Photography – Page 6 – TRAVELOGUES AND TREASURES

F8 at Infinity -1

Hi there readers,

Agreeing to the fact that my posts have been few, of late, you ll be glad to know, that it has not been only work and no play. I did manage to get some time to go shoot too.

When you use a DSLR, taking one handed shots are not what you predict yourself to be doing. But what if, you were to use just one hand to shoot? What would be your go to settings?? I am working on a series ” F8 at Infinity” to test just that. Here, the shots shall be one handed, aperture set at F8, focus at Infinity, 50 mm lens, Nikon D3100 body. The shutter speed and ISO shall be variable. Might even use the Aperture Priority mode for the same.

Here goes, the first one!

Shot somewhere between Andheri and Dadar, in Mumbai, India from the daily suburban train I travel in! Shows a grim picture of the cleanliness front. We are not perfect, still getting there!

Follow for the future posts. Let me know what you think of the this series in the comments, I will love to hear from you.

Cheers!!

May 24, 2017 by SenK Categories: F8atinfinity, OCOL, PhotographyTags: 50mm f1.8, F8atinfinity, Indian Railways, Litter, Mumbai, Nikon D3100, OCOL, Railway Tracks Leave a comment

The Cat Cafe Studio – Part 2

In the previous part, you saw what makes the Cat Cafe Studio special and stand out of the crowd. This part is a special post dedicated to a couple of kittens who waged a war against each other for a toy. They stalked, pounced, bared their teeth and tumbled together in the fight. The winner, you may ask… lets find out!!

Without further ado, lets become spectators as two mighty warriors fight it out!

In the beginning, this was the one happy with the toy..

And Then….someone else spotted it!

And Stalked the target

Pounce…and the battle began

Success!

Scoping for revenge…

Attack!!!

I feel, in the end, they kinda decided to reconcile and chew each end of the toy! We hoomans ought to learn a few things on sharing from these kittens!!

Let me know in the comments below what you found interesting and what you would like to see more!

Till then,
Cheers!!

May 13, 2017May 13, 2017 by SenK Categories: OCOL, PhotographyTags: 50mm f1.8, Cat Cafe Studio, Cats, Furry, Kittens, Nikon D3100, OCOL, Pets, Playfights, Toys 2 Comments

The Cat Cafe Studio – Part 1

In one of my previous posts, a fellow blogger, The Krazy Butterfly, suggested that I ought to visit the cat cafe that exists in Versova, Mumbai. It sounded quite interesting, so, on 1st of May, I made the trip.
The Cat Cafe Studio has a seating capacity of about 50 to the brim, and has a tad expensive but good food. But that is not the main attraction.
The attractions are in a well aerated and barricaded room which houses the cats. They range from tiny kittens, to full grown, battle scarred cats. Each one has their separate temperament and attitude towards the guests. Some would playfully come close and cuddle, while others would observe you from a distance, then maybe, MAYBE, come close to you and let you touch them, for a microsecond and then purr off. It was absolute fun, and I am not the one who would go to an interesting place, and let the camera back. So, here goes…kitties galore!!

I spent about three hours in company of the cats, and loved every moment of it. Apart from being fun to watch, they have the ability to suck away the monotony of day to day life and make you happy. This applies for all the furry pets I know of though. What are your thoughts on this, dear reader? Let me know in the comments!!

In the next part of the post, I have for you, two kittens get into a fight over a toy!

Until then,
Cheers!!

May 7, 2017May 7, 2017 by SenK Categories: OCOLTags: Cats, Furs, Kittens, Moody, OCOL, Pets, The Cat Cafe Studio 1 Comment

Wandering through Delhi

Hi there readers,

The prompt came up as Wanderlust 🙂 and they asked about the places which made me feel different and amazing. The place that comes up readily, will be Delhi.
The hustle bustle, the crowd, the historic monuments, the food and uniquely, the company. It all amalgamated to be one of the most amazing trip of 7 days.
I wrote about them in detail in the posts which can be found here.
I ll share one of the shots that was a predetermined shot, as I call them, and it came out perfectly.

