Phantasm

Oh wow! It's been a while since I last posted here. My inbox was flooded with emails and notifications and I promise I'll get to them in time. I apologise as I haven't been online lately because of my exams and other work but hopefully I'll be more active now that I actually have holidays

After posting so many pictures of people I think it's time for a break.

Anyway, I just finished working on this image and I think it's one of my favourite images I've worked on yet. This was taken in October but it's been lying on my hard drive just waiting to be processed.

It wasn't until I came recently read Proverbs 3:6 which says "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." that I actually knew how to process this image.

I used a couple of different techniques to add the additional light to this image and make it look like something right out of a dream. My computer could barely keep up and what should have taken less than an hour ended up taking more than three hours to finish.

Anyway, let me know what you think. If you want more details I'd be happy to post a "layer Breakdown" video for this image on Youtube. Just let me know :)

Take care!

Aglow

Looks like I should transition into taking portraits and not landscapes since I've been doing a lot of that lately and people tend to enjoy that a lot more.

Anyway here's another picture that I experimented on with the tones and colour grading. Also I tried out this new technique which I used to add light to the top right of the picture. If you want to know how it's done let me know and I'll get back to you :)

My friend was taking pictures of some of my other friends and the light just looked amazing behind her so I asked her to hold her pose and grabbed this shot.

Hitch

Wow! It's been quite a while since I uploaded anything and I kind feel guilty because this is what I've always wanted to do and I haven't been spending much time with my camera or even editing.

A few days back a friend of mine got in touch and asked me whether I wanted to go to take pictures. How could I decline that offer? So we spent the better part of 4 hours on a bike and spent quite a bit of time taking pictures too.

We missed the sunset but I did get some pictures of the trees among other things.

Anyway, I promised him a picture of him and his bike so this is really for him.

The editing on this one is something completely different. I don't know why but I just felt like taking this route although I've never done it before. What do you think?

Ardour

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. It's been an amazing year and God has been so very faithful even though I've failed Him more times than I can count but I've been reassured of His promise to never leave my side this year.

On that note I would like to share today's picture.

These are my juniors in college and they've been together for more than 5 years (or so I've been told). This was taken at a local park - the only one worth going to in the city, IMO.

Anyway, why did I choose "Ardour" as the title for this picture? One of the meanings of the word is "a great intensity or passion". I think, all of us can relate to this at some level whether we've been in a relationship or just dream about one.

For me, the best relationship I've ever had and will ever have is the one I currently enjoy with my God. He loves me (and all of us) with an unbeatable intensity and passion. So much so that he even gave us His son so that we can be free. All you have to do is believe. That's not it. He will continue to love you like no one else can.

Sure, the love of a fellow human being is amazing but God's love surpasses anything you've every known or imagined.

I've been experimenting with my editing a lot lately and this is one of the results. It's not a proper fall edit but I quite like the way it turned out.

Ominous

I'm guessing (rather, hoping) you saw the sneak peak I posted to my Instagram yesterday.

Last year I decided to do a Halloween themed picture for Halloween. It wasn't meant to be very serious and was meant to have a touch of humour as well.

This year for Halloween I decided to do the opposite. I decided to do something seriously creepy and use techniques I haven't used before. It had it's challenges but I really learnt a lot creating this image so I'm quite happy.

I showed it a couple of my photographer friends and they seemed to like it too so I guess that's a good sign.

Halloween isn't celebrated here but this is something I've wanted to work on for a while now and what better time to upload a creepy/scary picture than the 31st of October, eh?

The Kindness of a Stranger

I bought my very first android phone last week and the story of how I got is what I want to share with you today because it involves a complete stranger.

If you're on the internet and are into gadgets you would have heard of the name OnePlus. They make good phones for a low price. Much lower than big companies like Samsung or LG or Apple. However, getting their latest phone is no easy task because of their controversial invite system. For someone like me who didn't buy their first phone getting an invite so soon is nigh impossible.

