My Lessons in photography so far…

These are some well known basic photography stuff that I learnt either practically or from various websites. Just trying to recap them here.

The flash trick

I fumbled with all my shots in the dark even with my Nikon D90 (Of course whatever the camera is, it is you who takes the picture). Using flash just washes out the entire scene. Here are some of my trick shots :-)

I learnt a small technique which uses just a piece of white paper (Using color papers distorts the color, so make sure to use only white paper). Just hold it over the flash and voila… the flash provides increased light and yet didn’t wash it out.

Here are the shots (No effects or filters applied) :

The first one was taken without flash but with Auto ISO adjustment. second one was taken with Flash which makes the flowers look pale. The final one with the paper trick increases the light but doesn’t wash it out entirely (You can still see my shadow on the wall – poor execution :-) ).

   

Keep shooting pictures… a lot of them

On our recent trip to Switzerland and Paris, I shot more than 1500 pictures and liked only about 150-200 of the whole pack and if I really have to pick I'd only pick around 10-15. So is the case with my NH Fall trip. Of the 900 photos that I shot, only about 25-30 turned out well.  So the moral of the story is, if you keep taking a lot of pictures you’d find a gem or two.

Cornering the subjects (Rule of thirds)

Yes. Keeping the subject at the center of the picture is boring. The eyes lose interest most of the time. I have heard this long back and never try to center the subject. But I read something new. That you should try to center your subject on ‘points of interest’.  If you divide the picture into 3 equal parts vertically and horizontally, the interest points are the 4 corner intersections of these lines.

Lines, shapes and Color

Imagine the picture you are shooting to be a 2-D picture. See if you can form an interesting shape or a prominent line. For example a triangle being formed or a line cutting across the picture.

Color of your subject and the background should either be harmonious or contrasting.

Auto Focus

This applies to SLR cameras with AF lens. My lens assumes that my subject is always in the center and tries to focus on the center always. Use AF only for shots which require the subject to be in the center.

Lighting

A very basic one. The light source should be opposite to the subject or on the side of it. If there’s a bright light or dark shadow around the subject, lens tries to adjust the light and spoils the shot.

I’ll capture some more tips and techniques in detail with references shortly.

 

Technorati Tags: Photography,D90,Photography tips,Camera,Nikon D90,Nikon,Techniques

Follow up to Kalam’s - Need for creativity in classroom

http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article47027.ece

Following is an excerpt from the link above:

Need for creativity in classroom

The former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, writes:

I was happy to see the article “I only want to enjoy my childhood, ma” by Inumella Sesikala (Open Page, Nov. 8). I liked the article very much, which is a dream of every child. Creativity of children has to come out from the classroom. Some of us had such opportunities. Our children should go to primary school only at the age of six. Till then, we have to promote creativity of the children with great teachers and an innovative classroom environment.

Yesterday, when I was reading the book Spiritual Intelligence, The Ultimate Intelligence by Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall, I came across the poem, “ The Student’s prayer.”

“The young son of a Chilean biologist, Umberto Maturana, became unhappy at school because he felt his teachers were making it impossible for him to learn. They wanted to teach him what they knew, rather than drawing out what he needed to learn. As a result Maturana wrote “ The Student’s Prayer”, of which this translation is an abridged version. It perfectly expresses the spiritually intelligent individual’s response to the conforming pressures of parents, teachers, bosses or the crowd.

The Student’s Prayer

Don’t impose on me what you know,

I want to explore the unknown

And be the source of my own discoveries.

Let the known be my liberation, not my slavery.

The world of your truth can be my limitation;

Your wisdom my negation.

Don’t instruct me; let’s walk together.

Let my richness begin where yours ends.

Show me so that I can stand

On your shoulders.

Reveal yourself so that I can be

Something different.

You believe that every human being

Can love and create.

I understand, then, your fear

When I ask you to live according to your wisdom.

You will not know who I am

By listening to yourself.

Don’t instruct me; let me be.

Your failure is that I be identical to you.”

I thought, there is a connectivity among young hearts even beyond ocean — “I only want to enjoy my childhood, ma” and “The Student’s Prayer.”

