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karatecatman Guest
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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Copyright LA TIMES
Bizarre and unusual destinations around the world
Great Blue Hole
Belize
There are many blue holes off the coast of Belize, but the "great" Blue Hole on Lighthouse Reef Atoll is the one most visible in a flyover--and the most famous one for diving. The hole is about 1,000 feet in diameter and 412 feet deep. The Blue Hole sits on the Lighthouse Reef Atoll, about 50 miles east of Belize City.
The late Jacques Cousteau and a filming crew explored the underwater cave whose roof collapsed about 10,000 years ago.
(USGS)
The Wave
Arizona
Close your eyes and imagine yourself walking into a humongous vat of cinnamon taffy. That's what went through my mind as we entered this weird, dreamlike world of swirling colors and psychedelic patterns. Maybe it was the desert heat, but it all looked like gooey taffy, stretched over huge mounds and 50-foot canyon walls. The surrounding buttes were heaps of melting rocky road ice cream.
The Wave is like an enormous Olympic-size swimming pool, with swooning, undulating walls lined with burnt sienna, pink, gray, turquoise and pale green. The bands mostly run horizontally, but at spots they zigzag and shimmy before falling back into their previous pattern.
-- Hugo Martín
Socotra Island
Yemen
Isolated from continental land masses for 18 million years, Yemen's Socotra Island showcases an alien-like landscape with unusual plants and animals, such as the blood dragon tree, pictured, and desert rose. Its high degree of biodiversity has earned it the name the "Galápagos of the Indian Ocean."
Socotra is the largest of four islands of the Socotra Archipelago. Its long geographic isolation has given rise to an abundance of flora and fauna found only on the island. Of Socotra’s 825 plant species, 37% are endemic. Ninety percent of its reptile and 95% of its land snail species are also unique to the island. Not surprisingly, Socotra is increasingly popular with eco-tourists.
(Piotr Kot)
Ithaa Undersea restaurant
Maldives
Ithaa Undersea restaurant sits 16 feet below sea level at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, a hotel resort in Hilton's luxury brand that occupies two islands. Maldives is a country of almost 1,200 islands about 300 miles from the southernmost points of India and Sri Lanka.
Diners eat beneath glass walls at the Ithaa Undersea restaurant. The cuisine is decribed as Maldivian-Western, and the restaurant seats about 12. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner daily from 11 a.m. to midnight, according to the resort's website.
(Conrad Maldives Rangali Island)
Cappadocia
Turkey
A popular attraction in central Turkey, Cappadocia is known for the fairy-tale-like rock formations that bespeckle the region. Called fairy chimneys, or hoodoos, these formations have been carved by erosion over the millennia. Fairy chimneys can be found in other parts of the world such as Bryce Canyon in Utah or Badlands National Monument in South Dakota, but Cappadocia’s early inhabitants turned them into an extensive network of homes and churches.
Christians fleeing Roman persecution took refuge in Cappadocia’s rocky terrain early in the first millennium. By the 4th century, a monastic community formed in central Cappadocia.
(Frank Kovalchek)
World's largest swimming pool
Chile
Thinking about swimming a few laps before breakfast?
Check out this man-made "lagoon" — dubbed the world's largest outdoor swimming pool — at the San Alfonso del Mar vacation property resort at Algarrobo, Chile.
The coast-hugging pool is all man-made with a bit of patented technology that uses water from the nearby Pacific Ocean to fill it.
According to the Guinness World Records, which deemed it the world's largest pool in 2007, the lagoon measures 3,324 feet long. The pool was completed in December 2006.
(Crystal Lagoons)
Spiral Jetty
Utah
"Spiral Jetty" earthwork: Thirty miles west of Brigham City, on the Great Salt Lake's northern arm, is the "Spiral Jetty" sculpture, created from basalt and earth by artist Robert Smithson in 1970. It forms a 1,500-foot-long coil stretching into the lake. Constructed during a long drought, "Spiral Jetty" became submerged a few years later when lake levels rose again. In 1999, it resurfaced. For directions, see climb-utah.com/wm/spiraljetty.htm.
