289 - 30th - Colorful dolls

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 30th Sept'08

I saw these colorful little dolls kept at a small roadside shop. The vibrant color combination and the fact that there were so many of them kept together was creating a really nice view for the eye. I tried clicking some solo shots but they were not giving the same effect as the group as a whole.

I dont know whether these types od dolls were specific to the place, but I could see them at almost every shop in the city.

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288 - 29th - Monument of “Pípila”

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 29th Sept'08

The monument of Piplia was erected in the honor of Juan Jose de los Reyes Martinez, for his heroic role in the independence struggle of 28th Sept'1810. This monument is built on top of a mountain and is visible from every corner of the capital city of Guanajuato. You have to take a rope car to reach the place. Once there you just cant stop yourself from admiring the breath taking view of the entire city.

The monument itself is a fine piece of art. I wonder how they managed to install such a huge pice of stone on top of a mountain.

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287 - 28th - Almost a painting

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 28th Sept'08

One more from "frame-within-a-frame" genre. I clicked this window in the lobby just outside my hotel room. The view outside was quite good and the dark broad frame of the window was making it all the more distinct and noticeable. At first glance, it actually looked like a painting hung on the wall. Only when I observed the movement outside, I realized that it actually was a window.

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286 - 27th - Unusual art

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 27th Sept'08

We just entered the hotel to check-in when I observed this fancy sign board hung just in front of the reception. The beautiful combination of colors and pictures made it quite attractive to the eye. My first reaction was to take out the camera and click it.

Unusual show of artistry in small not so "unsual" things.

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285 - 26th - Sorgo

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 26th Sept'08

We were driving towards the city of Guanajuato when I observed these dark orange colored fields on the sides. These patches of orange, scattered randomly among vast green fields were looking very attractive. I got a chance to click it when we took a pit stop at one of the toll-booths.

Factually, Sorgo or Sorghum in Spanish is a type of grass whose grain is used for varying purposes like food, fodder for animals and making alcoholic beverages.

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284 - 25th - Never say die

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 25th Sept'08

How many of us would be willing to even step out of our house if we experience something even close to what this man in the image above is experiencing? Not able to see the world through his eyes, he is sitting on the pavement playing the instrument continuously without any signs of tiredness.

I was amazed by his attitude and the vivid expressions on his face. Life is tough but people like him seem to be tougher. Each time I feel let down by my circumstances, I remember him & immediately the heaviness seems to fade away. I learnt a lesson from him - nothing is tough if you really want to do it.

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283 - 24th - Janitzio

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 24th Sept'08

Janitzio is a small island near to the capital city of Morelia in the statue of Michoacán. You have to take a boat and travel for around 20 minutes to reach the island. The main attraction of the place is the huge statue of Jose Maria Morelos standing tall, right on top of the island. It will certainly be the first thing you will observe when you visit the place. You can actually climb to the top of the head of the statue from inside and have a panoramic view of the surroundings.

I took this photo from the boat just before we actually hit the shores. The statue reminded me of the statue of Jesus in Rio de Jeneiro.

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282 - 23rd - Perched on the edge

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 23rd Sept'08

The flowers were tiny and the insect was even tinier. But I knew that a close up would look perfectly fine. Its nice to see such small things in a larger perspective. When presented this way we tend to look at the details more closely and come to know about things which we didnt even know existed.

Just look at the color pattern on the insect's back. If it hadn't been this photo, I would have never known that the insect actually looks so beautiful.

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281 - 22nd - Bring on the sunshine

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 22nd Sept'08

"Sol" or Sun in Spanish, is one of the most popular beer brands in Mexico along with Corona. Unlike India, beer can be sold in public stores all around the city in Mexico (A similar proposal came up in India too, but I am not sure whether it was approved). In all the supermarkets you can see cans and bottles of beer stuffed in buckets of ice. After all ""Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."

I clicked this one in a local supermarket while buying my less celebrated "Lipton Iced Tea" :P

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280 - 21st - On the ramp

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 21st Sept'08

The wooden ramp - leading right into the deep waters. You keep walking until you reach the edge & then you realize that its the end. All you can do is turn back and see from where you have come. Because one step more & splash !!!

As for the picture, another one from the Morelia trip. clicked it while waiting for the boat to come and pick me up.

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279 - 20th - Coming after you

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 20th Sept'08

These were the boats which helped us reach the island right in the middle of the huge lake at Janitzio. They drop you at the island and then go back for another trip. As I was sitting on the top of the mountain and staring at the scenery, I saw the first white boat starting to sail back. In a minute I saw another one following it.

The photo with only the white one was looking good, but the one with the second blue one at the bottom of the frame was looking better. As I always suggest, click on the photo to see the real thing.

