[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by laluks

Dear Star, amazing pictures of the sun rise. I was just too lazy that day. Remember me sitting next to the breakfast counter, that I need not walk

Originally Posted by laluks

This was one amazing place. I wish I'd been there for more days lazing through some novels, uncared about whatever happens in the world. Time stands still here. Nicely restored, and a wonderful ambience. My only wish is that they had a helipad, but then where do I have a birdie. I simply love this place

Yes, i remember, it appears that 21 hour day had exhausted you.
even i was lazy, but the lazyness enveloped me one day later.

I agree with your observation that this is a great place. I would like to go there again to remain cut-off from the rest of the world, read a book, watch sunrise, do some fishing, lazy around, talk to "real, non-masked" people, be real, be a kid again.

Originally Posted by MX6

And amazing sun rise photos. BTW, are you using the UV filters? Also have CPL which will cut out internal reflections and refractions and make the sky and water bluer. UV filters cut out ultra violets.

I am did not use any UV filter, eventhough i have one i use it as a lens protector, but remove it while taking pictures.

Originally Posted by khoj

Laluks & StarVegabond,

Guys thank you for the above two posts, spectacular is too simple a word to express my feelings.

Nature is amazing and surprises you when you least expect it.
..........
Eagerly looking forward to the next posts.

Thanks Khoj for your appreciation. Yes, i had thought i missed the opportunity, but it was not so.

Coming up more..

Walk on the Ozone beach, Building a sand castle, Kids time
The Tsunami
Exploring the Bunglow on the Beach
Visit to the Danish Fort
Walking around the Tranquebar town
.... & more

Originally Posted by arindamray

Star: this is the first time I am seeing a sun rise from the water level. All the time I have seen at a little higher coming out of cloud :(

Thanks for sharing.

Me too Arindam, This was the first time i had stated in a beach resort on East Coast.

Originally Posted by MX6

Arindam,
TN coast offers some of the best sun rises. TN is cursed with very less rains. So most often it's barren skies (except when you go down to Nellai -kanyakumari sides).

I agree, Sun rises in the East, so sunrise must be spectacular at east cost than any other place.

While watching sunrise, it struck me. One can never see a sunset in East coast over the sea. We had planned to see a sun set the previous day and were disappointed that we reached late. Actually we did not miss anything.

Guys, tomorrow, i have a long day, i have a one day official trip outside Bangalore, so i won't be able to post anything. I will post again on Saturday... till then...

[ampere]

Terrific snaps from the duo! The more I see this place, the more I want to go there!

[laluks]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Yes, i remember, it appears that 21 hour day had exhausted you.
even i was lazy, but the lazyness enveloped me one day later.

I agree with your observation that this is a great place. I would like to go there again to remain cut-off from the rest of the world, read a book, watch sunrise, do some fishing, lazy around, talk to "real, non-masked" people, be real, be a kid again.

I agree, Sun rises in the East, so sunrise must be spectacular at east cost than any other place.

While watching sunrise, it struck me. One can never see a sunset in East coast over the sea. We had planned to see a sun set the previous day and were disappointed that we reached late. Actually we did not miss anything.

I will post again on Saturday... till then...

Yes, the heat and that headache towards then end of the previous day took a toll on me, and that's why even I refused to come for the Tranquebar streets after 11AM, when you guys went for the stroll.

But I had done a stroll before 9, before the sun was too strong, and took some pictures. I'll put them by evening.

Yes! The sun rises are spectacular at the east coast. I have seen one beautiful sunrise at Mahabs when I stayed there a few years ago. But then I was not in the photographic domain.

Originally Posted by ampere

Terrific snaps from the duo! The more I see this place, the more I want to go there!

Worth a visit, but not worth the drive.

Originally Posted by MX6

KS. Can you also pm me about the software. I find your photos jarring at times. But then I'm intrigued. It is an art form and slowly it grows on you.

You are right. I am kind of loving the illustartive feeling than the photographic ones. It gives a story, fairy tale effect and I'd love it that way. Hence a story feel, lots of colour to be vibrant Check this one,


It tells me a story, rather than an event which occured sometime

[ampere]

Originally Posted by laluks

Worth a visit, but not worth the drive.

