Sunset Pictures

Sunsets and Sunrise colors facinatess anyone. Sunsets are more beautiful for their contrast with clouds. During the first weekend of October 2008, I happened to be on a trip to Grand Marias, MN. Its famous for scenic drive and fall colors.

On the second day of the trip, I happened to be on the Docks during the sunset and here are the most spectacular Sunsets that I have ever captured.

Some are HDR and one in panoramic for a stick of 7 photos.

This is a HDR combined from 3 bracketed pictures.

This is a stich from 7 different photos

Landscapes in HDR

Ever wonder how to capture the Grass Greener, Sky Bluish with details of the clouds, the building with details of the siding? There is an easier answer to this these days.

It occurs in nature that not all objects reflect the same amount of light and hence for photographers, it's difficult to capture them all in one photo since if exposed for one setting, the other objects and areas might be either over-exposed or under-exposed.

In the film camera days, there used to be multiple exposure on single frame. Today we can expose in different frames, combine them 'after the fact' and finally get one picture. This technique is been popularly called "HDR" or "High Dynamic Range".

Here is my attempt at HDR (though I should say Photoshop - even CS4 sucks at properly merging the photos. Manually merging them makes it a lot better!)

To take HDR, key things to note:

1. Try to capture still images like landscape shots.

2. Capture one at recommend exposure, one above and one below. The more the better. So bracket the shots at least in the range of -2eV to +2eV.

3. In Photoshop, select the photos and merge them to HDR

OR

Use Photomatix which is better than photoshop.

OR 

Put the photos in different layers and do the work yourself.

Non HDR

HDR

Non HDR

HDR

My new Canon!

You know something? The first idea I got after I received my new Canon 40D was to try some HDR since now I can take some pictures which has some color saturation and details captured too. Canon 10D was good, but the color and details captured were not that great. 

But before that I knew I had to take some detail pictures of my new 40D from my 10D as a tribute to the 10D that has been with me for the past 5 years. (Wow! Did I really have that long? As a matter of fact, I am still interested in photography which is very different since I have not stayed on a hobby this long)

Some captures of my new 40D!

Grill'n

It was bright and sunny outside. Guys and ladies had come home with food and beer! It was fun-filled potluck party at our place.

As always, I take the Grill'n job whenever I get a chance and this was no different. I decided to do Veggie and Chicken Kabobs.

The veggies were colorful which included Green apple, Green, Red and Yellow bell peppers, Potato, Pineapple, Zucinni, Squash and much more. Here are some photos!

God's own Country

During my recent visit to India, went to Thrissur, Kerala, a beautiful city often called the cultural center of Kerala, with perfect balance between greenery & concrete and rural & urban population. During the stay at the Hotel, found this amazingly huge Cathedral. Here are 2 photographs of the same at different times of the day.

From there, the adventure began and we were travelling to Kuruva Island. It's a beautiful set of small islands held by Tourism department. A guide walked us through a small group of 4 islands covering a 2km route.

After wading through knee deep water and trekking through tough rocks for 2km, we ended up in this big island where we found a bamboo house built to watch wildlife.

This flower is not just the symbol of a national party in India, but also the symbolizes the "progress of the soul" per Buddhism. Never mind that, but the photo opportunity was awesome.

The Banasura dam, largest earth dam in India, was amazingly wide. At the end of the dam, there was speed boating where I shot this picture.

Then the incredible Soochipara Falls. It was a trip downhill containing steps and a little bit of hike, the cascading falls was amazing.

'

Muthanga wildlife sanctuary was another story. After a long ride in an open jeep through the dusty red soil, we finally were able to see some wild elephants. But the rememberable event from the ride which made us skip the next wild life santuary in the plan, was the dust which had settled all over us and my camera. I had to spend hours the day after cleaning all the equipment.

Eclipse 2008

No, its not the Mitsubishi Eclipse . Its the total Lunar eclipse observed from most parts of North American continent in February 2008. I was in Orlando, Florida and had just checked into the motel. It was a beautiful view from the lawn of the motel the most expected Eclipse event since the next Total Lunar eclipse is not until Dec 21, 2010.