On their forums I came across a user named Cool Droid. He had a cool Whatsapp mod that I commented on and we got talking. He commented on my introductory post (which had some of my work) and somewhere along the line he said he would give me an invite if he got one to share. Fast forward a few weeks and a few random messages later he sends me a message and tells me to come online ASAP. I do go online and he gives me an invite code for the phone.

I don't know who he is. I don't even know his name but here's a stranger who kept his word. He made a promise and fulfilled it. You don't come across such people very often. So this picture is for you Cool Droid. I really appreciate the gesture and I can't thank you enough :)

Reticence

Here's a quick portrait of my friend at a ceremony in college.

I thought the light through the door made for a nice frame especially as the colour balloons added some sort of interest to the frame. I asked "Does anyone want a new profile picture?" and then proceeded to take this picture.

It's nothing special but I did promise to edit it and hand it over to her so here it is.

I didn't have my camera with me so I had to use my friend's Canon 6D which is a really amazing piece of equipment. Way better than the 650D I usually shoot with.

Ardent

Man! Oh! Man! It's been crazy busy with classes and a few photoshoots too. It's amazing but so very tiring. Been working late nights on pictures.

Things were starting to get a little monotonous with editing so I decided to work on a portrait I had put off for far too long. This one is of a friend who shares the same name with me haha

He's pretty awesome and I really wanted to take a good portrait for him. He hasn't seen it yet but I do hope he likes it.

I took a more artistic approach to this one and decided to go with a kind of gritty look. This was taken using light that was streaming through a window in my room.

Shooting with people has been a challenge but has also been incredibly fun at the same time. It's amazing!

Blissful Elegance

It's been crazy busy these past few months and I've found very little time to actually update my blog and other social media profiles regularly and for that I apologise. I doubt anyone actually reads this blog so that might not matter a whole lot but if you do I can't thank you enough. It really means a lot to me :)

Now for today's picture and one of my favourite portraits. This was not planned or posed for at all. I was shooting for an online saree store called Jhumoor and while waiting for the other model to get ready I quickly got this image of my good friend and model. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

Now I hadn't shot any ethnic fashion before but I figured it wouldn't be too different from other fashion shoots. That turned out to be partly true but not completely. The weather was horrible and we shot for four straight hours. Needless to say the models and I were exhausted at the end of the day but my clients were happy with the results so it was worth it.

I showed this picture to a few of our mutual friends and they went absolutely crazy over it. They loved it so much that I kinda wish I had kept it as a surprise hahaha

Anyway, for technical details. I was shooting with a Canon 650D and a 50mm 1.4. It was wide open as I was testing a few things but I really really love the light and the overall shot. That fact that she looks beautiful just adds to it.

BTW if you're looking for a good 50mm for a Canon body I would most definitely recommend the 50mm 1.4 if you can't afford the 50mm 1.2L lens. This lens is amazing. The unit I have has a few focusing issues but that's not a big deal once you get used to it which, I'll admit, might take a long time. I wouldn't use it for quick shots but for shots when you have a moment or to focus and compose it's just great.

Happy Independence Day

It's India's 69th Independence day which means everywhere you look you're going to see at least one national flag flying high - whether it's lowly beggar begging on the street with a flag in his hand or a posh car with a flag flying beside its windshield.

I wanted to do something creative with photography for the Independence day this year. I've used eight different ingredients to create the flag in today's photograph. Can you guess what they are?

Here's a hint - I've used things that are common where I live but might not be readily available in other parts of the world and they're all edible. Ok so that's technically two hints but there you go ;)

Some of these should be incredibly easy. If I get enough queries I will share it here first and then maybe I'll even make a BTS video of the making of this photograph if people are interested.

Wistful

This is part two of last week's post about the animals I saw in the zoo. This monkey (different from the one in last week's post) look incredibly sad and distraught.

