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CTC Photo Ride

Fellow CTCians,

Last weekend - Karthick Ramalingam & myself went on to explore the hidden  
treasures of the Kelambakkam Back waters.. and what an uplifting experience  
it turned out to be in the end. With the monsoons adding the romance and  
the lighting of the place ... every bit of time spent around was worth it ..

pics here :::  
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/makkaphotography/BirdingECRKelambakkam?...

Although we ended up spending the whole day at one end of the lake, We  
propose to take it forward and make it more interesting this time around.

We are planning to stretch the limits this time around upto Pondicherry and  
may be beyond if time permits.

Ladies & Gentlemen - Welcome to the first Photo Ride event of the year ...  
Yes .. We are gonna drive on the ECR whilst stopping by predetermined  
points for a photo-shoot and explore birding activity as well around the  
area.

This aint gonna be the last as there are just too many places on the ECR  
and beyond to be explored...

Come - Be a part of this ongoing journey of Discovery - Maker it Complete  
by being there yourself...

The Journey Begins ::: Sunday , the 15th of November 2009 , 5 AM

See ya there people ...

Name * Hari Kumar Balasundaram

Email address * harikbalasunda...@gmail.com

Mobile number * 96000 81363

How can you volunteer * call up participants, pick up participants,  
organise food etc....

Call Up Participants
Pick Up Participants
Write Blog
Others

Blood Group [in case of emergency] * B +ve

Contact Number [in case of Emergency] * 98400 70332

I would like to join u guys from * We are starting from Adyar Telephone  
Exchange - Plan Accordingly

I can bring my own bike * Yes / No

Yes
No

Disclaimer - trekking, hiking & photography trips involves inherent dangers  
including rock climbing, swimming through water pools, wildlife (snakes,  
etc.). CTC and its organizers are not responsible for any accidents or  
injuries during the whole event. They are also not responsible for any loss  
or damage to personal property. The participant agrees to take full  
responsibility on the above * I Agree

Yes
No

Littering/polluting, smoking, consuming alcohol, and unacceptable social  
behavior are strictly prohibited during the whole event. * I Agree

Yes
No

I've read the dropout policy & Assure that I would not disappoint the  
organisers. I Agree

Yes
No

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Another day to go before we venture out to the ECR for a fantastic
tete-a-tete with our avian friends out there.

A quick browse on the net reveals that there is actually very less or
no proper documentation at all about Bird life and Birding on ECR.

We have a great opportunity to document Bird Life and Birding activity
in the vicinity of chennai.

Here are a few things to take into account whilst Sunday's rendezvous
with our avian pals :::

Photograph Birds Early & Late:
Birds are active feeding early in the morning and late afternoon. If
you arrive at your destination at 10:00am and hike until 2:30pm, put
your camera away and just enjoy your hike. Once you understand the
rhythm of nature and the habits of the birds, you won't be
anticipating bird photography opportunities that will not exist due to
the time of the day.

Understanding The Light:
You will have the benefit of more dynamic lighting in the early
morning and late afternoon, which happens to coincide nicely with the
activity of the birds. Spend the middle of the day enjoying yourself
or scouting for possible bird photography opportunities. Even if you
happen see some interesting birds during the middle of the day, the
light will be less interesting and less favorable (especially during
the summer months).

Use The Longest Lens Available:
Birds are small and you have two options for bird photography: Use the
longest lens available to you or learn how to approach birds without
scaring them away. Learning the language of the birds and seeing
through Outdoor Eyes will help you get closer to the birds.

Treat The Birds With Respect:
The safety of the birds is a prime goal to all of us. Do not put any
birds at risk or in danger for the sake of a photograph as it will
eventually hurt some birds as well as ruin your reputation as a
photographer. Obey all the rules of the land and the laws of nature.
You will be rewarded with bird photographs in the end.

Luck Has No Part:
Luck does not factor in bird photography, unless you think that it was
lucky that a particular bird happened to be in your area just at the
right time. This might happen once and maybe twice, but don't rely on
the luck factor to continually put you in the right place at the right
time. If you rely on luck, you will eventually become extremely
discouraged. Not many bird photographers would say that any of their
photograph was due to luck.

Do Not Feed The Birds:
Do not feed the birds to try to get a better photograph unless it is
from a bird feeder in your own backyard. Birds in the wild shouldn't
get into a habit of thinking that there will always be food in a
particular area because you brought food to attract the birds.

Stay Low And Approach Slowly:
Sometimes, by staying low and approaching a bird slowly, you might
find yourself extremely close to a bird. The added bonus is that you
are at eye-level to the bird which gives you the same perspective that
the bird sees as well as allowing you to keep the background out of
focus.

