Flash with ambient light & rxperiments with colored gels (post no.150)

USE flash - but also capture some ambient light......using only flash will result the background is always dark and all pictures look the same.......To capture the ambient and to establish where the photograph has been shot-----at home, on the streets or in a restaurant with red, yellow or green lighting -----use the FLASH IN A SLOW SYNCH MODE, or use the night portrait mode in ur compact  camera. These modes fire flash during a long exposure thereby capturing the ambient light and giving a sense of the place the image was shot at. Thus u will be confirmed of the place at a later date and lapse of time, having captured the atmosphere as well besides ur kins/friends/relations......

----Get creative with flash, using colored gelatine papers on the flash of ur camera for different kinds effects. Blue and red gelatine will help u introduce a unique color cast to ur pictures.....the sky is the limit.   ...move away and experiment with different colors........continueFlashAmbient light

I used here camera flash to light up the face which was under the shadow......so when chance comes that u are hesitant to shoot the picture, but the picture is under shadow, which is rather dark, so pop up the camera flash and take few snaps. The time will look worth spent.

Posing IN PORTRAITS.....continued.(post no.150)

PLACING THE ARMS.........................This is a formal and ideal portrait taken in home.......U can view the placements of hands with this homely pose.......Nobody is strained.....Just a call and click. Why not make poses like this in studios.......Most important is placing of arms. The lady has delicacy in her hands as well besides making her ''pallu'' cover her head as an Indian daughter-in-law.

2. While standing avoid pressing ur arms against ur body......nor wud u like to look stiff with hands and arms. Keep the arm slightly away from body and leave them hanging loose (as in the case of the gentleman above).....In ladies with some good flesh, sleeveless blouse may show under arm flash.....that has to be avoided. Even a flabby beauty wud like to look slim......Here photography skill comes in hand and trying with sarees, angles will certainly help and please the lady.

3. Always we are more cautious of ladies than men as the sentiments flow fast and their demands have no ends.........Folded arms too look good keeping the angle of the body to 3/4th towards camera.......also breathing and holding it to push tummy a little in wud help a lot. ....Shoulders----the supporters of arms shd also be taken care of with a critical look......they shd not be loose and bending in front......whatever may be, it is photographer's duty to have a watchful eye and instruct in a mild tone, his customers........iF THERE ARE TWO persons, they can make use of arms and hands by placing them on shoulders, hand-in-hand, etc. A photographers has to face every second person a different one from the first.   You are lucky if u get customers with slim body.....otherwise it is all ''managing'' it to full satisfaction of the client since ur reputation depends upon all praises from customers in order to fetch more of them.

4. Do not allow clients to make stiff postures in any case whether one is sitting and another standing. The rules are rules in case of one person, 2 persons or more........POSITIONS are many, and ur mind shd work to create the best of poses. Like creating pleasant thoughts, as the girls are prone to these and will make good poses. Likewise the waist and legs shd be making better poses. Legs also to be kept loose, may be keeping one another taking support of the wall in studio and tree outdoors......NATURALLY OUTDOORS HV MORE BETTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR BODY POSTURES, WITH LOT OF PROPS AROUND......TREES, ROCKS, BIG STONES, PLANTS, FLOWERS. HEDGES, GOOD SHADOWS OF TREES ETC ETC......THERE IS NO END TO MAKING GOOD POSES FOR ANY SORT OF CLIENTS.....SO GO AHEAD. Theoritical it is all information    IT IS ALL PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE THAT WILL MAKE ANYBODY PERFECT.
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Posing in PORTRAITS......continue...(post no.149)

---WORKING IN UR LEGS::......In the upper picture, the dress worn on festivals makes her a bit heavy in body, though she is slim......Even if ur subjects are a bit heavy bodied, this pose is good to make them slim. When she will be looking in camera as above, she wud be gorgeous.

    Here if my subject wud have been in Salwar suit, Kurti-tight pyjama, or in jeans......I WUD HAVE GIVEN A CURVE ON THE LEG WHICH IS CLOSER TO CAMERA, and her hand resting on her waist----thus  u can view which style looks good on her, becoz I am not there! In other words, placing one leg in front of the other, pointing this leg towards the camera. U may slightly bend the knee to create a flattering curvy look......Ideas are enormous, but ur eye shd be an 'eagle' eye till you are at the back of ur camera and the subject is being tensioned needing ur approval to let her off the mood. I did work with girls who are ready to work hard before the camera.