This, right here is, Bangla Sahib Gurdwara shot from across the tank.
Go through the link above, and let me know what you loved and what you believe could have been different.

Cheers!!

May 6, 2017 by SenK Categories: Photography, TravellingTags: Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, Delhi, Travelling, Wanderlust, weekly challenge Leave a comment

Surprise Surprise!!

A week back, I was at Pune for my post graduation convocation ceremony. As a rule, I had my camera along with me. After all was over, as we were packing our bags to return, I notice this kitten, sleeping soundly. Approached her a bit and stroked her fur, she purred contently. I pulled out my camera, fired off a few shots, and she was surprised at the sound, a bit curious too I guess! Loved the expression on the face 🙂

My schedule has restricted me to shooting quite occasionally. The stream of posts has become shallow but by no means dry! New post shall be up soon!
Cheers!!

April 30, 2017 by SenK Categories: OCOL, PhotographyTags: 50mm f1.8, Black and white, Kitten, Nikon D3100, OCOL, Pune, Surprise, weekly challenge 10 Comments

From up high, Mumbai

Dear readers, I apologize for not being as consistent as I used to be and would have loved being. Honestly, after pulling a 8 hour shift and another in travelling, the energy left in me, is not much. Hence, the delay.

I am also guilty of being inconsistent in posting for the Weekly Challenges on wordpress, so when today, when I came across the prompts of Dense and Atop, there was this one shot, that came to my mind.

It is old, a year old almost, shot from one of the floors of a high rise, during my internship days.

This photo reminds me of contrast. What do you see in this photo? I would like to know 🙂

Cheers!!

April 20, 2017 by SenK Categories: PhotographyTags: 18-55mm, Atop, Dense, High Rise, India, Mumbai, Nikon D3100, Slums, weekly challenge Leave a comment

Macro Shots

Today, as I sit to type down this post, my bags are packed and ready to leave. I leave NICMAR, Pune in less than 6 hours and will be on my way to my home first, then to much bigger adventures. Last night while packing, I stumbled across two very prized possessions of mine, my self made reverse lens adapter and a pair o kerosene lighters.
Flipped it open, spun the wheel, the sparks erupted, felt good.
At around 0100h, I felt a tiny bit creative. So, here is what I did, past mid night, using the reverse lens adapter. Lens used, my trusted Nikon 50mm F1.8D, and the camera, Nikon D3100.

The following images are shot using the Tamron 70-300mm F4-5.6 macro lens, in the macro mode as control shots.

I ll infer that unless one is dedicated to shooting macros, the need for a macro lens, is quite limited. Often, a reverse mounted lens shall do the trick. Adding on, it is always much easier to use a full manual lens for reverse mounting because you can control the aperture ring and decide on the depth of field.

With this, I sign off from NICMAR, Pune. I shall be travelling for the next few days and shall also be visiting Delhi for almost a week, so that should make for a nice post.

Till then,
Cheers!!

March 11, 2017 by SenK Categories: Photography, TechnicalTags: 50mm f1.8, Diamond Ring, Flower, Kerosene Lighter, Lens Reversal, Macro, Nikon D3100, Reverse Lens Mount, SD Card, Zippo Lighter 5 Comments

En route Lavasa

The plan was made on an impulse, so the three of us, Mahajan, Jobin and I, we grabbed helmets, managed a couple of bullets and we were on our way to Lavasa.
Lavasa is a cool place to be, nice lake town, planned and built nestled within the ghats. True! The flip side is, they charge ₹200 per person as an entry fee to the town, and somehow, the minute they see a DSLR, they assume the owner to be on a professional shoot, and they charge you ₹5000 for a day’s pass (unless it has changed recently).
Now, our agenda was clear, to get some cool photos of us, on bikes. So, again, why Lavasa?
For, the road to Lavasa, offers amazing curves, and is not very crowded. Here are what we shot 🙂

Mahajan came charging round the corner, I turned back on the bike, and click and click!

