Revisiting raw files

There are some special places that we like to visit again and again. That beautiful cottage on the hills with a view, that roadside cafe selling your favorite coffee, that corner store with its oddball collections, that winding road on the hills… the list goes on. There are our favorite songs that we never get tired of hearing or the movie that can always entertain us. For me, my old photographs are also a precious treasure, which I love to visit again and again. However, this time, I thought of revisiting the raw files!

New PhotoOld Photo

(The photograph on the left is processed from an old file that I had used for one of my articles here, few years back. On the right is the image that I could get from its raw file 10 years back. Notice the lack of information in the overexposed area in the photograph.)

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Novice Alerts !

Lately, I have been asked the same question in many different ways –

  • What is it that makes a photographer look like a beginner?
  • What mistakes do starters in photography commit?
  • What are the signs that tell that a person is new to photography?

… and so on! First and foremost let me clarify, there is nothing special that tells who is a beginner and who is not. Second, the fact that a person is a beginner or has been in the field for donkey years, does not correlate to photography skills.

 

Bird using a Canon Powershot SX130 IS camera
Continue reading Novice Alerts !
Yellow Vented Bulbul

Birding & Bird Photography

Lately, whenever I check out any photography groups, I always end up seeing many bird photographs. With the easy availability of cost-effective and sharp long-teles, this is now within reach of many. Everyone who had a passion for bird photography is now able to indulge in that. Get an advanced camera, mount a telephoto lens, switch to auto and start clicking! That’s what most photographers clicking birds do. Sounds easy, does it not?

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Balancing Elements – A Study of Locomotive Parts

Do you recall the sketches from your childhood? Recently, my parents shared with me some of the sketches that I had drawn as a kid. The most common sketch was a landscape done with crayons. It seems I was quite fond of it. There was a row of mountains, a river flowing down from the mountains dividing the foreground into two parts. One of these had a simple house and the other part had a tree growing. Behind the hills, on one side was the sun and on the other side were birds flying. I am sure many of you created similar sketches. Now even my daughter creates similar sketches.

 

Following up on those days, this is how I have started to balance out my compositions. Now I am learning to let the creative side of my mind, loose. The results seem more pleasing to me now.

Pressure Meter

Continue reading Balancing Elements – A Study of Locomotive Parts

Farmer’s Despair – Improving Composition

On one morning, I ventured out with a couple of my friends. Aim was to photograph some of the rural India. It was a photowalk combined with some quality time with friends. Little did I know that this would let me understand the pains of farmers and help me in my photography-journey.

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Avoid these 5 mistakes! (Not related to camera)

Everyone makes mistakes. I did and still do. From creating film-rolls which were a total waste to present day digital files from which not even a decent image can be recovered.  Yes. I do commit mistakes and keep on doing so. Here is a list of non-technical mistakes that I find quite common (by me and my photography colleagues). Some of them are technical whereas others are related to expanding our visualization of photographs.

 

Horse driven carriage

Continue reading Avoid these 5 mistakes! (Not related to camera)

Cup of Chai & the Sparrow

A very happy new year to all my readers.

Today morning, I got up with a warm inner feeling. It is the first day of the new year after all. What exciting things to do? The best thing, I could think of, was to walk down to a neighborhood kiosk and have a cup of piping hot tea with milk (or better known as masala chai) and enjoy some early morning photography. Packed a camera with a normal lens and I was on the road, striding towards the tea-stall.

 

Continue reading Cup of Chai & the Sparrow

When the clouds clear up!

On a wet autumn evening, when the clouds are all over the sky and thunderstorms frequent, only a handful of people want to venture out. For photographers, these are opportunities to be encashed. Beautiful photographs can be made. With a plan to capture some beautiful fall pictures, I stepped out with a group of friends. Leaving the comfort of dry place behind, we trekked on a muddy path, with our feet wet, mud everywhere but spirits high! After all, we were in the lap of nature.

Clouds in the Valley

Continue reading When the clouds clear up!