-------WORKING WITH HANDS: Difficult is nothing once u are determined.......Hands being upper part of the body  showing the personality of person are as important as the face, look etc.......If they are not marriage proposal photographs, the hands can be placed conveniently on thighs, waist, shoulders,  even on heads turning the hairs or playing with hairs, tucking the hairpins, supporting face in a photographically decent manner, like one hand up on head and another on the chin turning downward supporting from its back near wrist..........using glamourous looks..................................................................................................................................continue

Posing in Portraits....(post no.148)

STRIKING A RIGHT POSE makes a great difference to the photograph.It is not only necessary to make the subject beautiful but also make body in its best look.

Double chin and long neck........Good illusion can be created of having a long neck just by lowering ur chin and leaning towards the camera....Here will be the opportunity to avoid the double chin.
I TELL MY SITTERS TO HOLD THEIR BREATH WHILE SQUEEZING THE DOUBLE CHIN A BIT FOR FEW SECONDS to avoiding or minimizing the double chin.

SLIGHTLY foreshortening the figure: For an interesting angle, the photographer can stand on a slight higher place, may be a chair, and request his subject to look at him.Not only will it create a unique photograph but will  once again hv the opportunity of reducing the double chin.and less seen the dark circle below the eyes and help make the subject appear thin.

HANDS ON HIPS: In order to avoid ur shoulders from looking a rounded appearance, ask ur subject to put his hands on his hips.......................................................................to  continue...

Photography tips on portraits.(post no.146).....

I took this picture with one lamp of 200wt in a reflector.....The picture was in color...then I converted it in B&W for sheer beauty of the monotoned images shot on b&w films, still favourite of the masses, shot on digital and then converted into b&w.......The beauty of the picture above rests on its single 45degree lighting effect, which is making a bigger loop on his right cheek (may be termed as a Rembrandt loop)....Then his boldness of looking straight into the camera and the hairstyle, his smile and a small piece of his dress at left making a good base for his black dress merging into the shadows below the chin....Other important thing is the dark background which keeps the viewers' eyes straight on the triangular face, which place diagonally to give strength to the look and add difference into a straight face...the two tiny points of small buttons adds charm to his otherwise dark dress....I retained them for the liveliness of the whole image...........See further on the next page.

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Off-centre subject....(post no.145)

Placing MAIN SUBJECT OFF-CENTRE:....Balanced images r perfectly centred and are more stable but since the eye does not move around the frame, they are boring. Asymmetry is dynamic and can be created by placing the main subject off-centre in the composition. It is better to avoid tension to the eyes as there are different points of interest for the eyes to follow.

Thus the size of the positive and negative space determines the balance in the frame. Take an example of a daisy with the petals spiralling out neatly from the centre is an example of a symmetrical and balanced.

The picture below is spreading up in the frame  and there is a good hollow space around to move the eyes and bring back on the butterfly, besides it is not totally centred. The space above is indicative of the movement of the butterfly. The vignette is also created to stop the eyes going out of frame......THE PICTURE WAS SHOT BY NIKON SLR WITH ISO400, Shutter Speed 1/200 and aperture f9.

Sweet children--dear children before ur camera.(post no.144)

In the world, the human babies are the most photographed.....First parents too are interested with advent of digital cameras....then their close relatives...and sometimes people like me who found  her in her father's lap in a mall. She has just finished her icecream.....I like this photo, as she may more demand her fav. cup of icecream.....Though I made some gestures to get her smile, she was looking a bit scared, as happens with less comfortable children with other people.

In the situation, we were unknown to each other, but in ur home or in neighbourhood, there may be small children...so do not leave chances photographing them.....If they feel scared, use good lighting to capture them with ur tele-zoom from a distance....Camera's choice is yours, as if professional or serious enthusiast, DSLR with different lenses are good choice....But ever now camphones with good no.of pixels will render good results.....Save them in ur hard-drive....but if u can gift some copies of photos to their parents, it will be a generous gesture, promoting u to shoot more pictures of children....Here I used my Canon compact, worthy of delivering good results in ISO80 or 100....So if u get lower shutter speed, support ur camera on tripod, or some hard space, even your knee will help. In slower shutter speeds, and higher angles, I view the pic in camera screen, pressing the camera on my chest and click....Even I can ask a friend to stand still, fixing camera on his shoulder and click.....So human body too is of much help in taking pictures in low light with lower ISOs for best quality of pictures.

