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.