Some basics in photography

So you just bought your DSLR?? Or you have just been bit by the photography bug??

You have seen some GREAT pics from people in flickr,Photo.net or elsewhere and want to take those kinda "really cool" shots and dont know where to start???

You have reached the right blogspot page!!

The good news is "its possible". You can be owner of all those brilliant shots.

The bad news..Its not easy!! You got to realllllly love the art to be able to spend the time and effort and money it deserves...

I have tried to put some of the stuff that came to my mind when one of my friends asked for a similar advice.

1. Shoot less,show lesser
2. Click less think more.publish less,delete more.
3. Learn the rules so that you can break them by choice.
4. Read up about Rule of thirds,leading lines,subject placement,non central placement and all the basics of composition.
5. Learn how to make a shot
6. Stop shooting in Auto
7. Shoot in RAW.
8. Learn basic PP.Be at ease with contrast/brightness adjustment,sharpness,saturation,cropping.
9. Know about HDR
10. Recognise the two stages of photographyhttp://simplycvr.blogspot.com/2008/12/two-stages-in-photography.html
11. Take photography trips!
12. Make friends within local photography enthusiasts with the help pf online forums etc and follow their work
13. Follow the works of people you admire and find out what is stopping you from making those kind of pictures.It could be knowhow,practice or equipment.Identify that and fill up the gaps! If you are not able to decide ask for help.
14. Try not to use flash as much as possible.Flash can kill the soul of the pic
15. Fall in love with light.Fall in love with life.Fall in love with the world around.Just start appreciating the beautiful things around you.90% of photography has got nothing to do with camera.It has to do with how you see and how you record it in your brain and how you want to present it.

I will add to this if i think of something else!

All the best :)

My weekend with "Kick"

Some of you might Know that I had wanted to watch a telugu movie in hyderabad even before i came to this place. Also i wanted to try out some authentic andhra cuisine before going back to chennai. Yesterday(May 10th) happened to be the last weekend of my stay in Hyderabad and yesterday also happened to be the day when both of the above wishes came true!
I had been making some noises about this for a while and my good friend Sumanoj made a neat plan to make me realise them. Our first stop was the PVR movie theatres in Hyderabad central,PanjaGutta. Suman had booked tickets for the telugu movie "Kick",featuring Ravi Teja and Ileana.I have already had the experience of watching a really horrible movie called "Khatarnak" featuring these two,so i was a bit scared when i heard about the booking.But Sumanoj assured me that the movie was the "most bearable" of the lot which had released during the recent times.
We entered the theatre as the names started rolling after stocking ourselves with liberal amounts of pop-corn and pepsi.So we missed the all important scene of Ileana performing Yoga moves, due to the delay.Now! Dont act so innocent and ask what relevance does it have to the story......Its just that ..It was "Ileana" and she was performing Yoga!!!..Enough said!


I am sure you guys wont be so naive as to ask me what is the story of this movie! One doesnt go to watch "Kick" if he/she wants a story.One settles with one of satyajit ray's movies or one of those movies from the regional language movie feature in DD on sundays,if he wants a story.Better still,One borrows some pirate DVDs of some Korean,Iranian or some other movie from a God forsaken corner of the world,if he wants a story. You might actually not understand any story from the movie ,but you can always talk volumes of how great the movie was and make up any story that comes to your mind! They cant tell the difference.Anyway! Iam digressing!


The movie starts with Actor Shaam coming to Malaysia to meet Ileana.They meet up in a train,as arranged by their parents to have some chat and decide whether they can go ahead with the marital alliance.And thats when Ileana starts narrating her failed love affair.

Thus starts the flash back and in comes Ravi Teja! He is this most freaky,most irresponsible,most crazy guy who goes around doing whatever he wants for the sake of "Kick".The narration starts with him informing the parents of his friends about a probable elopement and then helping them get married at the same time!!Needless to say our hot looking heroine falls in love with this crazy guy!!I mean! Thats expected right?! The good looking smart girls always fall for some crazy guy,eve teaser,mentally imbalanced,"child like"(dumb),violent rowdy etc etc..So the love story flourishes with crazy antics from Ravi Teja and ends when Ileana realises that he has been interested just for the "kicks" and not reallllllly in love with her!!(Duh...what a bulb!)
And thats when Shaam starts his flashback!!No..no!This is not another failed love affair! This is about a criminal who has been outwitting him and has been driving him crazy with his clues and hints!Surprise Surprise!! The audience get to know that the clever criminal is none other than our Ravi Teja!And ...We get to know that he is in Malaysia for some reason.The movie breaks into an intermission!!
If your eyes balls are rolling and your heads are spinning already i will save you from the drudgery of reading about the remaining story(?!).


Ravi Teja fits the role of a idiotic yet intelligent, carefree yet meticulous, crazy yet deep character perfectly! I got to say that he has enough screen presence to make you laugh and smile at his antics! And one couldnt hate him all that much inspite of his non-heroic, non-serious characterisation.


