Tag: Nikon D3100

AtoZ Challenge: W – Watermark

Watermark

How important is a watermark? In my opinion, very! Times are such that it is important to take credit for your job, to ensure that no one else cashes in on it. A watermark is the simplest way to attempt this. You let a sign, a name, a phrase, that identifies uniquely to you be in the photo and proclaim that copying it unauthorized is a copyright violation. If, someday, someone steals your photos and you want to pursue them, having an inconspicuous watermark tucked in is useful.

Sometimes though, this philosophy is taken to the extreme and the watermark is made in a way that it is not worth taking the pains to edit it out, serves the purpose though.

Tell me about your thoughts on watermarking of photos.

Last time, W was for White Balance.

Cheers!!

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AtoZ Challenge: T – Tonal Range

Tonal Range

This can be defined as the range of tones, both coloured and black and white which span from the lightest to the darkest areas in the photo.
A photo with a wide tonal range shall have areas which exhibit dark areas and white areas while the ones with a narrow range shall have more of gray shades.

The photo above has a a majority of black areas while the tonal range extends to the other end of the spectrum too.

While, in the photo below, the range is more concentrated in the mid ranges and is hence overall grayish in colour.

The wider the tonal range, better shall be contrast in the photo. While striving to achieve a wide tonal range, one must also keep in mind not to overdo the exposure and exceed into the clipping regions.

Tell me about your ideas on this topic in the comments.

In the earlier series, T was for TTL Metering.

Cheers!!

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AtoZ Challenge: Q – Quality

Quality

Today, we talk about quality of a photo. Not of what has been shot, but rather the format it has been shot on.
In today’s day to day use, a full frame sensor can be considered to be the gold standard in terms of quality. But with increasing technological advancements, the crop sensors are catching up too.

I used to use a Nikon D3100, which would start graining up at ISO 800, while now, in the D7200, ISO 12800 is still quite grainless. In comparison, Nikon full frame, D750 shoots excellent shots at ISO 25600 without a hitch.
Then there is the JPEG vs RAW war raging. JPEG is fine if you abhor editing or have to submit the shots on a very short notice. RAW is amazing for pulling out details which may have been originally not visible.

In the end, it shall all come down your application and use. Here, on this site, every single photo, is less than 1 MB in size for I am not using them to print, but while printing, I go for the uncompressed 28/30 MB photo.

Tell me what are your preferences in the comments!

Last time, Q was for Quiet Release.

Cheers!!

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AtoZ Challenge: O – Optical Zoom

Optical Zoom

Zoom can be described as to close in on your subject. In a camera, it can be achieved in mainly three different ways.

The first one is the basic one, which involves the photographer moving close to the subject.
The second type of zoom is what we are going to talk about here today, optical zoom. It is when the lens within the barrel actually moves to change the focal length and hence zoom. This change in focal length causes the subject to appear closer or farther away depending on the use. Image quality does not degrade while using optical zoom.

The images below show the use of optical zoom. The viewpoint has not changed, just the focal length has changed from about 55mm to 180/200mm.

Optical zoom, trains, Dudhsagar

At the far end, Trains, Dudhsagar

The third type is the digital zoom. This is where the camera, using its own algorithms, zooms in on the image. It has the previously captured image to begin with and then works on it. The photo quality degrades and after a certain point, it begins to pixellate.

So, dear readers, if you are buying a new point and shoot camera, it is always the optical zoom that you should pay heed to.

Last time, O was for Overexposure.

Cheers!

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AtoZ Challenge: N – Normal Lens

A normal lens is one which produces images corresponding to the normal viewing span of a human eye. Generally this focal length is taken as 35-50mm. So, photos taken at focal lengths beyond the range are termed to be wide or telephoto and hence the wide and telephoto lenses.

The 18-55 mm kit lens, despite popular disregard, is one the most versatile lenses out there and can be used for shooting landscapes to portraits with ease and still produce quite amazing results.

Bandra Worli Sealink, 18 mm

Bandra Worli Sealink, 55 mm

The photos above have been shot at 18mm and 55mm respectively from almost similar viewpoints.

