The story of my experiments with camera

Minimalist photography

2011-04-09T11:29:00.001+05:30

O.h m.y G.o.d

http://dzineblog.com/2011/03/40-examples-of-minimalist-photography.html

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The Girl with the Golden Tattoo...

2011-03-19T16:19:00.001+05:30

A book that I got engrossed , like there was no tomorrow...

The story is a crime thriller.. And I realised, while I read this book , that I am a sucker for thrillers.. The reviews say , its a cut above the usual crime novels... And I can vouch for it.. The storyline is something that I ve never come across, not that I have read many books...

But three fourths through the book, I had a strange feeling.. I got so sick of the story, but yet the story was gripping that I couldn't throw the book away.. But I should warn that, though , the narration kind of loses pace and fizzles out in the last part..

Overall , a very complex , complicated , contagious story, that makes you hate and like the book at the same time..

Do I like the book ? Ofcourse I do, and I am tempted to read the other two books by Steig Larsson..

P.S: the story revels too much in aggravated sexual assault and such deviated human behaviour.. If not for the pace of the narration and the great plot , I would have thrown the book away half way through..

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Sriram Guruswamy's interview

2011-02-28T09:58:00.001+05:30

And he is self taught... Wow... It requires a lot of patience and perseverence in photography to evolve from a good photographer to a pro , I guess.. Well, I am truly inspired reading his interview here

http://antzfxway.com/2011/02/06/interview-sriram-guruswamy/

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Some of the best bokeh photographs I ve ever seen...

2011-01-31T21:40:00.001+05:30

Bokehs are always fascinating.. Maybe because you never get to see them with your mortal eye.. Its amazing how they pop out when you look through that lens...

I stumbled upon this webpage with some wonderful examples of bokehs..

http://www.instantshift.com/2010/12/17/88-extreme-examples-of-bokeh-photography/

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Why can't we have Republic Day on saturdays every year ?

2011-01-26T09:08:00.001+05:30

Before you ostracize me , for coming up with a sophomoric suggestion like that , I ve to confess that this cretinuous idea came from one of my Boss.. Hmmm.. Truly thoughtless of our freedom fighters, sir.. !!! Little did our freedom fighters think that their great grandsons will regret losing a day's earnings celebrating a stupid Republic Day... How inconsiderate were they, right ?

But being the Indians we are, we will take this loony, dim witted statement too in the stride , and probably end up setting commissions and discussions to find out if its plausible..

Our well-bred, erudite, self declared liberal, indian high class people are a class unto themselves. You will find these sophomoric savants a.k.a SS , in most of the indian cities, blissfully ignorant to the fact there exists a world outside their uptown bungalows and BMWs..

Every morning, when the papers and TV blare with a new scandal or scam, our SS will be all too ready to give his opinion on corruption and how the politicians ve let down our country. But don't dare to ask him if he has ever voted in any of the elections. He might ve been busy holidaying ,or more importantly earning his daily bread . How can you even think he would be free for such mundane civic duties.. He would spit the all day chewed paan right out of his Audi windows in the middle of the road, and then earnestly talk about how clean the Singapore roads are.. That's our SS.. !!

Well, until our statesmen coming up with a constitutional amendment declaring India a "Saturday Republic" , let us, the India minus SS , remember our inconsiderate forefathers and cherish the freedom they fought for with their blood and sweat..

Jai Hind !!!
Long live the Indian republic !!
India rocks, despite the Indians....

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Thousand Splendid Suns...

2011-01-24T09:57:00.001+05:30

A story of "hell on earth"...

I read the book yesterday, two whole years after I bought it from the story.. I actually bought this book the same day I finished "The Kite Runner".. I had become an ardent fan of Hosseini while reading The Kite Runner.. I didn't want to dilute the emotions that the book had stirred in my heart, by reading his next book immediately.. But being the lazy me , and also because I got obsessed with my Niki, "Thousand Splendid Suns", somehow, never caught my eyes..

And , how wrong was I, because this book, for me, was even better than his first one..

What I liked about the book ?

Hosseini , truly is a master story teller.. There is never a lull period, nor do you wanna take a break in between ( I was feeling, the story might move on, by the time I resume the book.. :) ) If you are the kind of person who thinks that a thriller novel is all about guys trotting with guns, car chases and mind boggling mazes and stuff, then you would be proved right royally wrong when you read Hosseini.. The story can be about very ordinary people, and still have your heart racing, when the story takes an unexpected twist..

The story falls under the genre of The most tragic stories ever .. I am not personally a tragedy-novel-liker.. But , thanks to Hosseini, I ve taken a liking to tragedy stories..

"Then the blast, blissfully elsewhere, followed by .... knowledge that they had been spared for now while somewhere else , amid cries .... , there was a scrambling,.... of pulling from the debris, what remained of a sister, brother , a grandchild."... If your heart doesn't miss a beat reading it, maybe you are already dead...

I don't want to delve into the story line, because that's for you to read.. But , reading the story made my heart wrench for the Afghan people.. How much can a nation take ? What crime did the poor Afghans do to deserve this ? The nation has been looted, plundered, and raped by every other ruler, that I doubt if there is any dignity still left, in this once prosperous landlocked country.. I am sure, morals and ethics there have new meanings now, after being battered and ripped apart for a whole century..

When I closed the book, I made a silent prayer for the Afghans and made a promise not to complain or curse God for all mundane things in life..