He just seemed to stare into the distance without blinking as if reminiscing of good times past or perhaps imagining what it would be like on the other side of the fence.

It didn't even flinch when this group of local boys were being really rude and trying to tease it. I'm not saying zoos are a bad thing - definitely not! I've learnt so much about animals from my visits to zoos. Granted there haven't been many visits but I have learnt a lot.

Sometimes animals are mistreated because they're lesser beings or so we think. Honestly, the only reason I think we are still alive is because God wants us to be. Think about it - we aren't the strongest, nor are we the fastest or even the most agile of creatures and yet we're still thriving on this planet. All because God have given us amazing intelligence and is with us.

Don't ignore animals. Listen to them. Animals have a lot to say. They have a lot to teach us if we only just take a moment to listen and learn.

Control

These past few weeks have been intense! I don't just mean in terms of how busy it's been but also the emotional and physical stress. We were able to spend some time in Nepal and that really taught me so much. I'm working on a series that should be out by the end of the month.

I'm photographing products for a start-up that's launching their own app to sell groceries online. I think it's a great initiative. That's what's keeping me busy along with driving lessons. I can't say I like those pesky animals and some humans that just run wild.

Anyway, now for the image. I've been to zoos numerous times in the past but this last visit to the zoo in Kathmandu, Nepal really made me think about the animals there. Until this visit I'd never actually seen animals in zoos so emotionally active. This time I decided I would capture emotions. It's not easy capturing emotions in humans so doing that with animals was incredibly difficult. We also had a very tight schedule which added to the challenge.

One of the first animals that caught my attention was a langur. He kept baring his teeth and screaming. I don't know who or what he was screaming at but he seemed genuinely angry. Then he stopped and just raised his left hand and held the fence with his head hanging low as if he just wanted to get out but knew that any attempt to do so was futile. This is his hand. If it was a human I'm sure that person just wanted to be held and loved, which I'm guessing holds true for the langur too.

Unsettled

We're having a long patch of bad weather. It's ok when you don't have to go out but when you do it really messes up your plans.

The clouds never seem to leave the sky and usually we get a monotonous colour across the entire sky which is really boring. The high winds seemed to clear some of the clouds around the horizon and it made for a really cool timelapse.

This is one of the many frames from the timelapse I'm working on.
I'll be out of town for a while so I won't be able to reply to emails, messages and comments immediately.

Hope you have a great week ahead! :)

Query

What a week this has been! Busy yet so so so very fun!

My apologies for not posting regularly. I have a huge backlog of files that need editing and with the photoshoots and videos that need to be done soon that's just going to increase. I need to get on top of it and hopefully will succeed doing that in the next few weeks or so.

Now for the picture since that's what you're here for. I had planned to shoot the sunset from the new spot I discovered recently and set out as soon as I got back from my exam because it looked like the sky was about to explode with amazing colours. Unfortunately dark clouds began rolling in and it looked gloomy but I kept walking towards the spot. This particular bull seemed rather interested in what I was doing and decided to follow me. It stopped when I stopped and I saw the sun just beginning to peak from behind the clouds, giving out this magnificent glow that really lit up everything. The bull was still staring right at me which made for an interesting shot.

I decided against removing the annoying and highly distracting power lines and houses because this is Salbari. Or at least what it's becoming. I remember when we first moved here with no houses around us. There were just animals and rice fields. All that's rapidly changed in the last decade and it's sad to see nature being destroyed like this. Part of the picture is what Salbari once was while the background shows you what it's becoming. This isn't even the part with the most houses. It's so difficult finding a good spot for pictures nowadays when once all you had to do for a good view was step outside your house.

Summertime, It's Our Vacation

Exams are finally over! After over a month of practical and theory exams and countless sleepless nights it's finally over. Still have a long way to go before I finish my degree but these are steps towards that.

Now for the fun part - the summer vacations. WOOOHOOO!

