Me wanna be a photographer too

Good Morning!

2010-05-11T09:37:00.000-07:00

Twins :-)

2010-04-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

For a cold rainy day...

2010-04-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Orange muffins and steaming coffee...

Happy Feet...

2010-04-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Pampered Happy Feet

Floating Happy Feet

Truly Happy Feet

Weekend pursuits...

2010-03-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Tall!

2009-04-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

My entry for Cuckoo's April contest...

Food and Drink and stuff...

2009-03-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

We went out to a Japanese restaurant for lunch today. It had quite a nice ambiance, food was ok, and I was in a mood to take pictures :)

The first thing I noticed were these colorful napkins. There were a lot more colors, and it just looked so cheerful!

They brought us some Japanese tea, in these cool mugs. (Not being a "chaibaaz", I liked the mug more than the drink!)

The food was artistic too! This is my Mango, Avocado, Cucumber roll.

It tasted fine, but it broke one very basic rule that I have for "good" food. It was not piping hot :(

Stanford University

2009-03-17T17:17:00.001-07:00

We went out for lunch a couple weekends ago with a friend visiting from India.
He is a really close friend, but I had never actually met him personally, so this was the first time I was seeing him. It was a gorgeous day, so we decided to spend some time at the Stanford University after lunch. Some pictures from that day...

The famous Stanford tower

Stained glass over the entrance to the Memorial Chapel

Gold Leaf decoration on the chapel walls

My friend and I at the Lagunita Lake inside the campus

We stopped by my favorite fruit store on our way home. We usually never go there at this time of the year, so I was curious as to what they would have. They had all the fruits they have during the summer months, but in dried form!!! Strawberries, cherries, blueberries, pears, apples, raspberries, plums, apricots, any fruit you can think of, they had it...dried up! And an assortment of nuts. This is what we bought - dried mangoes, Brazilian nuts and a Bumble Bar :) All of it was on impulse, and all of it was YUMMMMY!

Just like that...

2009-02-09T13:15:00.001-08:00

These were taken just like that, on a whim...

This one is of a sidewalk

And this is water condensed on a street lamp.

Yayy...vacation

2009-01-09T00:37:00.000-08:00

This one is for cuckoo's contest for January. The theme is vacation.
This picture was taken in San Diego, many moons ago...one of the funnest vacations I have had!

Fall sky

2008-12-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Nope, this is not from my recent trip to Hawaii...its from right here at home, on my way back from work. This has been a typical November evening sky this year. Simply gorgeous!

Colors galore...

2008-10-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from a baby shower + diwali party that I went to last weekend...

I think the flowers in Ganesha's ears are so cute :-)

Totally love the effect of the pink marbles!

These were for the mommy-to-be. There were a plate full of them, very colorful

The rest of the bangles....on the mommy-to-be's hands.

Living on the edge...

2008-10-24T15:15:00.001-07:00

Living on the edge, and hanging by a thread!

Can anyone guess what fruit this is?

Conspiracy...

2008-10-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

This is my entry to Cuckoo's photo contest. The theme is "Conspiracy".

I have chosen this picture because that is exactly what came to mind when I saw the two flowers hiding behind the wall :) They seem to be conspiring to hide and scare the next person walking by that wall.

Fly away...

2008-09-22T14:06:00.001-07:00

These leaves look so much like butterflies in flight!

For Sale...

2008-09-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

This was the theme for the Project of the Month at photo.net .. "For Sale"
Here's my submission...a bit blah, but I wanted to start participating there...

My title there was...

Is this your dream house?

Knotty

2008-09-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

The old orange tree. It bears the sweetest oranges ever!

In his own world...

2008-09-08T18:18:00.000-07:00

Got this shot on a busy street of San Francisco. With so much hustle and bustle around him, he was just peacefully sitting on that hydrant reading his newspaper. Love the colorful graffiti on the wall!

Zzzzzz... ZzzzZZzzz....

2008-09-08T18:17:00.001-07:00

Saw her in the kids section of the Monterey Bay Aquarium...happily dozing...

Trapped!