Comparing the results against dedicated lenses for the same is not a fair game though. The dedicated lens, such as a 35mm or a 50mm F1.8/1.4 are meant to be high performance and have immense light gathering power, but they lack the versatility of a zoom.

The photo of Laxmi here shows why it is worth investing in a prime lens, despite whatever limitations it may have.

Portrait, 50mm

All said and done, a normal lens is not fit for shooting landscape while I would go about shooting portraits on a normal lens all day long happily! Tell me what do you think about the judgments in the comments.

Last time, N was for Noise Reduction.

Cheers!!

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AtoZ Challenge: J – Juxtapose

Juxtapose

We are aware of what contrast is. What if the contrast in the photo is not just in terms of light and colour, but rather in terms of physical objects? Then what we have done is juxtaposition. If done correctly, this is one of the best techniques to create a photo that shall speak volumes for itself.

Cycle, Rickshaw and a Scooty, Holi

It might feel tricky at times, the simple way is to find contrasts, in terms of physical description, age, emotion, weather….virtually anything and everything.

Last time, J was for JPEG vs RAW.

Good luck shooting some amazing shots out there, Cheers!

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AtoZ Challenge: D – Double Exposure

Double Exposure

The origin of this interesting bit of art probably occured when someone, while shooting film, forgot to forward the roll to the next empty slot. As they shot, the already exposed negative got re-exposed and the photos superimposed creating something interesting and Voila! double exposure is born.
Now a days, we dont need to fiddle with the films, maybe just a bit in the digital darkrooms to get ourselves a nice double exposure photo. Some cameras and apps on phones allow you to take amazing double exposure shots.

Bike, Open Roads, Double Exposure
The shots here are proof of concept shots of double exposure.

Man, Moon, Double Exposure
The thing about double exposure is that one must be able to blend the photos and make some sense out of them.

Go ahead and make wonderful surreal photos and share them away!

Last time, D was for Depth of Field.

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AtoZ Challenge: C – Colour Temperature

Colour Temperature

Hot objects emit radiation. If the radiation were visible, say visible light, what would be the temperature of the body emitting the radiation? For example, for soft white light, it is accepted that the body must be at about 3000K. This 3000K is the colour temperature.

The usefulness of this knowledge in photography? Immense, unless you want to spend hours in the darkrooms making the photos look natural. The two photos below shall explain better.

Pug, Yellow Light, Cute, Unrealistic Colour
This one is a no colour correction photo, while the one below is with proper colour temperature settings dialled in.

Pug, Colour corrected, Brown and Blue , Realistic colours
Notice how the colour is realistic now. Since the place was lit by dim yellow lights, everything had a yellow tone, which is not the natural colour.
The settings that need to be tweaked within the camera to get realistic colours is the white balance. Dial in the on which matches your setting best, and shoot away.

Last time, it was Composition.

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Mumbai Nightscape Encore

A few weeks back, I posted a few photos of the city of Mumbai, at night, shot using a Lenovo K6 Power here. The photos were not of the quality that I would have wanted, hence, a few days back, when the opportunity presented itself, I was there with the camera. The location, the terrace floor of L&T Realty Crescent Bay.
We waited from dusk to nightfall and thankfully, it didn’t rain this certain evening.

Silhouette of Mumbai Cityscape

Wide angle shot of the Mumbai Cityscape

Bandra-Worli Sealink and nearby areas at night

Tall towers of Worli, Mumbai, India

Long Exposure shot of Wadala and Freeway, Mumbai, India

The next post, dear readers, I shall introduce you to something new. Do keep an eye out, the post shall be up soon!

Cheers!

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A Furry Friend

On a Sunday evening, few friends met, and what ensued, was peace, happiness and a lot of cuddling!

Featuring, the amazing Vikram Karve, stunning Tanaya Haldar and the absolutely adorable Chrissie!!

 

 

This post marks a major change in my blog. Let me know when you see it 🙂

Cheers!!

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F8 at Infinity – 2

One more from the project, F8 at Infinity, where my 50 mm lens is fixed focused at infinity and has aperture at F8.

Yard with bicycles

Follow the series to keep updated with the new photos of the project.

Let me know, what you would want shot in the comments.

Cheers!!

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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!

Railway tracks littered with human waste

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!!

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