I'm looking forward to these vacations. I have a few photoshoots to do as well as a music video and a couple other videos and if there's time I'll work on a short film as well. This is going to be a really busy summer. But good because it's what I like doing and a much needed break from that college and those books.

Today's is a rather weird self portrait. This perfectly encapsulates the feeling you get when your exams are over and you've spent sleepless nights preparing for those exams. All you want to do is crash. Dump you uniform, your books, everything and just sleep!

Ironically I couldn't sleep because of the work that has to be done but I'm looking forward to a good night's rest hahaha

If you haven't finished your exams I wish you the very best for those! Do well and enjoy your holidays :)

The Studio

This is one of my favourite places here. We've been there a few times now and it doesn't get boring - or maybe that's just because of the good company.

Nature sure is amazing and you can just sit here for hours in peace and quiet with the occasional shout from some locals in the background but it's all worth it. I've heard bird sounds that I haven't before and that makes it all the more interesting.

The trees are rich and full of really amazing texture. There's a whole variety of colours in this place.

We've use this place for a lot of photoshoots and videos. So much so that some friends of mine have begun to fondly refer to this place as "The Studio".

Obscured

For the past few weeks all the one things that's always been on my mind is Nepal and the hardships that the people affected by the earthquake are facing. I've been in touch with friends there and things are getting worse.

To get our mind off things a few of us decided to meet up on a weekend. I wasn't really feeling like shooting but I had my camera with me and decided to just take a few random shots.

This is Prince (that's a cool name, isn't it?) and he wants to be a model in the future. He was talking to someone else and I happened to grab this shot. I didn't even know I had it until I dumped all the pictures on my hard drive.

Usually when I'm shooting I have a clear picture of what I want the final image to look like but since this was rather random it provided some leeway for me to try new things. This was my first time using the frequency separation technique and it works so very well! I use that just to clear skin blemishes and smooth out a few tones. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this when I started so I experimented a bit.

Pray For Nepal

I'm sure you've all heard about the massive earthquake that quite literally shook Nepal and where we live.

We weren't hit quite as bad as Nepal which has been left devastated by the quake. A huge 6.9 magnitude aftershock hit it today afternoon.

I can't help but empathise with the people there and the thousands that have been affected. We live really close and yet feel so helpless during times like these. Really heartbroken after these events.

All we can do now is pray for them and help them any way we can, however small it may seem.

To my friends who still haven't been able to get in touch with their friends and family I really hope you're able to get some information soon.

Praying for everyone!

I hope you find comfort in these verses
‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaian 41:10

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Psalm 46:1-3

The Lord is near to the broken-hearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

Change

Sometime last month our department went out on a picnic. It was kind of a farewell picnic for one of the best teachers we've ever had so it was bitter-sweet.

While there we met this old lady who was looking after her cattle. She seemed really friendly so I asked if I could take a picture of her. It took a bit of convincing but she eventually agreed. She couldn't understand why anyone would want a picture of her. I couldn't understand why someone wouldn't want a picture of her.

Anyway after we had eaten there was a lot of food remaining so we packed it into bags and boxes and gave it to her. She was so happy and kept thanking us.

It amazing how putting a smile on someone's face can cheer you up no matter how low you're feeling.

I've been trying new processing methods recently and this is one of them. This was shot outside in the open in natural light. The background was removed in post which is the single major change I made.

In my last post I said I would be away for a week. Things didn't work out and I couldn't go although I really wanted to. My friends will be returning from their trek tomorrow and I can't wait to hear all about it and see the amazing pictures they've taken. The place they're at is called Sandakphu. You should look it up.

Enigmatic

I'll be away next week with no access to the internet so you won't be hearing from me for a while. On the plus side we're going trekking to a place I've heard a lot about. From the pictures I've seen it looks amazing. I hope and pray that the weather is good.

This is one of my favourite portraits. I absolutely love it. Thanks to my friend for posing and for the valuable feedback on the final portrait. I can't thank you enough for everything!

