Av: F/5.6; Tv: 0.02s (1/50); f: 47 mm; ISO: 200

I shot this photo during a “Mosaru Kudike” (Dahi Handi) parade during Krishna Janmashtami this year in Mangalore. This was a show put up on one of the tableau – the famous “Hulivesha” (Tiger Dance). The troop here was playing with the fire. It made for some wonderful photographs & photogenic moments.
The night parades are both a boon and a bane for taking photos. On one hand, the whole setting looks wonderful at night, with the main show catching our attention. But, there is the problem of inadequate light making it tough to capture the moment, especially so when there is a lot of movement happening on the scene. On many occasions, you can’t use the flash as the subject is far away and the flash-light won’t reach it. Hence, it becomes important to use higher ISOs like 400 or 800. Of course, if it is very dark, you’ll end up getting a lot grains on the image.
In this photo, I love the towering and menacing fire and the stunt put up by the tiger dancers. I always wanted to catch the Tiger Dacers in action; with this photo, I have just started at that job.
I would have loved to get a closer shot of the person in action with more of his face showing as the source of the fire.
I would also have loved to make away with the disturbing ad boards in the background.

Av: F/7.1; Tv: 0.01s (1/100); f: 55 mm; ISO: 200

I clicked this photo as I was walking through a busy market street in Bengaluru. The shops were just opening and the vendors were just starting to set up shop as I saw this old vendor laying out his stuff across the road from me. I clicked a couple of photos of his, across the street; throwing my camera settings to Black and White with increased Sharpness, for the effect.
I did play around a little with this photo in Adobe Lightroom and used a very nice preset for the White Balance and Lens Corrections. I switched over to Photoshop for the borders.

What I like about this photo is obviously the whole emotion of the photo and the varied graduated shades which are on display. The extra dark areas in this photo give a lot of depth to this photo. The textures on the door behind the vendor is one of my favorites & I’m glad this image has captured the different shades in the background alone.

Improvements I would like in this photo include a better visualization of the face and a closer look capture of the facial expressions. I should have made better use of the opportunity to try a few more shots from closer quarters.

Av: F/8; Tv: 0.001s (1/1000); f: 6mm; ISO: 80

This is actually an old photo I took with my friend’s Sony DSC-H2 camera during a trip to the wonderful temple at Somanathpur. The sky was brilliant that day with very well-defined clouds and the sun was out.
As I looked up to the sky that time, I saw this brilliant ray of sunlight coming out of the clouds. I tried to capture it as a backdrop to the wonderful architecture of the temple. This photo had to be in Black and White because of the amazing shades of gray in the sky offering differing levels of contrast, which B & W portrays so majestically.
Because I was shooting directly at the sun, I preferred very minimal exposure with very short shutter speed and a low ISO.

To get the silhouette effect of the temple with that camera (in which I could not adjust the area of focus and the level of focus) I aimed the centre of the field to a bright area (like the sky) while keeping the click button half-pressed and then changed the camera position to aim at the temple. (This is a method to get great silhouettes with any basic camera, actually)
The different levels of gray in the sky offer a great amount of dynamism. Infact, it does offer an intimidating and scary image; like that of an impending disaster (as shown in the movies :p)

I could have tried to follow the Rule of Thirds here; but that would mean zooming out and I feared if the effect of the Ray of light would be dampened and lose prominence.
The Lens Glare in the photo can be both a boon and a bane. I guess, in this case, it isn’t so bad (position-wise). So, it does make the photo look better.

Av: F/5.6; Tv: 1/60(0.017)s; f: 55mm(35mm equivalent – 338mm); ISO: 200; Metering mode : Matrix

One would think this photo was taken in a remote village; while actually, it was taken in a fun park I visited recently. Pot making was offered as one of the attractions at that place & as I was passing by the place, I just flicked my camera into the Black and White setting and took a couple of shots; one a telephoto and this one I zoomed in to focus on the work going on. I did not have to resort to too much Post Processing – just a little a minute tweak to the levels and a frame did the job.
What I like about this photo -

• The centre pot and the pot-making process in focus; with the wheel in a motion-blur grabs the attention in a very nice way.

• The sharpness and the cripness of the photo is another point in favour.

Improvements I would like -

• To take the photo to another level, the photo must capture the natural pottery with the pot-maker in the frame.

• In this photo, a clearer or plain background without the people would have been better.

• With regards to angling, I would also like to try another shot with a flatter angle – ie. sitting at the level of the photo and taking a shot.