2008-08-28T11:53:00.001-07:00

Felt like clicking a pic after a very long time today... this one's the best one of the day! The seeds were trying their best to fly off in the wind. But they seemed to be trapped for good!

Some fun ones...

2008-06-11T15:22:00.001-07:00

These were not taken by me (of course, I'm in there!!)...sharing coz I find them very cute :)

All were in Ranchi, a couple days after my wedding last December.

Everyone's favorite Chacha!

I totally LOVED Archie comics when I was a kid. Jughead was my favorite.
How I wish that shiny spot wasn't there on the pic. But still, I like looking at this one :)

I think I did click this one.

Busy morning today :)

2008-06-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

Today was yet another morning with me lying on my bed, looking out into the yard. Tiger, the neighbor's cat was there as usual. Some squirrels also playing around. Then, the blue-winged visitor came back! But he flew away before I could get the camera out. Now that I was out of the bed, with a camera, I tried to find something else to shoot at.

And I found lots of interesting things :) See...

This is our lemon tree in bloom. Love the colors!

And the pomegranate's also got some lovely flowers! Its the first time the plant's flowered!

These, are, well, just weeds. We got lots of them :(

New life on an old, old palm...at a perfect 90 degree angle!

And I think this is the badmash that ate my cherry! He's up among some high-tension wires, with a nut bigger than his head!

And then I made my way to the front yard...
this lady was walking her dog just as I got to the front. Wish I had caught them sooner...

And right after that, this vintage car came down the road in front of my house. Isn't it cute? I really like this picture. Love the red, green and the blue on that window.

Then I moved on to my flowers. This year's lilies! Such vibrant colors!

And these are my all time favorite flowers. My fucshias! I finally managed to get a satisfactory picture of them, after lots of attempts. Its so similar to the picture on my other blog!

This here is one of my cacti in bloom. Need to take more pics of this beauty.

Tryin' to make his way ... home!

2008-05-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

This song has been playing a lot on the radio lately, not sure why.

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

I love listening to it, and makes me watch everyone else on the road :) It gave me the idea of this post. All these pictures are taken on my own way home, and I think these folks were also doing the same. I also wanted to capture all the different ways people make their way home at the end of the day. So here ya go...

Some take the train, and some race that train :)

Some take the bus! (This one is taken by a friend, I wanted to show off the Hindi on it!)

Some ride a bike

And some ride another kinda bike. Motorbikes, zooming away!

You'll have to read a story before you get to see this very special picture.

A motor-bike picture is what I was waiting for to complete this post. And I wanted a really good bike too, as this was going to be my special gift to -xh- for sharing his expert tips with me.

Yesterday, I was on my way back home, sitting at the last traffic light between me and home. I looked out the passenger side window, and there's this guy, on a nice bike! I am thinking -xh- will love this! Took a quick look at the signal, still red, and this one's a busy intersection, so will be red for a while. I had my dark, black sun glasses on, and he had his helmet on, so due to both these things, I couldn't really see his face, and more important where he was looking! He seemed to be looking towards the light, so I guess I can sneak a click.

Light was red, guy was in clear view, I opened the window, grabbed my camera, looked out the window with my camera raised, and holy crap, पकड़े गए, the guy is waving at me!

I was so shocked, was hoping the ground would open up and swallow me (धरती माँ, मुझे अपनी गोदी में समा लो!)
In my shocked state, I smiled, waved back, pointed at the camera with a questioning look, and he was all happy, gave me a thumbs up and all, waved again. My camera was almost out of battery, so I clicked in a hurry. And here's the result!

The light turned green just then, and I turned left and was gone. The guy in the car next to him also seems to be so amused!

Here's a close-up of the machine! Its a Ducati Monster 900. (Greek to me, but -xh- says its one hell of a motorcycle!)

And now I sit here and wonder, what must he be thinking about all this! What story he must be telling his friends. You know, the other side of the story?

I wish I had a way to send the picture to him, am sure he'll get a kick out of it! I guess I made his "way home" a little more fun :p

Just on a whim...

2008-05-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another one of my "trigger-happy" days. Took quite a few pictures in the first half of the day! Here they are...

I had an appointment with the doc in the morning. Reached his office about 10 minutes early. So took a few pictures around his office building.