Hope you all have a blessed Sunday and a good week ahead. Follow me on Instagram for updates about our trip and the places we visit next week. I will try my best to share pictures regularly. I hope my memory cards hold out.

This particular portrait was inspired by one of my favourite photographers Eli Dreyfuss. If you haven't heard of him, definitely look him up on Facebook. His portraits and processing is really amazing!

First Catch

Last year I spent a considerable amount of time photographing lizards. Not just any lizards - Oriental Garden Lizards. I really enjoy photographing them. Even watching them is interesting. You can get really close if you're careful not to spook them.

With all the new construction sites and the massive destruction of vegetation here I expected there to be very few of these lizards this year and I'm sad to say that I was right. I've seen very few of these and that's really sad. This was the first lizard I was able to photograph this year. I've seen a couple of lizards in the last three weeks but that's too few.

Hope you all have a good week ahead :)

Intense

A friend of mine is directing a short film and when she asked if I wanted to visit the set and meet the people involved I just had to say "YES!". I visited the set a couple of times and had a great time interacting with the cast and crew. They're a really talented bunch of people. I'm not sure how long they've known each other but they've really built up a good rapport with each other and that, I think, is very important when you have to work as a team.

The first time I visited we all sat down after they had finished for the day to go through all the footage that had been captured. There wasn't enough space for everyone to sit down so I was standing. I noticed the cinematographer looking intensely at the screen and really studying every single frame. I knew that would make the perfect shot for him. So I took a picture and then later sent it to my friend. She showed it to him and he absolutely loved it. So much so that the next time I visited, the first thing he tells me is that he was really impressed. That really made my day!

I decided to do something a little different by adding a slight bluish tint to the image. Don't ask me why. Once I was satisfied with what my retouching I was just playing around with the curves and liked the way it looked like this.

People from all over the world sometimes write in and send me screenshots of their profiles or their desktop and mobile phone screens where they've used photographs that I've taken. That really puts a smile on my face. It also helps me really connect with strangers who I didn't even know saw or even liked my work.

Mnemonic

We finally witnessed a really beautiful sunset yesterday which was something I was really looking forward to. It's things like these that really cheer me up and I needed cheering up. One of the best teachers I've ever had left our college yesterday. We were all sad to see her go and gave her a farewell. So it was not a really good day for us but then I watched the sunset on my way home and that put a smile on my face.

I thought I would shoot a timelapse of the sunset but the sun dipped behind some really low clouds on the horizon and didn't come out until it was too late. So I walked around the fields for a bit looking for some good photo opportunities. I came across the tree in today's picture. I don't know how I hadn't seen it before but it just might be my new favourite spot to take pictures. I'm just waiting for the next good sunset to get some really good pictures.

About the post-processing. I took three bracketed shot (-2,0,+2) in order to get the entire range of light. I ended up using just the normally exposed photography at the end. I used a few luminosity masks on this one. They work great!

Luminosity masks are still a new technique for me so I do require a lot of practice but they're great for digital blending. I've also created a handy GIF that shows you the various stages in the creation of this image - hope that helps. It's a rather large file so it might take a while to load. You'll find it after the picture.

And now for the GIF (let's hope this works)

Happy Anniversary

So it's my sister and brother-in-law's anniversary today! Congratulations to them!

This is a picture that was taken a few days after they got married. It worked out quite well, I think (and hope).

Most of these flowers are gone now and since these trees were recently trimmed I doubt they'll be back.

Well I wish you both the very best for your future :)
Love!

Horns of the Devil

The last few pictures were all taken while on a recent trip to a place called Gayabari. It's a nice place with friendly people. If you do visit you'll have to get used to the locals asking you what you're doing there.

We found this really nice cave-like place and in the excitement I almost overlooked this tiny little creature that was happily feeding on the grass.

I haven't seen a caterpillar like this in a while. I think it's beautiful. The others with me would beg to differ. I can't help but wonder what sort of pretty, little fluttering thing this will turn into.

