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Kerala Tourism Guide

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Fascinating Facts:-
Kerala, the southern most state of India stretches for 550 km along the southwest coast of India.

The sole state of India which is famous for its tranquil back waters, that are the lifeline of the state.

Kerala famed worldwide for its ancient form of treatment know as Ayurveda.
It is home to the various ancient dance forms like Kathakali, Koodiyattam etc.

Another fascinating fact about Kerala is that it has the highest literacy rate among all the Indian states.

Introduction:-
Kerala, the paradise for travellers is a land famous for its tranquil backwaters, ancient temples, verdant valleys and vast plantations of cloves, cardamom and coffee. It is a land embellished with coconut groves and exotic beaches, which is sandwiched between the Arabian sea and the dense forests of Western Ghats.

This serene state of South India is also referred as the God’s own country as every part of the state has some exquisitely carved temples that are highly revered among the Keralites. Even Kerala is blessed with myriad of culture which are very well maintained by both the State government as well as people of the state.

Location of Kerala:-
Kerala which is one of the hot spots of honeymooners in India is positioned at the southwestern tip of the Indian mainland on the Arabian sea. It is bound by the Arabian sea on the west, Karnataka on the north and northeast and Tamil Nadu on the east.

The climate of this serene state is tropical. The weather in Kerala is never to chilly which is the main reason behind its emergence as a hot tourist destination.

Charm of Kerala:-
Kerala has an unique charisma of its own which is a totally different from other Indian states. There are an endless list of exhilarating things that can captivate your mesmerize by their beauty. Kerala has wide range of tourist attractions such as backwaters, ancient temples, wildlife sanctuaries, hill stations, beaches and many more alluring things.

Tranquil backwaters:-
This serene state has over 900 km of interconnected waterways, rivers, lakes and inlets which are the main constituents of Kerala backwaters. If you don’t get the opportunity to visit Venice city and Gondolla ride, than you must come to Kerala to have the same experience. Most of the towns of Kerala serves as the starting and end points of backwaters cruises as well as hosts many renowned boat races. These towns are a blend of historic and modern world. Globetrotters from each and every nook and corner of the world comes here to enjoy the scenic beauty of these backwater destinations. Even they are also famed as an ideal honeymoon hot spot. Some of the famous backwaters towns of Kerala are Cochin, Alappuzha, Kasargod, Kollam, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Kumarakom, Kuttanad, Thiruvallam, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Exquisitely Carved temples:-
As Kerala is fondly referred as God’s own country, here you will get to see numerous exquisitely carved temples which has the ability to transform an atheist into a religious person. The beauty of Keralites temples are unparalleled to rest of the country. The architectural design of the temples of this state is in accordance with the natural resources and climatic conditions of the state. Each and every town of Kerala has at least one or more temples that trace their origins to antiquity. Some of the most revered temples of Kerala are Padmanabha Swami Temple, Sivagiri Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Guruvayoor Temple in Trichur, Sabarimala Temple, Pathanamthitta, Tiruvalla Temple, Mannarshala Temple, Ambalapuzha Temple in Alappuzha and many more temples.

Salubrious Hill Stations:-
Another most sought after hidden treasures of Kerala are its salubrious hill stations. These enchanting hill stations are nestled in the lap of the Western ghats and Blue mountains. Hill stations of the state are the ideal destinations to have a rendezvous with oneself. These hill resorts are so cool and calm, that they will surely mesmerize you by their simplicity. Kerala hill stations are home to the vast tea, coffee, cardamom, pepper, vanilla and rubber plantations. Munnar, Wayanad, Idukki, Ponmudi, Devikulam, Nelliampathy, Wagamon etc are some of the well known hill stations of Kerala. These panoramic hill stations are the best place for nature photography, trekking, mountain climbing, birding, spice tours, lake boat cruises etc.

Verdurous Wildlife Sanctuaries:-
Positioned amidst the lush canopies of Western Ghats, Kerala has 12 wildlife sanctuaries and 2 national parks. These wildlife sanctuaries and national parks has a rich collection of diverse flora and fauna. These abodes of rare wildlife has the ability to beckon the nature or wildlife lover from far and wide place. An elephant ride will be an appropriate one to explore the verdurous wildlife sanctuaries and national parks of the state. This wildlife tour will enable you to get more closer to the various wonderful creations of the Mother Nature. Some of the luscious wildlife sanctuaries and national parks are Peppara Wildlife sanctuary, Neyyar Wildlife sanctuary, Shenduruni Wildlife sanctuary, Periyar Wildlife sanctuary, Idduki Wildlife sanctuary, Chinnar Wildlife sanctuary, Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary, Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, Silent Valley National Park,
Eravikulam National Park and many more. These wildlife resorts are apt for jungle trekking.

