Ajay Pandit Chetri - Winner of MTB Himachal 2011

This is second time that Ajay Pandit Chetri won Mountain Terrain Biking Himachal 2011... Apart from being winner of this year, he also got awards for Best UPHILL and Best DOWNHILL !!!

To know more about Mountain Terrain Biking, check out http://bit.ly/qPlOxi

Panning Experiments @ MTB Himachal 2010 (Mountain Terrain Biking) - 6

This photograph was clicked last year during Mountain Terrain Biking event in Himachal Pradesh during October. This is first time I seriously tried panning but believe me it was too difficult with these guys :) Everyone has unique speed and very fast, in fact... And there is no chance of clicking two panning shots with one rider :)

Panning Experiments @ MTB Himachal 2010 (Mountain Terrain Biking) - 5

Last year, I aprticipated in MTB Himachal 2010 as Photographer due to my over-excitement about this event, although it was very disappointing in the end. Never mind, this activity provided various opportunities to try different things from Photography point of view. During fourth day of MTB I tried various Panning shots !! Apart from Panning, it was really challenging to deal with light on hills and situation becomes worse while moving whole day. Light variation is huge between the hills and bby the time you get familiar with one type of light, you reaches another light region :) ... All in all it was a good decision to go to Himalayas with my Camera but I would prefer not to go to MTB this year !!! Planning a personal trip would be more beneficial in my personal opinion. 

Panning Experiments @ MTB Himachal 2010 (Mountain Terrain Biking) - 4

MTB Rider crossing iron bridge to reach 4th day destination @ Kullu Sarahan !!!!

MTB Rider crossing iron bridge to reach 4th day destination @ Kullu Sarahan !!! Everyone was very excited about the 4th day stay in Kullu Sarahan as everyone had heard a lot about the place and it seemed most beautiful place to stay during MTB Himachal 2010 !!!

Panning Experiments @ MTB Himachal 2010 (Mountain Terrain Biking) - 3

Although this photograph doesn't have any panning effect visually, but it was an attempt to capture the back motion with moving rider as still elements in the photograph.. Background is blurred but a feel of motion is missing ! In this photograph, fill in flash is used to make sure that rider is clearly visible even if photograph is clicked against sunlight.. This was probably 4th day of MTB Himachal 2010 and whole day was full of energy while going through beautiful hills in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh !!!

Panning Experiments @ MTB Himachal 2010 (Mountain Terrain Biking) - 2

Panning Experiments @ MTB Himachal 2010 (Mountain Terrain Biking) - 1

MTB Himachal 2010 Rider @ National Highway 22, near Rampur

Recently I participated in MTB Himachal 2010 as Photographer... If you are aware of MTB, its Mountain Terrain Biking event organized with HASTPA where lot of bike riders come from  various countries of the world.... Its an event which gives an opportunity to explore Himalayan terrains during 8 days to cover 500 kilometers... This Photograph shows a rider on clean road which was rare during the whole trip of 8 days... It was just 15 minutes when these riders were on National Highway 22.. Most of the times MTB Riders had to explore the unexplored regions of Shimla and Kullu Districts of Himachal Pradesh...

Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited board... on National Highway 22

When we go towards Kinnaur from Shimla, Satluj river comes on the way and here is a photographs of a board on road-side... It has some details about power project ... There were some beautiful bridges on the satluj river.. Most of the times we see such bridges in bllywood movies.... By looking at one of such bridge, we stopped our car and spent around 40 minutes to click some photographs of surroundings & few portraits...

A Photograph of waterfall across Satluj River : Shot @ 200mm Zoom

I was confused weather I should post this photograph on my blog or not.... because of its bad quality, but in my opinion subject is more important, so thought of posting it here and you are welcome leave a "Dislike" comment :)

I just wanted to share that if we move on national highway 22, while crossing Satluj river, there are lot of waterfall across the river...

Water Flooded roads near Nirmand Village in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh

Since MTB Kafila was exploring all the new roads, most of the times we saw such places with lot of water on  the roads... Sometimes riders had time to have a workaround for that and sometimes they had to cross all this without much worry about their cloths or bike....

MTB PHOTOQUEST member looking at a beautiful bridge over Satluj River on National Highway 22

During MTB Himachal 2010, we crossed National Highway 22 to move towards Nirmand... On the way, there were some beautiful iron bridges and here is the first one we encountered after hitting national highway... Jimsee is looking for the right place to shoot this bridge...

Refreshing Waterfall in Himalayan ranges of Himachal Pradesh

Dev-Bhumi Himachal Pradesh is a lovely place to enjoy nature and natural resources... Here is a Photograph of waterfall near Sarahan Village of Himachal Pradesh... Sarahan Village is situated at 3000 meters and surrounded by snow covered hills of Shrikhand Mountain Range... village has a huge ground full of greenery and water streams...

Colors of Himalayas in winters 2010

Thanks to MTB Himachal 2010 for providing this wonderful opportunity to explore many of the lovely places in Himachal Pradesh.. Here is one of the photograph clicked during our 8 days exploration in Shimla and Kullu Districts of Himachal Pradesh... I love the blue skies in hills... Clean and Refreshing...

Beautiful waterfall near Sarahan Village in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh...

During my last stay in Sarahan village, we went for a small trek to the nearest mountain with snowfall and seen lot many waterfalls on the way.. Were is a photograph of one of the waterfall we saw... Colorful, refreshing and what not... 

CHALAI : A Famous crop in cold places near Himalayan ranges in Himachal Pradesh

Here is photograph of a crop called Chalai, which is very popular in crop of himalayan ranges in Himachal Pradesh.. This crop is very colorful and have seen it in Yellows, reds and pinks... This is considered as a must of people living in high altitude areas.. It's considered as a source of warmth to the body, and thats why its popular in areas which get snowfall very frequently...

Beautiful Sarahan Village in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh (@ 3200 Height)

There was huge ground in the middle of snow covered hills ... These were Shrikhand mountains which gets most of the snowfall in this region... Shrikhand is also a famous pilgrimage which opens during July till September... This place was wonderful and I enjoyed only day stay with very passionate bike riders of MTB Himachal !!!

Crops of Charas @ Sarahan Village of Kullu District in Himachal Pradesh

During my recent visit to Himachal I got a chance to witness the beauty of Sarahan Village which is at 3200 meters height, but a beautyful valley surrounded by snow capped hills... During the visit I realized that lot of land is being used for Bhag crops.. Bhag is the local word used for raw charas, I guess...

Snow Covered Hills @ Kullu Sarahan, Himachal Pradesh, INDIA