SELFUPP PHOTOGRAPHY

Winter light for halo/rim light effect in objects and portraits.

2012-02-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

Backlight is unbeatable for silhouettes and creating halos....Therefore compositional lighting may differ from frontal flat lighting to side lighting....As u r aware, without light, there is no photography....The camera is the source to capture the objects you select under various lighting conditions. Not only straight, but by manipulation the lights, the objects can be revealed or hidden...Tones can be changed....colours can be changed altered or replaced.Light may be soft and hard.

Intensity can differ to affect the exposures...Therefore light is more intense on sunny days than overcast days.

The light changes according to season...In summer it is harsh, while in winter it is more beneficial for purpose of photography, since for four to five months the sun is angled and providing straight but softer directional light, like a spotlight in a studio, as happened in the enclosed photograph......I was attracted by the shadow of the tree and it was purely coincidence that as I clicked the dog has reached the centre point and made a good subject with directional haloed light with its shadow contrasting with the shadows of the tree which brings the eyes back to the dog.

Yes u can shoot pictures throughout the year..but as I experienced and photographed even good portraits in the evening or morning light of winter.....Still some more days are left before the sun goes head high and the halo effect or as called rim lighting can be achieved only after eight months, outdoors.

NIKON'S NEW ILC CAMERA 1--J1, Hv a look & use.

2012-01-21T13:15:00.000-08:00

We have cameras in compacts, Prosumers, DSLRs....The new introductions are not new breed but ILCs i.e. Interchangeable Lens Cameras in compact design.....However, let them be interchangeable lens cameras...but the development in sensor(small one) is not that much as to provide u with a DSLR quality....

---But here the beauty lies in Nikon's 1 sries J1 IL camera...compact in design with 10-30mm lens (27-81 in 35mm equivalent)....the number in lens's digital focal length fell down because of the compactness of the same....So in line there is another 30-110mm zoom lens, which u can replace the 10-30mm and shoot closeups, wildlife, birds, candids, since the focal length in 35mm equl. is 81-297mm.....Wonderful, As I use my kit lens of 18-55 on my Nikon DSLR AND ANOTHER 70-300mm lens for other choices.

---The camera is a marvel, as u can use ur other Nikon lenses with the help of a converter.....It has Nikon 1 mount....Autofocus, manual focus and super macro at one cm. The camera has 10 MP CMOS sensor for better image quality...as Nikon has also gone for liking CMOS sensors rather than CCDs....ISO FROM 100-6400....Shutter speed of 1/16000(?)-30 seconds, & 'B'.....LCD SCREEN IS OF 3'' WITH 460,000 dots, better that 350,000 dots.File format-compressed12-bit RAW,JPEG fine, RAW+JPEG.

---The camera lacks optical or electronical viewfinder...However, to view it is Nikon's fastest camera to record high definition videos at 30 fps...super slow motionvideo at 400 fps.. The cameras' EXPEED processor can shoot at a speed of 10 fps with continuous autofocus....next wonder, its maximum burst speed is staggering 60 frames per second....no myth.

-----------------------the price in India is yet to be announced with 10-30 lens and may perhaps be at around Rs.32,000/-....Weight 234gms body only.

---I THINK AS A SECOND SUPPORT, MANY PEOPLE MAY GO FOR SMALL DESIGN, BETTER QUALITY, MORE HANDY AND FAST AUTOFOCUS......Kudos to Nikon....after V1 now J1 may be a better choice......MY mind intrigues:;;;;;;CAN THEY OR WILL THEY LOST LONG---? Let us use and wait. (not see and wait....hahahaha).

PROTRAITS at your ease.....

2011-12-22T14:02:00.000-08:00

When people buy cameras, the main subject is found in home...the portrait, snapshot of mom,father,cousins, babies,friends come to mind...THE MEMORABLE FACES R MADE IN HOME...Shooting is made them to personally view their images.

2)TAKE PICTURE WHEN THE PERSONS ARE at their cool...The mom is tired, whole day and you want a snap....She may protest...taking portrait forcibly make her mood off, and your effort to shoot, mom,dad,brothers,sisters will go waste....If they feel relaxed, get the portrait to remember....The words 'comfortable,relaxed and curiosity on both sides, will relax the mood for a good portrait....AND A SMILE SAY THOUSAND WORDS.

3) NEXT ESSENTIAL is the light....I observed that the children upto 5-6 years get them photographed rather easily and when grow old many feel inhibited,...They run here and there & give u a good chase for nothing...If u catch them, they will make faces thus destroying the natural look. YES, early morning or late evening light will best help you...On camera flash works well, but renders flat lighting...Flat lighting faces hardly make a good picture....Better take pictures in shade...that provide better lighting and there is no squizzing eyes as may happen in sunlight....Verandah, the shadow beside a wall give good effect, changing your angle and the modelling light falling on their faces, say half face in shadow and half towards light.

The above picture I took under a cloth tent...no doubt the lighting is flate, but there is goggle with reflection is good enough to make a cropped potrait , as I went closure, and made a fisheye effect of face and the reflection in the goggle....If you have good relations with neighbours, you can approach the children first and including elder after few shots.

PORTRAIT IN BLUE

2011-12-14T01:07:00.000-08:00

hnx to Prabirda, Theqca,Shobin.....what I wished and important is that nobody has said the flicker of random evening light well dressing her hairs and help keeping the face away from the background.....Regarding treatment, suiting to portraits is besides colour & b&w, sepia and when you leave these three, the most preferred is light blue toned portrait...and other colours u can imagine the effect, whether anybody wud like are yellow, red,pink,green only look good in experimenting with some good or photogenic effects.

In commercial photography, even light green tints may have been preferred by few clients....as they wanted the look of a cinema posters, and in bigger size....so the above photograph is one of the themes and out of rut....still I do not say unconventional, as I have faced thousands of photographs and photographers, as many of you do....yes as my friends said unusual and different...I must thank them again to come out of the local or usuals.

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY--AN OUTLOOK

2011-12-12T09:24:00.000-08:00

There are many camerapersons, who cover most on roads and the surrounding life....The life they are nearer every day. There may be busy roads, a secluded place on the road, where a begger is sitting asking the ongoers for a 'rupee'...Oh, not of the old 'paisa'....There was a song on the street in an old film...''O babu, o jaane wale babu, ek paisa de de....' Now even the 'chavanni' (four anna) is withdrawn by the govt....Therefore, minimum is rupee one, and more as u wish. There is rush on the roads and as on date every hour is peak hour with tremendous increase in the vehicles...I saw people -Irani people selling goggles on the road...Beside there was a shoemaker, and a small book seller, with film songs books seller etc...The beggers, The thelas of Kulfi, Pani purri, tea stalls, the groundnut seller....almost everything photogenic and to get photographed was the privilege...Now u cannot put your lens before anybody...there may be shoutings. The Sadhus with elephants ask Rs.100/- for photograph.....There were and are good portraits around with strange faces, to get you an award in photo competition....There is lot to be said on street photography.

2)Street photographer's main criteria is to capture subjects in their candid moods with almost, or may be, some interaction with camera or the cameraperson.

3) There was a definition in London Festival of Street Photography....Pl read---''unposed, unstaged photography which captures, explores or questions contemporary society and the relationships between individuals and their surroundings''.

4) The locations are everywhere when one sets out of his home with his dear camera....yes,yes...there are streets individually (as portrayed in the first photograph below), parks, beaches,malls - malls are just like the street sellers (the candids galore there) and the places you pass through on foot, on bike or may be a four wheeler, there are pictures to capture....As I caught the balloon seller guy, counting money and still sufficient light of evening to wait. for more earning....his grand-father accompaning him (above).....The colours of the baloons will certainly allure children and the parents.

5) The thing, I learnt that where situations are not favourable or people get angry or not in mood to get photographed, please get away from there....But one more imp thing I learnt is to photograph children and then to photograph the situations I may find favourable...since parents are more sensitive to the children, and become friendly easily.......NEXT is to oblige them with one copy of the photograph, the easiest way to intrude....u can understand why I used word 'intrude'...the difficult things made easy.......Please hv your comments (to oblige your potential customers on the streets)...hahaha...Interesting.

Photographic content

2011-11-16T11:26:00.001-08:00

thnx Hiral for ur input on Krishna, reg photographic content. Here I disagree because if photographically speaking, Vimal captured child's simple/naughty expressions, the lighting is good from behind keeping aloof the subject from bg, diffused bg, the placement he tried best with good vertival framing, the images hv sharpness, good perspective (distance from bg), they r good close-ups, the exposure is correct and the images hv stability (to stay longer in memory)....only thing is that they r different in colour cast, which I hv to explore, how cloudy WB rendered unexpectedly lower temperature, though it was morning time & yellow may be pre-dominant both in morning and evening. (photo by Vimal Joshi).

WHITE BALANCE IN D.PHOTOGRAPHY, (2)

2011-10-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

In this picture, and the picture on the previous post of my grand son, the white balance was set to Incandescent that is 'bulb' setting, I shot photos in artificial light during night inside, but, just trying the shoot outdoors next day, the blue cast was very much destroying the natural look of daylight photographs. It was also difficult to correct the blue cast in photoshop, though I tried to remove the same, but unable to achieve the result I cud get in Auto mode or set the WB to clear sun. Therefore, always look at the WB settings when shooting in various light situations, as indoors, under clear sun, Elect.Flash, overcast sky and/or in shade...However I too manage outdoors by setting WB on Auto, but definitely change while taking photographs inside in bulb or fluorescent lighting. A look at the chart below will be able to understand the temperature measurement, how in low temperatures the pic will get yellowish to red effect and in high temperatures the very much evident blue cast. However, it will also help to get some 'special effects' sometimes when u try them by shooting in different lightings with different WB settings on your camera.

Temperature Table

Candle Flame...............1500K

Incandescent..........3000K

Fluorescent........................3700K

Sunlight average/elect.flash...5500K

Overcast sky/clouds....6000-7000K

Shade................8000 K

Technically they are the average measurements, help u understand the warm (low) and cool (high) temperatures, but necessary in Digital cameras to set them as you click in variable lights. For novices Auto will help a lot outdoors and with built in or external flash.

WHITE BALANCE IN D.PHOTOGRAPHY.

2011-10-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

1)While taking photographs, the photographer has to face many sources of lighting. And any source is not able to give u correct rendering of colours in colour photography...The eye is befooled by different colours in the atmosphere, either natural or artificial. We feel them as natural as when we view them...But camera sensor is not accustomed as our eyes are while we try to capture them through the lens of our camera....Colour temperature is an objective measure of the colour of a light source and distributed in different wavelengths. The camera manufacturers have wisely chalked out 'AUTO' white balance to cope up with most of the conditions. However despite this measure, the colours have different temperatures as cool or warm i.e. higher and lower colour temperatures. Light sources with a higher colour temperature will render as blue tinge, while warm colour temperature will render as yellow tinged. Therefore, for the photographers who want correct colour rendering in their pictures, the white balance options are adapted to the temperatures as below (K=i.e.Kelvin method of measuring colour temperatures)...The normal white colour rendering is during direct sunlight as at noon time (not exact morning or evening), so the flash light is well calibrated as a daylight light source which is at 5000K to 5400K...giving u almost all colour rendering as correct untill and unless overwhelmed by other strong light source as halogen lamps, which will give yellow tinge, and this either u have to correct in photoshop or while printing, not hundred percent sure to remove it..this yellow tinge can follow while shooting with slow shutter speeds and there are more powerful halogens around as in marriages.........to follow (2).

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION IN DCAMs.

2011-10-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

It is but natural when u take pictures from a camera, the light affects camera sensor...There are three meter settings: Matrix, centre-weighted and spot...Here in this photo ...EVENING FOG..I USED FIRST, which is responsible for producing natural results in most situations. The camera sensor meters wide area of the frame and sets exposure as per tone distribution, colour & composition.

2) CENTRE-WEIGHTED: Camera sensor reads entire frame but mainly has great weight to centre area.

3) SPOT METERING: CAMERA WILL FOCUS CENTRE POINT. This metering ensures that the subject will be correctly exposed when background is much brighter or darker, as happens in morning and evening shots....Next for example, if photographer shoots from a window inside the room, the centre-weighted and spot meters will focus the area outside where u pointed your camera...However in this case the room's wall will look in silhouette, against the Matrix metering, which reads the whole frame and if more attention is on the inner walls, the outside area will be unsharp....so be careful in such situations...moreover u can try different meter settings avoiding worry at the time of composition whether from a room or outside. The exposure compensation mode is shown as square with + and - icons in it....

