WINTERLIGHT IN MODELLING OR ANY SORT OF PHOTOGRAPHY

The guy is my grand son...I USED HIM HERE AS A MODEL,HE JUST MOVING AROUND ON HIS OWN, while I went on clicking...This is the effect of winter lighting which spans in India from October to February, giving contre-jour effect and 3D effect to ur photographs. U can choose any subject, move into the ground or verandah, or any open space having dark or somewhat dark background to bring up the photograph. This light is as good as a spotlight effect which can be achieved in a studio too. But to give the picture natural look, I wud like to come open in the spaces mentioned above..Here the precaution will be to shadow the lens from direct sun. Besides using a long focal length lenth will make the model comfortable, giving better out of focus background.Also keep in mind the aperture being used. On long focal length lenses it can be better f8 or f5.6, I mean to say using a 70-200,or 70-300mm lens. Using tripod will help if the shutter speed is below 1/250 for such lenses. One thing I wud make clear...use any camera, any lens, but do not miss the opportunity provided by nature free of charge, keeping urself well in shadow.

FREELANCE -REPUTATION WITH GOOD LEARNING.

THEIR ARE MANY FREELANCERS AROUND. ANYBODY JOINS newspaper claims to be a freelancer..he is rather more of a photo-journalists. The important thing is that the successful freelancing is in diversification. However, there are many other aspects. Foe instance, lack of specialisation is part of a continuing challenge of freelancing. Though freelancers are not as in hurry as the photo-journalists, whom the editor is waiting for the latest photograph, powerful enough to be printed on page one.

2. EACH day can bring a new journal, a new approach and besides a wide range of market. By all means a successful freelancer has to concentrate on the successful subjects and market search. But he shd never forget to probe and search for different, new subjects with different angles and lighting. The freelancer having some experience will never plan for instant sales. An important part of his income will come from his file pictures. Which he checks every week and make a diary newpaper-wise...Accumulating lot of pictures of all and special occasions will bring forth chances of more sale. Be friend of the editor and other staff. Give them complimentary copies of their photographs from time to time. This ensures a good friendship. and a good friend in need is friend indeed. There is lot to be said on this...try & get success.

PHOTOGRAPHY TERMINOLOGY-IMP ONES.

THERE ARE MORE PRACTICAL WORDS WHICH WE find regular in use...BUT THE TERMS ARE SO MANY THAT A BEGINNER OR AN ENTHUSIAST MAY FIND IT DIFFICULT TO DIGEST THEM: For reference it is necessary to note down and consult when required:
-Hyperfocal Distance: The distance of the nearest object which is imaged with satisfactory sharpness when a lens is focused at infinity. When the lens is focused on hyper focal all object from one-half that distance to infinity will be sharp.
-Illustrative photography: A type of photography intended to illustrate text or to tell a story without textual supplement other than captions.
-Image: A reproduction of an original object or scene by a lens The image which enables us to see is formed within the eye by the crystalline lens.
-Industrial Photography: The photographs shot for the industrial firms, usually for publicity, training or advertising purposes.
-Infinity: Infinite distance in practical photography, that distance beyond which no adjustment is necessary in focusing the lens. For slow lenses it is usually 100 feet, for modern high speed , short focal length lenses, it is usually 500ft and for long focus lenses about 3000ft..
--The photograph above is of a CD taken under a tubelight.

LIGHT METER-AUTO-LOCK

THE CAMERA COMPANIES HAVE GIVEN SEVERAL FACILITIES IN THEIT DIGITAL CAMERAS...IF U VIEW AND READ, IT BECOMES A GOOD COURSE BOOK.

To read the light,it is necessary to incorporate a device which will calculate and suggest u about the use of shutter speed, aperture and important is ISO. Besides many metering facilities, they have provided a feature called ''autolock''..Therefore while directing ur camera on a subject, u have to put your choice of exposure on the Cameras's main dial. Keeping it on auto will solve most of your problems. The flash will automatically pop-up, if the light is low. If there is sufficient light the camera will calculate its exosure on auto basis and if ur eyes move to another subjects in between, u can focus on the main subject and the button generally fixed near the viewfinder can be pressed half way so the focus is locked. now by pressing the AEL button, u can move camera to other subjects and if need be, do the same exercise and per chance u have not shot or selected any other subject, bring back the camera to the first subject where u locked the focus. Now u are ready to shoot, click the release button.

