A Mouthfull

When you live in a place where there are tons of cows you are bound to see egrets among them. These bird follow the cows and eat insects off of the cow's. Its a symbiotic relationship where both (the cows and the birds) benefit - the birds get to eat while the cows get rid of irritating parasites.

I've only ever seen these birds eating insects or worms from the fields or the cows so I was quite surprised when I noticed this particular egret with a frog in its mouth.

These birds are really shy and fly off as soon as they notice a human coming towards them. Thankfully this little birdie was too busy with the frog that it didn't bother when I stopped to take a few pictures.

It kept shaking the frog and I began to wonder how it would fit such a large amphibian down its throat. After about 2 minutes of shaking its head it promptly went on to swallow it with ease.

After that it noticed me and flew off. Always the shy one :D

Btw if you have any suggestions whereby I can make my blog better and my posts more fun to read and follow do let me know and I'll do my best :)

Until tomorrow!

Six Days You Shall Labour

Today's post is like a "Part 2" in that it is like a continuation of yesterday's post.

I got today's title from Exodus 20:9 which says, "Six days you shall labor and do all your work."
I found this to be apt for these tea garden workers because they work really really hard six days a week. They get only one day a week off which is usually Saturday.

I do fell sorry for them because they are not really paid well. As I mentioned yesterday some are paid a little over a dollar per day and others depending on how much they can pluck. Even if they are able to pluck a lot the rate per kilogram is still low.

I've had a few interactions with these people and they are really cheerful and even though they have large families they try and send each on of their children to school. Unfortunately some drop out of school and work as child labourers.

Remember who I said yesterday that I didn't want to anger their supervisor? Well turns out he is a really talkative man. He saw me taking pictures and started walking towards me. His eyes never left me. He stopped me as I was leaving and asked me why I was taking pictures. When I said it was a hobby he didn't say much else but then went on to ask me about 50 questions about various schools in the city. He took away more than 15 minutes of my time. Thankfully I made the best of the awkward silence that soon followed and took off on my bicycle :D

Anyway here is another picture of a lady plucking tea leaves. Notice the large heavy sac-type bag on her back. This is where she collects the plucked leaves.

I'm sure you are totally bored by now so I'll leave it at that.
Have a great day folks and enjoy the last day of the month.

In All Labour There Is Profit

If you've been following this blog you'll know that I occasionally go on bicycle rides and take pictures. I usually take pictures of birds, animals, plants...nature in general because I choose to go at a time when most people are away at work or are having lunch at home or are taking a siesta.

There is a tea garden on my usual route and usually there is no one there working so I was surprised when I saw these women (and some men) plucking tea leaves. Yes, this is indeed the first step before the leaves are processed and this isn't as easy as it looks.

Usually it is the women who pluck leaves and the men work inside the factory or as manual labourers elsewhere. The only man you will usually see at a tea garden is the supervisor or a photographer like me. Plucking tea leaves is an art in itself. You can't pluck any leaf on the tree (yes, they are called tea "trees"). I'm pretty sure they pluck only the tender leaves. I know this because I once did a project for school on the process of making tea.

These women (and the occasional male member) really go through a tough time. They have to work really hard in the sweltering heat and even when it rains. They wear about four thick layers of clothes from the waist down (including a plastic sheet) to protect themselves for the various dangerous creatures that lurk in these plantations. I can't even begin to imagine how hot they must feel. They do all this for really really low wages - most are paid a little more than a dollar per day! Some are paid according to the amount they pluck. The leaves are weighed and then the pay decided at the end of the day.

One fact of note is that they work with complete focus. There is very little interaction except during breaks or when they see a weirdo like me pulling out a camera. They noticed me from afar. I stood at a distance taking pictures and when they noticed me they came together and started pointing at me and talking and smiling. I didn't want to get too close because the supervisor was nearby and I didn't want to irritate him.

Today's title is a quote from the Bible. It is taken from Proverbs 14:23 which says "In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury."

Have a great day :)

Reflection Is The Better Part Of A Champion

Remember a couple of days ago I told you I had gone on a cycle ride that turned kinda sour? If you read that post you'll remember that I also said that I got a really awesome pic. Well today I'm going to share this "really awesome" pic with you :)

It rained last Friday and this rain is what we here call the "end-of-winter" rain. It kinda signifies the beginning of summer. So there are these little ponds that fill up with rain water and I took this picture at one of these.