4) While shooting outside I keep -1/2 to - one stop down the aperture, avoiding over-exposure in many conditions....if slight under-exposed sometimes, the picture can be set right in PS, just increasing the brightness level....To handle an over-exposed photo is slight difficult losing tones/softer tones in the picture.

IMAGE ROTATION ON LCD HORIZONTALLY/VERTICALLY.

2011-09-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

The Digital Cameras now have a auto image rotation feature containing information on camera orientation allowing them to be rotated automatically during playback.....The LCD screen has two designed format, originally it is landscape version, if rotated either side, clockwise or counterclockwise, u can view the picture in vertical mode. This is similar to, when taking a landscape keeping the LCD in that format, as we generally handle the camera and while taking a full figure of a human being, we turn camera to either side vertically giving more space to the subject to obtain a correct and bigger image.

2. The picture beside was taken vertically and viewed both ways. Finally I decided to keep it in landscape format and after cropping a little bit, I posted here, means, practically, I rotated the image on the computer right-way, as is seen here....

3. Even you can view the LCD screen settings turning the camera horizontally to vertical and vice-versa, making it convenient to set the Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO etc in vertical mode as well.

Professional design in compact--NIKON P7000

2011-09-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

Nikon has brought a robust compact professionally designed 10.1 megapixel camera for amateur as well as enthusiasts and a back up for professionals.in Coolpix P7000 which boasts a 28-200mm zoom lens, with lens shift vibration reduction sufficient for maximum occasions because the users can use the external flash facility in f2.8-5.6 lens, constructed with 11 elements in 9 groups including 2 ED elements.......I prefer cameras with optical or electroical viewfinders, which while viewing at eye level give a stability in shooting in slow shutter speeds. P7000 has a tunnel type viewfinder. The camera has CCD sensor and new EXPEED C2 image processing engine. It has Manual, Shutter priority, Aperture priority and P modes, sufficient enough to cover most of the lighting situations and fast speed photography. The shutter speeds range from 60 sec to 1/4000 and the built-in flash covers upto 6.5 meters. One thing is admirable is the 3 in, 921,000 dot LCD monitor with better colour and grainfree image resolution while viewing and zooming in. Picture quality is excellent in JPEG and RAW modes. It can capture HD movies at the best quality of 1280x720 pixels at 24 fps. ISO-from 100-3200 plus Hi (6400). Metering is as usual: multi, centre-weighted and spot. WB with 6 presets....Cost Rs.29950. Good for Nikon fans and the enthusiasts who start anew.

SELFUPP PHOTOGRAPHY-NIKON'S HOT SHOT COOLPIX S9100

2011-07-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

Long zoom range point & shoot...YES THIS CAMERA FROM NIKON is a super-zoomed in a compact design, rather than as in vogue, they come as Prosumer cameras with good hand grip and a design of SLR. But here Nikon has changed the trend housing in this body of approximately 104.8x62.0x34.6mm weighing 214 gms the lens being 18x, i.e. 25-450 mm, wide and telephoto ends. The camera has CMOS sensor offering superior image quality at high ISO settings.

2) What is the MP: The S9100 has 12.1 Megapixel with 1/2.3 inch back illuminated CMOS sensor. It has sensor-shift VR mechanism (VIBRATION REDUCTION), WHICH IS NORMALLY EFFECTIVE IN HIGHER END ZOOMS such as this camera's 18x zoom. The camera has EXPEED C2 (Nikon's) image processing engine, with aperture values from f3.5-5.9 and the lens constructed in 12 elements in 11 groups. In normal mode the focusing is from 50cm to infinity at wide angle and 1.5m to infinity at telephoto end. In macro mode it focuses from 4cm to infinity at wide angle. It has 3 metering modes, matrix, centre-weighted and spot. Shutter speeds from 4 sec to 1/4000 sec. ISO sensitivity ranges from ISO 160 to 3200. The built-n flash has a range of approx. 0.5 to 4.0 m at wide and approx. 1.5 to 2.5 m at telephoto ends.

3) Still images are recorded in JPEG format with image size of 4000x3000 pixels, while video is recorded at 1920x1080 pixels for best quality. The important thing is its 3.0 in, 921000-dot TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating. Many cameras provide only 230000-dot TFT LCD, i.e. with less resolution. It takes a SD card and has built in memory of 74MB. A little bit of mention is that the camera has no manual or priority modes for controlling the exposure. Rather it has Shutter-Aperture combination giving the best results. The battery provided with camera is rechargeable Li-ion EN-EL12.

4) It is good of Nikon that it has provided a good zoom lens in this p&s camera. In MRP of Rs.18,950, it has a good offer for money having 18x optical zoom and good image quality.

CANON'S ENTRY-LEVEL NEW MARVEL

2011-05-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

Canon 1100D--cost Rs.32590, with 18-55 IS kit lens. The camera has 12.2 MP . Have facility of sensor cleaning. It is an update of 3 years hence, 1000D As ALL CANONS HAVE,IT HAS CMOS sensor. The camera is capable of recording 720p High Definition Video at 30fps. However, it cannot focus continuously during video shooting. It has maximum ISO 6400, but do not have expendable capacity to double it. It can shoot 3fps in JPEG MODE, WHILE DROPPING in shooting in RAW. It has updated Creative Auto Mode (like 60D), which allows the user to fine tune the final look of the image. In basics, it has DOF preview facility, switching the display on and off, and flash exposure compensation, besides relative different features a Canon has. LCD resolution is 230,000 dots, unlike FEW OTHER MIRRORLESS CAMERAS offering three times this now. It has live-view performance, indispensable in DSLRs. Results at even at ISO 1600 are excellent. However the Camera has noise reduction facility too. The colours are accurate and rich. The 1100D is an excellent performer in the field as well as in image quality...The enthusiasts may go straight for a buy or may wait some price cut.

LIGHTING BY CAMERA MOVEMENT

2011-04-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

LIGHTING on festivals through ur camera....Generally people take photographs of lightings on buildings, crackers, streets with their camera clicking at these held in hands,tripod or some steady support. But another technique is to move ur camera facing the series lights on buildings, so they can make a good abstract painting design, preferably having the dark bg. Hold camera in hand shutter set to 4 seconds or as u wish the results, aperture at f8 then moving the camera in different directions..here the camera moves and subject still...experiment and make different designs,with series to be more colourful...Here is what i have done.

SELFUPP PHOTOGRAPHY: Park,Garden, Local outdoors.

2011-03-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

1) The photography becomes much valuable, as soon you take up the camera in your hand. Something from within starts poking you tu release the shutter. But how, without facing the camera towards any subject. Is the subject ready, or u have to make movement to catch it as u may catch your beloed? I feel anything before camera at the time of shoot becomes beloved. Yes the full concentration is on the subject thru the lens or the LCD panel. And before releasing shutter, at least I fall in love with it.There are thousands of subjects. I will select some for the reader. In the meantime i wud suggest the enthusiast photoartists to shoot some technically good subject and if necesssary, u can do some retouch on the photoshop. THERE ARE SOME free phostoshop software are available on the net.....I touched the original picture to show the green as lushgreen and the sky purple: both are cool in nature. One more point I mention here that the composition I MADE DIAGONALLY, keeping half part each side.There is a small boundry at left is to attract the eye,whicch shows the boundary starts here.

FRAMING UR PICTURE ELEMENTS.

2011-02-24T13:02:00.000-08:00

landscape means ur eyes are moving allaround while in the field. Therefore we often observe changing lighting our habit to capture landscape.Light and shadow are a same part of the natural entity...Their interplay will allow u grand opportunities in landscape photography. The moon i shot was changing fast, next day it will become bigger. Though i hv shot many photograph of full moon and solar eclipse, i thaught it 3rd day moon to be in my camera...it was already dusk...lights were on...however the sky retained the brightness, so without giving longer exposure, i cud shot handheld. My interesting thing was to frame the crescent moon with tree brancnes both sides....it will give delicacy to the picture and calmness that prevails without any gush of wind. and contain ur eyes from leaving the moon. I wonder, whole circle of the moon is caught..it was great happiness for me.u can call it skyscape or moonscape..

TWO PERSON ARMY

2011-02-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

I feel the gentle male and female are fighting for divorce. They might have been bored with each other. One wants to be career -oriented and he will not allow her to keep steps outside..therefore they have come on the lake boundary to settle the cause once for all. Their relatives might be watching from the other side and expecting an amicable settlement. Such photographs are not rare...just go out and watch. there may be children, other animals, birds in fighting mood, a goody goody subject for ur camera.Sometimes we have to laugh with our subject, since all the time we are serious, on not getting subjects, camera not working,do not have telephoto lens...wide angle looks more alluring...u cannot take macros, cannot take long distance shots...only have a dslr with kit lens...there r alternatives u can read somewhere in my other posts. USING kit lens with supplementary lenses for macros..having another long focal length lens say 70-300,100-400 etc for longer shots. No doubt three lenses say kit,wide and telephoto make u versatile photographer, having approach normally with any subject without any headache...limited to this i am satisfied.

WINTERLIGHT IN MODELLING OR ANY SORT OF PHOTOGRAPHY

2010-12-31T14:11:00.000-08:00

The guy is my grand son...I USED HIM HERE AS A MODEL,HE JUST MOVING AROUND ON HIS OWN, while I went on clicking...This is the effect of winter lighting which spans in India from October to February, giving contre-jour effect and 3D effect to ur photographs. U can choose any subject, move into the ground or verandah, or any open space having dark or somewhat dark background to bring up the photograph. This light is as good as a spotlight effect which can be achieved in a studio too. But to give the picture natural look, I wud like to come open in the spaces mentioned above..Here the precaution will be to shadow the lens from direct sun. Besides using a long focal length lenth will make the model comfortable, giving better out of focus background.Also keep in mind the aperture being used. On long focal length lenses it can be better f8 or f5.6, I mean to say using a 70-200,or 70-300mm lens. Using tripod will help if the shutter speed is below 1/250 for such lenses. One thing I wud make clear...use any camera, any lens, but do not miss the opportunity provided by nature free of charge, keeping urself well in shadow.

FREELANCE -REPUTATION WITH GOOD LEARNING.

2010-11-21T14:14:00.000-08:00

THEIR ARE MANY FREELANCERS AROUND. ANYBODY JOINS newspaper claims to be a freelancer..he is rather more of a photo-journalists. The important thing is that the successful freelancing is in diversification. However, there are many other aspects. Foe instance, lack of specialisation is part of a continuing challenge of freelancing. Though freelancers are not as in hurry as the photo-journalists, whom the editor is waiting for the latest photograph, powerful enough to be printed on page one.

2. EACH day can bring a new journal, a new approach and besides a wide range of market. By all means a successful freelancer has to concentrate on the successful subjects and market search. But he shd never forget to probe and search for different, new subjects with different angles and lighting. The freelancer having some experience will never plan for instant sales. An important part of his income will come from his file pictures. Which he checks every week and make a diary newpaper-wise...Accumulating lot of pictures of all and special occasions will bring forth chances of more sale. Be friend of the editor and other staff. Give them complimentary copies of their photographs from time to time. This ensures a good friendship. and a good friend in need is friend indeed. There is lot to be said on this...try & get success.

PHOTOGRAPHY TERMINOLOGY-IMP ONES.

2010-11-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

THERE ARE MORE PRACTICAL WORDS WHICH WE find regular in use...BUT THE TERMS ARE SO MANY THAT A BEGINNER OR AN ENTHUSIAST MAY FIND IT DIFFICULT TO DIGEST THEM: For reference it is necessary to note down and consult when required:
-Hyperfocal Distance: The distance of the nearest object which is imaged with satisfactory sharpness when a lens is focused at infinity. When the lens is focused on hyper focal all object from one-half that distance to infinity will be sharp.
-Illustrative photography: A type of photography intended to illustrate text or to tell a story without textual supplement other than captions.
-Image: A reproduction of an original object or scene by a lens The image which enables us to see is formed within the eye by the crystalline lens.
-Industrial Photography: The photographs shot for the industrial firms, usually for publicity, training or advertising purposes.
-Infinity: Infinite distance in practical photography, that distance beyond which no adjustment is necessary in focusing the lens. For slow lenses it is usually 100 feet, for modern high speed , short focal length lenses, it is usually 500ft and for long focus lenses about 3000ft..
--The photograph above is of a CD taken under a tubelight.

