The Gods must be crazy..

"Hey Karthik, we've got a party tomorrow at the Taj Connemara yar; 6.30 PM. Better don't miss it man. We don't get these very often" said the secretary with a mischievous smile.

I knew I can't miss it. It came as one of the blows to my 'Kanchipuram Photo trip' planned for the following day, for taking some 'Godly' captures. I sulked and said to myself, "These Gods out there aren't lucky enough to get captured by me this week."

The next day, and before I could enter the party, these Guys were waiting outside the party hall for the divine capture with my N73.





Definitely, my title holds good!


(Oo)ps. the photos have been wrongly labeled as Taj Coromandel!

Dakshina Chitra - A Keyhole View

Though I shot the picture in a much wider perspective, I couldn't keep myself from cropping it.


(Keyhole of) a wooden trunk used as a wardrobe in the Chettinadu House

Ironically I was also attracted to this idle fellow hanging on to his job, irrespective of whether he had work or not.

A shiny new lock at the entrance of the Ilkal House of Karnataka

Does the lock remind you of something or someone?
Please share your views :)

Dakshina Chitra - Metallic Memories

When I entered the Agraharam Brahmin House of Ambur at DC, I only remembered the junk my paatti disposed off at Ratna Stores in exchange for a brand new Prestige Pressure Cooker!

But no pressure cooker can match the ethnic beauty of these metallic marvels.


Specialty Containers(Sombu) & God's Own Glasses(Pancha Pathirams)


Proposal Plates - Seer Thaambalams


Divine Lamps(Kuthu Vilakku) & Torches(Dhoobakkaals)

and finally..


God's Own Alarm - Varities of Mani

My Paatti could have created a mini Dakshina Chitra...
Prestige indeed has good brand loyalty :-(

Dakshina Chitra - Welcome to your Cultures!

The hall way that leads you to the 'states' of DC (Dakshina Chitra) is a nice cool place with red tiled floors, and arches that overlook the sculpture-filled lush-green lawns.

Hope Keerthi doesn't mind the title plagiarism ;-)

Watch this Space...

Karthigai Deepam - Lights & Wishes

The Queen of Diyas - 'Kamakshi Vilakku' with her subjects!!


The Torch Bearer - Things are always bright at the top!!

Diwali Wishes :-)

Yours,


ps. For folks who can't read it, its supposed to mean 'KB' ;-)

Break Free

'The Thumbi' - a kid dragon fly on its first day out in the big bad world.

After a long time, I took a micro break from my hectic schedule and strolled around my house.

Surprisingly the micro break turned into yet another 'macro' break.

The photographer's best friend...

I take this photograph as an opportunity to confer accolades on someone who stands tall on his three legs holding my camera on his head with pride, adding a world-class dignity to my photographs.

I take the bow, dear tripod.

Thank You All

5.5 months, 50 posts, 2000 hits... (long) way to go :-)

Nature photography

Anonymous Flower

(Click on the pictures below for larger sizes)


ps. Can any botanist who comes across this post give me the names of these flowers?

Macro Photograph'ஈ'

Vettiya ஈ ottina, National Geographic-la velai kidaikkuma??

Dachu & D40

This is a product of my experiment to learn some action photography with the Nikon D40.



You can find more of Darshan's(Dachu) pics in Keerthi's blog here and here; if you have already become Dachu's fan, you can download wallpapers here.

பெருமை வாய்ந்த பிள்ளையார்

Freedom

Freedom is blissful; even for a CHAIN!

Iyengar-ed for a day...

A self-portrait shot with my N73 on 'Aavani Avittam' day ;)

Fired Spirit!

Only a fire that burns in you all through your life can free your spirit!!

- Sir Karthik Balaji

Mudhal mazhai ennai azhaithadhey....

A suburban highway gets ready to face the wash on saturday evening

War of the Words

A completely white themed macro

HERO Vs. Villain ;)

Towers of Tamilnadu

This is a collection of a few towers I had shot with my 1mp intel camera, on a single day trip to temples around Kumbakonam in 2002.

Though these towers don't attract as many tourists (though they attract millions of 'Astrology' fanatic pilgrims), they are atleast as interesting to visit if not more than the world famous Eiffel, Pisa or the Petronas.

Thirunaageswaram


Thirukkadaiyur


Thiruvaalangaadu


Kanjanur


Sooriyanaar Koil


Thiribuvanam


Oppiliappan Koil


And some different styles here..

Baya Brithyangara Temple (On the way from Kumbakonam to Thirunaageswaram)


Keezhperumballam

The Frog that was never green!

ThavaLai, originally uploaded by Canon Balaji.

This is a sample post from my new flickr account created exclusively for my best photographs. Linked here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/canonbalaji

Though I try very much I find it very difficult to keep from marketing myself.

Hope I don't end up like this pazhamozhi ;)
நுணலும் தன் வாயால் கெடும்

update: After this post, I've decided one thing for sure; never to post directly from flickr

Underwater Photography...

...without getting wet?

Do u get it?

Perfomance Appraisal

Any more words in this post would defeat its purpose ;-)

Working on a Saturday :(

An amalgamation of 2 idioms : Mind is a monkey + Cat on the wall

அம்பாசமுத்திரம்

A scene at Ambasamudram on a February Sunday

தாமிரபரணியின் நீர்வரப்பு அதிகரித்தது;
மகிழ்ச்சியில் தமிழக அரசு!
ஆற்றைக் கடக்கும் கவலையில்
ஆளும் கட்சி மாடுகள் ்!

A maiden attempt at ஹைக்கூ ;-)

Update: For the benefit of non tamil reading folks (on request)

Thamirabharani flows high;
Relieved is the TN Govt!
Crossing the river worries,
the ruling party oxen!

தமிழோ ஆங்கிலமோ இனி மெல்லச் சாகும் !

Studio - One - Thousand

113 days, 34 posts, 1000 hits.

Thank you all!

Freezer Freak!

Thanks to Dachu and Keerthi for the Penguin, the Camera and the refrigerator without which this idea would have just been another 'pop' in my head (!)

In Mastercard style,

Borrowing a doll penguin from Dachu (without Dachu knowing) = Rs. 0
Keeping a freezer open for a short time = Rs. 0
Meddling with Keerthi's camera in the name of experimentation = Rs. 0

Giving a very important Global Message = Priceless ;-)

Ps. If you really wish to stop global warming, click here

Racing my Dream

Cars from the game 'Need for Speed' in Indian locations, thanks to Adobe Photoshop.


A beautiful Hyundai Tiburon 'caught' on the ECR in its high speed cruise. (High Speed: Motion Blur)



My personal favorite Volkswagen Golf GTI on a rainy Kolkata evening, on the Vidyasagar Setu. (Thats me in the car!!)

All I can do in reality is drive(walk) my xing through the rarely moving Chennai traffic :-(