There were quite a few pine trees there, the boughs looked so delicate and pretty against the blue sky!

Then, further down, they had these BIG trees in the middle of all that ivy ground cover. Looked so cool and shady. Really soothing.

Then I got sent to the radiology department a couple blocks down the street. That has got to be the most cheerful medical office I have ever seen. There were flowers everywhere, and what looked like a million-piece puzzle in the waiting room! Clever idea, I say :) The lady who signed me in had this really happy looking flower on her monitor. I couldn't resist clicking at it while she went to make some copies. Makes you smile, doesn't it?

BTW, the husband says "Don't do such things, or else the doc will send you to the psychic ward next!"

I got done with the radiology department, walked out, and saw these flowers (snapdragons!). So pretty in the morning sun. I hadn't really "noticed" the shadow on the ground until I saw it through my camera. Makes it all the more interesting, isn't it?

And then I saw these azaleas in the parking lot. Again, I had no intention of getting the car in the picture, but I just liked how the red looked along with the pink, green and blue.

And then since it was already lunch time by then, I decided to eat before going to my office. I went to my favorite Italian restaurant: Pasta Pomodoro. They sat me at the bar since I was by myself, and right in front of me was this collage of old movie posters.

A close-up of the center picture

And then I saw these wine bottles. Any guesses as to why I HAD to click this one? The bottles on the left say "A", the ones on the right say "Masi"!!! :D

Back to the parking lot after lunch, and this is what I see. It totally cracked me up! That leeeetle bitty tree trying to give shade to that BIIIIIG truck :) It was so funny and cute! Sadly, the picture didn't come out too well. I couldn't avoid the tree in the back.

I went to work, and then home, and then took the last picture of the day. This is the tree-lined street where my home is :) I absolutely love my home and its location and everything else about it.

Thats it for now, folks! Until the bug bites again...ta-da!

Enjoying the breeze

2008-04-30T22:19:00.001-07:00

These pictures are specially for my dog-lover friends, Veena and Carolinagal (and all those others that I don't know are dog-lovers).

Please excuse the dirt on my windshield. The dog was truly beautiful, saw him on my way home today! Was too eager to post them up for my friends, so no photoshopping/cropping done.

The Early Morning Visitor

2008-04-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

Guess what got me out of bed yesterday (I did not want to :))

My alarm went off, I opened my eyes, looking for the snooze button, and saw this little guy roaming around outside in my yard. I literally sprang out of bed, grabbed my Nikon D200 (I love mentioning my totally amazing new camera whenever I can!), and took these pictures. These were taken from inside the house, behind the glass, about 20-25 feet away from the bird. I simply LOVE that camera! You'll soon see why!

Birdie showing off its tail!

I was chanting, turn-around-turn-around, when he decided to...turn around :)

And THIS is the most amazing part! This is a zoomed in version of the above picture. See that WORM in his mouth! (Photo bada kar ke dekho yaar, you'll see it)
I can't believe I could capture that from so much distance and so much clarity!

And here's some more...well...flowers and foliage :)

2008-04-29T16:11:00.003-07:00

My red rosy :)

Photoshopped this one a little bit, to get the background all black and all. I like!

One very delicate fern.
Not sure I like this picture much, will give it another shot some other time

The cuties!
We have a "planter-wall" full of these! They are SO cute!

My favoritest (is there such a word?) tree in my yard!

2008-04-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

The Japanese Maple.

And the little "rock garden" hubby dear designed around it. I totally LOVE the red color of the leaves. I'll get a picture of the entire tree some day soon. Right now, just feeling a bit "artsy", hehe :)

We have some little green maples too, that hubby salvaged from a friend's yard. Those are still too small, in pots right now.

More From My Front Yard

2008-04-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVE these colors (Sony W90)

Meri White Rosy (Nikon D200)

Meri Yellow Rosy (Sony W90)

Nikon D200

Waiting patiently to be planted (Sony W90)

This one's saying, हम नहीं बोलते, जाओ :) (Sony W90)

The Lone Palm

2008-04-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

I see this tree everyday on my way to and from work. Am always amazed by it! Its got so many fronds! Top to bottom! Had been waiting for an opportunity to take a picture...you see the signal has to be red, and there have to be an exact number of cars ahead of me for me to be in the right spot! Finally, one day, I was in the right place at the right time :)

Maybe I should do a bit of cropping to the picture! I like how the picture looks against the blue background. Glad I changed the template.