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Canoe-ing on Cauvery with my Camera..

2011-01-18T21:11:00.002+05:30

Was trying alliteration ... :)

Anyways, here comes my much awaited blogpost on the canoe ride in Coorg.. Well, going by my comments columns, you might wonder if anyone really awaits any of my posts, but I like to believe there are many of you who just lurk around my blog without commenting..

Madikeri is a quaint little hill town, devoid of tourists, anxiously trying to fit in the maximum possible in their vacation itinerary. Its a beautiful small place tucked inside the heavenly smelling coffee plantations on the eastern ghats, and the River Cauvery flowing majestically with her tributaries, like a queen taking a stroll in her garden with all her maids... The view from Raja's seat - a small park on the very edge of the hill , where the kings of the land spent their evenings - can't be explained.. I envy the Coorgs, who get a free twilight sky show from there, every single day...

Our hosts recommended a boot camp nearby for a little adventure, where they had kayaking and such things.. I badly wanted to go rafting, much to my wife's bewilderment, because she could never imagine I had an adventurous streak in me.. The most adventurous feat that she has seen me ever do would probably be driving my car at 80km/hr in ECR with a seat belt on... !!

The drive to this boot camp was quite bumpy . Our taxi driver for the entire vacation, who was already exasperated with us for choosing a home stay , instead of the Coorg International he recommended, ( Taxi drivers are bad advertisement for homestays , as they don't get to eat the sumptuous food or a cozy bed to sleep in ) gave us glaring looks for every bump on the road, which were lots, infact. But the boot camp was set in this lovely place, alongside a nascent river flowing through verdant coffee plantations.. The place was absolutely worth the every bump on the way...

But sadly, much to the disappointment of my adventurous pursuits, there was no rafting.. Apparently , you can raft only during monsoon when the river flows with all her might.. But nevertheless, there were canoes for us to row... With my life jacket on and my camera with a telezoom lens, I would have easily passed off as a militant.. The canoes were quite safe though..

Both of us gingerly got onto the canoe, and the boatman gave us some quick lessons on how to row.. Well, all he said was "....row this way ,the canoe will go that way... "and pushed the canoe into the waters.. So we were practically left to ourselves on the 35 foot deep river to figure out " row which way, the canoe will go what way "...

The river was an amazing one, with both the banks covered with dense trees. The silence was deafening. Except for the chirping birds and occasional rustle on the waters with the kingfishers diving in for their breakfast, the river was absolutely tranquil - an ideal way to enjoy a holiday with a book- only I didn't carry a book there. I was sucked into the beauty of the place that I started shooting pictures of almost everything there.. Almost, because, after a good ten minutes in the water, a gentle cough from Laya reminded me that I ve not shot a single photo of her yet.. Ya, the place was that beautiful to make me forget the cardinal rules of married life.. :)

So I clicked some portraits for her and with she posing, and me clicking, the canoe took a mind of its own and kept drifting off to the swamp.. Believe me, clicking a portrait for your wife while rowing a canoe, should be ranked as the winning challenge for a photography reality contest, if at all there is one..

Well , I must ve really taken some nice portraits, because Laya offered to click some photos of me too.. You know, that's like an approval.. A wife never offers to click a picture, until she is convinced that you ve taken a facebook worthy portrait of her.. :) mark it, highlight it, underline it lest thou shall forget it..

I passed my camera to Laya and she took few snaps of me.. Hmmm.. Well, I wouldn't say they were of me because everything except moi was in focus..

( Laya's justification : what more do u expect from a petrified wife on a wobbly canoe ? )

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My Photo storage Workflow...

2011-01-15T12:45:00.001+05:30

Much to my surgeons' ire, I was browsing net on my blackberry, while they kept struggling with the patient's heart.. Hmmm.. There were so many reasons why I took Anesthesia as my specialization, you know.. Like, you don't ve to listen to patients' explicit description of the exact hue of their stools , or hide your frustration behind a pepsodent smile when your patients' sugar levels climb up faster than the onion prices and they swear that they followed all your instructions .. Being a "mayakka marunthu doctor", (I hate,abhor,resent that term,though) I never have to write case sheets and discharge summaries , ever.. The best part , undoubtedly is, I get the patient knocked off as soon as I see them and I disappear the minute they wake up.. Isn't that a dream job for any doctor ?

Ok, before you start wondering what this has got to do with my blogpost title, I steer back to what I was gonna write.. Ya, I was browsing net...., and then stumbled on an article in DPS about somebody's photo storage workflow.. Which made me wonder - what if my entire stack of photo files were to get deleted or corrupted.. Hmmm.. After my "holiday runner" prize, I firmly believe " Anything is possible.." I mean it, when I say "anything"..

So here is my proposed photo storage workflow, which I am hoping to follow to a T.. I am planning to keep it simple, till I become the World's Greatest Photographer, after when I ll probably have enough dough to hire an assistant to do these jobs ... (Its not perverse to dream big, right ? )

1. I ve a memory card in my Niki.. A humble 2 GB one... And I immediately transfer all the photos after any photo shoot, to my computer... And delete all the contents in the card

2. I reject and delete all the unfocused, blurred, shaken, and blunder photos (before anyone sees them and form a bad opinion about me )

3. I transfer the unprocessed photos to a 500 GB external hard drive and keep the files for each shoot in separate file named in numerical order

4. Make an excel sheet and allocate appropriate labels and tags to each photo, to retrieve the photo later.. Seriously, when the photo stacks start expanding, it becomes extremely important to find a way to search the photos..

