Photo of the Day

Mushroom

Shot while on trek in Bhutan. Canon EOS 400D with Tamron 28-200mm XR lens at 200m. Exposure of 1/60s @ F/5.6, ISO 400.

Portraits from PM Team Outing

Portraits from PM team outing on 21st October, 2009.

That's Hanuman, the great monkey god of Hinduism.

He was not a PM (although his commitments included lifting mountains, fighting wars with an army of monkeys and having his tail on fire for extended periods).

Ranajoy

Dhruv

Manoj

Rahul, the Mafia look

Kanav

Nitu

Aarthi

Suresh - eyes set on Frisbee world championship

All photographs with Canon EOS 400D and Tamron 28-200mm XR Lens.

Selective highlights ...

Selectively highlighting subjects or elements in the photograph can help in focusing attention to them.

Other techniques to direct attention to various elements in the picture include selective focusing (using depth of field) and using composition techniques like framing, colors, leading lines etc.

The key is to ensure detail in the highlight areas as well as relevant shadow areas. Given the limited exposure latitude, this is a tough challenge. Taking the photo at the right time of the day will ensure adequate exposure to capture details in highlights & shadows.

Backlighting plus selective highlights can bring out the details in leaves and flowers and draw the viewers eye to them.

All photographs with Canon EOS400D and Canon EF 70-200mm F/4 L IS USM Lens.

A Century - One Hundred Posts and Counting ...

This is my one hundredth post to this blog.

A toddy tapper coming back with his day's collection through the backwaters of Kumarakom in a traditional country boat.

I started this blog to share photographs with my family and friends, somewhere along the way, it expanded in scope to become a medium for me to track my photographic evolution and changes in my style and technique as I continue along this path of learning photography as a medium of self-expression. It continues to be a vehicle for sharing photographs with family, friends and the greater internet community, and to collect their appreciation, feedback and critiques. And in some cases, to serve in documenting my travels & experiences for the benefit of others.

But above all, this serves as one memory that I can look back upon continuously, deriving some inspiration from the subtle signs of improvement that show up in my body of work as time goes on.

After the rain

When I initially started learning and experimenting with photography around eight years back, I never "slotted" myself into any particular genre of the art. Recently however, my primary interests in photography have revolved around travel, adventure, nature & people. This itself is quite generic, and I am fine with this lack of "specialization" that some regard as key to defining and developing a style of one's own. Maybe one day in the future I will find a particular genre more appealing than the rest, but for now, I photograph the moments and/or subjects that I feel must be preserved.

Another discovery is that I do love monochrome photography, they have a quality that is not just restricted to the old time charm that they evoke in the viewer. To strip away multitudes of color is to see the world with different eyes, and this is one key aspect of making interesting photographs. When we play with focal lengths, depth of field, noise, saturation or any other creative effects, what we are trying to do is to convey a vision that would not appear "normal" or "natural" to our eyes. In fact, a 2D representation of a 3D world itself is inherently manipulative and unnatural, and hence a creative tool.

Identifying images that come into their own in monochrome is an interesting exercise in itself.

Flowers at Lalbagh

Hopefully I will continue to have the time to pursue this interesting and challenging hobby, and to keep this blog updated with newer photographs.

If you follow my blog, there are two easy ways you can keep track of updates to the blog:

1. Add yourself as a follower of my blog in the "Followers" tab on the right panel, any updates to my blog will show up in your Blogger Dashboard.
2. Subscribe to the RSS feed for my site in a online reader like Google Reader or a client application on your PC.

Photo of the Day

Transit walkway at Frankfurt airport

Canon EOS 400D with Canon EF-S 17-85mm F/4-5.6 IS USM Lens at 17mm. Exposure of 1/15s @ F/11, ISO 400.

Photo of the Day

I liked the interplay of light and shadow on these creepers on the wall. Canon EOS 400D with Canon EF 70-200mm F/4 L IS USM Lens combined with Tamron SP AF 1.4X TC.

Shot in Trivandrum Zoo, more picture from Trivandrum Zoo here.

Achu & Ammu

Achu & Ammu - my nephew & niece.

Photographing kids is such a huge challenge, but also so rewarding! Given time & patience, one can get photographs that will be treasured forever. And they grow up so fast, so don't wait...

Brother and sister ...

Ammu, isn't she a naughty one!

Study time!

Is this a nice pose?

Sooo happy in my new dress!

In a rare, quiet moment...

Such nice round eyes she has!

Pretty in Pink

Nice light from the big glass windows at Kumarakom Lakesong Resort, shadow side filled in by flash.

Achu with his favorite Power Ranger's toy

Photo of the Day

Getting Antsy

Shot near TB dam during Hampi Trip. The tree was hollow towards bottom and a huge army of ants were marching up & down the tree. Canon EOS400D with EF-S 17-85mm F/4-5.6 IS USM lens. The 17-85 lens with a maximum magnification of .2X is not great for macro photography, this was as close as I could get. Retained photo because of the diagonals made by the striations on the bark and the profile of the two black ants against the greyer shade of the bark.

Photo of the Day - Prachi

Prachi at Krip & Pari's engagement party. She is extremely shy (at least with me), and with so many people around, she ensured that she stayed close to Raghu or Vaishali all the time.

Canon EOS 400D with EF 50mm F/1.8 lens and built in flash

Love the nice, rounded highlights formed by the out of focus bulbs in the background and the bright catch light from the flash in Prachi's eyes - overall a very dreamly looking photograph of Prachi. Converted to monochrome to give emphasis to the child's face and eyes and avoid color as a distracting element in the picture.

Krip & Pari Engagement Party

More photos from Krip & Pari's engagement party. Shot all pictures in RAW and converted to B&W in Canon DPP and added Sepia tone for an old world charm Also added a Green filter to lighten the green and darken the red in their floral garland.

The B&W Sepia toned pictures remind me so much of the old photo albums from my parents wedding that my mother is very fond of pulling out and showing to us. B&W is also very useful medium to focusing attention on the couple and not on their bright costume that is a prerequisite for any Indian function.

Krip & Pari had invited some kids from a children home they are associated with and the kids had a gala time dancing and showing off their moves. The kids added a very special warmth to the wonderful occasion.

All photographs taken with a Canon EOS400D with Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 lens shot wide open assisted by the camera's built in flash at ISO 400, 800 or 1600.