Quite long since my last blog post. A few topics came up in my mind and I even penned down some of them into my personal diary. But I was lazy to continue with that.

This time, I’m going to write up the story behind a photo that I took a few days before.

For the past few days (three days, actually), I was at Trivandrum to attend the 16th IFFK - International Film Festival of Kerala. As I want this blog post to be brief as much as it can, I'm not going to describe my whole experience of IFFK in here (though its 3 days :-D). So, let's jump to Day 3.

Day 3 - Part I

While walking from one theater to other, as usual, I'd my camera in hand. As it was a Sunday, the streets weren’t busy as it use to be. I was walking through the footpath of a pocket road, clicking some of the faces that came across.

As clicking, I saw this man walking towards me.

I took a few shots of him. But then, he saw me, gave a fierce look, walked towards me in rapid motion and stood just by my side. Neither did I panic, nor did I walk away. I stood there without taking my eyes off the viewfinder and randomly clicked the street for the next few seconds. I guess he got convinced that I was shooting something else in the streets and thus, he walked away.

But sadly, I wasn’t able to get a good shot of him. As you can see, even though he is focused, there are a few distractions in the background. But I couldn’t help it. As you know, the moments in the street will happen only once. You can’t re-create it. So when you're there, be there and click it.

Part II

After making a few more steps, on the other side of the road, I saw this man standing at the doorstep of a shop.

Now comes the interesting part. While taking his photo, he found me. (See image below)

But as I did earlier, instead of walking away or panicking, I stood there, gazed at the soda stack alongside and without taking my eyes from them, pointed the camera to it, looked through the viewfinder onto the *actual* subject and pressed the shutter.

See, as I stared at the soda stack, he also did the same. :-D

Now that I got the shot, I began to walk off before he encounters me. And as I turned, I heard someone (might be him) from behind making sounds (probably calling me) like 'sshhh..ssshhh'. But I didn't stop. I fastened my steps and crossed the street.

So the whole point is; even if you get caught while taking someone’s photo in the street, avoid eye contact, look into something else that’s beside them or look far behind and take photos. Also, when they look back or do something like that, remember not to laugh. They might consider it as offensive, thereby exacerbating the situation. 

End of the World, uh? I don’t know why, but as of now, I feel like laughing out loudly. And you know, the world was supposed to end yesterday i.e. on 21-05-2011.

Do you really think that it’s gonna end this soon? Arre, c’mon now. Be an optimist. I’m just about to complete my graduation; which means, life still awaits me. Yes, find some reasons (lame, maybe) like this to live. After all, we live on hopes, right?

Instantly, from where did this thought come into existence? I mean, its origin? Don’t know, right? Me neither. But still, on a wild guess, it must have probably made its way after the movie 2012. Uh, wait! Are we people that stupid to believe things according to a movie? Well, I hope so. There are many who believe in this. At least, in their inner mind. On a second thought, even I feel strange. Will the world end? But then, I say; NOOO!!! It ain’t gonna happen that soon anyway.

Just imagine this so called world end; like, the sky falling on to you, an earthquake, tsunami and so on. Now, what if all this happens? Yes, we’ll obviously run for our lives. But, to where? And, with whom? The first question might be simple as we can run to anywhere. But what about the second one? With whom will you run? Well, your answer can be x, y and so on. But actually, you can’t. And, you won’t. Ever thought of that moment? If not, think. You’ll obviously become selfish. You’ll end up looking for yourself and will run for the sake of the self. Actually, you won’t even look around. All that you do is just RUN!

Now, let’s think of some possible contexts. Firstly, what if the sky falls on to you? To which side will you run? Hahahaha, laughter again. It’ll be fun, right? What’s the point in running when you know that you’ll die for sure? So, stand where you are and observe others. Help some of them even if it won’t be fruitful. You can die with that bliss at least. Now the second one; what if the earth quakes? What will you do then? Run, eh? But where to? The thing is, we run on the earth; and what will you do if the same earth cracks? Hahahaha! This is why I said, don’t run. You know that its world end and you’ll die at any cost. So, stay where you are. Help if you can. Then die with that memory. Thirdly, what if the ocean rushes towards you? This is gonna be more dangerous and scarier as many other things will also rush on to you with the water. Mostly, sharks and other water species. Anyway, you’ll obviously find people running on to the nearest tall building thinking that they’ll be safe out there. Now for a change, be an optimist and just run with them. On the way, if you find people struggling to climb up, help them. Get occupied somewhere. And when you see a shark passing by, jump. Voila, the shark will do the rest! Yes, at the end of the day, you’ll die anyhow. So the whole point is, die with a virtue.