LIGHT METER-AUTO-LOCK

2010-10-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

THE CAMERA COMPANIES HAVE GIVEN SEVERAL FACILITIES IN THEIT DIGITAL CAMERAS...IF U VIEW AND READ, IT BECOMES A GOOD COURSE BOOK.

To read the light,it is necessary to incorporate a device which will calculate and suggest u about the use of shutter speed, aperture and important is ISO. Besides many metering facilities, they have provided a feature called ''autolock''..Therefore while directing ur camera on a subject, u have to put your choice of exposure on the Cameras's main dial. Keeping it on auto will solve most of your problems. The flash will automatically pop-up, if the light is low. If there is sufficient light the camera will calculate its exosure on auto basis and if ur eyes move to another subjects in between, u can focus on the main subject and the button generally fixed near the viewfinder can be pressed half way so the focus is locked. now by pressing the AEL button, u can move camera to other subjects and if need be, do the same exercise and per chance u have not shot or selected any other subject, bring back the camera to the first subject where u locked the focus. Now u are ready to shoot, click the release button.

In the photograph shown, i focused on the centre small leaf and half pressed the button moved to see something worthwhile, i came back to the leaf and clicked.

MINISTRY OF I&B,GOI,HONOURS RENOWNED PHOTOGRAPHERS.

2010-09-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting-Photo Division, Govt of India on its Golden Jubilee Celebrations on the 'World Photography Day'has honoured with 'Life Time Achievement' Award to the four top and renowned photoartists (rather than photographers) of the country for their outstanding work during their life time in the field of Photo-journalism, Pictorial work and Portraiture, to mention. His Excellency, M Hamid Ansari, the Honourable Vice-President of India presented the Life Time Achievement Awards, which consisted of a cash prize of Rs.1.50 lakh, a shawl, memento and a citation at a special function at Vigyan Bhavan, Delhi. The Photoartists included, Smt Homai Vyarawalla, (the 97 yr old first Indian Lady Photo-Journalist), Shri S Paul, an eminent photojournalist (Indian Express's former chief photographer). Shri Benu Sen from Kolkata, a legendary pictorial photoartist and Shri K.G.Maheshwari, Mumbai (portraiture specialist)....My hearty congratulations to the legends.
Reg. Shri KG Maheshwari, his love for B&W portraits is so intense that when few years ago I organized ALL iNDIA PHOTO COMPETITIONS in the memory of my son Anurag Shroti(ASMPC), HE CONTRIBUTED Rs.3000/- to be awarded to the best B&W portraitist. Thank u Sir:....gshroti@gmail.com, http://www.photogroups.blogspot.com/

'FORM' IN PHOTOGRAPHY

2010-08-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

A PHOTOGRAPH IS A MULTIPLE ASSEMBLY OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS FOUND IN THE OBJECTS AROUND. SINCE WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO SEE THEM REGULARLY, WE DO NOT FEEL THE IMPRESSION THEY CAN CREATE, WHEN SHOT THROUGH A CAMERA. Thus it look rather amazing when the photographs come before us on the print form. However, it has become an old part of history. Our craze is now the latest developed digital photography. Digital photography too represents 'forms' in nature when shot thru camera.

2. In other words every object consists of a 'form' bound by lines. The forms can be regular or irregular, angular, geometrical, non-geometrical, in flow or in the nature of 'curve'. They all come in the category of mixed and intermediate forms. Basically a photographer is interested in the beauty of these forms and not directly in the objects, before photographying.

3. It is a common experience that to someone this form attracts more and to other fellow, other form has more attraction. Why? If analysed clearly, there we find rhythm...that manifests in many ways in nature and in life e.g. the curving tips of creepers, the rhythmic lines of sea waves, the petal arrangement of roses, in home the sweeping curves or wavy margins of dishes and vases. Wonderful outline the fish has with its forked tail, the distinct forms of a melting wax from a candle., and innumeral examples we come across. However, important thing is what we capture in our cameras. These forms are a part of our life but we recognise them distinctly when shot on the sensor and interpreted in full form in the form of images in computers, and/or in prints.

FEW PHOTOGRAPHY TERMS.

2010-08-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

-PHOTOGRAPH: A reproduction of scene, object or person, by means of registering a permanent image thru the combined agencies of lenses and the sensor.

-PHOTOGRAPHER, Professional: Generally a person who clicks through his camera or the one who derives 75% or more of his/her income from the sale of their photographic work.

-PHOTOMACROGRAPHY: Photography of small objects in large size ratio. Usually regarded as coming between 1/4 and 10 times natural size.

-PHOTOMETER: A light measuring instrument or the meter built-into the camera to measure the amount of light before the lens.

-PHOTOMICROGRAPHY: Photography of minute objects (like germs in water) with the aid of a microscope. Image size ratio may range from 10 to 10,000 diameters. (now the term is mixed with photomacrography).

-PHOTOMONTAGE: A picture made from many images (like collage) usually made by successive enlargements without definite boundaries between the various elements........next

SELFUPP PHOTOGRAPHY:WHILE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SHOOTS

2010-08-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT A LIMITED SUBJECT in the present global changes. The outlook of people is changing so changing is the DIGITAL CAMERAS INDUSTRY....It is a dry photography days now. U can shoot and no need to go to darkroom for printing images from a dcam. Now load on a CD/DVD/PENDRIVE or direct camera, get the image uploaded to computer for instant printing. DO NOT WANT PRINTS. Upload your images onto your computer and view and let friends view the slideshows of your hard efforts....However my point here is that when you intend to shoot environmental photographs, you should have a good knowledge of the location you plan to visit. It will save a lot of time thinking in the mid-way about your shoots. You should have advance knowledge of the place, understand what kind of hardships people have faced. This will help you build up a good understanding to make it more easier to figure out exactly what are your goals before your camera. There may be places far and near and I think once you are out for your job, nothing to hinder except time factor, the most important element in doing environmental photography....Time of the day counts, time of your stay counts to have the best maximum of area covered and maximum use of your memory cards, the more images u have the better....All time is not composing time, therefore shoot and with all good memories make use of the photoshop at home/office. Some people are of the opinion that they compose finally on the site itself betrays the art of photography. It may be good for still, studio(here children will fail them) or less movement and predictive photography, but it may not go on all sites, subjects and objects too......next

ISO SETTINGS AND PHOTO SHOOT

2010-07-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

DURING FILM PHOTOGRAPHY, we had ASA (AMERICAN STANDARDS ASSOCIATION) printed on the film cartons. Then it became ISO (International Standards Organisation)---(the year difficult to recollect-may be in late 80s). ISO 50, ISO 100, ISO 400 so on. Tri-X B&W from kodak(35mm) was the most famous in ISO 400 range and developed in finegrain developer, rendered wonderful results. This was generally used by pros and photo-journalists in normal and low-light conditions AND ALSO USING higher shutter speeds. During development its speed cud be enhanced to ISO 800, but with compromise with slight grains. The DIGITAL technology too adopted the same sensitivity in their sensors. Now let us look technically. The ISO HAS A DIRECT IMPACT on the exposure. There higher ISO number indicates an increased amount of sensitivity of the sensors. Therefore a higher ISO number allows you to use a faster shutter speed. However, the higher the ISO, the increase in noise/grain u have to bear. For normal sunlight ISO 100/200 is ideal...In cloudy dark, you can increase it to Iso 400/800. As said also in low light better switch to higher ISO to use higher shutter speed, so less camera shake/blurred image. The image i shot alongside used ISO 400, since it was cloudy dull atmosphere. The overhead angle and play in sand suits the picture, as my g-son's face is a focal point and hands busy in activity with a textured sand.

CLOSEUPS-INDOOR LIGHTING--(66)

2010-06-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

.....next....This picture was taken in a closed verandah, where the sky has thrown sufficient light for a handhold shot with a kit lens in Dslr. Such photos can be shot with prosumers or compacts. Use of light in verandah gave a background of whitewashed effect, because it was needed a bigger aperture inside in comparison to what was needed outside.

2. Thus, great effect pictures can be taken using an open window, or window covered with a net cloth giving more softer light in case of children and ladies portraits...Next is an easily approachable portion of a house is a side wall casting more than 10ft shadow outside...the effect will be as good as in a verandah, keeping aperture half stop down in case of dslrs and half stop minus exposure compensation in prosumers and compacts, keeping the subject 4 to 5 ft away from the wall to make the things on it out of focus. Porch is also a good place for shadowless photography. There is one more source and that is the built in flash of your camera. The advantage in indoor photography is that there is less faster movements. Yes children are active and here they will give good poses with camera's flash. However, it should be kept in mind while photographing small children below 4-5 months, to avoid use of flash since it throws white and bright sparkle of light which may affect their eyes. LAST but not the least...in your home you can enjoy candle light dinner keeping camera on a tripod and self also keeping still using self-timer method.

CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY--65

2010-06-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

..NEXT.....Soft lighting from overcast days is good for shooting nature, portraits and varied subjects. However, the photo alongside was taken in the morning 7 a.m. and a good fill-in was provided by nature itself....Shooting pictures when there is a thin clouds covering the sun gives good opportunity for portraits. There are times when you have to face strong sunlight as during sports, it is natural to shoot as the time permits...may be morning, noon or evening. Here you can make good closeups of any player with the use of zoom lens of 70-200 or 70-300mm focal lengths...THESE ARE ACTION SHOTS, SO SUNLIGHT AND SHADOWS both are included keeping attention on focusing...These lenses with a 18-55 kit lens will help you in street photography finding good closeups of people in different moods....Thus outdoors, we encounter sunlight, morning to evening, overcast sky at any time of the day.

CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY-64

2010-06-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

OUTDOOR LIGHTING:

Direct lighting is not always best illumination for close-up outdoors. Light direction is also important and for snapshot purpose, ideally the sun should be behind you and not behind the subject. (this idea is good for learners and ladies rarely handling camera). If the sun is strong, switch on your camera FLASH, AS CAN BE SEEN FROM MY PHOTOGRAPH, AND THIS CAN BE UNDERSTOOD FROM THE CATCHLIGHT FROM THE EYES. The result will be an improved one, though sun's position may be changing. Adjust accordingly.

2. Rainy days are great for photography, especially if u want to capture a feeling of freshness and life in your flower pictures. Raindrops will help adding sparkle to your picture......next

CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY--63-A

2010-06-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Digital technology made closeup photography more easy. Even the compacts can take close up photographs as close as one inch....The same thing is with prosumer cameras which to as close as one cm. Dslrs have their own working applying different lenses amongst which is 105mm macro lens. However your kit lens of 18-55 will give u as close as 5 inches....next.

CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY-ANOTHER ASPECT--63

2010-06-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Nobody is unaware of closeup photography. Every now and then the word is repeated with photographers & in homes, where snaps are a necessity...Closeup is not new to modern day photography. 19th century and 20th century saw the grow of full sized and close up photographs of the then Rulers WHICH INCLUDED RAJAS, NAWABS AND THEIR BEGUMS, including children in black & white and some of them hand coloured with enthusiastic artists.

IF we come across the subjects, there are varied subjects around. NATURE has given so much...your 32GB memory card will be filled up but still the whole globe will remain to trotter.....NEXT

UNCONVENTIONAL CROPS OF AN IMAGE

2010-06-20T14:20:00.001-07:00

AS WE HAVE SEEN IN PHOTOGRAPHY WE HAVE A SMALL GADGET CALLED A DIGITAL CAMERA. A VERSATILE TOOL TO ENCAPTURE THE WHOLE GLOBE. the wonders have hidden in it.....they need exploitation, one by one carefully remembering each's independent capability.....Besides many feature, it has a wonderful feature of portrait.....There is a separate feature(sign) of portrait on the camera's dial. This in itself will allow the use of bigger aperture to give your face a distinctness of portraiture by giving less depth of field....It means camera used bigger aperture and lower shutter speed. If it is taken in sun light, it can be taken handheld, otherwise in shadow slower shutter speed is used as mentioned above, it will be better to use tripod. Since blurred/shaky shots are of no use.

2. Usually a close-up portrait implies a photograph in which the face of a person is wholly present in the frame...However you can frame your pictures in unconventional ways to add a sense of mystery to the person's appearance. Cropping the face while framing the picture is an experiment that can yield dynamic/unusual results... You can do this either while framing the image or by cropping it in a photo editing software. The easiest way one can use this technique is to crop the face closely so that the frame ends at the forehead and above the chin. Another thing you can try is to crop the face through the nose so that half the face can be seen....this uses the natural symmetry in one's face to add mystery in the portrait.....I have used 3/4th of the cropped face as explained above... there is no limit in experimenting.

