A Million Miles

Have you ever got to a point where you look back and realise that you've come a long way? You made it thus far through all the weird twists and have survived life's curve-balls and while you should be filled with a sense of accomplishment, it feels like something's amiss.

You look ahead and all you can see is see is...well, very little, if anything at all. The future holds so much that is unknown and that can be incredibly scary. You realise that you're on your own path and you have no idea where it leads and yet you've got to keep walking.

Now, don't get me wrong - the very fact that you're standing where you are proves that you've come a long way but that also means you've got a long way to go yet. The fog of uncertainty can be intimidating but you know you've got to feel your way through. Progress, at times, may be slow but that's the only way forward. It's might never be easy but you need to carry on.

A lot of what's been going on recently has left me thinking along those lines and while I would be lying if I said the future doesn't scare me at times, it would be remiss of me not to mention what actually gives me hope. At the expense of sounding preachy and cheesy it really is God who give me hope. When I look back I realise that I would not have made it where I am today without His help and that can be incredibly comforting because while the future can be ambiguous, I know He's still going to be there leading, guiding and comforting me whether I ask for it or not and that is all that should really matter. What gives me solace right now as I reminisce about the past and wonder about what the road ahead may lead is that assurance that He's right here beside me.

A friend once asked me why I write what I do and why I relate it to the pictures I post. I don't have a definitive answer but it's probably because each picture holds some sort of meaning for me. Each picture isn't just about beauty or documentation - it's also about emotions. It's about how it makes me feel and how I want anyone who views it to connect with it in their own unique way.

This picture to me is about a whole lot more than what I've written but I hope someone else can get something out of it too.

"I'm still not done; I'm only half way there
I'm a million miles away from where I'm from
But there's still another million miles to come"
- Trouble by Avicii

This was shot on the OnePlus 2 and edited in Snapseed.

Happy Halloween!!!

Hey folks! I know I've been MIA lately but I do plan to get back to sharing regularly.

Happy Halloween! :)

Just something I threw together at the very last minute.

It's also Diwali time here so it's pretty noisy outside...poor Dixie.

Happy Earth Day

I guess it's never too late to say that even though the day's nearly over in India.

Here's an abstract shot a dead tree that I found while wandering around one afternoon.

Have a good weekend :)

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?

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!

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! :)

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!

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.

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 :)

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! :)

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.

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! :)

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.

 

Upwards And Onwards

I love the way trees grow. Just like fingerprints no two are alike. It's amazing and makes any place look so much more beautiful and interesting.

There is a park of sorts not very far from where I live. It's just outside a wildlife sanctuary and it has there really tall and really beautiful trees. This is one of the first trees you see as soon as you enter.

The Core

I've been noticing these flowers in the garden and almost always the centre seems to decay and die last. That's what stays till the very end. It stays attached to the plant for quite a while even after it has completely dried up.

Maybe it's the same with us as well. The real us always survives no matter what experiences we have and no matter what we go through. I came across this quote recently "We are who we are...eventually". That's what got me thinking.

The Loner

In keeping with my recent black and white photographs here is another one.
Once I started editing in black and white I just kept going. Revisited some photographs that I had archived because they looked amazing in black and white.

I have no idea what this flower is called but I do remember that we would fight for this when we were younger. You don't get a lot of nectar out of it but what you do get is really sweet and will leave you wanting more.