A DOZEN pictures with a story to tell…

I have been quite busy lately with my office work, and have really not done too much of photography. I hope to change it this month though. Although I don't see my office pressure easing until next month :-(

In the meantime, as I am idling on a Sunday morning, I collected these photographs to showcase on this blog. The all have a short story to tell, some interesting…some not so….

I hope my readers will appreciate…

Pic#1: The Comic Book scene - This was taken from the kitchen window of my apartment in Pune. It was about 7:30 PM in the evening, and we were preparing dinner for our guests when I noticed that the night sky had become strange mixture of blue, purple, orange, grey and black! It looked something straight out of comic book night scene drawing! I was amazed by the tricks nature can play. It only strengthens my belief that nothing we imagine is not there in nature!

Tech Info: E-P2 F/4.5 1/2 secs handheld against the window grill for support. Kit lens 14-42. ISO-200

 

 Pic#2 : Inside Infosys: This was taken inside the Infosys campus. Nothing extraordinary about the picture itself. However the story is interesting. In the Pune Infy campus in phase II, we have nice landscaping which they maintain diligently. You will see the 10 to 15 workers toiling over it all day long 7 days a week! When I joined Infy i used to think that they were just here for sometime and will go away once their job is done, but I was soooo wrong! They have been at it all of the 7 years I have spent in Infy and results are there to be seen – a pretty and well maintained landscape. Only minus point is, its hard to see a landscape in Infy without a laborer or 2 working on it. They have become inseparable part of the landscape itself! :-)

Tech Info: E-P2 F/2,8 1/250s pancake 25mm ISO-200

Pics #3 & #4 ; The other side of a flower: This is interesting, at least to me…I have always seen people photographing flowers from front/top. While looking al the flowers, you will see that back/bottom part is lot more interesting than most people would imagine. I also read in a book by a photographer who used unusual yet simple techniques to get pictures that get noticed. I tried to emulate his preaching in my own modest way. I was happy with the result :-)

Tech Info: #3 – ISO-800 indoors with side lighting from an open window F/3.4 1/50 ZD 50-200mm hand held. #4 – ISO-200 against the window f/5 50-200mm @ 1/320 hand held

Pic #5 : My Valentine: This was Valentines day :-). My wife gave me flowers and just the previous day I had bought a nice looking Berretta!!! Well, not the real one, its actually a cigarette lighter :-) but looks real enough! I couldn’t resist the temptation to shoot the clichéd “gun with flowers” scene! I loved the outcome. The streak of water was not intentional as the flowers were straight out of the vase. But they render a sinister yet sexy look to the scene, I feel :-)

Tech Info: E-P2 Indoor with light from the window. ISO-1600 f/3.5 @1/80 handheld

Pic #6 : The Movie Scene: The classic movie scene…or that's what I call it. :-) I saw this from my balcony one day and literally scampered for my camera. As you would probably know, once the sun is ready to set, it really goes down pretty quickly and it was, I remember, a race against time for me to get the camera and set it up quickly to get a few shots. There are couple of things I like about this pic (A) the sun looks like a BIG RED ball!! It was a fantastic site and (B) The electric tower in the fore ground. Together they provide a story of sun setting in the urban landscape, which, I felt, made a perfect picture.

Tech Info:E-30 f/3.5 on 50-200mm @ 1/800. This was one of the few instances I used the full Manual mode so that I can get the silhouette right.

 

Pic #7 : For your EYES only: This is my best candid so far. I had my pictures on display in an exhibition @ St. Joseph’s Art Fair. The stall next to mine was selling hand made soaps. And the owner of the stall was a girl who had one of the prettiest eyes I have ever seen !! I had my camera, as always, and I desperately wanted to shoot her (I mean take pictures of her eyes especially). So I sat down in my stall facing her and my camera on my lap with the Live View on. So nobody, including the girl, could tell that I was actually looking at her through my camera, because I was in upright position looking down at my camera screen. She was eating her lunch facing in my direction. I waited and waited for her to look in my direction so that I can get her eyes. Finally the moment came! I clicked at the absolutely the right moment and Voila! If you look at the picture, it looks as if she is deliberately staring at the camera with those beautiful eyes. But the fact is, I was at lease 20 feet away with my lens fully zoomed to 54mm (108mm of 35 mm equivalent) and the picture is cropped at least 30%, I was extremely happy with the live view. However, I had the focus locked on her all the while as I watched her, so there was no hunting by the cam when I released the shutter! The whole process took about 7 to 10 minutes, mostly the waiting time :-)

Tech Info: E-30 14-54mm, f/3.5 @ 1/40 with camera resting on my lap. ISO-800 indoors under hall lights, WB auto.

