V

There are so many people moving to this area that we're loosing some amazing flora and fauna that was commonplace earlier. Case in point these spotted doves.

They were once so numerous that you just had to step outside to spot a bunch of them. Sure, we do see a few nowadays but nowhere near as common as they were.

Standing In The Rain

Today's picture is also of an Indian Garden Lizard. These are quite common in this area so it is easy to get a good picture if one is fast enough because these lizards will run at the smallest sign of trouble and they are really fast. They can really hide when required. Also they can change their skin colour to a certain extent.

This particular picture was taken on a rainy day. No, the camera wasn't damaged because I had an umbrella over my head and since there was no wind it was easy to protect the camera. The "dust" that you see towards the left of the frame are actually rain drops.

Now I'll get back to boring college assignments.

Hope you had a great weekend :)

Look Before You Leap

Another picture of an Indian Garden Lizard. These creatures really are fun to photograph. So many different angles and poses. Sometimes you can get really close too but that is a rare thing.

I was actually photographing some birds when I saw this lizard in this weird pose. I always try and capture as many poses as I can and this was the first time I saw this particular pose so I couldn't stop myself from taking a picture.

The lizard stayed on this twig for a pretty long time afterwards. I don't know when it got off because I had to leave for school but it didn't seem affected but the numerous birds around it.

Quick Tip - Always get the eyes in focus. Most of the time if the eyes aren't in focus the picture isn't going to be a good one.

Hope you had a good weekend :)

Curvy

I do like shooting Indian Garden Lizards or Oriental Garden Lizard as they are also known. I specially like the red headed males.

You can often see these lizards basking in the sun. They try and stay in the sunlight. The climb walls even if they have shards of glass on them and they are pretty fast too.

Another interesting fact is that they dig holes in the ground where they lay their eggs and they will guard it. They can also break their tails to escape from a predator's grasp.

As for the red headed males, they do this to attract the females.

That's it for now. I'm not going to write too much.

Have a great day :)

A Job Well Done

Finally a change from flowers. Today's picture is of a bird - more specifically, the black drongo. Sounds cool doesn't it? I really like that name. It just sounds so very cool!

I love nesting season because you get too see so many different kinds of nests and birds. Birds are so very hard working and creative. They work tirelessly to prepare the perfect abode for their eggs and then the chick when the eggs hatch.

I really like the cup shaped nest that this bird builds. It builds it quite high too. Thankfully the SX30 IS has a whooping 35x zoom so that helped a lot. I would have loved to get a better angle though.

That's it for now.
Hope you have a great weekend :)

Center of Focus

I'll be honest and tell you that I couldn't come up with a better title for today's post.

This is one of the more common flowers here. Before you ask me what this flower is called I'll tell you that I don't know. I really need to do more research, that I admit.

Anyway I really like the way these flowers bloom and they do stay open for a relatively long time thus presenting tons of photo opportunities. I shot this in bright sunlight which most people will say is not ideal for photography but I think the results are good enough.

That's it for today. Not too long and boring.

Hope you had/have a great day :)

Always Caring

I love that time of the year when the birds set about building nests. It's just beautiful. They work together in perfect harmony, never getting in each others' way yet doing the job really fast too. You know what's better than that? The time when the eggs hatch and you see and/or hear the little baby birds. That is just lovely!

I try and capture moments beautiful moments in nature - God's awesome creation. It does involve a LOT of waiting but that one perfect shot is definitely worth it all. This is one such shot.

You can see the mother (or father...I'm not quite sure) in the nest and you can also see the tip of the chick's (is that what all baby birds are called?) beak. I watched as the bird flew off to get food for the baby and watched as it fed the newly hatched bird.