And here's a cropped version, with a lil bit of contrast adjustment as suggested by xh...

Who won?

2008-04-28T14:21:00.001-07:00

The car did, I think!

For Samby :o)

2008-04-08T01:09:00.001-07:00

More Flowers!!!

2008-04-07T16:38:00.001-07:00

Flowers seem to be the only interesting objects around lately. So here's some more...

Here's the beautiful state flower of California.

The Golden Poppy!

I love this picture of the single, perfect poppy.

Here's something like a whole field of 'em!

Don't these two look like they're best friends, about to play some mischievious prank? :)

I don't personally like roses (too much high maintenance, I think they are "snobbish" flowers!). But this one's quite beautiful!

Calla Lillies!

I'm watching you!

2008-04-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

Here's Tiger again, watching our house from behind the fence.
He loves to do that, some times he comes and peers into our room through the French doors. And walks off in sloooooow motion if he sees either one of us looking back at him.
Silly cat :) I wonder where he got that little tangerine from!

Setting moon!

2008-03-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

Ever wake up to see the setting moon instead of the rising sun?

This is what I saw when I opened my eyes at around 7am today. Well, I woke up because of the moon shining in my face through the French door opening into the backyard. (This is my lovely backyard :)

The picture is not quite up to the mark, but man, was it awesome or what! The moon looked MUCH bigger than it does here, and was very bright! I wish those cables weren't there to ruin my perfect picture.

People watching

2008-03-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

These birdies are ALWAYS up there, sitting in a row! And I always wonder, what DO they do? Just people-watching (like we go bird-watching)?

Shades of grey

2008-03-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Grey...and a bit of brown

Grey...with a nice bright blue sky this time!

Angry grey-black skies...a bit of blue, a spot of red!

Photoshop :)

2008-03-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

Ceedy and -xh- , thanks for helping with figuring out how to use PS, and for getting me started. I really needed that nudge to go start playing.

The first one is an example of what not to do :) Bahut zyaada enthu aa gaya tha!

This one...I walked out my door one morning, and I saw these flowers peeking out from behind the terracotta colored wall. It looked so...happy! Tried taking a picture, but was hard to get the flowers into focus (hmm...now that I think about it, I should have checked my camera settings! duh!) Well...anyway, I wanted the flower to be a little sharper, tried it with PS, but not quite satisfied. Not sure if there is actually much difference also or not. Should try using manual mode (note to self: figure out how to use manual mode!) and see if the picture comes out good!

And this here...makes me proud of me :o) I walked out the door, in the evening this time, to go home, and saw these amazing colors in the sky! Of course, I had to take a pic :) It was a cloudy day, so pic came out a little dull. PS to the rescue :) I love the new picture. It looks a little on the purple side, but I love how I can see the different shades that I saw in the sky that day!

ये खुदरा क्या होता है?

2008-03-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

This sign in a small, small "cabin" in Ranchi made me laugh, and wonder what is
"khudra". And also wondering about the use of shuddh Hindi and suddenly jumping to English!

Khudra is "change"!

I want to go to Mexico...NOW

2008-03-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

Went to a Mexican restaurant yesterday for lunch. Was amazed with the colors in the place! Not that apna India koi kam hai, but this was a blaze of color!

Here's a pic...

Yellow...

2008-03-05T11:50:00.001-08:00

This post is all yellow :) Took these in my office yesterday. Haven't come out quite like I expected :( Comments from pros really appreciated on how to get these to look better!

Wanted to get the water drops on the back of this one :) It looked so beautiful!

This one was still budding

There are so many things I wish I could have eliminated in this one, the green hose in the back, all the dirt in the lower right corner. Lesson learnt, look at the entire frame while taking the picture, not just the subject!!!

There's a mustard field right next to my office! I wish the mountains were not so hazy.

Orange mania!