5. The processed photos are stored in the computer, then onto a separate folder in the external HD and also in a separate pen drive..

6. This is apart from posting the pics in my photoblog and flickr..

I hope this workflow works... If anyone finds a flaw anywhere, do point it out please...

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My Niki is taking a holiday...

2011-01-11T11:35:00.002+05:30

Its been almost two weeks since I went out with my buddy, Niki.. I am not sure if my camera is upset or happy.. I guess he (ya, SLRs are Men in Black, and Point and Shoots are damsels in pink, in my opinion) is quite happy about his vacation, though, after all the tortures I inflicted him with, in Madikeri..

The reason I ve not been out photographing lately, is coz my kit lens has got stuck... Had to give it for service and thankfully, got it repaired ,by just coughing up thousand bucks.. One of the few times I m happy that Laya is not in charge of the Finance department.. The bill (and my poor lens) might have gone flying out of the house...

I do do do need a new camera bag.. I know,I bought a new one 2 months ago only.. And yes, as always, after an extensive research.. (I sometimes think if I had had googled stuff as much, during my MBBS, I would ve probably won the "Best Geek of the Batch" award, which was the rage then ... Ya , medicos are not weird without reasons).. Btw, the camera bag is all funky and handy, but it refuses to accommodate my 70-300 lens, in spite of its manual saying it will... And it was quite a circus, while rowing a canoe on the river in Coorg, when I had to balance my camera, both my lens and also row the canoe.. Hmmm.. And Laya kept complaining that I am not rowing in a straight line#.. Humph... Rowing a canoe little off course is better than dropping my lens into the 35 feet deep river and listening to a 35 minute lecture from my mother , madam..

So, yes, I think am going to buy a decently bigger camera bag, even if it makes me look like a courier boy... And I m going to give off my other two camera bags to charity*.

And ya, I ve to do some work on my coffee table book.. I ve been telling my friends and family about this super duper coffee table book, that I am going to come out with, for so long now, that I ve a suspicion they think they are not even going to get a cup of coffee from me, leave alone a book.. But wait folks, its all a part of my strategy to hype the book.. (Ya,the corporate hospital I work in, gives free lessons on "how to hype a sappa matter ".. anyone care to join? )

# - a new blog post "the canoe on cauvery" , coming up soon

* - charity = selling stuff @ ebay.in ( you really didn't think I d give it to you free, right ? )

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Colour Spotlight this time... :)

2011-01-03T21:20:00.001+05:30

My picture "misty and mystic land " has been chosen for Colour Spotlight in aminus3...
http://caughtoncamera.aminus3.com/image/2011-01-01.html

I love you 2011, already :)

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Photoblog Awards 2011

2011-01-03T14:52:00.002+05:30

The nominees and the winners of cool photoblog awards have been announced...

http://www.coolphotoblogs.com/nominees

Ya.. I might ve won the award.. Just fell short of few votes.. Only some 2K votes.. :(

Hey... I m really happy I managed to get close to a hundred votes.. Not bad, uh? (Patting myself)

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My Bokeh Experiment...

2011-01-03T13:37:00.001+05:30

Yesterday, I decided to read a book... Ya, ya.. New year resolutions.. Laya gave me her favorite novel " the catcher in the rye " to read... She gave it with a condition , that I should get her Something , if I liked the book... Am already regretting my resolutions...

I started reading ... Hmmmm... I wouldn't say I got stuck to it from the first page , and all... I didn't quite get to understand where the story was heading to..

So after reading a good thirty pages, I decided to continue the book on some other day... Partly coz , I couldn't stop yawning.. I am still hopeful,though, the book will get interesting after few more pages... And secondly, I didn't want to stress myself too much with my resolution , on the first day itself.. I do have another 364 days...

Then , I planned to do the long pending bokeh experiments with my cam.. For some weird reason, the Ganapathy temple near my house, has been decked up with color lights for the past one week.. To the best of my knowledge, Ganapathy Bapa never had any remote relationship with Jesus Christ.. So absolutely no idea, why the color lights for christmas.. But , good for me and religious integration, I had made plans to conduct my bokeh experiments on the christmas lights on Ganapathy temple...

I rummaged through my cupboard and found a long forgotten black chart paper.. And got few circles cut too.. Then I realized I don't have a blade at home.. Then again, Laya came to my rescue, and gave me ,reluctantly , a surgical blade.. One of the advantages of having a surgeon wife, you see.. But she gave it, complaining that she ll blame my stupid bokeh if she doesn't find a blade in an emergency at the hospital.. But come on, what can be more important than a bokeh experiment ?

With my whatever little surgical skills left, I tried cutting out stars and hexagonals... Damn, never regretted all the naps in my surgery lecture classes more.. But anyways, I managed to cut out a 3 pointed star and a 5 1/2 sided hexagonal (don't ask me how)...

Not discouraged by the aberrant shapes of the holes , I pasted it onto the lens and was all set to go out, when it started raining... Yes, raining.. In January.. In Chennai..

Ok dear Lord, I get the point... But if u didn't like me doing bokehs, you could ve put it across more subtly... Rains in January ? Hmmmmm

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My Pic(k)s of 2010....