Understanding The Weather:
If it is very hot, cold or rainy, the birds will stay in a protected
area to preserve their strength. There will be less bird sightings
during the day and less bird photography opportunities. The birds
react to the weather the same way that we do: hot get cool, cold get
warm and wet get dry.

Go Alone:
If you really want to increase your chances of bird photography
opportunities, unfortunately you must go alone. It is very difficult
to find someone who is constantly in sync with your body language and
thought process in the woods. The birds observe you in the same way as
you observe them. However, the birds pick up more about you than you
will ever pick up about them. If they observe body language that they
don't feel comfortable with from the other person, no matter how good
you are as a photographer and a observer, you will not have the same
bird photography opportunities. It will always be less.

Will revert with the things to do bring and the to do list to the list
of participants alone soon enough.Until then, Have a lovely Saturday
Folks ..

Cheers

hari kumar balasundaram

Never has been a Sunday so Grey .... Never has there been a Day been
pouring so wild & wet & Yet ... It was fun unlimited for the 11 member
team that took to Birding and Bird Photography in the most of
unlikeliest of weather and conditions ... Yes People ... the 11 member
team stuck to the plan like the needles in a clock and what a showdown
it came to be in the end...

Thanks to the extraordinary spirit and camaraderie on show by the
members - there was never a dull moment ... 5:30 AM IST, The Rain Gods
opened the innings in typical fashion with a 10 minute drizzle to
start with ..

And from the moment we began our drive down the ECR to Sholinganallur,
It was pure white spirit that flew all the way from the heavens and
hitting us dime a dozen .. egging us on to move forward... And move
forward we did .. picking up new comer Pradeep & 'Aiyo' Rekha en-route
in the Rains to Mahabs... It was a pleasant surprise to see everyone
wanting to ride the bike rather than sit in safe havens of the car
[driven by Kumaran] of course, and wanting to be part of what Mother
Nature had in offer for us - Marie had parked her car next to Adyar
Bakery and took to the bike ... She was too well prepared for the
event to leave any whiff of a chance not to be in sync with the Rain
Gods offer..

A few hundred yards before Muttukaadu - we hit upon our first shooting
point of the Day ..  Macro Maestro's - yup thats what they are ... hit
the wild with gay abandon .. wonder what they have in store for us ...
Rekha & Rathy ... pics please... Muttukaadu was off limits for the day
as it was closed for Rains .. ON A SUNDAY ... Freaks !!!!

We drove off to our next rendezvous - The Thiruvidanthai Temple pond
and the adjoining salt mines ... which is when the first signs of
hunger pangs stuck us ...
Mahabalipuram was literally overheard from the inner sanctum of our
food tract and the growls and hunger pangs only grew older by the
minute - some of us would have literally heard it from miles - their
own growls i.e ... a few hundred decibels more than the Rains that was
now pouring in buckets ...

Although I find it really odd to drive all the way to Mahabs and eat
our very familiar Mini Tiffen of Adyar Anandha Bhavan, they were over
in "nano seconds", the minute they hit the tables ... A good cuppa
coffee and chai laters, We were out on the streets like guerrillas
looking for a perfect hunting spot for birds .. The first temple pond
was all green and muck with Toads and an odd snake having plenty to
eat right there inside the lake and yet went about hunting for a toad
of his choice ... talk about being spoilt for choice people .. this
sneaky fella was having the time of his life in the pond, more so
cause the rains had not eased out and all the toads surfaced to ensure
that they did not drown ... Only to serve as a delicacy to the lone
snake .. Life indeed is special ey !!!

The spot was nevertheless abandoned owing to very poor sighting of
birds ... yup - apart from the bee eaters & the king fishers, None
were ready to pose for us .. we drove past though the city and hit the
second salt mines that adjoin ECR enroute to Pondy ... Would the Rain
Gods ever be so pleased to let us have our share of fun ... He was
ever so insistent that we were our true colours out there ...and so ..
began the second earth shattering down pour of the day ... a good 30 -
45 mins, But we aint gonna give up .. nope .. not a maverick , and in
true CTC style each one went about pulling an umbrella up there
sleeves , err,,. their heads rather ... and went about minding their
own business ..

and this time it was the Common Swift who came to the party ... touted
as the second fastest bird in India after the Peregrine Falcon, these
guys stopped at nothing .. the rains however kept them on hold -
bought them back to the earth ... like they were on a mission ...
munch on a lunch that was like served on a platter .. the rains had
indeed dug out all the insects and the worms out .. these little
fellas feasted on everything moving until we chose to step up on our
efforts to get up close n personal with these little fellas.. and
their shyness gave way ...