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278 - 19th - The romantic translator

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 19th Sept'08

We were standing and staring at the beautiful scenery in front of us when this small kid came up and asked if we were interested in buying some gum. I said "no gracias", to which he replied, "If you buy this I can tell you how to say 'I Love You' to your wife in my native language". By "wife" he referred to my friend standing next to me.

Though I had no intentions of expressing any love to my "wife", I still bought a couple of peices from him just to hear what he says. He said something, part spanish and part some unknown language & I didnt understand a word.

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277 - 18th - Bell at the cemetery

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 18th Sept'08

I was walking by a cemetery when I saw this huge bell hung right above the gate. I didn't understand the logic of it as it was the first time that I saw such a huge bell hung anywhere else than a church, but it sure was looking good against the background of those green hills. So I took some shots and made sure than none of the graves creep inside the frame ;)

It doesnt look like a shot taken anywhere near a cemetery right?

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276 - 17th - The tiny fishermen

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 17th Sept'08

These are the fishermen I was talking about in the previous post. Their boats were big enough to have space for a single person and his fishing net. They were scattered randomly on the greenish brown canvas of the lake. I cursed the zoom of my camera for not being able to get a closer shot. But these tiny fishermen floating on the water against a "mountainy" background made a perfect little snapshot of the scenery.

Do click on the image to get the real effect.

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275 - 16th - Sailing together

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 16th Sept'08

I was sailing towards a small island in a motor boat with this family aboard. Right in the middle of the journey, I saw some cute little boats floating in the water & I got up to take a shot. As I was clicking the boats I saw this family sitting near the front edge of the boat. The view through the front frame of the boat was looking pretty good.

When I started clicking them, they turned around to see what I am doing. But I just kept on holding my camera to wait for the moment when all of them turn the other way. The other shots with their faces were not looking that good. I liked the "frame within a frame" feature of this photo & my experiment gave quite a good result :)

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274 - 15th - Cathedral of Morelia

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 15th Sept'08

As we entered the city of Morelia in the wee hours of Saturday morning the first thing which caught our eye was the magnificently glowing cathedral in the downtown. It stood tall and shiny against the dark black midnight sky. The lighting was perfect and the combination of the vivid colors was charming to the edge. I couldn't resist to just stand there and stare at it.

These two towers mark the skyline of the historic city. When seen from a mountain, the cathedral stands out in the panoramic view. A truly marvelous piece of architecture.

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273 - 14th - Bread & butter

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 14th Sept'08

It was Sunday afternoon & I was roaming around alone in the downtown. Around 4 I decided to have my lunch and I ordered a tortilla soup in a nearby restaurant. After taking my order the waitress served the starting snacks along with a couple of Mexican salsa bowls, while I waited for the soup to arrive. Since there was no one to talk and nothing else to do, I just started playing with my camera.

So this photo, which looked quite decent to be posted here, is a result of just casual fooling around when I had nothing else to do ;)

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272 - 13th - Presentacion de 3 años

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 13th Sept'08

There are two important points in a girl's life among orthodox Christians in Mexico, when she is presented before the society. First when she is 3 years old and second when she is 15. When the girl turns three, she is dressed up the way you can see in the image and taken to the church to perform some rituals. When she is 15 she is presented in front of the family and relations to mark her entry into adulthood.

I took this image at a local shop which was selling the dresses for "Presentacion de 3 años". Once I was done clicking, I ended up talking to to shop owner for aorund 20 minutes discussing all sorts of random things; from religion to indo-mexican trade to India's surge in BPO :)

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271 - 12th - Musical livelihood

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 12th Sept'08

How much do you think this man would be earning by doing what he does? He was too good either at what he was doing. Still, he was just standing under the shade of the tree on a busy Sunday afternoon and striking the strings of his violin.

Later during the day, I saw him shift his shop and move to another area with supposedly higher potential for business. I dropped a 5 peso coin in his tumbler as a token of appreciation for posing in front of the camera.

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270 - 11th - Contrasting colors

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 11th Sept'08

It can certainly be titled as the most colorful balcony I have ever seen in my life. It didnt seem like a hotel or the balcony of a fancy restaurant, but almost everyone who passed by the place did have a nice long look at the eye catching color combination.

Its rare to see such contrasting colors painted in urban buildings & that too in the heart of the downtown. Can be classified as a nice piece of art.

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269 - 10th - Dance with me

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 10th Sept'08

Dancing in public or anywhere in the presence of someone other than me for that matter, has always made me uncomfortable. Hence it is really amazing for me to see people dancing so freely and joyously in front of a crowd of hundreds.

This was one such occasion where dozens of couples, all in their mid fifties or early sixties were dancing merrily to soft music. I don't think there was any special celebration as people were randomly joining the dancing troupe; but it was really wonderful to see these couples enjoy so merrily without giving any damn to numerous staring eyes all around them.