Photowalk – Yet another Mountain Stream

A rainy Sunday morning. Four of us gathered up early in the morning for a planned photowalk. Yesterday evening, we had thought of going for an early morning outing. Rain or no-rain, the photowalk was still ‘on’. We were not going to let a few drops downpour spoil our plans. Packed with our photography gear and umbrellas, we all started off for our destination while the day was still breaking out. With an overcast sky, the photography was going to be nice, provided the rains stopped a little. The destination? A mountain stream that should be nicely flooded at this time of the year.

Cascading mountain stream

(Cascading mountain stream – this is the place we wanted to visit)

Continue reading Photowalk – Yet another Mountain Stream

My favorite things!

Yesterday, I was listening to a wonderful song by Oscar Hammerstein / Richard Rodgers and performed by Julie Andrews –

Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things …

Yes, these would be favorite things for most and make anyone feel happy. For the photographer in me, there are a few other favorite things, that never fail to exhilarate me.

 

Grapes

(Photographing grapes while they remain untouched by human hands and then tasting a few, fresh off the vines!)

Continue reading My favorite things!

Cascade near Do-Gaon

With the monsoon season, well advanced, rains have taken their hold on the hills of Kumaon. The persistent cloud cover and high humidity gets quite depressing after a time. It also happens to my late grandmother’s birthday, who I was very fond of.

After a week of almost incessant rains, today, the weather cleared up a little. It was not raining but the sky was still overcast. The diffused light from overcast sky is what I needed for a photograph I had in mind. Armed with my camera, I once again set out to photograph some more cascades that appear with the rains.

Continue reading Cascade near Do-Gaon

The Stairs Photograph – Improving Composition

Old monuments can be quite interesting to photograph. They are stationary. No need to focus in a hurry or set a high shutter speed to freeze the moment properly. On simple handy cameras, all that is required is a good composition, aperture to have enough depth of field and shutter speed to prevent any inadvert hand shake!

 

Stairs at Humayun's Tomb

Continue reading The Stairs Photograph – Improving Composition

Playing with Words

English is rapidly becoming the language of choice even for non-native speakers. Due to the proliferation of the internet (which happens to be mostly in English), English is now the de facto language in many places. English is not my native language and yet I also write these articles in English. So, for the literary bend in the photographer’s mind, here are some phrases every photographer should be aware of. I have compiled this list from various sources and will keep adding to it in the future.

Distant Hills

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On the trail of Cascades & Waterfalls

With the onset of monsoons, the nature starts to reinvent itself. The trees turn green. New leaves every where. Mountain streams start filling up and many small cascades and waterfalls appear. Yesterday the incessant rain took a short break. I immediately hit the road with my camera, tripod and a few snacks to munch on.

Continue reading On the trail of Cascades & Waterfalls

Dipoter Correction of Camera

Eye-sight of individuals varies a lot. Some use spectacles and others don’t. Even those who do not use spectacles, end up with reading glasses after around 40 years of age. Camera manufacturers understand this and therefore they provide ways to incorporate minor adjustments to the camera, in sync with the requirements of the varying eye-sight.

Continue reading Dipoter Correction of Camera

Social Media Photography Competitions

Recently, I have been witnessing a huge number of photography competitions being conducted online. Today I sat for many hours visiting all these photography competitions and was shocked. How low is the photography going? It seems that now some people come together, form a group and conduct photography competitions. Some of these are on a daily basis too!

Hills at Natadol

(Photograph to fill the space and break the monotony of text.)

Some of the things that I noticed consistently in most of these photography competitions –

Continue reading Social Media Photography Competitions

White Clovers and Ladybirds

White Dutch Clover is a wonderful cover crop that we use in our orchard. Apart from making the ground look green and beautiful, it has its benefits. Ladybirds, which are also some of the most beautiful insects in nature also love to make these clover patches their homes. Various other insects also love these patches of white clover.

Ladybird
Ladybird trying to avoid a fall from a clover leaf

Continue reading White Clovers and Ladybirds

Summer festival in a Natadol

With the end of summer season round the corner, Natadol, a small laid-back village in Kumaon organized a summer festival. The people of Kumaon are very proud of their heritage and culture and this event was an ideal platform to showcase that. The three day festival had all the villagers coming together, participating and putting forth three days of simple yet engaging performances. I was lucky enough to be a part of this festival and witnessed the culture of Kumaon from within.

