotten to pack my ND filter (Stupid, I know). After multiple attempts, this is the shot I captured and I am glad you get to see it here."

Follow Rohan here - https://www.instagram.com/rohanrath/

Spotlight #19 - High in Hampi

Life has taken a bit of a breather these last two weeks. 

I was away travelling through the South for a bit, hoping to rekindle the fire that rock climbing had once sparked. 

I had planned this trip for way too long, and it felt great to finally be on the road. Suddenly, time began to slow down and an air of contentment settled over my life. 

Worry lines began to get erased and I began to feel that flow I once had, but lost. 

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This photo is the perfect symbol for what Hampi is - beautiful sunsets, surreal landscapes, dry terrain and demented humans getting their kicks from climbing rocks. 

I took this my first evening in. I was sleep deprived and my brain was saturated, and despite telling myself I would take it easy that evening and start fresh, I found myself meeting folks and climbing rocks with them that evening. 
 

It was great feeling that adrenaline fueled high that only adventure sports can give you. I ended up taking this picture after sending a route that I had first thought was beyond my capability. 

The timing of the shot with the dude standing on top of the boulder, and the streak of white in the air blend well together. In a way it's the most accurate representation of that first evening.  

Spotlight #16 - The Cold Desert

The picture here is honestly one of my favourites ever taken. I took this picture during a transitional phase in my photography. 

I had always set myself the boundary of shooting 'real subjects' and not landscapes because I believed that the beauty of landscapes are very hard to capture, and never accurately capture the feeling of actually being there. 

During my trip to Ladakh, I found myself shooting landscapes, but as an experiment to prove to myself that my theory was correct. 

And then I got this shot

This was taken on our way to Lake Tsomiriri, a small little isolated lake in Eastern Ladakh that (for now) is away from the public eye. 

As we were driving we passed by this smaller little pond, and it seemed like the stars had aligned perfectly because we had reached at the time when the lighting was gorgeous, the music was pumping us up, and our sleep deprivation and the high altitude were driving us up the wall. 

This picture is always going to remind me of that experience - one that almost felt like an out of body one because of days of being on the road, and hours and hours in the jeep. 

This picture, apart from simply being aesthetically pleasing is always going to take me back to those memories.

Spotlight #15 - Floating the Golden Gate

This week's Spotlight features Marshall Chen (again). 

I had Marshall on a few weeks back where he talked about a picture that I really loved. You can find that here. 

This week, Marshall pulls out another rabbit out of his hat with this incredible picture. Check it out below and read on to see what he has to say about it. 

My friends and I hiked Yosemite, toured San Francisco, and even had lunch in Google’s dining hall on Google Campus.

And my friend John here trying to be Magneto is just a piece of happy memory from that spring break.

“You remember that scene from X-Men where Magneto destroys the Golden Gate Bridge?” I asked John.

“Yeah.”

“Cool let’s recreate that!”

That was a wonderful vacation.

Check out more of Marshall's stuff here - https://www.instagram.com/marshallthesavage/

and here - http://www.marshallturbochen.com/

Cheers :)