I wanted to keep mum () but since you mention, I was thinking if you go via TV Malai, it cuts the distance
by 200 Km (You guys did 585 via Mahabalupuram).

TVMalai-Tirukkoilur-Panruti-Tranquebar.

If you did this on way back, and had bigger problem I waiting to hear it.
Because thats what I was thinking of doing.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by ampere

I wanted to keep mum () but since you mention, I was thinking if you go via TV Malai, it cuts the distance
by 200 Km (You guys did 585 via Mahabalupuram).

TVMalai-Tirukkoilur-Panruti-Tranquebar.

If you did this on way back, and had bigger problem I waiting to hear it.
Because thats what I was thinking of doing.

It was never the distance, but the roads. Both me and Star are used to doing over 800Km a day. It was the attitude of the traffic around that area an the narrow road. Chidambaram to Tranquebar tests your patience, and since it is already 6+ hours you are driving you might not want it like that. Better would be to plan such that you pass this route at a lean period - read early morning or late night so as to see less of those vehicles. Late night is ruled out since you dont want to end up at the resort after midnight. Early morning is impossible as it becomes invariably a night start and night drive from Bangalore.

Further for your route the Krishnagiri Tiruannamalai route is very patchy with huge potholes, so this might not be favourable for a night drive. Also even if you take this route via Panruti, you need to come to either cuddalore or Chidambaram and continue on the same route which we had taken. So you have absolutely no escape from that route.

Probably the day you travel, hopefully sense prevails on that route Any ways budget 2 hours from Chidambaram to Tranquebar on morning drives to be having a safe planning in your hand.

My guesses are like in 5 to 6 hours you must be in Panruti, another 1 to 1.5 hours in Chidambaram, and another 2 hours for Chidambaram Tranquebar. So in all you need atleast 8.5 to 9.5 hours to reach here from Bangalore. So now you can guess the ordeal. It's not for a two day drive, but then what do you do here for more than a night?? So you have to club this with some other place.

So with many combinations - you end up invariably with some bad stretches, either in terms of road conditions or in terms of mad traffic at wrong times.

But if your mind says GO, then all these are minor deterrents. Keep these as information for an advised choice. For us it was like head on to these unknowns.

Probably you can club this with a visit which you plan to do still south. Since the roads from Nagapattinam to Karaikal and Tranquebar is super two lane roads.

On return we went to Velankanni and returned via Tanjavoor, Trichi. Here again the bad stretch was Trichi to Nammakkal - traffic was high, and roads patchy. I wanted to touch Karur and return, but some how ended up taking Namakkal. From Namakkal its NH7 a breeze.

[ampere]

The other option is, take a bigger holiday. Driver to Pondicherry, enjoy a day or two and drive to Tranquebar. That divides the problem. On the way back one can take a break TV malai to visit the temple, before coming back (or drive back straight).



PS: Sorry I forgot the petrol heads that you are!

[laluks]

Originally Posted by ampere

The other option is, take a bigger holiday. Driver to Pondicherry, enjoy a day or two and drive to Tranquebar. That divides the problem. On the way back one can take a break TV malai to visit the temple, before coming back (or drive back straight)

That should sort out most of the issues

Originally Posted by ampere

PS: Sorry I forgot the petrol heads that you are!

[SDP]

Star and LaluKS,

This is a great travelogue with a rare combination of fantastic words coupled with amazing snaps.

@Laluks, loved the PP that you have done on some of the snaps. Especially loved the last one you have posted (is that a Beetle by any chance) where you describe the style as 'illustrative'. I do agree with MX6, that some of the shots do look a bit artificial, but then there are gems like the one showing the reflection of the "Bunglow on the beach" in the pool which are absolute breathtaking. Hats off to your photography skills as well as PP-skills.

PS : Some of the snaps did remind me of HDR.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by SDP

Star and LaluKS,

This is a great travelogue with a rare combination of fantastic words coupled with amazing snaps.

@Laluks, loved the PP that you have done on some of the snaps. Especially loved the last one you have posted (is that a Beetle by any chance) where you describe the style as 'illustrative'. I do agree with MX6, that some of the shots do look a bit artificial, but then there are gems like the one showing the reflection of the "Bunglow on the beach" in the pool which are absolute breathtaking. Hats off to your photography skills as well as PP-skills.

