Bhutan Land Of The Thunder Dragon: 2009

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

In Praise Of Canon EOS10D

The following seven old images from my collection are posted to pay tribute to my first ever digital SLR (Canon EOS 10D) that I owned. Since then, I have owned six successive models of Canon bodies. I pay tribute because even at 6MPEG, this camera still beats my latest acquisition (1DS Mark III at 21 MPEG). To this day I believe that this old body captures the sharpest, the most detailed, the most natural and the truest skin tones of a subject. Judge for yourself!

Five years back, on an assignment for the WWF, the camera’s body suffered a crack when I fell and it hit a boulder while shooting wild elephants in the jungles of Gedu/Pasakha. The lens that was mounted on it - Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM also cracked open and the front glass came apart. But I taped it up and the lens works as good as new. Because I love this body so much, I sent it to the Canon factory in the

to have the camera’s casing replaced. It cost me close to US$500.00 for the replacement as well as charges for its return delivery to me. Since its return to me, I have not shot a single frame with the camera - for fear that it might break my heart to discover that my camera does not capture images as beautifully as it used to. But one of these days I am going to pull it out from storage and give it a test run!

Regardless of whether it performs as well as it use to, this one is NOT FOR SALE. This is an object that gave me so much pleasure. More importantly, it is my belief that this camera body is partly the reason why I remained focused on photography as my chosen vocation.

As a further tribute and for the enjoyment of the viewers, I am not embedding the copyright mark on these seven images :)

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Hotel Zhiwa Ling, Paro

Every time I look at the Hotel Zhiwa Ling in Paro, one thought comes to mind - Mr. Ugyen Rinzin the owner must be one courageous guy! Few would dare to undertake to build a hotel of such grandeur and scale. The best thing is that it is so beautifully Bhutanese!

When I do have the time to take up the offer from the owner to spend few nights at the hotel, I hope to be able to photograph the interiors of the hotel. It is simply breathtaking!

This photo was shot this morning when I was returning from Haa where I had gone to meet the horse contractor to discuss my trek in that area. It was 7AM and the sky was clear and I dropped by to see if I could get a shot of the hotel. Not too bad, don’t you think? :)