Ileana plays the role of I_am_a_hot_intelligent_girl_but_i _will_fall_for_an_idiot role to perfection!!I guess being a girl helps play it so naturally.(obviously! :-S).Her acting(?!) seems to have improved just a little bit since i saw her in "Khatarnak".She is a just a little more bearable during her exaggerated outbursts.


Shaam occupies a lot of frames in this movie.I have always felt that he has been an unlucky actor and I felt the same in this movie too.He is stylish,manly and all
brisk and serious ,as he moves around with assurance as a police officer all through the movie!I wont be surprised if his female fans base increases some more after this movie.The guy deserves it totally.


The biggest strength of the movie is the light mood that has been maintained all through the movie.There are ample comedy scenes in the movie not just from the lead characters but also from a handful of regular comedy actors whom i have seen in the other telugu movies(Dunno their names :().None of the songs stuck to my mind but they were quite tolerable and are placed fairly aptly,so that they dont kill the flow of the movie.The BGM also seems to complement the movie perfectly.Though i must warn you that the previous two statements of mine could be sheerly motivated due to the brilliant acoustics in PVR cinema
The movie never drags on anywhere during the 2-3 hours.Inspite of the flashbacks and twists and confusions of the storyline the screenplay is quite clear and never allows you to scratch your head or squirm in your seat or look at your watch! That i think is the biggest success of the director.The visuals are quite bright pleasant and colourful!!The actions sequence are apt and well within the mark considering the fact that this is a masala movie.Thank fully there are no gory bloody scenes or cheap romance or lewd comedy!! Full marks to the makers for this.I am sure I would have appreciated a lot more of the comedy if only i had known telugu.Most of the times i smiled cluelessly as people around me laughed for the timing jokes!
Overall it was a time spent with laughs and entertainment and i didnt have to "kick" myself for having had to watch the movie!

Soon after the movie I had lunch in "Chutneys" and savoured the hot south Indian thali with Gongura chutney,famed avakkai,paruppu podi et all…..
Thank You Suman for a memorable outing :)


PS:Iam wearing the famed Orange shirt today again . I had already terrorized a sleepy security guard as he had a glimpse of me while I swiped in.Reports indicate that he wont be able to sleep for the next 10 days. I am hoping to employ the time tested technique of hiding in the corners and looking down at the floor whenever people look at me as if I have just escaped from the circus. I hope I can get through the day this way.Wish me luck :)

The brightly colored shirt and related woes

Iam wearing a shirt today which i had been avoiding for a really really long time!

Its bright orange in color and its so jarring and saturated that i would be seriously afraid to go out on the streets for the fear of provoking any angry bull,or even goat,sheep or a dog for that matter.
This shirt was bought by mom without my knowledge during one of her shopping stints and i gulped two jugs of cold water after recovering from unconsciousness after seeing the shirt for the first time.
My mom has the inimitable knack of picking such things!! From time immemorial she gives me such surprises which mostly ends with "You_never like_whatever_i_buy_for_you!! "I_bought_this_with_so_much_of_love_and_now_iam_so_upset" scenario that pains me to no end!!
I have learnt to work around such surprises through some disastrous instances.

So what did i do?? i have been avoiding this shirt as much as i can with light banter about how i would look like a hindu fanatic or worker in thirupathi temple with the shirt and laugh it away whenever she recommends the shirt for the day!!
Little did i know that she would cleverly insert this one while packing for this hyderabad trip!
Today as i was looking for a shirt for my cream colored pant i found that none of the pressed shirts were dark enough to match the pant and this furiously colored one was the only one darker than the other ones!!!
So i decided to give it a try!

Now i hide myself in the corner of the room and the hallways walkways,consciously reminding myself to avoid the weird looks i have been getting and been hanging my head in shame as i look at my reflection on the glass window panes.
The shirt is not even manly let alone professional!!!
The color will suit a girl's dress or a 2-3 year old boy and not any older!!I guess my mom still considers me as her 2-3 year old baby !! :)
But still....
Sigh!!

I can only hope that my day runs away fast!! :-|
Its all in the game :)

My trip to Salarjung museum,Charminar and Mecca masjid

I went to Salarjung museum,Charminar and Mecca masjid on Saturday(25-Apr-2009).
I took the 216 bus from Gachibowli and reached the Koti bus stand.After that i walked to Salarjung museum.It was a walking distance and also the people were quiet friendly and helpful as i reached there by asking directions along the way.