2011-01-01T08:00:00.015+05:30

My favourites of 2010.............. You can see my portfolio here

Reminiscences and Resolutions...

2010-12-31T09:35:00.003+05:30

What's with this year end season ?? I was driving back home from gym and on Radio ... " Neenga New Year resolutions eduthiteengala ? Ippovey phone pottu sollunga.... " Uh ? And today's newspapers were no different.. From Surya to Lavanya (no idea who she is ) , everyone had at least 10 resolutions for the next year.. I didn't wanna switch on the tv , lest some crazy mic wielding reporter interviews a beggar on the road ,what his resolutions for next year are.. Come on guys... if everyone made resolutions and kept it, I think the place would be much better a one to live , drive , walk, or even breathe...

But anyways, I always believe in living with the flow... And let me too add my possible little to the year end madness.. After all, I did lose my weight , learnt swimming in spite of the few giggling and irritating swim champ kidos, and maintained a photoblog for most of this year.. Ya, I did these in the last 2 years.. and like everyone of you, I failed to keep up with many other things...

So here are my reminiscences and resolutions...

Reminiscences of 2010

I believe in remembering only the good, for the bad moments are meant to be forgotten and not to be brooded over.. This year was great... I took up photography more seriously , and before I knew it,I got sucked into the obscession of posting a pic everyday in aminus3 blog.. It did serve its purpose and I did learn a lot ... More importantly , I could place my feet in many places around Chennai, that I would never have ever thought of going to.. It was totally worth it..

"Paradise lost and Paradise gained"... I faintly remember reading it in school.. Well, this year was the same, ... Lost some and gained few...

Professionally, I got promoted ... Hmmm.. But nothing to celebrate.. The work is the same.. Do I like my job ? .. Million dollar question... Ya, I do like it.. And I do hate it in many ways.. But at the end of the day, I m happy and better off being a doctor ...

Some gifts that I got... Letters from my kutti niece and nephew, two bonsai trees from periya and an ipad from amma...

Fidgetting constantly on my blackberry and religiously going to gym at 5 am everyday , is what I would end up remembering about 2010, I guess...

Resolutions for 2011

I really really have no resolutions... Few of the things that I like, but never pursued are reading, sketching and travel..

Maybe I can think of doing something in those lines... I hope to hone up my swimming skills some more (atleast try and finish a single lap without looking like a frog in water )

Urrrr... I really hate making resolutions.. I ll just take 2011 as it unfolds..

Ok bye bye 2010.. You were a blast, in every way... Will miss you...

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Runner of the best Holiday Planner Award...

2010-12-30T19:47:00.001+05:30

Sweating in the cold december night, I ran ... I ran to my street corner and climbed into an auto before the driver could even stop.. I kept panting, "central" and "urgent"... And Laya climbed into the auto too, well after a long 10 seconds..

I kept cursing myself for sometime,and then the 24 hour timing discoverer, and then prayed to all the Gods that I could think of.. I just hoped I would be able to catch the train or at least the last coach, as the train moves away from the station.. Guess I ve seen "DDLJ" and "mouna ragam" too many times..

Running ( I must ve burnt more calories that night than I did in a whole year ) into the station, I showed the ticket to an engine driver and asked in which platform the train was.. He gave me a murky look and asked " its written 20:40 and u ve come at 8: 50.. "... Ya man, I didn't ve a teacher of your caliber to teach me "Time" in my primary classes.. Sadly, the train had left.. No DDLJ moment for me..

I started panicking more and visibly shaking.. Maybe we could catch some bus ?.. I called up just dial (JD) to find out KPN travel's number..

JD : welcome to just dial sriraam, how can I help you ?
Me : ( impatient) ya.. Give me KPN travels number..
JD : sure Mr. Sriraam.. Which branch would you like to have?
Me : (aaaahhh ).. Some branch.. Ok.. Egmore
JD : ok Mr. Sriraam, would you like me to help you with four more travel agents?
Me : (aaaaaaaahhhh ) no... ( I think, maybe it ll help) .. Ok.. Ya.. Give me
JD : where are you planning to travel to , Mr. Sriraam ?
Me : ( to hell..... ) !! ?? !!!
Laya: look.. there is kaveri express here to mysore
Me : kaveri ? When ?
JD : ok.. You want to travel from chennai to kaveri ? Mr. Sriraam ?
Me : what ?!? ( You stupid , why did I even call u ) no man.. Just forget it.. Send me KPN alone..
JD : ok Mr. Sriraam, we ve sent you an sms, is there any....

I couldn't bear to hear him finish his ritual.. In a normal day , I would ve waited for him to finish it and then would ve thanked him too.. But today, the day of hell on earth, I was not planning to be Mr. Courteous , anyways..

Luckily for us, there was Kaveri Express going to Mysore in another half an hour.. We ran to the general compartment.. One look into the compartment, laya's expression turned from that of grief to horror.. Ok.. I decided to confront the ticket collector..

We ran around searching for a ticket examiner.. And finally bumped into one.. I , then , used my bramhastra- my sure shot weapon to save my day.. After all, no day can get worse than this.. I told the TTE , that we are doctors and have missed the train and I need to get onto this train since we ve the world's most important surgery to perform on a patient by us tomorrow morning.. How's that ???? .... Ya, man... It worked.. It worked like it always did.. After all, having studied in MMC has some advantages..