Here is the link for the article Rev. Kalam refers to : http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article45377.ece

Ironically, I happened to watch an episode of Ramany Vs Ramany Part-II yesterday which deals with the same subject.

Ramany & Ramany have a girl child (about 4-6 years old). Mr.Ramany wants her to be a tennis prodigy and wakes her up at morning 5:30 to go to the tennis class. Mrs.Ramany wants her to be a Bharatanatyam dancer and makes her attend the classes right after her tennis lessons. The kid loses her sleep and is very unhappy. Both the parents want their child to achieve what they couldn’t. I'm not blaming them for what they want. This is always the case with Indian culture. We want our children to be what we couldn’t be.

But do we realize that our children have their own minds? Do we forget what we wanted to do in our childhood? No, Out of our extreme obsession for our children,  we force them into things that we wouldn’t have wanted to do ourselves in our childhood.

I quite often see obsessive parents who don’t even let their infant cry for a minute. My belief is that when an infant cries it could be because of any number of reasons, but nature has instilled this process so that the child who is fed all day doesn’t have to do any exercise. This is not some random exercise, but the ‘Ohm chanting’ itself manifested.  The sounds ‘Aa’, ‘Oo’ and ‘Um’ are the only sounds that one can produce without using the tongue, which is universal to any culture or language. Any basic sound from a child or an animal is based on these 3 sounds and pronouncing them often enhances the child’s physique and energy. oh, pardon me.. I don’t want to see your child crying for some half an hour or so. But, do let it cry for a few minutes before you tend to it, so that it can do some basic exercise :-) . But don’t take my words on the face value, I’m no expert. Please do consult an expert.

So let me finish with what happens in the comic episode I mentioned above. The child doesn’t wake up one day for the tennis class. It’s already late for the tennis class and Mrs.Ramany wants her to go straight to the dance class. Mr.Ramany calls the doctor and he shows up with a box (that contains only chocolates). The doctor says that this is a regular complaint for kids and wakes the kid up by making her smell the chocolate. Then he asks her what she likes, “Tennis or dance?”. But the kid says that she likes neither and wants to do “drawing”. Finally, the parents learn what they wanted to and the child watches them happily. :-)

 

Technorati Tags: Childcare,Parents,Abdul kalam,Creativity,Children,Parenthood

Mind Body co-ordination

I guess this one is already on many blogs or websites. This is from one of those email forwards that frustrate you :-). But I think this is due to some neuron miswiring or loose contact :-))

HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?
You have to try this please, it takes 2 seconds. I could not believe this!  It is from an orthopedic surgeon............ This will confuse your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't.  It is pre-programmed in your brain!
1. While sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand.. Your foot will change direction.
I told you so! And there's nothing you can do about it! You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.

 

Technorati Tags: Trivia,Forwards,Mind body,Neuron

Steve Jobs - Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

Technorati Tags: Steve Jobs,Apple,Stanford,Steve jobs speech,Stay Hungry,stay foolish

I came across an article that reproduced Steve Job’s speech at Stanford and was impressed. Here is the link to the text of the speech:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

I have great admiration for Steve Job’s creativity and his leadership (especially at Pixar and the current spell at Apple). But I had also thought that he is yet another flamboyant entrepreneur who was thrown out of his own company probably due to arrogance, ego and what not.  This was one of the most moving speeches I have read for quite some time.

The story about connecting the dots makes so much sense. Even though we may not have achieved great feats like him, it applies to everyone of us. I was broken when I couldn’t get into the college course of my choice and got into so many things that I wouldn’t have otherwise. But now looking back, from where I am, everything seems to make sense and I believe it would do so in future too.

Though I haven’t had any dramatic setbacks like him in career, I’ve had my share of missteps too. But each of these missteps seem to have taught a lesson and helped me take on my toughest decisions till date and I am happy that I did what I did.

I’m still exploring about death and it’s possibilities, so I would reserve my comments for future :-)

All in all, this is one hell of a distilled lesson for life. oh.. don’t take my words for it. I feel humbled about my minuscule wisdom.