Reminds me of the days when I used to collect caterpillars and watch them slowly transform into beautiful butterflies.

EXIF info. - SS 1/400sec. f/5.6 ISO 160 250mm Canon t4i (650D)

Inscrutable

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out!" - Romans 11:33

I wasn't quite sure about this image. I like it but for some reason I wasn't feeling very strongly about it. So, I decided to ask my friend for feedback. Since there was positive feedback I've decided to share it.

This was taken from a place called Gayabari. Same hill from where I took the previous image. This was further down the valley.

Hope you're having a good weekend :)

Convergence

Thank you all for the overwhelming response to my previous post. Thanks for all the messages, comments, likes, shares and emails. I really appreciate the encouragement and I'm really glad you like it. I can't take all the credit because that photograph wouldn't have been possible without my friend who posed for me. I irritated her and even kept her from food (if you're reading this, I apologise for that :D ) but she willingly helped a lot. I will work on a tutorial as soon as I can. We're shooting a promotional video so I'm a little hard pressed for time at the moment but will get to it soon.

Last Saturday five us got into a taxi and went up the hill to a place I've never been before. There was a massive landslide a while back which is visible for miles - you can actually see it from my house on the plains so it was quite nice visiting this place.

Vehicles don't go to that site so we had to walk for a bit to get there. On the way one of my friends suddenly started calling for me to rush over. He said that he would show me a place like I've only seen in the movies. I was sceptical but when I saw what he was pointing I stopped because I hadn't seen anything like it before - at least not in real life. It wasn't as stunning as the ones in the movies or those travelogues but I wasn't expecting this - at least not here.

Nature sure is a great testament to the glory of God. I can't even begin to imagine what heaven will be like!

"In His hand are deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land." Psalm 45: 4-5

A few of you have been asking me to post the EXIF data as well. You'll find that information for today's photograph in the picture's caption.

Convergence - SS 1/400 sec f/8.0 ISO-100

Emerge

My friend showed me a really stunning double exposure portrait and asked me how that was done. I'd never actually tried a double exposure photograph before but I'd always wanted to. It seemed like a good opportunity to try. I was a little worried it wouldn't turn out good. She is used to seeing and being in some really beautiful photographs so that meant added pressure.

The first few tries didn't work out so well but she thought this one was beautiful.

My camera can't create double exposures so I had to create this in Photoshop. Cycling through blending modes and working on masking took a lot of time. If you are interested in a tutorial let me know. I'm thinking of working on tutorials for my Youtube channel again since a few people have been asking for them.

Somehow portraits have been my main focus for a few weeks now. Not sure how that happened. For example yesterday I discovered this really cool cave like place that was cut into a hill. We took some really good pictures there that I can't wait to share. It was only after I got back home that I realised I hadn't got a single shot without a person in it. I so want to go back there just to get a few shots of the landscape.

Have a great week ahead everyone! :)

Angel Arise

Last month we had a light painting competition. My friend and I really wanted to win and thought we had won when the event in-charge as well as the other participants said they absolutely loved our work. Unfortunately we came second - we later found out that they make their own students win which is ridiculous!

Anyway on a more positive not today is my friend's birthday. She is the one in the picture. So that's a good thing :D
Happy Birthday buddy! May God bless you and hope you have a great year ahead! :)

Diverging

What I'm about to say is going to sound very very weird. This has got to one of my favourite trees - so far I have two. The first on is about three minutes away from my house. I like that one because it really adds to the scenery. Without that tree I wouldn't have been able to get one of my favourite pictures of this place.

This tree was a recent discovery. It's huge! So huge that four us were able to comfortably stand inside its trunk (which is hollow at the bottom). It's got amazing texture and make for great photographs. It's beautiful and we have a few good memories of this place so that makes it special.

You just can't miss this tree when you're passing by - it really stands out.