In the photograph shown, i focused on the centre small leaf and half pressed the button moved to see something worthwhile, i came back to the leaf and clicked.

MINISTRY OF I&B,GOI,HONOURS RENOWNED PHOTOGRAPHERS.

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting-Photo Division, Govt of India on its Golden Jubilee Celebrations on the 'World Photography Day'has honoured with 'Life Time Achievement' Award to the four top and renowned photoartists (rather than photographers) of the country for their outstanding work during their life time in the field of Photo-journalism, Pictorial work and Portraiture, to mention. His Excellency, M Hamid Ansari, the Honourable Vice-President of India presented the Life Time Achievement Awards, which consisted of a cash prize of Rs.1.50 lakh, a shawl, memento and a citation at a special function at Vigyan Bhavan, Delhi. The Photoartists included, Smt Homai Vyarawalla, (the 97 yr old first Indian Lady Photo-Journalist), Shri S Paul, an eminent photojournalist (Indian Express's former chief photographer). Shri Benu Sen from Kolkata, a legendary pictorial photoartist and Shri K.G.Maheshwari, Mumbai (portraiture specialist)....My hearty congratulations to the legends.
Reg. Shri KG Maheshwari, his love for B&W portraits is so intense that when few years ago I organized ALL iNDIA PHOTO COMPETITIONS in the memory of my son Anurag Shroti(ASMPC), HE CONTRIBUTED Rs.3000/- to be awarded to the best B&W portraitist. Thank u Sir:....gshroti@gmail.com, http://www.photogroups.blogspot.com/

'FORM' IN PHOTOGRAPHY

A PHOTOGRAPH IS A MULTIPLE ASSEMBLY OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS FOUND IN THE OBJECTS AROUND. SINCE WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO SEE THEM REGULARLY, WE DO NOT FEEL THE IMPRESSION THEY CAN CREATE, WHEN SHOT THROUGH A CAMERA. Thus it look rather amazing when the photographs come before us on the print form. However, it has become an old part of history. Our craze is now the latest developed digital photography. Digital photography too represents 'forms' in nature when shot thru camera.

2. In other words every object consists of a 'form' bound by lines. The forms can be regular or irregular, angular, geometrical, non-geometrical, in flow or in the nature of 'curve'. They all come in the category of mixed and intermediate forms. Basically a photographer is interested in the beauty of these forms and not directly in the objects, before photographying.

3. It is a common experience that to someone this form attracts more and to other fellow, other form has more attraction. Why? If analysed clearly, there we find rhythm...that manifests in many ways in nature and in life e.g. the curving tips of creepers, the rhythmic lines of sea waves, the petal arrangement of roses, in home the sweeping curves or wavy margins of dishes and vases. Wonderful outline the fish has with its forked tail, the distinct forms of a melting wax from a candle., and innumeral examples we come across. However, important thing is what we capture in our cameras. These forms are a part of our life but we recognise them distinctly when shot on the sensor and interpreted in full form in the form of images in computers, and/or in prints.

FEW PHOTOGRAPHY TERMS.

-PHOTOGRAPH: A reproduction of scene, object or person, by means of registering a permanent image thru the combined agencies of lenses and the sensor.

-PHOTOGRAPHER, Professional: Generally a person who clicks through his camera or the one who derives 75% or more of his/her income from the sale of their photographic work.

-PHOTOMACROGRAPHY: Photography of small objects in large size ratio. Usually regarded as coming between 1/4 and 10 times natural size.

-PHOTOMETER: A light measuring instrument or the meter built-into the camera to measure the amount of light before the lens.

-PHOTOMICROGRAPHY: Photography of minute objects (like germs in water) with the aid of a microscope. Image size ratio may range from 10 to 10,000 diameters. (now the term is mixed with photomacrography).