PS : Some of the snaps did remind me of HDR.

Thanks SDP.

Yes that's a beetle of the 1960's owned by BHPian Pavan Kadam. A few weeks ago we had a drive together. He had also taken his old VW minibus for the drive. Please check the quick meets at Bangalore thread for some more photographs.

Illustrations normally tend to be artificial as it has to look more of a illustrative painting /picture than a natural photo. This school of thought is an emerging trend, and I like them . Hope you like it too.

I am sure I would have messed up some, it's these feedbacks that makes me sharpen my skills and better it. Please feel free to correct me whenever I put up some shoddy stuff.

I am still looking at the ocean of knowledge lying ahead in the world of photography, and learning one step at a time. This drive is dedicated to "illustrations".

At the end you need HDR to get all of these experiments right, since for illustrations you need all details, and a simple photo wont help much.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by laluks

Illustrations normally tend to be artificial as it has to look more of a illustrative painting /picture than a natural photo. This school of thought is an emerging trend, and I like them . Hope you like it too.
I am sure I would have messed up some, it's these feedbacks that makes me sharpen my skills and better it. Please feel free to correct me whenever I put up some shoddy stuff.

Even I enjoyed "all" of the immensely. Just that some of them are very good works of art and the rest are great pieces of art!

Originally Posted by laluks

At the end you need HDR to get all of these experiments right, since for illustrations you need all details, and a simple photo wont help much.

You mean all these are HDRs? Wonderful !

[laluks]

Originally Posted by SDP

Even I enjoyed "all" of the immensely. Just that some of them are very good works of art and the rest are great pieces of art!


You mean all these are HDRs? Wonderful !

Thanks SDP.
Unfortunately all of those illustrations were HDR

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by laluks

It was never the distance, but the roads. Chidambaram to Tranquebar tests your patience
...
...
But if your mind says GO, then all these are minor deterrents

Hi Lalu,

your words reminded me of Javed Akthar's beautiful words..

Dar hum ko bhi lagta hai rastay ke sannatay se
lekin ek safar par aye dil, ab jana tto hoga

translated in english (might be bit poor in translating the real meaning).

I also fear from the struggle of this journey
but, as i love this journey and have come this far, we need to proceed further


I see that the thread has crossed 100 posts, and has also received 3 votes that of 5 star rating., Many thanks friends for your comments, appreciation and ratings.

[k149in]

I liked the photos of "the first view of the Danish Fort" and the photo posted Star showing the early morning sunrise particularly.

In that photo of Danish Fort, how did you take "Star" effect as you called it? What settings did you have on the camera at the time of the shot?

As usual, wonderful travelogue from you both!

[StarVegabond]

We returned to the room after shooting the sunrise pictures, my wife was ready to go out for a walk on the beach. Kids wanted to build a castlem so i asked them to go forward.

I got freshened up and after a while i alro ventured out on the beach along with my friend. Lalu was already on his stroll of the village along with Jr PPG. It appears he wanted to capture the real village life in the morning.

Following images were captured by my wife..

Vacation for us, but a normal struggling day for them


Untangling the complex life


& building the mast (= hope)


View of the majestic fort


View from the front


These two appears tobe ready for the voyage


New friends getting ready to build their castle, old friends searching the un-known


Working with desire, dedication and discipline


Working as a team


Castle is almost done..


Then comes the (mini) tsunami


With water every where..


Castle gets washed off...all that remains..


Praying to overcome the sorrow..


Looking at the horizon and getting motivated


new friends bring cheer to life..


being alone and not having a boat could be a problem


being together the wooden planks can become life boats


Boat and anchor..made for each other


Engine of our life ??


The following pictures have been shot by me..

having realized the truth, jumping with joy (this is shot by me)


Some more views of the fort


Fisherman still at work..even after the tsunami


Sorting and packing thier catch


Fish out of water, but into the frozen water


Grounded but ready to go


Making footprints that lasts is difficult


Bombaiwala seems to be introspective


Ek Ghar (that of a runk)


Aur ek Ghar.. (that of a raja)


We returned to the bunglow as kids wanted to be in the pool...

[ampere]

@Star Pool seems to be the most favoured destination!
On a vacation, thats one place, which will never go out of vogue.