The TTE took pity on us- the t-shirt, cargo wearing, important surgery performing surgeons - and told he ll allot a seat, but we would ve to pay for the ticket with fine.. I just felt like hugging the fellow.. Ya dude.. Sure.. Whatever..

And finally , we were on a train to Mysore.. Not in the AC coach ,booked two months ago,cuddled in the not so nice smelling blanket... but in a sleeper class berth, in a ticket got with a first class lie, and happily shivering in the cold december wind gushing in through all the windows..

P.S : Call centre guys have to be given special coaching classes on "Identification of urgency in the tone of customers "..

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My vacation of the year..

2010-12-29T15:25:00.001+05:30

I took a vacation after 18 months.. So that warrants a blog post, right ? even if this is a photography blog site...

I had been waiting for this December holidays almost from January , and so I didn't want to screw it up.. I religiously ,went through all travel websites, blogs, magazines and finally convinced Laya too, for a home stay at Coorg..I called up the home stay people, booked the stay, sent them the advance payment.. And, I booked train tickets in 2 tier, well ahead, that there were still 10 seats available.. That's pretty early booking, by indian railway standards , for a christmas weekend.. The stay and train tickets were confirmed.. Yesssss... And its not even December yet..

So , here I was , thinking to myself that I should be given the Best Holiday Planner of the Year award .. Who wants all these travel agents ? With me around , these guys are going to run for their money.. Aahaaa... We were really looking forward to this vacation, and we kept googling different sites on coorg tourism, not wanting to miss anything...

And two days before the departure, I took a print out of my train tickets.. Made a quick glance at the dep. time .. And decided I should leave for station by 9 30 pm.. at least an hour in advance(I hate the mad chennai traffic...)

On the day- the day of my vacation after 18 months, being the obsessive planner that I am, I packed all my things and was ticking every item on my list of things to take... while my wife happily sat watching masterchef australia with a look of exasperation at my "theatrics" every time I passed her by.. Ok madam, I ll wait till you tell that you forgot to pack your toothbrush the next day morning... so , I was all done packing, tickets printed out, taxis ordered, stay confirmed.. Ya, seriously, someone should give me the award, man...

My wife, after my gentle (not so gentle, in her version) cajoling, decided to pack her things too.. And we, man and wife , sat and watched tv... Friends, two and a half men... Yawn.. When is it going to be 9 30 ? I so wanna get on to the train and lie down on my favorite upper berth covered with the not so nice smelling indian railway blanket.... Aaahhh.. One more hour ? ...

I don't know why ... But right at that moment, I wanted to take a look at the train ticket.. The ticket to my vacation of the year.. And I just check.. Decemmmber.. Twennty three, ya right.. Mysore express.. Ok.. Boarding at chennai.. Correct... Time of departure 20:40... Hmmmm.. Ok.. No... 20 ? That's not 10:40.. That's 8:40... Shhhhhhittttt... Holy Crap...

I screamed... And laya thought I was getting a heart attack.. I screamed that the train is at 8: 40 and ran into the room , took all the bags and ran out of the house... I remember turning back once and saw Laya at some distance trying to put her slippers on and run at the same time....

I ran down my street... God, this is not happening.. Let me be the Winner of the best Holiday Planner... At least a Runner, not in the literal sense...

P.S: I hate this 24 hour timings.. They should just abolish it.. Really..

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Marina - the Beach with Life...

2010-12-20T11:40:00.002+05:30

Chennai can easily be named the City of Depression.. No, I don't mean the people are depressed.. Its well past November and the city is still under the siege of the rain God.. Week after week , the met department comes up with fancy names for each cyclone and depression in the seas..

The met predicted a wet weekend, and I hoped they would be wrong ,like how they usually are. But sadly, they seem to be right only when they are not wanted to be.. So I dropped my plans to visit the Pulicat Lake.. Sorry , you migratory birdies... You will ve to wait few more days for me to click your portraits..

So I decided to haunt my favourite Marina Beach.. I guess the beach would close its doors on me if it could, for the number of times I ve walked on its sand with my Nikon..

Yesterday morning , I drove down to the Marina... The Beach has a unique persona about her.. The twilight sky and the roaring waves will never cease to delight you, how many ever times you ve been there already..

But more than the sky and waters, if you can look beyond all the litter , there is a fascinating terrene out there.. The early morning joggers puffing and panting , the nimble and dexterous fisherfolk sailing into the twilight horizon, the cupid struck lovers whispering sweet nothings braving the december cold , the chirpy little boys pestering everyone to buy a cup of their steaming tea, the atheletic lads playing their favourite beach cricket, grey haired senior citizens involved in deep discussions of the nation's current affairs.. Hmmmm... Marina is full of life..

And yesterday, I walked almost the entire stretch , shivering happily in the pristine morning cold breeze.. The sky was overcast , and so the twilight sky show was not there.. Neverthless , Marina is a photographer's paradise.. There were so many photography moments..

There was a cute little girl from the local slum playing on the sands picking up balloons and trying to blow them.. Children are always easier to photograph, because they get so excited on seeing their photos and readily pose for more..I went upto the girl and told I ll take a picture of her.. She gave me a murky look and continued with searching for more balloons in the sands.. And when I clicked some photos of her and showed it to her, she looked at me with a face that asked " you call yourself a photographer ? "..

Hmmm... Some customers are difficult to be satisfied..

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Portraits - moi bette noire..