-PHOTOMONTAGE: A picture made from many images (like collage) usually made by successive enlargements without definite boundaries between the various elements........next

SELFUPP PHOTOGRAPHY:WHILE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SHOOTS

PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT A LIMITED SUBJECT in the present global changes. The outlook of people is changing so changing is the DIGITAL CAMERAS INDUSTRY....It is a dry photography days now. U can shoot and no need to go to darkroom for printing images from a dcam. Now load on a CD/DVD/PENDRIVE or direct camera, get the image uploaded to computer for instant printing. DO NOT WANT PRINTS. Upload your images onto your computer and view and let friends view the slideshows of your hard efforts....However my point here is that when you intend to shoot environmental photographs, you should have a good knowledge of the location you plan to visit. It will save a lot of time thinking in the mid-way about your shoots. You should have advance knowledge of the place, understand what kind of hardships people have faced. This will help you build up a good understanding to make it more easier to figure out exactly what are your goals before your camera. There may be places far and near and I think once you are out for your job, nothing to hinder except time factor, the most important element in doing environmental photography....Time of the day counts, time of your stay counts to have the best maximum of area covered and maximum use of your memory cards, the more images u have the better....All time is not composing time, therefore shoot and with all good memories make use of the photoshop at home/office. Some people are of the opinion that they compose finally on the site itself betrays the art of photography. It may be good for still, studio(here children will fail them) or less movement and predictive photography, but it may not go on all sites, subjects and objects too......next

ISO SETTINGS AND PHOTO SHOOT

DURING FILM PHOTOGRAPHY, we had ASA (AMERICAN STANDARDS ASSOCIATION) printed on the film cartons. Then it became ISO (International Standards Organisation)---(the year difficult to recollect-may be in late 80s). ISO 50, ISO 100, ISO 400 so on. Tri-X B&W from kodak(35mm) was the most famous in ISO 400 range and developed in finegrain developer, rendered wonderful results. This was generally used by pros and photo-journalists in normal and low-light conditions AND ALSO USING higher shutter speeds. During development its speed cud be enhanced to ISO 800, but with compromise with slight grains. The DIGITAL technology too adopted the same sensitivity in their sensors. Now let us look technically. The ISO HAS A DIRECT IMPACT on the exposure. There higher ISO number indicates an increased amount of sensitivity of the sensors. Therefore a higher ISO number allows you to use a faster shutter speed. However, the higher the ISO, the increase in noise/grain u have to bear. For normal sunlight ISO 100/200 is ideal...In cloudy dark, you can increase it to Iso 400/800. As said also in low light better switch to higher ISO to use higher shutter speed, so less camera shake/blurred image. The image i shot alongside used ISO 400, since it was cloudy dull atmosphere. The overhead angle and play in sand suits the picture, as my g-son's face is a focal point and hands busy in activity with a textured sand.

CLOSEUPS-INDOOR LIGHTING--(66)

.....next....This picture was taken in a closed verandah, where the sky has thrown sufficient light for a handhold shot with a kit lens in Dslr. Such photos can be shot with prosumers or compacts. Use of light in verandah gave a background of whitewashed effect, because it was needed a bigger aperture inside in comparison to what was needed outside.

2. Thus, great effect pictures can be taken using an open window, or window covered with a net cloth giving more softer light in case of children and ladies portraits...Next is an easily approachable portion of a house is a side wall casting more than 10ft shadow outside...the effect will be as good as in a verandah, keeping aperture half stop down in case of dslrs and half stop minus exposure compensation in prosumers and compacts, keeping the subject 4 to 5 ft away from the wall to make the things on it out of focus. Porch is also a good place for shadowless photography. There is one more source and that is the built in flash of your camera. The advantage in indoor photography is that there is less faster movements. Yes children are active and here they will give good poses with camera's flash. However, it should be kept in mind while photographing small children below 4-5 months, to avoid use of flash since it throws white and bright sparkle of light which may affect their eyes. LAST but not the least...in your home you can enjoy candle light dinner keeping camera on a tripod and self also keeping still using self-timer method.

CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY--65

..NEXT.....Soft lighting from overcast days is good for shooting nature, portraits and varied subjects. However, the photo alongside was taken in the morning 7 a.m. and a good fill-in was provided by nature itself....Shooting pictures when there is a thin clouds covering the sun gives good opportunity for portraits. There are times when you have to face strong sunlight as during sports, it is natural to shoot as the time permits...may be morning, noon or evening. Here you can make good closeups of any player with the use of zoom lens of 70-200 or 70-300mm focal lengths...THESE ARE ACTION SHOTS, SO SUNLIGHT AND SHADOWS both are included keeping attention on focusing...These lenses with a 18-55 kit lens will help you in street photography finding good closeups of people in different moods....Thus outdoors, we encounter sunlight, morning to evening, overcast sky at any time of the day.

CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY-64

OUTDOOR LIGHTING:

Direct lighting is not always best illumination for close-up outdoors. Light direction is also important and for snapshot purpose, ideally the sun should be behind you and not behind the subject. (this idea is good for learners and ladies rarely handling camera). If the sun is strong, switch on your camera FLASH, AS CAN BE SEEN FROM MY PHOTOGRAPH, AND THIS CAN BE UNDERSTOOD FROM THE CATCHLIGHT FROM THE EYES. The result will be an improved one, though sun's position may be changing. Adjust accordingly.

2. Rainy days are great for photography, especially if u want to capture a feeling of freshness and life in your flower pictures. Raindrops will help adding sparkle to your picture......next

CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY--63-A

Digital technology made closeup photography more easy. Even the compacts can take close up photographs as close as one inch....The same thing is with prosumer cameras which to as close as one cm. Dslrs have their own working applying different lenses amongst which is 105mm macro lens. However your kit lens of 18-55 will give u as close as 5 inches....next.

CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY-ANOTHER ASPECT--63

Nobody is unaware of closeup photography. Every now and then the word is repeated with photographers & in homes, where snaps are a necessity...Closeup is not new to modern day photography. 19th century and 20th century saw the grow of full sized and close up photographs of the then Rulers WHICH INCLUDED RAJAS, NAWABS AND THEIR BEGUMS, including children in black & white and some of them hand coloured with enthusiastic artists.

IF we come across the subjects, there are varied subjects around. NATURE has given so much...your 32GB memory card will be filled up but still the whole globe will remain to trotter.....NEXT

UNCONVENTIONAL CROPS OF AN IMAGE

AS WE HAVE SEEN IN PHOTOGRAPHY WE HAVE A SMALL GADGET CALLED A DIGITAL CAMERA. A VERSATILE TOOL TO ENCAPTURE THE WHOLE GLOBE. the wonders have hidden in it.....they need exploitation, one by one carefully remembering each's independent capability.....Besides many feature, it has a wonderful feature of portrait.....There is a separate feature(sign) of portrait on the camera's dial. This in itself will allow the use of bigger aperture to give your face a distinctness of portraiture by giving less depth of field....It means camera used bigger aperture and lower shutter speed. If it is taken in sun light, it can be taken handheld, otherwise in shadow slower shutter speed is used as mentioned above, it will be better to use tripod. Since blurred/shaky shots are of no use.

2. Usually a close-up portrait implies a photograph in which the face of a person is wholly present in the frame...However you can frame your pictures in unconventional ways to add a sense of mystery to the person's appearance. Cropping the face while framing the picture is an experiment that can yield dynamic/unusual results... You can do this either while framing the image or by cropping it in a photo editing software. The easiest way one can use this technique is to crop the face closely so that the frame ends at the forehead and above the chin. Another thing you can try is to crop the face through the nose so that half the face can be seen....this uses the natural symmetry in one's face to add mystery in the portrait.....I have used 3/4th of the cropped face as explained above... there is no limit in experimenting.

3. Using un- common tight closeups is a common cinematic technique. that enhances portraits and help you steer away from the cliche.

PHOTOGRAPHY-P,S,A,M MODES IN A D-CAMERA

ON EACH CAMERA TOP, particularly in prosumers and dslrs there is a dial, which operates P,S,A,M modes while shooting a picture by selecting an individual mode. Let us see below what are their functions:

P-(Programmed auto): in this mode the camera automatically adjusts shutter speed and aperture for optimal exposure in most conditions. This mode is recommended for snapshots and other situations in which u want to leave the camera in charge of shutter speed and aperture.
S-(shutter-speed priority): Here you choose the shutter speed from varied speeds provided in the camera--may range from 30s-1/8000 of a second. While the camera automatically selects the aperture producing optimal exposure. Use slow shutter speed to suggest motion by blurring moving subjects---high shutter speed to freeze the motion.

