Thursday, April 29, 2010

Who'z more delicate


Who'z more delicate, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

My Noiceware strips off the EXIF so here is the EXIF data:
f/8 @ 1/90s, ISO 100, Flash-ON, 300mm Macro Mode.

Simple setup... a pigeon feather.. three water drops gray sofa, on-camera-flash with home-made-diffuser and playing with white balance... testing the "MACRO"
part of my 70-300.. i think its doing a decent job

Hanging in there


Hanging in there, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Standing on a vertical wall is not a mean task.. but these sparrows are doing a GREAT job of it.. again one my shot from my P&S taken a while back
(you can make out i haven't clicked any photo in past few days :D)

Fallen


Fallen, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

This is actual picture with really minor editing like contrast ... the texture IS REAL... its granite staircase in a garden (in Hyderabad)... took this a while back.

View On Black

Monday, April 26, 2010

2 of a kind


2 of a kind, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Captured two different damselflies on my visit to Pashan Lake! So thought of combining these tiny ones into one!!

Eye Contact


Eye Contact, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.


Heavan


Heavan, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Heavenly beauty on a overcast sunrise on 24th Apr during our photo-shoot at pashan lake. I always wanted to capture flying birds on the backdrop of sunrise/sunset, this time i could... happy :)

Free Bird


Free Bird, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.


Saturday, April 24, 2010

Golden Wings


Golden Wings, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.


Mother Nature's handicraft


Mother Nature's handicraft, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

how colorful these guys can be... and the wings are so delicate!!

Look at the shades in the eyes and the textures on the body.. isn't it LOVELY?

View On Black

Flight under the blue sky


Flight under the blue sky, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

This one is from the SECOND photo shoot i had on the same place (pashan lake) but this time alone and with better lighting in the late afternoon

Turning Mid Air


Turning Mid Air, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

This one is from the SECOND photo shoot i had on the same place (pashan lake) but this time alone and with better lighting in the late afternoon.

Morning was a spoiler.. but afternoon was GREAT

Getting the right exposure for sky and the birdwas very tricky (at least for me!) Tips from pros in P@P on 18th April have certainly helped!

BTW.. this was HDR.. thought it will look nice with the clouds in the b/g
bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4547896727&size=large&...

Doing some Make Up?


Doing some Make Up?, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

I had this crazy thought that this beautiful bird is looking in the water-mirror and doing some make-up.. (it anyway has some lip-stick and body painting done already ;)

For this shot.. i was shoes-off and feet in mud.. without movement for 5 mins to ensure i don't disturb the birds.. itchy.. but worth it!

Smoooooth Flight


Smoooooth Flight, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

This one is from the SECOND photo shoot i had on the same place (pashan lake) but this time alone and with better lighting in the late afternoon.

Morning was a spoiler.. but afternoon was GREAT

Getting the right exposure for both sky and the kite was very tricky (at least for me!) Tips from pros in P@P on 18th April have certainly helped!

Looking for place to land


Looking for place to land, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

This one is from the SECOND photo shoot i had on the same place (pashan lake) but this time alone and with better lighting in the late afternoon.

Morning was a spoiler.. but afternoon was GREAT

Getting the right exposure for both sky and the kite was very tricky (at least for me!) Tips from pros in P@P on 18th April have certainly helped!

Someone's watching you.. from the top

This one is from the SECOND photo shoot i had on the same place (pashan lake) but this time alone and with better lighting in the late afternoon.

Morning was a spoiler.. but afternoon was GREAT

Getting the right exposure for both sky and the kite was very tricky (at least for me!) Tips from pros in P@P on 18th April have certainly helped!

Pied Kingfisher.. ready to dive

This one is from the SECOND photo shoot i had on the same place (pashan lake) but this time alone and with better lighting in the late afternoon (sorry guys!)

Spreading the Wings


Spreading the Wings, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

So.. after a not-so-good photo-walk in the morning due to clouds.. i was very restless in the afternoon, so after a good nap i went back in the late afternoon and the setting was perfect.. sunlight at an angle and most importantly behind my back.. so the birds were very well exposed.

I had to take out my shoes and walk in the mud to get near the birds.. bit risky but i think its worth it... looking at the shot!

Can someone help me put the "correct" name for this geese like bird? (is it chakrawak?)

Sunrise: Spraying the Rays


Sunrise: Spraying the Rays, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

We had a photowalk today morning @ Pashan Lake. It was VERY cloudy so could not get many good bird photos.. but the sunrise was certainly GOOD.
This one is a HDR (Photomatrix) and also reduced noise using Imagenomic.

Pied Kingfisher.. in flight


Pied Kingfisher.. in flight, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

This is from today morning's photos shoot @ Pashan Lake. Was a large group of about 12-15 people... but was very overcast so could only get a few good bird shots.. this is one of them!

www.flickr.com/groups/photographersatpune/discuss/7215762...

Delicate


Delicate, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

i always wanted to capture the water drop on a feather... in fact i had picked up this feather about 15 days back.. last night was when i finally clicked with it!