Live musical programs....(post no.143).

Generally there are concerts, other musical programs in ur town or may be near town......It is most interesting to shoot pictures of artists performing....I saw that when I reach near them, though below the stage, they look getting extra energy.....it is magic of photography.....I am close to VIP there. It is more interesting too, that it looks compulsory to take pictures of the first row people (though, thus covering many rows behind), who while watching camera becomes aware of their alertness to give a good pose (may be published in next day's newspaper).......Stage, I cover from various angles, because the artists behind playing instruments are too curious to come in the field view of the camera lens.......I go up on stage to get them close sometimes and they feel obliged. If in next concert if I happened to meet them, I get a bigger smile and hand iver copies of photos I took of them, which is beyond their imagination....and for next time they are more conscious and give a better pose and play the instrument wonderfully well.

Any camera will do....camphones, to compacts to SLRs....But if u are close to be a professional, use SLR FOR BEST RENDERING THE IMAGES.....Though, this time above, I shot them with my Canon compact.....Not to worry upro 5x7 at ISO 200 with good stage lighting with compacts......If tripod is used, better shoot at ISO80 or 100 on compacts.. With DSLRs use aperture priority with + or - compensation, one stop if necessary. f5.6 or 8 are good apertures.(above prog I took last week).

Tribal Dance to commemorate festivals.(post no.142).

Very interesting, very enthrawlling......the tribal dances of India are famous for their uniqueness, based on religious occasions.......recently shot from Nikon with stage light....ISO800, 1/30,  f5.6......U can see and appreciate the colors......Pictorially, the lady behind makes the balance in the photograph and show relation of participation of male and female artists.

Tribal dancers...(9post no.142).

The tribal dancers will be seen in cultural programmes organized by associations/govt.organizations.....The r generally dark in color so their skin tone will go reddish, or brown, since there is effect of outdoor halogen light effect is also there.....it is more enjoying to shoot them.......
However you may require to increase ISO and use slow shutter speed with some hard support as there is not much bright light in many areas of stage,...........1/30, ISO800, aperture f5.6.

Cruise craze....(post no.141)

An evening with Cruise....the light was going dull....Pl click on photo to see bigger.

Pigeon couple.....(post no.140).

The sparrows are easier target....but near homes, in trees or house walls the pigeons are easily available for clicking photographs.

2. Here I hav caught one in action, while other spouse may be thinking like us.......''AB KAB AAOGE''....Oh no u are here only...love u darling, is the conversation they may have.

3. In such pictures, the photography rules are easily observed.....one at one corner, another at other.....there is dividing line of wall, which is a support for their stay......AND both are at rule of thirds, thus making a balance in the photograph.....The bg is as usual blue sky without any filter....EXPOSURE ON APERTURE PRIORITY and ISO400.

Perspective effect....Railway Tracks.(post no.139)

It always fascinated me and thousands of our colleagues to shoot railway tracks......They represent an immediately viable perspective effect.............IF SUN IS SETTING, it is another wonder and I got this opportunity when reached a small town railway station....As u can view the sin is at horizon and it is partially covered by trees going down into the eternity......The signal lights at left helped to stop the eyes and back to the scene.....I did some pp on the sky to strengthen it and balance with the vibrating rail track in front.

Photographers' horror....(post no.137).

National Geography photographers are at risk of life while shooting in jungle.....Suddenly a Brown Bear appeared and they had to be on their heels.....yea life is important.....but taking such steps is risky.....they may have had vehicles for animal shoots.......If u go on wildlife safaries, please beware on open jeeps or on roads....(many dare)......Be safe and shoot.(pic ctsy..DB).

Chinese Govt orders Nikon to stop selling D600(mid-March).(post no.136)..