3. Using un- common tight closeups is a common cinematic technique. that enhances portraits and help you steer away from the cliche.

PHOTOGRAPHY-P,S,A,M MODES IN A D-CAMERA

2010-06-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

ON EACH CAMERA TOP, particularly in prosumers and dslrs there is a dial, which operates P,S,A,M modes while shooting a picture by selecting an individual mode. Let us see below what are their functions:

P-(Programmed auto): in this mode the camera automatically adjusts shutter speed and aperture for optimal exposure in most conditions. This mode is recommended for snapshots and other situations in which u want to leave the camera in charge of shutter speed and aperture.
S-(shutter-speed priority): Here you choose the shutter speed from varied speeds provided in the camera--may range from 30s-1/8000 of a second. While the camera automatically selects the aperture producing optimal exposure. Use slow shutter speed to suggest motion by blurring moving subjects---high shutter speed to freeze the motion.

A-(Aperture priority auto): In this mode, you choose the aperture as provided in the camera e.g. f2.8 to f22 (this may differ in other cameras models-prosumer or dslr), while the camera automatically selects the shutter speed which will produce the optimal exposure. Small Apertures (bigger f numbers) increase depth of field bringing both the main subject and background in focus. Larger apertures (small f numbers) soften background details and produce less depth of field.

M-(Manual mode): By using Manual mode you control both shutter speed and aperture. Here u can choose any speed between e.g. 30s and 1/8000 of a second and select the aperture from maximum opening to the minimum aperture, thus having full control over the exposure and there are less chances of fluctuations in exposure values as set by you according to prevailing lighting conditions. There is 'bulb' setting which u can use for longer exposures say in night and close when done with, may be several seconds to hours.

NATURE - FAR AND NEAR.

2010-05-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

We all are a part of this earth, which is full of natural objects. When a child is grown up, he finds himself/herself a part of mother nature...Of course, their second mother.

2. Nature photography cud be an expression of creativity inherent in a human being. But still if you want to explore the world of nature, it would be better to see it from the eyes of a child in awe of wild places and the creatures. However, if you are lured by the nature's beauty, find out an intimacy beyond observation and own it by the virtue of your 'third eye', I mean the camera you possess. Before your camera is revealed the wealth of subtle beauty, as in the whole globe, the nature is approachable only by long drives and well-thought hikes. Contrary to this most glorious beauty is readily available to everyone everywhere and not always beyond, but rather in a backyard, a roadside field, open city lot lying uncared or a local national park.

3. A variety of insects and wildflowers can be found in these places. It will require in all likelihood a keen eye perception, time and patience. Besides, you will find a large variety of different subjects interpreting their existence. It is worthwhile that when you find spot with varieties, visit it on a regular basis from start of rains till March end(in India), as the flowers in bloom and the species of insects will change weak by weak. Most usable time is the early morning as the air is cooler and insects less active making them an east prey of your camera...In winter, the cool nights cover the insects and flowers in dew. There, it would be wise to be in the field at dawn, otherwise the magic of natural beauty will be going to fade as the sun rises above tree level.......next

PHOTOGRAPHY-CROSS PROCESSING-59

2010-05-12T13:31:00.000-07:00

THERE IS AN INHERENT DESIRE IN THE HUMAN MIND TO EXPERIMENT/to evolve something new...Photography is not the exception...In other words, since the photographers all over the globe shoot crores of photographs each day, it s natural for them to find out new avenues from the rut...They have lots of images on their laptop/computers, CDs/DVDs. When they get a time for rest, different calculations of the images are natural to come into their brains.

2. Such was the desire when in 60s Kodak introduced two developers...E4 and C22. They were conscious therefore they written a warning against using wrong processing chemicals for their films and transparencies....When photographers got something new, they experimented with their unushable films with the two chemicals.....In a NATURAL COURSE, cross processing is the procedure of deliberately processing photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film. For example, processing colour transparency film in negative developer C41 resulting in a negative image on a colourless base. And processing colour negative film in E6 (slide developer) resulting in a positive image but with the orange base of a normally processed colour negative.

3. This process was much in vogue during 70s and 80s..The photographers from Time and National Geographic magazine worked on this process and produced stunning results. Much work of this nature was done on studio portraits, landscapes etc.

4. Now in DIGITAL ERA we do not have those chemicals and films for shooting and processing. ON Photoshop this can be done to some satisfaction using curve tool. I used the curve tool for my pink flower where the gradation changed from red to purple to light yellow. The middle curves are easily bifurcated by the light yellow. U may please notice the colour gradation from pink to purple to light yellow, and a demarcation of diagonal lines is making pic strong---from left to middle to right above.

PHOTOGRAPHY-58-ZONE FOCUSING

2010-05-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

While using manual focus for a long time, when autofocus cameras were rare and also now when switching to manual focusing, I use zone focusing, the easiest way of focusing, calculating the distance in the mind and setting the lens to that distance. It is easy in wide angles say from 28mm to 50mm of a zoom lens and small apertures.

2. Assume that you are photographing an event, which occurs within a set area such as football match, children coming out of school in a rush and hurry. By choosing the correct aperture for the lens, it will be possible for you to obtain acceptably sharp/sharp pictures from a subject anywhere within that area without having to alter the focus again. For example my subject comes within the area of 10ft to 30ft and moves within that area...My DOF table on the lens will give an aperture of f8, since the DOF stretches from 10ft and even beyond to 30ft at f8, and the subject shot at 15ft or 20ft will be sharp within the said DOF...Thus if the boys are rushing out of school...i focus my lens at 15ft and to find the best action boy/girl at that distance, i immediately click the shutter.....next example: if a procession is on the move, i move to front and a little bit more of distance and when the appropriate subject comes within 10ft,15ft,20ft, i focus at any of that distance without looking in the viewfinder and click fast. The picture will be sharp with sufficient dof, including more people in sharp focus from front to back.

3. In the picture above the saluting boy was 10ft. I focused at 10ft on my 28-200 sigma lens and since it was sunlight, i used ISO100, f11 at 1/250 and clicked the guy correctly focused. Only i cared for focusing when i took my lens from 70 to 200mm.

PHOTOGRAPHY--WORKPLACE SETTINGS.--57

2010-04-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

Whether work is in the factory or field, these provide a variety of settings for a compositional photograph.These photographs contain an element of craft and diverse backgrounds which become a subject by itself.

2. The picture will have a flavour of reportage, rather than an assembly of some people....As I did, try to photograph people as they involved in the work they are performing. Avoid adding too many props or elements in the frame - always try to retain which is contextual....THE above photograph is self speaking.The farmers are making ready the crops for the market...there are all elements which makes a photograph perfect, the machine, the fog, the people, the ox, the crop, which are well balanced.

ZOO PHOTOGRAPHY..

2010-03-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

YOU r lucky..the king is in sleeping mood ....very interesting part a camera plays more with the enjoyment of children, who are after u, seeing that u are photographing their favourites....they shout...here he goes, there he sits etc and all information u receive on ur ears....your eyes are intensely watching the great animal and others in zoo arena.
The heart thrills, when it comes to going to the zoo for some good shots....ur thrills are associated by the super luck, that the animal will be in ur camera's range...and if he does not turn up???

2. Anyhow our goal is zoo photography, keeping some important points in mind so least of the shots miss.
2.1 AVOID bars and glass from being part of the picture..MOVE IN CLOSE....use higher end of the zoom lens say 300mm to defocus the nets and bars.
2.2 Take time for the zoo ---animals will not pose for u....U will have for things to happen.
2.3 Feeding time provides interesting photo possibilities---the animals are anticipating their food....But they are frisky at this time too....U will end up in shooting shaky picture if u are not careful.

3. WILDLIFE is not about the big animals . Many zoos also have insects, reptiles, turtles, allegators, deers etc. which themselves are great subjects to shoot.

4. Look for the interactions of the animals, particularly in groups.

5. There are gaps between different animal sites, which makes it convenient to view and photograph, which may stretch upto few miles.....the other opposite side may have birds. It is worth going to this wildlife for live photographs.

LUNAR ECLIPSE

2010-01-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

I saw on my site, that few photographers have overexposed the image OF LUNALR ECLIPSE....same thing, they use the aperture priority...they understand that Aperture priority or Shutter priority is the solution of every image they expose, but regret being the image overexposed......

2. IT is lethargy on their part to switch to manual mode and take the reading...However, to see the sun with naked eye may be dangerous, but here the adjustments can be made easily.

3. I have one prosumer camera, which has the maximum shutter speed, unfortunately upto 1/1000....this i cud manage in lunar eclipse, but not in solar eclipse....However, for this shot i gave 1/1600 at f5.6, on my DSLR because the luminance was dull at this juncture....at 300mm i got a good image and enlarged it to have better details...Therefore, i wud suggest that before buying any prosumer or DSLR, it is best to go thru the manual, finding out the most important settings....If all goes well, i wud rather suggest for a DSLR and a separate 70-300 original or sigma APO lens.

SUNSETS=THE MOST COLOURFUL FROM DAWN TO DUSK

2009-12-08T11:45:00.000-08:00

DURING WHOLE DAY, THE MOST SOOTHING ATMOSPHERE IS THE TIME OF THE SUN SET...the animals are returning home, the birds too are returning and chirping all around the trees...and if we get a support of a lake, the cold breeze welcomes...and sun's last salute of the day is shown in grand colours, close to orange, yellow and red.

2. Adding a foreground interest to sunset shots can add depth and interest to an image...Exposing for the sky will throw the foreground into a silhouette, so look for objects that have a defined shape....As told above, a lake or other water bodies will make a great reflection, showing all glitters of a sun and sky colours for an interesting composition.

3. Clouds add to a sunset shot and they change position and hues very fast at sunset....They may obscure the sun creating a dramatic effect....use of slow shutter speed may help record their movements.....IN my personal opinion the sunset is the most shot subject....let's click too.

INDUSTRIAL PHOTOGRAPHY--ARE U BOOKED?

2009-11-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

A little bit of difficult part of general or other events photography...In big scale industries, they generally have a post or two of the photographers...But for specialised shoot, they hire photographers from outside....The small scale industries also need photographers from time to rime, for which they hire as i mentioned....I feel, this sort of photography is more challenging and needs clever manipulation of lighting and equipments.

2. If you are a reputed photographer, u have a pamphlet, showing ur to and fro charges, time spent, besides on package or per shot charge...They have regular visitors, company meetings, the mfg work in the shop floor, the loading of material or machines....Therefore they will agree on per shot charge, set in an album....if work is more specialised like arranging for assistants, climbing on cranes/ladders, using more of the lighting, then a package system works well for ur pocket. Next is your polite behavious with the GMs, Managers etc. which will help u to befriend them, giving the best of output from you.

3. Equipment may consist of flash guns with triggering facility for other flash units, artificial light like halogen lamps with stands, tripod, cameras with different focal length lenses---in lower range 24mm and in higher range 200mm are more than sufficient......If u lke to use zooms 24-70mm, 28-105mm, 70-210mm will work well, besides having prime lens of f1.4 will work best...The locations may include, office of the GM/Manager, convention hall--differ in sizes, shop floor, office galleries, outside fy premises, where the material is loaded in trucks etc/being dispatched, during pooja days, during employees unrest---there are several opportunities when the photographer is needed...therefore u have to be clever enough to grab the opportunity, and if well paid regularly, can become a permanent photographer of that unit.............gshroti@gmail.com

BIRDS IN SKY-PHOTOGRAPHY

2009-10-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

WHEN U SHOOT BIRDS in the sky, mentally u are also flying with them, rather feeling that gush of air in the sky....The sense is an enormous energy giver. Thus while shooting birds or any flying object like a helicopter, the shutter must be fast enough to freeze the object....ENSURE that the shutter speed is just right to register that little bit of motion and make the picture extremely dynamic.

2. It is important to focus on the subject and lock the focus....and then wait for the right moment to shoot.This exercise may take several ''cuts'', because the creature is not posing for the photographer, but the photographer is after it.....Better have long focal length lenses, i.e. 200mm and/or above....and here the SLR will be of much help, rather than p&s or prosumers in terms of quality....in SLR u will use the best lens u can afford...so will be the result.