 

Continue reading Summer festival in a Natadol

Making of a Photograph

Innumerable number of photographs get clicked everyday by snap-shooters and photographers. A very very minuscule number of these photographs are worth taking a second look. What goes into making a photograph is a thought process and visualization of the final image. Here is a ‘behind the scene’ story of making a landscape photograph.

Pasture in the forest

(Pasture in a forest. A very attractive location for photography)

Continue reading Making of a Photograph

Photography – a way to spirituality

Sometime back I was discussing with a group about spirituality. The discussions went towards how things around us have developed, how people strive to find inner peace and how spirituality is slowly and slowly getting away from the general public, all of whom are involved in a rat-race trying to prove themselves, keep up with the joneses and accumulate all kind of materialistic possessions.

What about photography? Something that starts with more materialistic possessions! Top of the line cameras that people in general stretch their budgets to buy, ultrasharp lenses and camera accessories that can do everything (apart from making coffee). Can photography be a way to spirituality?

Angel

Continue reading Photography – a way to spirituality

Photography Blog

Photography has been my passion since a long time, and a profession lately. On some days, when I am unable to take my camera out, blogging on photography helps me remain in touch with what I love. What started as a small website and some basic articles for a handful of friends to read, has now begun to make its presence felt. There are many new things that I learnt about blogging which I never imagined existed.

Large Oak
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Story in a Photograph

Every photograph has a story behind it. It means something to the photographer. There would have been incidents, anecdotes or thoughts that led to that image. The gap arises when the photographs fail to convey these stories. This is the medium we have to convey our thought and experiences. So, is it not obvious, that our photographs should also tell these stories?

 

Post Eye-Surgery

Continue reading Story in a Photograph

Candid Photography

Some of the best photographs are created when a fleeting moment is captured to convey a story which otherwise can never be said in posed photographs. These spur of the moment scenes are what photographers long to capture. Once captured, these once in a life-time moments become candid shots.

There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever. – Henri Cartier-Bresson

 

Child getting her eyes examined

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Fading Memories

Photographs were once a treasured possession. Families proudly got photographs clicked on special occasions. First day of the child at school, every birthday, graduation ceremony, marriage, family get together… there was a photograph to celebrate each of these and many more moments. Some families owned a camera and others visited a neighborhood photographer. These were treasured memories.

Children

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Forest Fire

Forests are beautiful. They are an integral part of the nature’s support system for us to be able to live. How do we pay back? Cutting trees, destroying everything that supports us and wasting away these precious gifts of nature. Why am I writing about this in a site related to photography? I witnessed a forest fire and photographed it. I’ll be writing about the photography aspect too but first let me express how I felt while I photographed the incident.

Forest Fire

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Photographer’s Block

There are times when the artistic instinct suffers a mental block. Writers don’t know what to write. Sometimes they sit with a blank paper not knowing where to start. Similarly photographers too suffer a mental block. The creative side of our mind stops working. What do the photographers do then? Most photographers end up clicking mediocre images, just for the sake of capturing. A few others don’t use their cameras and end up brooding and even sad.

Sunrise

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Silhouettes

Silhouette is an old art-form that is used to move emphasis to shapes and outlines. Origin of Silhouettes is a matter of debate, with some theorists going all the way back to vanished civilizations. My first serious encounter with silhouettes was when I saw some photographs by Henri Cartier Bresson where the main subjects were just black shapes. Before writing this article, I discussed the first encounter of silhouettes by some other photographers. I got quite a collection of answers with the top three interesting being – the silhouette of the queen on postal stamps of England, the silhouette of Beethoven in an old painting, the all too cliché photograph of the arch (in silhouette) framing the famous Taj Mahal

Silhouette of Pines

(Silhouette of Pines on a hill-top)

Continue reading Silhouettes

Old friends and photography

Friends come and go. Some stay for long. Others become sweet memories. Some others fade away. Today I was sitting alone in the morning, on a high vantage point, gazing at the rising sun, fog clearing up and a shining river in the center. I was planning to capture some photographs. The time spent with oneself can sometimes be the best. Today while watching the scenes unfold in front of me, I also remembered various incidents with friends and photography.

