Category: Travel

Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad

The Chowmahalla Palace or literally “4 palace” was the residence of the Nizams of Hyderabad. This palace complex served a ceremonial role including coronations and state banquets. The palace is said to be modeled after the palace of the Shah of Iran. This particular palace was built in 1750.

DSC_0716
Khilawat Mubarak or Grand Hall
DSC_0694
The grand hall, adorned with crystal chandeliers
DSC_0696
The long red carpet corridors above the grand hall
DSC_0688
A Belgian crystal glass chandelier in the grand hall (Khilawat Mubarak)
DSC_0675
A chandelier against a beautifully decorated door
DSC_0685
Details of the ceiling in the grand hall of Chowmahalla Palace

As a first time visitor to Chowmahalla, I was impressed by the grandeur of this palace, immaculately maintained grounds and buildings, and tremendous opportunities for photography. Needless to say I shall be visiting there again on my next trip to Hyderabad.

DSC_0669
A front view of the Khilawat Mubarak
Technical Details

All pictures from a Nikon D80 camera fitted with a Tamron 18-250mm f3.5/5.6 zoom lens. Photographs processed in Adobe Lightroom and NIK software suite. Larger versions of the photographs are available from my flickr page.

Check out my other posts on Chowmahalla Palace

Spring, Summer – the Four Seasons

This is my full collection of the 4 gigantic sculptures that are presently on display at the New York Botanical Gardens. These sculptures are by Philip Haas and were inspired by the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, an Italian renaissance painter who famously used fruits, flowers and twigs in his depiction of human heads.

Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Related articles

 

The Royal Verandah

The term verandah has made its way to English via India and refers to an open roofed courtyard around a bungalow or terrace. According to Wikipedia, a verandah  “commonly refers to balconies on cruise ships and some hotel properties. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure.”. The following verandah is from the Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad, India. Photographed as a single bracketed frame, this image was converted to black-and-white in Silver Efex Pro to add texture and tonal contrast.

DSC_0712-Edit
Pillared and beautifully decorated verandah at the Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad, India

Related Articles

Doors to perception

The Indian Marketplace

India, the land of colours, none more evident than in a marketplace.

DSC_0411
Bags on sale. The tree becomes the shop window. Anjuna Beach, Goa, India
DSC_0407
A riot of colour. Anjuna Beach, Goa, India
DSC_0358-Edit
Roadside hat seller. Panjim, Goa

All photographs from a Nikon D80, 3-shot bracketed exposures processed in Photomatix Pro and Adobe Lightroom 5.0.

Related Articles

Goa – A beach experience

Goa by night

Doors to Perception

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite – William Blake

DSC_0661-Edit
Infinite doors at Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad, India

Photographed at the Chowmahalla Palace, the seat of the Nizams of Hyderabad, India (January 2012).

 

The Four Seasons – Autumn

The next in the series of sculptures by Philip Haas is Autumn. Autumn is characterised by ripe fruit (grapes, apples, blackberries) and vegetables (pumpkins, barley) ready for the picking.

_DSC2911_2_3-Edit
Autumn by Philip Haas

These sculptures are inspired by Giuseppe Arcimboldo‘s paintings of “The Four Seasons”. Arcimboldo used fruits, vegetables and grains to creative identifiable and imaginative portraits.

Technical Details
Photographed using Nikon D7000 with a 18-250mm F4.5/6.3 Lens
Autobracketed at -2, 0 and +2 in aperture priority mode (f/6.3 ISO 200)
Processed in Photomatix Pro and Adobe Lightroom
Related articles

The Four Seasons – Winter

In the New York Botanical Gardens stand 4 imposing 15 foot tall painted fibre glass statues sculpted by the famous Philip Haas. Each statue represents a particular season of the year, and have been inspired by the renaissance artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. The picture is of Winter, a foreboding season of creeping ivy, mossy scarred bark and bare branches.

_DSC2908_09_10-Edit
Winter – by Philip Haas

Winter
Winter – by Arcimboldo

This picture is a HDR composite of 3 bracketed photographs at -2, 0 and +2, processed first in Photomatix Pro and then in onOne picture perfect suite for final adjustments.  Please click on the image to see the picture in large size.

Related articles