A-(Aperture priority auto): In this mode, you choose the aperture as provided in the camera e.g. f2.8 to f22 (this may differ in other cameras models-prosumer or dslr), while the camera automatically selects the shutter speed which will produce the optimal exposure. Small Apertures (bigger f numbers) increase depth of field bringing both the main subject and background in focus. Larger apertures (small f numbers) soften background details and produce less depth of field.

M-(Manual mode): By using Manual mode you control both shutter speed and aperture. Here u can choose any speed between e.g. 30s and 1/8000 of a second and select the aperture from maximum opening to the minimum aperture, thus having full control over the exposure and there are less chances of fluctuations in exposure values as set by you according to prevailing lighting conditions. There is 'bulb' setting which u can use for longer exposures say in night and close when done with, may be several seconds to hours.

NATURE - FAR AND NEAR.

We all are a part of this earth, which is full of natural objects. When a child is grown up, he finds himself/herself a part of mother nature...Of course, their second mother.

2. Nature photography cud be an expression of creativity inherent in a human being. But still if you want to explore the world of nature, it would be better to see it from the eyes of a child in awe of wild places and the creatures. However, if you are lured by the nature's beauty, find out an intimacy beyond observation and own it by the virtue of your 'third eye', I mean the camera you possess. Before your camera is revealed the wealth of subtle beauty, as in the whole globe, the nature is approachable only by long drives and well-thought hikes. Contrary to this most glorious beauty is readily available to everyone everywhere and not always beyond, but rather in a backyard, a roadside field, open city lot lying uncared or a local national park.

3. A variety of insects and wildflowers can be found in these places. It will require in all likelihood a keen eye perception, time and patience. Besides, you will find a large variety of different subjects interpreting their existence. It is worthwhile that when you find spot with varieties, visit it on a regular basis from start of rains till March end(in India), as the flowers in bloom and the species of insects will change weak by weak. Most usable time is the early morning as the air is cooler and insects less active making them an east prey of your camera...In winter, the cool nights cover the insects and flowers in dew. There, it would be wise to be in the field at dawn, otherwise the magic of natural beauty will be going to fade as the sun rises above tree level.......next

PHOTOGRAPHY-CROSS PROCESSING-59

THERE IS AN INHERENT DESIRE IN THE HUMAN MIND TO EXPERIMENT/to evolve something new...Photography is not the exception...In other words, since the photographers all over the globe shoot crores of photographs each day, it s natural for them to find out new avenues from the rut...They have lots of images on their laptop/computers, CDs/DVDs. When they get a time for rest, different calculations of the images are natural to come into their brains.

2. Such was the desire when in 60s Kodak introduced two developers...E4 and C22. They were conscious therefore they written a warning against using wrong processing chemicals for their films and transparencies....When photographers got something new, they experimented with their unushable films with the two chemicals.....In a NATURAL COURSE, cross processing is the procedure of deliberately processing photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film. For example, processing colour transparency film in negative developer C41 resulting in a negative image on a colourless base. And processing colour negative film in E6 (slide developer) resulting in a positive image but with the orange base of a normally processed colour negative.

3. This process was much in vogue during 70s and 80s..The photographers from Time and National Geographic magazine worked on this process and produced stunning results. Much work of this nature was done on studio portraits, landscapes etc.

4. Now in DIGITAL ERA we do not have those chemicals and films for shooting and processing. ON Photoshop this can be done to some satisfaction using curve tool. I used the curve tool for my pink flower where the gradation changed from red to purple to light yellow. The middle curves are easily bifurcated by the light yellow. U may please notice the colour gradation from pink to purple to light yellow, and a demarcation of diagonal lines is making pic strong---from left to middle to right above.

PHOTOGRAPHY-58-ZONE FOCUSING

While using manual focus for a long time, when autofocus cameras were rare and also now when switching to manual focusing, I use zone focusing, the easiest way of focusing, calculating the distance in the mind and setting the lens to that distance. It is easy in wide angles say from 28mm to 50mm of a zoom lens and small apertures.

