This photo was taken during the festival of Diwali, which is celebrated as New Year's throughout much of India. The festivities involve insane numbers of fireworks and firecrackers, which would periodically be lofted above the city, exploding at eye level.", "right", 500); drawpicture ("photo_rajasthan3.jpg", "Within the confines of the fort I found a surprisingly humble garden and temple. When I look at this image, I'm again reminded of the tremendous thickness of the Indian air, oppressive at times, but mysterious and intriguing at others.", "left", 500); drawpicture ("photo_rajasthan4.jpg", "Atop Mehrangarh, looking towards the palace of the Maharaja of Jodhpur. Built during the 1930's, this was the last royal palace to be built in India. Today, in addition to housing the latest Raj of Jodhpur, it is also a hotel and a museum.

(Okay, and I have to admit that I cheated in this photograph. None of the many cannons atop the fort were actually pointing directly at the palace. But the visual humor was just too much fun to pass up, so I moved the palace over a few degrees in Photoshop.)", "right", 500); drawpicture ("photo_rajasthan5.jpg", "This friendly goat really wanted to eat my camera.", "left", 500); drawpicture ("photo_rajasthan6.jpg", "Sand dunes in the middle of nowhere, about halfway between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. I came to this remote landscape to observe the 2001 leonid meteor shower and was not disappointed -- the skies were clear and dark, and I got to see more than 2,000 meteors per hour. However I left my keychain somewhere among the dunes...", "right", 500); drawpicture ("photo_rajasthan7.jpg", "A small village of wonderfully sculpted mud, home to perhaps half a dozen gourd-farming families.", "left", 500); drawpicture ("photo_rajasthan8.jpg", "A grandmother in the village. She said that it was okay for me to photograph her, but I could tell that she was nervous. Still, this is perhaps the single best photograph that I took in India.", "right", 500); drawpicture ("photo_rajasthan9.jpg", "I was actually only trying to take a picture of their marvelously-constructed rake, but these children ran into the frame as though it was their duty to be photographed. They didn't look too enthusiastic about it, though.", "left", 500); drawpicture ("photo_rajasthan10.jpg", "The \"campsite\" from which I watched the meteorites turned out to have large tents with cold showers and even flush toilets in them. And this group of amazing Rajasthani musicians who played infectiously until 3 or 4 in the morning, long after everyone else had gone to bed.", "bottom", 500); backbutton ("photography.php"); ?>