White Throated Tits (Aegithalos niveogularis) of Yamunotri

January 3, 2013 by Somendra | 2 Comments

We reached Janakichatti on a clear and crisply cold December evening at 4pm, about and hour and a half before sunset. Janakichatti is the road head for the trek to Yamunotri, the source of the Yamuna river, and one of the four major centers of Hindu pilgrimage in Uttarakhand (The other three being Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath).

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Rushing Torrents: Some abstract black and white images

December 25, 2012 by Somendra | 3 Comments

While traveling in the Himalayas one is never very far from flowing water; every valley has a river, even the smallest have their own personal streams. The sound of flowing water, be it the soft murmur of a brook, the conversational babble of a stream or the full-throated roar of a waterfall, is a constant companion.

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Darjeeling : Still the queen of the hill stations

November 13, 2012 by Somendra | 8 Comments

A chance conversation with a friend resulted in a short visit to Darjeeling, the “Queen of the Hills”. The idea was to commemorate a course I had attended at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling many years ago. Because of the incessant monsoon rains early September is not a good time to visit Darjeeling. But as we this was the only time slot available I decided to chance it.

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With the Palihas, Oraons and other tribes in the jungles of central India

July 22, 2012 by Somendra | 4 Comments

Forest clad hills, huge trees, clear bubbling streams, strange bird calls, springs trickling from dense bamboo groves, men with bows and arrows; we are at Sarai Deeh, a small sleepy village populated by the Paliha tribe, deep in the jungles of central India. Sarai Deeh can only be reached in a 4×4 jeep with a good driver, and that when the weather is good. The nearest petrol pump is more than a hundred kilometers away, and modern India some light-years beyond the horizon.

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The Demoiselle Cranes of Kheechan

July 6, 2012 by Somendra | 4 Comments

We reached Kheechan by first light and made our way to the terrace of a building next to the “Chugga Ghar” (literally feeding house) in the semi darkness. It was a typical cold and silent pre-dawn of a desert village. After ensuring that we had a good vantage point, Ram Narain, our guide went downstairs to organize tea for everyone. Soon we were enjoying a steaming cup of sweet masala chai (Indian milk tea) and biscuits while we waited.

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Portfolio: Interesting dining areas

July 3, 2012 by Somendra | 6 Comments

This portfolio contains images of beautiful dining areas.

These images were made over a span of many years while photographing professionally for my clients.

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Birding in the Raksham Chhitkul Wildlife Sanctuary, Baspa Valley, Kinnaur

June 24, 2012 by Somendra | 19 Comments

A tributary of the Sutlej, the Baspa river originates at a point near the tri-junction of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tibet. It flows due west for about 60 kilometers before joining the Sutlej at Kharcham. This is the Baspa valley.

A part of the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, the Baspa valley lies in the lap of the great Himalayas. Sangla is its largest town, and therefore the Baspa valley is sometimes also referred to as the Sangla valley.

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Exploring the Zanskar Valley

June 18, 2012 by Somendra | 27 Comments

It was late in September 2011. I was in Leh on a dream assignment. The assignment was open ended. I was to make my own itinerary and travel to places of my choice at my own pace. The idea was to make a nice portfolio of images from Ladakh. I was alone in my trusty Bolero 4×4 jeeep and I had already covered the main Indus valley and the Nubra valley.

I was planning to leave for Zanskar when, I came to know that my friend Tribhuvan was in Leh. We met at his favourite restaurant for dinner. When he told me that he and his friend, Charles, were also planning to go to Zanskar, I proposed a joint “expedition” to Zansakar.

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Shooting tigers in the Bandhavgarh National Park

June 13, 2012 by Somendra | 3 Comments

The Bandhavgarh National Park boasts of the highest tiger density in the world. It is also tourist friendly, easily accessible, has good visibility and has well made jungle tracks. In short, it is the best place in the world to see tigers in the wild.

During the last couple of years I have had the good fortune of visiting this park many times. I was photographing the Samode Safari Lodge, Bandhavgarh, and my work involved repeated visits.

I must have made at least 25 jeep safaris into the park during this period. Given the number of safaris and the “highest tiger density in the world” one would be forgiven to think that I would have seen a huge number of tigers during this time. Not true. Seeing tigers is not as easy as seeing their more exhibitionist cousins, the lions. In fact the Indian jungle is very different from the staple diet of the “African Savannah experience” tabled by the TV channels every day.

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Looking for Argali (Marco Polo Sheep, Ovis Ammon) in Tso Kar

May 20, 2012 by Somendra | 7 Comments

While in Leh, in September 2011, during a chance meeting with an officer from the Forest Department, I asked him whether it was possible to see wild Argali (Marco Polo sheep, Ovis Ammon) in Ladakh. It won’t be easy, he said, but it is possible. He told me that there was a small population of Marco Polo sheep in the Tso Kar Wildlife Sanctuary. Numbering about 150, this flock lived in the northern regions of the sanctuary. But, he added, the Argali were very shy and difficult to locate. He said it might be a good idea to look around for the Marco Polo sheep in the Tso Kar wildlife sanctuary on the way back to Manali.

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Looking for the Ladakh Urial (Ovis orientalis vignei)

April 18, 2012 by Somendra | 2 Comments

A young male Ladakh Urial

I started from Leh at about 8 AM. I was alone, as nobody was ready to join me on this wild goose chase. My plan was to head to Gurudwara Pattharsahib and look for Ladakh Urail (Ovis orientalis vignei). During a chance conversation, a forest officer in Leh had informed me that there were a couple of flocks of Urial (a kind of wild sheep) which lived in the hills near the Gurudwara. The drive from Leh to Pattharsahib takes about an hour. I was there at 9 AM after an uneventful drive.