River in the valley

Continue reading Old friends and photography

Learning from Monet

Learning from Rembrandt has been appreciated by many of my readers and so based on their request here is another similar article.

Oscar Claude Monet was a famous french painter, who is well known as the founder of french impressionist painting movement. He took his painting outdoors from the studio and painted mostly landscapes. The impressionist movement itself consisted of putting across ideas to the viewer more strongly rather than focusing on accuracy of natural elements. As is the case with most painters, even Monet can be great source of learning for photographers too.

Impression, Soleil Levant

(Impression, soleil levant – the hallmark painting of the rising sun which gave its name to the art movement)

Continue reading Learning from Monet

HDR Photography

Since the time photography started, photographers have been trying to capture the maximum possible range of lighting conditions in their photographs. Ansel Adams perfected the zone system and worked on burning & dodging techniques in his darkroom. Film companies researched and came out with films that could capture higher and higher range of exposure values. High Dynamic Range photography was yet another step towards this.

Himalayan Peaks

Continue reading HDR Photography

Glimpse of the Peaks

The Himalayas consist of various ranges. Students of geography divide them into three major ranges. The lowest range is the one that is present in the Kumaon region. For many others, Himalayas is synonymous with snow-covered peaks of the other two ranges in the north. On a clear day, these snow-covered peaks can be viewed from our cottages itself.

Himalayan Peaks
Uncropped view from a 135mm lens on a full frame camera. The far left is Trishul and the peak on the right side is Nanda-Devi

Continue reading Glimpse of the Peaks

Petzval Lenses

Petzval 85mm and 58mm lenses are two focal lengths available presently and both of them are characterized by their immensely swirly bokeh, strong field curvature, and sharp central focus. For lomography lovers and for photographers who long for something different, these happen to be a very attractive lenses.

Petzval - Brass and Black

(Petzval 85mm f/2.2 lenses, in golden and black colors)

Continue reading Petzval Lenses

Learning from Rembrandt

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was a dutch painter whose works are well known and extremely valued across the world. His paintings cover a great deal of subjects starting from portraits, self-portraits (selfies?), landscapes and even biblical scenes. There’s a great deal that painters learn from his works. Rembrandt’s works can also be quite useful for photographers.

Rembrandt - Self Portrait

(Rembrandt van Rijn – Self Portrait)

Continue reading Learning from Rembrandt

Perspective

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change! In technical terms of photography, the way various elements in a composition appear to be separated from each other, is called perspective. This is a matter of confusion for many especially with the proliferation of zoom lenses in the market. Now zooms come as standard kit lenses with most DSLRs and so what some of the discussions on perspective and lenses earlier conveyed, is now confusing for many.

Continue reading Perspective

Clutter that builds up

In the process of relocating to another city, we had to pack up our photography equipment as well. While opening the boxes, I realized the amount of clutter that builds up over time. This is worse than the Gear Acquisition Syndrome that most of us suffer from time to time. The clutter I am talking about is the justifiable purchases that gather up.

Continue reading Clutter that builds up

Photographing Sun

Sunrises and sunsets are beautiful. Solar eclipses are intriguing. An image of the sun stealing a glance through clouds can create drama. However, when can the sun be included in the photograph is a big question that many people face. Should it be a part of the frame or not? How about the damage that it can cause to the camera?

Bright Sun

(Bright sun in a photograph can also look extremely bright and even disturbing, but don’t worry. It does not damage the eyes. Staring at it can play tricks with retina leaving an after-image but the effect is temporary.)

 

Continue reading Photographing Sun

Photographs that got away!

How many of us have missed photographs that could have been captured? That fleeting decisive moment of Henri Cartier Bresson or the perfect landscape of Ansel Adams! Even the exact pose of that beautiful bird that happened a moment too soon. Even among the hundreds and thousands of photographs captured everyday, missed photo-opportunities always keep coming back to upset us.

 

Large Oak

(While capturing the large oak in front of the distant hills, I missed out on the squirrel that came to see what I was doing)

Continue reading Photographs that got away!