(Tom Smart / For The Times)
Petrified Forest National Park
Arizona
The stunning Petrified Forest National Park -- the only national park to protect and encompass parts of Route 66 -- includes Indian petroglyphs and the Agate House, built from petrified wood by native tribes.
(928) 524-6228. www.nps.gov/pefo.
(National Park Service)
Goblin Valley State Park
Utah
Goblin Valley is packed with little sandstone turrets and hoodoos that rise from the desert floor in a landscape that looks like an abandoned movie set made of Play-Doh.
For some reason, the squat towers on the park's more than 3,600 acres had me giggling as soon as I arrived at the entrance. It's no wonder that Arthur Chaffin, a ferry boat operator on the Colorado River who stumbled on an overlook of the area in the 1920s, named it Mushroom Valley.
Spring and fall are best times to visit (June through August is scorching), and visitors can stay for the day ($7 a per car) or camp ($16 a per night).
Info: The park is between Green River and Hanksville, about 24 miles south of Interstate 70 on Utah Highway 24. (435) 564-3633, www.stateparks.utah.gov
-- Mary Forgione
Lower Antelope Canyon
Arizona
Just south of the Arizona side of Lake Powell is Lower Antelope Canyon, a maze of abstract shapes carved from sandstone by wind and water.
From above, the slot canyon looks like any other stretch of Arizona desert. But descending into this canyon, you feel as if you’ve stepped into some elaborate art installation.
Some parts of Lower Antelope Canyon are so narrow that only one person can pass in either direction.
Glass Beach
California
Glass beach is in Fort Bragg, the scruffier northern neighbor of Mendocino, at the west end of Elm Street, of Old Haul Road. At first glance it looks like a standard-issue beach.
But look at that twinkly stuff underfoot: silvery, green, blue, orange and occasionally red bits of ground glass, twinkling in the sun and tumbling in the tide along with tons of standard sand, bits of metal, a little kelp.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Jumbo Hostel
Sweden
At the entrance to the Stockholm-Arlanda Airport is a strange sight: a Boeing 747-200 jumbo jet that isn't going anywhere. The airplane, which belonged to Transjet until the carrier went under in 2002, was built for Singapore Airlines and later flew under legacy carrier Pan Am. But then founder Oscar Dios had an idea to convert the plane into Jumbo Hostel, which is listed prominently at the airport's website for those seeking a room for the night. Info: www.jumbohostel.com
(Jumbo Hostel)
World's largest hotel suite
Lebanon
The world's biggest hotel suite is part of the Grand Hills Hotel and Spa in the mountain village of Broumana between the ocean and downtown Beirut (about a half-hour away) in Lebanon. The hotel has 115 rooms in a resort setting shared with furnished apartments, restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
The Royal Residence has six floors and private swimming pools. Guiness World Records declared it -- at just under 44,500 square feet -- the largest hotel suite in the world. It was finished last year.
(Grand Hills Hotel and Spa)
Angola Prison Rodeo
Louisiana
The Angola Prison Rodeo is a chance to see serious felons testing their mettle against serious livestock. It's a glimpse into an infamous lockup, bordered on three sides by the Mississippi River, where blues musician Leadbelly once did time. It's an introduction, amid plenty of homegrown food and music, to the peculiarly tangled history of public incarceration and private enterprise in the Tunica Hills of rural Louisiana.
The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, once labeled the bloodiest prison in America, holds about 5,200 inmates and sprawls across 18,000 acres in West Feliciana Parish, 137 miles northwest of New Orleans and about 20 miles northwest of St. Francisville, La.
(Frank McMains)
Jiuzhai Valley National Park
China
Blue and green lakes as well as waterfalls dot Jiuzhai Valley National Park in southwestern China north of Chengdu.
The area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, in part for the natural beauty and in part for its endangered plant and animal species, such as giant pandas and the Sichuan takin, a type of antelope.
(Richard Janecki)
Yellow Treehouse restaurant
New Zealand
This unusual restaurant started life as an ad campaign for Yellow, a New Zealand company similar to the Yellow Pages. The idea was to build a restaurant in a tree using only resources listed in the company's directories.
Ad campaign aside, the result is breathtaking: a graceful pod that glows about 30 feet above the ground.