We stopped to shoot 🙂

Even I got a shot of mine. Loads of thanks to Mahajan for the shot 🙂

Spotted this yet to be launched Tata Nexon test driving around.

With mission accomplished, we turned back. Since all three had been to Lavasa earlier, we didn’t miss it at all. The trip was fun, the ride was awesome.

Till the next post…

Cheers!!

March 1, 2017 by SenK Categories: PhotographyTags: Bike, Bullet, Bullet Classic, Bullet Standard, Friends, Lavasa, Photography, Pune, Road, Royal Enfield, Travel, Trip 3 Comments

A day with the Beagles

Recently, an adoption drive by the ResQ Charitable Trust was concluded here at Pune. Me and a friend of mine, we went there to have a look at how things occur.
ResQ CT is a not-for-profit organization which works towards rescuing and rehabilitating the injured and sick animals. They have general wards, intensive care wards, pediatric wards and trained individuals to take care of the animals in their care. They also indulge in awareness programs for the same.
Up for adoption were numerous Beagles, of different age and gender. In all, they were quite playful and here’s to hoping they find loving homes.

Here are some of the scenes from the day

There were dogs who had cancer and/or paralysis on some parts of their bodies. Buffalo calfs who think themselves to be dogs, three legged dog, etc. What felt amazing was that they have all being taken care of and the men and women at the charity ensure that ResQ lives up to the tag line of being the halfway home.

I hope the animals find the love that they deserve and the charity the recognition.

Cheers!!

February 21, 2017 by SenK Categories: PhotographyTags: Adoption, Beagles, Cats, Dogs, Great Dane, Injure, Labrador, love, Rescue, ResQ 2 Comments

Repurpose – Flash Diffuser

Photographers, both, budding and experienced, have faced the issue of flash whiteout quite often. Sometimes it can be handled by varying the settings and we immediately realize the importance of a flash diffuser.
Like the name suggests, it is used to diffuse the harsh light from the flash and make it more soft and soothing, while still lighting up the subject. It is useful as it does not produce harsh shadows and lights up more area, albeit in a little less intensity.
One can get clip on diffusers for the on board pop up flash, while the external flashes generally come with a diffuser flap. Here is a method of repurposing a used cigarette packet as a flash diffuser in a hurry.

Get a white pack, rip off the bottom of it carefully and pull out the silver or golden foil from inside, carefully so as not to tear it away.

Reverse the foil so that the shiny bit will be facing inwards.

Push it to till the head, in such a way that light doesn’t escape and is rather reflected and the head behaves as the flash.

Clip it on your camera’s pop up flash. It may need a little tweaking here and there for it to be set correctly.

Results:

Brain coral, loses detail due to white out by direct flash — Normal flash

Brain coral, much more detailed due to diffused light — Same settings, with the diffuser

I hope you have found this useful. This is quick fix solution, a typical Jugaad 🙂

Cheers!!

February 15, 2017 by SenK Categories: Photography, TechnicalTags: Brain Coral, Cigarettes, Details, DIY, Flash Diffuser, Hard Light, Jugaad, Nikon D5200, Recycle, Repupose, Soft Light, weekly challenge 6 Comments

Wedding Bells : Raveena and Amiy

Am at an age, where, slowly and surely my friends are getting married. Some are having kids too though :p It has been about a couple of years since I quit my previous job, and I missed my friends. So, when one fine day, Raveena, one of the first friends at CapGemini, let me know that she was getting married, I was happy. Happy that she’s getting settled with someone she loves and also that I’ll get to meet with my old friends after quite some time. So, I packed my bag, along with the camera…and I was off to meet my friends, and the bride to be.