Okay. Back to the movie now. Have you seen it? If not, watch it. Even if you find it absurd, it’s kinda good. The very blissful thing about the movie is; you’ll see a new world. The year will show 0001. Yes, I like the optimism in it. But remember, the probability of its occurrence is very less. Like, 1/100.

So, the decision is upto you. You’ve two options while the world is ending. Either run, or help others and die with a virtue. Even if its gonna end, it’s your life. So, choose wisely.

PS: - I’ve contradicted myself a several times just for the sake of writing. Also, sarcasm is included. Take it in the right sense. Thanks.

I’d already blogged about my first Photographic Project; Project 52. Since its end, I so wanna start another project which will put me more into Photography and also, which will make me accountable to self. Many ideas came into my mind. But sadly, none worked.

It was on a chat with Leia Star on Facebook that she told me about starting The Hundred Portrait Project. With the very strike of that name, I decided to go up with it. And hence, it came into existence. Unlike the previous project, I don't have any strict time limits or guidelines for this one. All that I've to do is to take a portrait. See, how simple that sounds.

To make into your notice, this project is not about photographing complete strangers. On the contrary, it’s all about photographing a person's face or the emotions that one portrays. Also, in case you don't know; a portrait, in photographical sense need not include the complete face. It can simply be a part of one's face; which means, crop will definitely work.

I don't know when this project will end. And, I don't even know whether I'll finish it or not. But hopefully, I'll. Or maybe, I have to.

So yeah. That’s it. Stay updated with the project and gimme your valuable comments and critics. Thanks.

Even though photography is NOT photoshopping, in the modern age of digital images, post processing plays a vital role in photography.

 As Eric Kim (refer point no: 18) said in one of his photography blogs, don’t tell people that you edit your photos. Instead, tell them that you process them in digital darkroom. After selecting the photo that has to be processed, evaluate and decide what all things have to be enhanced in it. The main reason for post processing is; when you shoot, images will be dull and lack so many calibers like contrast, colors/saturation etc. Photos that are in RAW format are dull as compared to that in JPEG. But remember, they are the best as the user can have a better control on it while processing. This is why post processing has to be done before publishing the photo. 

When it comes to processing, there are so many softwares that are available in the market. For a common man who uses Microsoft Windows, Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop come handy. Also, the same can be used on Mac. And if you’re on Linux, GIMP compromises Photoshop.

Usually, I start processing with Adobe Lightroom. After processing in LR, I use Photoshop to Shadow/Highlight and also, to add watermark.

Note: - This is the method by which I process a photo. Your's might vary. Also, please to don’t consider this blog post as a tutorial for post processing. This is just a help from my side for those who are new to Photography and Post Processing. :-) 

Lightroom

As LR is designed by photographers for photographers, it is simple to use. But still, for a newbie, it seems a bit clumsy and tough. Here, I can help you. :-)

Right click on the desired photo and open it with Lightroom. After Import-ing the photo, hit D on the keyboard. Now on the side panel, you can see various options like Basic, Tone Curve, HSL, Split Toning, Detail, Vignettes and Camera Calibration. Usually, I don’t play much with Split Toning and Vignettes. Try changing the other settings.

A few suggestions on this:

~ Don’t adjust Temp and Tint in Basic pallet unless it’s that necessary. If it’s an old age portrait, increase the Clarity so that you can etch out the details more clearly. While, on the other hand if it’s a baby’s portrait, decrease the clarity so that you can get a softened effect. 

~ For almost all photos, this has to be done: Noise Reduction under Detail pallet. It clearly reduces the noise without losing much details. As of now, Lightroom is one of the best noise reduction tools available in the market.