The treehouse eatery stands in a redwood near Warkworth, north of Auckland, New Zealand.
Peter Eising of Pacific Environment Architects said in a press release that he was inspired through forms found in nature and feels the final design resembles a chrysalis holding an emerging butterfly.
(Lucy Gauntlett)
Hobbit Motel
New Zealand
Who knows how J.R.R. Tolkien would have designed a motel but the Hobbit Motel in New Zealand seems to have real fantasy appeal. The strange little building with porthole-style windows is built into the side of a hill in Waitomo, a region on the North Island known for its caves and waterfalls.
Woodlyn Park, the site of the Hobbit Motel, started out as a working farm that turned into a restaurant-bar and was then fashioned into a string of unusual dwellings.
(Woodlyn Park)
Zlatni Rat
Croatia
Those who think all beaches are the same (water, sand, waves) can think again.
Welcome to Zlatni Rat, a spectacular beach on an island off the coast of Croatia that is moody and volatile, often changing direction of its tip &mdash known as the Golden Horn — daily based on wind patterns.
How does this tip of beach “move"?” The Golden Horn is a spit, a narrow coastal land formation tied to the coast at one end. The end of the spit can often become hooked when the wind direction changes, sometimes leading to daily changes with short-term wind movements, says Dr. Nenad Domijan at the Hydrographic Institute of the Republic of Croatia.
(Szabolcs Emich)
Hotel de Vrouwe van Stavoren
Switzerland
The Netherlands' Hotel de Vrouwe van Stavoren is a barrel of fun, pretty much literally. The hotel features four rooms made from 14,500-liter wine casks shipped from Switzerland.
The wine cask rooms start at 109.50 euros per night for two people. From November to February, guests can snag a room for as little as 27.40 euros a night if they're willing to stay at least three nights.
The hotel has views of the harbor and a shady terrace patio for guests to enjoy. Hotel de Vrouwe van Stavoren also has a restaurant that offers a wide range of traditional and international cuisines.
(Paul Rekker)
Shark Bay
Australia
Shark Bay, on the western tip of Australia, showcases natural beauty, diverse sea life and wide-ranging geography. It has the largest seagrass bed in the world, dozens of endemic animal species, five endangered mammal species and more than a third of Australia’s bird species.
A distinguishing Shark Bay feature: the stromatolites, rock-like structures formed by blue-green algae colonies. Stromatolites are among the Earth’s oldest life forms, originating on the planet 3.5 billion years ago. Shark Bay’s stromatolites are similar to their ancient ancestors, serving as a window into life early in the Earth’s history.
(© DEC / Rory Chapple) |
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HamiltonAir Member
Joined: 25 Dec 2006 Posts: 937 Location: Bangalore
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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Amazing stuff KCM! Thanx for sharing.
Regards, _________________ HamiltonAir |
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:58 am Post subject: |
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Tried my hand at HDR with my new Canon 1000D....not bad for an amateur at HDR. _________________ Jetphotos Flickr gallery |
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Spiderguy252 Member
Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 4259 Location: Indian Ocean
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:15 am Post subject: |
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@yash777: Brilliant stuff! _________________ Yeah. |
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:52 am Post subject: |
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Spiderguy252 wrote: | @yash777: Brilliant stuff! |
Thanks! _________________ Jetphotos Flickr gallery |
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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Another HDR and my best till date
Credit to my french friend Pierre for staying still for a minute or so.
Yash _________________ Jetphotos Flickr gallery |
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vt-ala Member
Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 440
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Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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Road and Rail traffic on the Manmad - Ahmednagar section in Maharashtra come tantalisingly close. Bang in the middle of the frame, lies the picturesque Ankai Killa Railway Station.
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Akshay Member
Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 315 Location: Mumbai
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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@vt-ala: You should have included this one also in the album on IRFCA _________________ MRVC Mania. My blog dedicated to the new violet-white suburban rakes of Mumbai. |
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Akshay Member
Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 315 Location: Mumbai
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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Some pics from a trip to Satara and its surroundings this September. Taken with Canon Powershot A570 IS.
See the full album here. _________________ MRVC Mania. My blog dedicated to the new violet-white suburban rakes of Mumbai. |
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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Brilliant shots Akshay!