2. Assume that you are photographing an event, which occurs within a set area such as football match, children coming out of school in a rush and hurry. By choosing the correct aperture for the lens, it will be possible for you to obtain acceptably sharp/sharp pictures from a subject anywhere within that area without having to alter the focus again. For example my subject comes within the area of 10ft to 30ft and moves within that area...My DOF table on the lens will give an aperture of f8, since the DOF stretches from 10ft and even beyond to 30ft at f8, and the subject shot at 15ft or 20ft will be sharp within the said DOF...Thus if the boys are rushing out of school...i focus my lens at 15ft and to find the best action boy/girl at that distance, i immediately click the shutter.....next example: if a procession is on the move, i move to front and a little bit more of distance and when the appropriate subject comes within 10ft,15ft,20ft, i focus at any of that distance without looking in the viewfinder and click fast. The picture will be sharp with sufficient dof, including more people in sharp focus from front to back.

3. In the picture above the saluting boy was 10ft. I focused at 10ft on my 28-200 sigma lens and since it was sunlight, i used ISO100, f11 at 1/250 and clicked the guy correctly focused. Only i cared for focusing when i took my lens from 70 to 200mm.

PHOTOGRAPHY--WORKPLACE SETTINGS.--57

Whether work is in the factory or field, these provide a variety of settings for a compositional photograph.These photographs contain an element of craft and diverse backgrounds which become a subject by itself.

2. The picture will have a flavour of reportage, rather than an assembly of some people....As I did, try to photograph people as they involved in the work they are performing. Avoid adding too many props or elements in the frame - always try to retain which is contextual....THE above photograph is self speaking.The farmers are making ready the crops for the market...there are all elements which makes a photograph perfect, the machine, the fog, the people, the ox, the crop, which are well balanced.

ZOO PHOTOGRAPHY..

YOU r lucky..the king is in sleeping mood ....very interesting part a camera plays more with the enjoyment of children, who are after u, seeing that u are photographing their favourites....they shout...here he goes, there he sits etc and all information u receive on ur ears....your eyes are intensely watching the great animal and others in zoo arena.
The heart thrills, when it comes to going to the zoo for some good shots....ur thrills are associated by the super luck, that the animal will be in ur camera's range...and if he does not turn up???

2. Anyhow our goal is zoo photography, keeping some important points in mind so least of the shots miss.
2.1 AVOID bars and glass from being part of the picture..MOVE IN CLOSE....use higher end of the zoom lens say 300mm to defocus the nets and bars.
2.2 Take time for the zoo ---animals will not pose for u....U will have for things to happen.
2.3 Feeding time provides interesting photo possibilities---the animals are anticipating their food....But they are frisky at this time too....U will end up in shooting shaky picture if u are not careful.

3. WILDLIFE is not about the big animals . Many zoos also have insects, reptiles, turtles, allegators, deers etc. which themselves are great subjects to shoot.

4. Look for the interactions of the animals, particularly in groups.

5. There are gaps between different animal sites, which makes it convenient to view and photograph, which may stretch upto few miles.....the other opposite side may have birds. It is worth going to this wildlife for live photographs.

LUNAR ECLIPSE

I saw on my site, that few photographers have overexposed the image OF LUNALR ECLIPSE....same thing, they use the aperture priority...they understand that Aperture priority or Shutter priority is the solution of every image they expose, but regret being the image overexposed......

2. IT is lethargy on their part to switch to manual mode and take the reading...However, to see the sun with naked eye may be dangerous, but here the adjustments can be made easily.

3. I have one prosumer camera, which has the maximum shutter speed, unfortunately upto 1/1000....this i cud manage in lunar eclipse, but not in solar eclipse....However, for this shot i gave 1/1600 at f5.6, on my DSLR because the luminance was dull at this juncture....at 300mm i got a good image and enlarged it to have better details...Therefore, i wud suggest that before buying any prosumer or DSLR, it is best to go thru the manual, finding out the most important settings....If all goes well, i wud rather suggest for a DSLR and a separate 70-300 original or sigma APO lens.