Of course the nest was really high up so I couldn't really choose my angle but I'm still happy with what I was able to get. This is where superzoom cameras come in real handy ;)

It is also moments like these that remind me of how amazing God's creation is and also how amazing God is. For example this particular picture reminds me of how God's love never falters :)

Twirls of Smoke

A while back I decided to experiment with photographing smoke. I had just seen some pictures online and I didn't know how to go about it. I didn't have a external flash or some other source of light so I decided to use the built-in flash from an old camera as the "external flash".

I tried various angles and was finally successful in getting in right. I have a few tips for you if you are planning to photograph smoke but before we go into that here is a picture from that shoot.

Remember this is NOT a tutorial. These are a few basic tips. I may work on a tutorial when I am able to purchase an external flash.

1. The external flash should be at a 90 degree angle to your camera.

2. Use a black background.

3. Your shutter speed doesn't really matter when you are using a flash. I use a shutter speed of 5 seconds to capture the above image so if you are looking for proof, this is it.

That's it. It's very easy but super cool.

I must go now as my battery is about to die.

Take care and have a great weekend :)

Handstand

Another one from my Dragonfly series. It's not officially a "series" but I still like to call it that. It will be a proper series when I am able to get pictures of different kinds of dragonflies.

I like the red dragonflies partly because they are less common where I live.

This particular dragonfly was quite the one for poses. It kept shifting its pose every few seconds. With this pose it seems to be saying "Don't mind me, I'm just working out." This is the perfect handstand. It held this pose for quite sometime and I'm glad I was able to get a picture of it.

I'm working on another self-portrait which is again one that has been on my "Photography Bucket List" for quite some time now. Honestly I never liked taking my own picture and I didn't like someone else taking it either so these self-portraits are like a breakthrough :P

Well I really went off topic with that. Anyway hope you enjoyed today's post :)

Upside Down

A few years back a small child brought a few flowers to the primary school that my parents run for the local village children. Those flowers grow wild here and so no one really paid attention until that child walked up to my mom and asked her to look at the flowers. Lo and behold! My mom was surprised because there were some small yet really really beautiful insects on those flowers. She brought one of those insects home and I saw them when I got back from school. Unfortunately at that time I didn't know how to use a camera so I couldn't get a good picture.

I didn't see these insects for years. Last year I went out into the garden to shoot a few flowers and I was surprised to see this insect under this leaf. I was really excited because I hadn't seen it in a very long time. The sun had already set so level of light was very low and I had to use a relatively slow shutter speed and the insect kept moving so that made it difficult but I was able to get this shot of it just before it flew off.

The colours on these insects are really vibrant. Could you help me identify this beautiful insect?

How is the weather where you are? It's quite cool here. The sky is overcast but we had a really amazing sunset today. Sadly, my Dad is out of town so I don't have access to a camera.

Have a good day folks :)

Nature's Helicopters

Yes! You guessed it. Today's post is going to be about dragonflies.

I like dragonflies. I think they are pretty cool and I just love the way they are able to fly straight forward, hover and do all sorts of mid-air tricks - it boggles my mind!

I don't see red dragonflies very often so I was pretty excited when I saw this one after a really long time. It was sitting on this wire and didn't really move for quite a while thus presenting a great photo opportunity. I had to climb up high just to get level with this dragonfly and had to extend the camera with my hands quite a bit. My arms were aching afterwards but it was worth it.

Have a nice one folks :)

Sun Bathing

I like dragonflies. Not that I don't like other creatures. I like all creatures but dragonflies are pretty common here and do provide great picture opportunities.

Like this little fella here just perched on a twig under the mid-day sun. So happy :)

A little tip for those of you who want to get close to these insects while photographing them. Don't make any sudden movements. Approach them slowly. I've noticed it helps when you approach them from the back or side and then move to the front. Dragonflies will stay perched for quite a while in one place so you can take your time. Even if it does fly away it will come back to the same spot so just wait for a few seconds.

That's it for now. I'll now get back to recording a tutorial so stay tuned for that. I'll let you know as soon as it is done :)

Take care.

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!

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.

Heavenly Mosaic

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

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

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

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

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

Welcome!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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