2010-12-15T09:33:00.001+05:30

When people start knowing you are interested in photography , they invariably ask for a picture of themselves taken by you.. And obviously , you can not explain that you are very amateur and that portrait photos require a good knowledge of lighting and exposure management..

But , whatever said and done, portrait photography is the most rewarding one.. Because of the smile that brings on your loved one's face when you click a great one ( can be tormenting too, if you end up clicking bad portraits in bad lights, which happens more than often when I shoot my wife )...

some hints and tips for portrait photography and lighting setups ..

http://www.professionalphotography101.com/portrait_lighting/lighting_names.html

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My Sunday Feat

2010-12-13T12:10:00.002+05:30

After a week long pondering, I decided on saturday night that I ll visit thalanguppam early sunday morning.. Ya, thanks for the pity.. Photographer's life is very hard.. Who else will wake up at 4 am on a sunday morning ? why can't the sun rise rise at , say 9 am on sundays alone ? :)

Ok, not to keep the suspense longer.. Thalanguppam is a small fishing hamlet and for all geographical purposes marks the northern most tip of Chennai.. And it has the famous "kakka-kakka" jetty that runs deep into the sea, where surya and the villain wrestle at the climax.. I came across this information and the beautiful sunrise shots in this place in flickr and googled the way to the spot, being the tech savvy me..

Thalanguppam, here I come...

Armed with my Nikon, I set off by 4 30 am, as I read the place was some 20 kms and the roads would be bad , what with the cyclones recently.. How right was I .. The road after the city limits was almost nonexistent and was lined on both sides with these long trucks.. I drove my poor car like a terminally ill snail and finally reached Ennore @ 6 am..

I enquired few people on the road ( guess, fishermen are also hardworking like photographers, waking up so early) where thalanguppam was.. I got the same reply- " keep going straight.. " and a puzzled look as to why this fellow is driving down to a God forsaken place in the wee hours..

I decided to make some specific enquiries and stopped the car and got to the beach nearby and I saw a jetty at a distance.. I enquired few fishermen the directions to it.. The friendly fisherfolk, unmindful of the fact that I was disturbing their morning nature's call, told me the directions.. After all how often does a bermuda and crocs wearing- camera wielding dude come at 6 am asking diretions to them..

I drove back to the spot near the jetty and confirmed my location on the google maps in my blackberry.. I hurried down the road to the jetty , fearing the ever punctual sun getting in there before I do..

I finally arrived at the jetty.. And I was slightly heartbroken.. The place didn't quite seem like how it did in the pics in flickr.. I consoled myself - the place must ve got badly damaged with all the sea erosions or those flickr guys must be very good at photoshop.. But the main reason for my sudden depression was , there was only one way to get onto the jetty.. And it was by climbing over several huge rocks and then on a 1 foot wide slender iron ladder that was lying precariously right across the sea from the rocks to the jetty..

Seeing my grief stricken face, one fisherman offered to help me get on to the jetty ... Hmmm.. I didn't want to end up going back without even a single photo after all the pains.. and if guys on "who dares wins" can do it , so can I .. After all, am a regular gym going dude.. :)

Clinging hard to my camera bag, and unmindful of the giggling fishermen behind, I climbed clumsily on the slippery rocks and then crawled nervously on the ladder, inch by inch, on all fours.. cursing myself for having derated the "who dares wins" contestants...

I did the "I conquered Everest " gesture after I finally made it onto the jetty.. The fisherman was waiting for me wryly smiling, probably thinking I would never make it past the ladder.. Ok dude, I don't climb rocks and ladder daily.. I take an elevator to my workplace, not even the stairs..

But I should say, the view from there was terrific... I just consoled myself, maybe it was worth all this.. And then I asked my fisherman friend, how difficult was it for Surya and the film crew to get on here for the shooting... And he said " oh sir, that's not this jetty... That kakka kakka one is way ahead ..almost 1 km from here.. That one is easier to climb.. No one comes for shooting here..this is a dangerous area.. Only yesterday we killed a 6 foot long snake on the beach here "

Whaaaaaaaaat ?

P.S : Google maps is great , but I guess they still don't know the difference between kuchikuppam jetty and thalanguppam jetty... get updated folks..

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A walk with my Nikon , in the Adyar Greens..

2010-12-11T11:50:00.004+05:30

Somehow I ve never written about my photo-taking expeditions.. Well, most of the time it is marina and the rest of the time I end up returning back hurriedly, since people start crowding.. You see, am a celebrity photographer in making and don't like papparazzi following.. ( Better than telling am a sociophobe ) ..

Okay, so among the few expeditions I managed to undertake , theosophical society in Adyar is one of them.. I was pathologically bored that day, partly coz of the incessant drizzle and my insomnia was keeping me awake inspite of a hectic night duty.. So decided I d venture out with my camera..
I had rehearsed going there plenty a times before.. So finding the way was no big deal.. I so expected the watchman to say that I was not allowed inside and I could happily come back , feigning sadness that if not for the watchman I would ve taken the photo that would win me the Best Photographer of the Year award.. But to my surprise , the watchman didn't seem to mind my car entering the place. Infact he wouldn't ve bothered if a plane crashed there then , for he was in a deep slumber. But being the dutiful tax paying citizen , I woke him up and made him grudgingly open the register to mark my entry...