2008-03-05T11:42:00.000-08:00

I am still very much in love with my orange tree and oranges!

This one is inspired by AT&T...
More bars in more places!

Wanted to try out the "rule of thirds" with this one. Don't know if I like it much.
I need to read up on how to play with light.

New blog

2008-03-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Since this blog was primarily intended for my photography "shaukh", and is evolving into a mish-mash of everything, I figured I should separate things out a little bit.

So this one will go back to being only about my pictures, and here's the other one where I talk, talk and talk :)

My soapbox

So many topics....such little time!

2008-03-03T23:51:00.000-08:00

Am gonna use this post as a to-do list of things I want to write about

1) Domesticity! What marriage/home-and-hearth feels like to me!
2) Pavi's SWOT tag
3) Solitaire's post abt bachpan ki yaadein

I am so PISSED and SAD :-(

2008-03-01T16:13:00.000-08:00

Someone decided to scrape off the logo from the front of my BMW!!!

Why the heck!!! Its not like they can sell it, its simply scraped off, with a few bits and pieces left behind. I showed it to my husband, and he said, nah, its just worn out, mine's like this too. I looked at his car, and that looks like genuine wear, like stuff faded off, and chipped a little bit here and there, 10 years of wear and tear. But the blue and white is still on it. And anyway, I know what I saw on my car yesterday, and what I didn't see today! Makes me want to cry every time I look at it :(

Its just so maddening, its not like they would have benefited from it :( I hope the dealer can fix it for me, my poor baby is defaced :(

Jisne bhi kiya ho, uske pet mein keede padein, bade waale, hmmppphhhh!!!

ROFLMAO!!!!!

2008-02-29T13:51:00.000-08:00

A friend forwarded this to me just now. Its so MEAN :) Of course its pure silliness, intended to be funny, and make me laugh, he knows how badly I need one! :)

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

1. If you're choking on an ice cube, simply pour a cup of scalding water down your throat. Presto! The blockage is instantly dislodged!

2. Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold while you chop.

3. Avoid arguments with the little woman about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.

5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of a laxative. Then you'll be too afraid to cough.

7. You only need two "tools" in life: WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40; if it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape. (Not sure what a WD-40 is, will ask him and update this)

8. Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know him/her.

Daily Thought: (Love this one!)

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.

I Love Me

2008-02-27T23:42:00.001-08:00

Have been visiting quite a few blogs lately, and saw quite a few tags (10 things I hate about guys, 7 weird things about me, some had questions like pet peeves, etc), and I felt like making one up of my own. (I wonder where all these other tags originated from!).

So the rules of this tag are...list 5 things you love about yourself. Then tag as many people as you like :)

The purpose of this is to have something to look up (quickly) when I am feeling down in the dumps, a reminder for me of why I am so cool!

The exercise turned out quite difficult for me, I thought up things like, I like to sketch, I like to read, blah blah. The question was, why do I like "me"? I could come up with a lot of things I don't like, but what I like, was hard. So I tried the "but" exercise. Think about something you don't like, and add a but to it. Like so: I am so lazy, BUT....once I set my heart on something, I do it, and I do it well. Then drop off the part before the BUT :)

So bahut sochne pe, this is what I think.

1. I care! I care about all (ok, maybe not all, but certainly most) the people I know
2. I think I am quite hilarious :) I can make people laugh.
3. I love it that I have so many different talents (I take pretty good pictures, I can sketch, I can sew, I sing at dandia events here in the Bay area, I have wowed DJs with my dancing, and am a pretty good engineer too!)
4. once I set my heart on something, I do it, and I do it well
5. I am a good girl, a good sister, a good daughter! (Certified by my parents and sisters :)

And now I am on a roll...here's a few more :)
6. I like what I cook, and I can cook most of all I like! (that's what I think, don't pay any attention to what my husband says ;)
7. I think I still have a bit of that childlike innocence that most of us lose in the process of growing up.
8. I am not fussy about anything at all (that's what I think, don't pay any attention to what my husband says)
9. I am always up for a new adventure.
10. I can fit into any group/category of people (my American cousins can relate to me just as well as my 65 year old aunt! ;)

So now I tag Veens, Solitaire, Pavi, Neeku, Anjuli, xh and sweetearth

Cats

2008-02-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

This post is for my friend "sweetearth"

My neighbor has a cat, Tiger. He comes and suns himself in our yard all the time. He's quite a big, fat one, but very timid. He comes up to our French doors, peeks inside trying to find us. Koi dikh gaya to he'll sit and stare for hours together. Found him on the fence yesterday morning. Got a pic from inside the room, he ran away the minute I opened the door to get a closer shot :( Here he is...wish I could get a clearer, closer shot

This one's a sketch I made from a calendar.

