Man-child meets Gorilla-child

While visiting a zoo, I saw a wonderful scene:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="533" caption="Man-child meets Gorilla-child"] [/caption]

A gorilla child was lying on his (her?) mothers back, clearly enjoying the snuggle, and resting his feet on the pane of glass that makes up their habitat.

A boy came along and, wanting to meet the gorilla, touched the apes feet through the pane of glass with his hand. He seemed a bit disappointed that all he felt was the cool, smooth glas, not the warm and soft being on the other side.

I was stuck by the thought that if it is possible for a man-child to reach out to a gorilla-child, how much easier it must be for man-child to reach out to man-child.

Waiting for the Baby ...

A girl and a boy hugging and kissing their mothers belly in anticipation of the sibling that is inside.

India

Recently I went to India for the first time. What a wonderful place!

I was (and still am) fascinated by the colors, the smells, the bustling business everywhere. The general feel was of vibrant aliveness.

Because my primary objective was not photography, I decided to carry only a Canon G9, not a DSLR. I figured that because of the generally intense sunlight, I would not have to do much high-ISO shooting, so image quality would be acceptable. I also figured that I would deeply regret the shots that I would loose because of this decision.

Well, I was right on both counts. Most pictures were taken in sunlight so bright that sensor density (i.e. the number of f-stops between the highest and lowest levels of light that can be discerned) was the limiting factor, not sensor sensitivity.

And I lost a number of shots because the G9 is so much slower than a DSLR. Try riding in a 3-wheeler cab through dense urban traffic with the driver going like the devil is breathing down his back and then you see an elephant in the fray ... by the time the autofocus had gained focus, we were well and truly on a different street.

I am still rather pleased with the results and in all honesty, since the G9 was just small enough for me to have it with me literally all the time, I probably got some shots that I would not have gotten with a DSLR because the bigger camera would have been in the hotel room or in a bag.

Decide for yourself what you think, there are more images in this gallery!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Boy flying a kite"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800" caption="Oxcart delivering ice"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Shrine to an unknown deity"][/caption]