Exotic beaches:-
Among various other charming aspects of Kerala, beaches are one of the major attractions of the state. Kerala has 600km long shoreline embellished with some finest and world class exotic beaches, lagoons, natural harbors and sheltered coves. These beaches are the favorite resorts of both the International and National tourists. Kovalam beach, Poovar beach, Varkala beach, Alappuzha beach, Cherai beach, Fort Kochi beach, Kappad beach etc are some of the popular beaches blessed with breathtaking beauty. These beaches are the best place for enjoying a leisure vacation. But if you are an adventure enthusiasts, than you can indulge yourself in various water sports like swimming, scuba diving, surfing and many more.

Ayurveda Treatment:-
Last but not the least, Ayurveda treatment is another important attraction of Kerala. Ayurveda is an ancient form of treatment, believed to be originated in Kerala. Many vacationers comes to Kerala with a desire to cure their illness with the aid of ayurveda, which is assumed to be one of the best way of treating without undergoing any surgical operations or intaking heavy doses of costly medicines. So, whenever you visit Kerala, don’t miss to check out the various Ayurvedic centres of the state. Some of the famous Ayurveda center of the Kerala are Rajah Healthy Acres in Palakkad district, Manasa Sarovar Ayurveda Mandir at Trivandrum, Karakathi Beach House at Kovalam etc.

Access to Kerala:-
By Air: To aid both International and National tourists, Kerala has three well developed air ports such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. From these airports even international flights also ply regularly. International destination which are joined to Kerala are Colombo, Maldives, Abu dabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Bahrain, Doha, Ras-al-khaimah, Kuwait, Riyadh, Muscat, Fujairah and Singapore.
By Rail: Each and every place of Kerala is very well connected to each other by the extensive network of Indian Railway. Even with the other parts of India. There are nearly 200 railway stations present in Kerala. Long distance express trains connects Kerala with the four metropolitan cities of the country such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, and Kolkata.
By Road: A vast network of smooth roads connects every region of Kerala with each other. National Highway 47, 17 and 49 joins Kerala with rest of the country.

Superior Image Photography Offers Finest Baby Photography Melbourne

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Superior Image Photography Studio provides numerous photography services ranging from family portraits to headshots. The studio specializes in baby photography, new born photography, and children’s and family portraits. Run by Nick, a family photographer in Melbourne, it offers you photographs at very affordable prices. Other than exceptional photography services, the studio also offers a huge selection of products such as stylish albums and portrait box sets. If you’re looking for the finest Baby Photography Melbourne, it is the best choice available for you.

Capture every moment of your kids and preserve these beautiful memories. Once your kids grow up, the entire family can sit together and view those treasured moments. It is undoubtedly a wonderful way to show your love to your children and strengthen the bond of love. Superior Image Photography Studio helps you catch all such beautiful moments and preserve them in such a manner that they become treasured memories in the years to come. The best part is that you can do all this at very less prices. It is very reasonably priced and won’t break your bank.

Products and Services Offered by Superior Image Photography

Superior Image Photography Studio offers you a wide range of services including corporate headshots, individual portraits, newborn photography, family photography, kids’ photography, and Baby Photography Melbourne. Located in Bundoora, the studio covers a wide area including Eltham, Rosanna, Templestowe, Greensborough, Ivanhoe, and Bulleen. It captures all the moments of your kids quickly, knowing that they won’t happen again, and preserves them. Whether they are new born or grownup kids, they can capture their beauty, innocence, rowdiness, and personality. The good thing is that they are able to catch baby’s development and growth through maternity photography even when they are not born. Just imagine how amazing and pleasant it is to know the development of your baby who has not yet come in this world. Superior Image Photography makes it possible for you.

In addition to its unparalleled baby photography and family portraits Melbourne services, it also offers numerous presentation options to its clients. It provides you with individual prints in any size, gift prints for friends and relatives, wall prints, portrait box set, portrait portfolio, and stylish portrait albums. It is not compulsory to buy any photographs after a sitting. If you love them, you can purchase them.

How to Book a Photography Sitting?