So I grabbed my gear (Canon 10D with 70-200 2L lens). I was experimenting Sunny 16 rules and basic exposure guide to capture moon. Finally, got one.

A: F/16
T: 1/350s
ISO: 400

Art of Lighting - Pat 1 (Universal rule)

"If I feel something strongly, I make a photograph. I do not attempt to explain the feeling." said Ansel Adams

I wish to share some of the basic things that I have learned to ‘make’ (not just ‘take’) photos look GREAT to you and your intended viewers!

Equipment doesn’t matter! Whether its a film or digital camera, a point and shoot or the latest digital SLR, a still camera or a video camera, the basics remain the same. Always!

• Understand your equipment:

Every camera has to have these basic things to record an image.

1. Lightproof box: This is what camera is.


2. Lens: The optical glass that gathers rays of light entering from a tiny hole in the anterior of the lightproof box and focuses them to form a well defined image on the film.


3. Film: A light sensitive material that reacts to produce dark and light spots.


4. Viewfinder: It shows the approximate image that will be recorded on the film. In many cameras, it’s just a viewing glass while in SLRs, it’s actually the image that the film also sees.


5. Focusing Control: It enables adjusting sharpness of an image on the film by varying the distance between the lens and the film.
   


6. Shutter: It’s the mechanical or the electronic device that enables the lens to receive light only for the predetermined amount of time.


7. Diaphragm/Aperture: This controls the amount of light that can reach the film to form an image.


8. Film advance: This is the mechanism that allows moving over to the next film once an image is recorded on the current film.
   

While the above may be simple to read, a detailed study of your camera's manual is a must to completely understand its capabilities and limitations.

• Universal rule:

Before taking ANY picture, ask yourself three questions.
1. What’s my subject and theme?
"There is nothing worse than a sharp photograph of a fuzzy idea." Ansel Adams

2. Have I focused attention on my subject using the techniques that I know?
"I am not a scientist. I consider myself an artist who employs certain techniques to free my vision." Ansel Adams

3. Have I excluded all things from the frame that would distract the viewer’s attention from my subject?
"Photography is bringing order out of chaos." Ansel Adams.

That’s it! Following these three simple rules can make your photos look great. Lets try to understand these rules with some examples.

	What is the subject? Clearly, the rose.
	How is the subject focused? The with good Depth of field, all petals in the viewing frame is focused with greater DOF.
	Are there any distracting elements present in the picture? By avoiding any any other part of the flower, there are no distracting elements.
	What's the subject? The gondola operator
	How is the subject focused? By blurring the background and including only things necessary it is shown that the operator is a Gondola (cable car) operator
	Are there any distracting elements present in the picture? All the elements included in the picture are necessary to show that the occupation of the man.
	What is the subject? The shift!
	How is the subject focused? By blurring the background and including the parts that are unnecessary.
	Are there any distracting elements present in the picture? None!
	What's the subject?
	How is the subject focused?
	Are there any distracting elements present in the picture?
	What's the subject?
	How is the subject focused?
	Are there any distracting elements present in the picture?

Try to get the answer for the last two by yourself

Watch out for the next issue...

Note: Though many things are mentioned keeping SLR in mind, we can still derive the equivalents to other types of cameras. Some cameras may not have some of the things mentioned in this article. Once you get to know the basics, its easy to apply them to different cameras and get the best shots from them keeping the limitations in mind.

Celebrity Kids

Celebrity Kids is the Photo studio in Woodbury Lakes mall, MN. Tom Dunn, the owner of the studio was kind enough to let members of Saint Paul Camera (http://www.saintpaulcameraclub.com) use the studio for the evening of Feb19, 2008.

The "open house" started with a demo of the studio and the process he follows in developing/framing etc. Then he started giving some basic tips on how he becomes a kid when raking pictures of kids and simultaneously handles lighting/camera etc. Then the 2 big studio rooms were open to us. Here are some photos from the session...

No they are not kids!

Hot air affair

It was 6 in the morning and I headed east for 19th Annual Hot air affair Feb 2nd. The school ground was packed with pick-up trucks and balloon laid flat.

Slowly one by one got filled with lighter than air stuff and they began to fill the sky with colorful resins. Here are some pictures!