Pic #8 – The Perfect Storm: This was 19th Dec 2009. The day NJ was battered by one of the fiercest storm the state had ever seen. The storm left behind over 2 ft of snow in less than 18 hrs. The next day was completely white everything covered in the whitest snow I have ever seen. But the thing that fascinated me was the storm itself. It so intense that you could here the sound almost like in the movies. I was trying to take the mood of the storm, but couldn’t get it right with normal method of picture taking. I tried fast shutter,  slow shutter different WB setting. But could not get one right. Finally I decided to do one trick I had never tried before – Zooming the lens as soon as the shutter is released. So I held the camera tightly in my had with my elbows tucked in and released the shutter and at the same time Zoomed the lens in. The result was the mood of the perfect storm as I saw it. I loved the outcome.

Tech Spec: E-P2 f/4.5 @ 1/2 sec. ISO 800

Pic #9 – Adi’s Eyes: I believe, my 6 year old son Adu has beautiful eyes. Well, I may be biased since he is my son, but I wanted to capture his naughty, smiling eyes which will tell us what's going on in his mind :-). I made him sit in front of our bedroom window and tried to catch his eyes in the camera. However I realized that his mouth and nose were too distracting (not that they are bad!!) and the message I wanted to convey was getting lost in them. In order to accentuate his eyes, I had to figure out how to shoot his eyes and eyes alone without having him cover his mouth and nose! I tried to use a towel as a veil but it didn’t work. I then noticed that he was fiddling with a straw which is shaped like a Japanese fan (courtesy, neighbor hood restaurant!). I asked him to hold it in front of his eyes and tried a few shots. The first few were blurred eyes because the fan was too far from his mouth and he was not smiling too (I had to use large aperture). This one was perfect for my liking! Smiling eyes seem to tell you about some naughty thoughts going on in his mind!

Tech Info: E-P2 25mm f/4 ISO-400 1/200

 

Pic #10 – I Love India: Another Candid! On the Indian republic day of 2010, I wanted to capture some of the essence of how Indians celebrate the republic day. After shooting the streets we went to a mall to eat at the McDonalds in Nerul, New Bombay. I was intrigued by the tattoo on the cheeks of this pretty lady. I wanted to shoot her, but as she was sitting in the next table, it was too close for me without making it obvious. So I hid placed my camera on the table and and waited for the right moment. When she at her most natural, I clicked. I loved the expression on her face…those beautiful eyes and luscious  lips…I loved the outcome :-)

Tech Info: E-P2, ISO-2000, f/5.6 @ 1/8sec 42mm

 

Pic #11 – The Red Indian: This is in Plymouth plantation site. The native Indians live in their natural habitat in the Plymouth Plantation. I loved this guy, who was the chief its rude to call him that though!), with his cool head gear! I wanted to capture his expression as he was explaining us more about their lifestyle to our group. I waited and waited but and finally he turned toward me and I clicked :-) thanks to E-30 and 12-60mm the focusing speed was no problem at all! I love the way he carries himself! :-)

Tech Info: E-30, 12:60mm @ 55mm, f/4 @ 1/320s

Pic #12 – The Glowing Moon: Suni and were standing outside on our balcony one night and we noticed that the moon had this strange lovely glow around it. I was quite intrigued by it and I had to shoot it! I was afraid that the surreal glow would not be captured in the image. but was happy to see that it came out exactly as I saw it!

Tech Info: E-30 50-200mm @ 200mm, f/3.5 @ 1/50s

The Pot Sellers – A story in pictures

On my way to office every day, I see everyday these pot sellers selling pots on the roadside. I am as fascinated by the the colorful pots as wither arrangements. Every evening I would vow that I will comeback during the weekend to shoot them and promptly forget or was so lazy that I didn't move out of my house.

Last weekend I decided, that come what may, I will go and shoot them. The sight is too beautiful to miss even for a lazy person like me.

I loath getting out of the house early in the mornings (although I know its the best time for photography). So by the time I was at the Pot Sellers, it was 1PM in the afternoon. And the afternoon sun in India means directly above head casting darkest shadows. Yes, I knew, if I didn't go that day then I would not go ever, I am that lazy!

