It has been sometime that I have left my job and am now a student. Being back at college is awesome, no doubts, but a little tiny part of me, misses those deadline oriented work at break-neck speeds, pulling 14 hours shifts when needed, looking forward to the Friday and Saturday nights….above all the friends I made 🙂
This post is to some of the best days of my life!
Assignments, tests and presentations have kept me busy pretty much. So I am reduced to the weekly posts and some occasional compilations. Soon though, I intend to make a trip to the nearby locations and come back with some mesmerizing shots.
Have you been to an empty house? The furniture covered, dust settled on them. Only the ticking of the wall clock. The floor creaks as you walk about and you get the feeling that though the place is empty, but you are not alone.
Now, imagine that being an entire village. Had it been thriving, it would have been the biggest village in the vicinity. Almost a hundred houses. All alike, and empty. No roofs remain, doors gone, and the people who called this place their home, have vanished.
This could be the perfect setting for some horror flick too. And this place exists very much on the map. I give you , Kuldhara. Dont be creeped out just yet.
A hamlet on the outskirts of the golden city of Jaisalmer, is this empty, and often referred as haunted village. There are more than a hundred houses and none of them are surviving in proper conditions. Folklore is that one night following decisions by the village elders, the entire village shipped out, with their belongings and also the temple idol, never to be found or traced again. All they left behind were the lores, the empty houses and a curse that no one will be able to stay in the village. True to the word, the village is devoid of any settlement, human or otherwise.
The feeling that you are being watched, is highly felt and a certain sadness fills you up as you see the ruins.
All that remains are just ruins!
This is also an example of double exposure shots. More to follow soon.
Photographs are generally classified on terms of locations, themes, stories they depict, subjects they focus on, so on and so forth. As the multitude of classifications exist, so are the personal favourites. My favourite is portrait.
The main objective of the portrait from my point of view is to portray certain emotion, or a certain feeling through the photo. Â My model should be the point of focus, and the emotions felt, the expressions emitted should be captured in the best of possibilities. If I manage to show to my audience, what my subject felt while the shot was taken, I feel, its a good portrait.
Today, I shall put down certain points which I feel are important while taking portraits. I keep these points in my mind while shooting and so far, they have served me well.
1. Focus on the eyes: The first rule, by me, is the focus should be on the eyes. Not on the nose, not on the lips, the EYES. Why? Because consciously or not, that’s the first thing that catches our eye in the photo. So, a sharply focused eye of the model, makes the photo likable immediately.
Sharp focus is on the eyes
2. Let the eyes see: I ll explain this, in simpler terms. I mean, let the photo be such that the model has some place to look to, that the viewer also looks towards the way the model is watching. Let the curiosity be there. If the model is looking towards left, leave some space in the left, and vice versa.
She looks to her left, so thats where the space should be
3. Change the angles and point of views: All shots need not be taken right from the eye level. Go up, go down or maybe, just take a step back. They all work wonderfully.
Take a step back, and let her beauty fill the frameMake her look up to youIf needed, get down on the ground too
4. Anticipate Movements:Â While shooting at an event, you shall come across conditions where your model is in motion. Observe the patterns and anticipate the movements, be ready and press the shutter at the right moment. With a bit of practice, sharp shots of moving people will not be difficult.
Anticipate the patternPrefocus, be ready and shoot!
5. Go Candid:Â Â Here, you just need to be on the prowl. Keep your eyes peeled for subjects to be shot. Sometimes they notice you and the expression changes, the objective is to shoot before the expression changes. But be advised, the shots may not be as you would have wanted them to be, but then, sometimes, gems emerge too.
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6. Bokeh to the rescue:Â If you have a background which has distractions, or maybe you just dont want the background, open the aperture wide and let the background fade.
The tip of the finger is all I am interested in, rest all should fadeTo isolate the model from the distracting background, use a wide aperture
7. Use Flash:Â When shooting in the dark, or poorly lit conditions, use the flash as a last resort. With a few test shots, gauge what strength and what shutter speed you need to do justice to your model. Once found, fire away.
The flash gives the adequate light and also helps freeze the motionCombination of Flash and wide aperture helps isolate the model and also provide proper lighting
8. Get close: Â Often to capture the expression, you must get very close to your model. But be advised, do not disturb the natural surroundings in the process.