I don't usually convert my pictures to black and white but I decided to do it with this one because I think it makes the reflection much more prominent.

I got the title for this post from the movie "Remember The Titans". It is from a sticker on a mirror in one scene. If you haven't seen that movie I recommend you watch it.

Here is another picture of a kingfisher I took at an adjacent pond. It flew off soon after so I couldn't get a good close up of it.

That's it for today folks. I'm now going to have a massive bite of delicious home made pizza while I watch the latest episode of Arrow.

Have a great day folks! :)

Flypaper

Ever so often an idea pops into my head that I can't start working on immediately. I realised that if I didn't make a note of these then I would forget them which is why I now have a "Photography Bucket List" of sorts. It is not really a "bucket list" but I like to call it that.

I mentioned this list because yesterday's image is one example of what is on my list. Of course I will not be able to work on all of the things on my list because of time and also lack of equipment but maybe in the future I will finally get round to creating some of those images. Today's image has been on my list for over a year now and I finally tried to make it work two days back.

I tried lighting the book from different angles until I found on that worked. In case you are wondering this is in fact a long exposure shot. If you have read my light painting tutorial you will have noticed that I said that even subtle movements are made more prominent in long exposures. This is one of the cool effects that can be produced because of that property of long exposures.

I know it is not perfect yet but I'll try to perfect this the next time I try it.

I named this "Flypaper" for two reasons. Flypaper actually refers to glue coated paper that is used to catch and kill flies. I got so caught up in creating this image that I didn't keep an eye on my watch and time just flew past. So in a way this was a trap for me.

The second reason is pretty obvious - the paper looks like it is flying.

Well I hope you enjoyed today's picture and as always if you have an comments, feedback, questions...anything please leave a comment.

Have a great day! :)

I've Got The Power

Actually I don't "Got the power". I just couldn't come up with a better title for today's picture.

This is a self portrait that I was working on yesterday. It took me quite a while to work out the lighting. I only used two flashlights for the lighting.

If you want a full and proper tutorial I'm willing to write one so do leave a comment letting me know.

So, I set this picture as the wallpaper on my phone and I had forgotten that I did. I received a message so when I unlocked my phone I nearly dropped it because I got spooked by my own picture. How weird is that? It did give me a good laugh though afterwards :D

Anyway have a great day ahead :)

Out On A Limb

I was on the terrace shooting the sunset a few days back when I turned around and noticed these two birds on a tree. There were no other birds on the entire three, just these two on this one branch. Its not really odd but I thought it looked nice.

These birds are actually quite common here. I must add that when they flew away together.

Anyway, here is the sunset from that evening.

I haven't been able to take a lot of pictures but I'll try and maintain the one-post-a-day thing.

Really tired today. Went for a bicycle ride to get some pictures. I pumped my cycle before I left but it lost all its air within 15 minutes of me leaving home but I still pressed on even though it was really difficult riding a cycle that has flat tires. It was long, painful and tiring ride back. I did get an awesome picture that I'll upload soon so it was totally worth it.

Have a good one! :)

I'm High

Not really. I meant high as in high up - NOT high as in...oh! never mind!

It was't me I was talking about either. I'm referring to this little dragonfly perched on this twig high above everything else. That's where I go the "I'm High" title from.

Dragonflies are really cool IMO. I remember when we were kids we would tie strings to them and then place an eraser (rubber..whatever you call it) and they would pick it up and never let go. It was awesome albeit a little cruel which is which I stopped it completely when I learnt that it was in fact harmful for these wonderful creatures.

I like to refer to them as Nature's Helicopters. Was man inspired by dragonflies when they set out to build helicopters?

Here is a confession of sorts - I never thought it would be so difficult to share at least one new picture everyday. It is tough! Especially when you are not able to shoot as much as you want to. It is tough balancing photography and studies. Don't worry I'll do my best to share at least one new picture everyday. Although this might not be possible everyday for two reasons. Either I'm really busy with other stuff or I don't have internet access. I could go on and on about the internet connection here but I'll spare you from boredom.

Anyway hope you enjoyed the post and don't forget to check out the cool Light Painting tutorial I shared a couple of days back. Don't forget to check out the cool examples towards the end and also in between.
I'm working on a few more tutorials so stay tuned.

Have a nice day.

Peeping Tom

This is that time of the year when creatures that were in hibernation start showing themselves again. Lizards are some of those creatures. More specifically garden lizards.