3. The bird above, was 100 ft on top of tree..I USED 300mm and the light was very low, because the evening was going....the sh speed may have been 1/60...so the blur was inevitable with handheld camera.....I cropped to bring it more closer.

PHOTOGRAPHY - DO U FORGET??--2

2009-09-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

d) NOT TAKING CARE OF UR EQUIPMENT:

is it not ur habit to change lenses in dusty conditions or at the beach?...not protecting the lenses and camera LCD from getting scratched....forgetting to clean ur equipments from time to time....more importantly immediately after a long shoot.

e) that for customers, the prints are correctely printed in the lab...or u lack that judgement.....for a consistent reputation, it is most important to check/get reprinted before delivering them to clients.

f) with camera in hand, do not have a habit of walking around...lose patience so early? ...without trying other angles, u fall prey to laziness to shoot from the regular COMFORTABLE angle.

g)to know that it is most important to have an eye for the distracting or disturbing elements.....or do u forget to have the straight horizon while shooting and leave the shot as it is....do u remember to correct the tilt in the photoshop?

h)not to rely on the camera's LCD TO CHECK THE EXPOSURE OF AN IMAGE....avoid learning how to read the histogram.

i) using the on-camera flash indiscriminately, forgetting that the reflective surfaces cannot be shot with a flash, avoiding using the camera flash in noon time or in back light conditions.

j)not to over-sharpening, over-saturating the images in an effort to make technically bad image look good.

k) not allowing urself to change with the time....particularly getting stuck in the same kind of photography.....not expanding the horizons and pushing the limits.....avoiding further exploring the different fields.

l) not allowing urself ready to participate in the contests, exhibitions on photography....or having good work lying in the cupboards....even avoiding to show ur extraordinary work to public thru solo exhibitions.

PHOTOGRAPHY - DO U FORGET??

2009-09-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

Regular photographer, enthusiasts, amateurs all have different natures while handling photography equipments and allied accessories before and during shooting....Sometimes, this may lead to frustration...

2. As happened with my friend, who went to shoot group photographs of an institution....generally. he uses manual mode, bracketing exposures, but on that day he used Av mode and the dresses of the groups were of maroon colour and the camera read the darker area thus overexposing the photograph...It was day light, difficult to judge on the monitor...He also forgot to use exp.compensation mode to minus side....thus again had to shoot after a week....wasting his own time, energy and the time of the customer......I feel there are many things we can avoid not forgetting them, but they still happen; what they are:

a) Forgetting to carry the right equipment:
Keeping a slow lens to shoot an event that has very low lighting, carrying a mid range zoom or a telephoto lens for a place where u wud have wanted a wider view , forgetting to carry along a lens, or even a camera or the right choice of camera, if u have more than one.

b) Not carry enough charge and memory:
Keeping almost discharged batteries or not charging long enough, not taking spare sets of charged batteries, not taking additional memory card, even forgetting to insert the memory card in camera after downloading the images in the computer via card reader.

c) Shooting in the wrong settings or formats:
Forgetting to change the settings back to optimal after experimentation, or shooting in the different white balance forgetting to switch over to the existing lighting, thus at least disturbing some frames or whole shoot......to continue....gshroti@gmail.com

PERSPECTIVE AND SCALE

2009-09-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

The distance between objects in pictures are represented by perspective and scale. U can make use of perspective to control the appearance of depth in ur photograph.Also u can make use of people as measures of scale and distance...

2. The human being is consistent in size and instantly recognisable... Humans are perhaps the most valuable yardstick for measuring distance in landscape and other pictures....

3. It is important to bear in mind that the degree of shrinking with distance is affected by viewpoint....IT IS THE VIEWPOINT AND NOT THE FOCAL LENGTH THAT CHANGES PERSPECTIVE.

FOR A SOFT EFFECT USE WINDOW LIGHT

2009-09-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

If u are not happy using ur flashgun indoors, try using the light from a window instead. If u have a window that is facing the direction of the sun , half the problem remains solved....If necessary, u may use a couple of reflectors to fill the shadows especially when shooting portraits and STILL LIFE. It wud be a good practice to keep two pieces of thermocol handy to use as reflectors. Light seeping in thru the window normally has a softening effect....If the light is too harsh, u can cover the window with a thin white curtain, or a sheet of tracing paper to diffuse the light ...thus getting the soft lighting effect with softer shadows, as in the picture at left.

HELP CREATURES--SAVE ENVIRONMENT.

2009-09-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

There are beautiful little creatures that exist around...These creatures play important roles in nature's lifecycle...

2. There are few enthusiast photographers who will break twigs or cut plant just to get a shot of an ant, hanging on the edge of a leaf....Some other will force a little creature to keep a pose that they are not really accustomed to....

3. As a photographer it is our job to respect these creatures and ensure that they are not disturbed in their natural habitat.....This is just going beyond limitations of nature's existence., not in order to save but to destroy it, and disrespect it.

4. It is also our duty to document and spread awareness, not to destroy their natural functions for the sake of a sensational photograph....The earth will be grateful, if these small things are followed, otherwise, the mother earth is laden with lots of unnatural loads on its chest and one day it will be helpless to save ur existence.....RESTRAIN URSELF FRIENDS..TO SAVE NATURE, TO SAVE ENVIRONMENT.

IS PHOTOGRAPHY DIFFICULT?--SEE ANSWERS..

2009-09-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

continue......
READ BOOKS, MAGS & WEBSITES....

Books and websites on photography provide u with a lot of information on various types of photography. They are also a great way to seek ur own areas of interest....besides reading books, mags...practise the techniques featured therein....This will help u to be a perfectionist as far as the few rules of photography are concerned.

ENROLL IN A COURSE....

YOU will find courses available locally.Govt recognized colleges and technical institutes that offer degrees in Art, Design, Physics etc., often have basic courses...Besides some experts also run their own institutes and get help the students appear in the examinations.

ATTEMPT PERSONAL ASSIGNMENTS...

Self-assignments allow u to sharpen your skills... Choose topics that are interested to you and make a project and try to fulfil in a limited time span...Moreso taking part in photography contests is also a great way to hone ur skills.....U have locally many of ur friends, acquaintances to whom u can photograph and once u get good skill, u can get offers from ur own circle and outside...that will help in making some part time money as well.

IS PHOTOGRAPHY DIFFICULT?...SEE ANSWERS

2009-09-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

1. EVERYTHING is difficult...until and unless u dive deep into it even for a learning point of view....Therefore photography is no exception.....Generally it is ur intense desire which enables u to reach ur goals, like a footballer..

2. For expending knowledge it takes nothing but perseverance...If u have that guts then nothing is impossible...Here I relate few important things which will help u to motivate u as a photographer, or in any field of photography u wish to join.

JOIN PHOTOGRAPHY CLUBS:
1. THERE ARE A LOT OF OFFLINE AND ONLINE CLUBS THAT ARE QUITE ACTIVE, interacting with other club members, sharing ur pix for critical feedback, discussing mutual areas of interest. Finding solutions to common problems are greater learning experiences...the club members are eager to help, since in this way they also enrich their knowledge.

PARTICIPATE in WORKSHOPS:
1. WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS, GROUP OUTINGS, EXHIBITIONS AND OTHER EVENTS TAKING PLACE near u are a nice way to learn....Clubs often participate in groups so the monetary burden on each member can be reduced...........to continue.....gshroti@gmail.com

WHITE BALANCE--A BALANCING ACT.

2009-09-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

1.The human eye sees white objects as white, regardless of the light source. ON THE OTHER HAND A DIGITAL CAMERA does not. The colour of lighted off a subject also reflects the colour of the main light source.

2.The white balance setting on a digital camera , which is set on automatic by default, adjusts the brightest part of a scene so that it appears as clean white.....Auto WB does a good job under most circumstances. However there are times when white balance needs to be changed manually to match the inside or outside lighting in order to obtain more true to life colours....

3. The dcams generally have WHITE BALANCE settings as auto, daylight, cloudy, open shade, sunset, tungsten, fluorescent, custom WB 1/2/3 which u can save upto three custom white balance settings for later retrieval as well.

4. In the above photograph, the photo is showing green cast....here daylight WB setting wud have helped.

VISITING LOCAL NATIONAL PARK--2

2009-09-12T13:45:00.001-07:00

continue.....2

FIND OUT DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES:

1. WALK AROUND AND MORE TO EXPLORE VARIOUS VANTAGE POINTS TO FIND OUT DIFFERENT SHOOTING OPPORTUNITIES.
2. zoo photography is not all about shooting animals. People make great subjects too. Shoot the candid expressions of people watching the animals, birds etc. Experiment with panoramas near the large enclosures.

EXPECT THE OPPORTUNITY:

Animals do the funniest things....observe and anticipate the photograph....For example, keep ur camera ready near the monkeys' enclosures, so that u do not miss ur shot.

2. Try to get an experienced friend's opinion, that can help u focus on what kind of subjects u can shoot there. ...Have a talk to zoo-guides about animal patterns and the way the animals react to various things around them.....A better understanding of ur subjects will help u to click the better pictures u are after.......

3. Find out the pond of the birds, which come season-wise...there u can also find crocodiles, tortoise etc.......see the picture above taken hurriedly while the bird just flew from the upper tree branch......good luck.........gshroti@gmail.com

VISITING LOCAL NATIONAL PARK

2009-09-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

I THINK, MOST OF THE PEOPLE WITH CHILDREN VISIT LOCAL ZOO, with film or dcams....it gives them a good experience of using their cameras, whether expensive or inexpensive...even now with good mobile cameras, people visit with interest and bring a good number of photographs....here u will find animals, raptiles, crocodiles, deers, bears, birds and many more.

1.GOOD time to click: generally it is best either early morning upto 10 am and/or after 4 pm in the evening....particularly in the evening, the warm, golden light that adds a beauty....Like the photograph above, the best time to shoot animals while they are fed(or served lunch/supper).....

2. PREVIOUSLY THERE WERE CHARGES for taking the cameras inside the premises, but thanks to good mobile cameras, the authorities were compelled to withdraw this unnecessary burden on the visitors.

3. the most uncontrolled animal is the leopard and in some places it is kept 40 ft away from the boundary and in a big cage.....while the lion and tigers have some patience to give good poses.
Therefore it is wise on the part of the photographer to carry a SLR with long focal length lens...There are now coming good prosumer cameras with 10x to 24x zooms...U can get good benefit of them in good sunlight.

4. Check for distractions: THERE is a necessary problem of iron bars or nets at viewing places..however if u have a 300mm focal length zoom and the net is somewhat wide, u can take photograph at 300mm end where the net becomes out of focus and ur lens focuses on the subject with a wider aperture of f2.8 or f3.5

5. If u are using a compact that does not allow u to control the aperture, use here the 'portrait' mode, which gives the facility of automatically keeping aperture at wider aperture.

6. When shooting, try to focus on the eyes. THIS establishes a contact with the viewer and make u feel that the animal is staring back to u or the viewer........to continue.....gshroti@gmail.com

PHOTOGRAPHY THE WAY U WANT

2009-09-06T14:28:00.001-07:00

EXPLORING UR OWN VANTAGE POINTS:

This may look unusual, but it is a part of ur shoots/experiments with dcam....here the position of the camera determines the attention paid to details within the frame as well as the message we plan to communicate to the viewer...

2. most people hold their cameras at eye level and shoot their subjects, head on. Doing this usually produces static, unimpressive photographs.

3. However, by positioning the camera , above, beneath, in, out, around, and even behind the subject, u can make images that say a lot more.

4. Try different vantage points to reveal details that wud usually go unseen....In photographic parlance, less often means more.....if we are slightly lazy, then that time never returns, and the 'more's lost....

DEBUT FOR WORLD'S FASTEST CAMERA

2009-07-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

THE fastest imaging system ever devised has been demonstrated by the researchers reporting in the journal NATURE. THE shutter speed of the camera is half a billionth of a second, and has the ability to capture over 6 million images per second continuously. Its flash bulb is a fast laser pulse dispersed in space and then stretched in time and detected electronically. ALSO the camera works on one detector.

The approach will be instrumental in imaging fast-moving or random events, for example communication between neurons or flowing blood samples in a search for diseased cells......awesome.

