Woke up at 0430, had been to bed early as is
the norm for me, was lazing not wanting to be the early bird this day, but had
a vision of Mt Kanchenjunga bathed in early morning Red/ golden light an
vignette of fog, the vision was so clear I just had to jump out of bed grab my
camera, I knew it was still dark outside but then photographers you know are
crazy hopeful, but then There was only fog in the direction of The mountain, No
chance of a peek of MT. Kanchenjunga viewing this morning, some of the other
Photographers joined me on the balcony & slowly realized there was no
chance of Mt. Kanchenjunga viewing to be
had this day either, It was best to get some coffee n enjoy the foggy morning
as I sat and meditated on the lap of Himalayas. Our server Sundari appeared with
coffee promptly and once warmed up with coffee I took a small walk around to
scope the location around the place of stay, was pleasantly surprised to
find
300 mtrs from our place a few lovely
pine forest more of a pine glen, with an interesting steps leading up into the
forest, which we visited post breakfast
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| Pine Grove, yes really |
We had a violin n a loooong scarf as
prop for this session with Alo the model
(Alo- translates to Light) Dipankar Da’s find.
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| Shot By Dipankar DasGupta |
As luck would have it while I was handling a
reflector 2 huge dogs ambled up to the model and posed oh so sweetly, it was
amazing chemistry between the models & the dogs, yes she is a animal lover
and the dogs picked up on it, and the triggers happy Image-makers had a blast
making some amazing images.
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| Sound Of Music |
The clock showed 1010
and we were off to find a pine forest once more, another 3 km or so en-route we
came across a tea garden the tea plans had been pruned and made some
interesting pattern, promptly we dispatched the model dressed in a white
flowing dress with her violin on to a rock and pose for next 20 minutes, with
pines and vines and such behind her.
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| Tea Shrubs, can be a trap |
Things were beginning to fall in place finally,
folks were beginning to look happy and perky, and just as all seemed to be
going very well, One of us “Supratik” managed to trip on a tree stump and hurt
himself, why is it that the most fit usually get tangled and take a fall? He is a trekker and is the lightest and one
of the fittest amongst us who managed to fall face first on tea shrub n get a
bloody nose, some blood & gore later his bleeding stopped and we all went
back to making images, The light was changing and we wanted to get a few images
in the camera, Three different ideas executed and 3 different location in One
location look, and we were happy to break for lunch.
More chicken & daal & mixed vegetable &
rice later and a little nap post lunch (it is just so nice to power nap after lunch)
WE were headed for a bridge past the teagarden of Rangili Ravingli we came to
the most amazing bridge at end of a pathway
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| Alo the model and Me, ( Thank you Subir) |
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| A Quiet Moment |
which was by a cemetery, the mood
of the images lent itself to the location too, and I found a headstone of one
born in 1967 makes me wonder what am I looking at? Is it a sign of a beginning for me, or is it
mere coincidence
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| Born in 1967 |
We Started back at sunset and stopped at a
small quaint village to snap a few and a teagarden on the way, even though it
was stop just to stop, I am sure a bunch of us did manage to get some
interesting images, this was followed by a Customary tea stop and then back to nawang,
we reached back by 1800 hours and tucked into some Potato cutlets and tea and
some Peach wine (home made)
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| Tea Garden |
As the sky opened up rain gods were being kind
to us as it continued to pour n pour for 2 hours, Tomorrow morning there is
hope for an amazing sunrise on the Kanchenjunga Mountains, will our prayers be answered?
Another day to go watch this space, the trip aint over year, the best is yet to come
Beautiful write up.
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