Travel Photography - Mahabaleshwar

My last post on Sinhagadh was written back in Oct 2015. Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I have posted anything new on this blog.  But that for sure doesn't mean that I have stopped photography. I have been travelling and busy with work and unfortunately not able to upload pictures here. 

So today I am going to share pictures and some stories about my trip to Mahabaleshwar. Most of the people living in Mumbai, Pune know of this place. It's a super popular destination in Maharashtra. Mahabaleshwar is a hill station with some really beautiful views, specially if you visit the place in the right season. 

As with all destination in Maharashtra, best time to visit is Monsoons or just after monsoons. I went there in late October of 2015 which is a decent time to visit the place. 

There are many points to visit in Mahabaleshwar. Most of them are scenic but there are 2-3 points that will make you go Wow. I highly recommend visiting these points if you are visiting Mahabaleshwar

1. Savitri Point
2. Arthur Seat Point
3. Kate's Point

Okay- so without writing too many things, let me take you to the pictures now. 

Punish yourself. Go to Taraporewale Aquarium in Mumbai

Don't get me wrong. I am a pure Mumbaikar and I love this city but there are some things about the city (especially when they are over-hyped) that I simply cannot tolerate.  Taraporewala Aquarium is one of those things.  Anyone who was born and raised in Mumbai knows this aquarium. It was perhaps the only aquarium that we had ever seen in our childhood and sure at that time, it was great. We all enjoyed going there to see different kinds of fishes and sea animals. It will always remain as our childhood memories. 

But now things have changed. Many of you who are in Mumbai probably know that this aquarium was shutdown for some time and it was renovated (suppsedly) and re-opend in the first week of March 2015. There was a tremendous hype surrounding the renovation that it was now ultramodern and it was even compared to some of the international aquariums.

So - one fine day (a saturday), I decided to take my wife and kid to this aquarium, completely unaware of what was going to happen next. Since it was a weekend, I was expecting some rush and so I decided to pick an ODD time (about 1.30pm) to reach there. Let me walk you through what exactly happens over there 

1. If you want to go to this Aquarium, you have to pass through multiple stages/queues. The great (sarcasm) part about it though is that its like a video game. You don't know what's next, until you reach that stage. 
2. First queue is "Outside the gate" (literally on the road), and no points for guessing, the queue is long (and I mean really long - atleast about 200-300 people). And the security guard won't let you in until its full hour. They allow people to go in at full hour like 1pm, 2pm , 3pm etc. So - if you reached there at 1.10pm, you gotta wait outside for the next 50mins. That's 50 mins of waiting in hot Mumbai afternoon with your kids.Welcome to Taraporewale Aquarium.
3. So somehow you go through those 50 mins and you are finally allowed to go inside the gate. So what's next? You gotta buy tickets to get inside the aquarium...right? Here's the equation. # of people entering the date = 300. # counters = 2. Time to get ticket = "Depends on mood of people at counter". It took me about 40-45 mins just to get the tickets. And if you are wondering what happended to my wife and kid. They are waiting. Outside. No share. No place to sit. Kid is still excited (coz he's gonna get to see some fishes) But he doesn't know that things are just getting started. 
4. Now - normally you would expect that once you buy ticket, you go inside. Nah Nah. Doesn't happen over here. There is a 3rd queue. For entering the aquarium. And this one is the LONGEST of them all because there are people from previous slots trying to enter the aquarium (i.e. if  you entered in 2pm slot, there are people from 1pm slot trying to get inside the aquarium). It took us about 1 hour 20 mins to to through that queue and go inside aquarium. And the kid (who came to see fishes) is already frustrated. Oh - but never mind, this is not the end. There are still more queues. Still not frustrations waiting for you inside. 
5. So let's take a check-point here. You've already spent close to 2.5 hours and barely got inside the aquarium. On positive side, there is Shade. There is A.C. On the negative (or the normal) side, you are still in a queue. Even after entering the aquarium, you are not really allowed to roam around the way you please. You have to follow the queue. You are not allowed to 'wait' longer at a particular fish-tank. There will be security guards, bugging you and asking you to move ahead (in marathi - "Chala..pudhe chala..pudhe chala"). 
6. The aquarium itself is not very big. If you have visited any aquariums outside India (like singapore, USA, UK), this one would definitely look smaller. We went through the entire aquarium in about 20-25 mins. That's 2.5 hours of waiting in line and 30 mins of seeing fish. 
7. Coming to the fishes. I wasn't really impressed. I could be biased because I have seen aquariums in different countries. But when they said Newly renovated, best in class etc, I expected more. It definitely was disappointing. 
8. Oh and I forgot to mention. You are not allowed to take photographs inside the aquarium unless you pay for photography charges. I found that weird for 2 reasons. One - The charges are pretty high. For photography using Mobile phones its Rs 500 and for clicking good professional pictures it is about Rs 5K-10K. The ticket cost for entering the aquarium is Rs 60. So now you understand why it's weird? Second reason is - WHO WOULD WANT TO CLICK A PICTURE OF THEMSELVES AFTER WAITING FOR 2.5 HOURS????(i guess this one is self-explanatory). 

