Week #6 : Expressions

Week six was dedicated to Human expressions... it could have been facial expressions or body language :D

We had 45 submissions .. and choosing just a few was a very tough job to do...

The honoured mention is of Sourav Das

Photographs by Durnibar Saha Photography (Reel life of Durnibar) :

Durnibar is one of the most unconventional photographers I have seen. This young lad from Kolkata, defines each theme his own way, and its always a pleasure looking at his creation.

<< Photograph by Karthik Pashupathy . "Photography is an art that makes me see the world in a whole new perspective.", this biotechnology master student is one of the best photographers and someone you should connect to when you dream of Chennai streets, people and their emotions.

Photograph by Koustav Ghosh.
He has his unique style of seeing the world. He stays calm, serene and lost, the perfect way philosophers should be ;) But at the end of the day, delivers what we want -  a good photograph! This guy from Sainthia, West Bengal started capturing moments since he got his nokia 3110c...now he have a Cannon powershot sx120 IS. He has a special affection for macros'!

The Photograph above (the lady with the child) is by Koustab Das  -the youngest photographer, in the group

The photograph of the expression of the Bharatnatyam dancer speaks for itself. No words shall be enough to praise the anticipation, the feelings of the dancer ;) This is shot by Srivatsan Sankaran. Click here to "like" his photography page.

 

I hope you liked our weeks performance. Do join us at our group :)
From the next month, we shall be also accepting photos from non facebook members as well.
take care ;)

Week #5 wrap up : Product photography

Week 5's theme was "Products", and surprised many who had no clue as to what product photography is about. But slowly the concept picked up, and at the end of the week we had 21 members participating :)

Of which this photograph of Robin Sinha (link) got the special mention with 23 votes :)

Photographs by Swaroop Sinha Roy and Robin Sinha.


Photographs by Sayon Kumar Saha and Swaroop Sinha Roy.



Photograph by Jashan Deep Singh

Photographs (left) by Prantik Mukherjee
(up - Mineral packaged water brand) by Sourav Das.

About featured members:
Robin Sinha - this superstar young photographer from Delhi is a english graduating student. He likes to photograph objects trying it out with different angles... and keeps on clicking till he gets the "voila!" moment ;)
His photography group is>> here.
Swaroop Sinha Roy - is a very young photographer from the city of Kolkata. His photographs are available at "Megapixels"
Sayon Kumar Saha - Photography for him "is an art of observation. It is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. A Photographer is a Visual Artist. Photography is not my Profession, it's my Passion.".. this young photographer from Kolkata is a sure next big thing. Catch him at "Sayon Kumar Saha (Photography) |Visual Artist|"
Jashan Deep Singh - bought his camera this years february and this budding photographer from Chandigarh has not stopped clicking since then ;) His photos can be viewed at his profile.
Prantik Mukherjee - is one of the most regular members of the group... ever enthusiastic and full of smile and energy.. He for me is a representation of bound energy waiting to be exploded. This enthusiastic photographer from Kolkata  displays his photos at his profile.
Sourav Das - this chirpy photographer from Kolkata is actually an instrumentation engineering student, who struggles to find a camera and shoot in between assignments and exams ;)

Photograph by Sudeep Shukla.
This is another photograph submitted, which essentially photographs an object without any brand name. Both Sayons photograph and this one attracts the viewer, while this is simpler thought and execution.
This young photographer from Guwahati, Assam is an engineering student .. photography, football and table tennis takes him crazy!




Join us at our facebook group, contribute and be a part of it ;)
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Thank you ;)

Photographers that inspired me : Vivian maier

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In 2007, A local historian and real estate agent John Maloof, wanted to write a book on north west Chicago neighborhood. While doing the research he stumbled up on a local auction sale where he bought an old storage unit for 400$ which contained negatives, which he believed would contain photographs of some historical architecture of Chicago and its suburbs. After inspecting them, he was very much disappointed because he couldn't find any architectural photographs. This was just the Beginning…

2 years later…

Curiosity pushed John to inspect the rest of the negatives in the storage unit. When he started exploring, he was shocked to see one of the most remarkable works in the field of street photography. He found out more than 1, 00,000 street photographs depicting the Lifestyle and culture of Chicago and New York between 1950 - 1960. He published his discovery on the web and he received comments that made him realize this is a remarkable piece of work that should be revealed to the eyes of public. 