The weather was just awesome.. It was pleasantly cold and windy , and the sky was slightly overcast threatening to open up and spoil my photo walk after all the pains I took .. It was green and green everywhere.. I was surprised that chennaites had yet left such a massive area of greenary untouched , that too well within the city.. Seriously, someone has to give chennaites a lecture on real estate value :)

I loved the place instantaneously.. And I enjoyed the solitude there.. No other sane person had decided to forgo a cozy afternoon nap and enjoy a walk in the rains in theosophical society , like me.. Good for me.. I clicked as many pics as I wanted... Leaves, raindrops, flowers, trees, doors and locks.. No humans, mind it.. ( I seriously ve to start feeling bold to click them .. They are not dinos after all ) ..

After a stroll for nearly an hour , I decided to call it a day.. I was excstatic as I had taken close to a hundred pictures.. And knew most of them were worthy of putting up in my blog.. Hmmm.. No tension for another ten days.. :)

So all you chennaites, I strongly recommend you to visit the theosophical society before some lunatic politician sets his eyes there for an ambitious land deal..

P.S : do remember to take a mosquito repellant lotion.. Ya, I had tough time scratching myself and balancing my camera with one hand to take a steady shot.. Incase u wondered why I didn't carry my tripod as it would ve made the job a lot easier, I didn't want anyone to think I was a terrorist with AK 47 , you see.. ;)

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Stumbled on something nice...

2010-12-03T19:54:00.001+05:30

I stumbled upon this wonderful (wonderful is an understatement) photostream in Flickr by Ashok Saravanan... A must see for anyone who loves photography...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ayashok-s_d40/

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I do .. Though I shouldn't

2010-12-02T09:51:00.002+05:30

Five things that I do while photographing .. that I should not be doing...

Procrastinate..
A lazy goose,[ I would ve written pig.. But didn't want to demean myself too much.. After all , ve to give myself some credit] , that I am, I keep postponing to go out and take snaps... So much so that, my bucket list (of photos to be taken) keeps increasing. Sometimes, by the time I pull my butts and decide to take the shot, the whole landscape looks so much different from what I had in mind

Not taking tripods..
Yes, I know.. You must be wondering if I am stupid.. its not because they are heavy or they make me look like a terrorist with an AK47.. I just don't know why I don't take them along.

Click and Run...
Many a time , I ve deleted my photos, cursing myself.. The photos would be perfect.. Perfect composition, lighting, whitebalance, and even the perfect smile from the stranger.. If only I had spent a second more to keep my camera steady after clicking.. Ya, I ve thrown hundreds of snaps because they were little too blurry, thanks to my paranoia that someone might laugh at me for photographing

Hesitate to ask people...
Being the uncrowned king of the society of sociophobics, I m happy that I ve atleast few portraits of strangers in my portfolio..

Not checking the camera settings before shooting..
Yes, again, I know I am stupid and lazy.. I can think of atleast twenty different times when I find the settings haywire after seeing the photos on my PC..

But , that's me..
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40 Great Photographer Portfolio Websites

2010-11-30T07:32:00.001+05:30

http://www.thephotoargus.com/inspiration/40-great-photographer-portfolio-websites-for-inspiration/

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Stumbled upon...

2010-11-24T22:16:00.001+05:30

Beginners Guide to HDR Photography

2010-11-21T15:38:00.001+05:30

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/hdr-post-processing-beginners-guide-to-hdr-photography-part-3

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Mental block ? Run out of ideas.. ?

2010-11-21T11:43:00.001+05:30

I stumbled on this site today...

http://sh1ft.org/projects/index.php/2010/11/26-things-november-2010-2/

Would be very useful for anyone with a mental block, or if you ve run out of ideas...

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clean your camera regularly, for it to last long

2010-11-21T11:27:00.001+05:30

Maintenance... Hmmmm... Any gizmo, looks and sounds marvellous.. But unless properly maintained, it doesn't live its entire life and then we ll ve to cough up more money to get it repaired ,or buy a new one (that is if you aren't already frustrated)
So, I did a little bit of googling around to find out how to clean my SLR.. And would like to share my wisdom with you..

1. Don't compromise on cleaning materials.. Buy the best in market.. Blowers, brushes, wiping cloth , lens solution, etc..
2. Patience, patience, patience...
3. Don't wipe the lens with too much of lens cleaning solution.. Use minimum
4. Never change lenses in a dusty place.. And when changing, keep the body facing down to prevent dust falling on the sensor
5. Be very careful while cleaning sensor.. Don't overdo anything..
6. To find if there is dust on your sensor, switch to apperture mode, and adjust to the max F number (smallest aperture) and take a shot of bright plain object focussing to infinity.. The dust will show up on the picture..
7. Always, I mean always, use a filter for the lens..

Some links...
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-avoid-a-dirty-dslr-image-sensor

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-clean-your-digital-slr-camera-lens/

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-should-i-clean-my-dslrs-lens

http://www.usa.canon.com/app/html/EFLenses101/lens_care.html
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Some sites offering tutorials on HDR

2010-10-26T10:09:00.002+05:30

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/hdr-photography-and-equipment/

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/hdr-
software-review-photomatix-light/

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/capturing-photos-and-hdr-processing/

Am yet to get a copy of photomatix downloaded... So HDR has to wait for some time... :(

Camera Setting for Portrait Photography

2010-10-21T12:46:00.002+05:30

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/camera-setting-tips-for-portrait-photography/

My tips for a portrait :

Use a zoom lens and get close to the face almost cropping the chin and the forehead...
Focus on the tip of the nose...
Use a larger aperture ...

