A Cottage in the Mighty Padma
Padma Resort, Lohajang, Munshiganj, Bangladesh
04 November 2008
I had my first look at Padma Resort in March 2008. But it was more like shooting the skies rather than shooting the land. A kite festival took me there in the first place, and I was mostly pointing my camera upwards during that tour. The nice settings around the resort took a secondary position. And there were too many people there to make photography easy. Whatever the case, when I got the go-ahead for this tour, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to take some of my photography gears with me.
It was an official tour; a workshop organsied by one of my clients. I knew that I would mostly be engaged with work all day. Yet, I just thought opportunities may come from anywhere. And ultimately I thanked myself.
It was a workday; so, we had a hard time breaking through the morning traffic of the mega city. We started off by around 7:30AM with a plan to have breakfast at the ultimate destination. We finally reached there just before 10:00AM. It took that long even though our driver sped through Munshiganj at 100-120km/h. It was a warm day; the sun was already beating down. The north-easterly monsoon wind was yet to take shape. Autumn had just passed off. And we could see that evidence from the Dhaleshwari Bridge. Vast areas of the riverbank were covered with fading white plumes of "kaash". That at least gave me a reason to consider a trip at his place during autumn 2009. Anyway, this was the start of the Late Autumn. Yet to see the season flourish with all its wonders.
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Lost forests, had to watch it again........
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Idle colours.......
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Idle chairs........01
To be honest, I was itching to click at the very first opportunity. I started to click when we reached the banks of the Padma. We could see the small cottages of the resort from our side. I was hoping that I wouldn't see the destructive trade in wood this time. But I was disappointed. Lohajang area is teeming with wood and wood products. So, not seeing any wood on the riverbank would have been a pleasant surprise. I had to shoot those lost forests once more; the difference being that the two photos were taken some seven months apart.
We crossed the channel to the island on a motor boat. Water level was low; just like I saw during the last tour. I was thinking of the pictures of that place that I saw in a newspaper article. Those photos were taken in the rainy season. They totally contrast with the photos that I was making. We had to walk on sand to reach the resort cottages. But during the rainy season, the whole resort literally floats on water! Water level rises so much that it devours the pillars under the cottages. And nothing other than the cottages remain visible on water! I really have a desire to visit this place during the rainy season.
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Idle chairs........02
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
A "Natural" angle......
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Colours on the inside......
We had breakfast and went to work. I had calculated that I had a total of 37 minutes shooting time between 9:59AM and 10:36AM! I utilised it to the full. The light was also too harsh at that time to do some good meaningful landscape photography. But it sufficed for me given the fact that I was there mainly on workshop purpose. This shooting was a by-product of that.
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Green, blue and white.........01
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Another wooden path.........01
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Green, blue and white.........02
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Blossoming in the sand.........
After some hectic workshop sessions, I utilised a 10 minute break from 12:22PM-12:32PM. Was really lucky to see that some clouds covered the harsh sunlight and gave me a fine opportunity to take a few shots.
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Autumn has passed......
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Nature's colour factory.........01
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Nature's colour factory.........02
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Nature's colour factory.........03
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Battered colours........
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Colours in the middle of the Padma.........01
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Colours in the middle of the Padma.........02
The break after lunch was the priceless one. From 2:37PM to 3:06PM, I had a great 29 minutes photography opportunity. Passing clouds made my work a bit easier, though the warmth didn't come down a lot.
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............01
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............02
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............03
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............04
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............05
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............06
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............07
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............08
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............09
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Afternoon colours............10
The last an final break came at around 5:01PM. I loved this session of photography. The warm tone of the afternoon sun made everything glow, literally. The colors popped and made me blind! The sun began to bow and I skipped my evening meal to witness the fantastic sunset. It truly was a fabulous sunset; full of rays, red ball, peekaboo and colours. I was glad that my hunger didn't win over my desire to see the beauty of Nature.
Sunset........5:05PM
Sunset........5:06PM
Sunset........5:08PM
Sunset........5:11PM
Sunset........5:12PM
Sunset........5:12PM
Sunset........5:12PM
Sunset........5:13PM
Sunset........5:14PM
The sun went down at 5:15PM. We began to move out.
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
A gem in the colourful sky........01
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
A gem in the colourful sky........02
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
A gem in the colourful sky........03
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Idle chairs........02
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
An evening of colours........
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| From Padma Resort, Munshiganj, November 2008 |
Preparing dinner.......
But how could I miss the little moon on the south-western sky? It looked like a gem in the glowing evening colours. We boarded a boat once more and crossed the channel, which was by now a sea of colours! I went on shooting until we finally began to board our cars. It was a joy! I kept on shooting until 5:54PM. That makes a total of 2 hours and 9 minutes' shooting time during the whole tour. I was happy!!
On the way back we found ourselves stuck in the city quagmire and got tired. I was able to reach home by around 8:20PM; totally exhausted.
I have to thank my client for organising the workshop at a beautiful place like that; otherwise how could I have thought of going to that place on a hectic workday? Lack of visitors there made my work such a pleasure. It couldn't have happened any other way.
P.S. Only some of the images are posted in this blog page. Please take your time to go to the image album to see the whole bunch.