The Chinese Government has issued an order to Nikon to stop the sale of D600 in the country. This move was made following an investigative report by China Central Television (CCTV) which showed dealers refusing to refund the money to unsatisfied customers. The camera had issues with dust and spots. The company had recently released the D610, which had the same features but eliminated the faults of the D600...............I think the dealers shd hv been cooperative with the customers....do not refund the money but, if possible, get the problem solved.....Nikon must hv good Nikon cameras repairing shops in China........It is a matter of consideration for us, that Govt thinks of its citizens in this small issue.....

Noise/Grains in DCAMs. (post no.135).Matter of quality.

NOISE /GRAINS IN MODERN SENSOR DCAMs

The photo uploaded here is shot with a compact dcam at ISO 400, which inevitably shows the grain when enlarged to 100%. The face of my grand son I picked up from the whole image. The details look merged. My point here is that in compacts if we go above ISO 200, the noise appears. The compacts are sold more, as they are aimed at general public photography/ enthusiasts/beginners However, if you use prosumers, even the problem of grain at ISO 200 may be started showing. In DSLRs, this problem will arise at ISO 800 and above. During film days the photographers generally got the film rating at ISO 100 for most purposes and for professionals ISO 200 and 400 were readily available in small towns too. So most of photographers used ISO 100 film and got best results and enlargements in weddings, travels and all functions, with good sunlight and bright shadows or indoor or outdoor with good brands of powerful flashguns....Though a bit difficult in low light, unless tripod is used.

The improvement I made in the image by denoising and slight sharpening it, so my worry of getting a grainy/noisy pic is reduced
and I can get a good enlargement of the full image shot on the small sensor of a compact camera....The sensor size is the main issue of having noisy results because of the compactness/thinness of the small cameras. SO IF YOU shoot with a compact, shoot at the minimum noise level set by the manufacturer i.e. may be ISO 80 or 100. The pros who use DSLRs are aware of the problem and therefore set and shoot according to their requirements in those cameras almost at ISO 100 or ISO200 FOR FINE DETAILS and sharpness in images...................YES there is cost difference in compacts, prosumers and DSLRs. Therefore interest in photography go accordingly from person to person and their requirements.

Back light in Photography-portraits.(post no.134).

-Contre-jour/Against the light/Back light.....Light from behind.....as u may call it....but it has enormous potential for any subject, especially portraits, may be in Studio, outdoors.....This automatically detatches your subject from the background, giving it its own identity....Ours is a country having sun round the year.Shooting back-lighted subjects is well done in morning and evening. However, there are grt opportunities to be shot even during day time as the sun is at an angle in 'winter' season.

--Exposure calculation is easy. For example, if u use outdoors an aperture of f11 in frontal lighted subjects, the shutter speed may be 1/500 to 1/1000 as per intensity of light at ISO 100.....When shooting against light, use lens hood,  watch light and increase aperture by 1 to 2 stops. U can easily view the result on camera screen and make necessary changes, if need be.

--When in studio shooting backlight, u can have more good effect with a side, or both sides flash/strobe lights and a light on the background too....As experiments are done we achieve unexpected results with our male or female subject, may be children too.

Photography at tourists spots.(post no.133)

Generally people are in the habit of visiting tourists spots---some on holidays and some round the year or as the season suits them...For photographers it is more important...like a fish catcher...he sits long day with an empty net....Not so here for photo-enthusiasts...they generally catch the point with their watchful eye...because besides visiting the main interest places their main aim is to come with bundle of photographs worth preserving.

2) Yea...since u are at the village,town or city, you will find photogenic subjects... Find the right place to shoot from...For example, some higher angle may help you to view a lot more than imaginable....Also not to forget ground level photography....this is mostly forgotten, as people are in habit of shooting standing, or sometimes on knees. Ground level shots are most difficult but with digicams having live view, it becomes somewhat easier....where u can sit, or in other cases u have to lie down....not a joke...hahaha....this angle very few try...may be or may not be in public places, but in parks it can do well......ANYHOW MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR VISIT....Many photographers think, they will come again, but never have opportunity to go back at that place, so shooting as many memorable pix will help u in future for records, publication, selling to clients for brochures etc.

 

3) Overall the weather is most important....India in one of the best countries for photography having sunlight round the year....So morning, noon and evening all are delightful for the camera....LET YOUR CAMERA ALSO SMILE....AND U WILL HAVE THE BEST OF PICTURES.......I mean keep all focal lengths you will require in one, two or three lenses...Keep the battery checked up and have one extra.  Now, how many GB cards you have with you.....Divide them into 4 GB cards each, so unfortunately if u miss one, there is still a lot with you.

