All my bags are pack, I'm ready to go

It's now time for me to say goodbye. To bid farewell to everything and everyone I've known my entire life along with the place I've called home ever since I was born and move away.

Just writing that makes me tear up but life isn't always easy and you've got to make tough choices and decisions to progress and this is probably the toughest thing I'll ever have to do. It still hasn't struck me fully yet but it's slowly sinking in.

Today's picture is special which is why I thought I'd share it even though it's an old one and you've probably seen it before.

This is one of the very first pictures I took of Salbari with my house in the distance when I was just getting serious with photography. It reminds of a much simpler and beautiful time. It reminds me of what this place was and this is how I want to remember Salbari. I don't want to remember it for what it is today. There was a time it actually had it's own character. As soon as you saw a picture you'd know it was Salbari but today it's just like any other place. It's lost. It's gone. It's no longer what it once was and that's so sad. Which is why it's probably for the best that I leave now so that this new grotesque image isn't permanently seared in my mind. The people here have changed too. Just today I witnessed three boys hunt a garden lizard down and kill it just for fun. I caught them on Snapchat so you can see these idiots on my Snapchat. That showed me that people here have lost something. We were all once so close to nature and lived among some beautiful and amazing creatures but they've all slowly disappeared or have been killed and driven out. That's just so sad.

More than the place itself, I'm going to miss some people. There have been certain individuals who've meant a lot and still do. They're the ones I'll miss most of all and telling them goodbye is what's been really difficult because I don't even know if I'll ever get to meet some of them again. But hey! Here's to bigger and better things, right? God has helped me thus far and I know He'll continue to help me.

To all of you reading this - I cannot thank you enough! You mean a lot and I'm really grateful that you're following my work.

Also this view no longer exists. It's been blocked by hideously designed matchbox houses.

Through The Fields

In India the fields are really tiny. No farmer owns massive amounts of land (not that I know of anyway). It's interesting to watch them plowing the field early in the morning.

It's also really nice to watch the crops grow. I plan to do a timelapse of that this year. Hope that works out. The only problem is that most farmers are really protective of their crops and don't let strangers into their fields.

For this picture I had to sneak in. He did see me there after a while but didn't get mad or anything.


The sunset was beautiful and the crops looked like they were flowing in the sunlight. It was beautiful.

Getting Ready To Sleep

Bats have always amazed me because of the way they sleep. Upside down and never fall. That to me is a amazing. But today's picture isn't about bats...it's about Oriental Garden Lizards.

They lizards are somewhat like bats. They sleep on trees. They just hang on to a branch and sleep. They never fall off unless of course they had a nightmare and jumped right out of bead (read: branch).

I caught this juvenile asleep on a branch. Unfortunately the flash woke it up but it didn't seem to mind since it went back to sleep after I'd taken a couple of shots.

Two Little Bulbuls

When I wake up in the morning I usually like to go and spend a few minutes on the balcony just looking out at the sunrise, the birds and fields and people out with their dogs and stuff. It all seems so peaceful and beautiful.

One morning I noticed these two beautiful red-vented bulbuls on this guava tree. They seemed to be talking to each other - probably discussing their own dreams of a tasty guava feast or something like that.

They they kinda just stayed there for a while talking and then just quietly. They were there for quite a while which made for a good photo opportunity.

Homey

Not a misspelling. I wanted to go with "homely" but then Google told me that it's a British word so I decided against it.

Anyway I took this picture a couple of years ago when I was experimenting with HDR photography.

It was a phase that I soon got over. I mean I still shoot HDR but I don't use it all the time like I used to because sometimes a single RAW file will suffice.

Hello There

Have you ever come across tree frogs? If you haven't let me give you a very brief description. These are amazing creatures. They have the ability to climb anything and can climb really high at times. I get quite a few of these frogs in my room from time to time and my room isn't on the ground floor.

I've found that at times it is quite difficult to capture these wonderful creatures. Most of the time they might stay still but sometimes they just won't co-operate and it make it very difficult to get a good picture. This particular frog was in no mood to have its picture taken and kept jumping about. Finally it stopped for a few seconds on this leaf and I was able to get a quick shot.

Be warned: do not get too close. I once saw one of these frogs eating a grasshopper that it had caught and I wanted to get a good close up of it. I got a little too close because it urinated on my foot. Can't blame the poor creature though because it was purely my fault. I had a good laugh about it afterwards though :) I hope it enjoyed it's dinner.

Hope you had a great weekend. It's back to college for me now.

Just Resting

We have a lot of  bees and wasps here where I live and I quite enjoy them. Until I got into photography I never realised that there were so many varieties. They are beautiful if you look close enough.

I don't really know what kind of a bee this is but I see it quite often here and I've always wanted to get a good picture of it. This particular picture if the best I've gotten of this little beauty and it amazed me. Right from the eyes to the furry legs.

Bees and wasps wander into our house quite often and often can't find their way out and I have to pick them up (not bare handed...for obvious reasons) and let the out and it does make me smile when I see them fly away. I've taken quite a few pictures of this bee when it has wandered in but I was never able to capture it properly in its natural environment until I got this picture.

We had recently erected a bamboo fence to prevent people from treading on the small bushes and I was really happy to see this bee perched on it. Thankfully I also had my camera in hand and was able to get this shot before it flew away. I've noticed it never stays for more than a few seconds in one place which makes it difficult to capture properly.

I've never been able to get this close to it again and I'm hoping that I will someday get an even better shot :)

I hope you had a great Sunday and a great weekend (it's Sunday evening here so the end of the weekend).
Back to college tomorrow.

I Am My Own Worst Enemy

Today's picture is another self portrait. I worked on this a while back and just though I'd share it today.

Have you ever been so angry with yourself that you want to hit yourself real hard? Sometimes I feel like that. That's when I got the idea for this picture.

It took a while to get the positioning correct so I hope you like it.

One of my friends said that the one to the left has a "wolverine" like pose. Maybe he is right. If he is then Wolverine has to be really really thin :P

BTW if you want to see more self portraits just click on the "Self Portraits" link which should be under the categories tab to the left.

Enjoy!

Hope you had a great day! :)

I lay me down to sleep

Today's picture is of the sunset. You might have already guessed that from the title of the blog post.

The clouds were really amazing that day and I rushed up to shoot the sunset. Quite frankly I didn't expect there to be a spectacular sunset because the sky had been overcast the entire day but by God's goodness it cleared up just before the sun dipped below the horizon.

Initially I concentrated on capturing as much of the sky as I could in one single shot because to me it looked like a fire. The dark clouds reminded me of smoke and the red clouds below that reminded me of the fire itself. Then I decided to zoom in a bit and I was pretty excited because this looked even better!

The devil IS in the details :P

I hope you had a great weekend :)

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.

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.