Here are my little suggestions to Taraporewale Aquarium team (if they even desire to make their visitor experience a pleasant one)

1. Please raise the ticket price. At least for weekends. With Rs 60 per ticket, it is just too cheap. Entire population of Mumbai would probably come there for this price. 
2. Please provide an option for buying tickets online. There is definitely a big chunk of people driven away by sheer inconvenience of getting inside the aquarium. This will at-least help them skip some of your queues. 
3. Provide a VIP Pass (Fast Pass) at a much higher price, so that those who can afford the convenience can atleast skip the major queues. 
4. Allow photography for free. Period. 

WOW- I didn't realize, but this post turned out to be longer that I originally thought. I would have to blame emotions for this. They don't come often, but when they do, they come in Burst mode !!! :-) 

Anyways - thank you for reading this post. Hope it reaches the Taraporewale Aquarium's management team and we can hope for some changes. Until then, you all stay blessed & have a wonderful day ! 

The Story of Mumbai's Icon - Bandra Worli Sea Link

If you go around the world, all of the big cities have an iconic place which identifies the city. New York for example, has Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building. In fact -the entire view of the city from Hoboken is iconic. San Francisco has Golden Gate as its iconic architecture.  Mumbai for years was celebrating Queen's Necklace (a.k.a Marine Drive) area as the iconic place.  But now - India's financial capital has another icon - Bandra Worli Sea Link. 

There are many overlooks from where you can see this bridge and each has its own uniqueness. Here are the options that you have -

1. Bandra Fort (Bandstand as it is commonly known)
2. Worli Fort
3. Dadar Chowpatty
4. On the bridge :-)

Well quite frankly, bridge is not an option, but after doing some research I decided to go to Bandra Fort as it is 'the' best view of the bridge. 

Getting to Bandra Fort

Well - reaching Bandra Fort is not a problem. I am assuming you are using public transport to reach there. Take a train to Bandra Station and then take an auto or taxi from there to Bandra Fort (also known as Bandra Bandstand). It's a popular destination and home of Shah Rukh Khan, so reaching there should be very very easy. 

Anyways - I reached the place around 5.30 in the evening which is about 1 hour before sunset. This is usually my preferred time so that I can go around scout for the right place from where I want to take pictures.  At first I decided to go really close to the water (to avoid having crowd in my picture). But changed my mind later as the rocks were too slippery. 

Tip No. 1: Always reach our location early. You want to scout the place and there may be unexpected situations. No matter what - you do not want to miss the golden hour for clicking pictures.

Below are the first couple of pictures that I clicked over there. Its not that these are bad pictures, but I felt that there was something missing. Obviously it was not sunset yet, so the colors were not really at its best yet.  But even composition wise, I found it to be a very 'standard' composition with no much distinction. 

As I was clicking the pictures, I saw a couple. There was a small puddle to my left and the couple was sitting next to it. And from where I was standing, I could see their reflection in the puddle. That was a 'eureka' moment for me .I went really close to the puddle and took the following shot. The water was more or less still (was not very windy that day). To me - this change in angle and the overall composition is much more stronger (& unique) than a regular photo of the bridge. 

