With its fields, hills, and a lovely beach, the historic village of Candolim in Goa was once a picture of serenity and beauty. The beach has now vanished through erosion and encroachment, and the fields & hills scarred by ugly concrete.

The Church of Our Lady of Hope (Nossa Senhora da Esperança) was built in 1667 in what is referred to as a Neo-Mannerist style. (For details, see The Parish Churches of Goa by José Lourenço, Amazing Goa Publications, 2005.)

This kind of photograph – where the vertical lines are held vertical – is made possible by Tilt-Shift lenses.

Our Lady of Hope, Candolim (1667)
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

This image of the same church, from across the Nerul river, was taken on a murky monsoon morning. [Added: If you look carefully at the image below, the church appears slightly tilted. That is because the towers are not both exactly parallel, and furthermore, there is a small divergence in the facets of each tower as well. Therefore, I had to make a choice while leveling the image. One easy fix would have been to use the Puppet Warp tool in Photoshop.]

A monsoon morning in Candolim, Goa
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 100 f/2 Makro Planar

More scenes from around Goa in our ongoing romance with the monsoon.

Morning in Campal, Panjim
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 Makro Planar

Monsoon foliage: Colocasia (tero) and Cassia tora (taikilo)
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 Makro Planar

In the fields at Korgaon
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 Makro Planar

Sugandi Toraskar of Korgaon
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 100 f/2 Makro Planar

A salient characteristic of the old temples and churches in Goa is their location – many are ensconced in exquisite surroundings. This shrine in the remote village of Maangaal (also spelled Mangal) in Goa‘s Quepem taluka sits in the middle of a cultivated paddy field.

I meandered into this luscious setting on an atmospheric monsoon morning this July. The shrine is dedicated to what are known as the Paik gods, subsidiary Hindu deities depicted as swordsmen on horses. The Paiks are worshipped by the Velip tribe common to these parts. Notice the terraced field in the foreground of the first image.

Rural shrine in Maangaal, Goa
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 Makro Planar

Shrine in the middle of the paddy field
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 Makro Planar

I am a recent convert to the religion of Zeiss, and my initial experience suggests that I will be keeping the faith for a long time to come.

The two Zeiss lenses currently in my bag are the ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar and the ZE 100mm f/2 Makro Planar, both manual focus lenses designed for the Canon EF mount. This glass is versatile and delivers exceptional image quality across a variety of regimes – Portraiture, Macro, as well as Landscape. Making photographs with such precision crafted tools is a great pleasure.

My entry into the Zeiss fold may be laid at the door of Diglloyd (aka Lloyd Chambers) and his definitive guide to Zeiss lenses (thanks Lloyd!).

My niece Saraswati (@ f/2)
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 100 f/2 Makro Planar

Wide open at f/2, nailing the focus is critical to a successful image.

My nephew Yash and niece Saraswati in Quitala, Goa (@ f/5.6)
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 Makro Planar

The dark patch at the top edge of the frame is a heavy monsoon cloud, not an artifact of lens vignetting.

Disporting through the Goan countryside on a classic monsoon afternoon is one of life’s glorious pleasures. These images were made earlier today.

Lush fields in Dhargal, Goa
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 100 f/2 Makro Planar

Master class of green in Porvorim
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 100 f/2 Makro Planar

The village of Chopdem in north Goa has little of interest to detain the I Luv Goa T-shirt-flaunting visitor. But for the more discerning there are opportunities to be explored in a quiet and languid setting.

The old temple of Bhoomika – a form of Shakti, the Mother Goddess – is set by the main road cleaving through the village, and on this overcast monsoon morning the fresh coat of bold colours resting on a bed of green ensnared my lens.

Temple of Goddess Bhoomika in Chopdem, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

The ancient deity of Vetal, its iconography and associated rituals, are important elements of – and perhaps unique to – Goa‘s Hindu tradition. Only 50 of the ancient Vetal sites^* in the whole of Goa survived the destruction by the Portuguese, none at all in the Bardez and Tiswadi talukas. During 2006-2008 I went off on Vetal‘s spoor, photographically documenting 45 of these sites (5 still to go). I expect to get around to posting them by and by.

^*Traditionally, Vetal images were cast out in the open with only a roof overhead provided for shelter. He was, after all, expected to be on his nightly rounds in his role as the village’s protector-in-chief.

Vetal-bab of Chopdem happens to be quite an arresting dude.

Image of Vetal in Chopdem
5D Mark II, 24-105L

This is a continuation of the Monsoon in Goa – 2010 Edition theme.

These photographs were shot over two consecutive rain-soaked days in the idyll that is the island of Chorão, also known as Chodna or Chodan. My forbears came from this part of Goa, and were impelled to move out after the sacking of the village and the Hindu temples by the Portuguese in the 16th C.

The final photograph in the series below was taken in the face of an intense rainstorm advancing in my direction. Seconds later I had to dive into my car. These are moments to live for.

St Bartholomew church, Chorão (1569)
5D Mark II, 24-105L

The lone sentinel on a dark monsoon morning
5D Mark II, 70-100L f/2.8 IS II

Nossa Senhora de Saude chapel
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

Mae de Deus church of Pomburpa seen from Chorão
5D Mark II, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II

Advancing rainstorm (Pomburpa church is seen to the left)
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Those of us who grew up in and around Panjim took the pleasures wrought by the monsoon for granted. All I had to do was look out of the window and luxuriate in the luscious sight of waterlogged fields and foliage. That Panjim no longer exists, swiftly wrecked by indiscriminate construction. With developers aggressively on the prowl throughout Goa, open spaces are shrinking. And with every passing year, the renewal of the Goan monsoonscape looks more and more tenuous.

Mounted below are the varied moods of the season experienced this past week. Earlier editions of the Goan monsoon may be seen here.

In the village of Talaulim
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Dhargal in north Goa
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Lush Pilerne
5D Mark II, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II

Dark morning at the Candolim church
5D Mark II, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II

Fishing in Nerul during a rainstorm
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Farmer in Talaulim
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Thick monsoon clouds loom over the Zuari river in Goa.

This was an unplanned shot. I was returning to Panjim one evening in Sept 2007 after a long day out. As we approached the bridge the atmospherics suddenly assumed an irresistible mien. I had the Canon TS-E 90mm lens on me and put it to use.

Monsoon clouds over Zuari bridge
5D, TS-E 90

Romance flowers undeterred by an approaching southwest monsoon storm in Kozhikode (aka Calicut) on the Malabar coast of northern Kerala.

In Calicut, Kerala
5D, 70-200L f/2.8 IS

Monsoon storm brewing in Calicut, Kerala
5D, 70-200L f/2.8 IS