Myths in Photography? You decide!

“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.” – John F. Kennedy.
I have come across various schools of thoughts on different topics that some of them are now like widely propagated myths. Are these really myths or just my mind fighting against itself? Has the whole photography fraternity got it wrong and just a handful of photographers can understand the truth or is it me who is confused? Here is a list of top facts that I consider to be myths.

(Nikon Df with Nikkor 50mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO 100, +2 EV compensation on center-weighted metering)

Continue reading Myths in Photography? You decide!

Lichens in our Orchard

Lichens, nature’s wonders, stand as a testament to the resilience of life. Among the oldest living organisms, they offer a unique perspective on the quality of the air enveloping our tranquil cottages. Amidst the serene hills, we contemplate whether the air is truly as pure as our hopeful hearts desire. And it is through the lichens that we gain insight into this vital question.

Lichens growing on apple trees near the cottages
Stags Horn Lichens (Evernia prunastri) growing on apple trees near the cottages. These are quite common on oaks and are used in making perfumes.
Continue reading Lichens in our Orchard

Old Buildings

Old buildings carry with them a mystery and character which unfortunately is missing from the present day architecture. For photographers these can be quite an interesting subject. The various forms that they present combined with the interplay of shadows can be a rich source for creating interesting compositions.

Goa Church

(A church in Goa – Nikon Df with Nikkor 50 mm lens, f/8, 1/1000 sec at 100 ISO)

Continue reading Old Buildings

Knowing Where to Stand!

“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” – Ansel Adams. Knowing where to stand is a part of the process of Visualization. How the various elements in a composition interact with each other in the scene is also determined to a large degree from where the photograph has been captured. Even a few inches of difference in the place where a photographer stands can change the whole meaning of the photograph.

 

(Bridge from down under – Nikon D200 with Nikkor 35mm at f/8, 1/25 sec at 100 ISO)

Continue reading Knowing Where to Stand!

Rainy Season

Rain rain go away, Come again another day. Rain rain go away, Little Johnny wants to play… I get reminded of this nursery rhyme whenever I see my photographer friends who are scared to take their cameras out in the rainy season. Rains create wonderful opportunities for photography, so unpack your camera and other photography equipment and get ready to click.

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Model Release

In the world of today, where more and more people are using cameras to capture everything that seems attractive to them, the question of “Model Release” often pops up. How are amateurs or non-professionals affected by it? If there is a recognizable person in the photograph, how and where can the photograph be legally used? What are the liabilities of such a photograph? I am not a lawyer but based on what I have learnt from various photographers, lawyers and magazine editors, here are the basics relate to Model Release.

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Minimalism – A Way of Life!

Managing with the least resources is what minimalism is all about. This can be a fantastic way to regain vision and clarity of thought. Photographers in general, tend to look down on this and other similar lines of thoughts as weird but the truth is entirely opposite. Minimalism helps in creating some of the best images. It also makes the whole process from initial visualization till the final photograph, more enjoyable. Minimalism is about the freedom and not about restrictions.

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Overflowing Stream

Monsoon is the much awaited season in India. The rains bring in relief from the long spell of hot and dry weather. Everything turns green and looks fresh. With a plan to capture some of these wonderful gifts of nature, few waterfalls and landscapes, I set out on a short trip. My route was blocked by an overflowing stream, part of which was flowing on top of the road. What followed were a few hours well spent photographing the place around the stream.

Overflowing Stream

(A bird’s eye view of the overflowing stream – photographed at a slow shutter speed from a high point with a 50mm Nikkor lens)

Continue reading Overflowing Stream

Temple with Million Bells

Hills always attract me. They have a magnetic effect on me and I get pulled towards them. Every once in a while I give in to this pull and travel to the hills. Few days back, I got a chance to travel to a Hindu temple located near Bhimtal in Kumaon region. This was my second visit to the place.