A good hour must have passed when we decided to return to the
forgotten salt mines of Thiruvidanthai, the spot where we would head
closer to the back waters was finally chosen , we parked our bikes
where the road ended ... and took to the wet n muddy paths ... the
road not taken was indeed ours to be owned NOW ....
the rains had stopped to a drizzle almost now and whilst some of us
chose to wait for the birds to come to us .. meaning [ doze off under
the umbrellas, letting others think that we indeed professional
hunters waiting to pounce on that one shot that others could wait a
life time for] .. :) ...

the rest of the pack went about hunting .. Egrets, Herons, Swift ,
wild flowers and portraits were served for the gunners this time
around ... The Hunger pangs were back again .. and until all this time
- Mr n Mrs Pelican never showed up for the show ...

Karthick n myself had to keep our heads high and reserved the last
showpiece for the evening .. Lunch was ready at ECR dhabba , Being a
Sunday - the Non Veggies would have demanded nothing less than
anything that looked like meat covered in spices and Indian
masala !!!! A sumptuous lunch i would say ended an hour later amidst
rip roaring laughter moments - courtesy - Gavaskar , Kumaran & the
team .. we were only too happy that no food was wasted at the end of
the day .. never mind the costs !!!

The final showdown had already begun outside .. & we were oblivious of
this - thanks to a very heavy lunch ... still in a dreamy state, and
the rain gods too were off for their lunch i guess .. aint not a drop
had hit the earth since we sat for lunch which was a very good thing
for most of our avian friends as they had begun their hike back to the
nests before the rains begin again ...

It was only when we hit the cars n bikes to drive back to
Kelambakkam .. did we realise that the spectacle was happening right
in our backyard .. behind the ECR dhabba ... With no time to waste ..
and with fading lights, the moment was indeed critical ... we drove
off to the backwaters of Kelambakkam that divides ECR and the OMR -
the final focal point of our mission ...

Moments later after our touch down - the final show began ... it was
like the sky bellowed above as the pelicans opened their mighty wings
to fly from one side of the back water to a much shallower spot ...
Slowly but steadily ... group after group after group like school kids
heading back home chose to fly in line - the discipline and the
formation was too good to be true and yet it was happening right
there .. in front of our feasting eyes ..

For a good 30 minutes .. the team stood in a mesmerising rapture of
sorts watching the avians effortlessly and in an ever so disciplined
fashion one after the other flew to safer sides .. the pics should
speak for themselves but nothing .. not even a video can bring about
the true emotions of the moment that the 11 of us together shared ...
it was indeed pure joy in the hearts of one and all out there ..

With Light finally giving way - We were left but with one choice ,
Head back home.... which am sure , everyone in the group would have
thought twice or may be more to start his bike at that juncture ...
Back to the safe confines of our social jungle, the heads beaten up
and gently bruised n massaged for a good 6 - 7 hours by Rain ...
Hitting the sack remained the only natural thing to do.. But ... Not
before some of us chose to take a look at the pics shot and email each
other did we finally found peace in all of us ..

Come to think of it - How could anyone of us forget :: that one single
memory , the moment of a rapturous beat of the heart .. Of all 11 of
us in-sync .. when the Pelicans group by group, flipped and flew over
us in a singular motion - Lifting all of us to heaven and lighting up
our hearts with a pure radiance n Joy...

Wish you were there too mate !!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------

You can take a look at some of the clicks from fellow CTCians clicks
here :::

Chakri GVC ::http://picasaweb.google.com/gvchakravarthy/CTCPhotoRide?
feat=directlink

Gavaskar ::http://picasaweb.google.co.in/gavaschem/CTCPhotoride?
feat=directlink

Paayal Desai ::http://picasaweb.google.co.in/lh/sredir?
uname=piole09&target=ALBUM&id=5404350192429235793&locked=true&authkey=Gv1sR gCJrjvoD1san1cw&feat=email

Pradeep Baliga ::http://picasaweb.google.com/pradeepbaliga/Upload?
authkey=Gv1sRgCLrksLnHyrTNCw#

Hari Kumar Balasundaram ::http://picasaweb.google.com/
harikbalasundaram/PhotoRideECR?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ-3puiW_pfL0AE#

We are expecting pics from the Macro Masters - Rekha & Rathy,Marie
Paul & His Highness, Karthick Ramalingam to complete the circle any
moment people..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------

A heartfelt thanks to all the members for being so warm and lovely
throughout the wet n windy day ... you guys made my day as much as
everyone out there on Sunday ... I would expect nothing more than your
presence - the next time around when we stretch our limits beyond
ECR .... Pondy & may be Karaikal awaits us .. What say u People !!!

Thank you Kumaran for offering to drive your car all through the day
even though you had little choice with your equipment... Your
selflessness and a helpful attitude indeed was the limelight of the
day .. without you - some of us would have felt the downpour a little
too much to handle given the costs of our equipment...

A special word of mention for Peter for having let me make use of the
fantastic opportunity of the weather conditions on offer to take a ...

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