NIGHT SHOOT WITH A DIFFERENCE--2

2009-07-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

For the second exposure of the same frame(multiple exposure), twist the focus barrel to get the light sources completely OOF...For the exposure, u cud either maintain the aperture and set the shutter speed for the remaining amount of time. i.e. one second, or u cud reduce the aperture value by one or two stops and set the shutter to less than one second. The second choice is preferable because the small aperture will minimise the effect of making the image OOF. The unfocused image becomes larger in the viewfinder, than it wud be sharply focused, creating the oversizing halo surrounding the corredtly focused subject in the picture.. This wud particularly be visible on the bright spots of the image--which is why u need to have light sources like street lamps in the frame. The halo is dependent on the out of focus factor of the second image.. The more it is out of focus, the larger the halo. To get a good effect, keep 'out of focused' image slightly underexposed than the original sharp shot.

NIGHT SHOOT WITH A DIFFERENCE

2009-07-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

THE ATMOSPHERE of a street at night lit by strong street lights can be made to look a lot more dramatic without using any spl filters. For instance u cud get a 'halo' effect around a street light (or any light source) can be achieved using the simple double exposure method. U wud need to shoot one correctly focused shot of the street having a few street light that are lit. And immediately after, u will need to again expose the same frame, but this time completely out of focus....Use a lowest possible ISO in ur camera, set it to the aperture priority and mount the camera on a tripod...Choose an aperture that will give u a good DOF and a long exposure time for the main image. Once u have determined the exposure time required for a given aperture, switch the camera to Manual mode and set the decided aperture...If the exposure time required was say four seconds, set the aperture to three seconds and shoot the first image......to continue

2-PHOTOGRAPHY-EARN MONEY-PHOTO-JOURNALISM

2009-05-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Continue......the guys from the press rushed to their respective newspaper HQs to process the images, select the best for the next morning....If I also tried to cover like them, nobody wud have accepted my photos since their press-men were already there.

After few days, i lined up my pictures, selected the best half a dozen photos and prepared a photofeature with 500 words of text, all high-lighting the human side of the day, including the football match photo....I contacted one my friend photo-editor and he accepted to publish it as a review on the next sunday's foto-feature plus i kept it for the next year, before beginning of the annual event of the same....again it was published as a start-up with two newpapers and a magazine and brought me some good amount of money.

Not necessarily u have high end camera...but any camera with good contrast and pin-sharp photos will do. In photojournalism, round the year u get photographs of different events in ur town or nearby city plus several local festivals.....where leisurely u can do ur job and present it at the appropriate time to the newspapers, magazines and fetch a good amount to further ur hobby and become a known photo-journalist. Then u will find calls from newspapers and magazines without ur efforts to reach them.....and in due course of time, u get friendly with them and they treat u as a part of their journal.

PHOTOGRAPHY-EARN MONEY-PHOTO-JOURNALISM

2009-05-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Clicking,clicking......why do not try to monetyse ur hobby....there is vast field of photojournalism and ensure a continuous source of income.

Is press photography and photo-journalism same?.....nay....press photography is a fire-brigade type of operation where u hear of the event or directed by the photo-editor of the concerned newspaper and rush to the scene with ur camera.....Whereas the P-J is a leisurely operation.....A press photographer must get his photos somehow with no emphasis on quality.....NEXT MORNING THE PEOPLE WAIT FOR HIS PHOTOGRAPH...so word ANYHOW...however, some more conscious ones manage with their colleagues and may attend other event....While in photo-journalism, the photographer has all the time to plan his strategy and produce the work of High Order.

For example, once i went to a football match with my friend press photographer to shoot from the press stand....While his attention was fully on the players and the ball to catch the best of photographs for his news paper, so he may rank high alongwith the reputation of the newspaper.....I took 2-3 shots of players with ball and turned to the masses with different shoutings, expressions, jumping, whistling, fighting etc. and grabbed some very off-beat shots................to continue......gshroti@in.com

PHOTOGRAPHY-DOCTORS' ROLE IN OT.

2009-04-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

I think this aspect of photography is found less to read. Here the professional photographer plays his role with the team of Doctors...who understands the delicacy of this branch....However, many a times. when a pro photographer or a trained assistant is not available in the operating room, this work can be done by the operating surgeon himself....Before permitting a camera, the permission of Anesthetist is most essential....The equipment shd be clean though not sterilized and can be wraped in the sterile towels....Tripod, too, when taken into shd be cleaned with antiseptic lotions.
TO photograph different stages in surgery, one has to select the field of operation and mount a pro dcam on a tripod away from the OT table.....Short focal length lenses are to be avoided and shd not be used as we have to go very close to the area of operation....Hence the area to be photographed has to be prefocused and composed on the LCD or viewfinder....A long focal length macro lens say 100mm or 200mm (medical nikon) with ring flash around the front element of the lenses is fixed.....To expose and to operate the shutter by the surgeon himself, there are few options: 1. change the sterile glove after each expose by wearing two gloves one over the other...2.stainless steel long flexible cable releases are available which can be auto calved...3. the shutter release is operated by a foot switch as u operate a cautery....Above all the operator has to take extra precaution to maintain sterile while photographing eye and dental....there are special cameras available with a fixed 200mm lens and ring flash designed for clinical photography work.

Surgeons use their eyes to operate as much as their hands for instrumentation. The same eye to hand coordination is also used in medical photography.....However, by virtue of their profession, most surgeons are as aesthetically visual as graphic artists, photographers, film-doyens......

For photographers: having an artistic approach to the subject make u a better scientific photographer....Everthing is becoming much more artistic....u can take pix with dramatic lighting, intense colours, otherwise just plain photographs.......so buddies, if anybody is interested in this field of photography, and u become an expert, u are most necessarily required.

MODELLLING

2009-03-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

PEOPLE understand, particularly young gals and guys, that the profession of modelling is very easy to enter...besides they
are at the high when one or two photos of them are published....
HERE ARE SOME POINTS TO PONDER WHEN ENTERING IN THIS TOUGH COMPETITION....HOWEVER NECESSITY NEVER ENDS:

A model is a person who is posed or displayed for the purpose of art, other products or advertising..

Modelling is distinguished from other types of public performances, such as acting, dancing or mime artistry. ...although the wall is not well defined. ..MODELS have to express emotions in their photographs...therefore, many models are defined as ''actors'', who enter big screen and get success.

TYPES of models include GLAMOUR, FASHION, FITNESS, BIKINI, FINE ART OR BODY-PART MODELS......regarding payments, female models are paid higher than male counterparts.....NOT NECESSARY, all models are beautiful....however FASHION modelling can be defined in two categories: 1) editorial, 2) runway:

Catalogue, catwalk, print, lingerie,showroom, swimsuit, fashion fitness,gym fitness etc.....the SIZES may well be: for gals:
34-24-34....height-5 ft 8 in.
35-24-35 '' ''
-For guys: chest: 32-40 in......height 5 ft 11 in to 6 ft 2 in
waist: 26-33 in.

The point to remember is that the SEXUALITY is emphasized in GLAMOUR
CLOTHES are emphasized in FASHION.

THERE is general demand in cat-walking, and have to tour from local cities to foreign counties, where supermodels are highly paid.

THE requirements go for, photographers, painters, sculptors and other artists to pose live for their art........

PHOTOGRAPHY--ARTIFICIAL LIGHT--3

2008-10-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

IT may interest u to take photographs indoors, after some time of clicking. but for this u will need some basic equipments which may not be expensive, particularly, when the work is done on part time basis.
ALTHOUGH many pro shots of food and still life are taken with single light and a number of reflectors. but for portraits, still life again, and fashion, maximum 3 nos. of lights are sufficient. however, for more complex arrangements, u will require more lights.....next imp. accessory is a stable tripod with adjustable centre column. if u use flash lights in studio, then a flash meter well be of great help for accurate reading of light and exposure.
FLASH exposures are determined by the power of the flash, which is expressed by the GUIDE NO. ....IF A FLASH HAS A GUIDE NO. OF 40(IN FEET) for an ISO 100, the exposure can be determined by dividing the guide no. by the distance from flash to the subject. ...e.g. if the subject is 5 feet away, u wud require an aperture of f8.........object that are further away will get underexposed while those closure will be overexposed....suppose u double the distance between the subject and the camera, the light falling on it will be half the amount....a remedy to this cud be to keep all objects included in the picture at the same distance from the camera. and in order to get shadow details, u cud inclide ambient light..........most imp PRO STILL LIFE shots are the product shots. for such a shot, lighting is used more to reveal shape and texture. however, sometimes a harder light such as a spot light wud be required for surface textures......mirrors/aluminium foils cab be used to highlight certain areas whenever required.
STILL life photography is in itself a comprehensive subject. if some one wants to master it, he will have to practice a lot. besides, reading books on the subject by the masters.......thanks........(gshroti@ in.com).

PHOTOGRAPHY-ARTIFICIAL LIGHT--2

2008-10-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

USE OF AVAILABLE LIGHT:
During low light conditions, u will face the problem of sufficient lighting and wud run for the flash lights. however, it wud not be possible always, such as taking photographs at public functions, theatres, in restaurants and other interiors. here u will have to adopt shooting in the available light at that place, as even the camera flash will bring artificiality in the natural existing atmosphere. besides, u will have to resort to available light sources when shooting illuminated buildings and night scenes of the roads, of city, fireworks, during festivals etc.
While going to shoot such subjects, u will have to keep in mind certain conditions. first will be the level of light, which well be very low and in that case, u will have to use higher ISO, slow shutter speed and wide apertures. this will further necessitate using either tripods, monopods or some solid supports. this will stand good for static subjects, but for moving subjects, u will have to use a faster shutter speed, with higher ISOs and maximum apertures. no doubt, this may result in loss of quality and enhancing the noise, but ur ultimate goal wud be to catch the mood of the atmosphere. here in many cases the AUTO WHITE BALANCE will suffice, because u r not going to match the ambience atmosphere with that of daylight. ....rather this will contribute to ur photograph........while shooting night scenes, sometimes u may like to freeze ur subject or sometimes show blurryness. for freezing purpose, however a little bit higher shutter speed will be required. ...........and the another best time to shoot night pictures is at dusk, just before the sky loses all its light. this will help in getting the less contrasty results.
..........(to continue)......(gshroti@in.com).

PHOTOGRAPHY IN ARTIFICIAL LIGHT

2008-09-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

IT is a general notion to shoot pictures in available light by general public, amateurs etc...however, using artificial light will increase chances of opening new picture-taking possibilities.....a tungesten lamp or tubelight is the simple and most inexpensive piece of lighting equipment available in the house/working place.....in B&W, it is easier to take photos using this system....but in colour it is different....however, the dcam mfrs. have given the facility of white balance in these lights.....only thing is, the exposure will be longer and tripod is a must....in B&W times, we used two small tubelights in tin reflector and wonderful diffused light we got....
NOW the times have changed....there are photofloods and halogens, but with high intensity of light plus the problem of colour correction does not allow them useable. ..so now comes before us the easy alternative in the form of STUDIO FLASH. this is used by pros. in their studios and outdoors in weddings too....there is a flash tube and model tungsten bulb fitted in flash unit, which shows the accuracy of the flash light on the subject. ..using this will match the colour quality with that of daylight. so no need of colour correction. and next benefit is its high speed (almost 1/1000th of a second, which is sufficient to freeze any subject movement, thus giving the sharpest of image.
TO get DIFFUSED LIGHT, u will need an white umbrella or a soft box(of different sizes). in using umbrella, it is opposite. first the tube will throw light on the umbrella which will be reflected back on to the subject. in soft boxes, it is direct and provides diffused light.....besides there are attachments for concentrated light (such as on hairs/backgrounds as it is or with coloured gelatins), i.e. honeycomb grids and snoots, as suits to ur requirements. ...another thing u will require is white reflectors, may be white sheet or thermocol to fill in the lighting, or a black card sheet to slightly darken the effect, placed close to the face as per intensity, which u can view on ur LCD. ....before the coming of dcams, the pros. used polaroid cameras to preview the effect of light then make changes, if necessary and shoot the pix.....(to continue)....(gshroti@gmail.com).