 

Temple Bells

(Temple bells – Golu Devta Temple near Nainital / Bhimtal in Kumaon)

Continue reading Temple with Million Bells

Photography getting lost to Photo-editing

Darkroom has been replaced by photo-editing on computers. Sadly, a lot of newcomers are now replacing photography with photo-editing. I’ll refer to this habit as photo-shopping since that is what people have come to call it. In fact that is another achievement of the Adobe Photoshop software, to be able to penetrate to such an extent and get known to the masses. My sincere advice to all budding photographers is to start photographing and reduce photoshopping.

Continue reading Photography getting lost to Photo-editing

Photographs without People

Photography is an essential part of vacations for most people like me. Whether you agree or not, one of the most attractive prepositions for a vacation is an opportunity to indulge in photography. Even though human element looks good in most photographs, every once in a while we would love to capture photographs with no people in them. So how do we do it especially when the world population is so high and even the least popular tourist destinations seems to be full of people?

St. Andrew's Church in Kyiv

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Beyond the Blue Horizon

“Beyond the blue horizon, Waits a beautiful day, Goodbye to things that bore me, Joy is waiting for me” …

Horizons add depth to landscapes. They show how vast the scene is in the photograph. Though horizons end up being a part of most landscape photographs and of various other genres too, very rarely do photographers give any special attention to it. The photographers should realize that the horizon is actually a very strong line in the composition.

Continue reading Beyond the Blue Horizon

Enchanted by Mountain Stream

Mountain streams somehow always manage to cast a magical spell on me. They enchant me and I get pulled towards them. Before I know it, my camera is ready to capture their dancing flow and the finesse by which the water hops on the small rocks. I had one such moment some days back when I was driving through some hills in Kumaon region.

Mountain Creek
Mountain Creek
Continue reading Enchanted by Mountain Stream

Buying Filters

While photographing a mountain stream some days back, I realised the need for a dark ND filter. I was hoping to capture some motion blurs too. Unfortunately the darkest of the filters that I had were not dark enough for the purpose. Faced with a need to buy a dark ND filter, I started searching for one and in the process, came to know how overwhelming the choices are. Buying a simple filter can be a daunting task. There are a huge number of variables and various things to be considered. Filters have come a long way and now these are not just a simple piece of glass in a ring.

Stack of Bamboo

(Stack of Bamboo – Clicked with a Nikkor 105mm lens with polarizing filter mounted on it)

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Photography Competitions – Behind the Doors!

I was recently a part of a group of photographers and judges in a photography competition. I am not a famous photographer but yet there are some people who value my opinion. It was quite an ego boost for me. I was one of the less-influential and quiet ones in the group, but I did notice a trend which I felt was an interesting topic to pen my thoughts about. What are the judges in these photography competitions looking for?

Continue reading Photography Competitions – Behind the Doors!

Saturation – the ideal level

The world around us is colored. It is not a surprise then that colors attract us. The colors in photography however assume a very important role. It is therefore important to understand how much of colors are good. The technical term for the amount of color is saturation. Photo-editors of today use powerful algorithms to change the saturation and can vary it between zero (which is practically black and white) to such a high extent that it becomes a pain in the eyes to look at. The ideal saturation level is the one that brings out the beauty in the photograph without looking too artificial.

Fog on the hills

(Fog on the hills – a difference in saturation in the trees in the foreground and the ones on the hills gives an idea about the fog. The dark foreground also gives a sense about the late time of the evening.)

Continue reading Saturation – the ideal level

10 Fears that bind photographers down

Every photographer wants to create masterpieces. Buying a camera is easy, learning the basics is also not difficult. Next comes learning to visualize and compose. Ideas start forming in the minds that get expressed using powerful photographs. However there is small problem here that prevents most photographers from progressing to artistically creative from their technically sound status. Each and every photographer has some fears which prevent this metamorphosis.

Mooring

(Mooring – Nikon D200 with Nikkor 18-35mm lens)

Continue reading 10 Fears that bind photographers down

Buying your first DSLR

Buying your first DSLR can be the most satisfying purchase, even if you are just a teeny-weeny bit inclined towards photography. Like any other purchase, the camera purchase can be a daunting task, considering the number of choices available and the price range they come in. I always advice my friends to follow few guidelines before buying their first camera.

Grapes with Compact Camera

Continue reading Buying your first DSLR