Walking around my home town carrying a DSLR (Canon EOS 7D), fitted with a long white lens (Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L tele photo) gets you a lot of attention. So, I was not surprised when this little fella in a blue shirt, riding a cycle, called me from the other side of a canal and asked me why I am carrying around this big camera. I simply smiled at him and told I was looking for birds. More queries followed and I responded by taking a pic of his.

The reaction to the photo was not very nice - he drove away in his cycle in a hurry and I was wondering, if he was offended. I got the answer when he came back in a few seconds, with his friend in tow. He did not want to miss the opportunity to get a picture with his friend!

He did not even tell me his name and did not even bother to take a look at the picture - all that mattered was that his friend be in the picture too!

The pic came in Av mode, f/6.3 and auto ISO for a 1/500s and ISO-250.

... is where I pointed the camera as soon as I got home with the new equipments. I started off with the two PhotoPro 300D studio lights placed on either side of the camera for an even lighting. But, soon it was obvious that even lighting could be flat and boring!

In the second attempt, I had one PhotoPro 300D at the front right side and the other one at rear right side to shine the hair. For a very dramatic / harsh effect, I even took out the umbrella. The background comes from a curtain in the living room.

The shot was taken with the Canon EOS 7D mounted with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens. I did not have much choice as the setting more or less dictated it. The flash needed an exposure time of 1/200s and I used that much. I wanted a thin DoF and may have used a f/2.8 aperture or so, but given the available space and the distances at which the lights were kept, even the ISO-100, f/5.6 that I used was too bright. I eventually, reduced the brightness of the image by two stops using Digital Photo Professional.

Finally, with all this setup, we took a few shots. The TV was on and for a moment in between, she was lost in some event in the TV and that gave me my candid moment for this shot. I had the Vivitar 285HV firing from front left side for fill, but it did not work very well - I guess it need a larger sync time, which I could not have used. So, the left portion came out darker than I wanted with some details lost.

In the next iteration, the front and rear lights were at the left side. I placed the lights further away and had a white reflecting wall on the right side to fill the light. This - it looks like - worked better than the Vivitar. The settings are similar to the first picture, except that the aperture was an even narrower f/6.3.

Studio lighting is an art that could not be learned in a few attempts and I am already overwhelmed by the amount of literature in Internet on this topic. Hoping to come up with better pictures in the next iteratons!

Vishu at Padinjarayil (my maternal house) is most awaited, especially with the once in a year opportunity to meet a lot of my relatives. I also have a good time chasing the younger generation :)

Upasana (see 'Nikhil and Upasana', 'Kids @ Padinjarayil, 2009' and 'Kids @ Padinjarayil, 2008') used to be very camera shy couple of years back and used to cry when she saw me trying to take her pictures. But, look at her now! She was running around and when she saw me with the camera, gave a very instinctive pose - by tilting her head to one side! The pic comes with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L lens, handheld in Av mode, f/6.3, ISO-800 for a 1/320s exposure. The original pic was in portrait mode, but I cropped the pic in GIMP for this frame.

When I saw this lady sitting in the footpath with a kid near Ulsoor, Bangalore, I could not ignore her vaccant expression. She looked very tired and the kid was asleep in her lap. I stopped my bike a litle ahead of them and quietly took a few shots. She did notice me after a while and I paid her some money before leaving. Hopefully, that is some compensation for the model work she did for me, though unknowingly.

To maintain the distance and take the pic without her noticing it, I used the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L telephoto lens. The light was a little low for this lens and I ended up using ISO-800, with f/6.3, 1/400s for a manual mode exposure. The pic was grainy and dark, but I had the RAW format and was able to get this JPEG out of it, using Canon's Digital Photo Professional software.

One of the most enjoyable portion of our Jaipur Trip was Chokhi Dhani - especially the Rajasthani fancy dress. We all dressed up in traditional Rajasthani attire and clicked some pictures as well (see 'The Avatars' for one of our poses). But, we were not the only one posing.

This little girl first posed with her parents and then went for a solo. I was ready with Tiju's Canon EOS 500D, fitted with the Canon EF-s 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS zoom lens and could not help notice her twinkling eyes. It was quite dark, if not for a beam aimed at the fancy dressers. I used Manual mode exposure at f/6.3, 1/20s and ISO-1600. I am sure, the IS helped.

I was glad that we used Tiju's camera for these shots. Mine (EOS 400D) could not have worked for anything more than ISO-800. That also tells me - its time to upgrade the camera!

For the last few months, the only photographs I have taken is of Manu ... and I now have a few pictures to post!

