After a Day’s Work

“ A photograph can be worth a gaze but impinging ”

A daily wage worker lives his life in days, everyday he has to struggle to make ends meet. The glimpse of hope and despair can be seen simultaneously on his face.

Clicked : August 17, 2009
Location : Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Aperture : f/4
Shutter Speed : 1/100 sec

Countryside Hut

“If god had a camera, with all the beauty that he has created, he would have been the
best photographer”

There is abundant beauty all around, the wonders of nature are infinite as nature itself. The allurement of the elegance of nature depends on one’s perception.

Clicked : September 26, 2009
Location : Causey, Ireland
Aperture : f/3.5
Shutter Speed : 1/100 sec

Strolling the Sea

"Nature is all about observing, a camera just increases the no. of observers even if they weren't there"

Clicked : April 4, 2010
Location : Howth Harbour, Howth, Ireland
Aperture : f/6.3
Focal Lenght : 18mm

Colours Of Imagination

“A painter is like a photographer, the only difference is that a painter can do the same thing without being physically present at the place being painted”

It was wonderful watching this small girl painting a sea side on the canvas. All by her imagination she can paint a wonderful landscape. A photographer cannot to this without being at the sea side.

Clicked : June 19, 2010
Location : Merrion Sq. Park, Dublin, Ireland
Aperture : f/4
Focal Length : 10mm

Monument Of Light

“The message to humanity is to spread light and for photographer its the exact opposite,

capture light”

The Spire of Dublin, officially called the Monument of Light is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument 121.2 metres (398 ft) in height, located on O'Connell Street in Dublin.

Clicked : June 19, 2010
Location : O’ Connel St., Dublin, Ireland
Aperture : f/4
Focal Length : 10mm

Sigma 10 - 20 mm

Finally, I got my hands on Sigma 10 – 20 mm Ultra wide angle lens. It’s the widest angle lens available in market currently. The lens seems a classy piece of equipment to be added to any photographers collection. The lens is a delight for street and landscape photography, the wide angle adds a lot of dramatic feel to the photograph, especially on a cloudy day.

It was right day to buy a lens and test it, Dublin summer festival was going on just next to my neighbourhood. I tried and tested the lens to its fullest today and it performed up to my expectations. Below I give out some inferences in terms of its performance.

• Resolution
  
  Sharpness is generally high in the centre of the frame, but is less impressive towards the edges. The lens is sharpest at the long end, and while it's also pretty good at 10mm, performance is weaker in the middle of the zoom range, especially towards the corners. Optimum results are generally achieved on stopping down to F8 or F11
  
  

• Chromatic Aberration
  
  Chromatic aberration is extremely well controlled, indeed this is the standout feature of this lens. When present it tends to be mainly of the visually less disturbing blue/yellow type, and even then is only really visible in the extreme corners of the frame at wideangle. Very impressive indeed.
  
  


• Distortion
  
  Distortion is a little high, especially when compared to the other wideangle zooms I used recently. There's fairly strong (2.4%) barrel distortion at wideangle, with a rather unusual and complex pattern, localized mainly towards the corners of the frame (and therefore difficult to correct fully in software). This changes to pincushion distortion at longer focal lengths, peaking at -1.4% around 14mm.

Test Shots :

At 10mm & 20mm

PS : I had always been craving for this lens and finally I have it today, thanks to a very special friend, Shashi, for this wonderful gift.

I Wonder

“When I look through the viewfinder I can see the photograph right in front of me, but when I click portraits and see the person looking right into my eyes from the other side of the camera I can feel the photograph within me”

The best time in life are the childhood days, when there are no worries about the future, no regrets of past. The only thing that make us cry is the breaking of a toy, apart from it everything around us seems so nice and fine. Every person you meet , you meet him with a smile and every new thing you see you look at it astound.

Clicked : June 11, 2010
Location : Temple Bar St., Dublin, Ireland
Aperture : f/5.6
Shutter Speed : 1/125 sec

Of Land and Sea

“Nature’s beauty is best complimented with a camera”

Clicked : April 4, 2010
Location : Howth, Ireland
Aperture : f/3.5
Shutter Speed : 1/400 sec

Traveller’s Chariot

“ There’s not much to be done when the beauty seems perfect, the only thing that can be done is to change the perception ”

I spotted this car near a crossing in Delhi while coming from Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi. It sure seemed an appropriate subject when i had no luck getting good clicks at Chandni Chowk.

This car belongs to the Travel & Living television channel and as far as I believe it is used to take the foreign travellers on a ride where they can see the wonders of India and the Indians can see them.

Clicked : December 10, 2008
Location : Near Raj Ghat , New Delhi, India
Aperture : f/11
Shutter Speed : 1/200 sec (with Flash)

Celtic Cross

“ It’s not about capturing the scene, its about capturing the imagination ”

A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated.

This is the Celtic Cross at Kilfenora, called the West cross. It dates back to the 11^th Century. Kilfenora has 3 of the famous High Celtic Cross. The other two are located in the church (can be seen in the left side of the picture, with a glass ceiling).

Clicked : October 18, 2009
Location : Kilfenora , Co. Clare, Ireland
Aperture : f/32
Shutter Speed : 1 sec

Total Solar Eclipse - 2009

“The universe is dynamic, so are the photographer's thoughts ”

In continuation to the last post I thought of sharing the picture I took of the eclipse. It was a majestic sight to see and photograph this phenomenon where the sun is engulfed by moon. At the time of Totality there was a vibrant feel in the air, it was like experiencing sunrise twice in a day. The birds were tweeting and fluttering as if they also realize some irregularity in the normal day cycle.

Clicked : July 22, 2009
Location : Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Aperture : f/9
Variable Shutter Speeds : 1/60 sec – 1.5 sec

Multiple Exposures are stacked together to create this Composite image.

A solar filter was also used to capture all the partial phases of the eclipse and it is recommended to everyone who is observing or photographing the eclipse.

Picture of Totality Phase :

Varanasi – A City older than History

“Camera doesn’t only teach photography but it also enlightens with knowledge­”

I still remember this month of July, 2009 when I had a chance to bathe in the sacred river twice in a month at different places and observing the transformations of the river.
In Rishikesh the river is like a small child full of energy , the strong rapids can be clearly heard like a child shrilling and frolicking all around but as the river flows down the plains, it matures, drifting slowly towards the end of its journey.
Moreover, the month was memorable because it was here in Varanasi, where I saw my first Total Solar Eclipse.

Clicked : July 22, 2009
Location : Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Aperture : f/22
Shutter: 1/30 sec