Coincidence?

I walk into my library (mylib.in) to pick up a couple of books.

I pick up “Trekking holidays in India” and “The Man-eaters of Kumaon” by Jim Corbett. As I move towards the check-out counter, I see an old queer looking book. The word that captures my attention is “wild“. The title is “Into the wild”.

Out of curiosity, I pull out the book and read the brief at the back. The gist interests me and I end up picking it (and dropping Jim’s book). The day is Sunday, Aug 16.

I go home and start reading it. I find the story interesting, but a bit dark too, delving into human emotions (whichI believe is the most complex thing to understand). I discuss the book with a colleague on Monday and come to know about a movie based on the book by the same name. I get so interested that I read the book late into the night on Monday. Deeply influenced by the character Chris, I tweet a quote of his which I like so much.Also end up putting the same line as my Orkut status message.

“Nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit of a man than a secure future”

And on Tuesday, I finish reading the book. I get hooked into knowing more about this guy. Chris McCandless. I read a wikipedia article on him. I review a movie based on his life. Also, out of more curiosity, I do a google image search to see more ‘real’ pictures of the guy (and not from the movie).The date is August 18.

Finally, I find that there is a fan created Facebook account of his with a few photos and lots of comments there. I am flabbergasted by one comment I read there.

“Let’s think on him today – 18 August 1992″

I realize suddenly that the guy had probably died on Aug 18 in 1992, which is clearly mentioned in the book.

Oh my god, it is today! August 18, 17 years later! And I, deeply impressed and perplexed by the book’s depiction of the guy, have been googling so much about him. Spending almost all of my evening on a guy who I knew nothing about 50 hours ago. All the while, not knowing that it was his death anniversary!

Coincidence, anyone?

Rest in peace, Chris (aka Alex the supertramp)

Sir David Attenborough

Well, I dont need to tell who he is. (If you really don’t know, curse yourself for not knowing him all this while and read this).

I have turned into a big fan of his!

I watched the “Life in the undergrowth” episode today on Animal planet @ 9 pm. It was mind blowing! I loved every inch of the footage!

I now have a renewed interest in bees, ants and the like! And of course,  more new goals for me. To view / read all of the below!

Life series:

• Life on Earth (1979)
• The Living Planet (1984)
• The Trials of Life (1990)
• Life in the Freezer (1993)
• The Private Life of Plants (1995)
• The Life of Birds (1998)
• The Life of Mammals (2002)
• Life in the Undergrowth (2005)
• Life in Cold Blood (2008)

Other:

• Life on air (autobiography)
• Wildlife on One (1977–2005)
• BBC Wildlife Specials (1995–2008)
• The Blue Planet (2001)
• Planet Earth (British version) (2006)
• Nature’s Great Events (2009)

Related post: The master

2 day photography workshop by Kalyan Varma – Final thoughts

I had earlier blogged here and here about my experience in the workshop. Please read them if you haven’t yet.

This post is about my final opinion of the class, whether I would recommend anyone for it, etc.

Okay, here we go.

First,  I think if you are serious about photography, you should attend this class by Kalyan.

Here is why:

• you get trained by the “Sanctuary Asia – Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2005″
• the guy is passionate about photography and that overflows into you
• you certainly learn a ton about photography
• he has walked his talk already. Have a look at his work here and you can judge his skill.
• Kalyan is very social, easy-going and more than anything else, approachable
• his communicative abilities are excellent and he has the ability to keep the class listening to him for hours
• you never feel a dull moment throughout the workshop

Read the rest of this entry »

Inspiring story : Joe Kellard, 15 yr old photographer

Read this first!

At 15 years of age, Joe Kellard is amazing! A nature photographer, an almost thorough professional, but still a teen!

His photographs are as good or better than most professional photographers work.

He seems to have amazing knowledge on the subject most dearest to him – photography. And his dedication is inspiring.

Yet, he is only 15!

People like him never cease to inspire me!

2 day photography workshop by Kalyan Varma – Part 2

In the previous post, I had written about why I wanted to get trained, how I got to know about Kalyan, his workshop and a few details about it. Let me continue from there.

As I mentioned in my previous post, reaching the location, Shilton Royale,  was a breeze.

I met Kalyan there. One of the first things I noticed (apart from his height) was his social behaviour. Appeared very easy going.

The training was done in a conference room.. enough to fit in 18 people and a trainer. The ambience was good. There were 14 trainees, including me. One was a furniture designer. One was a sales manager. Rest were IT professionals.
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2 day photography workshop by Kalyan Varma – Part 1

“What can this XYZ camera do? What features does it have?” These are common questions people ask when buying a camera.

But few people ask themselves this key question.

“What can I do with this camera?”

I have known several enthusiastic friends of mine who bought D-SLR’s and were disappointed.

Some time back, I bought a Fuji S8000fd (which had a few advanced controls). I took several snaps in manual mode, most of which were slightly better than horrible. I gave the camera back, thanks to the 14 day return policy (in Canada). I told myself
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