‘Lost in the woods’ was taken at McRitchie Nature Trail in Singapore. I tried to use graduated filter to create a sense of mystery about the head with no helmet!

Indian temples are generally an architect’s delight and the Indian temples in Singapore just add a splash of colour to take its vibrancy to another level. The most interesting part of the Indian temples in Singapore is its ‘entrance’ or ‘gopuram’ as its known. Check a few of them out and let me know what you think in the comments.

You zoom in closer and you notice patterns.

 Most of them represent the various Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Here’s one where they are all neatly aligned

 Another reason the temples have these dietys at the head is to ward off evil spirits. Do you really think anyone wants to mess with this?

 The gopurams aim to present a complete picture of the temples before you enter the temple premises.

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A pride of lions just chilling out under the warm African sun. This photo was taken in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.

Click for seeing it in larger sizes

This photo was taken in Hobart, Tasmania from a ferry staring into a dramatic landscape and sky. Sometimes the back of a boat provides the best views.

Exposure: 1/200 sec at f/8.0 and ISO 100. Focal length 15mm taken with the Canon550D

Owning and managing a website is a lot of work and more often than not, its gruelling and thankless. But sometimes you get help along the way and the end product is better than what you imagined. After a week’s work, I am happy to share the new design on www.sidpicky.com which is based on responsive design. This means that the website will orient itself according to the device you are using it on and that is a really big deal considering the high amount of mobile traffic that the website receives.

There are a few other prominent changes on the website:

1) Improved ‘Home’ tab : You can click through for a slideshow or click for more information by using ‘i’ .

2) Improved Portfolio page: The portfolio tab now has a slideshow option with full screen display with a one click option to Purchase prints.

3) Media page: The ‘Media’ page lists all the places this website has been featured in.

4) Bio page:  As the name states, a page where I can introduce myself.

5) Optimized Blog : All of the optimizations are now available for the blog page as well.

Big Thumbs up to the team at Fastline Media  for their support in this re-design. Keep up the great work guys!

What do you think about the new design? Please share this post on your Facebook walls to friends you think may be interested in independent travel photography. Thanks for reading!

Singapore is known the world over for its urban landscape. It may surprise you with its fair share of green but the buildings are what essentially make the city. Here are some photographs of the magnificent Singapore city skyline taken from 1-Altitude, one of Singapore’s best night spots. These photographs were taken from the 63rd floor of the al-fresco restaurant. The only disappointing aspect was that they did not let me carry my tripod which means all of these shots were taken handheld.

Sweeping views of the city, wont you agree?  Let me know your favourite spots to capture the Singapore skyline and feel free to browse more pictures on my Singapore gallery.

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I’ve been reading Anna Gay’s ‘The art of self portraiture’ and it made me realize that I am probably the least favourite person for me to shoot.  But the process, skill and set up that encompasses self portraiture photography seemed so interesting that I decided to start a ‘Friday Self Portrait’ series. This is the first post in that series. We picked up this traditional Chinese war soldiers chess set in Hong Kong and I thought that the exquisite craftsmanship on the chess pieces was enough to distract you from my mug. Converting this picture into a black and white keeps the focus solely on the traditional colour of the chess pieces and a tight crop puts the focus right back on the scene. Let me know what you think about this. Self portraits are a journey, a long and arduous one and I am just getting started. Have a great weekend everyone!

Exposure: 1/13 at f/14 and ISO 6400. Taken with the Canon550D and lensEF50mmf/1.8II

Sometimes the faces say it all. This is another post from the ‘Faces of Africa‘ series. This was taken in Humani in Zimbabwe and the mix of joy, anticipation and a hint of suspicion on their faces made this a very interesting photograph for me. I bet they are the cool kids in town.

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Exposure: 1/125 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 200. Taken with the Canon550D and EF70-200IS lens

Each year, there is a flagship ‘Nexus’ device released, which is officially endorsed by Google. This year in addition to the LG Nexus phone comes the Nexus 7 tablet from Asus. Check out these Nexus 7 images and read more about what Engadget calls the best budget tablet yet. After a week of using it, I definitely think its going to be a great travel accessory and is a worthy rival to the omni-present iPad, at almost half the cost.

Portability : The build of the Nexus 7 is great, considering its price. It does not feel like a budget tablet at all. The best thing about the size is that it fits comfortably in one hand, making it very pocketable and as a result more mobile. You can fit this into a gents coat pocket or a ladies handbag very easily.

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Comparison to the iPad: I guess every tablet worth its salt is going to be compared to the iPad at some point. The images above are just a few examples of the physical comparison with the Apple behemoth. While it is noticeably smaller, its not a whole lot thinner than the iPad. But the heft makes the tablet quite balanced. At no point did I struggle with any aspect of the physical appearance of the tablet.

Great device for Reading: One of the aspects I was really curious to find out very early was to see how comfortable the Nexus7 is going to be for extended periods of reading and I am happy to report that the device is really good for online reading. Right from Magazines, eBooks and News apps, the screen is very comfortable and the speedy processor always keeps the show on the road.

Play Store is great: Google’s Play Store is no longer the poor cousin to the Apple app store. I found all the apps that I use on my iPhone and iPad and while there are some minor cosmetic differences in the apps, the overall experience of using Google’s play store was excellent.

Photographer’s view: I reviewed this tablet to see if it meets my needs as a travel photographer. While it doesn’t have Apple’s Camera Connection Kit, it is a great tool to display a portfolio or a photographer’s website. The screen clarity is good and if you load up a few movies and books, it doubles up as an amazing travel companion. Since you can fit it inside your jacket pocket, it tends to be more safe as well. For any travel photographers looking for a budget tablet, I would say, Look no further!

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about this post.  If you have any specific comments or questions about the device, leave a comment and I can find that out  and get back to you.

Singapore is often known for its urban beauties and its fast-paced life which is laced with spurts of shopping. But you live here long enough and peel away some layers and you see the amazingly green and quiet side to it. The MacRitchie Nature Trail is one of the best trails in Singapore and I would recommend anyone visiting Singapore to take some time off from the usual spots to visit this nature trail. You will not be disappointed. I call this photograph ‘Let there be light‘

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Exposure: 1/30 sec at f/5.6 and ISO400. Taken with the Canon650D and lens EF 24-105mm.