LIGHTING--PHOTOGRAPHY'S LIFE--5

2008-09-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

MEDIUM LIGHT SOURCE:
TILL now u went thru bigger and smaller sources of light. in between these two extremes, there will be a range of infinite light sources. u just imagine a source positioned exactly between the bigger and smaller light sources and which is defined as a medium light source.
Medium light source gives directional light, but with softer shadows than that created by smaller light source. ...........this kind of lighting is excellent for PORTRAITURE as well as table-tops for illustrating gradation and form. Texture also is more distinct. ........shiny objects get especially well-lit as the high-light is well shaped. contrast is generally high and cud be reduced by using a bounce flash.
LET me clear ur curiosity about medium light.........here one of the most easily available medium light source lighting with natural light is a diffused window light. and outside comes the filtered sunlight during monsoon, which comes through a part of giant cloud, which becomes a big diffuser........and we refer as a medium light source....this can be under ths shadow (well-lit) of a tree and in house a covered verandah, where u can do manipulations by turning the subject and using a white thermocol as a reflector for any subject within its reach giving different ratios of light and shade. also can be used near an open door......this light is soft and gradual. this kind of loghting is best for portraiture. under this light, when shooting during morning or evening, a pale blue tinge may be caught......that can be done away with, UV or 1A skylight filter. or that can be corrected in post processing, if necessary......Thanks.......

LIGHTING--PHOTOGRAPHY'S LIFE--4

2008-09-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

SMALLER LIGHT SOURCE:
THIS light source is directional and casts hard-edged shadows. the sun is a small light source and its rays form harsh shadows.......as opposite to bigger light source, though also this source is bigger light source, it is so far away that it appears to be a smaller light source.
SMALL light sources are excellent in rendering texture and form. used in the right manner, direct sunlight can emphasise parts of a picture or the shape of an object.. on the positive side, smaller light sources inject life into small and simple objects with its direct-throw of hightlights and sharp shadows.......contrasts increase and many interesting effects can be created only with small light sources.
APART from texture, contrast and its ability to pick out natural visual patterns, smaller light sources create pointing and harsh highlights on objects. form tends to be more pronounced with this kind of lighting.. ..however, when the highlights add to the form and depth of an object, strong hightlights can be the cause of glare and distracting the metering system of the camera. despite the drawbacks, the glare can be removed by use of polariser and use of lenshood......this sort of lighting can make colours look brighter and vibrant..........however working with this type of lighting usually needs a certain amount of pre-planning.......(to continue).......(gshroti@gmail.com).

LIGHTING--PHOTOGRAPHY'S LIFE--3

2008-09-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

BIGGER LIGHT SOURCE:
THIS is characterised by light falling on a subject from all directions. this type of light hardly casts any shadow and is generally referred to as soft or diffused light. this light works well for some kind of portraits and table-tops. the lighting, being from all directions is more or less flat. a bigger light source limits depth & reduces the three- dimentional effect..............THE most common example is an overcast sky. the light is soft even and does not throw shadows and hardly creates any sort of highlights on objects. the texture is subdued and the contrast is lower. .....one of the interesting feature of this type of lighting sources is that they create excellent and even reflections on glossy surfaces. a shiny subject and the reflections of the surroundings off the subject can be photographed far more effectively due to almost non-existent highlights on the object as well as in the reflections.
OVERCAST days are ideal for taking pix of people as soft light flattens skin tones. however, this kind of lighting has limitations as well. because there are no shadows, objects tend to appear flat and without depth. general scenes too tend to lose out on depth. the use of a good composition is necessary to depict depth more effectively in such photographs where the light comes from a vast area..................(to continue)..........(gshroti@gmail.com).

LIGHTING--PHOTOGRAPHY'S LIFE--2

2008-08-31T06:45:00.000-07:00

DEFINE good lighting?...........the most difficult question, if asked to define good lighting. the good lighting for a given moment, cannot be defined.....different situations require different kind of lighting. ...LIGHTING for a table-top is different for lighting for portraits. in the same way, when talking about lighting for landscapes, the lighting for a mountain-side will not be suitable for buildings or a seashore/beach. this is the place where an expert photographer can show his capability.
MANY people may think that the natural lighting cannot be controlled. here the question to the newbies and the experienced photographers may put in dilemma how one can control the existing natural light. however, the fact is that the natural light can be controlled and used in a variety of ways.
THE light falling on the subject can be softened by allowing it to pass through a diffuser such as a translucent sheet of plastic, or a paper. by varying the degree of translucency of the diffuser, the degree of softness of the light can also be altered......the mirrors or different polished or reflective surfaces can be used to redirect light into the frame. however, reflectors can be of many types. ..a simple mirror can be used as reflector that can redirect almost 100% of the light. a crumpled piece of foil redirects the light but the effect will be softer than that of mirror........GOLD reflectors can be used to achieve a warmer effect. others, such as white paper/thermocole can be used as effective reflectors to redirect natural light. next we may think of controlling natural light is by using a flash gun as fill-in, wherein the natural light behaves as the main source of lighting the subject. u might have witnessed the big reflectors on the TV,while shooting serials/films, being used to throw back the natural light on the subjects, either as main light(such as in shooting against light) or as fill in from sides/fronts, or mirrors to enhance the hair-lighting........to continue......(cgshroti@ymail.com)

LIGHTING--PHOTOGRAPHY'S LIFE

2008-08-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

ANY writing, essay, or blog shd first consider this aspect of photography:what is lighting, how lighting affects photography, photography cannot be imagined without light, sources of light, effect of light on films/sensors, how images are made.........there are several questions without answering/understanding them, u cannot start photography because light is the main component in the success or failure of photography.......the light is such a powerful tool,... that appearance of a person or object can change a lot with the change in direction and source of light....the perception of light does not involve just the source of light but also the quality of light.
LIGHT is a most strong element that affects every stage in the image making process.....visible lighting is just a part of electromagnetic spectrum(energy travelling in wave form). if any of the wavelengths are filtered or absorbed, we get a definite colour and the colour quality of light also varies with the position of the sun in the sky. for example, at sunrise or sunset it is warmer, due to absorption of longer wavelengths.

RULE OF THIRDS --PHOTOGRAPHY

2008-08-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

USually the photographers are unaware of certain rules which shd dominate their composition.......otherwise the photographs will satisfy u only and not the publishers/competition judges.........and u will never come out of

that well......HERE i relate for ur benefit the most imp of all rules-RULE OF THIRDS--.........this is the most used compositional guideline. this rule was initially used by painters to create proper visual balance in their paintings..................photography has borrowed from this and used this rule to define visual balance in a photograph.

DIVIde the picture horizontally and vertically into thirds......the main subject of interest of your photograph shd be within the four intersection points of the diagram..........generally, the ease with which this rule can be applied depends upon the subject as well as the situation. .........the rule of thirds cannot be used easily with landscapes because the object within the frame cannot be moved.........what can be done, however, is that the perspective and position of the photographer can be changed to allow for the rule to apply so that the photograph shd be visually appealing to the viewer.....however there are different branches in photography, where this rule can 'rule' easily and effectively to save photograph being disintegrated.

SHOOTING FIREWORKS

2008-08-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

THere are moments, when u cannot keep your camera in almirah. ...and that is the time shooting fireworks after sun sets......more than 75% of the photographers i met were curious of shooting fireworks.............................SNAP up beautiful fireworks using a d-cam with a shutter speed longer than 1/2 a second. ideally choose a shutter speed 2 to 10 seconds to capture all the sparkle. most essential, u will require a TRIPOD to avoid shaky, haphazard photos. so are the dangerous, the vibrations. if remote shutter release can be used, the better, otherwise a long lockable cable release may be the best alternative.
SET ISO setting to the lowest to reduce noise/grains. .....preview the shot on the LCD panel and accordingly adjust the aperture(shutter speed /aperture combination). while viewing fireworks on LCD screen, u will understand which aperture will be best for shutter speed of say 1/4 sec.so u can try f8,f11,f16 and take the shots to get the bright sharp photos.
FOR multiple fireworks u can use bulb setting, but be cautious to close the shutter, or put the lens cap over the lens, if used, as soon as the multi-bursts are out, to be at safer side..............u can shoot from a distance also to include the city lights, river, bridge etc which are already lighted by the city lights.........in this setting, if the bursts are many at side-by-side, u will get a good capture........so a simple but creative/lucrative happening for ur photography......good luck.

CANDIDS OF A CHILD.

2008-08-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

PHOTOgraphing a child in his or her own element can capture a level of innocence that u never achieved with a 'posed' shot. ......take snapshots while the child is playing, watching tv, reading, jumping or just about doing anything..............you may never know where u may strike a gold and get that shot of a lifetime.

AUTOMATIC FLASH IN PRACTICE

2008-08-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

AUTOmatic or computer flash units are designed to give correct amount of flash illumination for subject of various distances without the need for calculations based on a guide no............They do this by adjusting the duration of the flash automatically according to the subject range.
BEcause an auto flash guages the exposure according to the amount of light reflected from the subject, it also automatically takes into account the overall lightness or darkness of the scene in front of it. When the light sensor reads that the subject has received the enough light for the ISO set and aperture in use, it cut off the light.
SO all thing being equal, the closure the subject is to the camera, the shorter the total flash duration. u just set an aperture to suit your ISO speed, and keep that aperture for all distances within the flash range and your subject will be correctly exposed. ........what the newbies do. they set the aperture at f5.6 and flash on auto at f.5.6 at ISO 100, they go on exposing and slightly increase the aperture to f4, f3.5 in long distances (12 to 15 ft above) and get the correct exposure.......nowdays the ultimate weapon is the auto flash gun for photographers.

COLOUR BLUR

2008-08-03T00:53:00.000-07:00

DEliberate waving around of the camera during longish exposures can produce very attractive abstract photographs. this works more successfully usually with colour rather than b&w,
THe different colours can paint an exciting abstract image when abstract tonal variations are seldom interesting. this will quench the thirst of the photographers who wish to experiment for abstract creation of images rather than direct capturing of images. on one site, I noticed that photographers were craving for abstract photographs but unable to do so and many a times confused realistic photograph as abstract. abstract in photography is a different dimension than paintings. still creation is a creation whatever the medium. modern day d-cams have sufficient opportunities to experiment and make colour abstracts. this i have seen in some exhibitions. the competition organisers may keep one section as ''Abstract Photography'' in colour.
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PHOTOGRAPHY FOR U--SHOOTING DIFFERENT SKIN TONED PEOPLE.

2008-07-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

IT is a normal practice with every unexperienced photographer , how to expose people, particularly with dark skin tones and light skin tones. naturally when u meter towards these subjects, the fluctuations will occur in your camera or external meter.......meter is light sensitive and as u wud expect, the lighter subject reflect light and the dark one absorbs it............suppose u set the meter correctly taking the meter reading from your palm, which is of normal tone. ....now move your lens towards a almost white skin tone of a girl, such as 'Kashmiri girl'..........u will see that your meter goes up showing overexposure......now turn the lens towards a dark complexioned girl,..........ur meter will go down, showing under exposure...........then how to take correct exposed skin texture of both the girls.............very natural, if u have read some lessons of photography...........underexpose by half to one stop for the white skinned girl and overexpose in the same way for the dark complexioned girl to get the correctly exposed photograph............yes, in general group give the exposure demanded by the camera's exposure meter where different complexioned people are there(in shadow).
seeing the different coloured people, group, may be students or general people in shadow, i bring down my camera's exposure towards a little bit darkerened road, or go close to the person of middle range skin tones take reading and and then shoot.

USE OF D-PHOTOGRAPHY

2008-07-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

DIGItal photography benefitted many fields, in which the uppermost is Journaliasm where the photographs are now immediately transmitted from the site they have been taken,over the Internet, telephone lines,wireless connections and can be used for newspapers in a low resolution than required in magazines/brochures and many branches of publications.................NEXT is the MULTIMEDIA applications such as software packages,corporate presentations, television and ad agencies, production houses amd much more......others are GRAPHIC illustrations, like posters, books, mags,journals, reports etc., besides...............copying old photographs..............COMMERCIAL photography by renowned photographers using large format cameras even, giving quality equivalent to films............ FOR web publishing, badges, buttons, business cards, astronomy and the most of all in SPACE exploration and many fields.

SEE BACK......

2008-07-03T13:20:00.000-07:00

I HAVE given briefs of digital cameras as u have seen in earlier pages........TO come out from the machinery, let us see how the machinery can be used for your creative purpose:
i have written in the title 'see back'............it is not your back but subject's back who is before your camera. this is the thing mostly overlooked by the photographers in order to be busy with their subject alone, not what is surrounding it................here I WILL SUGGEST that u shd check your the image in your viewfinder properly, before clicking the photograph. place your subject keeping the background in mind..................look out for tree, or electric/telephone poles sprouting from your subject's head. cluttered background will be distracting. therefore, in order to take good photo in one go, choose your background carefully...........................PLAIN BGs will help emphasise your subject beautifully, since at that time your full attention will be on your subject...........thanks God if she be your girlfriend, then double attention will be required for clicking one shot.so i plead that u be conscious of your photo's background more than as much u are interested to take your well planned shot...................

