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At the End of a Long Drive


Shreesh and Neena Taskar

We didn't make the decision, the decision made us. On October 20th, 2007, we left our comfortable city of San Francisco to follow a simple algorithm - go North till the road ends then turn around and then go as far South. In between those two points was the stage, the timeline, the space, where we made things happen and things happened to us.

The past is fleeting and the stories, the sights and the feelings are perishable. One sees what one wants to see, and perhaps we are not capable of more. We saw that people are kind and helpful even if they were not materially rich. Some we could understand even though we didn't speak the same language, the motivations of others were incomprehensible even though we did. In the end fragments remain - the smell of roasting chocolate, a flock of snow Ptarmigians on snow, the creaking of the rainforest, the rough feathers of penguins, and the intoxication of Curanto.


So these are our stories. Every time you visit the site you will see a random post below. Each starts with Lo que pasa es que...

Canon EOS 20D

Aug 11th, 2007 by

Shreesh Taskar

Man in a
Yellow Jacket

The Canon EOS 20D is an able machine – do we dare use it?

Our main camera body is the Canon 20D that we purchased in August 2005 in preparation for the Peru trip. We dragged it all over Peru on several backpacking trips and it has proved to be pretty rugged with its magnesium and leather case. The biggest drawback of the camera is the small size sensor that introduces a 1.6x crop factor for all the Canon lenses we own.

There are two main purposes to our picture taking: to document our travels and to provide a creative outlet, to produce art. Taking good pictures takes time and thought and in the hustle bustle of a trip with others waiting for you to fiddle with your camera gear it becomes a difficult and trying experience. For example when we went on the Machu Picchu Trek we were constantly on the move with no time to think and plan our exposures, the photographs were made during stolen moments at rest stops when we also had to gulp down some food and catch our breath from the altitude. The images reflect this – some are acceptable but none manage to transcend their documentary status to be art.

Canon EOS 20D

The Canon 20D is the main camera for our trip.

It comes down to control – do we control our trip or do we have to march to the beat of others, even on vacation we are not really our own masters? With this much time, fifteen months, and an independent vehicle we will be in the drivers seat, so to speak. During this time we do as we want, to make art or to document, to see. And indeed there will be time, To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”

2 Responses to “Canon EOS 20D”

  1. sudhir tamhane says:
    August 17, 2007 at 3:20 am

    You have not anticipated the third usage for clicking photos. You should share some memorable moments with others & we are looking forward to it, as I do not think we will ever undertake such an adventure. Sharing your joys with others will multiply the plesures.

  2. Shreesh says:
    August 17, 2007 at 3:01 pm

    Indeed, we look forward to sharing our trip with everybody. Mark Twain said, “Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.”

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