Clicked with on-camera-flash with makeshift diffuser

263mm @ f/5.7, 1/125s, ISO 100

Friday, April 23, 2010

Royal Ride


Royal Ride, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

My first attempt at panning after getting inspiration from Anshum & Deepak Kul and from Capt. Nandu Chitnis's photos (watch them they are really great!)
www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwmouthshutcomusermariner2html...

Would love the hear the comments!

Speeding on the road


Speeding on the road, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

My first attempt at panning after getting inspiration from Anshum & Deepak Kul and from Capt. Nandu Chitnis's photos (watch them they are really great!)
www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwmouthshutcomusermariner2html...

Would love the hear the comments!

Zipping White Car


Zipping White Car, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

My first attempt at panning after getting inspiration from Anshum & Deepak Kul and from Capt. Nandu Chitnis's photos (watch them they are really great!)
www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwmouthshutcomusermariner2html...

Would love the hear the comments!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Colorful Brakefast


Colorful Brakefast, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.


Urban but not Pet!


Urban but not Pet!, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Just a simple little bird (with surprisingly RED bottom and small black crown!).. can someone help me to name this guy?

Taken in my apartment!

Sitting Pretty (Neat Image)


Sitting Pretty (Neat Image), originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

I am uploading this AGAIN. I found the neat image freeware and was trying to learn it and its super easy.. so thought of testing it on one of "My Best" pictures.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/yogendra174/4364939454]

Here is where you can download it.

I used seeded Advanced filters
- first used "Remove all noise" and then
- Sharpen

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Dry


Dry, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

We are all being roasted in 40+ degrees.. so i think its such an apt picture for this season. :D

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Triptych: Simple Grass Flowers

I don't know what they are called but i love them... captured in the backyard of our building.. two large images are natural colors due to dry grass and leaves in the bokeh.. smaller one achieved with white balance adjustment.

Once i saw these three photos in Picasa i got the idea for tripych..

BTW.. if you apply USM after flattening such multi-layer image with white b/g its quite interesting that you get slightly darkened edges (also around my name!!).. NICE!!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Twisted


Twisted, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

I have done some unique processing for the first time!! Let's see how many can identify what i have done!.. any guesses guys?

Anshum... thanks for the idea.. because i could not go back to the field.. i chose to implement your suggestion in PP.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Story of a nest


Story of a nest, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

View on black for better details

This nest (and the chicks) were located by my wife in our building park!! and insisted i shoot them. The light was pretty low as these are shot at around 6 pm.. but did not want to miss the shots so most of these are @1600 ISO due to real low light!! so thought of creating a collage-story.. something different... hope someone likes it!!

The individual photos are not "perfect" from photography angle.. but trying to convey the story this time instead of photographic perfection!!

lookung for food?


lookung for food?, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.


Friday, April 16, 2010

Wafer Thin!


Wafer Thin!, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.


One centimeter beauty


One centimeter beauty, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

for people looking for numbers: numbers: 300mm @ f/5.6, 1/125s, ISO 200.

For people looking for story:
believe me.. i am not kidding.. this butterfly was less than l centimeter wide (and its sitting on simple grass twigs!)

It was almost impossible to spot it in the flight but fortunately it settled down very close to the ground for a few mins... had to get down to it level in the dry & itchy soil (i can still feel the itch on my elbows!)... get as close as my 300mm focusing width can allow.. autofocus was making so much noise without anything big enough to focus that this guy would have been scared.. so manual focus!!

for people peeping into the dark-room
Post processing in GIMP (why pay or hack when you can do all for free!):
- UFRAW conversion,
- crop (to get my 1/3rd and leading-lines)
- selective high-pass filter with masking,
- selective saturation, highlight recovery
- little cloning to remove distractions on the grass-leaf
- USM

Border / signature with FastStone Photo Resizer (can't live without it!)

for people looking for faults :D (i am the first one to do so!)
if you look full size, black halo around the butterfly caused by selective high-pass-filter and selective highlight recovery

for people still continuing to read... i am eager to hear your comments

influence


influence, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

one too many smoke shots? could not resist getting this on flickr! That's my son's hand!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Smokey Roses


Smokey Roses, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

I could see a rose and a rose-bud in this smoke... so colored it red!! You guys see anything else?

Setup:
1. 2 table lamps with large bulbs (200 watts) REAL close to the incense stick (actually धूप कांडीi!)
2. Black cloth about 2 feet behind the setup
3. shot with 18-55 lens about 2-3 feet from the setup
4. Total dardness apart from the two lights
5. Fan off... (its so hot in summer!)

Wish there was sufficient light to reduce the ISO to 100 but i am using lights from two table lamps.. so could not get bigger DOF and ISO... I hope the "roses" i can see in this are visible to others too.

Post Processing:
1. RAW conversion with RAW
In GIMP...
2. Curves
3. Inverse Colors
4. Layer with selective coloring on Screen mode
5. Rotate & crop.