Ever since I got a DSLR last year I've been pushing myself to try new things with photography as well as editing. I'm still amazed by the amount of data I'm able to pull from a single jpeg. If it was a RAW file I wouldn't be surprised but this is a massive step up from what I was used to.

The More The Merrier

So many things have happened this past week and that's probably why I haven't been able to upload anything in a long time. My apologies for that.

Anyway, a few of us have been going out almost ever weekend for the past three weeks or so just to shoot stuff and learn new things while exploring new places. It's tiring for sure but so much fun and you learn a lot of thins along the way.

I didn't get much time to shoot because I was busy helping the others figure out how to use their own cameras and helping them get better angles and such. We stopped along the way to refill out water bottles and this flower was the only one growing at this place. This is a little strange because not ten feet away there was a whole garden of sorts so it seemed kind of odd that this one was planted separately.

This is a focus stacked image - three images shot from the same angle using the same settings but with different focus points. You get used to this when you're shooting things really close because the depth of field is paper thin. Getting this was a little difficult because of the strong wind. I would have liked to get more than three but it couldn't be helped. Getting more than three shots would have enabled me to get a lot more in focus.

Bring Me Down

Seven of us went out on Saturday. I was helping some of them learn how to use their cameras better. We left in the morning and were out till about 5 in the evening. Except for about an hour or so we were on our feet just walking around, exploring and shooting. It was a day to remember for sure.

We were on the hill when we noticed this tree out in the distance. It really seemed to stand out from the others around it. It was taller than the rest but also had almost no leaves on it. It made this particular scene really interesting.

I had to work some Photoshop magic on the original image because it was flat and boring. The light wasn't particularly exciting because this was way off in the distance so there was no clear separation or anything. The camera didn't pick up on the colours either. Maybe someday I'll get down to working on a tutorial on how I edited this image.

It reminded me of the lyrics "Can't nothing bring me down".

Gorgeous Gulma

If you're reading this I hope you've watched our short film The Drive
If you have watched it you'll recognise today's picture from the end credits.

This is where we shot the station scene towards the end of the film. This has got to be the most beautiful and well maintained station I've visited in India. It's really small and there are very few people but it's beautiful.

This is a long exposure shot taken just as the blue hour was ending. We were waiting for a train to take us back home. We were exhausted after the shoot but were really happy since this is the place we got the best shots. A lot of the scenes were shot not far from the station.

In fact you can see two of my friends sitting on the bench on the right of the photograph.

If Hope Dies

Earlier this month I wrote about a fest we went to where we met with the members of "If Hope Dies". Turns out the lead singer used to teach one of my friends when she was in school.

They were really good and ended up winning the competition.
This was taken just after the sun had dipped below the horizon. The crowd went wild and almost everyone was on their feet and dancing while they were performing.

Although there were a few major disappointments and problems the fest itself was fun but only because of my friends.

I Am Here

At a fest earlier this month there was a rock band competition. Everyone seemed to be so into it and dancing along to the music while I just sat in the corner and watched. I didn't want to be noticed and have an awkward conversation about why I was just sitting so taking photographs of the bands performing seemed like a good option.

There were lots of bands and good music with lots of interesting poses and compositions to be had. This is one of the photographs I submitted for the photography competition. One of the themes of the competition was "I Am Here" which is where this fit in.

The Lookout

Today started off in an interesting way. Just as I was getting ready to leave for classes I got a phone call saying that out results for the previous semester were out. That made me really nervous. Unfortunately the university server was down and that just added to the tension. I got to class and everyone was sombre and quiet. We were all anxious.

Anyway, God has been really merciful and graceful again (as He always is) and enabled me to get through with fairly good grades.

Now for today's picture. As with most self-portraits this has a very personal message. I have a little over a year to finish the course I'm currently studying and then I'll have to look for something else. I still don't know what that's going to be or how God is going to lead me into the future but I have to always be on the lookout for His guidance and help.