D-CAMERAS--7

2008-07-03T00:40:00.000-07:00

CATEGORIES............WE can categorise the d-cams in 3 categories.................CONSUMER P&S cameras...........they come in the category of compacts and have features limited to a certain extent. howver many of them provide, video facility with sound. now with the advancement, they are also having 7,8,10 mehapixels, no dounr though pocketable generally with 3x optical zoom and 4x digitam zoom.so u can get prints upto 8x12 without noise..............PROSUMER CAMERAS..............they look like 35mm film cameras and have built-in lens and all the features of an advanced camera including large LCD and moveable in some cameras, like handicams. their demand is high because of prices and all features and long range zooms say 28-504mm, 36-432mm, in other words 10x, 14x, 18x and 20x zooms. the also work as a second camera for the serious enthusiasts and pros. DSLR CAMERAS ....they are the brother of old 35mm film cameras. the sensor has taken place of the film and being digital, different features, big LCD panel have been added and have same facility of programmed shutter, shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual settings plus an array of other feature to make them a really digital cams.....their beauty is that they can take good photos in low lighting conditions. built in small flash is a compulsory feature.

D-CAMERAS--6

2008-06-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

ENgineers were eager to put several features in d-cams and lo...........one camera.............features galore. most and first was the automation. autofocus brings the centre of interest into sharpfocus. further, the WHITE BALANCE adjusts the colours according to the source of light. auto FLASH fires automatically, if the light is low...AUTO ADVANCE prepares the camera for the next photographs.
STorage of images.........................the number of images u can store in a camera depends upon a variety of factors. .....the no. u can store is important, because once u reach the limit, u have no choice but to quit taking of pix and if necessary, erase some of the images to make room for the new.....ALL dcams use some sort of storage system, such as built in MBs, flash memory cards. after the card is full, u can insert another or reduce the resolution and take more pix in low MPs.
TRansfering images to a computer. the memory card holds images upto a particular extent. and to make space again in it, u have to transfer them to your computer thru cable (USB) DIRECT FROM YOUR CAMERA OR ALTERNATIVELY use CARD READER device, in which u insert your flash card/SD/MMC/memory stick cards and download the images into the computer.
VIdeo output................u can use NTSC/PAL to attach your camera to a television to view your images more clearly and also for home/family viewing.

D-CAMERA--5

2008-06-26T23:31:00.000-07:00

DIgital refers to the binary representation of data as bits and bytes. basically the binary representation of data is used by computer to create, manage and store information.
Bits and Bytes:a bit is the smallest unit of information that a computer can store and process and there are 8 bits in a byte.............PIXEL..is the smallest addresseable point of bitmapped screen that can be independently assigned colour and intensity................BITMAP is a digital representation of a picture in which all the dots or pixels making of the picture are placed in a square grid and correspond to specifically assigened bits in computer memory..................RESOLUTION..IS THE DEGREE OF SHARPNESS of an image displayed on a computer screen or quality of printed output expressed in dots per inch(dpi). resolution is usually equated with quality. the higher the resolution, the higher the image quality. .................COMPRESSION..is a data storage scheme in which data files are compressed by algorithms to save disk space.......................SOFTWARE DRIVERS..are files that allow your computer to communicate with peripheral devices such as scanner, digital camera, printer and modem.............

D-CAMERAS--4

2008-06-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

THe image sensor in d-cams has an impact on the images u shoot. this image sensor is the permanent part of your d-cam. these sensors, like films, render colour differently, have different amounts of grain, different sensitivities to light etc.
RESOLUTION..... this refers to the sharpness and details in an image. thereby the companies are now capable of producing higher resolution cameras like 6 to 10 megapixels. higher the resolution better the pictures and also for purpose of good enlargements.
SENSITIVITY:..........like films the companies have adopted the same type of range for sensitivity of the sensors i.e. ISO. like films lower ISO sensitivity gives better results and if the ISO is increased, the quality suffers and grains (n0ise) appear more prominently. for instance, the ISO ranges from 100 to 3200. ..........and like films lower ISO needs more light than higher. so while shooting, check the ISO according to the density of light i.e. low light will need higher ISO AS OPPOSITE TO LOWER ISO suppose in sunlight.
ONE MORE thing to point out is that higher resolution(more megapixels) reduces the number of images to be recorded by a d-cam. while lower image quality(low resolution--less megapixels)allows u to store more images and that depends upon the necessity of shooting pix.

D-CAMERAS--3

2008-06-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

DIgital cameras are are not just cameras but more than that. generally we expect still photographs but using d-cams, u also get video with sound. this is a unique feature in small d-cams...........u can shoot like video. coming in this category, they became more like multimedia recorders than cameras. however, they still retain some features of film cams e.g. shutters and exposurers and lenses besides their own loads of new features, that include replacement of films by solid-state image sensors and they are divided in two categories i.e. CCD and newer CMOS image sensor.
OPerating system: .............the d-cam needs an operating system like the computers and this software works for image compression, file storage, image display and other basic tasks which helps working of the d-cam.......................as the computers need processors to handle their calculations, so required by the d-cams.....in this way your d-cam is half computer in which the processor provide functions like image preview, image capture, compression, filter, storage, transfer snd display...............but one imp thing is that u cannot download the pix taken by another camera which will need its own software...............so for different make of cams, different software are used.........not one software will be used for all d-cams. your-own......mine-own system.
THe IMAGE SENSOR.........it is worth noting that the image sensor is the 'film' in a d-cam and it plays such an imp role as their characteristics have a great impact on the quality of your images.............................

D-CAMERA--2

2008-06-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

DIgital camera, as u will know, differ in storage capacity. many operate dependent on computer and have no storage capacity of their own. some have in-camera storage only and others have a combination of in-camera storage supported by removal cards. however, in all cases, the photos can be erased whenever required. photos are saved safely in the camera's memory and will not be deleted until u instruct the camera or software. out of these, many cameras are mfd. to be used on location and do not require to be connected to the computer until u wish to download or transmit pictures. the MCU chip is the essential driver of the camera and monitors all tasks taking place in the camera. during power on, the MCU goes out and finds out that all the major camera components are okay. if any major component is not working, a message appears on the LCD and the camera stops working.
IN autofocus (which are generally) cameras when a person presses and holds down the shutter release button half way, the inbuilt 4-bit MPU takes a light reading and obtains the reading that how long the shutter shd remain open and how much light is necessary. the camera opens for the length of time specified by the 4-bit MPU. and for example, the charged-coupled device (CCD) captures light as red, blue and green pixels. the pixels pass thru many of the components in the camera for white balance and colour. the pixels continue on until they get 4 MB frame board. this board puts all the pixel back together in the form of a digital image.

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR U.

2008-06-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

SINCE last 10 yeqrs the photography has come under a great change from its inception. the films have turned into DIGITAL sensor, who took the responsibility of photographing images in place of films.. thus DIGITAL CAMERAS came into being. they are little computers that can photograph pix. they are packed-full of computer memory, microchips,micro-processors and a CCD image sensor chip. this camera contains a charge- coupled device(CCD) on which the image is captured. software inside the camera looks at the image three times - ones each for RED,GREEN,& BLUE then combines and presents the complete RGB picture on the screen. CCD is similar to film in a conventional camera. the CCD is used to capture the digital pictures,and pictures are usually stored in Erasable, Programmable Memory microchips.
DIGITAL CAMERAS HAVE SPEED RATINGS THAT ARE SIMILAR in concept to film speed. some cameras operate at a fixed speed and others offer flexibility in speeds to match changing conditions.

photography

2008-06-09T00:33:00.000-07:00

o
one of the greatest innovation of our time.................to catch u, your actions in the modern machine..........the DIGITAL CAMERA. every home's only talk, when an event happens, is 'where is the dcam'. how beautiful, no expenditure on film but only one 'memory card' and have thousands of photographs............of any function, travel,marriage, mundan ceremony etc etc and make a movie also.........so u do not need a handicam even, the day to day activities of your tiny one, grannie, grandpa,(THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY), brother,sister and all other relatives..........if u want get the prints from a colour lab or upload to your laptop/compu. to make an ALBUM/ALBUMS of your great memories and view online, whenever u desire & wherever u are.in the world, the memories are with u.and NOW...............................................................................................there are 3 types of dcams there.in the market..........for home, the compact model and for more enthusiast....a prosumer camera and for semi pro/pro...............there is a range of DSLRs to satisfy their thirst of catching images, of home, outside, landscapes, skyscapes, old monuments........and u can do this with all 3 cameras, so u need not to be hopeless. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,enjoy the moments of life, ENJOY MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY. ....GOOD LUCK.

intellectualism

2008-05-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

In the words of swami chinmayanand: ''the path by which u can realise the Truth is not merely dry intellectualism. if dry intellectualism could realise Truth then all philosophy professors wud be already realised.'' ......... the emotions play an important role in building ways to find out the divine Truth. Truth is not away from intellectualism, but to find out Truth your intellect wud have to take support of the emotions. then the God can be realised. but that is not the ultimate truth. the ultimate truth lies in humanism and the intellectualism may be a part of that humanism which is the basis of this life on this earth. so your brain cannot be intellectual-less, because the ultimate realisation comes through brain. the brain is the pivot point of this humanism, because more powerful is behind the less powerful to make it equal or surpass it. and this is the realisation of Truth, in my view.

photographing children

2007-05-14T12:13:00.001-07:00

the most difficult part of the photography is to photograph children. although there may be few children who are rather open in thei r behaviour with other persons, but in general, they are very much shy and do not mix up easily with unknown persons. sometimes you take pictures of children on your own, sometimes parents summon you at their residence with orchard etc for props and backdrop and other time the child enter in your studio with parents. he is total new to the atmosphere. god forbid, he may start crying as soon as he/she sees you. there are the lights around. soft boxes and open umbrellas are sufficient to make him more scared. he will not sit where you ask nor stand but only in parents lap. oh my god, how much you will take your time t o photograph the little giant. as soon as you see him in his face, he starts weeping. parent too are worried. they also become restless and start scolding the child. the young creature start weeping as if badly beaten. i remember few photographers who do not take to child photography. more than parents you have to do PT LIKE EXERCISE. the toys will have no effect. you cannot give him a costly one. the thing i learnt and many a photographers have adopted not to talk of photography nor to take him in the studio. but make friendship with him so that he is well acquainted before going in front of the camera. this may be cajoling him, taking him around with, offer chackos etc. if parents don't object. when the little creature feel at ease after some time you may cajole him to sit or stand as you please. most difficult while photographing is that if you give him a toy or artificial flowers, he will not look up at the camera pleasingly(as most parent s want).i think by this time you are sufficiently tired and the child is at his ease. one instance i would like to share. one day parents came with their only son, who by seeing the surroundings, started crying loudly. the mother was restless and after much cajolingv slapped him. he was on the sky at full pitch. i was keeping away except few easeful signals. the child didn't calm down and while the mother could handle him, he was on the floor with a small drop of blood from his front teeth. lord forbid, the parens were very much excusing while holding the child's face down on her shoulder, the mother asked for the permission. one day i happened to go to one my friend, the child was hilarious. i took some shots from my pocket kodak digital. the pix came outstanding andsome were enlarged. only thing is that when the child arrives, make him friendly as much as possible before shoot. i take 3-4 month's children's photographs in their mother's hands keeping slightly away from her face. lastly the atmosphere creared by you in studio or outside plays an important role for a good clicking. secondly, leave parents aside, you never be impatient. this thing many photographers don't do far want of time. thanks to them also.

to photograph a flower

2007-04-26T03:38:00.000-07:00

I love shooting flowers with my camera since a long time. It is the only nature's creativity that soothes the eyes and you immediately whisper 'beautiful'. Oh God you have given birth on this earth, we are obliged to you. But when I BEHOLD any beautiful flower it comes to my thoughts that Oh God, you were not partial when you made these beautiful flowers alongwith us. No doubt they have small life,but in that small span of life they bestow so much to live to that we have nothing but smiles on our lips. A happy smile is like a thousand beautiful flowers. There may be different likings but the goal goes only to the beauty of those ever smiling beautiful flowers. If you have that bent of mind, you can stand hours gazing those small charmers in a garden. I can only thank God that always keep them in our company so that the life becomes full of cheers and ever-remaining smiles. Lastly, I will mention that all the colours on earth are nowhere present but in the flowers.