Walking On Water

The leap of Faith

This year we experienced a massive temperature inversion in the Treasure Valley. For over 3 weeks the average temperature rarely rose above freezing. This made for terrible driving conditions, but created something far more breathtaking than anything I had previously imagined possible. 

The sky cleared up one Sunday morning, and whimsically I decided to drive up to the local dam to enjoy the sun in solitude. There I was greeted with an azure spectacle and was mighty happy I brought my camera along. 

A friendly couple who came down after seeing me walking on ice, offered to take my picture.

looks liquid enough...

The blue screen  - Contrary to what you might think, I haven't retouched or photoshopped any of these images 

I kept throwing large rocks to make sure it was safe to pass. 

Limbo - Liquid Water ---> sleet -->  Solid Ice

This probably was one of the most breath taking scenes I have ever witnessed. Coming from a hometown 7 degrees north of the equator it was hard enough finding ice in the freezer, but this was something I never imagined possible.


-M.Monk.

Seasons of Change

I remember simpler times when I yearned for snow. I had never seen it in real life, for chances of it appearing 7 degrees north of the equator were slim at best. I had only ever read about it till then or watched it on TV. They were usually scenes of  happy people frolicking in a sea of white miracle fairy dust, gently encasing all things in an almost warm embrace. It used to kindle feelings of hot chocolate, Christmas and smiling snow men. Eventually I did get a chance to experience snow and my sentiments soon turned to absolute abhorrence when I had to drive in it or shovel it.

Lately, thanks to my secret whisperer :) , I have started seeing what I once did. Snow and Ice, though a pain to deal with, can be mesmerizingly pretty when viewed with the right person! I rediscovered all those latent emotions I once felt growing up and it was magical.

Icing on the Lake

Iridescent Mallards

-M.Monk.

Meandering Through Manhattan

I must say, the Cannon S95 takes some really impressive photos, even when in the hands of a rank amateur like myself. I never did dabble in taking pictures much, but lately a very special someone been whispering to me and prodding me to take more :) 

Most (If any) of you looking through these pictures probably already know what they are so am going to try and keep the descriptions to a minimum . 

Probably one of my favorites. I just waited for the escaping steam to get parallel to the ground and the mail truck to turn into the frame.
I like how everything looks in Black and white :) 

From a different angle.
I saw the steam and  gravitated towards it. 

Inside the Macy's on 34th street 

looking down from 22 stories in the air.  

The Leaking apple Billboard
I suppose this ipad MINI aint as good as a MAXI -Pad after all.  :P

A Mesoamerican deity of some sort.
Loved her composed  demeanor. - At the Natural History Museum

I was being watched! 

Bright Blue Ganesha :) 

Iron Monkey! 

Ippudo!
some of the nicest Ramen i have eaten  and ah the staff are super nice as well. 

Winter in central park.
I just got lucky with the light, which made it look like fall 

A lobster in Neon Light looks far too lovely to eat 

The humble Rambutan.

Even in death, he smiled for the camera :) 

..and this guy waved.

Chinatown cacophony -
I love this place!

Carousels

Free entertainment on the subway.
This guy was running around on the trains ceiling!

That way Argo!
(<Wink>  Shadow of the colossus reference again) 

The vivid subway station
Now that I think about it, this looks like some depression awareness image or something
"Life all around you is so colorful - cheerup"

Am hoping the guy was doing just fine btw :)

Most of these pictures were taken in "Super Vivid Mode" and I didn't have to do much more than point and shoot. In some of them, to bring out more detail, I played around with the saturation and contrast settings using Microsoft Picture Manager which comes native with all windows PC's. I am yet to give Photoshop or lightroom a try, I hear it does remarkable things to photos. 

-M.Monk