Tip No 2: Observe your surrounding. Look for opportunities to improvise your composition. There are way too many 'cliche' photos of everything in this world. These improvisations are the only way to make your photos stand out from the rest. 

I like the following shot a lot where I am trying to highlight the suspension tower of the bridge as a diamond shape (with its reflection). 

Next two shots are my favorite ones from the shoot. They are actually 3 shots blended into 1 single photo using post-processing. 

Some more pictures before it was dark & lights were turned on. 

Night shots of the bridge (or any landscape) are typically challenging because of the slow shutter speeds and ability of your camera to focus properly. Tripod is a must. If you don't have a tripod, I would advise you to buy one. Perhaps the best investment you can make to improve your photography. For focusing during night time photography, I typically switch to manual focus and help my camera. Saves time and gets beautiful results. 

Tip No 3: Switch to Live-view, zoom to the area where you want to focus and manually focus on that area. This is the 'only' technique that will give you 'sharp' photos in night. 

Here are the night shots of the bridge - 

And here are my favorite night shots

In the end, I just want to say that, Bandra Worli Sea link is a delight to watch and photograph.  I hope this post helps you plan your next trip to this wonderful place. 

Do leave your feedback, it helps me improve :-) 

About "Random Footprints"

I did not blog much before I started with "The Shutterist" website. I did most of my blogging under the title "Random Footprints", which mostly showcased various trips that I made during that time and would serve not only as a platform for showcasing my photography, but can also be used by others planning a trip to those locations. 

I just wanted to put a reference to that website on "The Shutterist", so that if you even wanted to visit those places, you can take these links as a reference. 

Kalsubai, Maharashtra, India
http://randomfootprints.blogspot.com/2011/10/kalsubai-maharashtra.html

Matheran, Maharashtra, India
http://randomfootprints.blogspot.com/2008/11/matheran-maharashtra.html

Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://randomfootprints.blogspot.com/2011/10/lake-calhoun-minneapolis_22.html

New York City, New York,
http://randomfootprints.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-york-city-new-york.html

Stone Arch Bridge, Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://randomfootprints.blogspot.com/2010/01/stone-arch-bridge.html

Mysore, Karnataka, India
http://randomfootprints.blogspot.com/2010/05/mysore-karnataka.html

Goa, India
http://randomfootprints.blogspot.com/2010/06/goa.html


Hope you like these..

Planning a Summer Trip to Michigan

If you live on eastern side of US, you would agree with me that Michigan is one of the most scenic locations that you can visit in US.  The state is surrounded by 3 of the great 5 lakes and so most of these scenic attractions can be found near the lake. 

While this article can be useful for anyone who is interested in planning a vacation to Michigan, this would be more useful for those who are traveling from Cleveland,Ohio.  

So without wasting much time, let me start with the my trip plan. This is a typical 'long-weekend' trip plan where you would start your trip on Friday afternoon and return home Monday night. I prefer scenic locations where I not only enjoy the views but can also exercise my photography skills. Therefore - most of the attractions you see below would be scenic location and not necessarily educational or city trips. 

Friday [Cleveland,OH -> Mackinaw City,MI]
The first destination that I visited was Mackinaw City in Michigan. The drive is about 7 hours from Cleveland which is usually the maximum that I want to drive in a day. 

Things to see:
Mackinac Bridge: Best viewed from Colonial Mackinac Park. If you reach early enough, you can see the sunset right behind the bridge. If you reach late, you can still enjoy the lights on the bridge.

Where to Stay:
Most of the hotels in Mackinaw City have private beaches. I recommend staying in a hotel that has their private beach facing Lake Huron. Next - you wake up early next day and go to that private beach and see sun-rise over Lake Huron. This was an important criteria for me and that's why I chose to stay in "Quality Inn & Suites Beachfront". I booked a room facing the beach that way I could see the sun-rise & the Mackinac bridge from my room. Quite a view !