For capturing all beautiful moments, simply come to the photography studio and pay fee for a sitting. You’ll love all the shots captured by them. Not only you but your kids will also love it. You can also book your sitting online where you can get up to ten percent off. Simply visit their website and click to book your portrait. Fill out a small form and mention required details like name, address, phone number, email address, date of choice, and requested time. Type your message and submit. Make payment and book your sitting. You can also sign up for their seasonal newsletter for further details. All the current offers or seasonal offers will directly be sent to your inbox. This is the best way to save money with their special offers.

Superior Image Photography specializes in Baby Photography Melbourne. If you have any questions or require further assistance, feel free to contact them. Give them a call or send them an email mentioning your questions. They’ll be happy to help you.

Miniature Chu-ke nu Chinese Repeating Crossbow is now FOR SALE!

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The Chinese repeating crossbow. Quite a legend. Online research shows that it originates to the 4th century.
A very famous Chinese strategist, Zhuge Liang (226-481 AD) is believed to have “upgraded” an earlier design from a tomb dating 4th Century BC.
This new design was able to fire multiple arrows (bolts) in succession, was last used in mass formations which helped shape the China-Japan war of 1894. It was named after Zhuge because of his improvements. You can see it spelled a couple of different ways; or “Chu-ke nu” or “Chu-ko-nu”, the first being correct. It literally means “Zhuge Crossbow”

The weapons were very common among the Manchurian troops, and can be seen in photographs from that era.

It was introduce to the Koreans in 1418, and was given the name “sunogung”. Everyone seems to be impressed by it’s mechanism and ease of firing. This rapid firing design is why it was so impressive.

Even though it has a short range, the owner of the weapon would dip the bolts into poison. So even if an enemy were to be hit by a bolt, and not suffer a mortal wound from the bolt itself, the poison would work it’s way into the bloodstream and inevitably end their life with a “slight delay”.

In China, the crossbow revolutionized the war. The warriors would line up and fire multiple bolts at riders on horseback as a fist strike. Because of the rapid fire mechanism of the Chu-ke nu, it was used as the “first strike” defense in close combat situations.

What I like about firing the miniature Chinese Repeating Crossbow is the sound and feel of the bolt leaving the chamber. You can load 6 to 7 bolts, and the firing mechanism is just “push forward and pull back”.

Other people who first fire one will do it slowly, thinking that it needs time to load the next bolt. This is not so! Once they have been exposed to how fast it can fire, the fun begins. The accuracy is good too.

In conclusion, the Chinese Repeating Crossbow, often called the Chu-ke nu, has been around for a long time. The actual detail that goes into the design and assembly of the crossbow is what gives this weapon it’s uniqueness.

Anyone who has fired the Chu-ke nu and realized how fun it is, usually asks the same question: “Where can I get one?” ScanzonCraft, makers of fine wood products, in association with Micro-Weapons.com have answered that question – THEY do!

Black And White Photography Still Most Creative Form Of Photography

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You would rarely find a person who does not like photographs. Photographs of people, nature and wild life attract almost everybody. With the advent of digital cameras it is now easy to catch moments in frames forever.

During the early stages, black and white photography was the only way to capture photographs. Experimentation with color photography started around 1861. Modern color photography evolved gradually.

However, there is no reason to think that color photography has replaced black and white photography completely. Black and white photos are still very much there and there is no clue for them to vanish in near future.

Black and white photographs bear an artistic and creative look that attracts people. Color photographs are often mirror copies of what we see around. However, when it comes to present an idea, a mood or a philosophical thought, photographers prefer going black and white.

Photography a rewarding hobby

Ask people about their hobbies; many of them would answer that they like photography over anything else. It is an interesting, challenging and rewarding hobby! You would hardly find an individual who would not carry a camera during festivals, family functions, social or corporate events or while traveling.

And the reason is simple. Photographs let you cherish old memories. When you leaf through the pages of family album, you go back to the time when the snaps were taken. Small memories associated with the pictures come in mind. The person must be stone-hearted who does not get emotional to see old family photographs.

black and white photos are the true elements to make one nostalgic. The effect of light and shadow becomes prominent in bicolor photography. A lot of people feel that close-up portraits look great in black and white. Facial expressions are caught perfect in black & white photographs. It is often said that tears are better expressed in black and white!

Black and white travel photography is equally popular among travelers and nature lovers. Wild life photography and travel photography are appreciated and accepted whole wide world. Photojournalists and travel photographers carry their cameras always as the picture perfect moment might appear before them any time.

Animals, flowers, trees, rivers, night sky, nature, heels, people, regional festivals, tribal life and sun rise and sun set are the most common subject of travel photography. Black and white travel photographs and wild life photographs are often placed in auction and sold at high price.