When he tried to find out the name of the photographer, he found the name Vivian maier in one of the boxes. When he Googled about her, John found out the obituary column telling that vivian maier , 83 she was dead three days before.

Vivian maier was born in the year 1926 was born in New York and grew up in France. She moved back to Chicago after Second World War and worked as a nanny. During her offs and free time maier used to step out into the streets of Chicago and photograph the happenings with her camera. Even though she photographed many places of the world, most of her work features the life in Chicago and New York from 1950's to 1960's.

Towards the end of her life, Maier may have been homeless for some time. She lived on Social Security and may have had another source of income, but the children she had taken care of in the early 1950s bought her an apartment and paid her bills. In 2008, she slipped on ice and hit her head. She did not fully recover and died in 2009 at the age of 83.

This story is another example which tells us that passion towards something we love will never let us down even if are long gone in the sands of time. The life and work of Vivian maier should live in the hearts of every passionate photographer.

Official Vivian maier website: http://www.vivianmaier.com/

Article : Karthik Pasupathy 

Techniques 101-Camera painting

Camera painting

                                                                                                                      ---- by Shounak roy

We have heard about the concept of light painting, where the camera is used in long exposure mode, some keeps the camera in BULB mode which means that the shutter is kept open unless we release it. I have read some documents in light painting and so far that I understand, the process goes like this:

1.      You set your camera in long exposure.

2.      You use your light source, a torch, or a lamp and paint it in air

3.      Voila you get a light painting!!

We have some examples as shown below :

.                 

But I on the other hand will show you some picture taken by me of some random patterns which has been taken in a different approach. The following are some of the pictures :

                   

                   

                  

The following are the steps :

1.      The light source is kept fixed. In the above figures the one with the ‘V’ or ‘laterally inverted Z’ and ‘S’ were basically five lights in the distance. The last picture was just a pair of street light.

2.      Now you set the camera in long exposure mode, I mostly kept it in Bulb mode and move your camera just like a brush. Simple.

3.       As a result you get this crazy patterns. Am not much of a painter, but if you are you can even draw a face with the light as the source, the sky the canvas and the camera as the brush.

So there you are , that is all about camera painting . I would like to mention a important precaution , if you are using your DSLRs then avoid switching to live view because, in live view the censor remains exposed, so as we are using long exposure, that might be harmful to your camera.

Setting the camera:

In order to get the best results you will need to set your camera properly. That’s why a DSLR is your best choice for taking light painting photos, as it will allow you to control the three main camera settings (ISO, aperture, and shutter speed) and it will also allow you to shoot in RAW giving you more control in the post processing stage.

-ISO: In light painting photography, just like with long exposure photography, you need to use the lowest ISO value you can set on your camera. Because, photos with long exposure times tend to produce noise more than regular shots. So, consider using an ISO value between 100 and 200 to avoid the noise problem and to make sure you can set a shutter speed slow enough for you to complete your painting.

-Aperture: The smaller the F number the more light will hit your sensor and the less depth of field you will get. So, you need to set your aperture depending on the exposure time you want to reach and how much detail you want in focus. It’s recommended to use small apertures, because it will be hard to focus in a dark environment and the small aperture will give you a depth of field wide enough to include everything you paint in the focus range.

-Exposure time: It goes without saying, that you will need really long exposure times to make sophisticated light paintings. So, the exposure time will be determined by the complexity of the light painting you intend to do as well as by the ISO value and aperture you set on your camera.

-Shooting in RAW:  It’s better to shoot in RAW, as it will give you more control in the editing stage. You will be able to make precise and advanced changes to your photo and you will also be able to correct some mistakes you might have done during the shooting stage. By shooting in RAW, you can easily change the exposure, white balance and colors of your photos in a variety of post processing software.