You won't find a single one of these lizards in your garden (or any other garden for that matter) during the cold winter months. March is when they start presenting themselves one by one. I love photographing them.

True there are quite a few who freak out when they see these but they are harmless little things. They are a million times more scared of you than you are of them...that I can guarantee. They have enormously long tails.

For some reason they always walk along walls, even if the wall is lined with broken glass and rusty nails. They are pretty fast and blend in very well with their surrounds because they can change their colour to a certain degree when needed. All this makes them pretty difficult to photograph but it is actually possible to get quite close when taking a picture - as long as you don't make any quick movements and don't get overly close so as to rub noses with them :P

As the sun goes to sleep

Do you remember how our elders used to tell us stories when we were infants? Stories of how the sun would go to sleep everyday behind the mountain or under the ocean?

Even though we would learn in later years that those were just made up stories yet they still stay fresh in our minds. I like to think its because those stories are pure and have a certain beauty and innocence about them. Every little babe easily believes what he/she is told and that in its true essence is faith.

Now you may wonder what any of that has to do with today's pictures of the sunset. Well first off I did talk about the sun setting. Then I spoke of faith. This particular place is kinda special for me because it is where I got baptised last year. I took these pictures the evening before. There is a small river that flows through this valley. It is so beautiful, calm and peaceful.

Which is probably why it is a popular tourist destination. Thankfully all the three times I've been there it was deserted. There were only a handful of other people so it was still quiet, calm and peaceful - just how I like to remember it.

Light Painting Tutorial

Here is the long promised light painting tutorial. This is just to get you started so you can let your creativity and imagination run wild.

Before I begin I must warn you that this tutorial is going to be detailed, so it is bound to be long.

If you don’t want to read this feel free to watch the following video which should cover almost everything that this written tutorial covers.

What exactly is light painting?

Here is how Wikipedia describes light painting - “Light painting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source or by moving the camera. The term light painting also encompasses images lit from outside the frame with hand-held light sources.”

Basically it’s painting with light. You can do this because your camera’s sensor doesn’t work the same way as your eye does. I’m not going to go into the technical side of this because it will bore you and force you to close this post. Your camera captures all light as long as the shutter stays open (which could be for hours). 

Light painting is very easy but its super cool.

There are two ways you can paint with light:

1. Creating  a design with your light source. You expose the light source i.e. the path travelled by the light source is visible in the final photograph. Some call this light drawing.

You can also use the light source like a paint brush. You paint the scene with the light so the light source is not visible in the final photograph. Some call this light painting.

I first painted the chair with a flashlight (torch) then drew then figure with an LED.

2. Another way you can light paint is by moving the camera. This will give you more abstract results.

I just place some LEDs on a table and then moved the camera to create an abstract result.

If that doesn't make much sense don’t worry because I’ll be going into detail later.

Now as I said before light painting is very easy and simple and you only need minimal equipment.

So, what will you need?

1. Camera

2. Tripod

3. Light Source

4. A camera remote/shutter release cable (optional)

5. Dark environment (60% optional…I’ll explain later)

CAMERA

Let’ talk about the camera first. You will need a camera capable of long exposures – a dSLR works best. If you don’t have a dSLR then you need not worry because a “pro-sumer” camera works just as well. I personally use a Canon SX50 HS which is not a dSLR but it’s ok for long exposure although it is not the best. A camera with manual mode (M) works perfectly well. Most dSLRs also have Bulb (B) mode which lets you keep the shutter open as long as you want – this is by far your best option.

The most important aspect you need to have control over is your shutter speed so as long as you can change this in your camera you are fine.

If you have a point-and-shoot then you will probably not be able to paint with light but there is something you can do about that as well. Set your camera to Program (P) mode. Adjust the exposure compensation to +2 (or whatever the highest is on your camera). This should technically give you a shutter speed of about 1” (one second) during which you can paint. This is not ideal but it is the best you can do with your point-and-shoot.

TRIPOD

Now about the tripod. A tripod is essential although it is not an absolute must. You can use any sturdy surface to set up your camera. As long as your camera doesn’t move during the exposure you are good to go. Not all surfaces are perfectly sturdy even though they may seem to be (I’m thinking of a particular scene from The Empire Strikes Back). I would recommend a tripod because it gives you a lot of control.

NOTE - Do not use a tripod if you are going to move you camera to create an abstract results as you might hurt people near you or knock over precious antiques. Take this from a guy with experience.

