Tower Bridge Night Shots

Long time! Trillion of gallons have flowed in the Thames, since I posted last.

I wanted to take some night shots of London. And what better place to choose than Tower Bridge!

So I went to London Bridge and then walked all the way toward Tower Bridge to take some really interesting snaps. 

This was my first attempt at the long exposure shots and I was excited at the prospect of learning new skills and technique. Here are some of the photos that I took with my Cannon T2i.

Tower of London from the opposite bank of Thames

Gherkin and other buildings from the opposite bank of Thames

Tower Bridge itself.

This shot was taken from London Bridge, without tripod!

Another take on Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge, no tripod again.

And here is the London Bridge itself!

The dome of St. Paul

Dome of St.Paul

Shooting with Canon !

This is what I shot this weekend!I intended to sketch,but the weather was too good to sit inside a room.May be sketching can wait a little longer :)

The TV antena at the top remineded me of  my early days as school kid.Those days very few houshould used to had TV sets in our colony,and all the kids would sworm the house which would have the TV,on Sunday/Saturday evening to watch Bikram Baitaal or Spiderman. Good old Doordarshan days! 

Urggghh..I Wanted It Sexy !

I wanted to sketch a nude in a sexy pose.Beautiful and raunchy.Instead it turned out to be a sad looking miserable face :( .That's the difference between a greenhorn and an expert.I wish I had more control on my hands.Anyway,it was long time since I picked up the pencil.Hope to be little regular in my effort, now onward.

Learning to shoot!

My latest adventure!Since guitar practise was getting a little drab,I picked my Cannon to shoot some random pictures.Like Guitar , you need a lot of practise and experimentation to learn. I am like an infant trying to crawl! Yet,the camera has began to make sense to me. Here's a few sample from my stable :)

The Road Ahead

It has been raining job interviews for me this spring,monsoon style!Well almost,at least the calls from recruiters makes me believe that.Not one interview with any of the prospective employers,only with recruiters.Yet it makes me feel at least someone is aware of my online CV or my Linked in profile.

Tomorrow ,going to have face to face interview with head of economics and planning team of an Oil company.The interview is scheduled in a bar!Just hoping that the guy gets drunk and offers me the job :) no questions asked,how good is that.....!

By the way,I passed my MA Economics exam.What next?May be CFA.But after I switch my job and my son grows a little old,old enough not to distract.Till then just day dreaming,eyes wide open.

Breaking free from corporate slavery

I want a new ' job'.Have been thinking about it since along time.But I don't want a one more new corporate job.I think I had enough of corporate jobs.Now I want to be my own boss.No slavery anymore.I dont want others to write my appraisal or beg for few nickles to people whom I deem not superior than me.

I want a life where I can plan my own holidays.A life where there are no 'Monday Blues' or TGIF.I want every day to be as pleasant as weekends.A life where I can plan a vacation for a month or two every year in different location.A life where I can spend time with my parents as long as I want to.A life where I dont have to earn a salary,instead the money comes from what I love doing.A life when I decide when do I need to wake up and when do I need to go to bed.

I like my present job.But it is not what I would like to do forever.It is nice,pays well,well almost!But imagine ,what it would be to be your own boss and may be employee others to work for you,instead of you working for others.Every time I think over it,it bring me immense joy.

So the only question for me is ,what is it that I have that others can find valuable.In other words what do I do be my own boss?And that is the million dollar question haunting me.

Life at Snail's Pace

It looks like looong time.Was i dead or what?I wonder!Nope :) I am alright,sound and kicking.Had nothing worthwhile to add here.Was some what unusually busy in work and some non-work.Anyway,the new year is already a month old now.I am glad,I am following on my resolution,not the new year resolutions.

Have been practising on and off on my guitar.Still light years away from playing anything sensible.For the time being its just that good old boring scales and chords change practise.At time I feel like breaking the Guitar into million pieces from the frustration out of the failure to improve.But soon realise I cannot afford a single penny more to lose.And that keeps me sane,though irritated.

May be few more months and then my neighbours wont feel like hitting me.Who knows they might like the sound of strumming and picking!Possibilities are endless,as I say to myself.But I will be traveling again and my practise will be interrupted again.Second time in a last few months,for a month.Sigh!

I had nothing better to do on last weekend.So out of bordom decide to put myself on Youtube.Its boring nerdy stuff.But if it interest you,here's the link .

One month and going....

It has been more than a month now!I am glad my interest is still intact.Have been practising my Guitar almost every day.I am light year away from playing my first song.Don't want to rush to it only to find it horrendously difficult.Just want to go slow and steady and nice.

So far just able to remember few basic chords and make some chord change as well,albeit nasty,I believe with more diligent and regular practise it will get smother withing next few months.Just the thought of smooth chord change makes me feel so happy.Imagine when I start playing my favourite songs :)

I am loving it..umm :D

Guitar

I have been thinking of learning to play Guitar for last two decades.I always wanted to play it and play it well.While I could not do it during school days,I deliberately avoided delving into this while engineering.

Bihari parents are not that much into extra co curricular activities!Though I was allowed to actively take part in sports ,music was not encouraged.After all board and entrance exam were far more important to be fiddled with!

Engineering college was diff rent.You could do what ever you wanted,free from the parental constraint.My deep seated desire to master Guitar once again started rolling left and right in my head.I saw few of my friends with exactly same desire.I saw them buying and even practising.But after few semester and few songs I saw them giving up ,probably overwhelmed by the difficulty level of Guitar.

I did not wanted to end up like them.I never start anything ,if I have faintest doubt of not achieving the target meaningfully.So I gave up the idea,shelving it for some future date.Probably after a settled career.

I had been seriously contemplating about buying a Guitar for last few years.The same question would pop up again and again.Will I be able to learn it so that I can play any song ,or will it end up just like a fleeting hobby,daunted by its difficulty level .Do I have the time and passion?Is Guitar the right instrument for me,do I really have it in me to play Guitar....and many other self doubts.

I finally bought one,at 33.And from second day(not day one!) have started practising it.Its two weeks now.

My left hand fingers are sore,getting toughened each day.And that means I am on the right track.I must say learning Guitar is indeed overwhelming.Its incredibly difficult.Changing from one chord to another itself looks like climbing mount everest.

Sometime I feel it will take ages before I will be able to play anything recognisable.But,I am not giving up.It is hard,but I like it.Oh,I forgot to add,its electric guitar :)

Nude again !

In less than half an hour.Not as well as I would have liked it to be.Needs devoted practise,which I soon hope to revive.