Star Trails

A few weeks back, I was at Maini’s Hill Cottages, NataDol with a friend. Nice and cool night with no moon in sight. Once the sky was almost dark, we planned on capturing some night shots of the cottages itself. Switched on all the lights and went out to the far end of the driveway… tripod set, camera set, exposure settings checked… and we started capturing the scene. These were to be used for marketing purposes.

Continue reading

Critique… Improve… Critique… Improve…

A motivational speaker and a friend of mine once told me, “feedback is the breakfast of champions”. This is especially true when it comes to learning photography. It sounds obvious but very few of the photographers actually make use of it. If you are a photographer trying to improve your skills, do try to get some artists and photographers to critique your work.

 

Kumaon Hills

Continue reading

Birding & Bird Photography

Lately, whenever I check out any photography groups, I always end up seeing many bird photographs. With the easy availability of cost-effective and sharp long-teles, this is now within reach of many. Everyone who had a passion for bird photography is now able to indulge in that. Get an advanced camera, mount a telephoto lens, switch to auto and start clicking! That’s what most photographers clicking birds do. Sounds easy, does it not?

Continue reading

Balancing Elements – A Study of Locomotive Parts

Do you recall the sketches from your childhood? Recently, my parents shared with me some of the sketches that I had drawn as a kid. The most common sketch was a landscape done with crayons. It seems I was quite fond of it. There was a row of mountains, a river flowing down from the mountains dividing the foreground into two parts. One of these had a simple house and the other part had a tree growing. Behind the hills, on one side was the sun and on the other side were birds flying. I am sure many of you created similar sketches. Now even my daughter creates similar sketches.

 

Following up on those days, this is how I have started to balance out my compositions. Now I am learning to let the creative side of my mind, loose. The results seem more pleasing to me now.

Pressure Meter

Continue reading