LIGHT SOURCE

Your light source could be absolutely anything although something is not as bright as the sun. You could use a flash light or torch, an LED, a bunch of LEDs, a candle…anything!

SHUTTER RELEASE/REMOTE

A remote for your camera or a shutter release cable is optional but it helps make your job easier. You would basically need these so that you don’t have to touch your camera at all which in turn would eliminate any shake. If you don’t have these there is another way out – use the camera’s in-built self timer. Set the timer to anything longer than 2” (two seconds). This will help eliminate any camera shake and will greatly reduce motion blur.

DARK ENVIRONMENT

You do not want any stray light coming into the frame which is why a dark environment is suitable. I said this is optional because you could paint out on the street, under the street light and depending on your shutter speed the photograph will not be overexposed. If you are shooting in a place where there is some other light then you have to be very careful so that it doesn’t spoil your shot. A dark room actually works best. It is also where I do most of my light painting. I just turn off all the lights and shut the door and then just go crazy (with light painting obviously).

Ok! So now that you have everything you need you just need to know how. How exactly do you paint with light?

This is the fun part!

Set up your camera on your tripod or on a steady surface. Set it to manual mode or bulb mode (which I think is accessed from manual mode). If you are not using Bulb mode then set your exposure to a relatively long value. This again depends on what you are painting/drawing.

Set your aperture.

NOTE – During light painting the aperture not only controls how much is in focus but also controls the brightness of your light source.

QUICK TIP - Most cameras will have a problem focusing in the dark so there is a very easy way to get around this problem. Place you light source on the ground i.e. in the same plane as your main point of focus or you can hold it at the exact point where you want the camera to focus. I recommend the first option because you can do this yourself and requires less effort. Turn it on. Now using Auto-Focus focus on the light source and lock the focus by switching to Manual Focus (MF).

Set your ISO. The ISO controls the overall brightness of the picture and also the brightness of the light source.

NOTE – Don’t set your ISO too high as you will end up getting a really noisy picture. Long exposures generate a lot of noise as it is.

Set your white balance. This controls the colour of your light source.

NOTE – If you are shooting in RAW then don’t bother about this because you can always change the white balance later in post-processing.

Get your light source ready and turn off the lights if you are indoors.

Now take the picture. Once your press the shutter button you will start the exposure so whatever you do with your light from now on will be registered by the camera till the shutter closes.

Use the light source to paint an object or person. If it is a person you are painting then the person should be as still as possible because the tiniest movements are greatly exaggerated in long exposures. If it is an object then it shouldn't move. This is like painting on a canvas with paint. The light is like the paint.

NOTE – The longer you paint an object the brighter it will be. Do not linger for too long in one place.

With light painting you can get results that would otherwise need an elaborate setup.

Another way of painting is when you move your light source in such a way that the path travelled by the light source is visible in the photograph. These paths are called light streaks. This is just like drawing. You could draw anything with this technique.

Drawing with light streaks.

 NOTE – Do not keep the light for too long in one place as it will end up being too bright. This is equivalent to leaving the iron on a perfect nice white shirt for far too long. You end up burning the picture.

An example of "burning" a picture.

Side-note – Keep moving. Don’t stay in one place for too long as you will then show up in the photograph.

If you keep moving you’ll be fine. Dark clothes are recommended but not a necessity.

TIP - If you can't use a long shutter speed so as to be able to complete the entire painting in one exposure don't worry. Divide the painting into multiple part. Use one exposure for one part so that you end up with many exposures, each having a different part of the painting. You can then combine these multiple exposures into one single exposure in a photo editing software (like Photoshop) by simply changing the layer blending mode.

I took about 10 exposures and then used layer blending modes to combine them in Photoshop.

Scroll down for a few tips and check out the examples at the end of the tutorial.

Before I finish I’d like to leave you with a few quick tips.

Tip 1. It takes time to perfect light painting just like anything else. Don’t get frustrated and don’t give up. Keep practicing. Over time you will get faster and better at this.

Tip 2. Be patient. Keep calm.

Tip 3. Keep an eye on your aperture – it has two very important functions. It not only controls the depth of field (DOF) but also the brightness of the light.

Tip 4. Don’t shine the light into the camera for too long from the same spot. This will cause a flare and will ruin your picture.

Tip 5. Keep an eye on your white balance if you are shooting jpegs.