(hope this is allowed in Advanced editing.. if yes i am so happy this week its advanced editing :D)

Fortunately the rose is coming exactly @ third point (i cannot take credit atleast in the smoke formation composition :P)

Symphony


Symphony, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Played with my new light shades on steroids (200 watt bulbs & silver foil snoot!) one on each side of the smoke. Created some smoke and captured it!!

Learnings:
> 2 200Watt bulbs are still enough to shoot smoke at ISO 100 & f/10+
> It pays to read articles and learn from them

Monday, April 12, 2010

Golden Moments


Golden Moments, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Another one from the studio shoot on sunday with @ Anshum's house. www.flickr.com/photos/anshum_m/ with our gorgeous model Kshitija, www.flickr.com/photos/32520023@N06/

This one as well @ 1600 : Processing in Picasa:
1. Sepia
2. Golden Tint
That's it!

I wish to take this one to GIMP some day and do more elaborate processing with the skin tones and ISO noise... but i just LOVE the expression in this photo!

Golden Moments


Golden Moments, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Another one from the studio shoot on sunday with @ Anshum's house. www.flickr.com/photos/anshum_m/ with our gorgeous model Kshitija, www.flickr.com/photos/32520023@N06/

This one as well @ 1600 : Processing in Picasa:
1. Sepia
2. Golden Tint
That's it!

I wish to take this one to GIMP some day and do more elaborate processing with the skin tones and ISO noise... but i just LOVE the expression in this photo!

Expressions!


Expressions!, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

All these photos are from the studio shoot on sunday with @ Anshum's house. www.flickr.com/photos/anshum_m/

with our gorgeous model Kshitija, www.flickr.com/photos/32520023@N06/

All of the above photos are @ 1600 ISO and @ 300mm.. both absolutely NO NO for a portrait shoot-out as per text-books!! Also they are without the flash (just with the modeling lights)... so you SHOULD break the rules?

Lastly.. ZERO processing on any of these, not even crop!

Fallen


Fallen, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

These days i am forcing myself to "see" a photograph where generally none exists... so this is another such attempt!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Tiny


Tiny, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Tiny leaves placed on a normal size leaf... thought this will be quite interesting

Fences are dark and they Divide

same fence as the earlier shot.. this time with some acid-wash effect in gimp!!

Friday, April 9, 2010

If Fences are Guarded by Flowers

If Fences were Guarded by Flowers.. We will not have wars!!

A concept photograph.. the texture on the fence was pretty nice and there were some wild flowers growing below the fens.. i just plucked one and placed it over the fence...

The smooth background you see is actually black soil ready for he harvest, as its very distant i could get really smooth dark-brown b/g (but had to adjust my own location many times to get perfectly clean b/g!

Almost none post processing except contrast and hi-pass filter in GIMP.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Bug's Life


Bug's Life, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

This was really tiny and more importantly it was almost invisible in the green-brown surrounding... my auto-focus almost went-past it every time.. so had to get really low and manually focus. Ofcourse this guy helped me by being absolutely still for a few moments....
Also using all my 300mm and switched to Macro mode on the sigma!

The textures on this bug which was almost invisible to the normal eye in its flight are so amazing!!

Explored: Apr 7, 2010 #461

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Dew Drops...


Dew Drops..., originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Normal dew drops with different perspective!! Going parallel to the leaf adds a whole new dimension to the picture!! Hope the bokeh in the b/g is not too distracting!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Looking for someone?


Looking for someone?, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

his eyes caught my attention even in quite a dark auditorium.. i am happy i went for RAW.. that way i could recover this one from pure darkness...also using all my 300mm to get close to the eyes.. All the processing is in Picasa... also did not want to remove the noise, rather using it as GRAIN!!

Humm.. this guy is enjoying his biscuits... Parle-G for sure!!

Monday, April 5, 2010

I Do!


I Do!, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

That's me and my wife (Meghana). I was trying to find a random object to shoot while i was showing her the difference between AV and TV mode!! and our hands obliged!! b/g is the clean white tile and light is from couple of windows..

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Reflecting ~Music~


Reflecting ~Music~, originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

Always wanted to use CDs as reflecting surface.. got a chance today to experiment with some old CDs (so i am not worried about spoiling them further!).

Simple setup.. placed the CDs in a formation on a small writing-board near window and tried to capture crisp reflections of the window-bars on the CDS.. as simple.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Lonely on that evening...


Lonely on that evening..., originally uploaded by Yogendra174.

I am cheating here... this was shot at 12 PM noon (12:15 to be precise)... but i was really interested in the water textures.. so all i had to do was to change the white balance in UFRaw... And I am loving this one now!.

Was thinking for a while for the title.. and with the warm look of this photo and only one duck in such a large lake, "loneliness" is was my first feeling!

I was trying to get a "simplicity" photo for a while, i guess this is it..

BTW.. worth noting is that this photo is @ 300mm even though it feels like a wide-angle one!

ah..... sometimes i write too much :(