The Salarjung family had been the primeministers of Hyderabad under the rule of the Nizams and the Salarjung museum owes its existence to the collections of Salarjung III whose artistic patronage leaves you spell bound.
The museum stands tall with three sections with a ground floor and first floor with scores and scores of artwork of historical value.You can find articles ranging from sculptures, paintings, scriptures, arms, ivory work, textile, porcelain, woodwork, furniture etc etc mainly from India,China,Europe,Japan and Egypt.It is a delight for all those like me who totally dig at history,culture and art etc.The ticket is only Rs.10 which i thought was really cheap for a museum of its size and sophistication.The place is maintained pretty well with usable drinking water and decent toilets at regular intervals.The food costs a fortune at the food court(Well !! they have to make money somewhere...;))

Next place in my list was Charminar!! I have heard of Charminar for so so long and i was really excited about going there.I walked for sometime from the museum when it started raining! Again i asked for directions all through and caught an auto somewhere in Pathergatti road and settled for 10Rs after some bargain.As the auto neared the landmark i could see the setting and environment change quite a bit with a lot of activity ,people and big ancient arches!Finally I was at the Charminar!!

The view was so exhilarating!!! There i was , bending my neck at acute angles, trying to fully see the four minarets jutting into the sky with exquisite design and craftmanship.I prompty got the ticket for Rs.5 and climbed up the winding stairs in one of the minarets.People are allowed to climb up the charminar upto the first floor and not any further! I climbed upto the first floor to watch the busy streets down below with the noise,traffic,people and life on all four side of the minar.The lively sights and sounds made me feel like i was in some exotic historic town in Istanbul or middle east!!I climbed down after a while and messaged my mom about how thrilled I was.I really really had to share that with someone! I missed my parents!
Then i went over to Mecca masjid which is just couple of paces from Charminar munching away cut mango pieces appropriately sprinkled with salt/chilly powder!Heavenly it was.

Mecca masjid is a really old mosque built way back in 17th century.Just a few months back i had seen a picture taken by one of my friends,of this landmark and had been fascinated by the structure.Back then i was surprised to see the fluttering pigeons which neatly added to the mood of the picture,but when i went there I realised that it was impossible to take a pic of the place without those pigeons! There were just too many of them.People are allowed to walk around the front yard of the mosque which has a small water tank in one of its corner.
After visiting the mosque i reached the nearby bus stand after walking through an alley, as directed by the friendly traffic cop!!I got my 65G bus to mehdipatnam pretty soon and the journey back home was uneventfful except for a six rupee tender coconut and five rupee watermelon plate.

I managed alone all through the trip with my broken hindi which is only just a litttttle better than Mohanlal's hindi in the movie "Company".I never felt lost even once!! I love this place :-)
Also the summer of hyderabad isnt bothering me too much!! I got to admit that i have been carefully avoiding the middaytimes but still the heat is perfectly manageable on the other times!I have heard a few people say that the summer in hyderabad can be a shade hotter than in chennai but iam yet to see any proof of that!In fact i had seen hotter summers in mysore when i had been there a couple of times!

I had initially planned to go to Ramoji film city on sunday but upon googling,I found out that the place was a little too far and i wasnt having a very clear idea as to how to go there!Also taking so much of pain the very next day that too for a trip alone didnt sound too exciting so i decided to give it a miss! I guess any other trip has to wait for a weekend after return from the chennai trip during the long weekend!
Lets see :-)
PS:It was just a site seeing trip, so i didnt take any pictures!They dont let any camera inside the salarjung museum anyway!! :)

Two type of trips

There are two type of trips one can take to any place of interest!
One is a site seeing trip and another one is a photography trip!!
Site seeing trip is something which everyone is aware of ! Its the one where one goes to primarily see,hear and smell the sights and sounds and smells,the place has to offer and to generally get a feel of the place!!

But a photography trip is one where you intend to do all of the above and also aim to get some decent shots of that place! When i say get decent shots i do not mean the standard "I was there" shots which tourists usually take!! Photographers ,amateur or professional,like to spend time and capture a place in such a way that is both unique and special and brings out the feel of the place in their own style! One needs to spend quite a lot of time and mind to take such photos!

Personally i have felt that such photos cannot be taken during a siteseeing trip!! The people who are with you make a very big difference in a trip too!! Ideally you would need people who understand when Iam staring at a subject for minutes together trying to visualise the photo in my mind and try to think of the angles and composition while noting the lighting conditions.You want to go with the kinda people who can sense such a situation and not expect me to tag along with them or talk to me during those times!At the same time you would want to also talk abt the nuances and share your experiences and tips during other times to make such photography trips really complete!!Such company is possible only when you have photography enthusiasts with you.

Such photography trips are hard to take when you have constraints with you in terms of time,company etc! For example when you are planning to cover places and are packing one too many landmarks with fair bit of travel in between,it can be downright impossible!
Usually i take photography trips to selected places(just 1 place almost all the time) with fellow photographers with a clear mindset and intent.DSLR cameras require you to carry a bag with all lenses and stuff so it is quite bulky and heavy to carry around! So most of the times my trips wont last more than half a day!

Such trips are impossible during instances like now when i am just trying to see as many places in Hyderabad during the limited time i have here with trips spanning for 1 whole day.Also where in the motivation to click is dampened due to non-availability of my laptop.

I guess i have to come to Hyderabad one more time so that i can "aaram se" plan such photography trips to the various landmarks here!
Until then! It will be just covering places....
:)