While traveling through Shillong, you get to see many trees lined up on hills. Perched high up on green hills, it overlooks the fields that are situated below. It makes you wonder how these trees grew up there on the top. What’s their stories? What were the challenges? Nature can be mystifying at times and that’s what beauty is.

Canon EOS 7D | Exposure 1/250sec @ f/8 | ISO 400 | Focal Length 45mm
The Resilient Trees, by Masrur Ashraf

Award Winner: Photo of the Day | June 09
Award Score: 65 (Value 12, Clarity 12, Composition 17, Style 12, Skill 12)
Photo of the Day Award Category: Landscape Photography
Photograph Location: Shillong, Meghalaya | India

Photographer: Masrur Ashraf (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) Registered
An Indian national, Masrur Ashraf was born on the 12th June, 1982, in the eastern city of Saudi Arabia – Dhahran. He has earned two masters degrees in Telecommunication Systems and Management & Marketing from DePaul University in USA and KFUPM in Saudi Arabia respectively. He is currently working as an Investment Promotion Coordinator in a semi-governmental institution. Masrur’s photographic journey started at an early age when he picked up his father’s vintage Canon AE-1 SLR camera and set out take numerous family pictures. Since then, Masrur’s photographic journey grew longer as he expanded his focus to other types of photography such as landscape and portraiture. He also went a step ahead by purchasing the Canon EOS 7D camera and using it to hone his photographic skills. Masrur is extremely passionate about rural/countryside photography. Being from a village in the Indian state of West Bengal, he is blessed to have the opportunities to take numerous pictures of the beautiful landscape, the people and, most importantly, the life a countryside offers. His aim is to show the humbling beauty of an indian village to people around the world. Photography is more than a hobby to Masrur. It does not cease to amaze him about the richness and dynamism of photography especially the fact that a picture can convey a message or many messages depending a person’s perspectives. As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words. To Masrur, that’s an understatement.

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