Dood’s Photo of the Day

Originally clicked and uploaded by – Pratosh Dwivedi – 12th Oct’08

I saw this unusual looking flower in a town called Valle de Bravo. We stopped at the place for some snacks and parked the car in a nearby parking when I noticed these flowers growing right in the center of the parking area. My friend told me that they are called “Birds of Paradise” and indeed they gave the appearance of small birds.

Their unusual shape and vivid color combination gave them a type of beauty which is something very different from what one expects from flowers in general.

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Click here to see the flower from another angle

Originally clicked and uploaded by – Pratosh Dwivedi – 11th Oct’08

Xochimilco is a small tourist attraction near Mexico City. It has a stretch of water in the form of small river-like stagnant lake. You can hire a boat with seating capacity varying from 10-25 people. People usually go there with proper “partying” arrangements like music, food and beer. It takes around 2 hours to take a full round of the lake and you can see numerous boats floating around with each one hosting a small party.

Apart from the boats carrying people, there are other smaller ones which offer a variety of other services like food, flowers and even music. carefully looking, its a small business model in its own.

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Originally clicked and uploaded by – Pratosh Dwivedi – 10th Oct’08

It was a small break on the highway after a drive of almost 4 hours non-stop, when I just wandered away in the nearby fields while my friends were easing down. The sun was just preparing to call it a day & hitting the earth with its lateral rays creating long slant shadows. I saw this car standing in the ruins with no signs of any habitation nearby.

I didnt go close as I didn’t have enough time, but it’s strange how people can abandon things as big as a car. If you wanna get rid of it, at least sell it, instead of just throwing it away in some barren field.

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Originally clicked and uploaded by – Pratosh Dwivedi – 9th Oct’08

This photo is again from the monument of “Cristo Rey”. As I was walking back to the parking, I had to climb down this circular path towards the base of the statue. This pattern of numerous windows was perhaps the outer side of the rooms inside the church. Some of the windows were open while others were closed.

I had to wait for a long time at the edge of the building so that I could get a clean shot without anything else intruding into the frame. But the volume of people visiting the place was so huge that even after minutes of patient waiting, I couldnt avoid a couple of them to creep in at the top left edge of the building

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Originally clicked and uploaded by – Pratosh Dwivedi – 8th Oct’08

Apart from the angle from which this photo was taken, there is something else to be mentioned about it. It was 9PM and even the artificial light was not that good at the place where I was thinking of clicking this one. So I just split open the aperture of my camera and gave the sensor maximum exposure.

You wont believe, it took around 35 secs for the photo to get captured after I pushed the button.

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Originally clicked and uploaded by – Pratosh Dwivedi – 7th Oct’08

One of the most important religious monuments in all of Mexico, Cristo Rey (Christ the King) is an impressive 20-meter bronze statue of Jesus set atop the summit of the mountain Cerro de Cubilete. The colossal monument was constructed in 1950, replacing the smaller, original statue that was destroyed during the final stages of the Mexican Revolution.

The statue allegedly marks the exact geographical center of Mexico, and for religious Mexicans there is something to be said in having Jesus in the very heart of their country. As such, the statue is a popular day-trip destination for Mexicans visiting Guanajuato.

I took many different pictures of the statue from near and from far. Click the links below to see some more photos.

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Click here to see the church
Click here to see a distant view

Originally clicked and uploaded by – Pratosh Dwivedi – 6th Oct’08

I dont know for whom she was waiting, but the expression of restlessness was quite evident on her face. I could see her repeatedly turning her attention to a particular direction as if expecting to see someone. I stood there for around 10 minutes waiting for a taxi but I couldnt see anyone coming.

There are times in life when such waits just end in deep disappointment which is felt only by the one who is waiting.

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Originally clicked and uploaded by – Pratosh Dwivedi – 5th Oct’08

I was strolling through the downtown (& as is the case with almost all the downtowns in Mexico, the one in Guanajuato also had restaurants spread out in the open) when I saw this group of people enjoying their lunch on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The weather was nice, ambiance was perfect for a lazy Sunday & the stage was all set to enjoy a tasty lunch.

It would have looked odd to shoot someone having food so I pretended to move my camera here and there as if I was trying to find a good view. In the midst of all that fooling around, I clicked this one. But I think the lady wearing the shades knew what I was actually trying to do. Just look at the way she is staring at me ..

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Nevado de Toluca is a large volcano in central Mexico, located about 80 kilometres west of Mexico City near the city of Toluca. It is generally cited as the fourth highest of Mexico’s peaks. There are two crater lakes on the floor of the basin at about 4,200 m, the larger Lago del Sol (Sun Lake) and the smaller, but deeper, Lago de la Luna (Moon Lake). A road runs into the caldera to the lakes, making this perhaps the most accessible major Mexican peak.

The one you can see in the photo is the small lake – Lage de la Luna. I trekked all the way up to the volcano and then down to the crater in around 4+ hours. The place was cold, silent and perhaps one of the most beautiful natural settings I have ever seen.

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Originally clicked and uploaded by – Pratosh Dwivedi – 4th Oct’08

Its a nice sight to see so many different colored flags in one glance. They give you a feeling of unity in diversity. Also, how many times do we stop and observe the flags of different countries? I actually dont even remember when I carefully saw the flag of my own country.

So this time when I came across this guy who was selling these numerous little flags, I stopped at the place and observed them closely. Unfortunately, the flag of my own country was not there on the part of the board which I decided to shoot

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