Av: F/5.7; Tv: 1/60s; f: 55mm; ISO: 200; Metering mode : Center-weighted average

I took this photo on a train journey. In a way, it captures the essence of the Indian Railways – It’s affordability, it’s connectivity and it’s service rendered to all the masses.
What I like about this photo is the lighting on the photo with a gentle, yet solid gradient between light and dark. Also, there is a definite sense of motion in this photo because of the motion blur (evident through the window) achieved.
Another thing which pleased me was the amount of sharpness in this photo. The way the beard is in focus is a joy to watch, for me.

Improvements in this photo -
In the dark areas, if I could have brought out a bit more details of his outline, it would’ve clearly defined the subject in focus.

I would’ve liked to take more photos in this kind of lighting with the subject awake. It would make for some interesting photos.

PS – In my free time, I’m trying to work a bit on a logo and signature for my photos. Here is the first version of it. Awaiting your feedbacks on it.

Av: F/8; Tv: 0.01 (1/100) s; f: 30mm (35mm-equiv: 50 mm); ISO: 800; Metering mode : Pattern

I’ve been wanting to take a photo of my stethoscope and make it look cool and good. I finally got to try my hand out at it during my studies when there was a power failure and I saw a nice opportunity with just my study lights on and casting interesting effects on the steth. I then spread some white blank sheets on the table and placed the steth and started clicking away. In fact, I suggest the basic table-lamp with preferably a CFL (white) lighting is a very good light source for tabletop photography.
I took many shots in different angles. I liked this shot because it covered most of the steth with interesting shadows. All though, this is actually a colour photo, a Black steth with pretty white lighting and a white background makes it look like a Black and White photo itself. Post-processing involved only fine tuning the levels and cropping a bit of the boundaries for better composition.
Improvements in this image -
If you were to use this photo for the cover of the product, one would want to take the shadows away to define most areas of the steth in good lighting. For that, using multiple light sources from different angles is helpful.

P.S : Yesterday being the Doctor’s Day, I thought this post was apt for the occasion. But, because of the prevailing power shortage in my region, my post has been delayed by a day. Better late that never, though, I suppose.

Here is wishing all the Doctor’s of the World a Happy Doctor’s Day.

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.

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.

Av: F/5.6; Tv: 0.017s(1/60); f: 44mm (35mm-equiv:72 mm); ISO: 1600

I clicked this photo during a train journey when I was experimenting few shots with an interesting looking old lady. It was a little before sunset and with the train casting weird shadows and lightings, it wasn’t too simple to get a good shot on a moving train.
This is the shot of a beggar’s daughter who came upto the lady. She picked her up and was playing with her. But there was a tinge of sadness on the little girl’s face, even with a 10 Rupee note in her hand, saying this is not what she wants to be doing now. I’m glad my capture picked up the expression of the moment. I clicked this photo in Black and White mode itself. I like the sharpness of the image, however, the photo is over exposed in a few areas. I tried to correct that with photoshop using the burn tool. The vignetting has improved the emphasis on the subjects.
I took this photo at an angle to experiment with different compositions. However, I have to say this angle looked better while clicking than in the PC.
I worked quite a bit to get a decent sort of frame for the image. Framing a photo takes the photo to a new level; in terms of its appeal and the way it comes out.
Improvements I would’ve liked in this image include the composition – full coverage of the girl’s palm would’ve brought the note into the picture & conveyed a little more meaning to the photo.
Better exposure without over exposure would also have been better.

Av: F/5.6; Tv: 0.040s (1/25); f: 55mm (35mm-equiv:89 mm); ISO: 100

This is a photo I took on my visit to an old-age home. I just loved the way it came out as soon as I took it.

Highlights of the photo would be the Soft Focus with 1 person in full focus and others in varying degrees of lens blur. The expression on the face of the old man is a good catch. With the subject looking directly into the camera, it helps to relate well with viewer of the photo conveying a lot of emotions.
The black and white mode of the photo adds more to the emotions and brings in a hint of classicism. The angle of the photo is also a little different than the usual ones we see. It has got a good upward inclination.

I did not have to resort to much post processin. However, I added the Vignette effect using Photoshop. The Vignette effect is a sort of Lens Distortion which adds the Blackish touch to the edges of the photo. I love that effect as I find that it adds a lot more emphasis to the centre of the image.
I also added a thin border to just try out the framing effect.