Saving the photo: File - Export with Preset - Burn Full Sized JPEGs. Voila, done!

Note: Each and every photo varies. So don’t use any presets. But if you’re so fond of using it, apply it once, check its settings in Develop pallet and adjust them manually. Trust me; it can give you a better result.

Photoshop

Now, when it comes to Photoshop;

~ Shadow/Highlight (Image – Adjustments - Shadow/Highlight). I usually use the Shadow feature in this. With this, you can bring out the details from a shadowed/underexposed area.

~ Curves (Image - Adjustments - Curves). With this, we can really control the contrast and lighting in a photo. For this, all you have to do is to lock the specified path by clicking on the inclined line (keep practicing on this).  

~ Gradient Map (Image – Adjustments - Gradient Map). This can be used to convert a photo into monochrome. You’ll get better output as compared to the usual de saturate option.

~ To reduce noise: Hit F7 and click Channels. Click on the Red channel. Now, go to Filter - Noise - Reduce Noise. Adjust the sliders according to the necessity and click OK. Do the same with Green and Blue Channels. Click RGB. There you are. Done!

The usual options such as exposure, brightness, contrast etc., can be seen in Image - Adjust pallet. Also, sharpening a photo is possible in Photoshop. Use Filter-Sharpen feature for this.

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Hope this helped. Thanks. :-)

Eric Kim's blog is the best-est Photography blog that I’ve read so far. Its simple and brief. A must read for all.

PS: - Always keep in mind; you can’t turn a bad photo into a good one by processing it. The art of post processing should be only used to enhance the details like contrast, light, clarity, colors etc.

Photographer and Shutterbug. The two words that you come across in your daily life. I mean, in this virtual world.

In case you don’t know, there is a significant difference between a photographer and a shutterbug (at least, according to Wordweb). I’ve seen so many people around using ‘photographer’ instead of 'shutterbug'. People even claim to be a photographer by merely owning a camera.

According to Wordweb, a Photographer is: Someone who takes photographs professionally. And on the contrary, a Shutterbug is: A photography enthusiast.

 Now, you might feel like raising your eyebrow to this blog post. Or maybe, shouting WTF!!! But before that, please check the images below.

And now, if you proclaim that these pics are edited, you, yourself can check it in here:- http://www.wordwebonline.com/

 So, please keep this post in your mind before using any of the two terms mentioned here. :-)

Okay. This is about Project 52. To be precise, a photographic project. As the name bespeaks, the project contains 52 photographs. Fifty two in the sense, a photo per week. Hence, 52 photos in a year.

I wanted to do a project in photography and its how Project 52 came into existence. Now you may ask: Then, why not Project 365? The answer is; I can’t keep justice to it. At least twice, I’ll miss to click or to upload. But in the case of Project 52, the chances are less. As I’ll be getting a week for photographing, I can relax and click.

The first photo of the Project was uploaded on January 17, 2010. I started the Project with an intention to complete it with ease. But, as weeks passed, I started to realize how tough it is. I ran out of subjects to click. I ran out of time to click. I even thought of dropping it. But somehow, I managed to keep up the rhythm. Eventually, one year passed and I completed the Project by heaving a sigh.

At the end of the day, when I look back, I’m happy for what I’ve done and for the tough phases that I came through. The one year that I spent for the Project was totally worth it. In fact, Project 52 really taught me to photograph better.

I ain’t a good writer. Or Blogger. Or whatever you call it. But I’ve the urge to write and blog them. And that is the most prominent reason behind this blog.

Okay. Now tag me under the head ‘amateur blogger’.

It has been since one year that I was planning to start a blog. I had this pre-mentioned urge to scribble online. Oh yeah, I scribble offline also. I mean, in my diary. For you, my writings/blog posts seem to be insane. Or maybe too profound. For instance, I don't like rain for its uncertainty. But, it astounds me for the same reason. I even get bewitched by the petrichor.The rest, you'll read sooner or later.

P.S:- Pardon me for the grammer mistakes that you’ll come across in my posts. Haha. See, I typed grammer instead of grammar; which means, you’ll witness typos also. :-D

So, here you go into a world of stupidity where I welcome you at the threshold.