The Wait for Light at Dhankar Lake
Monday, September 05, 2011
Three years ago, when I held my first camera all I would care to do was click. There is a mountain, click! There is a river, click! There flies a bird, click! Click! Click! Click! Now, almost three years later I wait before I click, I wait. I wait for the light, I wait for the angle, I wait for the idea. Years from now I'd expect only to think and not wait. A real artist would make the best out of any given situation, of course such days are long ahead of me. But today, I would wait at Dhankar Lake. I am almost always in a hurry in all my journeys. I never waited around a place to think, compose, wait and click. But today for the first time I would have the opportunity to do so. Light changes everything.
Dhankar is a small hamlet resting on one of the mountain tops in Spiti. Dhankar has an old monastery sitting dangerously on a cliff and also 5 kms from here, on the other side of the same mountain lies a small lake, called Dhankar Lake. If you are feeling quite adventurous, you could just climb up the mountain above Dhankar and get down the other side. This is the steeper trail used by the sure-footed sheep and goats while normal people can trek for about an hour or so by taking the trail that goes above the new monastery. The trail is well marked till the lake.
Well, so to speak I was waiting for the golden hour but reached the lake much earlier than that. There's some dirty left over water that I see but I kept walking anyway hoping to find more water. As I walked further, I saw more water. There is a lake indeed and is reasonably well fed. Now as I walked here and there, climbed up and down over the course of the evening the lake showed it various colors or rather the light brought out the various colors of the lake. See the photos below to see the transition over a period of 3 hours.
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| As I first saw the lake, it was green. |
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| I walked by the lake side and now the water was reflecting the blue of the sky! |
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| I walked from the far right corner and I climbed higher from the lake, to see it change color again. |
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| I was now sitting right on the other bank and the sun was getting ready to go down, as the water turned a nicer blue. |
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| I was waiting for the winds to stop so I could see some reflections and it happened just before sunset. |
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| The sun was setting, casting the much appreciated golden rays. |
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| And the final farewell. three hours later after seeing many colors of Dhankar Lake. |
10 comments
Awesome shots buddy....gr888 work of art...
ReplyDeleteThese pics are simply awesome. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful images and the bonus of watching it at different times and angles .. thanks and more power to your photography :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome images, really loved them specially the last one...
ReplyDeleteBy the way, here is my IndiVine post. Check it and if you like it then please Promote it too there on IndiVine.
http://www.indiblogger.in/indipost.php?post=72607
Thanks :)
Lovely !!!
ReplyDeleteIf I ca suggest, try some editing softwares like Lightroom and you may like presenting your work in more finer way...
Thats poetry that you have captured there Neelima...well done...I was lost in thoughts for quite sometime seeing the first one...these elements really speak to your soul and refresh ones mind...great stuff...
ReplyDeletefantastic work!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures..nature is so amazing..You have caught it beautifully!
ReplyDeleteyour snaps imbued me with overwhelming sense of nostalgia...i am born and brought up in kaza but nevertheless, your digital memories never fails to evoke keen sense of rediscovering my hometown in different light... i am determined to walk all the bumpy terrains of Dhankar valley just to witness different shades of dhankar lake..thank you for capturing soul stirring pictures.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos Neelima
ReplyDelete