4) Find out interesting subjects....it depends if you are in the middle of the market/town or on the outskirts of the place.....You shd be clever enough not to disappoint others by your camera's presence and take good pictures. Here your selection of lens will work.  like a kit lens and a 70-300 zoom for wide angle shots and telephoto shots respectively of annoyed subjects.....To take better shots, allure the children and by angling towards them, you can take other good shots of people around them by going wide or zooming in.

5) Here you will be selective of DOF----when shooting landscape, people, buildings etc from the point of view of pictorial photography, THAT CREATES MOOD OF THE PIC.. In good light small aperture will do wonder and when u open to f3.5, increase the SS and decrease the ISO to minimum in ur camera,say ISO100.and when light is low using bigger aperture will limit the dof..rendering  best of results.....One more lens is recommended is prime lens of 50mm f1.4 or f1.8 having control on dof...as it is favourite of many working photographers.

Macro Photography---a further review (post no.132).

Many people are confused in macro and closeup photography. Yes macro is also a closeup photography but with little difference.....in simple terms Macro is magnification of small objects.
When we shoot butterfly, they are rather closeups.
There is another term 'Micro' next to macro, which has special instrument, might have seen in labs, for finding out the germs in various materials.

To achieve macro effect, photopersons use special macro lenses, may be 60mm,100mm and they work like a normal telephoto lens as well. They maintain certain good distance so the object is least disturbed. They are costlier, may be Rs.15k and more.They are used by pros and most enthusiasts. If u are interested in macro photography as well with other subjects, just buy a macro lens and make big hits with less trouble, in comparison to the small devices, I mention below.

Other cheaper alternatives are supplementary lenses, Reversal ring, Extension tubes, and extension bellows.
The drawback with them is going more and more closure to the objects and the objects rather move away or fly. It is a nerve-wrecking experience also.....focusing manually, using smallest possible aperture to maintain the losing DOF while going closure, moving backwards/forwards to bring the image in sharp focus while clicking, may need good trials...... .

Other method as I used in the photograph below is in pp, cropping the needed area. However, the difficulty is of losing pixels e.g. a 16MP image may come down to 6MP, 8MP etc. However, this will not make any difficulty in getting reasonable enlargements..... Further there is lighting, diffusers, camera stability, background clutters/bokeh etc.to shoot good macros....................Subjects are as many as u can think like insects, other small creatures, small part of them magnified, flowers, rings, watches, even a good attractive button of ur mobile phone etc.

Still Life photography....(post no.131).

Life has many shades....there is bright light, there are shadows....And from the birth of a child to the end, it has to go with many facets....The leaf I shot in still life is in the last phase, since it saw all the weathers  when it first came under the spell of sunlight.....Yes depiction of subject  is depiction of philosophy of life in photography and that is more intriguing in still life photography.

2) As Bernard Shaw wrote in 1902 that 'communicability was one of the first principles of a fine art. The ability of an artist to convey his ideas or impressions to the beholder'; and he went on to show that pictorialists could do this at least as well as the worker in any of the other arts.

3) Many has opined that the picture is a thing to be judged 'in its own right'....and not simply as a record of something...this is more relevant in still life photography rather than landscapes or portraiture.

4) Still life photography is depiction of inanimate objects, whether single or groups. The subject provides lots of scope in the arrangements of design elements within a composition....Still Life PHOTOGRAPHERS MAKE PICTURES RATHER TAKE THEM.

Flower, a most imp part of our life from home to Gods-(post no.130).

....Is it not strange that nature is present before us in various symmetrical design?.....This flower I brought here to show how the ''STAR'' effect is prominent in various flowers....see the inner design and the small brush strokes moving around the petals ....the color is hillarious...light violet.....

2. Generally even in flowers we find their placement at rule of thirds with good positive space leaving in front...But as the size of the positive and negative space determines the balance in the frame, it is sometimes necessary that without worrying for rule of thirds, the flower petals are spiralling out clearly from the centre in this symmetrical and balanced image.

