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 :)

Wandering Loss

Today's post is kinda related to my last post.

When you have major decisions to make and your future seems uncertain - so uncertain, in fact that you don't even know where you'll be the following month or what you'll be doing; that's when things can get scary and you really start to question where you're at. At times you might seem lost in the crowd, struggling to stand out and make your presence felt in one way or another - that's when things can get tricky. You have a decision to make - give up or carry on. Like I said last time, the right thing to do would be to carry. It's not going to be the easy thing to do because, I think, it's a lot harder to carry on than to even start in the first place.

As a Christian, one of the results of falling on times like this is it teaches you to rely more on God than yourself or people around you. It's never easy to hand over the reins to someone else but you've got to do it since that's what's best for you.

This picture had been lying on my drive for years and it wasn't until recently that I got to working on it. Each leaf, twig, branch is part of something so much bigger than itself and yet it's always lost among all the other parts that are almost identical to it. Sometimes life's like that. You're wandering and you're lost in the crowd. These twigs would have been lost too if I shot them head on but a slight change in perspective and a different angle and VOILA! it stands out and is separate from the others around it.

What if God's like a photographer and we're those twigs? We've got to let Him do His thing and carry on trusting Him.

I hope the people in Myanmar are OK. We felt the tremor hundreds of miles away from the epicentre so I can only imagine what it must have been like there.

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)

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.

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".

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.

Surrounded By Light

Yesterday the media science department had gone to an Awareness Park in the middle of a forest to shoot a few scenes.

We ended with lunch and then decided to head up the hill for fun. Since we didn't have proper transport some of us decided to walk and I must say that this is one of the most beautiful roads I've been on in India. Not just this particular part but the entire stretch. Further down this same road there are some really amazing views to be enjoyed.

Courtesy of: SnapKnot - Find Local Wedding Photographers

His Way Is Perfect

This picture reminded me of the verse in the Bible which says "As for God His way is blameless; the Word of the Lord is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him." 2Samuel 22:31

I had a great vacation. Now I know you're probably tired of hearing that but it's true and I can't help but go back to these pictures.
Hope you had a great weekend! :)

Going to put the final touches for the music video to Demons by Imagine Dragons. That's a project for school.

Signs Of Life

This tree has been giving us fruit for a long time now and no one planted it. Someone must have just thrown papaya seeds here one must have survived to quickly grown into this tall beauty.

Before Dark

I shot my first wedding last week. It was amazing. Here is a link the pictures if you're interested - Click Here

I should really start shooting more people (with a camera).

Anyway here is one from the archives.

Like A Tree Planted By The Rivers Of Water

The day we decided to go out sight-seeing it was raining heavily. When the day began it was bright and sunny so we thought it would be perfect for sight seeing but we were wrong as the weather is so unpredictable.

It started getting cloudy when we left and the rain began pouring down shortly after.

Along the way I noticed this tiny little waterfall and this tree there right at the top. It reminded me of the verse Psalm 1:3 which says "he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,

that brings forth its fruit in its season,

whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

I plan to add this verse to the picture and print it out and put it up on my wall.

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.