I need to find some good article for tips on making the subject pose for a portrait , and to take portraits with lighting from side and half the face in shadows.. I love them..

...

How to Create Panoramas

2010-10-17T20:29:00.002+05:30

http://vakarthik.com/blog/how-to-create-panoramas/

Was excited bumping into this link... A very clear and elaborate write up... Can't wait to take panorama shots...

INSPIRATION

2010-10-15T18:12:00.002+05:30

http://www.chromasia.com/iblog/
www.sriramguruswamy.com
http://joshidaniel.com/
http://www.stevemccurry.com/main.php

These websites are so so soooo inspiring... Classy... A must look for people interested in photography

Stumbled on a photoblog...

2010-10-14T08:45:00.002+05:30

http://2photo.ru/en/post/19770

Came across this photoblog... The pictures are so beautiful and warm... And great perspective in each shot... Very inspiring...

How To Photograph Fireworks

2010-10-13T11:39:00.002+05:30

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-photograph-fireworks/

Came across this article on how to photograph fireworks.. I think , with Diwali nearing, everyone would benefit from this article.. Well , awaiting Diwali and let's see how good my photographs are...

Keywording in Adobe Lightroom 3

2010-10-12T14:31:00.001+05:30

http://vimeo.com/13856931

Ten Photo-Editing Tips - NYTimes.com

2010-10-09T12:09:00.002+05:30

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/ten-photo-editing-tips-from-a-pro/

Make the Sky Bluer.....

2010-10-01T15:57:00.009+05:30

I ve always thought the mid morning sky looks pale....and the picture falls flat for want of a colourful sky though the subject looks interesting....

Came across this article and found it helpful....
http://mansurovs.com/how-to-make-the-sky-blue-in-lightroom

And my experiments....

My Recipe for silhouettes...

2010-09-28T22:43:00.002+05:30

Silhouettes... They can be so easy , and yet so difficult.. But its always amazing how they come out.. So what does it take to click a stunning silhouette.. ??!!

First , the source of light should be right at the back of the subject..
Second, and most importantly , the subject... This is the difficult part and also the easy part.. The more we practice clicking silhouettes, it becomes easy to identify which subjects would look good..
Third, the picture should be well underexposed so that the subject gets silhouetted,.. Its better to smallen the aperture for underexposing.. But if the subject is a moving one, quickening the shutter speed would be a better option..

Ahhhh....I love that golden sheen......

Another composition...

2010-09-26T14:19:00.003+05:30

Basically , I like macro shots... I mean I like to be pretty focussed ... :) there s something intriguing about a picture with a short DoF , for me atleast ..
Well , saying so, I like the subject of focus on the bottom right corner , and the lighting adjusted on photoshop to fall on the same corner..
I wouldn't say I don't like placing the subject elsewhwere.. But just that I like this more...

Suggestions and comments ???

My favourite composition...

2010-09-03T17:13:00.004+05:30

One of my favourite composition is.. Picture of a person walking lonely, and the shot taken from his/ her back.. I usually make it b/w and saturating only a particular area of the subject...

Fire photography

2010-09-02T15:22:00.002+05:30

When clicking directly a source of light, like a flame, candle light, sun .... Always keep the exposure one or two stops low.. This ll expose only the source of light, leaving the other objects nearby in dark, making the picture very dramatic...

Motion Blur.... Playing with a moving subject...

2010-08-28T20:50:00.003+05:30

This article extensively covers about Motion Blur.....

http://digital-photography-school.com/13-places-to-practice-taking-beautiful-motion-blur-images

My wishlist...
!. Train
2.Trail lights
3.Star trails
4.Panning technique- cycle, athelete, car,merry go round, etc.
5. Umbrella portrait
6. Sea shore / waterfall
7. car rear view mirror

well...i ve had only first 2 of my wishlist fullfilled so far.. Here they are...

Traffic trail lights in Napier bridge

The train passing by....

Will post as and when i have my other pictures taken..... Do send me links to ur pictures with motion blur...

How I started clicking...

2010-08-28T11:16:00.002+05:30

The photo that I love and admire most is , the one where my sister and I stand together ,when we were very young.. It has a good depth of field and also the colour balance perfect.. And so much emotion in it..
Photography , I always thought , was just clicking the scene or person.. And nothing more to it.. Until I came across some wonderful pictures in flickr.. Even then I was doubtful, if they were taken with "extraterrestrial" cameras.. :)
Then I stumbled upon this wonderful site www.digital-photography-school.com .. The topics discussed everyday are very beginner friendly and motivating.. I should say it really sucked me into the world of photography.. Exposure, shutterspeed , tone, colourbalance... All these words made sense slowly..

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-buy-a-dslr-camera

When I decided to buy a SLR camera, www.dpreview.com helped me zero in on my Nikon D5000 .. It is truly an ideal camera for a beginner, though it made my wallet slim.. :)
My first photoshoots were largely within my house... lanterns , books, pencils, and show pieces.. Reading Scott Kelby was a revalation.. Simple techniques for extra ordinary snaps..
And www.aminus3.com has been a driving force to keep me consistent and it has pushed me forward , even when I slacked a bit..
Well.. The journey still is on.. Let's see where it takes me..