3. To bring out a saturated color in the flower, I half stop underexposed it. This also helped me to hide many unnecessary background details, which otherwise distracted attention.....To cheer u more, I shall try to bring more of flowers pix.

SUBJECTS TO photograph.....100 (here)..(post no.129).

SUBJECTS TO PHOTOGRAPH, MAY BE AMONGST THESE OR MORE FROM UR IMAGINATION........................................................................................................................................  THIS is a general problem for newcomers and sometimes with amateur photographers to find out the subject to photograph and the mind remained confused, what to photograph. here i am giving some subjects from which the photographers can select according to their location/circumstances/nearness of the subject...........otherwise serious photographers in India and abroad go for shooting spree, once in a year or as per time available to them and send to magazines/calendars/editorials etc. and earn a bit good amount. here are they:
1. arts...2. books....3.culture...4. entertainment(fairs etc)...5. family....6. food....7. friends....8. people....9. life around...10. love...11. music...12.news.....13. personal(belongings etc)....14. cars....15. random....
16. religion....17. sports....18. thoughts(creativity)...19. travel....20. health...
21. technology....22. writing(to get ideas)....23. cities....24. young/old women
25. children...26. business....27. backgrounds....28. youth/old men....29.....
girls....30. sea...31. sky....32. water....33. clouds....34. sand....35. beaches.....
36. houses/buildings....37. monuments.....38. weddings....39. rituals.....40.
festivals....41. portraits(infant to old)....42. animals...43. pets....44.lakes....
45. bridges...46. birds....47. flowers....48. designs....49. abstract....50. party....
51. computers....52. hands/feet....53. icons....54. offices....55. money.....56.
trees...57. nature....58. wildlife....59. coastline....60. railways....61. hospitals....62. schools....63. playgrounds...64. local matches....65. holi,diwali,id,x-mas,guru nanak jayanti(under festivals)....66. gardens.....
67. landscapes....68. bikes...69. mountains....70. environment....71. seasonal theme(summer,rains,winter)....72. night scenes....73. fairgrounds/lightings...74. sunrise...75. sunsets....76. storms....77. lightening
78. different regions....79. interiors...80. architecture.....81. farms.....82.
macros...83. couples.....84.home...85. beauty/beauty pageants....86.rivers....
87.highways....88. flyovers....89. beggers...90. tribals....91. pan/thela shops...
92. village life...93...crops....94. fire....95. kitchenware....96. temples......
97. vegetables.....98. local markets...99. vehicles(diff.types)....100. traffic...
etc. etc.(think urself).......

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Use of Soft Focus Filters....(post no.128).

My one friend got an old 135mm Canon lens with inbuilt Soft Focus filter. This is an effective portrait lens and a telephoto also in varied conditions, particularly outdoors. Regarding use of SF filter: This was the trend during film days to render flattering effect to the clients in portraits, particularly children and young ladies.

As a general definition, in SF, the light is spread out in the image, which is more evident in whites, covering the whole image,though.

Yes a slight OOF image was able to show the effect of soft focus. Though, the photographers in general never used it. They depended on soft focus filters, a white stretch of net cloth, star effect filters: on faces, flowers, scenes that had most of different kinds or single color flowers, still life, decorated lights in functions. As there was no post processing, as is, for example ''gaussian blur''tool in Adobe photoshop can be used to achieve SF effect. These effects cud range from subtle to the extremes of 'Fog' or 'misty' type of effects.

The trend is low now as I did not see a single soft-focused image of any kind in the many forums, since the photographers are not using on lens SF filters in studios or weddings(bridal & other portraits) so the public also remains unaware of the subtlity/beauty of the image, for which we got accolades in studio and marriage portraits. Second, if used, the clients do not understand and feel the image is not taken sharp. Therefore, on their part photographers too do not hv it as an imp accessory in their camera bags, as we had. Even in abroad sites in fashion, modelling, glamour the sharp images are preferred becoz of non-use of SF filters. SO TO DIVERT THE TREND IS NOT POSSIBLE. Only few interested photopersons use Soft Focus filter for special effect or just to give a different look to their image.

Since in digital sims, thousands of photographs can be exposed as opposed to 36 exposure films, u can use, reject the SF lens effects, unless the subject in ur choice most demands it or what sort of work u are doing in photography.
We cud find where to use SF Filters, as we did portraiture, bridal photography, photography for competitions. All in all, SF filter or lens has its own use but not in Industrial photography, wild life, photo-journalism, travel, monuments etc.