I packed my gear – a simple one – E-30 with 14-54. Why 14-54? and not 12-60 for instance? No reason what-so-ever. I just felt like taking 14-54 although 12-60 is my favored! :-)

I had the circular polarizer on as well, in order to mellow the harsh sun. I thought of taking Cokin ND GRAD filters. But I didn't want myself to be bogged with trying to change filters at Pot Seller’s place when there may be customers around. Also I knew that I wont be shooting too many bright sky shots.

So I was all set with the gear.

We first went to this place.  I loved the beautiful patterns and the colors depicted.

This was owned by one Dilip Kumar (below). A native from a small village in Bihar, he and his brother are work fulltime as wandering pot sellers. They go from city to city to sell pots. Sometimes they settle down in one place, like he has done.

He came across as all-savvy personality but with a sense of humility. He did not have the arrogance or the boneheaded-ness  about him! He told me he worked in a MNC software company where he worked on computer. His was counting vehicles and creating a report in and out of the company. He was very proud of his new job!

And when he is away on his real-world job, his brother looks after the pot-selling business.

He was also quite knowledgeable in photography terms. When I was shooting in the sun, he asked me to shoot in the shade. He said the photos will come out good! He also told me to come back again in the evening when the light is better! I was amazed by his knowledge. So I asked him how come he know so many things about photography. He said another person from a local news paper had come a month earlier and he visited him in the evenings couple of times and this photographer told him about light conditions.

I told him I am too lazy :-)  so I if I don't do it now then I will never do it!

He was also very proud to face the camera and wanted his pictures takes with different backgrounds

Just beside Dilip’s store, there was one more pot seller. His name was Deepak (below) and he was from Rajasthan. He gets all his pots from Rajasthan and he also makes statues such as parrots or cows.

He had a lovely 6 year old who was intrigued by my E-30! And very photogenic too!

These guys sell pots in the range of 100 to 1500 Indian rupees. That is about USD $2 to $35. But the bargaining is heavy. Generally they markup their prices by about 10% to 30% because they know people bargain anyway! and you can reduce the same if you are willing to spend time and negotiate.

Here are some of the most beautiful pots I have seen

Although I keep referring to them as pot sellers, they have wide range of home decor goods made of clay.

Here are the lovely Chimes

Here are the statues of Gods, god man, parrots cows…you name it!

They also sold some of the most beautiful lotus flowers….in a clay pot of course!

 

Some technical Info: As I mentioned, it was harsh over head sun.  So I had to take care about the shadows and extreme over and under exposures. How I did it? Its simple

1. Had Polarizer on – This ensured that the harsh sun is mellowed a bit.
2. I took care not to have to dark and too bright areas in the same frame. I either shot in shade or in the sun, never mixed the two. This ensured I got perfect exposure across the whole frame.
3. I used spot metering and did not use EV compensation, because I feel sometime I over do the EV comp. I checked and re-checked my LCD for the exposure. If I felt that exposure is not good enough, I re-shot same picture. I must have shot every picture at least 2 times, some of them 4 or 5 times, before I was happy with the exposure.
4. I used large aperture, this ensure that even if the shots had over or underexposed areas, it was well out-of-focus.

Simple isn’t it? No Rocket science! :-)

Hope you enjoyed the shoot as much as I did

PS: Kudos to E-30. It was sweltering 43 deg out side and it performed like a breeze!

Cheers!

The Bombay Shootout!

I know a title like that will attract attention! I hope it attracts the right kind of attention though :-)

So, Suni, Adu and I toddled along to South Bombay last weekend – and the reason? Well, the goods we shipped from US is finally coming home! So we had to pay a visit to the shipping agents.

And that was an excuse enough to carry my camera, my favored E-P2. Not that I have stopped loving E-30, but as a carry along camera with quality images – E-P2 gives best of pro cameras a good run for their money!

And the lens? Well just the 14-42 (28-84 – 35mm equivalent) kit lens. Nothing flashy, just the bare basic gear – it was a first time for me. I generally carry E-30 with 12-60 and another wide angle and a zoom lens. This time I wanted to travel light. The reason being the heat – its crazy the breeze is cool enough in Bombay, but the humidity and sun kills you and I did not want to be bogged by too many things in my hand.