Spring is in the air!

2008-02-26T11:10:00.000-08:00

And am I glad or what!!!

Yesterday was a "photo-op" day for me. I woke up, looked out the window and saw my neighbor's tree sparkling with rain drops. I just had to go take pictures. Unfortunately my nicer camera had run out of batteries, so I had to use the chhota, point and shoot one. Then I drove to work, and saw the trees blossoming, (well, they had been blossoming for a few days, but photo ka "mood" nahin bana tha)

The neighbor's tree was too far for my little camera, but I still got a few pictures I like! Here's some of what I got... :)

This first one is just a HUGE weed!

I would love having a pendant like this one, the raindrop looked so beautiful! You can see the window in the raindrop if you look close enough!

Tiny weeds this time, washed and fresh faced!

This one's at my office

And this one's my favorite. Hint of life against a dark, cloudy sky. Can you see the raindrops on the flowers?

It was sunny today, and I got a few shots of this same flower today in the sunshine. Lets see what that one comes out like!

And here it is...with the brilliant blue sky!

Flowers scattered on the sidewalk...

Fell so in love with them...I need to preserve a few!

10 things...

2008-02-23T22:37:00.000-08:00

Got this tag from Veens (I mean, I brought it with me from her blog, she doesn't know me yet :)

The rules of the game are:

---write 10 things u hate about the opposite sex

---at the end of the tag, tag 5 random bloggers to take up the tag

Ok, so here goes....

1. I hate their belief "when a girl says no, she actually means yes". I actually had a guy propose to me (marriage, no less!!!) and I said no, and he goes, that's ok, I know you mean yes! What the *(&^! This was a long time ago, I hope its not that common anymore!

2. Got this from SOOO many guys since I got married two months ago, "why haven't you changed your last name? You don't want to accept the new family?" Urrgghhh! My husband and I LOVE my name, we have no issues, we do not want the hassle of going through the procedure, that too in two countries, of changing my identity. I am still not done with changing my address, for crying out loud! So let it rest, guys!!! Its amazing that only guys were concerned about this, no gals, not even my mother-in-law!

3. Yes, I whistle, get over it! Why do guys think its unusual for girls to whistle? Monopoly hai kya?

4. Thankfully, I have never faced this in my 10 year long career, but have heard enough stories about guys not liking women in high positions at work. Indira Gandhi was good enough to rule the country, but your own boss not smart enough to manage you, eh?

5. Guys having issues with women putting career before "home". Thankfully have only heard stories about this, never had to experience it.

6. Guys getting overprotective. Protective is cute, overprotecting gets me mad!

7. There's this guy at work, who keeps joking about "keeping his woman (wife) in control". Yuck!

8. Hate it, hate it, hate it when guys look me up from head to toe. YUCKKK!!!! We don't do it to you, guys, so give some respect! Thankfully, I don't see much of this too.

9. Guys complaining about "girls are all so bossy, its their way or no way". Even if you are joking, its getting really old now!

10. Hate the "woman-driver" type emails guys seem to revel in. They forward them to me, and write a disclaimer saying, I don't really mean this, its just for good fun. Ok, so here's a piece of my mind for you guys, I am not as good a sport as you think, and these kind of emails REALLY irritate me!

The second rule was to tag 5 more people, but I don't know that many bloggies, so can't tag that many:( I think I will tag Pavi

My lilies

2008-02-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

Looks like I am turning into a "Home&Garden" person lately. These lilies were SO beautiful! We had planted them a couple years back, they bloom once a year. The plants haven't shot out of the ground yet, am waiting so eagerly!

