the chill making it evident, that the spring is yet to take full control of the temperatures. the conditions settle in and get the expectations rising, the clear sky, chill factor and gentle breeze during the arctic winters are the special recipe for a natural wonder.

pretty much right on cue, mirroring the breeze. on the sky above a soothing green tinge appears with curls about itself. in progression, bands are formed with varying brightness as they swirl around, with the little twists and turns in swift fluid motions.  and then the competition heats up and the next band comes in, also swirling around with the same predictable twists and turns. just as i think they are competing against each other in an attempt to outclass the competition. the tender motion bring them together in a soulful merger together as they continue with the show. the motion is etched into one’s mind, the manner in which they proceed, progress and transform about in their own way.

a reflection of jugalbhandi like features, between two musical instruments. one starts off and the  next one joins in, first of  as competing renditions each matching and trying to exceed the others grasp of rhythms and then they resolve and merge their melody into one single melody to enthrall the audience.

standing along with the elements, looking up at the skies as they get painted with colors that nature mixed and dazzled across the wide canvas. each moment bring in something new and astonishing to feel the mind with the endless imagination of the possible shapes and sizes they would take. there in the presence of the lights, standing under the wide ranging and varying colours, the proportions become obvious, with rays of lights coming outwards from a single point as if the presiding powers guiding the minuscule subject from the darkness of the night to the possible source of light in life

at night all one could do was look up and stand as witness to the thorough variations that nature has within itself. a night of contrasts, two guys out in the cold and freezing ourselves off, when compared to a handful of local people who passed on, not excited or bothered by the lights above as it has grown over them. but more amused at the foreigners staring at the sky unable to close the gaping mouth.

This time the places are everything  that between Oulu and Narvik, Bodo, Salthdal. spanning across Finland, Sweden, Norway.

This has become a rudimentary start post before every trip, with the follow up posts never seeing the light of day. still pending are the trips to Norway, Savonlinna, Iceland, France

also the Creature and Bird photobook by Andrew Zuckerman.

Each has been a worthy addition and money well spent, except for having over stressed the bag with too many things and now it has opened up at a few seams.

There has also been some upgrades at work with what i am doing.

Easter trip to Norway via Sweden this time, and areas below Tromso. with a planned vacation to India in May.

End of status update

So this time the haunts for Christmas for me are : Amsterdam, France and Barcelona.

one fine night after a 10 mins discussion, me and karthick decided Amsterdam. it was the cheapest flight out of Finland that was in the heart of Europe. next day ramanan joins in before noon, and by afternoon kiran and balaji became the able accomplices for this trip. the trip is all about reaching Amsterdam, rent a car have dinner there and then cross through Belgium, Luxembourg, with halts in France heading towards Barcelona.

with only one night of booking for accommodation, i plan to have highway stops as the bed for the remaining days. good food, excellent wine and vineyards, and followed by more food and a pass on the highest bridge on the world. all part of the trip.

i tweeted one photo on day 1 and was suprised at it getting a mention, because it was not the best (according to me)  of photos that i sent. but still.

2 nd edyta, tweeted the mentioned photo. while those i tweeted didnt find a place.

you can find the photos at :

day 1 : landscape

day 2: vehicle

day 3, there was no mention.

out of the planned route, i had to skip the north western fjords and north eastern Iceland because of the road conditions from the snow.

spring, snow, rain, wind, gail storms and warm water. i had a taste of nearly all the weather expect summer in the trip . with the landscape providing an add on variety along with the weather. i am still digesting the varied experiences from the trip. as expected i ended up with close to 15GB of photos of all that i saw and along with edyta’s help we (mostly her alone) took close to 40GB of HD video, and i might put up a short video clip also.

one of the days i took only 20 odd as we where stuck in gail winds from an approaching storm. and during that drive i was weaving the car left and right, putting on a fight with the winds that were pushing the car around. exhilarating!! guess one word that can describe that experience.

i have uploaded the photos from the first 3 days in picasa, and you can see them here :

Iceland day 1 photos

Iceland day 2 photos

Iceland day 3 photos

Iceland day 3 photos

i spent 2 cold nights trying to see the Northern lights and both the attempts were successful, albeit only the toned down and weak ones though. guess it was because the winter had not set in and it was near the full moon day. the second time i saw them, it was bright but the wind did not allow for any steady photos.

more posts about the trip will come as time passes on, and i am sure there will be one about the kindness to/from strangers .

its sunny and cloudy, the sun aligned in an angle that the clouds have a depth to them. The is basically back lighting the clouds, the corners brighter and the middle dark and gloomy. And to compliment this, its the autumn colors in full glory.

so its the blue, white, gray, yellow, orange with shades of red. all next to a river that flows through and cold winds sweep across.

in 5 days time, i will have landed in Iceland. i have gotten a minimum 3000 km route at this moment, all subject to change based on the daily weather conditions.
enough places listed in the map to see, photograph and be part of

and as a starter i am putting the points listed in the Iceland map that i plan to go through.

iceland map points

and on a side note, i have added a canon speedlite 580EX II and wireless transceiver to my camera kit. what results and inquisitiveness in me, it produces are to be seen.