And I can say I am really glad I made that decision – because I am sure I would not have enjoyed shooting as much as I did with E-P2.

So we left home @ around 9:30 in the morning and the humidity was already oppressive. We took the first class ticket for the local train from Nerul (New Bombay) to VT (Victoria Terminus, now called CST Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus. I, though, prefer to call it by its old name) Station (South Bombay). The journey is about an hour. It being a Saturday, we didn't encounter crowd at all.

Some shots of Nerul Railway station

 

 

TECHNICAL INFO: Before I go further, I want to tell you something. In the morning, just before we left home. I accidentally brushed my finger on the image sensor (actually the filter in front of the image sensor) of E-P2! I was so livid at myself for doing that!. I did it while changing the lens, that goes to show how fragile the micro 4/3rd really is. The short flange distance coupled with absence of mirror really leaves very little room for such accidents. I was glad my finger didnt not press on the sensor too hard or I would have been carrying a very expensive junk. I could see my finger print on the sensor though.

 IMPORTANT ADVICE– Be doubly, triply careful when changing lenses on micro 4/3rd bodies, you have very little room for errors!!

Although I could not see any problems in the test images I took soon after, I still wanted the sensor cleaned. And I didn't  have the guts to do it myself (although I have sensor cleaning kit). So I googled to see where the Oly service center was located in South Bombay, and luckily it was very near to the place we were going and had my sensor cleaned at the service center cost me INR 1800 roughly US $40 :-( . But I am glad I got it cleaned, it gave me peace of mind!

I tested my camera inside the Oly service center to see the results and as usual…E-P2 was perfect

 

Now for some real shooting!

Our first visit was to Flora Fountain, as it was near the Oly service center. One of the landmarks of South Bombay. Its cool!

Here is an old building – very typical of South Bombay. I love the old Victorian architecture! (It says Insurance company of Canada!)

 

 

The Flora Fountain (unfortunately the fountain was turned off!)

Another shot of the Flora Fountain

A Statue near Flora Fountain. Not sure what it signifies though! Comments welcome!

TECHNICAL INFO: All these photos were taken between 1 and 4 PM when the Sun was over head and intense. So many of the structures were backlit, like in pic above. I used spot metering and it was spot ON!! The ESP and Center weighted were way too underexposed for my liking.

Here is another old Victorian building

Another typical Bombay view! in front of Flora Fountain

Form Flora Fountain we went to VT. On the was we stopped at the old Khadi house. A typical Indian store sells handmade clothing (Khadi). Very Old and very cool! Here is an inside view.

The interesting tile floor inside the Khadi House.

And we saw street vendors selling vada pav (a regional delicacy)….yummy!!

Stamp and old currency vendor

The Transport in Bombay - I still don’t understand how the city manages the kind of growth it has. Simply Amazing!

This is more than 100 year old building almost in ruins now

 

Now the VT – The Majestic VT

TECHNICAL INFO: As I mentioned, the lens I had was 14-42mm which in 35mm equivalent is 28-84mm. This by no means is wide-wide, its more a standard-wide zoom lens. So I had difficulty in getting the entire view of the VT Station and I knew this would be the case before hand so I was not disappointed. I would normally have taken a 9-18 (18-36 for 35mm), but I didn't on this occasion because I didn't want too many camera equipments on me. So if you want to capture wide structures then don't forget to take a wide angle lens at least 18mm (35mm format) or better still a Fish eye

I will tell you an amusing story - As I was shooting the gigantic VT Station in various angle, suddenly a car came and parked near me. A guy got out of the car with Nikon D300 and the biggest bazooka lens attached to it, it must be at least 70-300 (APS-C). And he started trying to shoot with the same angle as I was shooting and was clearly exasperated by his efforts! :-) Finally I finished and moved on as I couldn’t stand his predicament!.

The reason why I told you this story is this – You need to understand photography before you start buying the gear. “The bigger the better” mindset completely fails in photography if you don't know what you are doing. And you will only be burning your money on something you don’t know how to use. Hardware cannot replace or supplement your skills.

VT – Views

 

 

The Dome was undergoing maintenance, which was a shame really!

 

More angles

The Majestic BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation), right in front of VT Station

The monument for the Martyrs of 1857 freedom movement.

 

And finally the Bombay Local train! The Ever Reliable!!!

 

You can also catch the Slide show here of the complete set