Tip 6. Don’t set your ISO too high. You want to keep it as low as possible.

Tip 7. For inspiration look at the work of other artists.

Tip 8. This is by far the most important tip – HAVE FUN! Enjoy yourself.

I hope this was helpful and you were able to learn a few things.

If you would like to know anything more or if I have missed out anything or haven’t made anything clear then do leave a comment to let me know and I will get back to you.

Anyway have fun!

Oh, Yeah! The examples...how could I forget? :D

You can make everyday objects like a dustbin look cool!

Let the painting begin!

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.

An Evening in the Fields

Its sad how we can fail to notice so many tiny things in life that are actually so beautiful and can go a long way in lifting our spirits.

The funny thing is it took me a really long time just to get to place from where I wanted to shoot the sunset that evening because I got caught up taking pictures of some dragonflies flying around. I then happened upon this happy couple :D I was careful not to disturb them and was able to get a good shot.

I did have quite the walk back home. I tried to hurry back but instead got my shoes stuck in the mud and when I tried to pull my leg free I toppled over. I held the camera above my head to protect it. I'm glad no one else was there to take a picture of the funny position I found myself in.

I also happened upon this sparrow that was enjoying a feast. It was blissfully unaware of my presence and didn't seem to bother even when it saw me. It looked really great and did put a smile on my face.

My original plan was to just capture the sunset. It was just perfect with the various colours in the clouds and the light shining on the raw grains of rice. So instead of just taking one single shot I decided to experiment with HDR photography. I decided to take and HDR shot of the sunset. I had only recently heard about HDR and was pretty excited about learning a new technique.

For those of you who don't know what HDR is - HDR is the acronym for High Dynamic Range. Its basically when you take multiple exposures and then later combine them to create a photograph that is closer to what you actually saw with your own eyes. I'll work on a tutorial as soon as I'm done with the light painting tutorials (which should be up tomorrow).

The fields are teeming with life and there are just so many things to take pictures of. A word of advice - if you plan to go to the fields to shoot just one subject then I would suggest you don't concentrate on only one subject but rather look around you. Look carefully and I assure you, you'll find some other interesting subject to shoot in addition to your original subject.

With advice comes caution - don't try and shoot everything that catches your eye because I don't think it's humanly possible to do so as there is so much. Plus if you try to do that you'll be stuck there for a really really long time. You definitely do not want to be there after sunset when it gets dark as that's when the creatures that might harm you come out. Also when you are in the fields be wary of snakes which might be there.

A Lazy Saturday Evening

Yup, I sure was feeling lazy this past Saturday. I wanted to go out cycling but instead wound up in front of the laptop until 5 in the evening.

What happened at 5 you ask? Well for one thing the clouds started clearing and this created another epic sunset. So of course I rushed to the terrace and started taking pictures of it.

The sun was already pretty low in the sky but I was okay with that because I didn't expect to get a picture that day as it was overcast for the most part.

Some crows flew past the setting sun and I managed to get a shot of them just before they flew too far away. Yup, that them in the picture below.

I did try shooting a hand held panorama but it was tough as expected.

I do prefer the single shots though.

Btw, that's the view from my terrace :)

Just a quick update on the spider from one of my previous posts. It did come back and I did manage to get a few shots but this time the auto focus was a real pain and just refused to get it right. Anyway I haven't seen it for the past couple of days.

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!

Glorious Chair

A glorious chair? Really? Kinda.

This is the result of my latest light painting endeavour - light painting a chair.

A chair is a pretty common piece of furniture and we use these everyday so I thought it would be nice to look at it in a different way. So I decided to create light trails around it.

It took me around 15 minutes to create one picture. The batteries on my flashlight died out and I nearly broke the bulb. Now the camera I'm using doesn't allow me to use a shutter speed that is slower than 15 seconds and it also doesn't have Bulb mode so I was forced to take multiple pictures and then combine them in later.


Now this is a lot more complicated than it might seem but it is still really really easy. I'm working on a proper tutorial and will hopefully have it up soon. I do have a light painting tutorial up on Youtube which is like an introduction to light painting. There are couple of other light painting tutorials that you could check out. I'm embedding the Light Painting Tutorial below for you to watch and learn.

Here is one of my first attempts. This is also a different angle.

Any questions? Feel free to leave a comment.
In case you are wondering, the flashlight is in proper working condition and I will try to perfect this :D