This is a composite (obviously) of two pictures. The base image of the flower and flora is light painted. If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen a BTS (Behind The Scenes) photograph of this that I shared recently.

In The Spotlight

We went to an inter-college fest earlier this month. We participated in the short film competition and I participated in the photography competition as well.

One of the themes was "Framing A Shot". I thought I had a few good shots until my friend, Upashana showed me this rose and this turned into the best shot I'd taken all day. I'm really happy with this photograph. It took a few weird positions, dirt on my clothes and some nasty stares from people watching me but it was worth it.

The rose itself was pretty but when I decided to use the shrub in front of it to frame the flower it turned out really beautiful. The green you see around the rose are leaves from the shrub that was growing a couple of feet away from the rose.

Two Are Better Than One

Since it's Valentine's Day this picture seems like a good one to share today.

It reminds me of the words in Ecclesiastes 4:9
"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour."

These are my friends Lakpa and Anisha. We went out to shoot together and it was a really nice experience. We spent more time just sitting and talking than actually shooting.

Today is the day when people around the world celebrate love and try and spend it with someone special but let me draw your attention to the greatest love story ever - the one where God himself gave up everything to save us because He loved us so much! That's the most touching love story you'll ever know or hear of. God prepared a way for us to once again enjoy a close, personal and intimate relationship with Him and all we have to do is believe on the name of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent, ask for forgiveness and surrender our lives to God. That's pretty much everything we have to do since Christ has already finished the work on the cross.

Hope you all have a great day ahead!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! :)

The Drive

I am pleased to be able to finally share our latest short film with you all. I worked on the videography/cinematography, editing and mixing. It was a really fun experience and we all learnt a lot.

Today's picture is one of the frames from the film. This is probably my favourite shot in the entire film. This was the first time I was visiting a lot of these locations and it's really made me want to just go out and explore new places.

The theme we were given was "Hidden Scenic Beauty of North Bengal" A pretty good theme because we were able to show places that people usually overlook on their way to more poplar and clichéd destinations. I believe God's creation really is amazing and sometimes you just have to look closer to be able to find something absolutely stunning in something you might have otherwise considered mundane. So this was a really great project for me because I was able to combine my photographic knowledge and love for nature as a whole into creating something new.

It's titled The Drive (click through to watch it). Drive in this case doesn't refer to actually driving around. Rather it refers to passion and commitment. We wanted a story that people could relate to but at the same time not be distracted from our main focus - scenic beauty. Hope you enjoy it. We would really appreciate honest feedback and creative criticism.

Human Expression

Just have to thank God for helping me win another photography competition. My friend, Mrinalini and I participated in a photography competition today.

The theme we were given was "Human Expression" and were asked to take pictures within the campus for about an hour before selecting three and presenting those to the judge(s).

These are the pictures that won me the 1st position. The last one was quite a challenge to get right because of the moving target but it was worth the effort. We weren't allowed to edit these in anyway so all of them are SOOC (Straight Out Of The Camera)
Thank you Lord! :)

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.

Radiance

We really enjoyed our stay in Mahabaleshwar. The flowers were plenteous and just beautiful. They really made the place look so radiant and beautiful.

When I took a picture of this flower I didn't think I would end up processing the photograph in black and white. It was a last minute decision.

Taking a picture of this flower was actually fun to take because of the location. It was growing at the edge of this really lovely lush green lawn. My relatives were making fun of me because I was lying down on the grass to get this angle but you just have to do things that others might consider weird.

 

The Flower That Smells The Sweetest

"The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly." - William Wordsworth

During a recent visit to a hill station in Maharashtra called Mahabaleshwar we stayed at a really nice place that had beautiful flowers growing everywhere. It just made the place look so beautiful and gave it a calm, serene ambiance.

My cousins and I would just lay down on the grass under the warm sun and slowly doze off to sleep. It was just beautiful with a view of the hills.

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.