Yosemite!

Tags

Olympus E-520, Photography, Photos, Yosemite

Thinking of California usually brings up images of sun, sand and hollywood in one’s mind. So when HG and I pulled up into the winding pine lined roads at Yosemite National Park in North-Eastern California, we were taken aback when our tired city eyes were subjected to the Alpine vistas, dense forests and sheer mountainous beauty. Sure enough, trusty Olympia attacked with the furiousness of a pitbull attacking a running postman. Here are a few of my favorites… hope you like them. Click on the image to see wallpaper size.

Yosemite Forest

Yosemite is all forest. The diversity of flora is a joy to the eyes, and there is some fauna too! Of course, there are tourists everywhere – but the crowd is managed very well, and there is an absolute absence of garbage. Sigh. When will we learn. It was drizzling that day, and I had to be extra careful to ensure the camera didn’t get wet. (actually it did…but survived…)

Fall Sign

Fingers of the forest

All ears

Standing stones gather a lot of…

Yosemite Park Scenes

These are the park areas outside the forest. Yosemite is full of amazing walking trails, parks, fishing and camping spots… postcard perfect. And the roads… I have never seen a winding road look so beautiful right in the middle of nature. Couldn’t click enough of them, as it was difficult to stop the car in non-designated stopping areas… got a few though.

Curtain Call

Once upon a time…

Walking down a winding road…

Damn that rod…

Oh I love curves…

Yosemite clouds!

Though the rain threatened to spoil the day, we realized that it was rain which made this place heaven. I just kept clicking the cloud drenched scenery like crazy…before I finally decided to pack my camera and enjoy the beauty instead.

Shine your light on me…

Heaven peaking through…

The iconic cliffs of Yosemite

I am confident God put this show up for my camera. No other explanation suffices.

Yosemite Sunset!

So finally the day drew to an end…and we were lucky to be at “Sunset Point” at Sunset! I will let the images speak for themselves… (BTW…some pro photographer left a nice comment on one of these on my Flickr page… and I blushed!)

Metal Gleam

Golden Gate

Will the audience please rise?

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All images copyrighted by Grimescene. Feel free to use image(s) as wallpaper. All credits to the Olympus E-520 and Nature.

Manhattan in Sepia – part 1

Tags

Manhattan, New York, Olympus E-520, Photography

Grimescene is back! The author was busy making himself useful in nine cities across America – and had temporarily given up on veggie food, sleep, emails and of course the blog. One thing he did not give up on was his camera. 3.94 GB of photographs later – I have stuff enough to start a series of photoblogs on various aspects of my momentous trip. I will start with my favorite city in the world. NYC (for those who are open) has invisible fingers which grab hold of one’s heart with its sheer energy, color and glamour. Simply put – there is no other city in the world which comes close in sheer urban brilliance…and the heart of NYC is in Manhattan – the never-sleeping, writhing and turning mass of steel, tarmac, hi-def video screens and of course human beings and their dogs. I maybe an outsider…but in Manhattan no one is outside, like no one is inside. It is like a huge Andy Warhol painting in which we all make temporary appearances. I was lucky enough to catch NYC during 3 lovely days in fall – when the colors were changing and the ebullient New Yorkers were – well at their most ebullient before the winter. Everyone has seen the color and glitz of Manhattan - so I decided to strip off all color and shoot New York in Black n White, with a mild Sepia filter. The results are for you to see… enjoy! As usual – there is no post processing, except resizing of course. And as usual – click on the pictures to see the full size.

Life in the Upper Westside

1) Massive residential structures on the predominantly Jewish Upper Westside of Manhattan. Most of these buildings are 40-50 years old – interspersed with newer ones…

2) New Yorkers LOVE dining out. Give them a sunny afternoon and they will hit the cafes…

3) New Yorkers may be Global…but they are patriotic. Even if it means using the Star Sprangled banner as a canopy. Clicked it from below…

4) Some old Row-houses from across the Riverside park… NYC has more than its fair share of dilapidated facades. I think it all adds to the charm…

5) Millions of people packed on a tiny island…this is where they live… (the rich ones atleast…)

6) Poor little Rich kids of Upper Westside… out with their Nannies…

Riverside Park

7) New Yorkers were out in the park, in full force on a Thursday afternoon – spurred on by the sun I am sure!

8) …and they brought their dogs…

9) …and baseball bats…

10) …and their flying saucers…

9) …and their jogging shoes (even if they leave the shirt behind)…

10) …and their boats…

11) …while some just bring their thoughts and a friend.

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Part 2 will feature Central Park and of course Times Square…stay tuned for that! ;) Hope you liked the snaps! All credit to the subjects and the Olympus E-520.