a view of the Gumbaz through the entrance

Gumbaz, Srirangapatna, Karnataka, India
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @16mm, 1/200 sec, f/6.3, ISO200

I recently returned home from a couple of weeks in Bangalore, India. It was my first visit to India, and I enjoyed the experience. Future blog posts will be used to write more about my impressions of India.

On the Saturday that I was in India, some colleagues took me to visit the city of Mysore to have a look at some of the local attractions. One of the places we visited near Mysore was Gumbaz, a tomb and mosque that was built by Tipu Sultan as a tribute to his father Hyder Ali.
The Gumbaz is over 220 years old, and contains the cenotaphs (empty tomb / monument) of Tipu Sultan, his parents, and various other relatives. The polished granite pillars and ceiling were very impressive, as were the ivory-inlaid doors.

The photo above shows a view of the Gumbaz from the entrance gate, and the photo below shows a row of arches in a seemingly deserted building behind the Gumbaz.

arches in an outer building

Gumbaz, Srirangapatna, Karnataka, India
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @10mm, 1/25 sec, f/6.3, ISO100

fallen petals

Kyu-Shiba-rikyu Gardens, Tokyo, Japan
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @22mm, 1/100 sec, f/8, ISO100

Late last month I spent a week in Tokyo, Japan, on a business trip. My visit to Tokyo happened to co-incide with the cherry blossoms (known as "sakura" locally), something which typically only lasts a week or so.
I had an opportunity to visit some of the parks nearby my hotel, and took some photos of the wonderful sight of many trees completely covered in white and pink cherry blossoms.

Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay, Tokyo, Japan
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm, 30 sec, f/8, ISO100

I recently visited Tokyo, Japan for a week, for some work-related commitments. This is the veiw out of the window on my ninth floor hotel room at Takeshiba, showing Tokyo Bay, with the Rainbow Bridge on the left hand side.

I left my tripod at home, so for this 30 second exposure, I balanced my camera on top of a coffee table on top of the room service trolley.

This was not the first time I've used whatever was available in the hotel room to support my camera for a long exposure photo - I have previously used a Coke can to support my camera when shooting out of a hotel window.