Arpita

Arpita, originally uploaded by LooseCanon.

Did a small photoshoot with Arpita, at home on a lazy weekend. She had just changed her hairstyle and gladly agreed for the shoot. Also used this shot to practice some portrait retouching in photoshop.

Strobist info: One Vivitar 285HV at 1/4th power in a shoot-through umbrella camera right triggerred by Phottix PT-04 remote triggers and a silver reflector on the other side for fill.

Lens - Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

Music is my Soul - My first flashlit shot

Music is my Soul, originally uploaded by LooseCanon.

Since the very day I started photography, i've absolutely hated flashes. Whenever I've used the flash on my camera, it has only spoiled the shot with flat looking subjects, screwed up colors and horrible shadows.
But then a read through this very famous website (http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/) changed things drastically. I finally collected enough money and mind to buy a Vivitar 285HV flash unit. It's a fairly dumb, fully manual flash... and I love such stuff because if offers complete control (yeah, i am a control freak).
Anyway, I bought the flash unit along with a 10m sync chord and hot-shoe adapter and now I was ready for off-camera lighting.
I requested my friend Arpita to pose for a test shoot. Considering the amount of text I had read about flashes and off camera lighting before buying the 285HV, it hardly took me any time to setup the light and start the shoot. As it was just an experiment, we decided to shoot on the terrace of my building. The trees and taller buildings all around practically killed all my creative space leaving me with the only option of shooting towards the sky... and that actually worked for the shot.
So, for this shot, I put the flash to the camera right about 60 degrees at 1/4th power. Then I asked Arpita to swing to the beats of a song and started clicking. I'm glad that by the end of the shoot, I had a good picture of her where I could portray her passion for music and also my notion that "flashes are bad" got shattered for good.
Now i'm collecting some more off-camera lighting setup and hope to do a better job in future.

Timeless Grace

Timeless Grace, originally uploaded by LooseCanon.

Portrait of an old Shepherd Lady, shot on b&w film at a village near Hosur, TN. I was surprised at the grace she had on her face inspite of the wrinkles that tell the tale of a hard life.

This is one of the first portraits i shot with a b/w film. Later I used that roll of film to click more landscapes and also for wide angles at Lepakshi. Compared to color film, b&w film is a different ball-game altogether. Here are the learnings -
1. Almost all my frames are over-exposed. That too, when i know for sure that i metered them properly. The dynamic range of b&w films is much lower than that of color films. So the dark shades appear darker and bright shades appear brighter. So, need to deliberately underexpose every frame by at least 1 stop to achieve correct exposure.
2. The details are captured, but the contrast is usually quite high. Therefore, It's an excellent choice for portraits, historic monuments, textures and sculptures.
4. There is a LOT of grain in b&w film. But the kind of mood it creates is outstanding. Every frame, looks right out of history.
5. It's tough to get b&w film developed. If you find a good developer, let me know ASAP.
6. If you plan to get the film printed, always ask about the paper being used. B&W film printed on regular color paper looks awful. You get only brown/sepia tones and the feel totally goes for a toss.

Magnificent Lucknow - A photographer's dream come true!

Lucknow Tour - Majestic gates, originally uploaded by LooseCanon.

Recently I was out on vacation for over 3 weeks. During this time, I was on a 3 day visit to Lucknow, UP. I was there to attend a marriage but quite unexpectedly, it became an absolute photo-tour. The realization is that Lucknow is a photographer's dream come true and a foodie's paradise. It's rich cultural heritage somehow remains unspoilt inspite of this place being the epicentre of political activity in UP.
The place where i thought, 3 days would be too much... they fell too short. I wish I had at least 2 more days to visit the Residency as well as La Martinere school building. Anyway, in the time that i had, i could make it to the Lucknow Zoo and the old town which includes Bara and Chhota Imambara and Chowk. The narrow gullys at the place were quite interesting. The old city is also heaven for people who enjoy food the way I do, especially non-veg food (which includes beef).
If you find time, check out the set for lucknow at http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceandtime/sets/72157603319660285/

here's a teaser -

On the streets of Hyderabad...

Style has nothing to do with money, originally uploaded by LooseCanon.

I was on a usual visit to Hyderabad from 25th to 27th August '07. Somu was planning to go by car, and Arpita and I joined in. So, the three of us reached Hyderabad on 25th afternoon. This time i golconda fort on my photography agenda and because Arpita was visiting Hyderabad for the first time, we were planning to roam around in the city as well.
Anyway, the same evening there were bomb blasts in Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat and all plans were cancelled. We didn't enter the city at all. Golconda remained the only option and even that plan was washed out by the rains. Finally we went to meet up with an old college friend OSK. Near his place i came across this group of street children who came up to me for "Ganesh kaa chandaa". So, i suddenly came up with this idea of clicking their pics. I gave them a little chandaa and after that starting clicking.
This was my first experience of any kind of street photography and i loved it. You get to connect with people who you'd never really meet and/or care about in your life. It opens your eyes and your mind.
Street photography rocks - period!!
More pics can be seen on my flickr page - http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceandtime/

Downtown Pittsburgh

Downtown Pittsburgh, originally uploaded by manas.saran.

Well... put straight, this is where I am for a couple of weeks. Check my flickr page and picasa album for detailed pics.
Came to pittsburgh few days back for technical discussions with the team out here. All i can say is that i've been having a great time here visiting new places, meeting new people and tasting a totally different cuisine. But i'm looking forward to go back home to India :)

Silver line in the black could

Silver line, originally uploaded by manas.saran.

Every endless night, has a dawning day,
every darkest cloud, has a shining ray...

This pic is a reflection of our lives.... black clouds and shining rays!!

PS: Click on the image to visit my flickr photostream... photography has been the shining ray in my life off late :)