The Self Critic Shutterbug

Av: F/6.4; Tv: 0.013 (1/80)s; f: 28mm (35mm-equiv: 46 mm); ISO: 200; Metering mode : Pattern

I was walking by on the old streets of the coastal tourist town of Gokarna, near the famous temple, when I saw this shop of colours and my attention was instantly drawn to the amazing array of colours of different shades.
What I like about this photo is obviously the different colours… In post-processing using Adobe Photoshop CS3, I cropped to remove the unnecessary edges and got a wide-angle shot. I played around with the levels to get a decent amount of contrast in the picture to bring out the colours even better. And I had to burn a few areas towards the bottom of the image to get out few washed-out details because the scorching hot sunlight had washed out some areas of my photo.
I also liked the tinge of green I got while playing with the levels. It gives a different look to the photo, something reminiscent of the photos of the age of transition from black and white to colour.

Coming to the improvements in this image, I guess it would have taken the image to a higher level if I could have captured the emotions of the people a bit more closely. But, I wanted the whole range of the colors to be part of the image.
A lower Exposure setting would have captured the scene even better with more information about the colours and the shadows coming out giving a different depth to the photo.

Tags: colours, gokarna, old man, powder, red, shop, street, travel

Av: F/6.3; Tv: 0.067(1/15)s; f: 18mm (35mm-equiv:35 mm); ISO: 800

This photo was taken during a function in my native place. It is called “Bhootha Kola“. It was a very pleasing result for me to see the result of the photoshoot for the following reasons -

• Among the things I was trying to achieve during the photoshoot that night, was to catch the rotation of the subject as a blur; that, with the waist accessory flying around defining a circle gives this photo a very dynamic as well as circular motion effect.

• The capture of the flying embers in mid-air from the fire stick was very pleasing.

• The vibrancy of the different colours catches the eye. To get the natural colours in the low lighting conditions, I had to refrain from using the flash. To avoid the image-shake while clicking, I resorted to a high ISO.

Coming to the improvement in this photo -

• I would’ve liked the face and body of the subject to be defined a little more clearly. But using a long exposure to get the motion blur, this is an expected and accepted side effect.

• The area around the fire stick has a very high exposure and stands out glaringly. A slightly lesser exposure would’ve helped avoid it. However, the vibrancy and the brightness of the rest of the photo would’ve been dulled out by this. So, i guess, this is the compromise I had to resort to.

Tags: Blur, Dance, Faith, long exposure, Night, Religion, Ritual