Beautiful Destruction

There is a quarry that is no longer being quarried. The landscape is fascinating. The huge crater has been filled by the monsoon, and the water has brought with it succulent vegetation of bewildering variety.

The destruction that man has wrought on what must once have been a beautiful hill, has created this moonscape of a stark beauty with abundant surprises. Rock faces, reflecting white in the sun, drop steeply into pools of clear water. In these pools are worlds of waving plants, boatmen and tadpoles. Cracks and ledges have been inhabited by Peninsular Rock Agamas which scamper away if you step too close.

I walked through this quarry one early morning this is what I saw - the monsoon had filled this pond, and the plants had burst into flower.

105mm

I splurged on the 105mm Micro-Nikkor VR and bugged my friends until I arranged for it to make it from Mountain View to Bangalore in time for my trip up north. A tough day at work only let me get my hands around it at 10pm on Wednesday.

The packaging was off before the leftovers had left the fridge. And the D80 was shooting through it a few seconds later. The plastic bag in which the lens travelled the world was the first subject, and was I surprised by what I saw.

There's a whole new perspective the world waiting for me through the macro lens!