Concentration….captured
9. Ask the model to smile: This trick, never gets old. Ask your model to relax and take a seat. Bring out your gear and show them how to take a shot, and when they have relaxed, ask them to smile….voila! You have a genuine and happy smile,
Effortlessly beautiful
10. Try Monochrome:Â For a lot of shots, the monochrome version appears to be of more depth. Try it out, but dont overdo it.
Beauty as I know best
So, there you go. 10 simple tips to get you going on your next portrait shooting trip. Go on, have fun and shoot some wonderful portraits.
Thanks a lot to the wonderful models here: Nikhila, Gowri, Rishika, Shruti, Soma, Mayukh, Shweta, Parthivi, Aakash, Anushree, Yogi and my muse, Tuhina. You all are simply wonderful 🙂
We are always asked to look up and aim high, and then only shall we reach our objective. Its true. We should also keep our base strong and firm, keep our feet on solid ground, and then, take the lunge up to our goals. Do take a moment, reflect and have a look at the ground beneath your feet.
A bit of green, and whole lot of concrete! A happy and sound foundation for me!
I have tried out with close up filters and more recently with free lensing. The best close up, macro shots are by the dedicated macro lens, but these techniques get you pretty close too. Check the earlier works here.
Here are some of the reverse lensing shots which have got me close, less than 10 cms close to my subject.
Silica Gel crystalsReflections on water dropletsCigarette!
Have a look at the other entries on macro shots here!
“…I got headlights to guide me thru the night
I got the window down and the radio playing
It makes me feel alive…”
-Open Road, Bryan Adams
Being a car enthusiast too, driving feels like a very comforting and soothing thing to do. Whenever I have jarred nerves, a drive is all I need to calm myself down.
This is my third entry for the Three Quotes, Three Days Challenge. Rules are as follows: 1. Post 3 of your favorite quotes each per day for 3 recurrent days. The quotes can be of any other people or it may come straight from your own heart. 2. Nominate 3 bloggers with each post to challenge them. 3. Don’t forget to utter a thankful word to the person who nominated you.
This post shall be the last one from home. Â Because in less than 24 hours from now, I shall be on my way to my college to begin classes for my masters. New town, new environment, new people and back to studies; it should be fun.
..Here I stand, and Here I ll stay,
let the storm rage on….
– Let It Go, Frozen
Another of my favourite quotes, and from a song that I find pretty inspirational. Here is my friend and colleague at the Paradise Beach in Pondicherry. This is  my second entry for Three Quotes, Three Days Challenge.Â
The rules are simple: 1. Post 3 of your favorite quotes each per day for 3 recurrent days. The quotes can be of any other people or it may come straight from your own heart. 2. Nominate 3 bloggers with each post to challenge them. 3. Don’t forget to utter a thankful word to the person who nominated you.
“That long cold black cloud is coming down
I’m feelin’ like I’m knocking on Heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knocking on Heaven’s door”
–Â Bob Dylan
This song has been stuck in my head since time immemorial and even though it has an immensely dark tone to it, somehow, it still feels comforting. Maybe am just a bit weird, but then, that’s just me.
Thanks to Magdalena for nominating me for the Three Days, Three Quotes challenge. The rules are simple:
1. Post 3 of your favorite quotes each per day for 3 recurrent days. The quotes can be of any other people or it may come straight from your own heart. 2. Nominate 3 bloggers with each post to challenge them. 3. Don’t forget to utter a thankful word to the person who nominated you.
Today I got my 100th follower, and I was very happy. It made me think that today something special needs to be done, something innovative. So, I revisited an issue I had previously, how to take macro photos on a budget. The macro lens I am aiming for, is still pretty much out of my reach, but lens reversal, that can be done right…so lets try it.
I pulled out my body cap and hollowed it out, and stuck one of the UV filters to it, thread facing outward.Â
I put a bit of sticking tape to reinforce the joint, and voila! my lens reversal system is ready. Now, does it manage to hold the lens?
Oohhh yeeaahh!!! Works fine till here. Lets test!
By the results, I am happy. No, they are not as nice as a macro lens, but surely a huge improvement than using the macro filters. Check the previous post here and see for yourself.
The DOF is incredibly small, maybe 2 or 3 millimeters deep, at a maximum, when the aperture is open wide. Keeping the aperture open is an issue, needs to be done manually. I wont lie, to take a photo, I needed to shoot at least 10, and it is tiresome. But the results are very much satisfying. Am working on some more close ups, hopefully will post them soon.
TRAVELOGUES AND TREASURES 