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268 - 9th - Graffiti

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 9th Sept'08

I Love Graffiti & I have seen it painted on numerous walls in Mexico. For a long time I've been looking for a decent shot so that I could post it on my blog. Luckily last weekend I wandered away in the wrong direction while walking through the downtown and look what I stumbled upon. A whole gang of spray painters painting these incredible designs on the wall. I spent almost an hour at the place talking to them and observing how they do it.

Unlike the destructive form of Graffiti, which is legally banned in most countries this one was more of an expression of art. Through them I came to know about an annual Graffiti competition going to be held on 12th of this month. They invited me to the place and even offered their color cans in case I was interested in trying my hand at it.

Click here to see another interesting painting

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267 - 8th - Flutters

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 8th Sept'08

I spent my Saturday in a different way this time. I just sat in the middle of a park watching people and the different kinds of things they do. It was there when I saw an old lady selling some bird feed. People were buying small packets from her and feeding to the numerous pigeons which were flocking the area. One of the main reasons for people to feed the pigeons was to give their children an opportunity to play with the birds.

I captured one such moment in my camera. Its real fun to observe people, believe me.

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266 - 7th - The abandoned puppy

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 7th Sept'08

He lay down quietly on the road with absolutely no one to take care of him. He seemed to be too young to be on his own. I couldnt see his mother anywhere around and given the lonely stretch of the road up on that mountain, I couldnt hope that I would find her. He seemed to have lost his way somewhere in the jungle.

If he is strong enough to fight the battle of survival, maybe he will live for some years. If not, may god others like him enough strength of make it through.

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265 - 6th - The band of girls

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 6th Sept'08

Downtown is a real part every weekend. You just walk through the place and you can instantly feel the festive mood. You can hear sweet music, taste delicious food and enjoy being among hundreds of smiling faces. As a part of this "celebration" a stage was set up right in the middle of the downtown park and these ladies were playing some melodious music. I have seen such stage shows many times at different places, but this was the first time I saw an all girls' band.

A shot from the front looked more like a cliche. I preferred this one; taken from the back, as it added a sense of "backstage" view to the picture.

Click on the image - its worth it.

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264 - 5th - The colorful crawler

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 5th Sept'08

I hate crawling insects - anytime, anyday. I become so uncomfortable when I see them anywhere near I sit or sleep that I don't return to the place unless I have cleaned it to my satisfaction. It was such an irony when I clicked this huge, colorful worm. I clicked it outside in the garden, away from my bedroom or anywhere inside my house. But after an hour or so I found the same dreadful creature (dreadful to me) on the floor of my bedroom.

I had no idea from where it came in & I had to gather tons of courage to pick it up on a piece of paper and throw it out. I guess he was photo fancy and came inside to have a couple more shots from my camera :)

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263 - 4th - Inside the rose

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 4th Sept'08

Things start looking pretty different and you start paying attention to details once you get this close to your subjects. A flower which would otherwise look elegant in its "entirety" also becomes a "maze" of beauty when seen this close.

I have clicked many photos of different types of roses; some from a distance and some macros. But this time I decided to get really up and close. The focal length of my lens didn't allow me to get the real crispness I would have wished but still, I got pretty close to what I expected.

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262 - 3rd - Lake side castle

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 3rd Sept'08

Last weekend I got a chance to visit this castle very near to Puebla. I heard about the castle from a friend in office and saw a picture very similar to this one in his photo album. At that time itself I decided that I have to see the place and have a similar (maybe better) photo in my collection. Though the beauty of castle and the picturesque surroundings gave me little chance to experiment, the final image was quite satisfactory.

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261 - 2nd - Spidey's web

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 2nd Sept'08

One particular shot I always wished to have in my photos was a close up of a spider & for long I didnt get a chance to click it. I tried many times with domestic spiders lingering on the walls in my house but none of them gave me real pleasure. Finally this spotted creature which had always eluded me got captured by my lens in a pretty decent shot.

Given the not-so-macro-savvy kit lens which came with my Nikon D80, the details in the shot were not so bad after all :)

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260 - 1st - Tuna

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 1st Sept'08

Cactus apple or more popularly known as "Tuna" in this part of the world, this fruit came quite as a surprise to me for more than one reason. Firstly the only Tuna I always knew was the fish, so when my friend first asked me if I wanted to try Tuna, my answer was a plain NO. Secondly I had never heard of a fruit from cactus. I knew people eat cactus but it also bears a fruit & that too such a tasty one was really a pleasant surprise.

These juicy, many-seeded fruits can be seen growing on the tips of huge cacti all over Mexico. They really look beautiful against the blue background of Popo.


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