Oranges...yummmmmm

2008-02-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

These are the oranges on my tree. We get the juiciest of oranges. Hubby made a jugful of juice yesterday, and then Tequila Sunrise with it :) Yummmm

My first love...books!

2008-02-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

I have always loved books, everything related to books, the smell of new books, the smell of old books. Libraries, Barnes&Noble, Borders, Crossword. Love the notes people some times leave in library books. When I was single, the other half of the bed would be occupied by...my first love...books :-)

I love them all, old and new, current authors and classics. Here's the current pile on my nightstand.

Others I recently finished...
Shopaholic and Baby (hilarious!)
Kabul Beauty School
It Happens Only in India (Kishor Biyani ka autobio)
Gandhi Bapu ka autobio (believe it or not, the book was a wedding gift from my best friend!)
The 3 Mrs Parkers

Me like Idli-Sambar!

2008-01-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

Squirrels are abundant in Mehsana, Gujarat. This one found the leftovers of our breakfast!

Yet another cart!

2008-01-02T16:31:00.000-08:00

These are very common in the countryside in Gujrat.

Lessons for me...

2007-11-22T17:51:00.000-08:00

Am reading the online tutorial on this website by Geoff Lawrence.

Some tips (solely for me to remember...am sure this is all very common knowledge to the experienced lot).

Rule of thirds: Put the object of interest on some "third" of the picture. (Not explained very well, will add more once I use this tip!) There is a lone orange hanging on a branch of my orange tree, will try using this tip on it!

This one is straight from the tutorial:
Using auto exposure to your advantage.

If you have a modern camera, the chances are that the default metering system is 'centre weighted average', which means that, although it takes an average reading of the whole scene, it takes more notice of what is in the middle of the frame. Which is good news for us. The other good news is that it takes this reading at the time when you take 'first pressure' on the button to take your picture. When you push it halfway down and it beeps at you, not only is the focus now set (on an auto focus camera) but the exposure reading is taken and the aperture and shutter speed are set. So, if your main point of interest is not in the centre of the frame, it's a good idea to put it there temporarily while you focus and take your light reading, then move the camera whilst still holding the button halfway down and compose the picture the way you want it to be. A common use for this technique is when you are taking a close up shot of two people and there is space between their heads, if you're not careful the camera will focus on the wall or trees behind them. If the background is very dark or very light this can alter the exposure significantly and result in faces that are too dark or too light.

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My notes: I did not know this!!! Wow, this can make quite a difference!

Got a new toy!!!!

2007-11-21T22:07:00.000-08:00

Got a new Nikon D200 as a gift from my sisters!!!! How cool is that!
Now if only I knew how to use it to its full potential!

Added 11/22/07
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So apparently the serious photographers don't use the LCD display to frame and shoot pictures! Huh! I wish they atleast had the option to turn the LCD on if someone wanted to. It has a huge screen...to be used for playback only. I guess the use of the viewfinder for taking pictures makes sense...so that you can see only what is going to be in the picture, and nothing else. Makes sense.

Learnt a new photography term today..."chimping"... check the picture immediately after taking it. Thats what the whole world does!!! And the "serious" ones look down upon it! Me just a mere mortal..I need my LCD screen. Chimping shld be allowed...nothing to frown upon!

Fall Colors

2007-11-20T14:52:00.001-08:00

I totalllllly love fall colors. Its like I am in heaven when I see them.
Thats the only thing I miss about the midwest, the heavenly colors! I love it so much, I even had those fake fall leaf garlands hung on my living room walls at one point in time! And I collected leaves and made stuff out of it. I guess you get the idea...

So this year, I got a small camera to carry in my purse all the time, so that I can click it at anything I fancy :)

Here are a few pictures I took. But before my own, the first pic is one my fiance took of me in
a small town, Niagara-On-The-Lake last Diwali...he's pretty good at taking pictures, and especially good when I am somewhere in there :) This one is taken with the V3.

And here are some of my own attempts...all of these are in the Avaya campus. Its actually quite beautiful...all of these are taken with the W90

These next ones are in a trail behind Avaya...

The view was awesome, the picture...so boring :(