Painting with light:

Once you have found a place where you want to create your light painting photo, you need to release the shutter and begin painting with light. Just, make sure your light source is always directed towards the camera or you won’t have continuous lines and shapes.

Here are some tips to help you in getting the best results:

- Prepare your shot before beginning the actual camera painting. Since it will be hard to estimate the actual shot when ypu start to take the snap, it is advised to plan the camera’s path beforehand and what would you like the shot to look like.  Also take some shots without any light painting done to determine the best exposure time, aperture and ISO to be used.

-When focusing, set your camera on manual focus, light the part you want to focus on, and turn the focusing ring until you are satisfied. Avoid automatic focusing, as it will not work very well in a dark environment.

The above tips are useful for both light painting and camera painting.

Hope this helps you take some cool pics and don’t  forget to share your experience with us at Facebook group.

Photograph of the Month (June-July)

Friends, quite gradually we have completed one month of our existence. And its a pleasure to present to you, our first "Photograph of the Month", judged by Ashish Singh.



"The eyes of the thousand questions. The inquisitiveness deepens soul"Photograph by Milind Deep Singh. Milind is currently pursuing Bachelors of Technology. He has shifted to India, and is "learning a lot" :D Photography for him is "..done from a handsome soul :)"... well definitely you can catch hold of this handsome soul at Flickr :) 

The Photograph was judged by Ashish Singh. He is a true inspiration to all of us Amateur Photographers, having taken his skills all above and yet so helpful and humble. He started photography in his 6th Standard, though got hold of DSLR one year back! (He uses 18-55 kit lens) Since, then there has been no stopping! For him Strong Compositions & Creativity have been the key to Success!

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The new life

The new life instilled in it, breathes out new hope everytime. In it, it has the energy, a future of a thousand possibilities, the hope of growing up into a giant towering tree, spreading its branches wide. Wide enough to comfort one who comes for shelter, and nurture those who wants to live.

Nurture them, protect them.... let them grow.

Photograph: Vaibhav Dwivedi.
Vaibhav Dwivedi is currently doing his Bachelor of Technology, in IIT Guwahati. He started photography in the year 2010, after having joined the photography club in his college. He uses a Canon DSLR with kit lens. 



If you like this photograph, show support. Click the like button below:

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Whats a good photograph?

"PHOTOGRAPHY is nothing but a burning passion one should feel inside him! Its all about making others Mesmerized! There is no technical boundary of photography......its boundless n limitiless! Its only Creation..."
- Arnab Saha(member)

So what makes for you a good photograph?
Framing or just the feel of it?
Almost all objects has been worked upon and photographed. What matters to the viewer is how the photograph is presented. Is it telling a complete story? Is the story compelling enough to move the viewer? How is the object portrayed? These are few points that often torment the amateur photographer..and is a question that will be asked time and again, down the ages. Perceptions might change few years down the line, the feel shall remain the same. The photo should be pleasing to the eye, and the photographer should love the subject he is photographing. The emotions should be properly exhibited, keeping the frame intact. For composition of the frame, members agreed that basic balancing of the frame is required. Most of us mainly stick to one third rule. Robin added,"clicking just once or twice is not enuff...try to click it wid different angles....the angle from wer the ppl hav never seen it before....n der u hav it!!! voila!!!" The follow lines are also important. The viewer should find it easy traversing full of the frame, and our photographs should make it an easy task for him. The follow lines should lead to the object of the frame.
The discussion is still on at the thread. Do you agree with the discussion? (Do comment)

Gradually at the rise

Slowly yet very gradually, people are joining in.. and adding to the activity of the group. At present we have 48 friends in the group (till week #3) with 17 friends submitting photographs for the week #3: "The world around us in macro", which is a sharp contrast to the participation of 10 members in week #1, 5 members in week#2.
This week is week#4, and is going very strong ;) God bless.

The first post

We photograph, we share... we feel happy.