As the snow melted in the mountain town of Shimla, which was covered in few inches of snow after many years, I, being accompanied by three of my friends went out to see the morning rays of the sun falling on the city.

It was 6 am in the morning when the phone rang. After ignoring it for some time, I picked it up to hear the happy and enthusiastic  voice of my friend Harsh Kalta, who seemed to be impatient and excited at the same time about the trek told me that he had already called Khachi (Ankur Khachi) and he is also geting ready. So, from this point of view, I had no excuses. I had slept for less then an hour, because I helped my friend (Aasheesh Mehta), to design a website about metal. So, I told him to wake up and get ready. He was not in a very good mood and he also had a strong cold.

Around 6 30 am, after meeting Khachi we picked up Kalta and went straight to Tara Devi, a temple situated in front of Shimla, which offers a great view of snow-clad mountains around the town. Strangely, it is impossible to see them from the Ridge of Shimla. We reached the temple and started gazing at the town. the main reason is that some weeks ago when I posted a photography of Shimla ( below ), some ignorant people thought that the mountains never existed because they have never seen it, and said that the mountains have been added by me with a photoshop. I really disliked it. For the people who still don’t believe it. I would advice them to visit Tara Devi and turn your face towards right. Simple. Isn’t it ?

Picture of Shimla with Snow-clad mountains i took last year during sunset

So, we started our trip to a secret location nearby, explored by us last year. Unbelievably, Aasheesh got strenght and got back his natural mood and claimed that he cannot recollect the journey we just did.

We had pur picnic on the cold grass and my friends collected dry wood and lit a fire. I was thinking about  the curry rice that is being served in Langar at Tara Devi Temple (MANDHIR) every Sunday and Tuesday. We stood their untill 1 pm when we were sure that the langar was ready for us.

Here are some photographs. Hope you like them.

Cheers!

Winter Sunrise Trek at Shimla – Images by Himanshu Khagta

Night Shot : The last shot I took before I dropped my camera

Many of you might be using your Digital SLR to shoot in extreme weather conditions, but it’s unlikely that you’ll drop the sophisticated piece of equipment. I did so recently with my Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 17-40L f/4.

I bought this camera last year. Though it has a sluggish autofocusing system that is nearly useless when you try to auto focus in very low light, but still it works perfectly for me and its a wonderful camera. The weather sealing of the camera that is not as good as the 1D series, but not that bad either. Canon beefed up their weather sealing and now it features a better magnesium alloy exterior with rubberised grip surfaces. So let’s get back to the main topic.

While I was shooting some night landscapes with moon light through the window of an old guest house in a remote area of Himachal Pradesh, I accidentally dropped it from more then 15ft, right into a pile of snow. It was all dark and I didn’t hear the sound of my camera falling as well. I thought probably it had fallen into the water stream that was right next to the guest house. I wasted no time and ran down to find my camera and saw it lying in a pile of snow and slush. I took it to my room and started cleaning it. I removed the battery to avoid any electrical damage. Cleaned it for the next half an hour with my friend laughing at me.

So after cleaning it, I was surprised to find 0% damage and found it in complete working condition. I still think the snow saved it, but it sure is a water resistant (not waterproof).

I love Himachal.