It was the third year with my UG course. So it was time to do an industrial visit. Our principal gave us a duration of 2days and 3 nights for the industrial visit. In which one day should be either a saturday or a sunday. He also said that the objective of the trip must be industrial visit and not some sight-seeing. We planned a trip to Wayanad which is about 300kms from Ernakulam. In which we included a visit to Kinfra Park which, is small industrial park for small scale industries. "Visit" was just a roam-around and not "the big visit".
It was a tight trip as we planned a lot of touristic places in Wayanad. As usual, I was able to take some more improved techniques of photography.
This photo was taken from the balcony of the hotel which we stayed. The photo is that of the Chembra Peak, which is one of the most dangerous trekking spot. Trekking distance is about 25km which is one of the major trekking spots in south India. (Other major ones are Kudajadry-Agumbe 30km and Agumbe-Narasimhaparvatha 33km).
Tea gardens of Wayanad.
The speciality of Wayanad when compared to other hills like Parambikulam, Nelliyampathy and Munaar is the fact, that here you get both kinds of beverage crops(tea and coffee. Coffee due to the fact that it is closer to Coorg were you get coffee).
That is me on the left of the photo.
"The Big Visit" was on the first day of the trip. Few snaps were taken in front of the I-park.
Funny side was when our counterparts from the other batch came to the scene. They were guided with our Dept HOD - Murali Sir. He was wearing a funny round collar t-shirt, which showed resemblance of beach shirt. This showed that even their guides were dead serious about the industrial visit.
"THE BIG VISIT" lasted for only 10-15 minutes.
The next target was Soochipara WaterFalls. When hearing the name everyone will have a feeling that, waterfalls consist of a lot of rocks which are needle-sized. This waterfalls was highly slippery as it had algae all over the rocks which were partially submerged in water. Sachin (one of my friends) fell into the water with mobile phone in his pocket.
There I mastered the true technique of "how to make a macro object microscopic" and Reference switches between background and foreground images which, is usually done by most of the photographers.
One of the most precise photos taken by me. I would like to thank Joel for his patience because if it was anyone else at his position then they surely wouldn't do it.
From there we moved on to the next location - Meemutty Waterfalls which was one of the most dangerous waterfalls in Kerala. It was one of the largest waterfalls in South India. We had to trek for about 4 kms. Out of the 4kms trek, the initial 2km was easy but, the next 2km was the harder one. As we had to stick to a rope tied to a branch of tree. Because on one side we have slippery rocks and on the other side we have got a big cliff. This trek is highly adventurous even though it is for distance of 2 kms. I was not able to the trek route to Meemutty because it was that treacherous.
These are some photos of Meemutty Falls.
This is the place where our great College Web Admin - Paul Thomas a.k.a Kohaserver lost the contact details present in his phone.
From the photo it is evident that rocks are slippery as we can see the presence of algae on them. Here, I learnt how to take photos with high detailing. Compare the previous two photos taken two different modes. To see the highest bit of detailing check the photo below.
It was already 5:30pm.Our guide started complaining that we had to head back to parking lot as it not so safe when it becomes dark. So we started to head back. While heading back we witnessed sunset from a very decisive view point. Very interesting photos were taken. Some people in our class had some crazy ideas with reference to sunset like, Bilu, Joel and Sachin had an interesting concept with sunset.
To improve sunset photography we have to note some points. Firstly, use 1/3rd rule which i have already mentioned. Secondly, give more importance to the foreground than to the background image. Thirdly, take the photo in lower lens exposure.
The above photo was taken with greater exposure that is why the quality looks bad.
That was it for day-1 of Wayanad trip. Our stay in Hotel Afaz, Kalpetta was excellent.
27/02/2011
Next day, we planned a safari in Tholpetty Range. But when we reached Tholpetty, the forest officials said that the range is closed indefinitely due to the fact of Forest Fires. We were all sad that we were not able witness some wildlife after travelling so far. So to remove the sadness we re-routed our trip to Kuruva Dweep (Kuruva Island).
Kuruva Islands is group of small islands which is formed by the river Kabini.
In Kuruva Islands, Kabini is split into 8-10 streams. Out of which 1st stream is the one with maximum size and force. A traditional boat ("Chengadam") is provided to the tourists when they plan to cross the first stream.
Reflection of sun in water is the best possible photo which we can take at this point. Photo should be taken in minimum aperture and with minimum shake.
Two photos are taken with different exposures factors. Former photo with more exposure and the latter with less.
This was Siddharth's idea (the one on the right). Good one. He found the presence of Kuruvi (Vivek Kuruvila the one on the left is nicknamed as Kuruvi) in Kuruva Dweep. More than idea, it is their expressions which looks quite funny. Excellent innovation by Siddharth.
Next photo, is the one which I found to be very interesting. All forests in Wayanad are tropical rain forests. With greater content of Bamboos. So I planned to take a sun speck through a bamboo which, I find it to be very illuminating.
Then, we were off to Karapuzha Dam. Our last touristic visit in Wayanad. We planned to take sunset from the Dam's view point.
Before the sunset, Vishnu KS, Nithin Thomas, Sachin had some thing else in their mind.
This photo required too much of trials. As we required all of their legs in air. Shutter speed should be damn quick to capture such a photo. Sports mode/Kids-pets mode is preferred while taking such a photo.
Vishnu KS's (one who seems not to fit in the photo) stance was the one which spoiled the theme of the photo.
It was now Vivek's and Siddharth's turn.
They started playing with the Sun.
Their expressions are too good. Expressions are the prime assets of a professional photo.
I would like to thank Vivek and Siddharth for the dedication to this photo.
Used the same concept of foreground - background cross referencing.
I shifted my photographical skills to the primary goal which is SunSet.
Different stages of sunset were taken.
Each with different set of modes.
This one was taken with rather a bit higher exposure window inorder to capture the reflection of light in water.
Preferably, the reference was given to the landscape rather than the foreground image.
Stage 1 of sunset. Exposure and aperture ratio must be varied based on the basis of amount of light exposed.
Stage 2:
Low intensity photo.
Stage 3:
Stage 4: Add that sun radiance to the photo with minimum back-lights. Increase the aperture and minimize the shake.
Stage 5: Maximum Exposure with minimum Shake. Tripod is preferred while taking such photos inorder to minimize the shake.
That was it for the college trip in Wayanad. We all had a great time.
Just before left Wayanad we had small events being conducted in Camp-Fire (Usual tradition while we go for a trip from college or schools).
Left Wayanad - Kalpetta at 8pm.
Trip was excellent, the one which cannot forgotten in my life-time. It will always remain as the one of the most memorable trips which I have gone so far.
