First snow in the year(2007) at Morristown

We woke up today morning to see the whole area covered with 2-3 inches of snow! This is the first snow in Morristown this year. Time to take out the shovels to clean the car everyday - and also to get some warm-up exercise. Though not intentional, I had taken the window view from our apartment a few days before it snowed & after it snowed (I noticed this when Vishal pointed out this last day). I tried to create a collage & failed - so posting them as separate ones.

The view at the final days of Fall/Autumn

And after it snowed!

Note: All photos taken using a Nikon D50 during the mid 2 weeks of November

I inspired a blogger!

Today is a good day!

A friend of mine pinged me on google talk to send me a link; the link to his new blog - HappyMeOne

He had just started as a blogger and his first post was on "why he decided to be a blogger and what inspired him to start one" - And it was me & my photo blog - This very blog!!!

I am happy that I am able to inspire people, Thanks Sudipta for that candid 'first post' - I will cherish that for long!

Welcome to the blogger's world & happy blogging!

Our Jack-o'-lantern for Halloween!

A jack-o'-lantern, sometimes also spelled Jack O'Lantern, is a carved pumpkin or turnip. Typically the top is cut off, and the inside flesh then scooped out. An image (usually a monstrous face) is carved onto the outside surface, and the lid replaced. During the night, a candle is placed inside to illuminate the effect. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the holiday Halloween.

Halloween originated from the Pagan festival Samhain, celebrated among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century. Halloween is now celebrated in several parts of the western world, most commonly in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom.

As a part of Amiya's school activities, she had pumpkin picking and bought home this pumpkin & wanted halloween! Initially I did not know what she meant & then later realized what she is asking for. Equipped with a kitchen knife, we attempted making this jack-o-lantern & this is what it turnedout to be.

Taken on 30th October 2007 using my Nikon D50

Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 6 seconds with no tripod

Tropical Rain forest

Rainforests are home to two-thirds of all the living animal and plant species on the planet. It has been estimated that many hundreds of millions of new species of plants, insects and microorganisms are still undiscovered. Tropical rain forests are also called the "jewels of the earth", and the "world's largest pharmacy" because of the large amount of natural medicines discovered there. They are characterized by heavy rainfall, thick lower cover and they are pretty humid which makes them the ideal scenario for flora & fauna to thrive.

The picture above is a man-made rainforest inside the Bronx Zoo in up-town Manhattan... LOL
Taken on 20th October 2007 using my Nikon D50
exposure: (1/125) th of a second
F Stop : f/5.6

The Madison Town Fair - Fire works

We had been to the fireworks that concluded the Madison town fair at the Madison Highschool grounds. Madison is the neighbouring city to Morristown (The fact is that there should be atleast a 50 Madisons in the United States - of varying sizes). We chanced upon this when we had been to Kushal's 3rd birthday party at the Vijays' and one of the guest - Paul - made a mention of the fireworks.

At the end of the fireworks, I realized that I am still a novice in photographing fireworks - Only a few decent ones came out out of the 50 odd photos I clicked. The very less response time available for focussing and the timing of the click are the things that I found that I should be working on. There were a couple of very good photos - if not for the bright spot of the blast in some and the smoke after the blast in some other... Way to go forward for the photographer in mine...

Meanwhile look at the few of them that came out decently well...

The American Rapids

We finally made our trip to visit "Niagaraeswaran" during the weekend of 15th and 16th September. We took a conducted tour by a chinese operator and really experienced the "Jackie Chan" trip :) The view of falls was good (could have been better from Canada, but for Visa & other documentation hassles), and I was really amazed by the sheer volume of water that goes down the 3 falls (Horse shoe falls, American falls & Bridal veil falls) that constitute the Niagara.

This is the photo of the American Rapids which is just before where the water plunges down the American falls. The sunday was cold; though bright with the sun out and the yellow flowers with the American rapids in the background made this a nice view.

Taken on sunday, the 16th of September 2007, 8:30 AM using a Nikon D50
F Stop - f/8, Shutter speed 1/250th of a sec, no flash

Note: Since most of the Indians who visit the east coast of the United States make sure that they visit the Niagara falls, it is commonly known as "Niagaraeswara Devasthaana" - The temple of the god Niagaraeswara - in the (South) Indian community in the United states