One of the mandatory things for a birthday bash is a cake facial - preferably a very creamy chocolate cake :) What do you say?

Here is my friend Rajesh, all excited after his birthday bash and ready to welcome a new year! Rajesh is getting married next week and let me also wish him and Nithya a wonderful married life.

The pic is taken using a Canon EF-s 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens, handheld in manual mode, f/4, ISO-100 and 1/60s exposure. Thanks to Tiju for lending this lens to me for trying out. I quite liked its focal range and a more than useful IS. For the relatively lower price, this lens is more than handy.

Rajesh was at his balcony when I took this shot and the clean black background comes from the dark surroundings - as it was quite late in the night. I used a Vivitar 285HV strobe on camera, bounced from the roof to make up for the lack of light. The pic is unedited, except for the resizing and addition of the watermark.

These two were sitting outside the Bannerghatta national park as we were walking towards the parking lot. I dont know if they are a real life couple, but the sun was surely setting when I took this shot :)

The pic is taken with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L (macro) lens, handheld in Av mode, f/6.3, ISO-400. I used a -1 Ev exposure compensation, since the light was not that good. Even with the exposure compensation, the exposure time was 1/160s, slightly lower than ideal.

I saw this lady as soon as we got out of the van, after the grand safari at Bannerghatta:

I quickly changed the lens to Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L (macro) lens and started shooting. Only later I realized that I forgot to change the settings chosen for the 400mm f/5.6, which was Av mode, f/6.3, and high ISO-800 for a 1/500s exposure. I should have switched to ISO-200 or so and used a wider shutter for a lower DoF. Nevertheless, I liked what I got!

Wishing everybody a wonderful 2010. I hope this will be a peaceful and terror free year internationally.

The pic is taken with the Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens @ a focal length of 21mm, handheld and aided with bounced light from the Vivitar 285HV strobe. Exposure mode was manual with ISO-100, f/5 and 1/320s. I used a black sheet for the background and flattened the color curve a little bit at the bottom, using GIMP, to completely eliminate the small wrinkles in the sheet.

Found these three men at a farm, near Mandya. They were ploughing the farm and getting the field ready for the next crop:

Caught the first one taking a break from ploughing to smoke a 'beedi'. The pic is taken using the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L telephoto lens, handheld in Av mode, f/6.3, ISO-400 for a 1/1000s exposure.

Soon, the second guy stopped for his break and 'beedi'. This pic also comes from the same lens, Av mode, ISO-400, f/6.3 for a 1/1250s exposure.

The 3rd musketeer headed for his lunch break soon after and I had my third shot too :) This pic is also with the 400mm telephoto lens, handheld, Av mode, f/6.3, ISO-400 for a 1/640s exposure.

Preethu and Manu were back in Bangalore last week and days are more interesting now :)

The pic is taken with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L (macro) lens, mounted on a Manfrotto 728B digi tripod. I used a Vivitar 285HV strobe to provide the required light. The camera was set in manual mode with a 1/200s exposure, f/5 and ISO-200. The black background comes from a dark brown cloth which was the backdrop for this shot. Finally, I used GIMP to adjust the curves a little bit to completely wipe out the background.

This is also the 200th post in the blog. Thanks for all the readers to keep it alive.

Devi Parvathi (isnt it a big name for a small girl? I guess, Malu suits hers better!), was too busy easting chocolate, when I clicked, but the moment I did, she came running to me and checked up how she looked through the camera! A young model in the making ... dont you think?

She is the same girl in one of my earlier posts (see Kids @ Padinharayil, 2009). I used the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L (macro) lens for this shot, handheld in full manual mode, f/3.5, 1/320s and ISO-200. I also had the Vivitar 285HV strobe mounted on the camera, bouncing off the ceiling, without which I cant get this shot from the light available indoor.

The only processing I did with this pic was to increase the saturation by a whisker. Otherwise, the pic is as it is from the camera, without even a crop.

I was on my way home for lunch, when I spotted this lady carrying a basket of yellow marigold flowers. The camera was in my bag as always and with her colorful dress and basket I had to take it out:

With the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L telephoto lens fitted on to the camera, I could easily maintain a safe distance and take a few shots. The above shot is handheld, in Av mode, f/6.3 and ISO-800 for a 1/2000s exposure.

A little later, with a customer looking to buy flowers from her, she sat in the footpath and bargained with him. This was the opportunity and I walked past her and stayed on the other side of the road for a shot from the front.

Looks like she had a good bargain ... isnt it :)

The settings and the lens is same for the 2nd pic as well, 400mm, handheld, Av mode, f/6.3, ISO-800, but since she was sitting in the shade, the exposure was selected at 1/800s.

I am still playing around with the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens and on a quite evening I was trying a few shots of msy favourite model:

I had kept the camera at its widest focal length and aperture (16mm and f/2.8) and shot this hand-held. The focus is on the finger nails which is at the closest focusing distance (about a feet) from the lens. With only limited indoor lighting available, I bumped up the ISO to 800 and used Av mode for a 1/15s exposure.

This picture is shot the next day when the model went for a Mehandi in her hands :) I was marveling at the dexterity of those fingers creating intricate designs with utmost ease. How could I not click again? The settings and location is almost same - Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L, 17mm, hand-held, ISO-800, Av mode, f/2.8 1/30s.

Btw ... for those who saw '20 Weeks to go ...' and/or noted a bump, we have only a few more weeks to go to complete our family :)

Upasana has appeared here more than once and may not need much inroduction (check the 2nd pics from 'Kids @ Padinharayil, 2009' or 'Kids @ Padinharayil, 2008'). But, Nikhil is here for the first time and he is a live wire. The only reason why I think Upasana was happily posing is Nikhil's influence! If you dont believe, me look at the poses Nikhil was giving in these shots. How can somebody not be inspired?

I wouldnt lie that they were not posing! Infact I had the camera, mounted on a tripod right in front of their face.

In about 5 minutes time in front of the camera, Nikhil gave me some ten different poses and all of them were so natural and innovative :) I was wondering which one of these shall I post here. Finally, decided to post a couple of them and some more as a collage. Thats the only way I could do justice to the miriad expressions Nikhil gave in front of the camera!

Would you believe me, if I say that Nikhil and Upasana met each other only half an hour before these photos were taken. Atleast those who know how shy Upasana is ... just cannot!

By the way, I have acquired a new lens, a Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens. Ashi and Pappan got this to me from US almost two months back and I never got a chance to use this lens for landscape shots, since I never really travelled after buying it. But, I had to try it out somewhere and this is the first occassion. By the look of it, the f/2.8 is pretty handy for indoor shots! Thanks Ashi and Pappan for all the trouble to get this to me :)

The setup comprises of my usual bed sheets, curtains and a white wall, a little over exposure for the clean white background, a Vivitar 285HV for the extra light needed indoors and a Manfrotto 728B digi tripod for better stability. I used manual mode @ ISO-400 and f/2.8 aperture. The first two pics are @ 35mm focal and 1/30s exposure.