With the ICC world cup fever catching up ... what better ways to support the India team than to join the Bleed Blue campaign! Manu had his 'Men in Blue' t-shirt for a while now. To get him to pose for a 'Bleed Blue' poster was Preethu's idea. All the best wishes for the Men in Blue from us!

The shot comes with the Canon EF-s 55-250mm f/4.5-5.6 IS lens, which I borrowed from Amit. I had been using this lens for a while now, mostly borrowed from Amit or Tiju (see 'Birthday Bash' for another pic using this lens), and finding it extremely suited for portrait photography!

I was using a Vivitar 285HV bouncing off the ceiling and used Manual mode in camera. The lens works best with a lower aperture and I chose an f/8 aperture. Manu was moving fast and I needed ISO-400 to accomodate a 1/125s exposure. The lens was set at its widest focal length of 55mm.

Even with the blue blanket, I had to clean the background using GIMP and then I picked up the 'Bleed Blue' logo from an ad. Hope its not in violation of any copyrights as my intension was only to support the campaign and wish good luck to the Indian team!

This shot is using the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens, set at 35mm. I had the Vivitar 285HV bouncing to give me good lighting and used a f/5.6, 1/40s, ISO-200 settings in manual mode. The background in the original shot was a little cluttered and I had to clean them up in GIMP before using a background from another image.

This pic is also the most edited one of the lot. With Manu moving around so much, it was tough to get him against a clean background. All I could do was cleanup the clutter from the background using GIMP. For this particular shot, I even had to paste his left feet from another shot as it was cut in the original shot!

The pic is taken using the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L wide angle zoom lens, set at 23mm. As always I used the Vivitar 285HV for lighting and used the manual mode - f/6.3, 1/40s and ISO-400.

Every time I come back from Kozhikode, I look forward to passing via Gundlupet. If the time of the day is right, there are many photo opportunities! The red soil and the evening sunlight usually gives a nice background for the pictures as well. I had been posting pictures from this beautiful town in Kerala - Karnataka border, near Bandipur national park (See 'Village Women carrying Water', 'Red soil and Farmers @ Gundulpet ... again!' and 'Once again in Gundulpet and Mysuru' for some of the earlier posts) and this one adds to a growing list:

The girl was standing near the field and talking to the people in the farm. The shot comes without any change in settings.

I know I am little late to post this, but better late than never ... right?

He woke up pretty soon and discovered that there is something itchy around his head and quickly took it off! But, Preethu once again managed to wrap the cloth around his forehead and tucked in the feather, in spite of his protests. She gave one feather to him and that took his attention away. With Preethu and his grand parents around him and cheering, he hardly noticed me clicking these snaps.

By now, I discovered that the batteries in the flash is dying and the backup was not charged - making this picture a little under exposed, which I had to correct using GIMP. This is even after I increased the ISO to 800 and used a slightly longer exposure (1/125s) for this shot.

For the last shot, I moved away from the lense's sweet spot of around f/6.3 - f/8 and set it to f/4.5 so that I can get back to a more correct exposure time of 1/200s. I also waited for a while in between to make sure that the flash was ready for a full manual output and did not have to brighten up this picure in GIMP.

Spotted these two at the construction site opposite our office building. We visited them as part of an initiative from Lakshmi - our HR manager - to distribute cloths and food items to them. Ofcourse, I was the official photographer ;-)

The pic is shot with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L (macro) les, handheld in Av mode, f/3.5 and ISO-200 for a 1/200s exposure.

Nowadays half of my clicks are of the same subject :) For people who could not guess what the subject is - go here. Only reason, why I dont post more pics of Abhimaan aka Manu (after 'Happy Onam from the little one', 'Mom and Son' and 'Welcome 2010!') is fear of repetition! Anyways, yesterday I realized that I have not posted any of his pics for some time now. So, here I go:

This pic is taken on the new year day and a framed version of this picture adorns our living room now :) It is clicked using the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L (macro) lens, handheld in manual mode, f/5.6, 1/250s and ISO-400. I had a Vivitar 285 HV bouncing off the ceiling as is common with most of my recent indoor portrait pics :) I am glad I bought that strobe.

The 2nd pic is clicked a week ago, when he completed 6 months. The time is really flying by and the tiny baby is now a naughty toddler :) This shot is now my desktop wallpaper and makes me smile during the tiring work hours :) The pic is again clicked with the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L (macro) lens, aided with the Vivitar 285HV bounced from the ceiling. The camera was set in manual mode, f/3.5, 1/250s and ISO-800. In comparison to the earlier picture, I was looking for a fuller frame and was further away from him. The flash being on-camera, the light output was lesser due to the distance and I needed a higher ISO and wider shutter (also to blur the background better).

Needless to say, I am enjoying these clicks and I hope you all would like it too!