Here's another HDR
Yash _________________ Jetphotos Flickr gallery |
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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Akshay Member
Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 315 Location: Mumbai
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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_________________ MRVC Mania. My blog dedicated to the new violet-white suburban rakes of Mumbai. |
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rutvij Member
Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 1390 Location: Skies of Fire!
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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Wow! Brilliant shots there, Yash and Akshay. Keep'em coming! |
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rutvij Member
Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 1390 Location: Skies of Fire!
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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rutvij Member
Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 1390 Location: Skies of Fire!
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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^^ Stunning shots, Yash. |
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AirIndia0001 Member
Joined: 28 Sep 2007 Posts: 391
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 11:42 pm Post subject: |
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Awesome shots there ... Akshay, Rutvij and Yash. Keep posting guys! |
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iflytb20 Member
Joined: 27 Jan 2007 Posts: 1079 Location: Next to the Airport
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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Some pics from the New Year Celebrations :
Rocketry 101
Attempt # 1 : FAILURE
Attempt # 2 : SUCCESS
Attempt # 3 : SUCCESS
_________________ Always do everything into wind...... except piss |
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Spiderguy252 Member
Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 4259 Location: Indian Ocean
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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^^Those shots are amazing, iflytb20! |
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rutvij Member
Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 1390 Location: Skies of Fire!
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 9:38 am Post subject: |
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iflytb20 wrote: | Some pics from the New Year Celebrations :
Rocketry 101
Attempt # 2 : SUCCESS
Attempt # 3 : SUCCESS
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Brilliant Work! |
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rutvij Member
Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 1390 Location: Skies of Fire!
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:40 am Post subject: |
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At the Mumbai Marathon 2010. Seen this 2 times... and everytime, my hear choked.
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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HamiltonAir Member
Joined: 25 Dec 2006 Posts: 937 Location: Bangalore
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:18 pm Post subject: |
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The new bommanahalli flyover:
Sunset near nagore
Tanjore temple:
_________________ HamiltonAir |
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rutvij Member
Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 1390 Location: Skies of Fire!
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Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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Recent upload to Flickr.
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aalokg Member
Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 158 Location: Mumbai
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:36 am Post subject: |
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Real birds 'inflight'
I am not sure, but I think these are a couple of 'Mallards'. Corrections welcome!
Regards,
Aalok |
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aalokg Member
Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 158 Location: Mumbai
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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Regards,
Aalok |
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aalokg Member
Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 158 Location: Mumbai
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Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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At Cutty Sark, London. |
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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Taken in Sitapur, Uttarakhand enroute Kedarnath. Anyone know the name of those snow clad mountains?
Yash _________________ Jetphotos Flickr gallery |
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C-GHKR Member
Joined: 26 Dec 2006 Posts: 626 Location: yyz
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:19 am Post subject: |
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Yash Good work!
Here is from a desi fashion show from non-desi models.
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aalokg Member
Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 158 Location: Mumbai
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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Regards,
Aalok |
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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yash777 Member
Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 901 Location: Chicago, IL
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:11 am Post subject: |
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Millennium Park, Chicago
Yash _________________ Jetphotos Flickr gallery |
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aalokg Member
Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 158 Location: Mumbai
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Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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Beautiful shot Yash, love the colours!
Here's one from Toronto, ON.
Regards,
Aalok |
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vt-ala Member
Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 440
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Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:47 am Post subject: |
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Bombay's famous Victora Terminus Station on a dramatic monsoon evening
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Aseem Member
Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 2841 Location: YYZ
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Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:10 am Post subject: |
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vt-ala wrote: | Bombay's famous Victora Terminus Station on a dramatic monsoon evening
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very nice!! |
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SEANDSILVA Member
Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 751 Location: BOM (VABB)
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:01 am Post subject: FAITH HEALER OR FRAUD? |
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SEANDSILVA Member
Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 751 Location: BOM (VABB)
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:05 am Post subject: |
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SEANDSILVA Member
Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 751 Location: BOM (VABB)
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:05 am Post subject: THE MAGIC OF SOUTH BOMBAY! |
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SEANDSILVA Member
Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 751 Location: BOM (VABB)
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:10 am Post subject: |
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