Simple thing is - if photoperson uses SF filters for special effects.......PEOPLE OR CLIENTS ARE NOT USED TO feel/understand....!!!!!!!!!!!!

The thing has gone down history, as it seems to me.

A studio portrait of a child with Nikon soft focus filter.....The effect is wonderful in my view as I had a trend of shooting them in studio with SF filter, importantly the closeups, upto waist or knee level where faces had prominence.....The effect is seen enhanced in these shots, with 3D lighting... In full portraits I didn't use SF.

Bird pic-Nature Photography (post no.127).

Bird photography comes under Nature photography......There are bird sanctuaries, where the migratory and local birds can be found....But they are limited to big cities and that too not all. However, there are photography clubs made for Bird Watching and shooting (of course,with cameras). Most difficult is finding out the undistracted perch of the bird. That may be a secluded branch or with less branches where u can approach the bird with its prominency. Besides every time, the birds are not within the reach of ur telephoto lenses....but u hv urge of compulsion to take their pictures, may be smaller.

Here comes the post processing softwares handy and the bird can be cropped to rectangle or vertical format, as it suits the placement of the bird more beautifully, not because u want to place it somewhere else u want. This comes under composition rules which depicts the pic aesthetically superb.

Many people do not like their sitting on electric wires, poles as they do not represent the natural view of the trees, jungle. But, in cities it is compelling, not to miss the shot, whether the perch may be artificial, as in the above picture.

METERING: I GENERALLY USE SPOT METERING with birds and other wildlife animals, whose head is always in movement. So doing our best to focus on eyes, as they sit with their tails towards u. Here u hv to struggle for correct focusing on their eye(s), beak to get the mouth sharp (not to disgrace the bird or ur picture with focus on tail or wings, the mouth less recognizable being fuzzy).

In the picture above,same thing happened....While keeping vigil on eye or beak, as I clicked, the focus with even middle aperture of f8, maintaining higher shutter speed avoiding shake with weighty lens and camera, the focus on eye missed by few centimeters, as also the bird was moving its wings, which came nicely blurred. I took this picture as an example, with the bird's companion just left the perch and filled the space, which otherwise, wud hv been a negative space and I had to crop the image further to keep the bird at ''RULE OF THIRDS'' The flying bird made my picture stronger, though oof, becoz of off focus from the camera lens.. The wire also is slight diagonal putting the picture in two dimensions of different width and length. Here the eyes comfortable move from short area to broader one and vice-versa.

I sometimes apply vignette in pictures, but avoid in sky picture where space does not need confinement.
(You can kindly view old posts for references,as also the subjects may be repeated with change of time.)

Sunil Paul---At a programme in my town(post no.126).

It is a pleasure to photograph a celebrity like Sunil Paul, who recently visited our town in a programme. I had my compact in my pocket, went out to the stage and angled the camera towards him....He immediately snapped...'oh uncle aap photo kheench rahe hain'...I retorted...'I am a big fan of u and watch u on TV'....He felt rather obliged and said ''thank u, thank u'' and carried on his programme.

IN SUCH PROGRAMMES, THE LIGHTS ARE FIXED VERY  judiciously to highlight the artist and his surroundings....Here the spotlight at his left was nicely making a kick light and detatching him out of the background....Showing the guy behind was also important to let people know that there was a team accompanying Sunil Paul...

I hv taken several photographs of celebs, who were available to me. I mean without camera, I had not gone in any celebs programme, better stay at home. My first priority was to photograph the artist then give attention to his performance. 'He does his work and I mine' was my motto. Even I paid for tickets, but camera shd hang on my shoulder.

As the light at Sunil Paul's right face was low, as it looks here in correct exposure, I had to increase the ISO to 200, as I shoot on compact at its minimum. Raising camera above was also a problem of shake but I managed with the shutter speed at 1/30 and aperture f3.5 as I zoomed slightly. I took 3-4 shots as he changed his mood always differently. This was a good one, when he stopped awhile..............This can come under category ''portraiture'', as u hv some chance of cropping or if hv a stable support, zoom more and take individual shot.