Jewels of Dal Lake

Dal lake offers scenic views now doubt. But, it also offers wonderful images, up close and personal. It has one of the densest population of water lilies and lotus. Here are some attempts on them.

#1. Lotus royale
Nikon D7000 | 1/250s | f/6.7  | 300mm | ISO400 | Sigma 120-300/2.8
The subject distance was around 15ft.

I had seen, lotus several times. Nothing new in that. But, to be in a spot, that had so many lotus around you, and you could possibly reach out to them and touch and feel them, this was a nice experience. Amongst the various lotus flower, this one appeared to be young, standing alone as if defying the limitation of its surroundings. 

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#2. The jewel drops on Lily leaves. 
Nikon D7000 | 1/1500s | f/6.7 | ISO: 500 | Focal: 180mm | Sigma 120-300mm 
Subject distance about 15ft. 

In spite of my repeated request to the Shikara man, to follow a particular path, that would have given me sun at the correct position to take snaps... he continued on his preset route... with frustrating long periods of  sunlight directly coming on to you. For some time, I sat in the corner and sulked.... it was only then, I slowly caught the droplets sitting pretty on the leaves, and the incoming sun made them sparkle. The small sparkle you see on the drops is natural. In terms of PP Only minimal cropping and curve adjustment done

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#3. Lotus bloom

Nikon D7000 | 1/2000s | 300mm | f/4.0 | ISO500 | Sigma 120-300/2.8

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#4. The Lotus

Nikon D7000 | 1/2000s | 300mm | f/4.0 | ISO500 | Sigma 120-300/2.8

Your comments are always be precious to me, please keep them coming.

Alok

The Dal lake

"Mahasarit".... this is the name Dal Lake has been referred to in the ancient sanskrit scripts, and Hindu mythology. Maha - Large, Sarit- River. Hiuan Tsang, a Chinese scholar who visited India in 630 AD, mentions a "Piece of paradise" in his books. In the modern world, Dal Lake's beauty and evolution as a tourist spot can be credited to the Mughal Emperor.

Whoever, was responsible, has indeed created a place very pretty, now the mecca of tourism. We (me n family) visited on Aug 15-19 Srinagar and adjoining areas... here are snap shots of the same.

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#1. The customary photo Dal Lake and shikara..
Nikon D7000 | 1/4000 | 11mm | f/4.0 | ISO500 | Tokina 11-16/2.8

August to March, are the best days to capture, the sky and its reflections - primarily due to low dust/smog in the sky. Thankfully for us, it had rained last night, hence the shots were nice. I deeply and sincerely miss the blue sky over Delhi....

Oh BTW: whats not visible in the Shikara is a beautiful, newly married couple... henna was quite prominent on her fore-arms. I am sure, in their view, this would be a romantic moment.

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#2. Shikara
Nikon D7000 | 1/20s | 11mm | f/2.8 | ISO500 | Tokina 11-16/2.8

No picture of Dal Lake is complete, without the Shikara. During the day time, the sun was very harsh (as seen in the picture above) however, as evening descended the colors in sky began to glow. Could not resist the temptation to capture this.

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#3. The houseboats
Nikon D7000 | 1/60s | 11mm | f/2.8 | ISO500 | Tokina 11-16/2.8

The multi-colored house boats have been in existence since the moghul times... however, it was not till the Britishers made this as a spot of desire that the houseboats became a permanent fixture on the Dal lake.
It is an experience to sit on the deck of the boat and soak in the ambiance of the setting sun.

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#4. Tranquility
Nikon D7000 | 1/750s | 11.0 mm | f/4.0 | ISO500 | Tokina 11-16/2.8

The title came naturally, even while I was fixating it through the view finder...

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#5. Colors 

Nikon D7000 | 1/750s | 11.0 mm | f/4.0 | ISO500 | Tokina 11-16/2.8

Colors came up in multi-hue, one could have never guessed - during the day, that the evening would be so serene... so blissful.

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#6. The expanse
Nikon D7000 | 1/750s | 11.0 mm | f/4.0 | ISO500 | Tokina 11-16/2.8




Comments and critiques are most sincerely welcome !!!

Flagstaff & Page: Through TripWow

Ok, here is where I tried my hands on Trip Wow.. its a interesting way to present your pictures in a pre-formatted slide show. Click on the image to see the slide show.

Photos are from the Flagstaff, Arizona trip - Project 2025. Shot from 7th July, through 16th Jul, 2012

Arizona - Page - Slot Canyons Slideshow: Alok’s trip to 2 cities including and Flagstaff was created with TripAdvisor TripWow!