Colebrook, New Hampshire

So I was up at Colebrook recently visiting Russ' Dad's place. It was a 5 hour drive from Boston but Russ's pickup was pretty comfortable. I was hoping to get some great pictures of the foliage. But the weather for the most part was wet and dreary and the light kept changing constantly. And, of course, there had also been a moderate amount of leaf drop.

Here are some photographs from our trip. They were all shot hand held using a Nikon D70 set to automatic white balancing with high color saturation. Click each picture for a larger version.


Let's get started...
Manual, 1/160 secs, F5.6, ISO 400, Fill Flash


The views were spectacular!
Manual, 1/125 secs, F8, ISO 200


The woods were lovely, dark and deep.
Shutter Priority, 1/125 secs, F4.5, ISO 400


Nothing like a good old trout stream to add some reassuring background murmur.
Aperture Priority, 1/125 secs, F8, ISO 400


I took a few shots.
Manual, 1/125 secs, F5.6, ISO 800


And so did Russ...at the occasional grouse that had the audacity to show itself in his presence. Note the bird in the top left corner of the picture.
Manual, 1/250 seconds, F5.6, ISO 400, Fill Flash


We stopped at Russ' aunt's place...one huge mowed lawn really. Canada (yes, that Canada) can be seen on the horizon.
Aperture Priority, 1/320 secs, F8, ISO 400


Then we visited the Balsams. The buildings reminded me of Bavarian architecture.
Aperture Priority, 1/320 secs, F8, ISO 1000


Then a nice winding drive took us to the Balsam's clubhouse for lunch.
Aperture Priority, 1/250 secs, F8, ISO 800


The clubhouse was on top of a mountain. I lunched sumptuously on Salmon caesar salad, margaritas and coffee!
Aperture Priority, 1/15 secs, F8, ISO 1000


Before we left Colebrook, we stopped briefly at the Beaver Brook Falls. Very nice!
Aperture Priority, 1/80 secs, F8


Outside Colebrook and on our way back home, we stopped at some guy's farm where Christmas trees were cultivated. You can make out a dusting of snow on one of the distant peaks.
Aperture Priority, 1/640 secs, F8, ISO 800


The flora looked more lush on hill sides.
Aperture Priority, 1/320 secs, F5.6, ISO 200


And a close up of the aforementioned snowy peak using a 400mm telephoto.
Aperture Priority, 1/2000 secs, F6.3, ISO 1000


The cabin we stayed in was cozy and comfortable. It had two bedrooms and a good-sized living room with a fireplace. Maybe I will bring a girl here someday to roll around in the hay with...
Aperture Priority, 1/80 secs, F8, ISO 400


The living room. Bring your own hay!
Aperture Priority, 1/3 secs, F6.3, ISO 800

I made a mental note to bring my ND grad filters (and tripod) next time around as quite a bit of the pictures came out with overly exposed skies. It was all in all, an outstanding weekend!!

Memorable movies (and music)

I know. I've not been writing much on this blog. But between homework for my Art class at UMASS and a surge in "stuff" at the office, I rarely feel like spending more time before a desk elsewhere...for the time being.

LMAOF!!

Anyway, come end of October, I am taking hang gliding lessons up in NH. Here's hoping for a more dignified experience...

Ah, finally...a win!

India win the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup by beating Pakistan in a close match!! This would be India's first win in a major tournament since the ODI World Cup final back in 1983.


A jubilant Indian team.


Indian skipper MS Dhoni celebrates after the dismissal of the last Pakistani wicket (of Misbah-ul-Haq) on Monday. India won the Twenty20 World Cup by 5 runs.


The flags of both teams are paraded by the "boundary edge dancers" before the start of play. I thought that the dancing was a lame version of cheerleading although you have got to admit that the Indian "dancers" do appear much easier on the eye than the Pakistani "dancers" :)

Good morning!

Song: Althota Boopathi
Album: Youth
Language: Tamil

Message in a bottle?

So I am pretty sure that I have plenty of algae growth in the water bottle I use at the office. So far I've had two of my colleagues ask me, "But...why is it green?", with a frankly baffled look on their faces (it was kind of cute...the way one of the ladies asked that question).

Le bouteille.

Anyway...

Personally I have not had any problems drinking from this bottle for close to 2 years now. I've instinctively seen the algae growth more as a safety sign than anything else...until the second colleague posed the afore-mentioned question this morning. Now I am wondering if I should be worried. The research I've done on this so far indicates that, as long as I feel good and can perform well, I should be fine with algae in my bottle. Other sources warn that one should always keep water containers clean with this cleaning method or that because of the dangers posed by toxic algae.

The problem with living in the "modern" age is that sometimes one has too much information to process (sigh).

So money does have a color

The BBC has an article today entitled Swiss citizenship system 'racist'. According to the article, those communities, where applicants for citizenship reside in, are the ones responsible for voting as to whether those applicants can become citizens.

Here is an extract from the article:

"Switzerland's Federal Commission on Racial Discrimination, recommends far-reaching changes.
...
...
It criticises the practice of allowing members of a community to vote on an individual's citizenship application.
...
...
Muslims and people from the Balkans and Africa are the most likely to be rejected, the report points out."


I like the Swiss...well, at least Roger Federer.

When I go to Switzerland I expect to see Roger Federer and the alps. When I go to India, I expect to see...cows on the road and homo sapien families of 24. So I wouldn't want a Swiss or anyone else to easily become a citizen of India either. India has a specific identity and just letting in anyone might affect that. I mean it just won't be India anymore. Hmmm...wait a minute! On second thoughts maybe it doesn't matter. Even if you transplant all of Switzerland's 7.4 million citizens amongst India's 1 billion, I have a feeling India will somehow retain her identity. Still I can see why the Swiss, living in such a small state, feel the way they do about their identity.

Anyway, there can only be one United States...

Original article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6992670.stm