Morning Fire

So we just finished a short film for an upcoming inter-college competition.

I went out one morning to shoot a timelapse for the film. This is what I was greeted with. It was absolutely beautiful!

I can't share the film at this time because of the competition rules but once the competition is over I'll have the link up on my profile across various social media platforms.

God's creation really is wonderful so the theme "Hidden Scenic Beauty of North Bengal" was just perfect.

Overlooking The Valley

Last week my cousin's husband and I decided to go for an early morning walk to the top of a nearby hill.

We had initially decided to go the week before that but the late nights made it really difficult for my to get up in the morning. We wanted to get there in time to watch the sunrise.

The day we finally made it up wasn't that great because of the fog and lack of clouds in the sky. If there were clouds in the sky I'm sure it would have been a spectacular sunrise.

The sun rose from behind the fog and slowly lit up everything. It was really beautiful and we decided to stay on the hill for a few more minutes before making it back down.

The fog (or smog) had slowly begun to lift and reveal the city as we descended. We stopped for a minute to take in this view. It makes you wonder how long the hill that's next to this sprawling city will remain untouched and for how long the hill will be allowed to retain it's natural beauty.

Picture details for those interested - 1/200sec f/8 ISO 100
Processed in Photoshop CS6 from a single RAW file.

Burst Of Colour

Usually when it's been raining continuously for a few days you don't expect amazing colours at sunrise or sunset but one morning the sky exploded with amazing colours. I just stood and watched the colour spread across the entire sky as it kept changing and evolving. It was amazing!

Morning Glow

It looked like it would be a mundane sunrise when we left while it was still dark but that's probably because I wasn't really thinking about the sunrise. I was thinking about visiting the Taj Mahal for the very first time.

The sunrise was epic! Nothing short of it. We stopped on the way to the rest the car and that's when I got this shot which I'm really happy with.

The red brick road, the blue in the sky and the yellow glow from the sun that's hidden by the clouds just made it a perfect scene. I did want to stay and watch the sunrise for a while but we were in a bit of a rush to get to Agra early and so couldn't stop unless absolutely necessary.

Talking To The Beast

Recently I went to visit family in Delhi and so we went to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. I'd never been there before but have always wanted to visit.

They've built a new highway that connects Delhi to Agra and the journey only takes about three hours by road. That has also got to the one of the best roads I've been on in India.

The sunrise was stunning and we stopped on the way to rest the car for a while. That's when I got this photograph of my brother and his car.
Btw thank you Vijay for the amazing time I had there.

Also for those of you who don't follow my page on Facebook here is a bonus picture for today. Two nights back we had one of the clearest and most stunning night skies in this place - I honestly can't remember the last time we had such a beautiful and clear night sky. It was so clear that you could actually see the Milky Way. It was faint but it was visible. So here is my first Milky Way picture. Also if you want you can follow my Facebook page - Daniel Raghu Photography.

Wake Up

This is what I saw when I woke up this morning. The sky was amazing. Unfortunately I had an exam I needed to prepare for so photography had to take a back seat.

Who Covers The Heavens With Clouds

I'm still tired after my short holiday but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The part that I enjoyed the most was the fellowship there. It was amazing. I wish I didn't have to return.

Anyway the view that had last week was just amazing. You had to see it to believe it because pictures don't do justice to it's awesomeness.

This particular morning the clouds were just clearing after the rain and as I looked towards the south I remember Psalm 147:8 which says
"Who covers the heavens with clouds,

Who prepares rains for the earth,

Who makes grass to grow on the mountains."

I wish I can go back there again soon.

Aerial Aura

Ok. Before you start complaining I'll admit that that title is cheesy. I honestly couldn't think of a better one.

Anyway if you have read my previous posts then you will definitely know that I love my sleep. So I was a tad irritated when I was woken up so that I could get ready in time for school. After freshening up I usually like to go to the balcony and look out at the sunrise, the birds, the people on their morning walks, the dogs they bring with them and just everything else.

So I went out to the balcony as usual and the sun which was hidden behind a few clouds imparted a yellowish-orange (forgive me as I'm not very good with colours) colour to the the entire sky. It looked nice so I went to get my camera. When I did come out again I was surprised by what I saw. The clouds no longer hid the sun (this is not the part that surprised me, in case you are wondering) and instead a Bulbul (which happens to be one of the birds that my Mom loves) was blocking the sun. What was interesting was that because the sun was so bright it gave the Bulbul a nice rim light. I'm sure the Bulbul was blissfully unaware of how great it looked but it sat there long enough for me to get a few good pictures.

That's the story behind today's picture.

I'm not sure what my settings were but I'm pretty sure I exposed for the sky in order to get a nice silhouette of the bird. Here is another picture from the same morning.

I've nearly finished the Light Painting Tutorial and I'll put it up later today.

Heavenly Mosaic

After tying the dog and putting him in his kennel I usually go back to sleep (I'm lazy that way) but for some reason I didn't go to back to my warm and cozy bed that morning and I'm really happy I didn't because I would have missed the amazing sunrise if I had gone back to the land of dreams.

Needless to say the sunrise was amazing! The clouds were like a carpet spread across the sky. I could almost image walking on those soft, fluffy white clouds. Things like this always make me smile.

I quickly grabbed the camera and went out to try and capture the beauty of it all. There was a man with his dog walking towards the west. Surprisingly he seemed to be blissfully unaware of the beautiful sunrise behind him. I almost felt like shouting out and pointing him in the right direction but I didn't for two reasons - he himself looked threatening and second the I'm sure the dog would like a total stranger shouting at it or its master.

A couple of days later I ran into him on my way to school. He turned out to be quite friendly and seemed to smile a lot while talking. I still don't know his name but we exchange greetings whenever we happen to meet.

The sunrise was so amazing that I kept staring at the sky for more than an hour. Needless to say my neck hurt and I was nearly late for school. It was totally worth it!

Welcome!

Hi folks!
Welcome to my new blog. Actually my only blog.

I post one picture a day to my Facebook Page (Just Image-n) and also to my Google+ profile but I don't do much else other than occasionally giving it a caption. Which is one of the reasons I decided to start this blog.

Here I'll be telling you about my experiences while taking the picture and will also be giving you a few tips. I've been working on video tutorials that are already on my Youtube channel. I'll post the links here in the future but in addition to that I'll also be post in-depth text tutorials so you don't have to watch the video. This would come in real handy if you have an irritatingly slow internet connection like mine which makes me want to pull out my hair! :O

This is just a brief overview of what this blog is about. Fell free to contact me :)

Now a little about me.
I'm a student but I am insanely (yes, I have been accused of insanity) passionate about photography. Actually someone said that I have a "Photography fetish"!

So I'll be sharing pictures that I take and more...which you'll see in future posts.

As of today I don't own "professional" equipment. Truth be told I use my Dad's camera, which is a "pro-sumer" camera - a pretty good one at that. The only other equipment I use is a cheap and not all too sturdy tripod and some flashlights. That's it! So you might actually pick up a few things here.

I would like this blog to be a place of mutual learning. Where you (the reader) can learn from me and I from you.

Hope you enjoy your visit :D
As always feel free to contact me about anything - I mean it.