Black and white photography is one of the popular forms of art and will continue to be so for years to come.

Canon EOS Rebel T3i SLR Camera review

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Unveiled in early 2011, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i (EOS 600D) continues Canon’s Digital rebel tradition of providing ‘affordable’ digital SLR cameras. Ideal for entry level enthusiast, the Rebel T3i sits on the top end of Canons entry-level EOS line-up, above the existing Rebel T2i (EOS 550D). With tools to capture beautiful still images and Full HD movies, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i makes photography easy and fun. With the matchless range of EF-S lenses and other accessories from Canon, the Rebel T3i holds the key to the perfect shot.

Body Design and Handling

Unlike its predecessors, the Rebel T3i has an improved grip that’s a little deeper, front to back, coupled with a carved channel on the back that provides an anchor point for the thumb. Although bigger hands may still find it a tight squeeze, most users should find its grip more comfortable than its predecessors. It is also heftier than its predecessor, the T2i, weighing almost 60g more (583g compared to the T2i’s 525g)

As with many cameras in its class, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i utilizes a pentamirror viewfinder. Although it is one of the better pentamirror finders in the market, it is smaller and dimmer than the pentaprism finders used in more expensive cameras. The viewfinder shows approximately 95% of the scene to be captured, and the 5% ‘margin of error’ is of little consequence in normal use.

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i has an excellent 3:2, 1,040k dot display swivel-and-tilt articulated LCD screen. Hinged on the side instead of the based, it is useful for taking shots when using a tripod, or camera above the head type of shots. The ClearView display technology which has a layer of optical elastic material between the coverglass makes for unusually clear indoors and outdoors images.

First Class Still Shots

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i’s DIGIC 4 image processor and buffer enables capture of about 34 large/fine JPEG images, 6 RAW frames, and 4 RAW+JPEG frames. The DIGIC 4 processor also allows capture of 14-bit RAW images, and the 8-bit JPEGs are created from 14-bit data. The quality from both the swiveling LCD and the optical viewfinder is excellent, good enough to shoot at ISO 3,200 for a low-noise image.

With Peripheral Illumination Correction, the Rebel T3i is able to reduce Vignetting, a reduction of an image’s brightness or saturation at the periphery compared to the image center.

The Rebel T3i also has Creative Filter functions, which provides 5 filters, including the new Fisheye mode that creates a distortion as seen through a fisheye lens. The effect is applied after the shot is captured, and the strength of the effect is adjustable. This feature is not available for videos.

Unlike its predecessors, the Canon T3i offers nine-point auto focusing (AF) with a central f/2.8 focus point and eight single-axis points. All its AF points are cross-type, an advantage, as they are sensitive to both horizontal and vertical detail.

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i also comes with an Auto+ mode, which combines five Canon T3i’s systems, i.e.; Auto Exposure, Autofocus, Auto White Balance, Auto Lighting Optimizer, and Picture Style Auto, into one smart exposure mode.

Full High Definition Moving Pictures

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i comes with movie mode with Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixels at 24, 25, and 30 frames per second. 720p is available at 50 and 60 fps and VGA video is recorded at 30 and 25 fps. Zooming is a breeze with Video Digital Zoom, which allows a cropped zoom from between three and 10x magnification in 1080p resolution at all frame rates.

Another feature is the Video Snapshot mode that is brought in from Canons PowerShot and camcorder ranges. This feature allows recordings of short 2, 4 or 8 second video snippets, which are then stitched together and played back as a merged video. There is also an option to add audio soundtrack, choosing from the in-built five standard background music tracks, or import music to the SD card via the EOS utility. With this feature, multi-take videos can be produced without computer editing.

Other Handy Features

The T3i has a pop-up flash, with an X-sync of 1/200 second and a guide number of 43 feet (13m) at ISO 100 that can also function as an Integrated Speedlite Transmitter /wireless flash controller.

As with the T2i, it is HDMI-CEC compatible. With an HDMI to mini-HDMI (Type C) adapter or cable (purchase separately), you can play back your images on your HD TV as well as control the camera’s Playback functions via the CEC (Consumer Electronics) Protocol.

In Conclusion

With newly added features to the already impressive Rebel line, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i is a value for money investment for aspiring photographers. The quality of its still shots is among the best in its price range, and its video modes are quite comprehensive, offering excellent quality, if handled correctly.

Besides the Rebel T3i, Canon offers the T2i and the 60D, another two outstanding 18-megapixel digital SLRs within the same price range. All provides excellent image quality. However, in this authors opinion, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i has the best mix of features among the three.