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Jal Mahal – Jaipur

March 25, 2012 by Somendra | 1 Comment

The Jal Mahal (literally “Water Palace”) is a beautiful Mughal-Rajput style palace located in the center of the Mansagar lake a few kilometers to the north of the city of Jaipur. Designed a pleasure resort, the Jal Mahal is an approximately 60m square multistory building which has chhatris on each corner. When the lake is full only the top floor remains above the water level and the Palace can only be reached by boat. The terrace has a typical Charbagh style Mugal garden. Located on the tourist artery, the Jaipur – Amer road, Jal mahal is one of the iconic sights of Jaipur.

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Abstract Ice Sculptures from the Spiti Valley

March 16, 2012 by Somendra | Leave a comment

I made an early season trip to the Spiti Valley (Himachal Pradesh) in April 2011. The plan was to survey the valley for Bharal (Pseudois nayaur) and Ibex (Capra ibex). We did have some success with our mission. You can see some images of Ibex from this trip in the “Ibex (Capra ibex) in the Pin valley – Spiti” post. As we were early in the season we saw a lot of ice and I spent some time photographing the ice with my macro lens to get some abstract images. The images presented in this gallery are a selection from these.

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Portraits of Himalayan Birds

March 6, 2012 by Somendra | 2 Comments

The Himalayas are one the few truly wild spaces left in the world where one can spend weeks without coming in contact with civilization. I try and escape into the Himalayas for a few months every year. Trekking, mountaineering, birding, observing wild animals or just driving through. Some of the most cherished moments of my life have been in the Himalayas, many in the company of wild creatures, especially birds. These images are mementos of such moments. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed photographing them …..

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Ibex (Capra Ibex) in the Pin valley – Spiti

February 13, 2012 by Somendra | Leave a comment

I made a short trip to the Spiti valley, in April 2011, before the summer tourist rush started. The plan was to survey the valley for Ibex (Capra Ibex) and Bharal (Pseudois nayaur). If lucky we might get to see some before they started moving to higher altitudes. If not we would at least have the snow covered Spiti valley to ourselves and enjoy the stunning scenery.

We based ourselves in Kaza (at the only hotel that was open) and we spent the days driving around, enjoying and photographing the stunning landscape while on the lookout for wild animals.

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Moods of Shakti – Portraits of Indian women

January 2, 2012 by Somendra | Leave a comment

“Moods of Shakti” is a tribute to the epic struggles and the eventual triumph of ordinary Indian women. Loosely translated, “Shakti” means power or energy in Hindi. “Shakti” is also the name of the divine female principle which provides energy to the whole universe.

This gallery houses a collection of portraits of Indian women. These portraits attempt to capture the moods, from despair to hope and joy, of Indian women in their daily struggles. A result of a long term project, this gallery contains images captured over the past decade from different parts of India.

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Kalapathar – Everest base camp – Image Gallery

January 1, 2012 by Somendra | 2 Comments

Ama Dablam

During the Everest base camp – Kalapathar top trek we were treated to two spectacular sunsets. This gallery contains images captured on these two evenings. According to our guide, spectacular sunsets on Everest are quite rare. The best time for a good sunset is late November or early March.

We witnessed the first sunset while at Lobuche. We had reached Lobuche well in time and after checking into our hotel, we had gone for a short walk towards the Khumbu glacier. After the walk we had almost reached Lobuche again when the sky suddenly cleared up and as the sun went down it gave us a fine display of alpenglow on Nuptse and Pumori. The second grand sunset happened when we were at the Kalapathar top.

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Western Tragopan (Tragopan melanocephalus) at the Daranghati Wildlife Sanctuary

December 31, 2011 by Somendra | Leave a comment

It began with a chance meeting in Sarahan with the Divisional Forest Officer, Mr. B.L. Negi. When I told him that I was a keen birder he casually asked whether I would be interested in doing some research on the Western Tragopan (Tragopan melanocephalus) ? Off course I would be interested in doing research on the Western Tragopan, I almost shouted. (A PDF of this survey can be downloaded from a link at the end of this post.)

For anyone interested in Himalayan birds the Western Tragopan is like the Holy grail. With less than a thousand breeding pairs left, it is the rarest of five types of Tragopan. It has been voted as one of the top 10 “must see” birds in the world.

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Reflections in water – the transience of being : Abstract images of flowing water.

November 17, 2011 by Somendra | Leave a comment

Flowing water is one of the oldest, and to my mind, the most apt metaphors for life. The constant movement, the transient forms, the impermanence, the unity, the apparent confusion, the unstopable progress, the inevitable immersion into the ocean … one could go on for ever.

Movement in water fascinates me. Sometimes, when I look closely, I can see the reflection of my own life in it. This gallery is a collection of such images. They capture a bit of the ever transient mystery of being. From being born: “the beginning”, to the final destination, “peace at last”.

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Everest Base Camp – Kalapathar trek

October 25, 2011 by Somendra | 1 Comment

A closeup of Mount Everest

In November 2010 I went on a trek to the Kalapathar top near the Everest base camp. The path winds up through some amazing high altitude scenery to one of the best view points in the Himalayas, the Kalapathar top. The trek was not very difficult. If you love mountains and are reasonably fit this is a “must do” trek.

I am posting a brief travelogue of this trek in this post. You can also download a Google Earth kmz file containing the treking routes and locations mentioned in this post from a link at the end of the post.