Here are some of the pictures from my visit to Mackinaw City. 

View from my hotel in Mackinaw City

Mackinac Bridge view from Colonial Park

View of Mackinac Bridge at night

Saturday [Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore]
As I mentioned above, get up early on Saturday morning and see the sun-rise over Lake Huron. Next - pack up your bags and start for Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore latest by 8am.  The journey from Mackinaw City to Pictured Rocks is about 2.5 hours, so you will reach there by 11am. 

Things to see:

1. You will drive over the Mackinac Bridge (which itself is very scenic). 
2. The drive in upper peninsula is very scenic. Enjoy the drive. Keep those windows and sunroofs open. 
3. Once you reach Pictured Rocks, there are many (& I mean many places to visit). Visit this link (http://www.nps.gov/piro/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm) and pick the kind of attractions that you like. I recommend that you at least visit Miners Castle.
4. Book a Sunset Cruise (in advance, if possible). This cruise about 2 hours long and is the most important thing that you wanna do there. 
5. If you can swin, go for Kayaking. 
6. Enjoy the clean water of Lake Superior. 

Where to Stay: 

1. If you are planning to stay for more than a day in Pictured Rocks, then I would recommend you stay near Pictured Rocks. It will be expensive, but worth.
2. In my case, I did not want to stay overnight in Pictured Rocks, so I went back to lower peninsula and booked a hotel in Gaylord, MI. Alternatively, you can also stay in Mackinaw City (depending on how much you want to drive). The reason for coming back in lower peninsula was my next destination, Sleeping Bear Dunes. 

Here are some of the pictures from my visit to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. 

Pictures from the Sunset Cruise

Pictures from Sunset Cruise

Pictures from Sunset Cruise

Pictures from Sunset Cruise

Sunday [Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore]

Drive from Gaylord, MI to Sleeping Bear Dunes, one of the most spectacular places in Michigan. The drive is about 2 hours. Again - compromise on your sleep a bit and start early (about 7.30ish) to reach Sleeping Bear Dunes by 9.30am. Go to the Park Office directly and pay the park fees ($10, I think). 

Things to see:

1. Empire Bluff Trail
2. Platte River Point
3. Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive [MOST IMPORTANT]
4. Dune Climb [its a really really long trail, but you don't have to complete it, you can always come back half way or whenever you feel like]
5. Inspiration Point [If you have time]

You sure don't want to miss the scenic drive. There are about 12-13 points in the drive. Most of those points can be skipped except the main one, Point 9. DO NOT MISS THIS. 

Where to Stay:

1. Again, if you are planning stay for more than a day in Sleeping bear dunes, it is recommended that you stay near the park. It is expensive, but worth. 
2. If you want a slightly cheaper option closer to your next destination then book a hotel in Cadillac,MI or Manistee, MI or Ludington, MI. 

Here are some of the pictures from my visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes.

At Dune Climb

Scenic Drive - Point 9

More pictures from Scenic Drive

From the Scenic Drive

View at the end of Empire Bluff Trail

Scenic Drive - Point 9

Platte Rive Point

Platte River Point

Scenic Drive

Monday [Silver Lake Dunes]

Ok so this destination is going to for those who like adventures, water sports etc. Silver Lake Dunes is not particularly 'super scenic'. It is beautiful, but the main reason to visit this place would be to enjoy the buggy rides and other water sports.  Depending on where you book your hotel, the drive to reach this place is less than 2 hours. Because this is the day where you want to return back home, you would probably not spend a lot of time in this place.

Things to do:

1. Buggy Rides (must do)
2. Jet Ski

Here are some of the pictures from Silver Lake Dunes. 

At the end, you return back home.

Here's the map of all destinations you covered in this trip. 

Additional Places to Visit:

Here are some other places that you can visit in Michigan, that I could not visit during my visit to Michigan. 

1. Mackinac Island
2. Traverse City
3. SooLocks
4. Turnip Rock

I do not have much information on 'interestingness' of these spots as I have not visited them myself. But these are some of the places worth mentioning. 

Do post your Michigan pictures in the comments below ! Have fun !